This is the Psalm of the Good Shepherd, or of the
resurrection of life.
Psalms 23:1 "The Lord is my shepherd; I
shall not want."
The Lord, Jesus the Christ is the Shepherd that
tends the sheep in the pasture. As long as you are in Christ, and He is your
shepherd, you shall not want for anything, truth, knowledge or blessings as your
earned the right to those blessings. However it takes your effort to study His Word
for that direction.
Psalms 23:2 "He maketh me to lie down in
green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters."
"Green
pastures" in the Hebrew text means the very choice of all the pastures. It is
the best that there is. To "lie down, means that you will be in peace. You aren't
just wandering around in some wilderness but following a Shepherd that knows the
way and is heading on a set path. Jesus Christ is in front of you, He is your
pastor giving you the direction. His truth is leading you straight ahead to keep
you following the plan of Almighty God. "Still waters" as given in the Hebrew
text is "waters of rest", "Jehovah-Shalom". It doesn't matter where you are, the
people around you will be at peace with you.
Psalms 23:3 "He
restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's
sake."
This is saying that Father brings my soul back to life,
eternal life. This is the Psalm of resurrection, and in that resurrection He
gives eternal life. It has nothing to do with your physical body. Jesus does
this leading for His Own name's sake. If you call yourself a Christian, then you
carry His name, and you carry the responsibility to teach others. You are to set
the example to others, of how that way is, as a witness to them, for that is the paths
of righteousness.
Psalms 23:4 "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 Thy staff they comfort me."
So what is this valley of the shadow of death.
In Ezekiel 37 God told Ezekiel to go down and prophecy to that valley of dead
dry bones. (Spiritually dead people, not physically dead), Teach them the truth of God's
Word. We have become a nation, or valley of spiritually dead people, because we
listen to the traditions of men which are taught in most of our so-called Christian churches, by all the false teachers and false prophets.
But,when our Lord and His Spirit is leading and guiding us though that valley today,
we do not have to fear any evil. Live Link to-> Ezekiel 37
John Rhine's Note: We are living right now in
this flesh and blood life, in the shadow of physical death, which is
not real death like the second death [the death of our soul will be]. We need to learn about the difference between what is holy
[Jesus] and what is profane [Satan] while traveling this valley which
leads to physical death. This physical life and death experience is kind of
like a learning curve to teach us what the real death of our soul
will be like and how permanent it is!
The "rod" is a club for protection
from the enemies, and the "staff" is used for safe keeping of the sheep. And we
get our comfort from and through His holy Word as we study to place those truths
in our mind. Many times Christians will not see the truth, for in our
generation God has sealed the minds closed of those that are not intended to see
the truth, for their own protection. It is not meant that they are to understand
the truth at this time, even though they keep playing church; but, if your eyes are opened, our Father will
protect you with His club, for you have eyes to see truth.
Psalms 23:5 "Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my
head with oil; my cup runneth over."
Though there is much confusion
all around us, as to the truth of God's Word, Father is going to set a table before
His elect so they will not starve for the truth in these end times. The rest of
the world will starve for the truth. Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a
thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:" We have all sorts of
enemies running around the world today, Humanism, one worldism, the four hidden
dynasties, and many other systems that are bringing this famine into being. And most of our so-called, Christian church systems, are buying it up, and being brought under control by
them.
However in the face of all that is happening, you and I of the
elect (those given eyes to see) can still have our table of truth full, as we feed from our Father's table
to prepare ourselves for these end times. Sometimes is seems that our cup of
truth is so running over that we can hardly keep it within us. We have to run
out and tell others what Father is doing for us. The anointing oil [olive oil]
is the oil of our people, and it is the understanding of Christ, the
Anointed. With in that club and that staff, God gave the order,
..."touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm." God is there
ready and able to defend you against anyone that comes against you. You
don't have to worry where ever you are.
Psalms
23:6 "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."
Goodness and
mercy will follow you all of your life, every day of the year: That's right,
here and now. Jesus Christ is that temple and the house of the Lord. When you
are in Him, He is in you, and you are in the house of the Lord for ever. Isn't
this a beautiful Psalm for there is so many promises to us in this Psalm that we
can count on right here and now. There are so few that actually understand all
the truths that are in these six verses. This is the favorite of so many people,
and yet they just don't understand all the promises that are within it. Back to
life, eternal life. This is the Psalm of resurrection, and in that resurrection
He gives eternal life.