I did a posting recently which reads, “If you are not led beside the still waters, the Lord is not your Shepherd”. I know that this statement is audacious and as expected, it triggered a reaction from one of the readers. His comment is as follows, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for thou art with me’. He went further to say that ‘He sometimes leads us through trouble. He is ALWAYS our Shepherd. I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Let God be true and every man a liar. The quote highlighted above sounds contradictory’.
I love feedbacks, so I took it in good faith. My short reply to him reads – ‘Thanks for your feedback but the leading of God is by the still small voice. That does not mean that God is not omnipresent’.
This was the foundation that made me to revisit Psalm 23 critically. If you look take a critical at the comments of the reader, you will discover that he came from a very strong position too based on this Psalm. However, it is possible for you to come from a very strong position that is very wrong.
In the first place, the Psalm did not say that the Lord is “our” Shepherd but the Lord is “my” Shepherd. Who wrote the Psalm? The psalm was written by a consummate worshipper; the great Psalmist of Israel – David – who was so addicted to the presence of God that he became a friend of God. He lived in the realm of divine communion more or less because ten times a day, he went to the temple. Out of these, he worshipped and praised God seven times and prayed three times.
Who was David? He was a true shepherd of the flock, a raw handsome shepherd. One of the things that produce error is that people fail to realize that they have a responsibility for every blessing that God gives. They want to appropriate the blessing without fulfilling their own part of the responsibility!
The second error is that the Lord is always the Shepherd. But the truth is the Lord can only shepherd those who continue to submit to his leading. It takes the yielding of your will for God to continue to lead you. God said, I will never leave nor forsake you, yes, but you can leave and forsake God if you decide to. What happens when you do? God will not violate your will in order to shepherd you. He is ready to be your shepherd as long as you are ready and willing to submit your will to his will. This is the foundation for this series of teachings.
Psa. 23:1-6, “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 they staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my 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”. Incidentally, this seems to be the most recited and commonest psalm.
Take note of ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’. Here, you are the person walking. The Lord is not the one leading you through the valley of the shadow of death, you are the one walking in it. The only two places where the Lord leads you according to this Psalm are beside the still waters and in the paths of righteousness. Any leading that is not in the path of righteousness is not the leading of God. This is very fundamental because today, people are fond of saying that God is leading them to do this and that. Most of the people who do this are lying because if you take a critical look at what they claim that God has said, you will discover that it is inconsistent with the revealed will of God which is the word of God.
Pray –
- Lord, I thank you for your goodness and mercy towards me. I deliberately yield my will to your will and ask you to guide me till by your spirit unto all perfection and fulfillment of your purpose for my destiny in Jesus’ name. Amen.
TO BE CONTINUED……..