Psalm 23
No matter what I achieve in life, one thing remains: I seek
rest—a peacefulness that steadies my heart; joy that makes me hope for the
impossible and believe that I will see it; and a God who will share with me his
secrets about his will for my life that my flesh could never interpret. Truth
be told, my flesh fights with my spirit daily. It tells me about its own
secrets picked through piles of information scattered around my society. Litter
is what it is; and everyone has their idea of truth. It’s a love/hate
relationship. I despise the lies because I’d rather not bother with the scuffle;
on the other hand, I love the worship that it evokes. Of course, it did not
intend to bring me to my knees, but that’s exactly what transpired. Satan lies
because he hopes to kill me (a spiritual death), but God’s truth is so powerful
once inhaled I can’t help but live.
With great hope in the Lord and in his comfort and
protection, David poetically poured out his heart to God in the 23rd
chapter of Psalm. He spoke the truth and revealed what he truly believed about
God. He declared that the Lord was his shepherd, and though some of us may not
fully understand the importance of a shepherd to sheep, we can conclude that a
shepherd is synonymous with a guide. David was announcing to his audience that
without God he did not know which way was right or wrong. He could not make a
sound decision about which way he should go. He could not sustain himself or
withstand this world without a God who he could rely on. David depended on God
to steer him in the right direction and trusted that wherever he was led, it
would be peaceful.
David found the peace that we daydream about. So often, we
equate peace to wealth. Seems true—money makes you powerful in our society and
people tend to show you more respect—but don’t believe the hype. Because just
as sure as Lil’ Kim was about money, power, and respect is all we need in life,
one of her closest friends was rapping about more money, more problems. The
chaos creeps in through these small but powerful lies. We pick up the litter
and place it on a mantle in our homes. We are so proud of what our wealth has
afforded us and defeated by what the lack thereof could not heal.
The gift in this peace that David found was new life—a life
of freedom. God gave him a peace that took him from broken to fixed. His soul
was restored after being hated and hunted for death. We know this kind of feeling.
The feelings that come from a broken heart after loving someone so sincerely,
the rock bottom from crack pipes and alcohol abuse, and loneliness after losing
someone who meant the world to you. We all know pain, but we are not all bound
to brokenness. Contrary, our shepherd restores souls. He is a healer from the
spirit to the flesh. There is a promise from Christ that the peace he gives is
nothing like the world’s broken promises (John 14:27). His peace calms the
troubled heart. His peace restores souls.
After new life comes righteousness—a goodness that we were
never able to achieve, no matter how strong we are and regardless of how weak
we once were. For God’s sake, he cleanses our hearts of the filth and litter we
picked up along the way. He is not persuaded by our decisions to gather the waste;
rather, he is overjoyed by our decisions to let go—to walk through life
fearlessly as though we are well aware that we were wonderfully made by a wise
creator who knew exactly what he would create through us. (Psalm 139:14) He
knew the vision that we would write down plainly and wait patiently to see.
(Habakkuk 2:2-3) All along, he waits for us to receive the vision after the
dust clears and his righteousness overcomes whatever it was that tried to
destroy us.
So what is the truth anyway? The truth is that we are holy
as he is holy through his redeeming power. (1 Peter 1:16) And nothing can
separate us from God’s love at any time. His love is infinite. His grace,
mercy, and love follow us for the rest of our lives. With a promise like this, we
can look forward to his glory every day as we choose him back. Just as David
did, I decree and declare that we are living and breathing in a peace that can
only be found in the love of God, fearlessly thriving and succeeding through
his grace (undeserved favor), and anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit to
be visionaries who await the manifestation of the promise—all along, guided by
the Good Shepherd. The truth is that we are free by the true and living word of
God. (John 8:32)
Think higher.
Ri
Ri
