We continue to look at Psalm 23 particularly with the
phrase; "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me."In this 4th verse of the Psalm, there is a sudden and
abrupt change of grammar. So far, the Psalmist has been using the Lord in the third party sense—the Lord is my shepherd; He makes me to lie down; He leads me and He restores my soul. Quite suddenly that changes in
verse 4. Now the psalmist addresses the Lord in the first party sense as he says "you are with me, your rod and your staff comfort me."
The Psalmist has turned from the impersonal to the personal—and so must we. If in your belief you know the Lord like that, do not hesitate to address Him like that! Talk to Him personally and ask Him personally
and thank him personally.
For the Psalmist, verse 4 is a very personal and a very basic statement. He has already made it clear
that the Lord is shepherding his life and watching out for him and leading him in the right paths. Things are going well for him. But the Psalmist, like all of us, understood the temporal nature of this earthly life.
It will end one day. And so he takes his belief to the extreme and says that even when he faces death—the darkest of valleys for most people, even then, he will not be afraid.
Some who are outside the faith find that hard to believe. They would argue that everyone is afraid of death. But as true believers, we know differently. Yes, we love to live this God given life to the full, and
we clutch and hold on to life as much as possible. When family and friends are sick we pray for their healing. We are reluctant to let go. But in the confidence of our faith, we k now that when the time
comes, we will not fear. We know that our Lord will usher us into eternity and that the Good Shepherd's rod and staff that has supported us in this life will support and comfort us in eternity. That should be a
given for us as it certainly was for the Psalmist.
The reading from Matthew reinforces those thoughts on Psalm 23. The reading provides us with such a
direct and clear insight into one situation during the life of Jesus. Here was the Good Shepherd going about His ministry and here we can see a clear distinction of various people.
Jesus had taken a boat and had come into His hometown. And these people were waiting for Him:
First, there were those who were opposed to His teaching and refused to believe.
Then those who had heard and had believed.
Also there was a large crowd of curious undecided people.
And of course there was a man who had been paralyzed for years. We can hardly imagine his longing to able to walk freely.
Four distinct groups were all facing the Good Shepherd that day—the needy, the faithful, the undecided and the faithless. And the faithful brought the needy paralytic to Jesus and He said to him "take heart
my son, your sins are forgiven." Jesus was declaring the man's forgiveness, and was preparing to lead him along the right path—in the path of righteousness.
The believers and the crowd watched. The paralytic must have held his breath. But the faithless began to mutter among themselves. Not directly facing Jesus, and not asking for clarification, but in that nasty
way of underhand muttering they said to each other—he is blaspheming.
But Jesus knew and addressed them directly "why do you think evil in your hearts? Which is easier to
say—your sins are forgiven or, rise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins."
Jesus was stating the authority. He is the Son, He is the Christ, He is the Good Shepherd and He can lead in the right paths and He can heal and forgive and even in the face of death, He can bring comfort and hope.
And as they so muttered and complained and missed the truth, Jesus turned to the sick man again and told him to "rise up, take up your bed and go home." And he did! It was a miracle as the paralytic got to
his feet, folded up his bed and walked for the first time in who knows how many years. And the crowd was amazed and glorified God and I am sure that some came and believed and followed Christ that day.
Can you see how Psalm 23 speaks to all four of the groups who met Jesus that morning?
To those who refuse to believe there is the timeless message that the Good Shepherd will take them, just as they are, that with love and forgiveness He will renew them if only they will believe.
To those who are undecided there is the wonderful news that He is just waiting for a decision in order to lead them in the right paths.
To those who are hurting and in great need, there is the life giving notice that His rod and staff are available, that He is able to change their life.
And to the believer, there is the wonderful confirmation that He is your shepherd; He is my personal shepherd, and I need not fear anything, not even the darkest and most basic of fears.
Make sure that you know where you stand on this scale. Christ is waiting to lead you into life abundant now and life eternal — make sure that He is your own Good Shepherd!
We continue to look at Psalm 23 particularly with the
phrase; "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me."