Was feeling a bit out of it this morning. Or, rather, because I needed to get my workouts in before something happening in an hour and a half from now, I was dilly-dallying. But I pushed myself, and now I’m up 3500+ steps.
Gently reminded at this time to be thankful. Just like a good friend of mine reminded me – ‘Don’t be sad for what ended, but be thankful it happened’.
Well, okay, I was lying – it wasn’t ‘at this time’ but it was visible and persistent since last night, during the walk home. Being thankful for what ended sort of humbles you – it (rightfully) downplays your side of the story, and gets you to truly appreciate everything else involved in what happened. That got me thinking, well, the associations I’ve had in the past (that have ended) were way out of my league, and I really ought to have been thankful all this time that I even had time with these people.
Not naming names although some of y’all may be aware of some of ’em, but I WILL mention my Dad. If I get past the regret of not doing all I could to get closer to him (especially during what were his final months), I’m finding myself thankful – First, that we even HAD time to settle whatever we had between each other; Second, that while on this wretched planet, I had him as my Dad who didn’t necessarily love me according to my expectations, but absolutely with all of his heart.
And much more.
Truly, it is the will of God in Christ Jesus for us to give thanks in everything. And let me clarify, as always – it’s not to give thanks FOR everything (because that flat tire, that cough and colds, all that has added sorrow is not of the Lord), more than it is to give thanks IN everything – because in everything, (I’ll keep saying even if I sound like a broken record) the Godhead (Father, Son, and Spirit) are Faithful and True; Present, and Powerful, willing and able to help.
Thank You, Lord, for the reading of Your Word.
And it’s something very familiar. In fact, let me try reciting it from memory.
Psalm 23
The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
Our dear Pastor Oscar bragged, rightly so, of how we could stretch this verse, and even just the first half, to cover an entire month’s worth of Sundays with sermons. I’m pretty sure we tackled this in a previous writing, but let me go for it again:
The. Not ‘A’. Not ‘A LORD’, like there were other Lords. The God we sing to, the God whom David refers to is THE God, and there is no other above Him, or besides Him.
LORD. Adonai. Master with dominion. Sovereignty. With power and wisdom ascribed to Him. He is Lord who is ‘I Am‘; True to His Word, He is who He says He is, and He does what He says He does.
Is. Present Tense. Not ‘was’, not ‘will be’; He is Lord, and He is Shepherd, right here and right now.
My. Could’ve been ‘our’, but David specifically mentioned that the Lord is His individual Shepherd. God is that intimate to love each and every one of us, individually. He knows all of us by name. He knows the number of hairs on our head at every given moment; His love for me, for David, for you, for all of us is primarily individual, close and absolutely, forever consistent.
Shepherd. Could’ve been a King who rules over us. Could’ve been a Soldier who fights for us. Could’ve been a Teacher who mentors us. God is our good Shepherd who gives His life for us. Christ is our good Shepherd who leaves the other sheep to find us.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
The unrivalled God of the heavens and the earth, the Creator with no equal, infinite and magnificent, loves me so much to give everything up; leaving His glory and laying all He has and all He is down for us to be saved, reconciled, now and forever.
Therefore, I shall not want.
I remember the writing on the wall for Belshazzar of Persia, as shared in Daniel 5:25-28:
“And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”
On any scale, even my own, I could be found wanting – that is, insufficient, incompetent, incomplete, and definitely insecure; But the Lord is my Shepherd. Through Christ and His finished work, the Lord God, the Creator Himself is my Father.
God is my Sufficiency – Rather, our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:5). Only by the grace of God, are we who we are (1 Corinthians 15:10).
God is my Competency – Without Him, I can do nothing; Without Him, nothing I do has any real value (John 15:5), but consequently, I can do all things (and all things I do are done) through Christ, my Strength (Philippians 4:13).
God Completes me – Rather, God has made us complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10) – indeed, because through Christ (the Author and Perfecter of our faith, Hebrews 12:2), and His offering and obedience He has perfected us for all time, and it shows in our present sanctification (Hebrews 10:14)
Also, one scripture that resonates to me at this very moment, particularly in all I’ve shifted to be thankful for, is Psalm 138:8: “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” And I say now, in the name of Jesus Christ and for His name’s sake, the Lord perfects all which I see has ended; the Lord perfects all that I am sad about; The Lord causes even this to work for my good.
For all this, I am secure. But, still, God is my Security. God is my Safety. The promises of the Lord in Isaiah 54:11-17 were for His people, and now, I believe, it is also for the body of Christ.
The Name of the Lord is a strong tower, to whom we (made righteous through Christ) run to and are safe – and, apparently, this is no brutalist structure; it’s adorned with precious stones, standing on a precious, firm foundation. The rest of the prophecy of Isaiah (in those verses, specifically) ought to calm us down, because not only are we protected and preserved, but the generations that come from us shall also be secured.
God is my Security. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. No assembly that comes against us shall stand. No curses said against us shall come to pass.
On our own, we shall fall short. We shall be found wanting.
But the Lord is my Shepherd. The Lord is my Sufficiency, my Competency, my Security, and He completes me.
Therefore, I shall not want.
Man, this is just the first verse, too. I should probably write a whole series about this.
It’ll be a pleasant change of pace. Challenge accepted.
Let me end this here.
Thank You, Lord, for everything. Thank You so much for all You are, all You’ve done, all You’re doing, and all You will do. You ARE my Shepherd, and I shall not want.
Halleluyah, and amen.
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