May 9, 2011 Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and welcome to Monday and the day we pray for our leaders, those in authority over us in our governments. Also the day we set aside to pray for veterans, and for our current military, for our State Police, local police and sheriffs and all those working to keep us safe, and healthy. Please remember your family doctor. Please add to your prayer list Burt Emig, who is having his heart stopped and restarted. Also Doug Thompson who has Leukemia.

The 23rd Psalm: Yes I have written about it before and God has given it to me again. Almost every funeral that I attend I see Psalm 23 written someplace. Most often it is written in the little memorial card that is given to each visitor with information about the deceased. I have often wondered, is it a favorite Bible passage for those folks, or the only passage they even heard of, or one that is just suggested by a family member or even the funeral director. I have also seen it written and framed and on the wall at the funeral home.

Back when I went to school we read the Bible each morning when school opened. We read the Bible, had prayer and then pledged our flag. We also took turns, and each person was welcome to read from their own Bible. As you folks know, because I have told you, I struggle to read, really struggle. It was even worse back then. So I learned Psalm 23 and also 100 and locked them in my little brain. I would hold the Bible and out of memory I would just say one or the other of those Psalms. But like so many, I really did not understand what I was reading, and in fact it was not until I came to Jesus and got on board with Him, one on one, that I could understand any of the Bible. Now each day He opens more and more of the inspired work of God to me. So again I want to see just how He will open this Psalm again to me... I am excited about it.

I want to give you a homework assignment for this week. I am asking you to get out your Bible, and dig into this Psalm with me. I don't care what version of the Bible you use, just read it each day and ask the Lord to open it to you. I am going to write it out one more time and tomorrow we will start with verse one. Digest it. I am using the King James Version for this Psalm as it is how I learned it.

First lets pray... Dear Father in Heaven, we give thanks to You for this, another day, and ask that You might see our prayer list and go over them and act on them according to Your will and not ours. Then open up this wonderful Psalm to us and give it to us this week so we understand it better. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Psalm 23:1 - The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (KJV)

Please folks, get your Bible out and let's go over it. For the next four days we are going to study it. I have written about it before, but I am not going back and look at those notes till next week. All fresh stuff, now go forth this day, SHARING YOUR BLESSINGS and loving on others as God loves on you... and know that I love ya also. Pastor Dan.