The Path

PLAM 23

4-20-11

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me on the path of righteousness for His name sake. Yea, though I walk through life 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

I have memorized this scripture, per recommendation from Ben Watts, a dear friend and a true brother. Thank you for that Ben. Had you never encouraged me to do this I would have most likely never have tried to memorize scripture word for word again b/c it never worked for me in the past. I so appreciate your strong arm during this time in my life. This blog is a result of a simple encouragement that you gave me. So I pray it blesses you as you read.

Honestly I cannot ever remember being able to memorize anything this lengthy. To some this perhaps seems like a simple feat but, for me it was literally like a man with no legs being told to run.  Never once could I ever remember walking away from a class or a test feeling the slightest bit intelligent, things were always hard for me. I believed a lie from a very young age that I was stupid and just plain couldn’t get it. I believe that happened after I tried to go through the 1st grade only to be told by my teachers that I wasnt ready and needed to be held back. But through the grace of the Lord I have been walking through a  very intense process of deliverance in so many areas of my life and one was exposing the lie I had believed for so long about my own intelligence. I always felt confident in my ability in digging deep within the Word comprehending it. However when my spiritual aspects began to collide with such things as memorization I always felt inadequate b/c it always reminded me of school. As I have spent time memorizing the 23rd Psalm I begin to see beyond the beaten path of this well quoted verse and thats what I would like to spend the rest of the time simply sharing.

The Shepherd we all know is Jesus. Its interesting the order of the verses. I would particularly like to zone in on the “Path of Righteousness.” The chapter starts off telling us the position of the Lord in our lives, provider. He first takes us places that nourish and restore our souls, hence the green pastures and still waters. After this He begins to lead us to the path of righteousness. Interestingly enough, immediately upon initiating this path comes the valley of the shadow of death. This path of righteousness, despite what your theology is, must take you through this valley of the shadow of death. It is precisely this location that Jesus wants to “prepare a table before your enemies”. During this shadow of death we are not suppose to fear any evil. Here is were I like to set up camp. Could it be (considering the order of the chapter) that if one were to skip any of the steps preceding this path, everything thereafter would be a terrifying and painful journey? I for one will say yes, because I know now I skipped some steps. My soul was never truly restored. The reason being is because I never really believed the Lord was my Shepherd. I didnt willfully reject Jesus as my Shepherd, my flesh was a veil of that clouded my vision. Some areas I believed He would provide but others I really didnt.  Even though I experienced times of “green pastures and still waters” my soul hadnt ever been fully restored. And so this “path of righteousness” that lead to the “valley of the shadow of death” has often been excruciating to say the least.

This valley without a restored soul is very dark and desolate. This shadow casts a darkness that becomes so thick its like an extra layer of skin. But I feel the Lord has illuminated some revelation about this valley and its shadow of death. To share I’d  like to pose a question. What must there be in order to have a shadow?…… The answer is Light. Who likes to stand in the front of the Light of Christ?…. Satan. Where do demons like to hide?… In the dark crevices of your soul.  And if your soul isnt restored and darkness is present well, those are very bad ingredients. With those ingredients we’ll always “want” and we’ll always “fear evil” in this valley b/c we cant see that the Lord is with us. We’ll never eat at the table thats “prepared before our enemies.”

So what I feel like the Lord is telling me and others that have felt so painfully alone and desolate is this, its time to go back to, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” If we start here then we will end up with “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Dont say to yourself that you already know Jesus is your Shepherd. Dont find yourself saying you dont need to hear this. Its one thing to have head knowledge, its another to wear the shoes and walk it out. Dont be so prideful that you think you know all the elementary aspects of following Christ because one day Jesus will have you put on the shoes and you’ll find yourself standing in the dark “valley of the shadow of death” amongst your enemies. Ive been following the Lord for a long time. I pridefully thought I knew these things and I have been greatly humbled. You see when I finally reached a point that the Light hit parts that had been in the dark for so long and it revealed all the parasites that had been slowly eating my joy. But i’m going to make it through this time. Gods going to get me to that place where know the Lord is truly my Shepherd and during my new journey on this familiar path, “I Shall Not Want.”

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