As I was praying, and pondering, what to share next, Daddy reminded me that prior to the departure of Melody I was in the midst of memorizing a verse a day for 100 days. As the focus of Refire & Inspire with Eric I had memorized 43 verses prior to putting things on hold to walk through my “12 months of firsts.” The Lord was leading me through selected Psalms. Before taking a break from this I had memorized verses from Psalms 1, 8, 103, and 119. Next on the agenda was Psalm 23.
Today I am going to pick up where I left off and make this memorization, and meditation, of the Psalms a point of focus in both the video series (Refire & Inspire With Eric) and these daily blogs (refiretoinspire.com). To get started I am simply going to share Psalm 23 in its entirety for us to begin pondering (meditating) on…
Psalm 23: 1 – 6 (NKJV)
“1. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2. He makes me lie to 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 annoint 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.”
This is a very common Psalm used at funerals, however it was written for those who are alive. It is obvious that this Psalm is not refering to a heavenly place on the other side of the grave. There will not be any enemies in heaven. This Psalm was written to encourage us of what we have available to us now while we are living in the midst of a fallen world in which our enemy is very much present. We will look at this closer over the next few days as we take time to memorize and meditate (ponder) on these verses.
Until tomorrow, ponder with me on…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 203: Life With the Shepherd (Psalm 23): Part 1