Applying the 23 Psalm

The life of David is filled with incredible spiritual truths, and applications.  Gleaning from the ancient paths that David walked with the God of Israel has given me such guidance and direction in my own life.

From his boyhood shepherding in the hills of Bethlehem, David began to cultivate his relationship with His Shepherd.  As David learned to guide his own sheep to tufts of grass, fiercely fend off predators and gently correct the wandering sheep, David began to know God the Father as His own Shepherd.  The groundwork for David’s relationship was being established and in the years of shepherding on the hillside he was being prepared by God for the years to come.

And then, as God sometimes does, He unexpectedly reveals a small portion of His plan for David’s life and anoints Him as King over His inheritance.  Least likely to be chosen for this position, David accepts his anointing and begins a very long waiting period that takes him into places of deep trust in His God.  He begins by taking down Goliath with a declaration of the strength of God, and with faith that God alone will defeat the giant.  And as only God can do, through the faith of this teenage boy armed with 5 stones, the giant falls.  But the giant falls forward.  God defied gravity and elevated David to his next place of trust.

David goes to the palace, but not as king over Israel.  From the place of serving the King of Israel, David bows low and humbly serves and ministers to the very man who will seek to destroy him.  In a fit of jealousy and rage David is exiled by King Saul from the very kingdom he was promised and anointed to rule and reign.  And David steps in to a long period of wandering, waiting, and warring and will spend years on the run from a persistent and blood thirsty enemy.  David will wait a total of approximately 22 years before he experiences his third and final anointing as king of Israel.

So what happens in the waiting and wandering and warring of in own lives.  Here’s where Psalm 23 paints a beautiful picture of the opportunities or places we have to experiencing the depth of all God has for us as we hold on to all He has spoken to us.

The first place David speaks of is in the very first verse of Psalm 23.  Adonai is my Shepherd; I lack nothing.  David goes Back to his Bethlehem encounter with God-the very infancy of their relationship, and he is drawing from the strength that God developed and began with him as God established  and revealed Himself as David’s Shepherd.  The Passion Translation says it like this, “God is my Fierce Protector and my Provider.”  In this 23rd declaration, David is speaking, recounting, and proclaiming the goodness of the God who cultivated his heart in the years he spent on the hillside.

There are many scholars who believe that David wrote this Psalm towards the end of life as he was looking back on his life and the fullness he had experienced with God.  But there are a handful of scholars who believe David wrote this when Saul was pursuing him and he was living in the wilderness.  If he had written this during the time that his very life was being threatened, and David was declaring the goodness of His Shepherd and the provision he was given while he was in exile, in the wandering wilderness and in the fierce and unrelenting warring, this declaration would be one of great faith and speak of the intimacy with God that can be established in our own wilderness experiences.  I believe that this Psalm can be applied to any person regardless of the “where” we are in the journey with Jesus.  Recounting the goodness of God, declaring it out loud and believing in faith that God is good and faithful is a powerful practice as children of God.

David then leads us into the portion of Green Pastures.   The Hebrew word Na’ah describes in more beauty what this word means.  It is a permanent dwelling place.  It is fixed, a habitat that does not move.  It’s the place of abiding with Jesus.  It happens on our knees morning after morning encountering the rich goodness of God through His Word and presence with communication with Him and soaking in His Word.  Within the Na’ah David describes still and calm waters, and the guidance of the Shepherd.

Soul Restoration is waiting in the Green Pastures.  The Hebrew word for restores is shoob.  It means to turn back, to retreat and my favorite new understanding of this word “restores” is that restoration is something that recurs over and over again.  It’s not a one time experience.  In the permanent dwelling place of His Green Pastures He replenishes our inner being.  He breathes His breath of life and truth into our whole person in the quiet and still waters of Green Pastures.  He continually restores our mind and our emotions as we so choose to go to the permanent abiding place of meeting with Jesus in the richness of His Green Pastures.

Right here in the middle of a beautiful description of green pastures and walking with God, David speaks of the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  No one is exempt from experiencing the hard places of dark valleys or spiritual battles.  David knew first hand what it was like to war with the enemy. He knew the experience of wandering in the wilderness living in exile from his family and from his home.  And the waiting for the perfect timing of God to unfold all of His promises and bring to completion the anointed King of Israel was an experience David knew all too well. It’s in the middle of all of the chaos and unexpected difficult, challenging, and dark places that David declares the sweetest place that is prepared for those passing through the valley of the shadow of death.

I can say that the valley of the shadow of death has to be the least expected place to discover a table filled with abundant and nutrient-rich soul satisfying goodness, but right here David speaks of the Feast at the Table of God. But it’s up to us to take a seat at His table and dine with our Shepherd King.  If we so choose to feast with our bridegroom during the deepest darkest valleys, often times called the dark nights of our should when the enemy is in heavy pursuit and we are wearing targets on our backs, these are the moments that there is a rich reward for turning, retreating and sitting at His table and feasting with the King.

David describes in detail what is in store at the table.  The fear of evil is not invited to the table. Fear has no place card, no invitation and has to flee in the presence of God. Perhaps on the journey when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, God’s presence is the first place we should go-where fearing any evil has no seat.

His rod and His staff are provided for those who feast at His table.  A Shepherd’s staff had three main purposes.  The first was a walking stick to help the shepherd walk on the hard rocky paths. I can imagine the many times David used his staff to lean in to as he climbed the hills of Bethlehem. And I am sure he used it as a rod of gentle correction to help wandering sheep be brought back in to the fold with the crook of the staff.  And the rod was also a symbol of the authority a Shepherd has over His sheep.  Oh that we His sheep would lean in, come back to His fold and come under the beautiful authority of Jesus our Shepherd King.

At the feast their is also opportunity to be anointed with oil.  David would have known the physical experience of being anointed as he wrote this Psalm.  The word for anoint in Hebrew is dashen.  It means to satisfy, to remove the ashes, bones growing fat, and to be in good health.  In the spiritual realm as we open the word, intercede and cry out to God during the dark and difficult portions of our journey, Jesus has a table that was prepared for us before we even knew.  The table, our time with Him, is one that richly satisfies our souls and produces health in our spiritual bones.  He pours this anointing oil of His Spirit on our heads.  The oil of the Holy Spirit cleanses, soothes and leads us into healing.  The place that often times is set up for our soul’s destruction is actually one of the holiest portions of our journey.  And if we so choose to sit at the table, God will meet our every inner-aching, wounded place, battle weary, or waiting portion of our journey, and satisfy our entire soul with His love.

In the feasting David declares that goodness and mercy and love will follow him all the days of His life.  He surely knew what it was like to be pursued by a fierce and relentless enemy, but after David’s encounters with God in Bethlehem, Green Pastures and the Feast, David’s eyes could see and his mouth could declare the pursuing love of the God He had experienced.

 

Praying His Word  Sweet Jesus, in my waiting, wandering, or warring may I also go back to my Bethlehem experience and draw from the strength that you cultivated in me as I came to know you as my Shepherd.  I choose to retreat and return to the Green Pastures, that permanent dwelling place of abiding in your Word and in Your truth and hiding myself in Your presence.  Thank you for the satisfying Feast that you prepare when  difficult circumstances and chaos and unforeseen battles come.  I choose to dine with you, and may you anoint me with the oil of your Holy Spirit and restore the depths of my soul with your love.  I ask that my perspective and vision of what IS pursuing me will be renewed.  Help me to see that it’s your goodness and mercy and love that is in constant pursuit of me all the days of my life-until I dwell with you forever.

 

1 and 2 Samuel

Psalm 23