July 4th Psalm 23
A
Psalm of David
The
Shepherds Psalm
1: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2: He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. 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. 5: Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup
runneth over. 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.
Psalm 24
A
Psalm of David
The
King of Glory
1: The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the
world, and they that dwell therein. 2:
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. 3: Who shall ascend into the hill of
the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? 4: He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not
lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. 5: He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and
righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6: This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face, O Jacob. Selah. 7: Lift
up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King
of glory shall come in. 8: Who
is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9: Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10: Who is this King of glory? The
LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
In Psalm 23 we have one of the
most famous Psalms in the Bible. In Israel God is always pictured as the
shepherd of his people, (Isaiah said, All we like sheep have gone astray etc)
and the Kings of Israel were Gods ‘under-shepherds’ who had the responsibility
to protect, provide for and lead the people. Its interesting too that God often
chose his kings and leaders from amoung the shepherds. In this Psalm David the
king says the LORD is my shepherd. He is the one who provides, cares and leads
me. And what a great image David gives. David brings before us three valleys,
The valley of provision, the valley of his presence and the valley of his pavilion.
In the first valley David discovers that The LORD – the shepherd provides an
abundance for him. He provides food in abundance, water that is safe, he
restores me when l wander and he leads me in right paths and he does it for his
own glory. David is confident to say of the first valley ‘I shall not want’. Then
David says that even if he were to lead me down into a dark valley in which l
am stalked by the wolf of death and even if the wolfs shadow were to lie across
my path, yet even there, l will not be afraid of anything that can come upon me
because l can feel his rod correcting me and his staff guiding me and then l
know that my shepherd is very near by, even if l cannot see him. Both of these
things are like a wall around me. In the third valley David is confronted by
his enemies and the LORD prepares a table for him right in their presence. In
sight of his sworn enemies the LORD anoints him with oil (A symbol of the
Spiritual life brought about by walking in the Spirit.) His enemies would deny
him of his crown but the Lord fills him with the joy of the LORD, right there.
Finally David looks forward with confidence saying there are two things that
will be my constant companions through life, The LORD’s goodness when l do
right and his mercy when l do wrong. And from here to eternity – he will live in
the conscious enjoyment of being in the presence of the LORD for ever. In Psalm
24 David composes a Psalm that looks far into the distant future. He sees a
time when Christ shall reign supreme and when he will reign with him, on an eternal
throne. Christ will have claimed his earthly heritage and all men will be won
over to his kingdom. In that day the whole earth will be the LORD’s and
everything and everyone in it. The Lord will found his kingdom and impose his
kingdom on the nations of the world. It will be focused on Mt Zion. And the burning
question of that day will be who will be qualified to ascend the Hill of the
LORD? And who will be able to stand in his Holy Place? Who will be adequate to
come and kneel at feet of Jesus of Nazareth? Then he answers his own question –
He that has clean hands and a pure heart (We are back to the beatitudes of Matt
5 again) Those who do come will be men who live righteously according to the
true meaning of the Law and they will be clear of any temptations of pointless
rebellion to Christs rule and of false acknowledgment of Christ supremecy. These
men and women will recieve the blessing of the LORD and righteousness from God
who will save them. These will be the characteristics of of that generation –
holiness, faithfulness, sincerity and righteousness. They will seek the face of
Christ. Israel – think about how wonderful that will be. So don’t be gloomy – Gates
of Jerusalem lift up your eyes because the the KING of GLORY is coming. David
teases saying who is this KING of GLORY? Then he answers his own question – He is
the LORD (Jehovah - Christ) strong and mighty, mighty in battle. So come on
Gates! Open up and the KING of GLORY will come in. Think about how wonderful
this is going to be.
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