PSALM 23 – “A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
THEME OF THE DAY: LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER. Psalm 23 may well be the most familiar and beloved of all psalms. It is quoted often and finds its way onto plaques, pictures, and all other kinds of displays.
This psalm blossoms with encouraging truth from the comfort of the Greatest Shepherd ever, the Lord Jesus, caring for us to His constant companionship even at the times of defeating our last enemy, death. As uplifting as the opening verses of this psalm are, it is the ending that might need more attention in the Christian life – “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.
In living out the Christian life, we must cling to the ending of Psalm 23 because we face a malicious foe in Satan who wants to discourage us, even bring despair to our hearts, and he does so often by accusation. The Apostle John writes of his accusing work in the tenth chapter of the Revelation . . .
“And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (Revelation 12:10).
We also find the devil’s heinous work of accusation in the Old Testament prophetic book of Zechariah . . .
“Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by. And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured Joshua” (Zechariah 3:1-6).
The accuser brings up past sin to condemn us, yet he stands no chance of being successful before our God. We are forgiven all sin – past, present, and future, and stand forever righteous before our God because of His gift of righteousness through His Son. What does this mean? Look over your shoulder. What do you see? Not sin, not failure. No, we are not followed by them. All we see is the goodness and mercy of our Lord. Rejoice. That is all we will ever see!
PRAYER: Father, I praise You for casting all my sins in Your deep seas never to be remembered again.
REFLECTION: The only thing that follows us in life is God’s goodness and mercy, not our sins and failures.