Unfailing Love

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

David identified God’s goodness and includes with it His “unfailing love”. Other translations translate verse 6 as “Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life …” (AMP) or “faithful love” (CSB) or “love” (NIV). But we get the picture. God’s love is faithful and unfailing and it will pursue us “all the days of [our] lives”. The theme of God’s love is impregnated within the Bible from cover to cover. A favourite mention of God’s love for me can be found in another Davidic Psalm. We read in Psalm 36:5, 10, “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. … Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts”. We enlightened men and women in the 21st Century know that the extent of the “heavens” have not yet been discovered , adding weight to the extent of God’s love. More and more powerful telescopes just find more and more of the universe, with no end in sight. And we know that the region “beyond the clouds” has no end to it either. 

There are some human examples of “unfailing love” in the Bible, and the Book of Ruth tells the story of an extraordinary woman who uttered the statement to her mother-in-law, “ … Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!” (Ruth 1:16-17). We could also turn to the Book of Hosea, a man who went to extraordinary lengths in love for his wayward wife, Gomer. But Jesus told a parable about a father and two sons, one a waster who squandered his inheritance before finally realised that his way of sin could not be sustained and that he had to repent and get things put right with his father. The son put together a humble and repentant statement and started for home. We read in Jesus’ parable what he was going to say, “I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant“” (Luke 15:18-19). But look at the unfailing love of his father, who daily kept watch just in case his wayward son was returning home, “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). That’s “unfailing love” pursuing a sinner.  That’s human love, so imagine how much greater God’s love is. In fact, we know it’s extent from John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life“. There is no greater love than that, and throughout the Bible the theme running through is God pursuing mankind, His love unstinting and so extensive that it would not stop at anything to restore His creation back to its rightful place. 

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:17-19, “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God”. Paul wrote about the extent of God’s love with an unlimited three dimensional picture of width, length and height, which we know from Psalm 36 completely fills an infinite universe. But Paul added an additional dimension, “depth”, and I take from this that Paul was referring to a fourth dimension, time. God’s love not only fills the universe but it is also eternal and timeless, and it pursues us whatever the age in which we have been born. 

And there is more about God’s love. Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord”. 

Do we pilgrims feel God’s love today? Even if we don’t, we know it is there. There is nothing we can do to stop it. We can deny it. We can refuse it. We can even throw it back into God’s face. But we can never stop it. God’s love for us humans knows no bounds and He keeps on loving us day after day, hour after hour, and forever. And in worship we offer our grateful hearts, in an offering of love and service, “forever and ever”.

Dear Father God, thank You for Jesus, the One who loved us so much that He was prepared to die for us. Such love! Thank You Lord. Amen.

The Pursuing Goodness

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

The last verse of Psalm 23 wraps up this wonderful poem of God’s provision. After writing down all the wonderful things God has done for him, David concludes that they will be there for him for the rest of his life. God’s provision, His giving, was not just a one-off for David; he knew that there was no limit to God and His resources. God keeps on giving and giving, on and on, until the Earth-years draw to an end. And David knew that even then, there was a feast prepared for him, ready and waiting to be shown to his place at the table. 

I love the NLT translation of verse 6 – “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life” (emphasis mine). Other translations use the word “follow” rather than “pursue”, but the word “pursue” builds for me a picture of an active God, not just intent on keeping up with what I am doing, but influencing my thoughts, and leading and guiding my life in the right paths.

In a little village near St Andrews in Scotland, there is a church, its architecture seemingly at odds with the houses around it. A bell proudly displayed on a simple tower at the top, the walls constructed of stone probably cut in a nearby quarry, a slate roof immune to the storms that occasionally blast their way over that part of Fife, and a wayside pulpit declaring the denomination and the next Sunday service. Walking past one day, I saw that the front door was lying open, so I thought I would take a peep inside to see what it was like. There were two ladies cleaning the pews and other surfaces, and in subsequent conversations I discovered that the following Sunday service was the last to be held there. The congregation had dwindled away to a handful of elderly members, and the services were no longer viable. An air of gloom was present because those ladies loved that church and they were mourning its passing, not sure what they themselves were going to do. I shared with them the thought that God was always going to be there for them because He had promised them that His “goodness and unfailing love” is going to “pursue [them] all the days of [their] lives”. That will always be the case, because God doesn’t live in buildings, no matter how nice they are. He lives in the hearts and minds of His followers, pursuing each and every one of them every day of their lives, with “goodness and unfailing love”. Hopefully I was able to encourage them in the next season of their walk with God.

But what is God’s goodness all about? The word “good” is one we use when things are going our ways. A bonus is paid at work and we say, “that’s good”. Someone does a favour for their neighbour, and they get the reputation for being a “good” person. But none of these acts come anywhere near what God’s goodness is all about. Jesus was asked a question that started with the respectful greeting, “Good Teacher”, to which He responded, ““Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is truly good” (Luke 18:19). And that’s the thing – God’s goodness is unique and only He can make the claim for being “good”. God’s definition of “good” is one that includes all the aspects of His character, including His love, His righteousness, His holiness, His truthfulness, and so on. We know that if God’s goodness pursues us, then there is no higher standard. We will experience the best of the best. We may feel at times that the valley we are walking through doesn’t have much of what we could describe as “good” within it. Look at what happened to Joseph, kidnapped, sold as a slave, imprisoned, falsely accused, but in the end he could say to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people” (Genesis 50:20). Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them“. God will always pursue us to ensure our highest good, no matter what. And I’m sure that as we look back on our lives, we can see hard times, but with a good outcome afterwards.

God’s goodness pursues us, and that is always been the case. When Adam sinned what did he do? He and Eve ran away from God and tried to hide. but we read, “Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”” (Genesis 3:9). God has been pursuing mankind ever since, and the Bible records God’s extraordinary efforts to woo mankind back home. God desires our highest good and He pursues us throughout our lives. Perhaps we need to stop sometimes and listen to what God wants to say to us. It won’t harm us and will do us much good.

Dear Lord and Father, we humbly thank You today for Your loving kindness, Your goodness and mercy, and Your many blessings. Amen.

The Overflowing Cup

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

We continue out journey through Psalm 23 with the thought about a cup. In this context, we’re not considering a tea or coffee cup, receptacles made of clay or something similar, an ornately decorated item with a handle glued to the outside and glazed and fired in a kiln. In my mind the cup used would have been more like a goblet, used for wine drinking, and with connotations of grandeur because of its contents. For fear of being poisoned, kings and royalty used someone they trusted to supply them with wine, employing them as cup-bearers. Nehemiah had this role, being engaged by King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11). The “cup” fits in well with the feast prepared earlier for David, food and drink supplied by the Lord, David’s “Good Shepherd”. We earlier read, “In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat” (Isaiah 25:6). Our imaginations consider the plates full of our favourite foods with the best of wines to supplement the experience of being a guest at the ultimate banquet with the Lord Himself. 

However we consider the spiritual aspect of the cup, and why it is overflowing. To David, the cup wasn’t full of wine but instead overflowing with blessings. We look through Psalm 23 and we find that it is all about being blessed. Green pastures, peaceful streams, God’s presence as he journeys and His protection and comfort available through the dark valleys, and here we are at a banquet with an overflowing cup of blessings. The culmination of a poetic description of living a life connected to God.

The cup overflowed with blessings, and in the Bible there is sometimes an association made between the contents of a cup, normally wine, and the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit gave the impression of drunkenness.  Acts 2:13, 15, 17-18, “But others in the crowd ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!” … These people are not drunk, as some of you are assuming. Nine o’clock in the morning is much too early for that. … ‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike— and they will prophesy“. What a blessing that day was! Not just a cup full for David, but many cups full for the believers there in that upper room. In those days of poor sanitation, an alternative was necessary, and wine was the commodity often suppled. Jesus drank wine, much to the embarrassment of teetotal Christians (“Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom” (Matthew 26:29)). Perhaps Jesus was alluding to the Heavenly Banquet yet to come. We also remember that Jesus’ first miracle was the turning of water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. 

We also remember another liquid that would have been drunk from cups – water. In John 4 we read about Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, who had come to draw water from a well outside the village of Sychar. Jesus told her, “ … Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13-14). Not long after, Jesus spoke out in the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles, “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’”” (John 7:37-38). 

But David wasn’t thinking about wine or water when he said “My cup overflows with blessings”. His heart was full of gratitude to the Lord, who had supplied all his needs, not in a grudging or stingy fashion, but so bountifully that the cup wasn’t big enough to hold all the blessings supplied. But that is our God. Most of the time the problem isn’t that God lacks supply, but that we lack demand. I’m not talking about physical blessings, financial or otherwise, but the spiritual blessings that continually pour from Heaven filling our cups and more. Ephesians 5:18-19, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts“. The Holy Spirit is ready and willing to fill our hearts, but how willing are we to allow Him? What is the state of our “cups” today? Are they full to overflowing or are they only a quarter or half full? Or even empty and dry, dusty with a lack of use. An infilling of the Holy Spirit will not cost us any money (although a man called Simon tried that, as recorded in Acts 9:18). But it cost Jesus everything, His life. We only have to ask, and keep on asking, because God is always willing to provide all that we need. Jesus made it all possible that day on Calvary’s hill, and God’s overflowing blessings of the Holy Spirit haven’t stopped pouring into the cups of believers ever since. 

Dear Heavenly Father. The cup You supply will never run dry. We drink deeply and hold it out for more. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Anointing With Oil

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

The custom of anointing with oil was an important part of the Jewish faith, and the first mention of anointing oil appears in Exodus 25:6, “olive oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense“. In Exodus 30 there are detailed instructions supplied for how to make anointing oil, with choice spices to be added to the olive oil base. Its use was described in verses 30-32, “Anoint Aaron and his sons also, consecrating them to serve me as priests. And say to the people of Israel, ‘This holy anointing oil is reserved for me from generation to generation. It must never be used to anoint anyone else, and you must never make any blend like it for yourselves. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy“. But the oil David described in Psalm 23 was not of the priestly anointing variety. David will have remembered that occasion when he was anointed with oil, and we can pick up the story in 1 Samuel 16:1, “Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king””. We can read how David came to be selected as the future king in the intervening verses, but we then come to verses 12-13, “So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes. And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.” So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah“. So perhaps when David wrote Psalm 23 he remembered that time when he was honoured before his father and his brothers. 

Olive oil was an essential commodity in Israel in those days, being used as a base for food as well as oil for lamps, but it came to be regarded as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. David was anointed as king of Israel and we are told that when that happened “the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on”. Jesus told a parable of ten virgins or bridesmaids in Matthew 25, with five of them having planned ahead for the wait for the bridegroom with an ample supply of oil for their lamps, and the others not having enough. For some reason the bridegroom was delayed and the oil for the five “foolish” bridesmaids ran out, meaning that their lamps went out as well. They had to go out and try and buy some but unfortunately for them the groom arrived back before they did and doors were locked. Their knocking at the door got them no where, because the groom denied even knowing them. It’s an important story because it reminds believers everywhere that they need to be ready for Jesus’ return, even if it is delayed. And if we add into the mix that oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, then it perhaps indicates that only those who are filled, and who are continually being filled, with the Spirit will be truly ready for the Second Coming of Jesus. 

The Apostle James made a connection between the Holy Spirit and prayer for the sick which we can read in James 5:14, “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord“. Apart from that, there seems to be no clear reason why anointing with oil should be necessary in these years of our Lord. But the principle remains in spiritual planes, as the Holy Spirit anoints us with His presence. 

Are we pilgrims filled with the Spirit? There are some who minimise the presence of the Spirit and who fail to honour Him and His gifts in the way the New Testament describes. In John 1:32-33 we read about the anointing of the Holy Spirit, or as referred to in the Scriptures, the baptism in the Holy Spirit. “Then John testified, “I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him. I didn’t know he was the one, but when God sent me to baptise with water, he told me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit”. Jesus is the Baptiser, the One who anoints all believers with the oil of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:4-5 we read, “Once when he was eating with them, [Jesus] commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptised with water, but in just a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit””. I firmly believe that Jesus still baptises us with His Spirit because He is still alive and working in the lives of men and women everywhere. I can find no Scripture verse that conflicts with this view.

So today, we believers, pilgrims on the journey to Glory, have an opportunity to once again receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit, as we reach out to God. Luke 11:13, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him”. Ask away, folks. God won’t say no.

Dear Father God. We pray for a fresh infilling of Your Holy Spirit in us today, and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Enemies

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

Who are these enemies, and why are they worthy of mention in this otherwise God-focused Psalm? David’s Psalms make frequent mention of his enemies, For example, Psalm 3 starts, “O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me“. We could be forgiven for thinking that David went about his life permanently looking over his shoulder in case there was some malign attacker coming after him. We know that there were nations around Israel who were hostile to David, nations such as the Philistines and the Moabites, and there were also enemies of David within Israel, people such as Saul and David’s son Absolom. So David wasn’t short of an enemy of two, and it caused him no end of distress. Often David was upset because the hostile words directed towards him maligned his Lord as well. Psalm 3:2, “So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!”” In his next Psalm David railed against enemies intent on destroying his standing in his community. He wrote, “How long will you people ruin my reputation? How long will you make groundless accusations? How long will you continue your lies?” (Psalm 4:2). At other times, David’s enemy would seem to be himself. The first three verses of Psalm 6, “O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me?” In the light of God’s holiness, perhaps he was regretting his sinful humanity. Or he may just have been physically sick. But in it all, David had enemies, and he was looking forward to the day when God’s favour was publicly displayed for all to see. In a sense, it happened in his time on Planet Earth because David turned Israel into a strong and prosperous nation, in full view of the nations around him, the “feast” being a description of God’s blessings and provisions. Or perhaps David was also looking forward to another time when he would be living “in the house of the Lord forever”. But whatever the context, David was musing on the thought that it would be nice if he was vindicated in full view of all those who otherwise tried to do him harm, physical or verbal.

Today, we pilgrims look around and, at least here in the West, we don’t have enemies as such. There are no marauding bands of reprobates, intent on doing harm to us. The most we will experience is the occasional abusive or malign social media post, if we are stupid enough to engage with Facebook or similar. Or perhaps someone will shake their fist at us if our driving falls below an acceptable level of competence. But then we pause to think. Paul wrote, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). We will find these “evil rulers and authorities” both inside and outside of ourselves. Paul addressed his internal “demons” in Romans 7, “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. …  I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. … But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me” (Romans 7:14, 21, 23). Perhaps we get a picture of an angel perched on one shoulder and a demon on the other, warring with each other as they whisper in each ear. There is a battle going on inside of us as we try to live sin-free in God’s Kingdom but our “old man” still insists on climbing out of his coffin, causing us to sin once again. And of course we remember that the devil is out to get us as well. 1 Peter 5:8, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”. We pilgrims live in a hostile environment, our sinful humanity pulling us down, and the devil himself making it hard for us to get up again.

So, how do we pilgrims deal with our enemies, whatever their origin, spiritual or otherwise. The first step is to identify our foe, because often we will rationalise or ignore a problem. For example, sometimes a particular temptation comes our way and our sinfulness prevails and tries to tell us that perhaps just a peep at a particular picture won’t really matter. Or, “it’s not really a lie, because I want to protect another person”. 1 James 1:14-15, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death”. As someone once said – you cannot stop birds flying over your head but you can stop them nesting in your hair. Sometimes, the devil will oppress us. For example, something will happen that seems just plain “bad luck”. A car accident or a falling out over something trivial. A series of events that seem inexplicably linked. At such times we pray and ask God for protection and remember what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:9a, “Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith ...”. And if the foe is a physical one, then we must exercise wisdom, avoiding situations that could be dangerous. For example, it makes little sense to walk in dark and lonely places late at night.

Paul helpfully wrote about the whole armour of God, in Ephesians 6. There he was in a Roman jail, chained to two Roman soldiers, and he couldn’t help noticing their armour, and from that he developed a word picture of the spiritual armour available to us. Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armour so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm”. And we mustn’t forget Ephesians 6:18, “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere“.

We pilgrims have enemies. It would be foolish to think otherwise. But we mustn’t become complacent. Instead we must be diligent praying for ourselves and for our families and loved ones. One day we will indeed sit down to a wonderful feast, and all those who have maligned us, spiritually or physically, will only be able to look on. It will be too late by then for them to join us at the table, and so we do what Jesus asked us to do while there is still time. Matthew 5:44, “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” It may be hard but until we release those who abuse us into God’s hands in prayer, we will be bound by their threats.

Father God. Please help us not to be complacent and fall into error because we forget about our enemies. We pray for Your protection for ourselves and for our loved ones. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Feast is Prepared

Posted on by korgrocker

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever”.
Psalm 23:5-6 NLT

The first four verses of Psalm 23 provide an analogy of how the Good Shepherd looks after His sheep, using the model of a shepherd in David’s day. In those days a shepherd ensured that the sheep in his care were protected from predators, were fed and watered, were kept safe from danger, and even regularly examined to ensure that tics and other nasties were removed from their coats of wool. A complete package for the sheep, just as the Good Shepherd, Jesus Himself, totally looks after His sheep, pilgrims such as you and I. 

But now we move on to the future, and David wrote that the Lord is preparing a feast for him. What an invitation! It is great when a friend invites us to have a meal with them, especially when he or she is a good cook, such as one of my friends. We know that there will be an enjoyable time of fellowship over the meal, and we Christians have much to talk about as we share our experiences from our journeys to the Promised Land. But what if we receive an invitation from the Lord Himself? Isaiah wrote about such a feast, “In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat” (Isaiah 25:6). This verse was part of an End Times prophesy, of which there is more in Revelation 21. But God has always been generous to His people. We think of how He fed them for forty years in the wilderness with a complete food called “manna”. Just for one meal a day for the estimated two million Israelite slaves who left Egypt, that adds up to nearly three billion meals! The God we worship is anything but stingy! God then brought His people into a land flowing with milk and honey, signifying a land capable of providing all the food needed for the Israelites. But David wrote that there is another feast being prepared, and Jesus provided more details.

In Matthew 22:2 we read, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son“. We pilgrims know, of course, that the “Son” is none other than Jesus, and the wedding will take place between Jesus and the church, His bride. We read about it in Revelation 19:7-9, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God””. In Jesus’ parable of the Great Feast in Matthew 22, we read that when the King’s banquet was ready, His servants were sent out to notify those who were invited. But the servants were rejected, violently in some cases, and the invitation was ignored by most guests. So the servants went out again, but this time the King’s instructions were, “Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests” (Matthew 22:9-10). In the parable, Jesus implied that God’s people, the Jews, were invited to the wedding feast, but they had rejected Him. John wrote, “He came to his own people, and even they rejected him” (John 1:11). So the wedding list was expanded to include the Gentiles as well, something we are eternally grateful for.

David was sure that God was preparing a feast for him, because he knew the Lord. He was David’s Good Shepherd, and, as Jesus said in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me“. There was that relationship there and David, through his faith and trust in God, just knew that something good would happen to him one day. We pilgrims also have that same faith and trust in our gracious and loving God and we too can look forward to the Heavenly wedding banquet. David was going to be a willing participant in the coming feast but the tragedy in Jesus’ parable was that those initially invited had insignificant excuses as to why they wouldn’t come. It wasn’t that they couldn’t come but they chose not to. And that’s a tragedy of the first order for the people concerned because one day they will find out that they had seriously made the wrong choice. But worse than that, for some reason they abused the servants, the messengers holding their personal wedding invitations. It was bad enough that some ignored the invitations, but to then, for some inexplicable reason, kill the servants was a crime so bad that it provoked the King to send out an army to destroy the murderers. It begs the question, why would human beings prefer to make a short term temporal choice at the expense of the eternal blessings of God? An alien looking on would be scratching its head (if it had one) in puzzlement, wondering about the intelligence of the human race.

In the banqueting hall there is unlimited room, and God will wait until He has enough guests to fill it. He is more willing to accept sinners than they to be accepted, it seems. But there is a place laid for each one of us, complete with our names. In the Matthew 22 parable, we read that the banqueting hall was filled with guests, but there was a problem. One of the guests turned up wearing the wrong clothes. It is a fundamental fact about Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, that when we come to Him in repentance and receive His forgiveness, He takes on our sins and in exchange provides for us His righteousness. So perhaps the man wearing the wrong clothes was dressed in his own righteous, a self-righteous individual thinking he had the right to a place at the wedding feast when clearly he hadn’t. Isaiah 64:6, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind”. What arrogance the man had, to think his filthy rags would be enough. Revelation 7:9, “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands“. In his dirty clothes the man must have stood out like a sore thumb, amongst all those white-robe-clad saints, so no wonder he was unceremoniously ejected from the feast about to take place. Sadly, though, Jesus ended the parable with the statement, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). 

We pilgrims are heading for our Heavenly home and a great feast with Jesus. The angel said to John,  ““ … Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God”” (Revelation 19:9). On the mantel piece behind the clock do we have our invitation to the Great Feast? If not then in faith write one out, because for us pilgrims the only unknown is the date. The feast will be a great celebration for all those who are in Christ, and we wait for that awesome time, trusting in the One who deserves all the praise and all the glory, Jesus Himself.

Dear Father God. Thank You for all Your servants who have invited us to be with You. We accept Your invitations through them wholeheartedly and gratefully. Amen.

The Rod and Staff

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4 NLT

David’s pastoral poem develops with a reminder about the shepherd’s rod and staff. In those long ago days, when sheep followed shepherds, from meadow to meadow, and the shepherd lived with them, because grazing often took the flock a long way from home, there was a need for weapons and other means to protect the sheep from predators and from their own wayward ways. Such implements were the rod and the staff, essential tools in the shepherd’s hands. The rod was a sort of club, heavy enough to do serious damage to a lion or a bear, as David told Saul in 1 Samuel 17:34-35, “But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death“. So the rod in David’s hands was a formidable weapon, and he would have been skilled in using it.

The shepherd’s staff would have been something more familiar to us today, as it was a long slender pole with a crook at the end. Examples can be found in tourist shops in Scotland, but David’s staff would have been much more than a decorative souvenir. It was a device used to protect and direct wayward sheep, the crook fitting nicely around the sheep’s neck, allowing it to be guided back onto the right path. 

The rod and staff were essential to the shepherds in David’s days, and having been one himself, David knew how to use them effectively. In the shepherd’s hands, one protected the sheep from attack and the other provided the comfort of being led to safety. But Psalm 23 starts with another perspective, “The Lord is my Shepherd”. David considered himself as a sheep and the Lord as his Shepherd. The pastoral analogy can be found in Ezekiel 34:2 where we read, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?”, a rebuke delivered to the Israelite authorities. In the Israelite economy, sheep and goats were an important source of income and food, with skins and wool for clothing, and the leaders of the people had a responsibility to provide protection and to foster a secure economy, just as a shepherd had to for the sheep and goats in his care. In a similar way the religious leaders were failing in their duties, allowing apostasy and neglect permeate the Jewish religious society. But Ezekiel continued with “the word of the Lord” and he issued a damning indictment against the leaders who were failing in their responsibilities. “As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey” (Ezekiel 34:8-10). Significantly, Ezekiel went on to write, “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day” (Ezekiel 34:11-12). 

We saw the fulfilment of Ezekiel’s prophecy with Jesus. He said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd sacrifices His life for the sheep. … I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 14-15). Jesus was, and is, the Good Shepherd. He is totally trustworthy, strong and capable. He leads us, His sheep, to all the right places where we can flourish as His followers. He protects us from harm, as we trust in His ways, and if we err and stray from the right paths, then He will gently draw us back. 

We pilgrims may also be responsible for shepherding others, in our families, churches or friendship groups. You see, we have been blessed by our knowledge of the Good Shepherd and His ways, because He is the Way to eternal life. But there are those around us who behave like “sheep without a shepherd”, with no apparent moral compass, no idea of right and wrong, other than by following the other wayward sheep in our societies. Without any perception of the Good Shepherd, they try to shepherd themselves, a way of life that will not end well for them. And in the process they find themselves in places without green pasture and peaceful streams, caught up in lifestyles bringing chaos and confusion, their souls shrivelled and malnourished. And so, we pilgrims try and lead and counsel them by example, by word and deed, behaving as under shepherds to the Great Shepherd Himself. We may not have physical rods and staffs, but we have the Word of God, with which we can bring God’s truth and comfort into needy people’s lives.

We also will have our own under shepherds, our pastors and ministers, who are responsible for spiritual guidance and care in the churches and fellowships of which we are a part. We support them and encourage them as we hear Your word from their lips, and feel the benefit of their prayers uttered over us day by day. God has designed a system for our care just as a shepherd looks after his sheep. And in it all we look to Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith.

Dear Good Shepherd. We thank You for Your guidance and provision for us sheep, so prone to take wrong paths and end up in trouble. We thank You too for our pastors who care for us, Your servants who diligently shepherd us in our daily lives. Thank You for Jesus, the Good Shepherd who willingly gave His life for us. Amen. 

Darkest Valleys

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4 NLT

Notice that David wrote “when” not “if” when he considered the darkest valleys. We know that David suffered some dark times in his often eventful journey through life. Take what he wrote in Psalm 31:9-10 for example, “Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away. I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within“. Was that a “darkest valley” for David? 

Elijah came to suffer in a dark place too, as we read in 1 Kings 19:4, “Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”” In Elijah’s case, he had just been God’s front man at the epic event on the top of Mount Carmel, where God sent fire to consume the sacrifice, after which Elijah despatched 450 prophets of Baal. But the miracles didn’t stop there, because the three and a half year drought came to an end and “the Lord gave special strength to Elijah” allowing him to run faster than Ahab’s chariot. But then we read that Elijah literally did a runner after Jezebel’s threats, ending up in a “darkest valley” in the wilderness and under a broom tree, whatever that was.

One of the darkest Psalms in the Bible is Psalm 88. It was written by a man called Heman the Ezrahite and contains eighteen verses of gloom and depression, describing a valley so dark that it is a wonder that he could have written it at all. Verse 6, “You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths“, and he finishes “Darkness is my closest friend”. Oh dear! But to Heman perhaps the most poignant verses are 13 and 14, “O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day. O Lord, why do you reject me? Why do you turn your face from me?”

Being in a “darkest valley” is indeed a terrible place to be. A blackness descends over all aspects of a person’s thinking, to the extent that no good can be found anywhere. But there are varying degrees of “darkest valleys”. Today we would perhaps suggest that such a place as a “darkest valley” is the mental state of depression, which seems endemic in today’s world. In the context of Psalm 23, a spiritual “darkest valley” is more likely than a physical “darkest valley” of which there are many around the world in the wildest and most remote parts, valleys sometime scary but mostly harmless. But why should we pilgrims ever experience depression, because, after all, God loves and cares for us. There are many causes of depression, a study of which is beyond our morning’s read, but the reality is that a Christian is no more immune from a valley experience than an unbeliever. Sadly, some consider depression as a sin, and although that could be the case in some situations, it is unhelpful to treat the depressive as a sinner. 

I occasionally meet people who tell me that they are depressed about the state of the world, usually in response to me sharing about my hope in Jesus. Their response is a forerunner to a question that goes something like this – “If God is a God of love why does He allow so much suffering and mayhem in the world?” They reject God because they consider Him to be the architect of all their, and the world’s, woes, or, if not, He is at least powerless to stop them. Without waiting for an explanation, such a person walks away, continuing in their depressed state, one more hopeless person in a hopeless world. But we pilgrims have a message of hope for such people and we pray for the opportunities to share all about God and what He has done for us. God is indeed a God of love, but He is also a God of righteousness and justice, and we will never know, in this life, the extent of His gracious power in holding back the forces of evil, intent on destroying God’s created human beings.

But what should we pilgrims do when we get depressed? We get medical help just in case the condition is treatable, and we call on our pastor and Christian friends to pray for us. We remember all of God’s promises. Ones that have helped me include 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you“. David prayed Psalm 43:5, “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Saviour and my God!” Jesus said to His disciples, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And we pray for ourselves, believing God for a solution. But in those “darkest valleys” where things are so black that we cannot even contemplate anything to do with God, we are assured that He is close behind us, protecting and comforting us. And we remember that every valley is followed by a mountain top. Valleys won’t last forever.

Dear Father God. We know that in Your presence there is no sickness and pain, and we look ahead to the time when “darkest valleys” are no more. Thank You Jesus. Amen.

Bringing Honour

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4 NLT

David has packed much into these first few verses of Psalm 23. Meadows and streams where strength is renewed and guidance provided for a spiritual walk along the “right paths”. David lived in a society where it was assumed that God was real and everyone believed in Him. Of course that is not to say that sin didn’t exist. Quite the opposite, as we find when we read the historical accounts of the Israelites. Take for example what happened just after Joshua died. Judges 2:11-12, “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord“. But if those idol worshipers had thought about their relationship with God, the Lord who brought them out of slavery in Egypt to the land that He had prepared for them, then they would have realised that they were not bringing honour to His name. But at this point in their lives they probably didn’t care. After all, they would have said, “everyone is doing it”, an age-old justification for bad, sinful, and Godless behaviour. 

“Bringing honour” to something or someone is considered important even today. An opposite to “bringing honour” would be bringing into disrepute, something that can be a dismissible offence in many companies and organisations. For example, one HR consultancy website reports, “Bringing a company into disrepute refers to actions or behaviour by an employee, contractor or representative that negatively impacts the organisation’s reputation. It can include conduct both inside and outside the workplace that creates public criticism, loss of trust or damage to the company’s standing with stakeholders, customers, or the public. In such situations, the employee can be said to be bringing the company into disrepute, which may give the employer legal cause to take disciplinary action“. If an secular organisation looks so negatively at a member who is failing to bring them honour, and doing them reputational harm, how much more will God look on if His children behave in the same way, bringing His name and Kingdom into disrepute? Some Christians like to attach a bumper sticker to their cars, such as “Jesus Saves” or a fish symbol, signifying their relationship with God. But if they then are caught exceeding the speed limit is that not bringing their faith into disrepute? And even if they are not caught, what does that say about them to the society in which they live? A common argument put forward by people who refuse to go to church, is that such buildings are full of hypocrites, people who behave in one way within the walls, but in another way outside. A churchgoer who acts piously in a meeting but who swears and verbally abuses the referee from the terraces at a football match is bringing God’s name into disrepute.

Whether we feel like it or not, we pilgrims are people who must bring honour to God. After all He is our Father and we are His children, and people around us will be watching us because the only glimpse most of them will get of God is through us. 

So, moving away from the opposite of “bringing honour” to God, how do we bring honour to Him and His name? 

Firstly, we must realise that it is not just the outward manifestation of honour that we should be concerned about. It is also about what is going on inside of us. Isaiah 29:13, “And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote“. The people Isaiah describes are not bringing honour to God. When Samuel was in the home of Jesse, acting on God’s instructions to select the future King from his sons, he heard God say to him, “ … Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). 

Secondly, we bring honour to God in our homes. How are we husbands treating our wives, and vice versa? How are we treating our parents, or our children? Jesus repeated what Moses had decreed, “For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honour your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death’” (Mark 7:10). Paul wrote, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Through our righteous relationships within our families we bring honour to God and His name, and the attitudes we foster in our homes will spill over into our workplaces and anywhere else where we meet people.

Thirdly, we bring honour to God and His name by our relationship with Him. What is going on in our hearts? As Isaiah wrote, are we only following man-made rules, deluding ourselves that this constitutes a relationship with God? When He was asked what the greatest commandment was, “Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). There is no half-hearted way of “bringing honour” to God. It is a whole-life commitment. A question we must regularly ask ourselves is about what we are doing, or watching on TV, or anything else. Is God getting honour out of this or am I behaving like a wayward child, dishonouring my Father? 

Thankfully, God is “slow to anger and quick to forgive”. He knows the pressures of living in a secular society. After all, His Son Jesus did just that, but He never sinned. Doing things the world’s way is not the only way, because Jesus is the Way and all who follow Him “with all [their] hearts” will bring honour to His name. 

Dear Father God. Our gratitude to You is never enough. You deserve so much more, for to You is all the praise and glory. Amen.

Right Paths

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honour to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”
Psalm 23:1-4 NLT

David wrote that the Lord guided him along “right paths”. Of course, in the pastoral context of this Psalm, there would be paths in the wilderness that would be far from ideal, and at the end just more desert or, at best, poor quality grazing. These would have been the “wrong paths”. The shepherds in those days relied on their local knowledge to find all the best of the “green meadows” and the “peaceful streams” necessary to assuage the sheep’s hunger and thirst. It was a very different environment in David’s day, because the sheep knew that they had to follow the shepherd along the “right paths” to find pasture. If they didn’t then they would soon lose their way and get lost in a dry and dusty landscape, where they wouldn’t survive for long. Here in the UK sheep are mostly kept in fenced-in fields and don’t need leading anywhere unless the farmer moves them to another field, but then it is a case of herding rather than leading. 

Speaking to the Pharisees and other religious leaders, and comparing them to sheep, Jesus said, “But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:26-27). His allegory highlighted the difference between two flocks of sheep – those that believed in Jesus, and had a relationship with Him, and those who didn’t because they followed a different shepherd. Earlier in John 10, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15). If asked which shepherd they followed, the Pharisees would have said God Himself, but their “God” was different to the One who was the only true God, the One from Heaven Jesus, Himself. The Pharisees had constructed their own god, starting with the Law and the prophets but then adding and subtracting the bits as they thought best. But as Jesus said to them, “What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things” (Luke 11:42). They had replaced a relationship with God with legalism, relying on their own strength. But before we become all smug and climb up to the moral high ground, Christians can be legalistic as well. They say all the right words, they turn up for the Sunday services and warm the pews. But they fit the prophecy from Isaiah 29:13, “And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote“.

David’s statement that the Lord “guides him along right paths” suggests that there must also be “wrong paths” to be followed, with guidance being supplied by someone else claiming to lead the sheep. Jeremiah warned about false shepherds, “What sorrow awaits the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for,” says the Lord. Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: “Instead of caring for my flock and leading them to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them” (Jeremiah 23:1-2). Today, the danger of being lured away by false shepherds remains. Cults spring up, led by men and women who claim a special word or revelation from God (for example the JW’s), and the sheep are fooled by seemingly logical and good-sounding arguments, to their ultimate detriment. But as Jeremiah wrote, the false shepherds, driven by evil, will come to judgement with a verdict that, for them, will not be a good ending.

The Jews were comfortable with the idea that they were God’s chosen people and that He was their Shepherd. But then Jesus came along, claiming to be the Good Shepherd, the Gate to the sheepfold, offering salvation only through Him. And then He said, “I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd” (John 10:16). That would really have upset the Jews, because what could He have meant other than the Gentiles, you and me? Jesus was a divisive Figure in His day, and still is today, with many people rejecting His claim to be the only Good Shepherd.

But back to the “right paths”. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “ ... I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me“. John 10:9, “Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures“. There is no other way to Heaven, to salvation and eternal life., except through Jesus. Only He is the “right path” and any other claim by any other religion or faith is the “wrong path”. There is only one place to which “wrong paths” will lead … but we don’t want to talk about that!

Dear Lord Jesus. We proclaim to all who will listen that there is only one way to eternal life with God, and that is You. Not Mohammad. Not Buddha. Not Hari Krishna. But only You. Thank You that before the world was even created, You had Your hand upon us. Amen.