Good Monday morning! Glad to start out the week with you in the Pastor’s Workshop.
As you know, our current series is “Prepare with Prayer”. Our hope for this series is that prayer would be a powerful tool you can use more effectively to integrate your faith more fully into your daily living.
Last week we looked at one of the most famous prayers in all the Scripture, the Lord’s Prayer. We focused on the phrase, “Thy Kingdom come and Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.
This week we’re going to explore another of the Scripture’s most famous prayers, Psalm 23. We’ll focus on the phrase, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.” The title of our message this week is “Valley Trails”.
Here is our text in the New King James Version:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.3 He restores my soul;
He leads 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 You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs 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 forever.
On Mondays we spend “quality time” with the Scripture. We read and re-read, write and re-write from multiple translations. I like to use the New Revised Standard Version (our pew bible), the New King James Version (a more traditional translation), the Message (a modern paraphrase), the Living Bible (another modern paraphrase), and the Common English Bible. They are all available for free on biblegateway.com. Towards the end of your study time rephrase the Scripture in your own words, the (your name) Version.
One of the reasons this Scripture is a favorite are the beautiful and powerful images it invokes. One of the ways to immerse yourself in Psalm 23 is to form a series of pictures in your mind: green pastures, still waters, valley of the shadow, a table set, a cup overflowing, a home to dwell in. As you work through your preparation today let this imaging stir your “holy imagination”.
Even as we study Psalm 23, there are certain Scriptures really worth committing to memory. This is one of them. Investing your time and energy in “planting” this psalm in your mind and heart will reap rich rewards in your life of faith.
I’m glad to begin this week with you in this great Psalm. I trust that as we study it together God will “lead us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake”.
In that blessing I’ll let you get to work. I’ll see you tomorrow in the Pastor’s Workshop.
Prayer: Gracious God, thank You for the blessing of a brand new week. Thank You we can enter into it studying Your Word. Help us to know that in our study You would lead us in Your “paths of righteousness”, opening up our minds and hearts to your life-giving truths. As we take the time to be in Psalm 23 help us know more deeply that “You are our Shepherd” and we do “dwell” with You forever. In that blessing we enter this week and lift up this prayer, in the name of our great Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen