“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” John 10:27 NASB
Sheep when they are mix with other sheep will only go to the voice of their shepherd. They will not follow the voice of another shepherd. We need to know our Shepherd’s voice.
Jesus says this about Him as our Shepherd:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." John 10:11NKJV
The Good Shepherd knows the needs of His sheep. He knows when they need to rest and feed. He will provide the perfect spot f or His sheep to rest and have plenty of good food.
He also will lead His she[ to still waters. Away from the danger of rushing turbulent water that could sweep His sheep away. Still waters were the sheep can peacefully drink up the Living Water, the life giving Water.
I love the way the Amplified puts verse 3 of this Psalm:
"He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake."
It is all to bring glory to Him. That we may honor Him throughout our lives as we draw in on this sweet fellowship with Him.
There is no cause to fear when we go through dark times because He is right there with us.
FEAR = False Evidence + Appearing Real
We face mountains of false evidence through at us daily in this life, just turn on the TV, read the newspaper or read some of the articles on Facebook. Recently my husband read something on Facebook and believed that is was real. Hearing the source that it came from I told him that you could never trust what they say because most of what they say they make up just to get people to bite the hook. He swallowed that hook, line and sinker. He believed the worst about a person until he was proven wrong about a week later that what he had read was a lie. Was he living in FEAR? Yes, not for his life but that he couldn’t enjoy one of his shows because of what the article said about a person.
Satan the father of lies will try to deceive us especially when we are down. One of his most often use lies when we are going through this dark valley is that God has left us to go through this all on our own. We know this to be wrong because we know that the Bible says different. YET, due to our circumstances and our feelings it appears that it could be true. We are all alone with no one to help.
When we don’t give in to the false evidence and trust our Shepherd at His Word we will know that He is there with us. Using His rod to protect us and His staff to gently guide us away from the danger. This is our comfort and peace as we walk through the valleys of life.
In the end our Shepherd has a feast for us to show us off before our enemy that we came through with shining colors. He anoints our heads with oil. Oil throughout the Bible represents the Holy Spirit. Interesting that when the Holy Spirit first came to the disciples He first appeared on their heads. Thanks to the Holy Spirit we are in constant fellowship with God.
David finishes this Psalm with the riches we receive from this fellowship with God.
1) "My cup overflows with blessings.” NLT What can be better than a cup of coffee? A cup/life overflowing with blessings. The best way to see the blessings is to write down at least 5 things that you are thankful for that day and thank God for them. I bet you can’t just stop at 5.
2-4) "Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,” AMP Like a lost puppy God’s goodness, mercy and unfailing love follows us daily. No matter what is going on It is there. This is a truth that we can rest on.
5) " through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.” AMP Love being in the presence of the LORD. It is so reassuring, comforting and peaceful. Because of the Holy Spirit in our lives we need to remember that presence is with us
24/7/365. We need to take the time to breathe it in when we get overtaken by the cares of this world.
We need to remember the truths in this.
He is ALWAYS with us.
He is GUIDING us.
He PROTECTS us.
He ANNOINTS us.
He BLESSES us.
His GOODNESS, MERCY and UNFAILING LOVE is with us daily.
His PRESENCE is where we live.