RIGHT PATHS ARE NOT ALWAYS EASY PATHS (5 OF 6)
Right Paths Are Not Always Easy Paths (5 of 6)
Series: Summer in the Psalms
Jonathan McLeod
Psalm 23
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me (v. 4).
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
Psalm 23 is the best-known psalm in the book of Psalms. The psalm begins, ''The Lord is my shepherd'' (v. 1). God is our shepherd, and we are his sheep. One of the jobs of a shepherd is to lead his sheep.
This summer my sister went with my family and I to New Hampshire. She claimed to know how to get to certain places, but she often ended up being wrong. Finally, I said, ''Danielle is a great GPS. Just ask her which way to go and then go the opposite way.''
God always leads his sheep in the right direction. But sometimes the path he leads us on is difficult.
[Read Psalm 23.]
NEVER IN NEED
God's sheep ''shall not want'' (v. 1). Our shepherd ''makes [us] lie down in green pastures. He leads [us] beside still waters'' (v. 2). In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul writes, ''My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus'' (Phil. 4:19).
So we are never in need, right? Not exactly. Earlier Paul wrote, ''In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need'' (Phil. 4:12). Paul says that there were times when he was in need. Does this contradict Philippians 4:19 and Psalm 23:1? No, sometimes we need to be in need. But, as Paul says, ''[We] can do all things [i.e., face any circumstance] through him who strengthens [us]'' (Phil. 4:13). We won't get everything we want, but we will never lack what God knows is good for us.
RIGHT PATHS
Sometimes we stray from our shepherd, and we find ourselves on a wrong path. The path is difficult because of our own sinfulness or foolishness. God ''leads [us] in paths of righteousness'' (v. 3). ''Paths of righteousness'' are right paths. God leads us to both '' ...
Series: Summer in the Psalms
Jonathan McLeod
Psalm 23
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me (v. 4).
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
Psalm 23 is the best-known psalm in the book of Psalms. The psalm begins, ''The Lord is my shepherd'' (v. 1). God is our shepherd, and we are his sheep. One of the jobs of a shepherd is to lead his sheep.
This summer my sister went with my family and I to New Hampshire. She claimed to know how to get to certain places, but she often ended up being wrong. Finally, I said, ''Danielle is a great GPS. Just ask her which way to go and then go the opposite way.''
God always leads his sheep in the right direction. But sometimes the path he leads us on is difficult.
[Read Psalm 23.]
NEVER IN NEED
God's sheep ''shall not want'' (v. 1). Our shepherd ''makes [us] lie down in green pastures. He leads [us] beside still waters'' (v. 2). In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul writes, ''My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus'' (Phil. 4:19).
So we are never in need, right? Not exactly. Earlier Paul wrote, ''In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need'' (Phil. 4:12). Paul says that there were times when he was in need. Does this contradict Philippians 4:19 and Psalm 23:1? No, sometimes we need to be in need. But, as Paul says, ''[We] can do all things [i.e., face any circumstance] through him who strengthens [us]'' (Phil. 4:13). We won't get everything we want, but we will never lack what God knows is good for us.
RIGHT PATHS
Sometimes we stray from our shepherd, and we find ourselves on a wrong path. The path is difficult because of our own sinfulness or foolishness. God ''leads [us] in paths of righteousness'' (v. 3). ''Paths of righteousness'' are right paths. God leads us to both '' ...
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