[Biblemat] B> Gospel Observer 9/02/07
tedwards at onemain.com
tedwards at onemain.com
Wed Sep 12 09:15:15 CDT 2007
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THE GOSPEL OBSERVER
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"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19,20).
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September 2, 2007
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Contents:
1) The Valley of the Shadow of Death (Earl Kimbrough)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
by Earl Kimbrough
The beautiful twenty-third Psalm is a song of faith. It abounds
with assurance of God's guidance and protection. There is mention
of danger of enemies, both past and present, but it is muted by
David's trust in the perpetual presence and ceaseless care of God.
The psalm begins with an affirmation of faith for time and ends
with an expression of hope for eternity. Its message is couched in
figures in which the psalmist sees himself first as a journeying
sheep in the hands of a gentle shepherd (vv 1-4) and then as a
permanent guest in the house of a gracious host (vv. 5,6). But each
facet of this lyrical jewel is centered in the believer's walk with
God that calms his fears and gives peace to his soul each day of
his life.
1. Faith in the Shepherd's Care (vv. 1-3). "The Lord is my
Shepherd." These words declare the simplicity of David's faith in
God as the one who laid the foundations of the earth and made the
morning stars sing together, yet is ever mindful of his lowly
creatures (see Psa. 138:6). As he sorrowed over whatever troubled
him at the time of writing, he claimed the trust he learned as the
shepherd of his father's sheep on the perilous hills near
Bethlehem. He knew that the Divine Shepherd who had delivered him
from the paw of the lion and the bear would deliver him from every
affliction. The most telling word in the sentence is "my." David
saw the Lord as his own Shepherd. This implies an abiding
companionship with God in which he continually meditated on his
words, walked in his law, and communed with him in prayer.
"I shall not want." David rose to be king of Israel, but he
never rose above a constant awareness of his dependence on God for
all things. No faithful child of God ever reaches the place where
he can say, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing" (Rev. 3:17). We, like David, must always remember our
reliance on God for every good thing in due season. But we cannot
have freedom from want without condition. While God sends rain
alike on the just and the unjust, only the just may claim the
promise, "And my God shall supply all your need" (Phil. 4:19; see
Heb. 4:16). None today can say in truth, "The Lord is my Shepherd,"
unless he follows Christ, the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep and
is known of them (Jn. 10:14).
"He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside
the still waters." The picture here does not portray the needs of
life so much as the righteous rest that God gives the burdened
pilgrim. The tender grass and quiet waters are an invitation to a
cool and refreshing repose on a hot and weary day. There is work to
do and there are dark valleys to cross, but God provides peaceful
meadows for his faithful sheep. "Though I walk in the midst of
trouble, You will revive me" (Psa. 138:7). When problems pressed
upon David and his spirit was ready to sink under their weight, the
Lord revived his strength to endure and overcome them. God so
wisely balances our labors and rests, and our sorrows and joys,
that we are moved to ask, "How can a holy God deal so graciously
with a sinner like me?"
"He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake." The writer for the moment drops the metaphor
to declare his spiritual renewal. His life, like all servants of
God, no doubt had many restorations. Once when he took another's
man wife and Nathan rebuked him, he repented and God restored him
to his favor. To restore the soul is to bring it back from the
brink of destruction. God refreshes us when we are weary; he
comforts us when we are troubled, and he restores us when we stray.
But he does not restore our souls that we may continue in sin. He
restores us that we may walk with him in the paths of
righteousness, which he shows us in his word (Jer. 23:10). "For His
name's sake" may mean that God restores us and leads us that his
name may be exalted. Our greatest mission is to glorify the name of
God.
2. Faith in Time of Trouble (v. 4). "Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are
with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." "The valley of
the shadow of death" calls to mind a ravine overhung with cliffs
and foliage that casts dark shades over the dangers that lurk along
the path below. Such a place is well calculated to arouse dread in
the fragile sheep, but his Shepherd knows every pitfall and
precipice, and the way of every preying beast that could endanger
him there. Under his direction and care, the sheep has no cause for
fear. His Shepherd is ever with him and the symbols of his office,
the club for the foes and the crook for the pits, calm his
trembling heart. Those who have God as their companion need fear no
danger to their soul for his way is plain and his presence assured.
Only when we forsake him to walk in our own way is there reason to
be afraid (Prov. 14:12).
"The valley of the shadow of death" is expressive of any danger
or cause of fear that may arise to trouble one's life. But this
does not exclude the greatest valley through which all must pass,
and to which the phrase is popularly applied: the valley of death
itself. God's promised presence, his rod and his staff, comfort us
also in that dark and dreadful hour. As he safely guides us through
every danger in our present life, so he will safely guide us when
we make our final departure from it (see Luke 16:22). There is no
cause of fear for the righteous in death for, "Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" (Psa. 116:15). The
Lord said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).
This promise does not stop at the river's edge. But we cannot
expect God to be with us in death, if we refuse to be with him in
life.
3. Faith in God's Goodness and Mercy (vv. 5,6). "You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head
with oil; My cup runs over." David now sees God as a benevolent and
protective host in whose house he is a guest. There God fully
supplies his every lack and fills his heart with surpassing joy,
which even the presence of enemies cannot mar. Ancient laws of
hospitality required the host to provide food, companionship, and
security for his guests. The table implies the psalmist's personal
communion with God. Anointing the head with oil was a mark of
special honor and suggests divine favor. God exalts all who find
refuge in his house. The overflowing cup represents the fullness of
God's blessings. The feast in the sight of enemies indicates the
safety of God's children in the midst of a hostile world. Nothing
men may do can separate the faithful child of God from his Father.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life." The goodness and mercy of God are ever present with his
servant. They are both the fruit of God's presence and the reason
for it. David seems to have looked back over his difficult and
troubled life to remember that God's goodness and mercy had
attended each step of his way. Based on his friendship with God and
the promises of his word, he looked to the future with confidence
that these marvelous virtues of God would keep him safely to his
journey's end. The day is not too long, too dark, or too stormy for
the goodness and mercy of God to shine through to those who love
him.
"And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." The
reference is to Israel (Heb. 3:5,6). To dwell in God's house means
to live with him among his people. David saw himself as always in
fellowship with God. He said, "One thing I have desired of the
Lord, This will I seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life" (Psa. 27:4). He was in God's house then
and he expected to be in God's house through eternity. Christ said,
"In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would
have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am, there you may be also" (Jn. 14:2,3). The
church is God's house today and it will one day be delivered up to
live forever with the Lord in his heavenly home (Rev. 21:3).
The Twenty-Third Psalm describes the believer's constant
communion with God, which calms his fears and brings peace to his
soul. All whose Shepherd is the Lord can have the assurance David
had in his Divine Friend. The psalm teaches us to trust God for
every need of body and soul. It teaches us to depend on God for
guidance, to lean on him in trouble, and to hope in him for
eternity. A thoughtful and prayerful study of the psalmist's
sublime song can help us understand what it means to truthfully
say, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want."
-- Via Guardian of Truth XXXII: 17, pp. 534-535, September 1,
1988
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-2-
News & Notes
Let those of us who are Christians be praying for Luther Shuff
who recently had his gall bladder removed. It was in very bad
shape, so he had to remain several days in the hospital. (He
returned home September 4 and is now doing much better.)
I also solicit prayer from you who are saints for myself (Tom
Edwards). On September 2, I had a heart attack and went into the
hospital for 7 and 1/2 days. On September 4, they performed a
catheterization of the heart and determined by it that I would need
by-pass surgery. So on September 5, I had a triple by-pass to
solve for three blockages that had been 100%, 90%, and 80%.
Fortunately, the heart attack occurred near the bottom of the heart
where the damage can't be as bad as elsewhere. One doctor said I
might not even notice it. But I was thinking, too, of what an
improvement this surgery has made: to have had that much blockage
before, but now so much more blood working through the heart and
mind. My healing process is coming along well, but I will have to
be cautious over the next couple months, such as in not driving for
the next few weeks and not lifting things too heavy. If you are a
Christian, please remember me from time to time in your prayers. I
will appreciate that. And how thankful we can be for Jesus Christ;
for it is He who makes the answers to prayers possible!
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MYRTLE STREET CHURCH OF CHRIST
1022 Myrtle Street
Denham Springs, LA 70726
(225) 664-8208
Sunday: 9:15 AM, 10:00 AM, 4:00 PM
Wednesday: 7:00 PM
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (225) 667-4520
e-mail: tedwards at onemain.com
web site: http://home.onemain.com/~tedwards/go
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