THE SWEETNESS

OF
PSALM 23

PSALM 23

“The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s

sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for
Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest
my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever”

CONTENTS

Introduction
1. MY SHEPHERD AND I
2. SWEET CONTENTMENT
3. LYING DOWN
4. HE CARRIES ME!
5. BEING RESTORED
6. HIS PATHS
7. THE PERFECT REMEDY FOR FEAR
8. COMFORTING ROD AND STAFF
9. A TABLE OF ABUNDANCE
10. THE ANOINTING
11. FULL TO OVERFLOWING
12. THE BEST OF GOD – SURELY!
13. THE HOUSE OF GOD FOREVER
14. WHEN YOU DIE…
15. A MINI BIBLE INDEED!


INTRODUCTION

David writes this psalm out of His own expe- rience. So he is able to write with great
certainty. We all know this psalm; but as to whether we have the experiences mentioned in it,
is a question. We need to have all these experiences. That is what God desires concerning you
and me. We do not find described in any other psalm the intimacy, the closeness, the personal
fellowship we can have with Jesus.

Here God is pictured as a shepherd. It is important to have a good knowledge of our God
for, we respond to Him based on our perception of Him. The whole purpose of our life on earth
is to know God and experience Him. “God can be known in increasing degrees of intimate
acquaintance as we prepare our hearts for the wonder!” says a man of God. Psalm 23 unravels
to us some of the wonder, some of the sweetness we can have in our relationship with our
God. The more we experience this sweetness, the more blessed our life becomes.

Psalm 23 is sweet because Jesus is sweet. Psalm 23 is the sweetness of Jesus. The whole
psalm graphically describes the sweetness of our Jesus. How sweet is our Jesus? “Taste and
see that the Lord is good.” All eternity will not be enough for us to taste and see our Jesus. We
must know our Jesus and enjoy Him now and in all eternity. Psalm 23 takes us into depths of
God’s grace, love, care, power and protection.

Psalm 23 is filled with blessings. Psalm 23 is full of blessings and promises, beginning
with the Shepherd and ending with the House of God above us. It is an exciting psalm. It has
the sweetest and best thoughts picked from the whole Bible and put together. Of the Taj Mahal
in India, it is said that to build it, the Emperor collected the very best marble from all over the
world for many long years. Thousands of people worked on it and they spent a lot of time and
energy on each little stone. It still stands today as one of the wonders of the world. Psalm 23
is a much greater wonder. This psalm has a great power to transform our lives. The more we
read it and meditate on it, the more we are blessed.

The psalm overflows with blessings. It showers blessings all over us.
With me : My Shepherd -
The Lord is my shepherd
Beneath me : Green Pastures -
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
Beside me : Still Waters -
He leadeth me beside the still waters
Within me : Restored soul -
He restoreth my soul
Beyond me : Paths of Righteousness -
He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness
Around me : His Comforting Rod and Staff: Thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me
Before me : A Prepared Table
Thou preparest a table before me
Upon me : Anointing of Oil Thou
anointest my head with oil
Behind me : His Goodness and Mercy
Goodness and mercy shall follow me
Above me : The House of the Lord (Heaven) I shall
dwell in the house of the Lord forever

We find blessings surrounding us leaving no area out. Oh, how much sweetness and
how many blessings we will be missing if this psalm were not in the Bible! No wonder people
recite or read this psalm on almost every occasion. It encourages and blesses people; it
comforts and strengthens the wounded and sorrowing; it saves and restores the lost and
perishing—even dying people have found comfort and encouragement from this psalm.

Psalm 23 is called the Nightingale of Psalms because more songs have been composed
on this psalm than on any other. It is generally known as the Shepherd’s Psalm. It brings us
very close to God and to one another. The tone of the psalm is very personal. It may be called
the Psalm of Intimacy. ‘The Lord is ‘my’, not ‘our’, Shepherd, and ‘I’, not ‘we’, shall not want,
etc.’—it is all so personal. Most of the revelations, doctrines, mysteries and truths of the New
Testament are deeply ingrained in this psalm. The psalm takes us a long way in knowing,
loving and following our God. The psalm can also be called the Psalm of Perfect Trust. It starts
with “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” and ends with “Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me”. It is a Psalm of Rest. “He makes me lie down beside quiet waters.” It is a
Psalm of Peace. It is a Psalm of Abundance of Goodness, Grace and Mercy. One can go on and
on describing the psalm in a thousand ways.

This book takes you on an excursion into some of the rich experiences described in the
psalm. On reading of them we hope you will develop a thirst for a deeper and closer
relationship with God. Truly, if our spiritual eyes are opened to see the sweetness described in
Psalm 23, we will live the rest of our life very close to God; we will spend the rest of our life
with Jesus.


ONE

MY SHEPHERD AND I
“The Lord is my Shepherd”
The psalmist compares the Lord to a shepherd and every man to a sheep. In the creation
of God we see various animals; out of them all, the psalmist chooses the sheep to compare
man with.

Sheep are simple and ignorant animals. They cannot lead themselves. They always try
to follow some- one. And as simple animals they cannot understand much. They cannot find
good pastures for themselves; they would continue grazing on the same patch of grass if they
are not led to fresh pastures. Even if they are taken a thousand times to their pen, they cannot
find their way to the pen on their own. If they get lost they cannot find their way back to the
rest of the flock. And as they move together, if the sheep in front happens
to fall into a ditch, the others simply follow suit
without checking themselves. Sheep that are taken to
be slaughtered take their place one after the other on the scaffold without hesitation, though
they can see all the blood and hear the cries of the sheep that went before them.

We humans are like these dumb animals. Man is lost in this world of sin. He cannot find
his way to salvation. We cannot be good on our own. “How to perform that which is good I find
not,” said St Paul (Rom 7:15). We see how people fall into various vices and what
consequences they face; we see how people get addicted to evil habits and what a miserable
end they meet with; and yet, we dumbly follow them. No wonder the Bible compares us to
sheep!

Sheep are defenceless animals. They are provided with no aggressive weapons – no
horns, no fangs, no claws, no strong teeth. They have no wings — to fly away from dangers
and no swift feet — to run away. So they cannot fend for themselves against wild beasts. Even
if there are a thousand sheep in a flock, their number will not increase their strength against
one wolf. They are helpless; their only defence is the shepherd who is their all in all. The
sheep’s safety is in their nearness to the shepherd.

Woe to the sheep then that have no shepherd. “They were troubled since there was no
shepherd,” we read (Zech 10:2). When Jesus was on the earth He saw the multitudes as sheep
without a shepherd and had compassion on them. Oh, how much we need our Shepherd, our
Good Shepherd!

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the
Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6). The Lord Jesus has paid a price for us at
Calvary; He has laid down His life for us at Calvary as the Good Shepherd. So accept Him
today. He is waiting for you. You may be the worst sinner but the Good Shepherd will not reject
you. He may have spoken to you many times and you may have been turning a deaf ear to His
voice. But now He is once again calling you. Yield to His call today. Humble yourself and come
to His feet. He will accept you and He will forgive you.

“There is a Shepherd Who's searching,

Seeking to save the lost,
Rich in His mercy He's pleading,
Faithful to uttermost.
Weary and heavy laden,
Jesus has borne your burden,
Freely He'll grant you pardon,
He lives for evermore.”

We experience the Lord as the Good Shepherd Who gives His life for the sheep, first at
salvation; and thereafter, throughout our spiritual life we keep expe- riencing Him as our
Shepherd. He is our Great Shepherd Who leads us. He is the Shepherd and Bishop (overseer)
of our souls Who watches over us.

To experience Him as our Shepherd we have to realise we are sheep. We must realise
that we are foolish and that we cannot be without our Shepherd. Often we think we are very
wise; sometimes we even think we know better than God. How often we have challenged God
about what He is doing. We have doubted Him; we have told Him He is not doing things the
right way; we have questioned His ways. We think our plans are wonderful. As long as we are
like this, we can never experience the Lord as our Shepherd.

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

King David was once a shepherd. We read of how he was a very caring shepherd in
Psalm 78:70-72. “He fed them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the
skilfulness of his hands.” So from experience, David knew what a good shepherd would do. In
Psalm 22, the psalm foregoing Psalm 23, we read of the death of Christ—the Shepherd dying
for the sheep. In Psalm 23 we find all the blessings we receive because our Shepherd died for
us. In Psalm 24, the following psalm, we read about the glory of the ascension of Christ, the
King of Glory.

In I Samuel 17:34,35, we see how David, the shepherd, protected his little lamb. “There
came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote
him, and delivered it out of his mouth, and slew him.” This lamb is you. Once you were in the
mouth of the lion (the devil) and he was about to destroy you. In some way sin was overtaking
your life. You were in the jaws of the devil, but your Good Shepherd delivered you.
 The devil wanted to destroy us and throw us into hell, but the Good Shepherd came and
saved us. But again and again the devil keeps tempting us to go back and enjoy the old life,
the old sins, the old friendships, the old habit of watching the television or video programs,
etc. Remember, if you go back the second time, the devil who is waiting eagerly, will destroy
you.

The devil is called a thief, a wolf, who comes to steal, to kill and to destroy (Jn 10:10). He
wants to steal our spiritual blessings kill our spiritual life, destroy our soul. He is a cunning wolf
and works with subtlety to deceive us. In Revelation Ch.12 we see him using his tail (deceit) to
make us fall. He goes about as a roaring lion, waiting for a chance to devour us. Are you filled
with fear? Are you discouraged? Do you feel you are being swallowed up and devoured by the
enemy? That means you have not come to the Good Shepherd. If you stay by the Good
Shepherd you need not fear the enemy. You will have the boldness to face any situation. He is
your safety and security. “The Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge” (Psa
94:22). Once we are under the care of our Shepherd, no enemy can touch us. He is the Good
Shepherd; He will not allow us to face the enemy, but will rather face the enemy Himself. Put
your trust in the Good Shepherd. It is not His will that any of His sheep perish. He wants
everyone
of His sheep to be preserved.

Let us see how our Good Shepherd cares for us. “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd:
He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young” (Isa 40:11). “I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that
which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which
was sick” (Ezek 34:16). Whatever state we may be in, He can help.

The Good Shepherd carries the lambs in His bosom. Those who are immature and
inexperienced in the ways of the Lord are fed with the ‘sincere milk of the Word’ (I Pet 2:2) and
nourished and brought up in the nurture of the Lord.

He gently leads those that are with young—the ewes. These are those who are
travailing and are burdened about the church and the souls and strive for them in prayer. The
gentle Shepherd tenderly leads and cares for such.

In Luke Chapter 15 we read of a shepherd seeking the sheep he lost. He does not say,
“After all I have the other ninety-nine; it does not matter if one is lost.” This shows that each of
us is precious to the Lord. O Child of God, you are precious to your Shepherd. He knows where
you are and He knows what state you are in.
"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;
Are they not enough for Thee ?
But the Shepherd made answer:This of Mine
Has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep."

The Shepherd brings back the sheep which are driven away. Sometimes, when we meet
trials, face losses or afflictions, we get discouraged and go out of the Lord’s fold. But the Good
Shepherd comes after such sheep. One main reason for people to go away like that is lack of
love for God. The Good Shepherd loved us so much as to give His life for us. Are we willing to
suffer a little loss for His sake? If we are filled with the love of God, surely we will take every
loss we face as joy and say, nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ (Rom 8:35-39).
Nothing, no person can drive us away.

The Shepherd binds up the wounded. In Luke 10:30 we see a wounded man. He was
wounded because he had left Jerusalem and was on his way to Jericho. Jerusalem stands for
the presence of God and Jericho for the world. If we leave the presence of God attracted by
worldly pleasures, we get caught by thieves and get wounded and are left half-dead. If you are
feeling hopeless and uncertain about the future you are half-dead. Is your heart pained
because of wounds? The Shepherd wants to pour in oil and wine. This shows the anointing and
sweetness of the presence of God. You shall be made every whit whole.
Sometimes sheep get their bones broken. Bones stand for doctrines and the truths of
God. God has adorned us with these doctrines (Tit 2:10). Doctrines and truths are our beauty;
if we lose them we are miserable. But the Good Shepherd can restore our broken bones.
Sometimes sheep get weak and need to be strengthened. We read of limp hands and
feeble knees in Hebrews 12:12,13. This shows we have lost our works of faith and our walk of
faith. This makes our spiritual life weak. But the Good Shepherd does not break the bruised
reed or quench the smoking flax. He wants to strengthen our hands and knees.

The sick are healed by the shepherd (Ezek 34:4). We may be spiritually or physically
sick. The Good Shepherd is our Good Healer too. There is no sickness He cannot or will not
heal.

Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased the Father to take you to Zion and Jerusalem. You
may have no one to comfort you but the Good Shepherd is waiting to take you in His arms. He
will keep you safe in His bosom. If you are troubled and going through various problems, He
will lead you gently. He will not allow any temptation or trial beyond measure but will make a
way of escape out of every trial.

Beloved One, in Jesus we have a caring Shepherd; in Jesus we have a loving Shepherd;
in Jesus we have a compassionate Shepherd; in Jesus we have a defending Shepherd, in Jesus
we have a feeding Shepherd; in Jesus we have a guiding Shepherd; in Jesus we have a com-
forting Shepherd; in Jesus we have a healing Shepherd; in Jesus we have a leading Shepherd.
Let us put our trust in this wonderful Shepherd.
“Wandering without a Saviour,
Led by thy thoughts all vain,
Hear now His tender pleading,
“Give me thy heart to reign.”
Now in much pain and anguish,
Seeking the rest you need,
Feel now His touch of kindness,
He will thy hunger feed.”
Many great benedictions are connected with the Shepherd. We read of one such
benediction in Hebrews 13:20, 21 where Jesus Christ is called the Great Shepherd of the
sheep. The benediction is something very special. When a service is over or after giving a
blessing, it is pronounced as the crowning blessing. The whole of Psalm 23 is a benediction. It
is like icing to a cake and like a crown to a king. To appropriate all the blessings the Lord
wants to give us, first, the Lord should be the Shepherd of our life.

HE IS MY SHEPHERD

“The Lord is my Shepherd.” The sweetest word in this greatest of psalms is a

monosyllable—the personal pronoun, ‘my’. It gives a great depth of meaning to our personal
relationship with the Lord. The psalmist does not say that the Lord is the Shepherd of the
whole world or of a large flock. That would have an altogether different meaning and have no
personal application.
Is Jesus just the Saviour or my Saviour? Is He God or my God? It is not enough if Jesus is the
Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd or the Chief Shepherd. Is He your Shepherd?
 “The Lord is my Shepherd.” The psalmist does not say, “Maybe He is my Shepherd” or
“He could be my Shepherd” or “At times He is my Shepherd.” We must cultivate an assured
spirit of dependence on God, our heavenly Father.

When I say, “That belongs to me,” it shows that I have greater power or claim over that
object and a greater link with it than with something that is common. Our personal relationship
with God makes a world of difference in our life. When we come to a state of intimacy with
God, we also can say as the psalmist did— “By my God I shall leap over a wall.” When in the
den of lions, Daniel boldly said, “My God sent His angel to shut the mouth of the lions” (Dan
6:22). When St. Paul was in prison he said, “My God shall supply all your needs” (Phil 1:19).
“He is my God and my father’s God,” says Moses (Exo 15:2). An intimacy with God is the solu-
tion to all human problems. “The Lord is my Shepherd; so all of Him belongs to me and I
belong to Him!”

In English and in most other languages there is just one word to denote the owner of
one sheep and the owner of a flock. In the Hebrew language, however, the shepherd that has
one sheep is generally called raah, and the shepherd who has many sheep (a flock) is called
raah tson. In this first verse of Psalm 23 it is Jehovah Raah (God Who has one sheep). No other
revelation of God’s name conveys such tender intimacy as Jehovah Raah. In a number of
places where God is referred to as a shepherd, this word raah is used. For example: “But his
bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the
mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd (raah), the stone of Israel)” (Gen 49:24);
“Give ear, O Shepherd (raah) of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock” (Psa 80:1).

Although God is the feeder of more than a million sheep, in a deep sense, He is the
feeder of only one sheep. And who is this one sheep? It is you! God loves each one of us as if
we are the only ones on the earth to love and care for. You are the only one the Lord has. You
are His dove, His beloved. Suppose you are the shepherd of a thousand sheep, all the sheep
cannot be very close to you. But if you have only one sheep, you can carry it on your shoulder
or keep it in your bosom—it can be close to your heart. God wants to give us the very best, the
choicest blessings. If a shepherd has many sheep and two or three fall sick or are wounded, he
cannot attend to all of them at the same time, can he? But our Shepherd says, “I the Lord do
keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day” (Isa 27:3). We
can have twenty-four hour care and attention. Dear child of God, in the sight of the Lord, it is
as if you are the only one He has to care for in all the universe. Very often we do not realise
this; we get worried and tensed up as if there is no one to care for us. One man of God says,
“Even if you were the only man on this earth, still Jesus would have come and died for you.”
Realise, child of God, that Jesus died only for you; all the sufferings He endured were only for
you. When we realise this we will realise how loving and caring our Shepherd is.

“And He said unto them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep,
and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” (Matt
12:11). Jesus refers here to His healing the paralyzed man. He compares Himself to a shepherd
who has one sheep. He compares falling sick to ‘falling into a pit’. In other words, He is saying
that when we fall sick, our Good Shepherd, Jehovah Raah, will lift us up or heal us. The Lord
wants to pull us out of the pit and heal us. If we realise this, we will truly trust in God and claim
healing. Some say, “It may be the will of God for me to remain sick.” Suppose you have only
one sheep and it has fallen into a pit. If you are a very good shepherd, you certainly will not
say, “Let the sheep learn a lesson.” No shepherd will say that, particularly not the shepherd
who has just one sheep. Remember, our Lord is Jehovah Raah.

The Word of God says, “He visits us every morning.” Can you imagine the great King of
the universe, knocking at the door of your house every morning and saying, “Here I am”?
“What is man…that Thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment?” (Job
7:18). In Lamentations we read that His grace is new every morning because He visits us. In
another place it says, “He blesses every moment.” In Isaiah 27:3 we read, “I the Lord will
water it every moment; lest any hurt it.” Water shows God’s love or grace. Every moment He
keeps pouring His love and His grace on us. What a wonderful God we have! When there is
grace we feel no hurt. If a woman has an infant, she will take special care of it, spending every
moment with it. This is what our Jehovah Raah does. His love, His attention and His thoughts
are on us all twenty-four hours of the day. Why do we worry then? It is because we do not
believe what is written about our Shepherd.

HIS SHEEP AM I

The shepherd has a close relationship with his flock. He has a name for each sheep
and they come when called by name. They recognise their shepherd’s voice and stay close to
him. The shepherd knows his sheep well – no matter how many he has, he knows each apart
from the other. As the Lord’s sheep we must be in a place where we can say, “I know my Lord
and my Lord knows me.” Like the group we read of in Matthew Chapter 7 we may say we know
the Lord, that we have experienced Him in many ways and have been blessed by Him, and yet
the Lord may deny knowing us.

When the shepherd calls his sheep by name it will come; but when a stranger calls, it
will not come, rather, it will run away from the place. As sheep we must know the voice of our
Shepherd. Child of God, you may say, “The Lord is my Shepherd and I am His sheep,” but do
you have a circumcised ear to hear the voice of God? Is your ear tuned to hear His voice?” Can
you say, “I am able to hear the voice of my Shepherd, I can understand His voice.” “Ye believe
not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said unto you” (Jn 10:26). If doubts and unbelief are
reigning in our heart, how can we say we are the Lord’s sheep? If we are the Lord’s sheep we
will hear His voice; we will believe His voice; we will follow His voice.

As long as we are able to understand our Shepherd and His voice we will not go astray;
we will be walking in the right way. Every moment we need to hear the voice of our Shepherd.
The moment we stop hearing that voice, we will go in the wrong way; we will hear many
strange voices. “My sheep shall hear My voice and follow Me” (Jn 10:27). God desires that you
hear His voice. All twenty-four hours of the day the Lord wants to be in communion with you
because you are His precious child. The voice of God brings such a joy and peace to our
hearts. Hearing the voice of God is like going to battle having the whole military, the whole
airforce and the whole navy, to support you. You feel God all over you.

If we get used to hearing the voice of our Shepherd, one day, when the trumpet sounds
and He calls, our spirit will discern the voice. Today your conscience may be dead or
paralysed. You may not have heard the voice of God for a long time. Do not be like Saul who
went
so far away from the Lord that he could not hear God speaking to him. Open your life and
heart to Him. God will speak to you and dispel all the confusion from your heart.

Another thing we find about sheep is that if a wolf or lion growls or roars at it, it does not
turn to look in the direction of the noise; it just looks up at its shepherd. It knows it cannot do
anything, so it immediately looks at its shepherd. Even so we must realise that in times of
difficulty, in times of danger, when the enemy is roaring at us as a lion, we must look at our
Shepherd. Often we look at the circumstances, we look at the situation, we look at people and
we get afraid. Then we do foolish things. We try to save ourselves; we fight for ourselves; we
defend ourselves; we justify ourselves—we do so many foolish things. But we have a Good
Shepherd; we have a Great Shepherd. He is willing to fight all our battles. He has already
finished everything for us at Calvary. He has already fought the battle and won the victory for
us. He is One Who always causes us to triumph. Let us keep our eyes on Him. “Looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:2).
 Sheep are very meek animals; they do not hurt or attack anyone. We must be like that.
Only then can we follow the footsteps of our Shepherd. “The meek will He teach His way” (Psa
25:9).

Sheep also have a special understanding of the seasons. It seems, when grazing on the
mountaintop, if it is about to snow, they will come down. The Lord wants us, as His sheep, to
understand the seasons and the times. And if we are the Lord’s sheep we will have this
understanding. So let us come to our Shepherd. So far we may have been ignorant of the
times we are in; we may not have understood the seriousness of the times we are living in. But
if we come to our Shepherd Jesus today He will give us this understanding.

God wants us to be sheep that belong to the Good Shepherd. So let us come closer to
our Shepherd.

“The Lord is my Shepherd” means, “I trust Him absolutely for everything and anything.”
When we come to this state, the blessings of Psalm 23 are ours now and forever. Psalm 23
teaches us to trust the Lord for everything. The middle verse in the Bible is Psalm 118:8—“It is
better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” The reason why the Holy Spirit has
put this verse in the centre of the Bible is because trusting the Lord should be the centre of
our life. When God is not in the centre of your life there will be confusion, for then, God will not
be in the centre of your decisions, or in the centre of your thoughts. Let us put our trust in the
Lord for everything. We should be in a state in which we can say, “Lord, without You I cannot
breathe.” The Bible says that those who put their trust in the Lord are the most blessed. “Thou
hast made him most blessed for ever: Thou hast made him exceeding glad with Thy
countenance. The king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High he shall
not be moved” (Psa 21:6,7). Truly, when we trust in the Lord, we shall not be moved. We will
be made exceeding glad by His countenance too. Those who do not put their trust in the Lord
will be exceeding sad and accursed forever.



TWO

SWEET CONTENTMENT
“I shall not want”

Man has various needs in his life. He often feels he is lacking something in his life. He is
not satisfied in this world. Even the greatest person on this earth has some lack. We all feel we
lack something. It is only God Who can satisfy all our longings, meet all our needs. If God is to
meet our needs we have to accept Him as our Shepherd. We have to submit ourselves as
sheep into His hands. Unless we surrender ourselves into His hands, He cannot supply our
needs. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths…It shall be health to
thy navel, and marrow to thy bones” (Prov 3:6,8). He will give health to our body and also
strength to our inner man. Our Good Shepherd is concerned about every aspect of our life—
the needs of both our physical man and our spiritual man. We have to understand this. Then
we will not be worried about anything in our life.

Our Shepherd is able to look into every area of our lives. He is able to help in every part
of our life—even if it be something that we cannot even understand. The psalmist had a very
good knowledge of this Shepherd and a good experience with him. David knew the Lord as his
Shepherd when he himself was a shepherd, when he was an armourbearer to Saul, when he
was a soldier, when he was the captain of Saul’s army and when he fled from the hands of Saul
and was a fugitive in the wilderness. And later when he came back to Israel as a king too, he
experienced the Lord as his Shepherd. We may be young, we may be old, we may even be a
little child but the fact remains that the Lord is our Shepherd. He can be a Shepherd to any
person and He is able to understand any person. So let us trust in this Shepherd and let us
enjoy the blessings that come from this Shepherd.

“I shall not want (lack).” This shows the abun- dance God has for us, the abundance of
His goodness. “We shall be satisfied with the fatness (goodness) of Thy house” (Psa 65:4).
“The meek...shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace” (Psa 37:11). “I will
abundantly bless her provision” (Psa 132:15). “He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7). “…
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness” (Rom 5:17). “ In Thy presence is
fulness of joy” (Psa 16:11). “Unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly” (Eph 3:20).
What an abundance the Lord has for us!

God’s Word says that the Lord daily loads us with blessings! (Psa 68:19). ‘Giving
blessings’ is different from ‘loading with blessings’. In another place we read that the Lord
overtakes us with blessings. “And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if
thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God” (Deut 28:2). God is zealous in blessing
us—that is His work. God has a blessing for every moment, every morning, every day and
every situation. He has so much to give His children. He has beautifully planned out everything
for our lives, upto the very last moment. But very often we are unable to understand all that
God has for us. When a child is born, the parents plan so much for it. Can you make a 6-month-
old understand all that you have planned for its upbringing, its university studies, etc? All it
knows is to cry when it is hungry or thirsty. Like that, our understanding of the love of God is
very limited. In Zephaniah 3:17 we read, “He will rest in His love.” In another translation it
says, “He is silently planning in His love.” When a great mansion is being constructed, the
builders normally cover up the area completely till the building is completed. This is true in our
spiritual life also. God is planning everything silently and beautifully for us. We cannot see all
these blessings around us with our natural eyes—we should take them by faith.

“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which
Thou hast ordained: what is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou
visitest him?” ponders the psalmist (Psa 8:3,4). The psalmist is amazed at the blessings God
has kept for His children. If we can get at least a glimpse of these blessings, all our worries,
cares and tension will get diffused. When we truly know our loving, gracious and good God,
and realise how much He cares for us, all our worries are bound to go. “What is man that Thou
art mindful of him?” Do you realise how mindful God is of you? In Hebrew the word for
‘mindful’ means ‘most noteworthy’. We may be despised by the worldlings but to the Lord we
are most noteworthy! In heaven, the Bride of Christ will be more noteworthy than all the holy
angels (the angels will be outside New Jerusalem, the city of God). Dear child of God, do you
realise how much God loves you and cares for you?

In Hebrew, the word for ‘visitest’ also means ‘cares’. Very often, we do not consider the
fact that God cares about every little thing that affects us. Today, when you took a shower,
God counted every hair that fell— something you did not worry about. This reveals how God
cares for every minute detail of our lives. We can cast all our cares upon Him for He cares for
us. When we realise this, rather than worrying, we will keep praising and rejoicing in God. “I
will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are Thy works; and that
my soul knoweth right well” (Psa 139:14). The very creation of God shows that we need to
praise God and rejoice in Him. When I take up a glass of water to drink I can detect any foul
smell because my nose is just above my mouth, and right above the nose are my eyes to
check the colour of the water. If our eyes, nose and mouth were arranged in a different order,
what knowledge will we have about what we eat or drink? There are other passages too in the
Word of God that tell of how wonderfully we are made.

There is a world of difference between “I do not want” and “I shall not want.” “I shall not
want” means, “I have everything not only for the present but for all eternity.” You may say, “I
have a job. I have food in the house. All my needs are met,” but what about tomorrow? What
does the psalmist say? “I shall not lack—not only now, but in the future and through all
eternity. The Lord is my personal Shepherd, my Jehovah Raah. I am the only sheep He has. He
is the King of the Universe, the God of all creation. He cannot fail.” It is a blessed life. Very
often we are worried, not about today, but about tomorrow. “What am I going to do tomorrow?
How can I face that problem tomorrow. What will be my children’s future?” Our Beloved
Shepherd is Alpha and Omega. “I shall not lack anything in the future. My Good Shepherd will
take care of anything I may need in the future.” If you have everything for now, for the future
and for all eternity, will you have any difficulty in lying down in peace?

The psalmist does not say, “I shall not lack because I have enough money in the bank,
because I have a good job, good security plans, good retirement plans, etc.” He says “The Lord
is my Shepherd, therefore I shall not want.” Dear reader, we too must have that personal
relationship with the Lord. If there is some lack in your life, it could be because the Good
Shepherd is not given the rightful place in your life.“ Once a person asked a very weak old
man, “How do you manage your financial affairs?” “I have a rich father,” he replied, “He
provides my needs.” Then that person remarked, “Your father must be very old.” To that the
old man said, “My Father never grows old. He will never die.” Do not trust your money, for
money will take wings and fly away, the Word of God says. Money cannot supply all your
needs either, for it cannot bring peace and joy to your heart. There are many things that
money can buy, things that your parents can supply, but only God can supply all your needs .
“But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil
4:19). Our Lord is faithful to supply all our need, not greed. Sometimes we feel we lack
something, but that may be because of our greed. “The young lions do lack and suffer hunger
but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing” (Psa 34:10). “For the Lord God is a
sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them
that walk uprightly” (Psa 84:11).

“All that I want is in Jesus,

He satisfies, joy He supplies,
Life would be worthless without Him, All things in Jesus
I find.”

A saint always lives in the palace of contentment. A sinner’s heart is always in the
dungeon of greed and dissatisfaction. Money and possessions cannot give us contentment;
only the presence of our Shepherd can. When everything is taken away from us and we are
left with only God and nothing else, then we realise that all we need is God. The immediate
presence of God, the nearness of God brings us great contentment. When Paul was in Nero’s
prison and was about to be executed, he said, “I have learned in whatever state I am,
therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound” (Phil
4:11,12) His washroom, bathroom, bedroom, everything, was only the dungeon. If made to live
in such a place for even a few days, some people even lose their minds. What made St Paul
say this then? It was the presence of God filling his life. When we find God, we find
everything.” when God is with us (or in us), we have everything; we lack nothing.

The whole of Psalm 23 emphasises our personal relationship with the Lord. He has green
pastures, tender pastures for us. He wants to lead us beside waters of quietness. He has the
best table for us. He wants to anoint us, and He wants to give us the ‘overflowing’ experience
_ our cup running over. But without a true relationship with God, we cannot enjoy any of these.
And only God can truly satisfy us. There is no place where we can find satisfaction other than
God, the fountain of all our satisfaction. If you do not have a personal relationship with God,
you will go for substitutes. You may try to find satisfaction in the television, in some wrong
type of friends, or maybe in some video cassette or magazine. But when we have a real close
relationship with God, we will see all our problems and all the situations we face as a real
blessing, through the eyes of faith. What a sweet experience it is to live by faith!

Dear friend, do you find yourself sinking in deep waters when problems suddenly arise ?
“All things work together for good to them that love God.” If in everything you will see the
blessed hand of God, you will not get disturbed and troubled. You will rejoice and praise God in
all situations. You will know that something good will come out of even a distressing situation,
for your God makes the bitter, sweet. But if we do not have a close relationship with the Lord,
even little problems will make us depressed and upset and we will keep complaining.

To have a close relationship with the Lord, you must give Him the first place in your life.
If your priorities are not right, if you say, “I have no time for God,” God cannot do much for
you. We read about the parable of excuses in Luke 14:16,24. Everyone had excuses. Finally,
the Lord said, “None of the men who made excuses will taste this blessing.” What excuse do
you have for not finding time for God, for not reading the Bible, for not praying, for not fasting
or for not doing something God wants you to do? Let us not make any excuses. Felix, the
Governor, had an excuse. When Paul was preaching about temperance, righteousness and
judgment, although he was really pricked in his heart, he said, “When I find a convenient time I
shall call for you.” Obviously, he found time only in the lake of fire— he died without finding
salvation. Do not give excuses for not giving God the first place. Unless the Lord is your
Shepherd, you will not find satisfaction in life.

Contentment brings peace both now and forever. A contented man has perfect peace,
and the man who has perfect peace and contentment has a wonderful God. This is called
‘godliness with contentment’. It is a beautiful thing to know that we have a caring, loving God.
With confidence you can shout and always say, “The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not
want.” He is everywhere, all around you, all over you. He is in your heart. He is under you,
upon you, behind you, before you and sur- rounding you. He is the Fountain of life and of all
goodness. You can rejoice in God and put the devil to shame. Dear friend, cast all your cares
on Him, for He cares for you. He carries you in His bosom. He will gently lead you. Every
moment He waters, every moment He gives His love and grace. He keeps us night and day so
that no evil may befall us. Blessed child of God, because the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall
not want (lack)—now, in the future and in all of eternity.

What do we need, to come to this stage? We should be filled with God. Our hearts
should be filled with God. When the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated,
at his funeral, his 17-year-old grand- daughter gave a speech which stunned the whole world.
She said, “I have no revenge against the assassin of my grandfather because the pain of his
death fills my whole heart and there is no place for anything else in my heart.” There is a
spiritual truth in this. When our heart is really filled with God, we will not hunger for anything
else.

We all hunger for something. If we do not hunger for God, we will hunger for the world. If
we do not hunger for holiness, we will hunger for filthiness. If we do not hunger for God’s love,
we will hunger for the world’s love. So once your heart is filled with God and He is your
Shepherd, you shall have no want. This does not mean that you will become very rich. If God
makes you poor, that would be better than having the devil make you rich. Solomon, the
wisest man, says, “Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith than a house full of
sacrifices with strife” (Prov 17:1). God is one Who has everything. He lacks nothing. If God has
everything, then all we need is God.

“I shall not want” does not mean that God will give me whatever I ask for. The Lord will
provide everything that is necessary and good for you. If you do not have something that you
desire, it means it is either not good for you, or, that you shall have it later in God’s time. We,
in our foolishness, can ask for unnecessary things. For instance, when a child asks for bread
the mother gives it to him, but if he asks for a knife his mother will not give it to him even if he
cries for it. Sometimes, we do not realise what we need and what we don’t. Psalm 23 has
eternity in view—in eternity we will not lack anything. That is why the psalm ends with
“Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the
Lord (in heaven) forever.” As a shadow, the same truth was revealed to Abraham when he
offered Isaac on the altar. Jehovah Jireh means ”The Lord will provide.” He does not say, “The
Lord will provide the lamb for the sacrifice,” although that was also implied. He merely says,
“The Lord will provide.” The Lord will provide anything that we are in need of—so we must be
filled with God. God is the fountain of all good things. He is the fountain of life. In Him we have
everything. Once this truth comes into our spirit, our life becomes exciting.

Whatever God gives you, He gives with one intention—‘that your joy may be full’.
“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name; ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be
full” (Jn 16:24). If God gives you all that you ask for, your sorrow and not joy, will be full. God
knows that if He gives us some of the things we ask for, we will be very sad at the end of our
life. Others may have it but you cannot . God wants us to have only those things that will give
us joy at the end. It may grieve you now that God has not answered some of your prayers, but
when you go to heaven you will thank Him for not answering them. Sometimes we think God
did not answer our prayer because He does not love us. But, dear child, it is the other way
around; God did not answer your prayers because He loves you!

There was a certain couple who had two daughters but no son. They badly wanted a son
and kept praying hard for one although God had clearly revealed to them that it was not His
will to give them a son. So finally God gave them a son, but he grew to be a wayward boy and
brought his parents untold grief and misery.

Many people use their credit cards or borrow money to get what they want. The result of
that will not be joy but sadness. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” means, whatever
God gives me, will give me joy. There is a joy attached to whatever God gives. But, if you
wrest something from the hand of God, you are going to reap the consequences of your
stubbornness. For instance, God gave the Israelites manna, the angels’ food (it was sweeter
than honey), but they were not satisfied with it. They said they wanted meat; they cried and
murmured for what was not in the will of God. God then gave them meat but while it was yet
in their mouths, the wrath of God came on them. We should not force God to give us anything,
for that will not be a blessing. What God gives us may be very little or God may delay in giving
it to us, but that will only increase our faith. Our trust in the Lord and our joy in the Lord will
increase.

So dear child of God, do not worry over your future. Your future is bright since it is in the
hands of God. If the Lord is your Shepherd, you shall not want. Our God Who has helped us
thus far will help us till the end. Our future shall be better than our past. Our past was
connected with our sinful life. If the Lord cared for us even during that time, how much more
He will care for us in the future !



THREE

LYING DOWN
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”

It is the shepherd’s responsibility to feed his sheep. The sheep that follows its shepherd
finds good pasture. When we trust in the Lord, He gives the very best to us. He makes us lie
down in green pastures—pastures of tender grass, says the margin. The difference between
tender grass and dry grass is that, in the tender grass there is a certain amount of water, but
in dry grass there is none. So when the sheep eats tender grass, it gets food and water also to
some extent. ‘Green pastures’, it says, in the plural. One sheep needs only one green pasture
(field). Often ten or twenty sheep are made to graze in one field. But a child of God is very
special to God because Jesus shed His precious blood for him. Jesus gives him His precious
anointing, His precious promises, etc—many pastures are given to one sheep. A wide choice is
provided for just one sheep. You can eat the best grass. There is also an abundance of grass.
Our God is a God of abundance.

‘Lying down’ shows rest. The first thing we see our Shepherd doing for us is ‘making us
to lie down’. “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,”
He calls to us. Sheep that do not follow their Shepherd are distraught and fraught.
They cannot be made to lie down. O restless Soul, heed your Shepherd’s call; come and drink
of the rest He has for you!

Sheep cannot be made to lie down until and unless they have had their fill. We can
never really rest until the hunger of our spirit is fully satisfied. The pleasures the world offers
may please us for a while but can never really satisfy our innermost hungering. But Jesus said,
“He that cometh to Me shall never hunger” (Jn 6:35). Our Good Shepherd has enough to fully
satisfy us. We shall be abundantly satisfied—we can lie down content in His green pastures.

The presence of danger too will prevent sheep from lying down. We have a great
security and protection in our Shepherd—He has graven us in the palms of His hands. We are
‘the sheep of His hand’
(Psa 95:7) “My sheep shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand,”
says He (Jn 10:28). Let us say, “I will trust and not be afraid.” Then we truly enjoy rest.

Lying down is one of the easiest things you can do. You do not need anybody’s help to
do that. But the Lord says, “I will help you lie down.” So from “He maketh me to lie down” we
gather that our Shepherd wants to help us even in the easiest, smallest things we do. How
many times we are worried about so many things in life ! The message the Lord wants to
convey to us is, “My son, My daughter, I want to help you not only in difficult and important
things, but even in the easiest and trivial matters.” How much more eager the Lord is then to
help us in our problems and troubles! That is why we call Him ‘Mother-like God’ (El Shaddai)
—‘God that performeth all things for me.’ This is our God and He will be our guide even unto
death.

If the Lord is to make us lie down, we have to admit that we do not know how to lie down. In
Psalm 23, we do not find the sheep doing anything; it is the shepherd who is doing everything.
In verses 2 and 3 we find the word ‘he’ or ‘his’ five times. ‘He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters; He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for His name's sake.’ Our Shepherd does everything for us. But when
we read about Lucifer we see him saying ‘I’ five times— “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the
sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High”
(Isa 14:13,14). ‘I’ shows self-confidence or overconfidence. Where there is ‘I’, we find a lot of
frustration. When we say, ‘Lord, I have no wisdom, I have no strength,’ this state is called
‘surrender’. Surrendering our life (realising we cannot do anything) is so sweet.

David realized he could do nothing by himself; he knew he needed his Shepherd; he

knew his Shepherd had to do all things for him. That is why we find him attributing all his
achievements, victories and successes to God. Read Psalm 18. “By Thee I have run through a
troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall”(vs 29). “It is God that girdeth me with
strength, and maketh my way perfect” (vs 32). “He maketh my feet like hind’s feet, and
setteth me upon my high places” (vs 33). “Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my
feet did not slip” (vs 36) etc, etc. His God has done everything for him, there is nothing that he
claims to have done by himself. And he realized also that with his God he can do all things. At
times we are self-confident and overconfident too; that is why God allows some problem in our
life. Peter was so overconfident that he said, “Even if everybody forsakes You, I will follow You
and die for You.” The attitude of the psalmist is just the opposite. “Make me to go in the path
of Thy commandments” (Psa 119:35). He prayed ‘Make me to go,’and we know God blessed
him in that area. Peter said, ‘I am ready to go,’ but was found unprepared. Very often this is
our problem too. Paul says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me” (Phil
4:19). That means, “I cannot do anything without God.” We tend to think we can do so many
things, but God wants to break and shatter that overconfidence, and bring us to nothingness
and then bring us to rest.

Our failures are because of our overconfidence. How often we have struggled to do good
and failed! And often we have thereby been discouraged! Discouragement is not of God.
Discouragement proceeds from pride. It is because you have been thinking you can do
something that you are discouraged when you cannot do it. But if you are humble you will
seek your God and then you will receive His help, for He gives grace to the humble. And as you
receive His grace and help, your heart will always be grateful and your mouth will be always
filled with the praises of God. David was always praising God, always rejoicing in his God
because he saw the hand of his God even in the smallest details of his life. God is not
expecting us to do great things but God wants to do great things in us, for us and through us.
Our life is not to be a struggle; we need not struggle to put the truths we hear into practice.
We have to seek God or yield ourselves to these truths. Then God Who makes all things
beautiful in His time will do a beautiful work in our life. And we will be able to live a life of rest.
It is for such a life that God has called us. Right from the first step of salvation the Lord keeps
giving us rest. “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest,” He says.

In our Christian life we have to cease from our own works. We have to enter into the rest
of God; we have to allow God to do all things for us. This calls for a life of consecration; we
have to give everything into the hands of God. In Ezekiel 43:26, ‘they shall consecrate
themselves’ is rendered as ‘they shall fill their hands,’ in the margin. It means that they fill
their hands and give to the Lord. Consecration is giving ourselves and all that we have to the
Lord with our whole heart. Then God has the liberty to work in every aspect of our life. Unless
we allow God to work in our lives and build up our lives, on that Day we will be found clothed
with only the filthy rags of our own righteousness. So let us enter into a life of rest here so that
we may enter into that eternal rest when the Lord comes in glory.

“I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in
safety” (Psa 4:8). The sense of the presence of God gives peace and quietness. We do not
have to worry about the wolf, the bear or the lion. We only need to know that our Shepherd is
with us. ‘Safety is not in the absence of danger but in the presence of God.’ Because of the
presence and nearness of the Shepherd, we can lie down in peace and be free from fear and
worry. We see this truth in Exodus 33:14: “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee
rest.” Living in the presence of God is like, being carried always. God’s presence gives us rest.
When you feel the presence of God, you will feel your burdens just rolling away. The Word of
God says that in the presence of God even the mountains melt. Do you really experience the
presence of God? Do you have rest in your heart? “The peace of God which passeth all
understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).
“Peace like a river is flooding my soul,
Since Christ,my Saviour, maketh me whole,
Sweet peace abiding, my portion shall be,
Jesus, my Saviour, is precious to me.”

Dear child of God, when you lose your peace, realise that something is wrong in your
life or that something is going to happen and that the Holy Spirit is showing it to you. “Let the
peace of God rule in your hearts” (Col 3:15). Peace should be the ruler. “The peace God gives
you is to guide you in the decisions you make” (Good News Bible). Suppose you want to buy a
car. You may find it quite all right to buy one in every way. But if you do not have peace in
your heart, it shows that the Lord is saying to you, “Wait, don’t go ahead with it.” Wait till the
rest comes back to your heart — don’t buy it. There must be a reason, something must be
wrong somewhere — that is why there is a disturbance in your spirit. It could be deciding on
buying a house, going to college or making some other decision. The problem with many of
God’s people is that they do not want to obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. They say, “I want
to do it. So let me do it.” You must quietly sit at the feet of the Lord and inquire, “Lord, should I
join that school, that job?” The Holy Spirit will really make you feel at peace about the matter
if it is the will of God. You may have the money to buy something you want, and seem
favourable to your making the purchase, but wait till the peace comes to your heart.

Solomon was a great king who had sixty soldiers around him, all around his bed, but he
could not lie down in peace. “Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are
about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his
sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night” (Song 3:7,8). Solomon was lying down but
he could not sleep at night due to fear; so mighty warriors had to stand around with weapons.
In Proverbs 3:24 we read, “When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea, thou shalt lie
down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.” It is the same with the final sleep also. There is no death
for saints. Saints do not die. They only sleep and it is called ‘sweet sleep’. For us to leave this
earth and go to heaven, the passport is not sickness but salvation, the grace of God. In Hosea
2:18 we read, “And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and
with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow
and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.” If our
spirit is resting in God, in all eternity we will be resting in God and He will be resting in us too.

The reason why many people argue, quarrel, fight and get irritated is not because of
their external problems, but because they have no peace or rest inside. You cannot enjoy
quietness and peace if your conscience is troubled. The Lord first makes us lie down – gives us
a good conscience. Is your conscience troubled? When we obey the Word of God we get a
clear conscience. We begin obeying the Word of God when we receive water baptism (I Pet
3:21). If we have disobeyed God in any way we need to come to Him and have our conscience
renewed so that we can go forward boldly in our spiritual life. A conscience pure and clean, is
like a soft pillow. Even if you sleep for only three or four hours, it will be as good as six or
eight hours of sleep. If you go to a beach and lie down on the sand and bask in the sunshine,
you will enjoy yourself. But if, after you have a wash and wear clean clothes, you lie down on
your clean bed and there find a grain of sand on the bed, you will not be able to bear it. This is
the difference between one who is unclean in life and a child of God who is washed thoroughly
by the blood of Jesus. Like the person who enjoys the sand while lying on it some people enjoy
watching ungodly programmes and reading ungodly literature. But after we have become
clean from head to foot, after all our thoughts, words and deeds are completely washed by the
blood of the Lamb, even if we allow a little sin, a little ungodliness, it will keep irritating and
troubling us like a grain of sand in our bed.

‘Green pastures’ connotes peace and grace all around. When you feel the nearness of
the Shepherd, you will be free from worry and care. We read in Luke’s Gospel about the rich
man who had a good harvest. That night the poor man could not sleep because he was worried
thinking, “What shall I do?” Perhaps he was pondering over breaking down the storehouses
and building greater ones. But what did the Lord say? “This night thy soul shall be required of
thee.” So that night was a night of real trouble for him. Though he had plenty, he could not
sleep. Beloved child of God, there is a life of rest for you. The Lord wants to be your Shepherd.
Every day is to be another day of peace, joy and grace. If there is greed for money or the
things of this world in your heart, give it into the hands of God. Let the Lord make you lie down
in green pastures.

The true beauty of a Christian life is clearly shown in Psalm 23. The Lord does
everything for us, and the first thing He does is to make us lie down. The first thing God
wants us to learn is to rest in the presence of God—so that He can teach us and lead us in the
right way. Often we live a mechanical life, running around and finding no time to sit at the feet
of the Lord. So God sometimes literally makes us lie down so that we may not run around so
much. By allowing an accident or sickness, He makes us lie down so we can learn to rest in the
presence of God. Till we learn to rest in the presence of God, our lives will be restless.

It is said that sheep need to lie down more than any other animal (it is very strange).
The only animal to have four stomachs is the sheep. It takes a lot of time to digest food, as it
is the fourth stomach that has the digestive juice. The food has to pass from the first to the
second, from the second to the third, and from the third to the fourth stomach. So the sheep
has to lie down for a long time. This could be a problem to many, for many do not know how to
rest in the presence of God. “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). God wants
to bring us to a restful life. Next, Jesus says,
“Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” God
giving us rest is one thing and we finding rest, is another. Though God gives us peace and rest,
unless our spirit is right, and receptive to God, we cannot find peace or rest. One of our
greatest problems is that we do not spend enough time in the presence of God.
“Dwelling there, how truly blest!
Leaving all, how sweet to rest,
Head upon my Saviour’s breast,
Seeing only Jesus.”

For us to experience (enjoy) all the blessings in Psalm 23, first the Lord makes us lie
down ie He makes us really humble. We are not humble people. Everyday the Lord has to
make us humble. All the blessings of God are for those who are humble. The proud are always
in a dry, thirsty land. We do not have access to many of God’s blessings because pride is
sticking to our life. Pride is a bottomless pit. The deeper we go into it, the more of it we find.
We must take time to be humble before the Lord. Humility starts in the thoughts. We may
seem to be humble, but how many times high and lofty thoughts and desires come and disturb
us! When someone touches us we raise the hood like a snake. There is a difference between
our lying down and the Lord making us lie down. Sometimes we are willing to lie down
ourselves or humble ourselves. But we do not like others to humble us. Unless the head is
crushed, the snake will not lie down. If it sees something, it will raise its hood. God makes us
lie down or humbles us because its only then that all the blessings follow us. The cross was a
humiliating experience for Jesus. He was spat upon, ridiculed and reproached in public. But
that cross became a blessing to the whole universe. We receive all blessings because of the
cross. When we are humiliated, we must take it as “He makes me to lie down”; we must take it
as coming from the Lord. We must not connect it with man. When the Lord makes us lie down,
when we are broken, we must look to the Lord. If we look to man, we will get irritated and
upset. “They looked unto Him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed” (Psa
34:5).

“I will give peace in the land and ye shall lie down and none shall make you afraid: and
I will rid evil beasts out of the land neither shall the sword go through your land” (Lev 26:6).
The first experience we have when we lie down (humble ourselves) is a great peace in our
heart. When we raise our head and become proud, the first thing we lose is peace and there is
a struggle and dryness within. Peace means prosperity, healing and blessing. We have not
learnt to lie down or truly humble ourselves. Many a time proud thoughts have come to our
mind and we have given room to them. Lying down is rest. The Humble will not have any fear
because they know God will help them. Only the proud have fear. One reason for fear is the
lingering pride in us. “I will rid evil beasts out of the land.” There may be many beast-like
people around but when we lie down, God will take care of all that. “Neither shall the sword go
through your land” means we will have no inner struggle. We must say, “Lord, I want to be as
humble as You are.” This should be in our thoughts. “Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal
with God…He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross”
(Phil 2:6,8). Are we saying, “Lord, how can I become smaller everyday? I must decrease and
others must increase. Lord, I want my enemies to become better and more honourable before
God, that I may rejoice in it” ? Human nature is to say, “I must be greater and more
honourable than others.” That is not humility.

“If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and
seek My face...will heal their land” (II Chron 7:14). Humility and healing go together. For some
people healing is delayed because they are not humble in the sight of God.

Humbling ourselves or lying down is such a beautiful experience. It takes a whole

lifetime to learn humility. “Tarry this night, and it shall be in the morning...will do the part of a
kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth, lie down until the morning,” said Boaz to Ruth (Ruth 3:13).
Boaz is a type of Jesus. Till the Coming of the Lord we must learn to be humble; then Jesus will
do His part in our life as a kinsman. When morning breaks we will be raised in the resurrected
body.

“When thou liest down…thy sleep shall be sweet” (Prov 3:24). When we humble
ourselves, then our sleep shall be sweet. Literally, pride can disturb sleep. Death is also a
sleep. For humble people, death also will be sweet. Most of our trials and troubles are
designed to make us humble. The Israelites could have gone to Canaan in less than forty days.
The reason it took them forty years and the journey became so dreary, was because God was
teaching them one lesson for forty years—the lesson of humility. “Thou shalt remember all the
way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness to humble thee...”
(Deut 8:2). It says, ‘Remember...’ Wherever the Word of God says, ‘Remember,’ we must
remember, because we have a tendency to forget what we should remember. If you have not
learnt the lesson the Teacher has been teaching you for forty years, you must be the dullest
student in the school of God. God gave them manna which was small like the coriander seed.
They had to bend down to pick it up—it must have been really humbling. Every morning God
was teaching them to humble themselves, but they refused, rebelled and complained. God
Himself was trying to teach them, and He was no ordinary teacher. But even after forty long
years none but two of them learnt humility. The people to whom God was trying to teach
humility were not rich kings or great princes. They were only slaves who had been making
bricks; they could not boast about their education oranything else —still they found it so hard
to humble themselves.

“I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God” (Ezek 34:15).
The Lord wants to feed us with the best wheat and fine honey, but we must desire to lie down.
We must put the thought deep into our spirit and say, “Lord, I want to lie down.” All the
blessings in Psalm 23 are given to us after we have been made to lie down.



FOUR

HE CARRIES ME!
“He leadeth me besides the still waters”

After saying, “He maketh me to lie down,” it says, “He leadeth me.” After making a man
lie down, can you lead him? You can lead a man who is lying down only by carrying him. The
Hebrew word for ‘leadeth’ here is naha which means ‘carrieth’. It is a beautiful thing to be
carried by the Shepherd. “Even to hoar hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even
I will carry,” He promises (Isa 46:4). The same word naha (carry) is used in II Chronicles 28:15.
“And the men which were expressed by name rose up…and carried (naha) all the feeble…”

There are times when we cannot walk, times when we feel weak spiritually. As in the
vision of a man of God, ‘Footprints’, when we are too weak to walk, the Shepherd carries us.
“...shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom (Isa 40:11). When we say,
“Lord, I cannot make it. I am so weak,” the Lord will say, “My precious child, do not worry. I will
carry you.” What a wonderful Shepherd we have !

“He careth, He beareth;

I’m graven in the palms of His hands,
He watcheth and guideth,
He makes the bitter sweet to me.”

Jesus told Peter, “When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself and walkedst whither thou
wouldest, but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another shall
gird thee and carry thee” (Jn 21:18). ‘When you are young’ ie. when you are childish or
immature, you walk in your own way. ‘When you are old’ i e when you are spiritually mature,
you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you. When you surrender
your life to God and to the will of God, the Lord will carry you. Christian life is a sweet, sweet
life, but beloved one, we can enjoy it only when we fully surrender ourselves to God. The devil
may say, “If you surrender your life, things will become very hard.” But, it is the other way
around. When you surrender your life to God, you will feel very light—as if somebody is
carrying you. You will sense the Lord doing everything for you, rather than you doing it
yourself. You will find the Lord providing everything. This is what a restful life is; this is living in
the presence of God.

He leads us to the ‘still waters’ (waters of quiet- ness—margin). The Lord does not carry
us to troubled waters—no, never. He does not lead us to floods or to the ocean where
mountain-like waves roar and fierce winds blow. He leads us to the still waters. There is
quietness and rest in the beautiful presence of God. Beloved child of God, do you have peace
and quietness in you? “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isa 30:15). The
Christian life is a beautiful life. It is not filled with frustration, anger or irritation. It is a life of
rest, peace and quietness. “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest” (Isa
57:20). Job 34:29 says, “When God gives us quietness, who can make us troubled?” God
wants to give us heavenly peace and rest in our spirit. When Jesus went away leaving His
disciples behind in a world of trouble and sorrow, He said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I
give unto you” (Jn 14:27).

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psa 46:10). The reason why we should be still in the
presence of God or rest in the presence of God, is to know God. That is the only way we can
know God. If we are to know God, the character of God, the great power of God and the
goodness of God, the first thing we have to do is to ‘be still’, ‘learn to live in the peace and
quietness of God’. When did God say, “Be still (quiet) and know that I am God”? Read verses
1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9 of Psalm 46. Psalm 46 is a ‘noisy psalm’. The waters are troubled, the earth
is shaking and the mountains are quaking and falling right into the ocean. In the midst of all
that noise, God says, “Be still.” God wants to help us to sit at His feet and learn to be quiet in
the midst of the noisiest storm. Dear child of God, every trial has a divine purpose. We do not
realize it because we have not learnt to be quiet. “Study to be quiet,” we read (I Thess 4:11).
Many problems in marriages and in families could be solved only if we learn to be quiet. When
we are quiet, God will fight the battle for us. He will go before us and help us.

When the Shepherd leads you, any time you want to drink water, the still waters are
right beside you. They are not behind you or somewhere else. When the Lord leads, there will
always be grace abounding for us. But if we run away from the leading of God, the waters will
not be beside us. This is the blind truth of eternity. We read in Revelation 22:1,2. “And he
shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God
and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the
tree of life.” The street and river both go together. Jesus is the Street and the River of Life. He
brings to us everything we need even in eternity.

“Sweet is my Jesus, hearken O earth,

He is my Shepherd, great is His worth.
By the still waters leadeth my soul,
Peace, perfect peace, now Zion’s my goal.”



FIVE

BEING RESTORED
“He restoreth my soul”

It is very easy for sheep to go astray. That is why we read in Isaiah, ‘All we like sheep
have gone astray’ (53:6). And it is not possible for sheep to come back to the shepherd on
their own. It is the shepherd who has to restore them.

When Adam sinned, he lost seven things. First, he lost eternal life, which comes from
God. God said, “The day you eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, you will die.” In biblical
terms, death means separation. Their soul died when it got separated from God. They also
died literally. Adam lived only 930 years which is less than one day (as a thousand years is one
day in the sight of God). Man also lost immortality. Although we do not know what exactly God
had planned for man, we know that He did not plan that man die physically. Man lost his
dominion. He had dominion over the fish, the fowls and the land animals. If he asked an eagle
or a whale to come, it would obey. Then he lost fellowship or unity with God. He also lost the
glory of God. The Bible says that man was made a little lower than the angels and crowned
with glory and honour. When sin came, glory left. “All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God.” And man lost the image of God too. Image shows character—not the perfect
character, for, just as a baby that is born has to grow and become perfect, Adam had to grow.
Finally he lost his inheritance – he was driven out of the Garden.

We are created in Adam, in his image (I Cor 15:49). We have all the failures that Adam
had, in our life. That is why God wants to recreate every one of us. So Jesus came into this
world as the second Adam and lived as a man and overcame all the failures found in the first
Adam. So the setbacks in Adam are not found in this second Adam, Jesus Christ. God wants to
create us once again in this second Adam. We are created in the first Adam through our
physical birth, and when we are born again in the inner man through the Word of God we
become a creation in the second Adam. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus. The Lord
creates a new heart within us. He takes away the old heart and gives us a new heart and puts
into us His Spirit (Ezek 36:26,27; II Cor 5:17). The laws of God come into us and we are able to
walk in His footsteps. We can grow into His likeness. It is because the heart is still old that
some find it difficult to follow the Good Shepherd.

The ‘soul’ is the seat of emotions, affections, sentiments, and active will. So restoring
the soul is changing our character. The purpose of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation
is to show us that God wants to restore our lives to the very image and character of God. Many
do not have an interest in reading the Bible because they are not aware of this purpose. If the
Bible is to become interesting to us, we must understand the whole purpose of the Bible, and
this is contained in the four words, “He restoreth my soul”—not restored my soul (in the past)
or going to restore my soul (in the future). God wants to do a work of restoration in our lives
now. He is the Restorer. The whole purpose of the Bible is to change our character and if we
keep that thought in our minds, we will certainly read the Bible. Then God will speak to us
something about changing our character, from every chapter.

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in
the spirit of meekness” (Gal 6:1). The spirit of meekness is the spirit of restoration. It will help
restore your marriage, your family and any other relationship. What is a meek spirit? It is
taking reproaches, persecutions, rejections, etc in a cheerful spirit. Instead of getting angry,
upset and irritated, you offer forgiveness and love to that person. This is meekness. Meekness
is a step higher than forgiveness. Meekness is a step higher than humility. It is an all important
virtue which must come into our spirit. God wants to do a beautiful work of restoration in our
lives. When we have meekness all the lost blessings will be restored to us to overflowing. We
can never become a saint without the spirit of meekness.

Pastor Paul, the founder of our Mission, was a very meek man. He was the very symbol
of meekness. No surprise then that to such a man who had hardly any education and had
earlier been a Hindu, God gave the revelation about this church and established it all over the
world for His glory. Meekness is a beautiful quality and it has no substitute. When Pas.Paul was
dying, one of his old friends in his former church came to see him. He kept on scolding
Pas.Paul for leaving that church and starting this ministry. Pastor kept silent and at the end he
prayed a blessing on him and gave him some money. At Pas.Paul’s funeral, the man sobbed
bitterly and gave his heart to the Lord. He became a true saint.

Look at the beautiful spirit of restoration that Jesus manifested. “I restored that which I
took not away” (Psa 69:4). The devil took away peace from people. But Jesus restored peace.
The devil took away health from people but Jesus restored it to them. The devil took away love
for God and put hatred into their hearts and Jesus restored that which He did not take away.
We should do the same for others. The devil has taken away peace, joy and love from people.
Through our lives we should give them back to them. The spirit of restoration is the spirit of
meekness. There is no other way we can get the nature of restoring except through the spirit
of meekness.

In the character of the triune God we find meekness, lowliness and beautiful humility. If
we do not seek meekness we are not seeking God. When man sinned, God did not
immediately rush down from heaven with a big club or machine gun. God came down in the
‘cool of the day’ (Gen 3:8). And He came walking. Jesus, the second person in the Trinity, is
referred to as a lamb. He was as meek as a lamb —“I am meek and lowly,” He said of Himself
(Matt 11:29). What blessing did Jesus therefore have? In verse 27 He says “All things are
delivered unto Me of My Father.” It is after saying this that Jesus says, “I am meek.” It is to a
meek person that all things are delivered. God wants to restore all things into our hands; so we
must become meek.

William Carey came to India from England about 250 years ago as a pioneer missionary.
He translated the Bible into Bengali and laboured much to spread the gospel in India. Right in
the heart of Hinduism, he established the Serampore Christian University. India issued a postal
stamp in his name in recognition of his service to the people. It was the first time in her history
that a postage stamp was issued in the name of a Christian missionary. The secret behind
such great honour was his meekness. Once he was invited to a dinner in honour of the work he
had done. Another Englishman, envious of the honour conferred on Carey, whispered loudly, “I
knew Carey in England. He was only a shoemaker.” Carey smiled and said, “Sir, I was not a
shoemaker. I was only a cobbler.” Only meek and gentle people can become great in the sight
of God. David says in Psalm 18:35, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.”

Mahatma Gandhi of India was not a Christian, but he loved the Beatitudes. One day,
when he was picketing before a government office, an Englishman kicked him on his mouth
and a few of his teeth fell out. He was bleeding, but looking at the Englishman, he asked, ‘Sir,
did it hurt your foot?’ There that Englishman was humbled. How much more we, the children of
God, must have the meekness of Christ !

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,” taught Jesus (Matt 5:5).
‘Inheriting the earth’ does not mean we will become the king of the world. The earth is full of
the goodness of the Lord” (Psa 33:5). ‘The earth’ refers to the fulness of the goodness of the
Lord. When we are meek, when we have a meek spirit, we shall inherit the fulness of the
goodness of the Lord. We must dedicate ourselves to have a meek and quiet spirit, which is
very precious in the sight of God.

“The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of
peace” (Psa 37:11). It is amazing how much peace we get from meekness. The meek not only
have peace or abundant peace, but ‘delight themselves’ in the abundance of peace.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. “And having made peace through the blood of His cross….”
(Col 1:20). It does not say ‘the blood of Christ’ but, the ‘blood of His cross’. The key to peace,
the source of peace, is the cross. If you are an enemy of the cross, you are an enemy of peace.
We can love Jesus and at the same time be enemies of the cross of Jesus. Paul says in
Philippians 3:18,19, “...they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.” They were not enemies of
Jesus, but of the ‘cross of Christ’. The ‘cross’ stands for rejection, humiliation, reproaches,
persecution. ‘Loving the cross’ is loving the person who ridicules, persecutes, or reproaches
you. It is delighting in afflictions, trials and difficulties. Doing this has a cooling effect on you—
like eating a bowl of ice cream in hot summer. But if that person you hate and take revenge, a
fire burns inside you. There is a diffe- rence between giving peace and making peace. If you
gave someone a watch it would cost you 50 dollars. But if you made it yourself and gave it to
him it would be different. You could be a designing engineer or an electronics engineer
specialised in electronic watches. You could
have spent many years and much money studying how to design and make watches. So if it is
in need of repair, you would be able to fix it. This is what is meant by ‘making peace’. Jesus
made peace for us by the blood of His cross.

Child of God, make this dedication today: “Lord, from today I want to love the cross. I
want to meditate on the cross.” Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ. If I boast, I boast about
the cross. It is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (Gal 2:20; 6:14; I Cor 1:24). He had
discovered the peace that comes from the cross. It is not given, it is made and if God made it,
it is surely a lasting peace. “Peace that passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). Where was Paul when he was writing this? Was he in a
palace? No, he was in the worst possible place. He was a prisoner of Nero in Rome. He was in a
dungeon. He was expecting execution and, according to historians, he was executed soon
afterwards. How can we find this peace that he had ? Only by loving the cross. If you hate the
cross, you hate peace. You cannot ask God to give you peace then.

In Romania, during the time of the communist regime, Christians were persecuted. The
police once discovered a young Christian girl. She was about to get married and the police,
wanting to do the worst possible thing, decided to arrest her on her wedding day. Just when
she was about to take the vow, a policeman stormed into the church with handcuffs. When she
looked up and saw him, she raised her hands to be handcuffed. The bridegroom started crying
and the whole place looked like a funeral house. But the girl kissed the handcuffs and said,
“This is the wedding gift my heavenly Father has given me.” Anyone else would have said, “My
best day has become my worst day!” but she did not take it like that. Her attitude became a
source of inspiration to people all over the world. After about three years, when she was
released, she was skin and bone. Her husband-to-be had waited for her. He saw a heavenly
beauty in her.

Paul says, “The Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way” (II
Thess 3:16_NIV). Many children of God do not have this heavenly peace. They have only a
fragile peace. A road sign in America reads, “Yield.” This is what everyone has to learn. Before
you reach a major highway, you must ‘yield’ or you can land up in a disaster. Yield when
people persecute you, humiliate and reject you. Do not react, just yield. Jesus bowed His head
on the cross. This shows yielding. One brother who was visiting a bereaved family, was
misunderstood and arrested by the police. He was placed in a maximum security prison. He
thanked God for placing him there because he could preach to the other prisoners. If he had
not loved the cross he would have asked, “Why should this happen to me? I was only going to
comfort that family. Why should I suffer like this?” The Lord is telling us, “Yield to whatever
humiliation and suffering you are placed in.”

There were two brothers in Saudi Arabia, both good Christians and responsible leaders.
Both were put in prison. One was beaten up and tortured. But he was so full of joy that when
he got a chance to smuggle a small note to his wife, he wrote, “I am really enjoying this time
with Jesus. You must be very, very happy because your husband is suffering for the sake of
Christ. I am so full of joy; rejoice with me.” After he was released, he became a living
testimony. Unlike this brother, the other brother was not beaten up. He was also allowed
visitors, but he became deeply depressed. He lost all his peace and almost went mad in the
prison. Look at the difference between the two brothers. The difference is in their attitude
towards the cross. When you love the cross you rejoice in your sufferings. If you do not love
the cross, your life will be miserable, your marriage will be miserable.

The Lord restores us to the original purity of life. In the original Hebrew, the word for
‘restoreth’ also means ‘converts’. In Psalm 19 we read, “The law of the Lord is perfect,
converting the soul.” Every day there is a conversion taking place in us. Although our hearts
are cold and foul, God restores our hearts to the original purity, to the state man was in on the
day God created him in the likeness and image of God.

“Where art thou?” the Lord asked Adam. He is asking you the same question today.
Perhaps you are not in the right place. The Good Shepherd wants to restore you to your
fellowship with Him; He wants to restore
the broken relationships in your life. So come to your Good Shepherd.

The Lord wants us to always remain in a revived spiritual state. The mad man of
Gadarene was on the mountaintop at one time and the next moment he was right inside a
tomb. Some say, “The church service was so glorious, the sermon was wonderful, the singing
was so good,” but go home to the tomb, depressed. God has been good and gracious to us. He
is wonderful. He has given us precious promises. Therefore we cannot be in the tomb of
depression.

When we seek the restoration of our soul, ‘all other things shall be added unto us’. God
takes care of the other things, for He says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all other
things will be added unto you.” We do not need to seek the other things; they are added.
Many are not in a revived state because their spiritual eyes are not opened to see the
abundance the Lord has kept for them. God has provided everything for our life and godliness.
Paul’s prayer is that our eyes of understanding should be open to see all the glories of God.
Dear one, you should not be in a spiritually dry state, for all the provisions are just in front of
you. Once the captain of a ship sent an SOS to a faraway ship because they ran out of
drinking water in the ship. The other ship sent a reply saying, “Let down your bucket.” When
they did, they found pure fresh water. The mighty River Amazon rushes far into the ocean
before mingling with the salt water of the ocean and they were on those waters. Some of us
are like this captain and the crew. Child of God, you have already come to river of refreshing
life. Let down your bucket and drink. Open your spiritual eyes. Put your trust in the Lord for
everything and give the first place to God in everything. That is the first step you have to take.
When we give our everything to Him, He will give His everything to us.



SIX

HIS PATHS
“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for His name's sake”

It is after saying, “He restoreth my soul,” that the psalmist says, “He leadeth me in the
paths of righteous- ness.” All the paths of righteousness—leading, guiding, feeding, providing,
anointing and the cup overflowing, are founded on this – “He restoreth my soul”. God has to
continually keep doing this in us. Whenever we read the Bible, we must realize that God wants
to do something in our character.

Here, ‘leadeth’ means ‘guideth’. If we are the Lord’s sheep, He will lead us, guide us.
The shepherd always goes before his flock. “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he
goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice” (Jn 10:4). He goes
ahead and seeks the best pasture ground, quiet resting places and fresh clear water for the
sheep. The Lord not only restores our soul but also leads us. To show us His footsteps Jesus
came to the world. There is a saying, ‘A good leader is a good follower.’ Our leader Jesus came
as a man and He first followed the Father. Before He became a Shepherd, He was a Lamb and
walked before us leaving us His footprints for us to follow.

When a person is in Christ Jesus, he is the workmanship of God (Eph 2:10). The purpose
of God in creating us so is that we may walk in good works. God has ordained a path of
righteousness for us to walk in and reach our destination. The path has already been prepared
long ago – it has been ordained in Christ Jesus. And once we are created in Christ Jesus He
reveals that path to us. And as He reveals it, He leads us; we only have to follow as He leads.

Without a guide, we will get lost. The sheep in the parable in Luke Chapter 15 was lost in
the wilderness. Our spiritual life is like a journey in the wilderness. In this wilderness we may
get lost. In the Old Testament, when the Israelites were journeying in the wilderness, Moses
says, “The Lord took us through the howling wilderness.” It is a very frightening experience.
Our journey in this wilderness may frighten us; so God wants to give us a protection. In John
10:1 we read the shepherd has a sheepfold in the wilderness. This is a temporary enclosure in
a field. We may get lost or go in the wrong direction, so God has a sheepfold, the church of
God, where we are safe. Then there is a porter at the gate. This is the Holy Spirit and He in
turn appoints servants of God to preserve the flock. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and
to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of
God, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). That is why servants of God
are called co-shepherds with Christ. As a type to this, in Isaiah 63:11, a question is asked
—“Where is He that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of the flock ?” This
shepherd refers to Moses, the leader of the Israelites. Servants of God are to feed the flock of
God willingly and with a ready mind, and be examples to the flock. Then when Jesus the Chief
Shepherd appears, they shall receive a crown of glory (I Pet 5:1-4). Those servants of God who
are careless or slothful and do not diligently feed the church of God will be severely judged.
“Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at
their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock” (Ezek 34:10). “Woe to the idol
shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his
arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened” (Zech 11:17).

We have a blessed, glorious Guide in Christ Jesus. He gives us other guides to guide us.
The Holy Spirit is one such guide (Jn 16:13). He will guide us into all truth. The Word of God is
also a guide (Psa 119:105). When we seek the Word of God, meditate on the Word of God, God
will give us a clear direction in our life. The servants of God are also a guide to us. When the
shepherd calls, it is the porter who opens the door. Then the sheep follow the shepherd (Jn
10:3). The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the voice of the Shepherd when He speaks
through the Word or through the servants of God. That is why we should come into the
sheepfold; otherwise we may hear the wrong voice.

Sometimes we do not realise the value of a guide. The Bible says we are pilgrims and
strangers in this world. Suppose you go as a tourist to some country. You may not know the
language of that country, but if you have a reliable guide with you, he will lead you in the right
way. But, if you do not have a guide, you will not know how to get to a place or what to see.
You may have to waste time, money, energy or opportunities. What a blessing it is to have a
perfect guide in a strange land! He remains with us all the time and never makes a mistake. If
we follow our Guide we will be able to do everything in the best way. And we can avoid
dangerous places. But often, we do not yield to the plan and will of God but try to walk our
own way; we run ahead and try to choose pastures for ourselves. We do not know the
language (the ways) of this world, for we belong to heaven. If we have no guide with us, we
will be really lost. But if we have our Guide with us, all we need to do is obey His leading.
“My Lord knows the way through the wilderness
All I have to do is follow
Strength for today
Is mine all the way
And all I need for tomorrow:
My Lord knows the way through the wilderness
All I have to do is follow.”

God can guide us in two ways. He can guide us with His eyes. “I will guide thee with
Mine eye” (Psa 32:8). When our eyes are upon Him, He will guide us with His eyes. “Behold, as
the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the
hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God” (Psa 123:2). When we are
willing to obey, He will guide us with His eyes of love. This is the beautiful path of
righteousness. The Word of God says, “His paths are full of mercy and truth” (Psa 25:10). But
if we do not obey God willingly or if we do not spend time in the presence of God and rest in
His presence, then the Lord will have to lead us just as a horse or mule is led. “Be ye not as
the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit
and bridle” (Psa 32:9). This is the other way the Lord leads us. To get a horse to turn to one
side, you have to whip it on the opposite side. Children have an innate nature of disobedience
in them. If you ask a child to come he feels inclined to go; if you tell him to sit, he wants to
stand! So, to make a child do a thing, you may have to ask him not to do it. If we are stubborn
and obstinate, sometimes the Lord has to make us understand His ways through a sickness or
accident. This does not mean that all sicknesses and accidents are ‘bits’.

Dear child of God, in which way do you want to be guided? How did God guide you in
the past? Was it with bit and bridle or with eyes of love? Do not be afraid to go where the Lord
leads you. Do not hesitate; do not hold back. There is a saying — “The will of God will never
lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.” So tell the Lord, “Lord, I want to follow
where You lead. Please set Your eyes on me and lead me.”

“Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,

Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
By waters calm, o’er trobled sea—
Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.”

God’s ways are perfect. “By Thee I have run through a troop ; and by my God have I
leaped over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect” (Psa 18:29,30). In God’s perfect way there
are troops in front of you. You do not run away from the troops but go right through them. You
may suddenly find many demons before you. Do not get scared and run away. In God’s perfect
way you may also find a wall right in front of you. We do not need to pray, “Lord, remove the
wall.” God will give us the strength to scale the wall. In Isaiah 45:2 we read, “I will go before
thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in
sunder the bars of iron.” Some of the perfect ways of God may appear crooked, but God will
make them straight. They may not look like paths at all. But the Lord has His way in the
whirlwind and in the storm! (Nah 1:3). So we need not fear to follow.

A good shepherd never ‘overdrives’ his sheep. “The flocks and herds with young are
with me…I will lead on softly” (Gen 33:13,14). That is how our Good Shepherd leads us too.
“He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young” (Isa 40:11). He knows just when we have had enough of walking,
when we cannot go on any more. You know, our Shepherd was the Lamb of God before He
became a Shepherd — so He knows exactly what our feelings are. “For we have not an High
Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted
like as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). And He leads each of us uniquely – according to our
need. The lambs have to be carried; those with young need to be led gently. Our Shepherd
knows if we are weak and frail, if we are ailing and need special care, if we are wounded or
tired.

“For His name’s sake,” it says. His Name is upon us. When we take water baptism we
are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In one sense, God puts His
name upon us. By that we are given right to the experiences that come from the triune God.
We can claim all the blessings of God. That is why, even to receive the baptism in the Holy
Spirit, the Word of God says we should show our obedience in taking water baptism. If you
have taken the right baptism the Lord will surely fill you with the Holy Spirit. Then you can
walk in the paths of righteousness.

To which place will the Lord finally lead us ? “And after six days, Jesus taketh with Him
Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain” (Mk 9:2). This high
mountain can stand for Mount Zion and New Jerusalem (Zech 8:3). Zion is the dwelling place of
God (Psa 132:14). The Lord wants to lead us to the very place where He is. So all the leadings
of the Lord are in order to give us His character; in order to make us like Him. This was the
greatest desire of the psalmist—“When I shall awake, I shall be satisfied with His likeness” (Psa
17:14). Other than the likeness of God nothing can satisfy us in this world or in the coming
world. “When we shall see Him, we shall be like Him.” What does this mean? In a sense, if
Jesus and ten saints are standing together, all the eleven would look like Jesus. Faithful is He
who calls you. He will do it.” What a great and high calling this is!

§§§§§

SEVEN
 THE PERFECT REMEDY FOR FEAR
“Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
for Thou art with me”
Sheep are easily frightened. But the Lord’s sheep have no fear — even when they walk
through the darkest and gloomiest of paths. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death I will fear no evil,” they say.
Fear is a great problem among many of God’s people. (Of course, sinners are filled with
fear but to even some of God’s people, fear is a disturbing element.) There are three
categories of fear and all of them are mentioned in Psalm 23. This psalm not only mentions the
three fears but also gives the perfect remedy for them. One main fear is the fear of losing
something. Another is the fear of evil, the fear that something is going to go wrong. The third
is the fear of death. The fear of death is worse than death itself. People can be haunted by it.
All these fears are unnecessary fears, but many of us often give room to them. God does not
want us to have any of these fears.

The story is told of a man who was standing by the side of a river brandishing his
umbrella as if to strike someone. Seeing no one around, someone asked him what he was
doing and whom he was going to strike. He replied, “Can’t you see that dog barking on the
other side of the river? If this river dries up and the dog comes over here I should be
prepared.” You may laugh at this, because we know that his fear was needless, but many of us
are just as fearful. We know God cares and that He loves us and is looking after us, still, we are
afraid. We feel that we are the only ones facing this or that problem.

The fear of losing something can be the fear of losing our job, health, money, our dear
ones, etc. This fear haunts many people. But the first verse of Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my
Shepherd; I shall not want.” I shall not want anything at any time — at present or in the future,
and therefore there should not be in me a fear of losing anything. “I shall not want” is an
absolute and unlimited statement. Our God is a God of abundance and there is no need for us
to be afraid of losing anything. The secret of being free from all kinds of fear is — we must
have God; we must be filled with God. The last promise Jesus gave the disciples before
ascending to heaven is, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world”(Matt 28:20).

Pastor Paul, the founder of our Mission, said in his last sermon, “If you give fifty
percent of your life to God, you have to carry the burden of the other fifty percent. But if you
give God hundred percent, God can take over everything and you can be free and light.” The
secret of a life free from the fear of losing is, not to lose God in our life. When you lose God,
you lose everything and when you have God you have everything. The only fear we must have
is the fear of losing God. When God does not fill your life you will not only have the fear of
losing but will also begin to lose. When you do not have time to pray and meditate on God’s
Word, you begin to lose God and you lose everything—you can become very miserable, you
can become a failure. The first thing we must do early every morning is pray. Paul says, “I lose
everything to gain Christ.” When we gain Christ we gain everything we need for life and
godliness. When the Lord so fills us, there is no fear.

The second fear is the fear of evil. The fear of evil in you could be a reflection of the evil
in your heart. When Cain (the first murderer) murdered his brother Abel, he had a great fear
that everyone was going to kill him. “I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it
shall come to pass, that everyone that findeth me shall slay me” (Gen 4:14). After Cain killed
his brother, fear came into him. It was a reflection of his own evil heart, the echo of his
murderous spirit. Similarly, when you think evil, evil comes into your heart and you become
afraid. “When Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will
peradventure hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him” (Gen
50:15). Joseph had no hatred for his brothers. Why then did his brothers have this fear? It is
because they did so much evil to him. So if we have a fear of evil or a fear of the future, we
must examine our lives to see if we have done any evil to anybody. What you sow you reap. If
you sow love and have care and compassion for others, that is what you will reap. What did
Joseph say? “You thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.” Let us examine our
hearts. If we do not have evil in our hearts, like Joseph, we will be able to say, “God meant it
unto good,” when people wrong us.

When we speak evil of others, the same evil, or worse, can come on us.In Titus 3:2 we
read, ‘Speak evil of no man.’ In I Corinthians 13:5 Paul says, “Love thinks no evil.” Do we have
evil in our hearts? Do we think we are better than others? Look at the example Jesus set. He
Who came down from heaven stooped and washed the feet of His disciples. (In olden days only
slaves washed the feet of the master.) Evil comes into our lives because of the evil in our
hearts. If I pray, “Lord, let others be better than me,” I will not get irritated when others are
honoured. I will have no fear of evil.

The psalmist says, “I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.” “God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear” (Psa 46:1,2). This is a
beautiful truth. But in the New Testament experience it is, “Thou art in me.” We get this
experience through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament times, the Holy Spirit
came only on some selected people when they had to do a particular ministry of prophesying,
etc; they did not have the abiding expe- rience of the Holy Spirit. But God has given us this
wonderful experience. Every day we should ask God for more of Him. There is a story of a little
boy in a ship that was in great danger. The crew and passengers were terribly afraid. The little
boy was playing on the deck amidst all the panic. Someone asked him, “Why, aren’t you
afraid? Look at the sea and the waves!” He said, “No, I am not afraid. My dad is the captain. I
know he can manage the situation.” Who is the captain of your life? If it is God you have
nothing to be afraid of. Even if you are the most timid person on this earth you can be very
bold in the most dangerous situations, provided you are living in the presence of God. “He that
is in you is greater than he that is in the world.” When Adam lost the presence of God, his
fellowship with God he was afraid. This is the first time in the Bible that ‘fear’ is mentioned.
When God is far away from us, we have fear.

There are three aspects to the presence of God. One is the unconscious presence of
God, the second, the conscious presence of God, and the third, the immediate presence of
God. God is omnipresent, but we are not conscious of His presence everywhere. This is the
unconscious presence of God. “Where two or three are gathered together, I am in the midst of
them,” Jesus said. There we actually feel His presence. This is the conscious presence of God.
But there is a greater experience than this—the immediate presence of God. Those who live in
the immediate presence of God have no fear of the future or of evil. In it you feel God from
head to foot. You hear God speaking to you and warning you when you are about to do
something wrong. This is what Psalm 139 speaks about. “Thou compassest my path and my
lying down...Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me” (vs.3,5).
God is in our every movement. He is all around us. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it
is high, I cannot attain unto it” (vs.6). “Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee
from Thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven , Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell,
behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of
the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me” (vs.7-10). Such
is the immediate presence of God. Old Testament saints could not have this experience fully;
this experience has been kept for us! Do you believe this? Yes, God is all over you, before you,
behind you. You feel very light. You do not feel burdened. You walk with God and talk with
Him. There is no fear of evil or of the future. Beloved one, do you feel Jesus all over you, all
over your life, in every fibre of your being? Jesus is heaven. If Jesus is with you even hell will be
heaven; if Jesus is not with you, even heaven will be hell for you. There is a saying —“Safety is
not in the absence of danger but in the presence of God.” Look at Daniel in the lions’ den. He
was in the midst of great danger but his safety was the presence of God with him. “The name
of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe” (Prov 18:10).

In Psalm 91 we read, “No evil shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling.” This promise is not meant for everyone. What does the first verse of the psalm say?
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High…” When we live close to God, no evil
shall befall us. In Psalm 121:7 we read, “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall
preserve thy soul.” Then you may question, “Why do precious children of God meet with
accidents, become sick or have to face tragic situations?” We see that this verse does not end
with, “The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil”; it goes on to say, “He shall preserve thy
soul.” So your soul will be preserved in all your problems, accidents and dangers! God is
concerned about the soul! Let us see how many accidents St. Paul had. “Thrice I was beaten
with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the
deep; In journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own
countrymen, and in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness…”(II
Cor 11:25,26). Wherever Paul went, he had to face problems. Whatever the trial we may have
to face, the Lord will preserve our soul and prevent us from departing from Him. This is what
God guarantees. A trial can either bring us closer to God or take us farther away from Him. If
the latter happens, our soul is lost. In a trial, even if we lose our job, our house or anything
else, if it brings us closer to God, we are preserved from all evil. Through a problem, God may
be trying to teach you patience, perseverance or forgiving love. Once you learn that lesson,
the trial will no longer be a trial. The purpose of every trial is to bring us closer to God. So let
us not fear any trial. Let us not fear evil. It is our attitude towards our trials that brings us
closer to God or takes us away from Him.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley...” There is a path God has ordained for you—just
like every star has an orbit in which it moves. If the star goes out of its orbit, it will both be in
danger and will also cause danger to other heavenly bodies. I Corinthians 15 says that saints
are called stars in the heavens. You are a star of God that has its own orbit; when you try to
run away from a problem, you become a ‘wandering star’ (Jude vs.13). It says, ‘though I
walk’—in the present tense. Today you may be going through a narrow path. You are facing a
trial in the orbit in which you should move. Do not run away. Tomorrow the Lord will do
wonders for you. It does not say, ‘in the valley,’ but, ‘through the valley’. When we walk
‘through’ the valley, we will soon be out of it! We only walk ‘through’ it because ‘the Lord is
with us’. We only walk ‘through’ the problems and burdens in life because He is holding our
hand. He goes with us all the way. So we need have no fear.

“When in valleys low I look toward the mountain height,

And behold my Saviour there, leading in the fight,
With a tender hand outstretched toward the valley low,
Guiding me, I can see, as I onward go.”

The third fear is the fear of death. We can overcome this fear too. There are many
kinds of deaths and the worst of them is separation from God. This death has torment and is
called the second death. Being separated from God throughout all eternity is the worst
torment. When D L Moody was dying he said, “This is my coronation day. If this is called
death, how sweet it is !” There was a man of God, a great painter. While he was dying he said,
“If my hands or fingers were strong enough I would have written with a pen, ‘Death is the
sweetest experience.’ ” When God is in us and we live in the immediate presence of God,
death will be the sweetest experience in our life. When God fills our lives there will be no fear
of death—death is swallowed up in victory ! At death we will see God face to face and all the
shadows will flee away. The veil will be torn.

“Tho’ He lead me thro’ the valley of the shade of death,

He is mine, I am His:
Should I fear, when oh, so tenderly, He whispereth,
He is mine, I am His !
For the sunshine of His presence doth illume the night,
And He leads me thru’ the valley to the mountain height,
Out of bondage into freedom, into cloudless light,
He is mine, I am His.”

It says, ‘the valley of the shadow of death,’ and not ‘valley of death’. For saints there is
no death. Saints have only the shadow of death. A shadow can do no harm to anyone. A
shadow also shows there is a real object somewhere. There is a real death and it is called the
second death or the lake of fire (Rev 20:14,15). Our Good Shepherd abolished this death when
He gave His life on Calvary (II Tim 1:10). He destroyed the power of this second death, so that
when going through the shadow of death we may not have any fear. A certain man of God was
driving home with his two little children after the funeral of his wife. A huge truck overtook
them, casting its dark shadow on their car for a few moments. Looking tenderly at his children,
the man of God asked them, “Would you rather be run over by that truck or by its shadow?”
“By its shadow, of course,” they replied. “Your mother has not been run over by death; but
only by its shadow. So you need not fear or be sad,” the father told them.

A shadow also indicates that there is light somewhere. Our shadow falls behind when we
walk towards the light. And even if the shadow (which can do no harm) frightens you, the Lord
says, “I will be with you.” At one time, Elizabeth Taylor, the famous actress was admitted to a
clinic in London with pneumonia. When interviewed by a newspaperman who asked her about
her experience, she said, “I felt such a darkness as if I was going to die. Such a terrible fear
and I felt so lonely.” But saints of God will never be lonely because it says, “Thou art with me.”
Even if we suddenly become frightened, we, children of God, must immediately rebuke that
fear. If there is anything other than God filling your life, give it up. When John Wesley, the
founder of Methodism lay dying, one of the last things he said was, “The greatest thing is that
God is with me.” When God fills our lives there is no fear of anything. The fulness of God in our
lives is the perfect remedy for all fears.

“I am walking with Jesus,

There’s nothing now to fear,
I am walking with Jesus,
There’s none to me so dear.
I am walking with Jesus,
He wipeth every tear,
I am walking in the steps of Jesus.”

§§§§§

EIGHT

COMFORTING ROD AND STAFF

“Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me”

Our Lord is called the God of all comfort (II Cor 1:3). One of His arduous tasks is the task
of comforting His people. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter. “Comfort ye, comfort ye My
people, saith your God”
(Isa 40:1). “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you” (Isa 66:13).
 Here, in Psalm 23, the psalmist speaks of two things the Lord uses to comfort us — His
rod and His staff! What may these comforting agents be? How does the Lord comfort us?

The rod and the staff mentioned here are the shepherd’s club and crook. The shepherd
uses his club to defend his sheep against wild animals. It is indeed a comforting thought that
our Good Shepherd is with us to attack all the evil forces that rise against us.He thrusts out the
enemies from before us and says,“Destroy
them !” He has made the ‘Word of His power’ the sharp two-edged sword of the Spirit, readily
available to us. We have to speak it with faith and the enemy will flee.

The staff or crook has a variety of uses. With it the shepherd pulls down high boughs for
the sheep to eat the tender leaves. The Lord loves to give us a variety of delicious spiritual
food. “He satisfieth thy mouth with good things” (Psa 103:5). The Lord’s sheep get not only
green grass but also sweet-smelling succulent tender leaves – all this through the Scriptures.
“More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and
the honeycomb” (Psa 19:10). No wonder Job says, “I have esteemed the words of His mouth
more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12)! Even young lions shall go hungry, but not the
Lord's sheep, simple as they are ! How comforting !

The shepherd uses his crook to also hook out sheep that have fallen into a bush or crag.
If we carefully listen to the Word of our Shepherd and follow Him we will not get into any mess:
but if we have strayed or lost our footing, He does not leave us there. His comforting and
uplifting Word is there to lift us up and out of the mess. “Behold, I will bring it health and cure,
and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth” (Jer 33:6).

With the staff, the shepherd also corrects his sheep. The use of the staff in this way is
painful but it gives the shepherd a chance to comfort his sheep, to show his love for it. So let
not correction discourage or grieve us, but rather comfort us. There is a story of a shepherd in
the high Alps. While talking to a tourist, a shepherd gathered a handful of best grass and went
into a shelter nearby. “I have a sheep there with a broken leg,” he said. “How did it happen?”
queried the traveller. “It did not happen,” answered the shepherd, “I broke it intentionally.
That sheep was headstrong and unruly. It did not love me, and was always leading the other
sheep astray. Now it knows its dependence on me, and loves to eat from my hand. When it is
well again, it will keep nearer to me than any of the other sheep.” “She received not
correction; she trusted not in the Lord; she drew not near to her God...” (Zeph 3:1,2).
Correction helps us to draw closer to God. Correction helps our spiritual life. “Rebuke them
sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Tit 1:13). Sharp rebuke helps us to grow in faith.
Correction shows that God delights in us. “Whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a
father the son in whom he delighteth” (Prov 3:12). “...that we might be partakers of His
holiness” (Heb 12:10).
“Sweet Shepherd that feedeth my soul everyday,
Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me;
I rest at Thy feet lest I wander away,
For Thou art Jehovah-Raah.”

The Lord uses His Word to correct us, to rebuke us. The Word of God, being a sharp
sword, pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit (Heb 4:12). When Peter used it
on the Day of Pentecost, the hearers were pricked in their hearts (Acts 2:37). But since they
took the admonition in the right spirit, and gladly received the word, they were marvellously
saved. The whole Scripture is designed to correct our life. Does the Word of God really comfort
you? If the correcting rod is not comforting to us, the Word of God will not be a comfort to us.
You will never love the Word of God as you ought, unless you love the correcting rod. Psalm 23
was composed by David. David took the correcting rod in a good spirit, better than most other
kings. All over the Bible we read of kings getting angry when prophets prophesied about some
evil or about a punishment. Asa was a good king, but when Hananiah prophesied, he got angry
and punished him. When Samuel tried to correct King Saul, he could not take it. But David
loved correction, even very, very harsh correction. When the Prophet Nathan said, “Your child
will die,” he took it beautifully. Later on he named one son of his after the prophet. When Cain
was given a small punishment for murdering his brother, he complained, “My punishment is
too great.” In modern times, when servants of God try to correct a believer even in a small
way, they say, “I am going to leave the church.” Make up your mind now and say, “Lord, I am
willing to receive correction from anyone.” “Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” Have you
found this secret? Correction brings comfort to your life. Although not immediately, the end
result, the fruit of correction and chastening, brings comfort.

The last time someone corrected you, chastised you or rebuked you how did you take it?
“Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness” (Psa 141:5). This is the way David took
correction. He does not say, “Let the righteous righteously smite me” We must take those who
smite
us to be righteous, not wicked. “It shall be a kindness.”
Are you taking correction as a kindness or as a rudeness? “It shall be an excellent oil,”
continues David.

We receive blessings depending on the attitude and spirit with which we take correction.
Sometimes the very life of someone living with us may be a constant chastening and rebuke to
us. Maybe the way your wife, your husband, or your neighbour, does things is like a constant
correction to you. If you do not understand the mind of God, if you complain, “He is all the time
picking on me, troubling me, nagging me, irritating me, provoking me, etc,” you will lose the
reward. It is God Who permitted that person to constantly behave that way.

We must love those who correct us and we must encourage them to correct us. In
Proverbs 9:8 we read, “Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee.” This means that, if you hate
those who rebuke you or correct you, you are foolish; it shows that we do not understand the
plan and purpose of God for our life. Once one of our pastors, Pas. Ernest Paul, said, “You may
raise the hood and strike like a cobra but you will regret it at the end of your life.” When Joseph
sent his brothers’ evil report to his father, they did not like it at all. They hated Joseph. When
you hate the person who corrects you, it shows you do not want to be changed. If you really
want a change in your character and to be blessed in a greater way, ‘the rod of correction’
must comfort you. Otherwise, towards the end of our life, we will feel condemned and terribly
discouraged. That should not happen to any of us. “When we are judged, we are chastened of
the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (I Cor 11:32). This is why the Lord
permits chastisement. If we react in the wrong way the end result will be very sad. David and
Jacob were chastised much and the end of their life was very sweet. “Now no chastening for
the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the
peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb 12:11).

We read in I Chronicles 11:23 about a heroic action with a staff. It seems unbelievable !
This man had only a staff in his hand. But the Egyptian was a man of great stature (7 ½ feet
tall) and he had a spear as long as a weaver’s beam. The man plucked the spear from the
giant’s hand and slew him with his own spear. Dear child of God, when we face the enemy, we
must face him with the staff in our hand; it is in the promises of God that we must trust. When
Jesus faced Satan, He took up the staff (promises of God). He said, “It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone”, “It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” When He took the
Word (promises) of God, the devil could not stand.

Sometimes when there is a thick fog and it is difficult for the sheep to see even a few
feet ahead, the shepherd gently taps on the ground with his staff as he walks — to reassure
them of His presence. The promises of God never fail. We may lean on them and walk on
confidently even when all is bleak. “Comfort of the Scriptures,” we read (Rom 15:4). The
promises of God have never failed to comfort. There is no pain or grief, no darkness or gloom
that they cannot dispel.

‘With my staff I passed over this Jordan,’ said Jacob (Gen 32:10). Jordan signifies severe
trials, even death. When you go through severe trials, lean on the staff of the promises of God;
then you can safely and victoriously pass through. “And now I have become Mahanaim—two
bands)” _ angels behind you and angels before you. Jacob was blessed, for angels were behind
and before him. “I am in two bands”— “I am a blessing to those who perish (to sinners), and to
saints. I am spiritually blessed and materially blessed. While I am living I am a blessing and
after death I am a blessing. All this is because I passed over this Jordan holding on to the
staff.” As we hold on to the promises of God, we receive all the truth and all the mercy,
particularly when crossing the Jordan.

The greatest promise of God is the Coming of the Lord. When you think about the
Coming of the Lord, is it a comfort or a trouble to you? “Lord, when You come, all my trials,
problems will be over. By the grace of God I will fly away.” What a comfort! “By faith Jacob,
when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of
his staff”
(Heb. 11:21). In our last moments, like Jacob, we too need the staff. While dying Jacob blessed
others. While dying we must be a blessing and not a burden to others. While dying, Jesus was a
blessing to the thief on the cross. There are so many promises in the Word of God, but as we
grow spiritually, we must lean upon the greatest promise of God, the promise of His Coming.
Let our end be better than the beginning.

When God chastises us through sickness, through some of our family members, through
some people who are working with us or through our neighbours, if we do not understand the
plan of God or the work of God, we will destroy both ourselves and others. “Because they
regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them, and
not build them up” (Psa 28:5). Dear child of God, regard the works of the Lord. Look at what is
happening in your marriage, in your family, in your work-spot and in your neighbourhood. It is
not the work of man. God is permitting everything. He permits it because He is working out
something beautiful in your life. He wants to change your character. He wants the rod and the
staff to comfort you.

If the Lord delays to come and we see death, we must lean on the ‘top of the staff’ (the
greatest promise of God) and worship the Lord. Like Joseph who spoke with faith while dying,
we should say, “I die but God will visit me. My bones, my body will not be here but will be
taken to heavenly Canaan.”
NINE

A TABLE OF ABUNDANCE
‘THOU PREPAREST A TABLE BEFORE ME
IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES’
The Lord wants to fill our lives with His blessings. Of Naphtali we read that he was full
with the blessing of the Lord (Deut 33:23). “If a man live many years and his soul be not filled
with good... an untimely birth is better than he,” states the Preacher (Ecc 6:3). The Lord causes
us to drink from “the river of His pleasures”. He makes ‘a feast of fat things, a feast of wines
on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined’ (Isa 25:6). Do we live
on meagre supplies when we could be partaking of His abundance ? God is the source of our
fulness — “with Thee is the fountain of life”.

The psalmist does not say, “You are preparing a plate before me, or “You are preparing
a table before us (many people).” ‘A whole table and not just a plate is prepared just for me.’
There is a variety of food for us. The Good Shepherd feeds us with different kinds of food.There
is the milk of the Word (I Pet 2:2)—nourishment for the babes in Christ to grow spiritually, the
daily manna—personal revelations from the Word to show us how to live each day, the
shewbread — apostolic doctrines and guidance to stablish us in the faith, children’s bread
(Matt 15:26) for our physical health and healing, strong meat (Heb 5:14)—deeper revelations
and truths for the spiritually mature, etc. What a feast!
We need never be famished.“He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me
was love” (Song 2:4). This is a beautiful experience.

“Thou preparest a table for me.” It is not in the past tense or future tense but in the
present tense. The difference between a prepared table and a table being prepared is that, on
a prepared table the food could be cold but the food on the table being prepared is ever so
fresh. Our God does not dish out to us stale, cold food from the fridge.

"With numberless blessings each moment He crowns

And filled with His fulness divine,
I sing in my rapture, Oh, glory to God,
For such a Redeemer as mine.”

Our enemies are all out to ‘steal, to kill and to destroy’ our blessings, our fulness of
blessings in Christ. They try all they can to at least hinder our progress. But the Lord says,
“My people shall never be ashamed” (Joel 2:27). As the Lord’s sheep, we shall never be put to
shame before our enemies. “When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon
me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell,” sings David (Psa 27:2). “The Lord shall guide
thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be
like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isa 58:11). If the
enemy succeeds in making us sick, there is an abundance of ‘children’s bread’ laid out for us;
if we are faint there is the refreshing water of life. “By this I know that Thou favourest me,
because mine enemy doth not triumph over me” (Psa 41:11). “Rejoice not against me, O mine
enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me” (Mic
7:8).

The Lord not only saves our face before our enemies but also honours us before them. “I
will put a division between My people and thy people,” the Lord tells the devil. “Against any of
the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know
how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel” (Exo 11:7).
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry:
behold, My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, My servants shall rejoice, but
ye shall be ashamed: Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow
of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit” (Isa 65:13,14). It is in the face of the enemy that
we should eat and rejoice — like Daniel sleeping in the lions' den, and Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego walking in the fiery furnace. “Now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies
round about me” (Psa 27:6). The enemy forces may manage to ‘wall us around but they can
never roof us in ’! The Lord will ever keep showering His assistance and blessings on us —
much to the dismay of our enemies.

Why is the Lord preparing a table for me in thepresence of my enemies? Not just before
one enemy but before my ‘enemies’ ie. all my enemies. “Dearly beloved, avenge not
yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,
saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so
doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” (Rom 12:19,20). The Lord has prepared a table
for me before the enemy for me to feed him if he is hungry! Therefore, according to the text,
we have to take revenge by giving food to our enemies when they are hungry. To destroy the
enmity, we must love our enemies as Christ did. God has a table of abundance for those who
love their enemies—to feed both them and their enemies. In other words, those who love their
enemies will have a spiritual abundance in their life. If you do not love your enemies your
spiritual life will be dry and you may die of spiritual starvation. Beloved one, the Lord wants
you to be a blessing to your enemies. This is the sweetness of Psalm 23. We see the love of
Jesus here and this love should fill our life. The Lord satisfies us with honey out of the rock.
Jesus is the rock, the Rock of Ages and out of Him flows the purest, sweetest honey. The love
that comes from Jesus is the purest, sweetest love. Once we were enemies of God, yet God fed
us. Even now, we can be enemies of God in our mind and thoughts, but still, He feeds us. No
matter how much our enemies hate us, whenever there is occasion to do good to them we
must do it. That is divine revenge. Joseph’s brothers hated him, put him in a pit and sold him
out of envy. But Joseph said, “Fear not: I will nourish you and your little ones.”

In the original tongue, the word for ‘enemy’ also stands for ‘trouble’. We all have
troubles. Right in the midst of all our troubles, the Lord is preparing a table—a feast, not just a
plate of food. The divine purpose in sending trouble is to give us a spiritual feast. From Genesis
through Revelation, we see that those who went through extreme troubles (not the troubles
people face due to their foolishness, of course), had the greatest blessings from God. Solomon
hardly went through any troubles; his life was very dry. Our right attitude in trouble will
prepare a real spiritual feast for us. If we get upset, angry or murmur in our trouble, it will
drown us. In the days of Noah, when the floods (trials) came up, one group of people went
right up whereas the other group drowned. It is the same spiritually. When floods of trials
come, some people may draw close to God just as those who were inside the ark (Christ) went
up higher and higher. When we are in Christ and live in the immediate presence of God, trials
will virtually lift us up to heaven. The very same flood of waters drowned the people outside
the ark. Dear one, our troubles also have these two aspects. The more we have trials and
difficulties, the closer we are drawn to God. Living in the immediate presence of God makes all
the diffe-rence. One saint says, “Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions.” If somebody is
giving you trouble in your family, workplace or elsewhere, you may curse that person or get
upset and angry with him. But when you rejoice and praise God saying, “I am so privileged to
be crucified with Christ” (when persecuted, misunderstood or rejected for Christ’s sake), then
you find a feast before you.

Normally, in the world, it is the servant who prepares a table for the master. But here
the Master is preparing a table for the servants. Jesus is more than a master. The King of kings
and the Lord of lords is preparing a table for His children or servants. You can never see such a
thing in the world. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find
watching: verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat,
and will come forth and serve them” (Lk 12:37). What a beautiful sweet fellowship with Jesus!
Even in eternity He will be serving us in love and we will be serving Him in love. What are we
that the Lord of glory should gird Himself and serve us! What unimaginable humility our Lord
has!

If the King of kings and the Lord of lords is preparing the table, it must be a most
blessed, delicious, feast—beyond all human description. It will be a sumptuous one—a table of
abundance. It will be the very best food.
“My Beloved is mine and I am His,
His banner over me is love.
He brought me to His banqueting house
And His banner over me is love.”

When praying, and even while listening to the Word of God, if we are really filled with
the presence of God, the Word of God will come right into the depth of our spirit and yield a
hundredfold fruit — not thirtyfold or sixtyfold. Christian life is a life of abundance. Our God is a
God of abundance. He wants to give abundantly. To whom can He give abundantly? In 1935,
one of our pastors, Pas.A.C. Thomas had a vision in which the Lord told him to give up
everything (his house, job, family and everything he had). The Lord told him that He had great
plans for him. He was even urged to give his Bible to someone who did not have one. After he
had given up everything he had, the Lord started speaking to him. “My child, I have plenty. I
have so much to give you. I can give them only to faithful people. I cannot give My abundance
to the unfaithful. So be faithful to Me.” Thomas became a great saint and God did great things
through him. God has abundance to give but He cannot give them to the selfish, proud,
arrogant and disobedient.

If the Lord prepares a table for us, we are the guests and He is the host, for, it is the host
who serves the food to the guest. Our Lord is not merely the host; He must also be the Head of
our house, our life. We read of an interesting incident in the Bible where the right place was
not given to the right person. Saul was sitting at the head of the table with Abner seated on his
side. David’s seat was empty. Saul stands for the flesh. The flesh was at the head of the table.
David stands for Jesus. When the flesh takes the prominent place in your life, Jesus’ place will
be empty. Jesus cannot be given just any seat, but the seat at the head of the table. The major
sin in our life is, not giving Jesus the rightful place in our life. We want to give some place to
Jesus but not the first place. Saul wanted David in that seat to add to his own importance, but
he did not want to give the prominent place to David. When David’s place was empty, Saul
reacted angrily. He wanted to hold on to his importance. “My will should be done. If anyone
crosses my will, I get upset and angry.” We sing, “Thy will be done” but in the heart we say,
“My will be done.” If you want to keep the prominent place in your life and give an ordinary
place to Jesus, Jesus will sadly hide Himself (just as David was hiding at that time). Have you
given the head seat (first place) to Christ? Many read the Bible only before going to bed. The
last place is given to Jesus. The best time is given to other things.

When David became the head the very opposite happened. (II Sam 9:6,7). David says to
Mephibosheth, “For thy father’s sake I will restore all the land of Saul.” We read, “We are
beloved for the Father’s sake” (Rom 11:28) David says, “Thou shalt eat bread at my (king’s)
table continually (all the days of your life).” Mephi- bosheth was lame. Although Saul had many
grandsons, only Mephibosheth was selected to eat at the king’s table. A lame man cannot run
away from the king’s palace. He is helpless. The King’s palace is the church. Some feel like
running away because they have legs. Legs show man’s independence. We read in the Word of
God that ‘God does not delight in the legs of a man’
(Psa 147:10). Spiritually speaking, God wants lame people. Even if you rebuke them sharply,
they cannot run away. They will remain in the King’s palace saying, “Where can I go? I cannot
go anywhere.” Mephibosheth was in a place called Lodebar (barren land). The king did not look
for special qualifications or for good people. Mephibosheth’s father’s name is Machir meaning
“sold to the devil”. We were also once sold to the devil, and helpless like Mephibosheth. God is
looking for Mephibosheths, for those who are helpless and desperate, for those who say,
“Without God I cannot do anything.” He wants to show mercy to such people and bring them to
the King’s table to feed them continually.

If we become dry or spiritually low, it means that your ‘flesh’ is at the head of the table.
If you are at the head of the table, it is your responsibility to provide food, etc. If Christ is at
the head of the table, it is His responsibility to provide the food. If we let Christ be the Head
and the Host, we will not have material worries. If you give the right place to Christ, if Christ is
the Head of your house, it is His responsibility to pay the bills. You are not the head of the
house, so you need not worry unnecessarily. Perhaps today you have a need in your life. Make
Christ the Head of your life; let Him take all the worry. Christ is the Head and the Church is the
Body. There we find a great freedom from worry, care and anxiety.

God has abundance of glory, peace, goodness and satisfaction. If a royal banqueting
table is set before you, what you need is hunger. The more hungry you are, the more you will
eat. If you are full, you cannot eat. “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground” (Isa 44:3). The thirsty need water. If you pour a bucket of water on dry
ground, it will disappear in a few seconds. So on dry ground, God pours floods. When every
fibre of our being is really hungry for God, we can eat well at the table of His abundance. No
matter how much spiritual food is provided, those who have no hunger will only loathe it. Dear
child of God, are you really hungry for God, desperately hungry for the Word of God, for purity,
for humility, for the grace of God, for a deeper prayer life? Then the Lord will pour floods on
you. Ask the Lord for a real thirst and hunger. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for
righteousness for they shall be filled.” God wants to give you His abundance — the abundance
of peace, joy, glory, goodness, etc. He wants to bless you exceeding abundantly. “I have come
to give life and more abundant life” (Jn 10:10). You may be in a very dry state in your body,
soul and spirit but there is good news for you. The Lord will pour floods upon the dry ground.
The psalmist says, “As the deer panteth after the water brooks, so does my heart (soul) pant
after Thee” (Psa 42:1). He was panting for God. It is written, “My soul longeth, yea, fainteth for
the courts of the Lord” (Psa 84:2). Panting is struggling for breath. Breath is the most
essential element for life’s existence. We must have that panting for God. If a man who is
short of breath is told that he has won a lottery of ten million dollars or that he has become
the king of the universe, he will not be interested; he will only say, “I want breath.” We must
have such a hunger and thirst for God. “I want God.” Such a hunger and thirst will God
honour. A table will be prepared.

A Syrophenician woman came to Jesus for her daughter’s healing. “Healing is children’s
bread; it cannot be given to dogs (heathen),” Jesus told her. The heathen woman then replied,
“Yes Lord, but dogs eat the crumbs falling from the table” (Matt 15:27). Crumbs falling from
the table were enough for that girl's healing. If dogs (backsliders) can eat the crumbs falling
from the table and be healed, how much more children who eat at the table prepared for them
can be healed ! Some people run after faith healers, when just in front of them is the King’s
table. In a certain parable, Jesus spoke of a king who prepared a marriage feast and invited
everyone to come and dine. You are at the dining table of the King of kings and the Lord of
lords, if you do not have an appetite, but you will not eat though you may be seated at the
table. “In My Father’s house there is bread enough and to spare. Why should I perish?” the
prodigal son decided, and returned to his father's house. Child of God, come to the table of the
Lord.



TEN

THE ANOINTING
“Thou anointest my head with oil”

There is an insect in the Middle East that torments sheep by landing and nesting in their
wool. The shepherd has to regularly rub olive oil on the sheep’s head to prevent the insect
from multiplying and eventually blinding the sheep. This anointing with oil can be compared to
the anointing of the Holy Spirit that the Good Shepherd pours on His sheep. By this anointing
we receive not only power over evil spirits but many other blessings too.
 It is an anointing ‘without measure’ that Jesus had (Jn 3:34). Such is the anointing we are
given. And it is an abiding experience — unlike the anointing they had in the Old Testament
period. We, in the New Testament times, can enjoy the blessings contained in the anointing
every day of our life, every moment of our life.

Many children of God do not realise the value, the benefit and greatness of the New
Testament anointing. In the Old Testament, a servant of God or a priest has to literally go and
anoint a person. Elisha was sent to anoint Jehu. Samuel went to anoint Saul. “Thou anointest
my head with oil” is a New Testament experience. It is very special, in that, God Himself
anoints us. A prophet, priest or a man of God does not pour oil on us. If we really ponder over
the anointing the Lord has given us, we will be altogether different.

We read about a King Cyrus in the Bible. In history he is known as Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus’ grandfather did not have any sons. When Cyrus was born, the king, envious of him,
gave him to a soldier to be killed. The soldier, feeling sorry for the boy, gave him away to a
shepherd. Cyrus grew up as a shepherd boy. When he became a teenager, he somehow got to
know that he was the king’s grandson and that he was heir to the throne. History says that as
soon as he came to know this, he threw away his staff, sling and other things. In his spirit he
said, “I belong to the throne and I must somehow get to the throne.” His whole attitude
changed. He started to think, speak and behave like a king. His whole thought realm
underwent a change. Spiritually, this should be our attitude. None of the Old Testament saints
had the anointing of the Holy Spirit that God has given us. Some people, though they have
received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, do not seem to realize, experience, enjoy or claim the
blessings in it.
“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:8). The
experience of the Holy Ghost coming upon us is different from that of receiving power. We
may have received the Holy Spirit, but have we received power? ‘Power’, in the Original
tongue, is dunamis (dynamic power). This word has come from the root ‘dynamite’. Dynamite
is an explosive. Dynamic power is like dynamite. All the fortresses of the devil will explode
when this dynamic power is used. This power is greater than all the powers in the earth,
greater than the atomic and hydrogen bombs. “You shall receive (dynamic) power, after the
Holy Ghost is come upon you.” We have received this treasure, the excellency of the power, in
earthen vessels (our bodies) (II Cor 4:7). Many of us are quenching the Holy Spirit. Jesus,
anointed with the Holy Ghost and power, went about doing good and healing all that were
oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38). “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath
anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised” (Lk 4:18). What great things the Lord expects us to do with the great power
given to us! Stephen, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, did great wonders and miracles
among the people (Acts 6:5,8). “I labour, striving according to His working, which woketh in
me mightily,” says St. Paul. We need to know what we have received. St. Paul prays that the
Ephesians be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation to know the “exceeding greatness of
His power to usward who believe” (Eph 1:17-19). There is indeed a tremendous power and
anointing that we can receive through the Holy Spirit. “I am full
of power by the Spirit of the Lord,” says Prophet Micah (3:8). “You shall receive the Holy Spirit
and you shall become witnesses (martyrs - in the Original)” (Acts 1:8).
The anointing gives us power to even become a martyr for Christ.
“Holy Spirit, power Divine,
Fill and nerve this will of mine,
By Thee may I strongly live,
Bravely bear, and nobly strive.”

In Old Testament times, three classes of people were anointed—the priest, the prophet
and the king. But in the New Testament period, we have an experience that the Old Testament
saints did not experience—the Lord has given us all three offices of priest, prophet and king.
We are a ‘royal priesthood’ ie. we are kings and priests. We are a privileged people. The
purpose of God in anointing us as kings is that we may spiritually rule over everything—flesh,
lust, anger, envy, greed for money, etc. Those who are able to rule their own life will rule the
whole of eternity. There is no peace in the world because people who cannot control their own
anger are trying to control the world. We are anointed as priests, too. In the Old Testament
times, the priest had to offer the sacrifices but in the New Testament we are both the sacrifice,
as well as the priest who offers the sacrifice. “Ye are an holy priesthold, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices” (I Pet 2:5). “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service” (Rom 12:1). We are the priest. We can readily keep offering
ourselves round the clock. God has anointed us as prophets also. God wants everyone to have
the gift
of prophecy. “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy”
(I Cor 14:39). Those who have the gift of prophecy are prophets, in a way. The whole Bible is
written through the gift of prophecy. God can speak to us — we can prophesy to ourselves
through the gift of prophecy. This is the only gift we are asked to covet. In Numbers 11:29 we
read, “Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets !” This is the will of God. There are
untold blessings in the gift of prophecy. If it is not such a tremendous blessing, the Word of
God will not say, “Covet to prophesy.” In the gift of prophecy there are many kinds. You may
sometimes see a vision while prophesying or God may show you the person you are
prophesying to. You prophesy about the future or about the present. The Word of God is
revealed to us through the gift of prophecy. At times you may even prophesy certain things
about a person of which you had no foreknowledge.

“It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even
Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments” (Psa 133:2). First, the anointing
comes on the head (thoughts). God wants our thoughts to be anointed (changed) first. Many
children of God do not realize that one main purpose of the anointing is to change our
thoughts. The ointment ran down Aaron's beard. The beard has no flesh. After our thoughts
are changed we come to a life that is free from carnality. Then the ointment went down to the
skirts of his garments. ‘Skirts of the garments’ denote character. Finally, through the
anointing, our character gets changed. Our spiritual eyes should be opened to see the
greatness of the New Testament anointing. We must bring our thoughts into captivity. Our
minds should be anointed. That makes a great difference in our life.

All that we need is in the power of the Holy Spirit. “His divine power (Holy Spirit) hath
given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness (everything that is needed for our
spiritual and material life)” (II Pet 1:3,4). Through it we experience exceeding great and
precious promises, we escape the corruption that is in the world through lust and become
partakers of His divine nature. There is so much we can have through the power of the Holy
Spirit. We need not live like beggars. That is ignorance of the power of the Holy Spirit. The
tarrying meeting is a very special meeting, for there, the power of the Holy Spirit is renewed
and reclaimed. Everything is in that power. In the Old Testament we read about the widow
who was going to be taken captive because she was in great debt. Elijah told her to bring the
little oil she had, get vessels from everywhere and keep pouring out the oil. She kept on
pouring and all the vessels got filled. Then the prophet of God asked her to sell the oil, clear all
her debts and live. Some are like the poor old widow. “I only have a little anointing. Of what
use it is? I have so many problems. It will not help me in any way.” The little oil you have, you
must pour out and use. As you keep using it, it will increase. There is a great value in the little
oil you have got.

"Jesus fill now with Thy Spirit,

Hearts that full surrender know;
That the streams of living water
 From our inner man may flow."

Dear child of God, everything you need is in this pot of oil. You need not be in debt; you
need not worry about anything. Everything for life and godliness is in this divine power. What
you need to do is to pour it out, or use it. Everything is freely given through the anointing. The
Lord Himself has anointed you. You are a king. You are a priest. You are a prophet. When the
trumpet sounds, this anointing will help us go up like a flash of lightning to meet the Lord in
the sky. This vile body shall be changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body. The Holy
Spirit will change us.



ELEVEN

FULL TO OVERFLOWING
“My cup runneth over”

'Running over' shows becoming a blessing to others — like ‘a table prepared for me’ to
give to others or to our enemies. The Lord wants us to abound with different kinds of goodness
and be a blessing to others. “I will bless thee and thou shalt be a (source of) blessing, “ He told
Abraham. It is when we are full that we can draw out of our lives and serve to others. “He that
believeth on Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” said Jesus (Jn 7:38).

With what things does the Lord want to fill us ? What does He want our cup to overflow
with ?

“The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Rom 15:13). There is
fulness of joy for us (Psa 16:11). The Lord makes us full of joy with His countenance (Act 2:28).
‘Happiness is infectious,’ goes the saying. It is not external or superficial joy that we have, but
a rejoicing arising from the depth of the heart. Our rejoicing in the Lord, our rejoicing in the
Spirit, our rejoicing in hope, catches others like dry twigs catch fire.

The God of hope also fills us with peace. Jesus spent all His lifetime imparting peace and
comfort to others. He left, leaving us a legacy of peace, His peace; so that we may be
ambassadors of peace wherever we go. Joseph of old, brought peace to the troubled butler and
baker in the prison and to the troubled Pharaoh in the palace.

“Let my mouth be filled with Thy praise and with Thy honour all the day” (Psa 71:8). Our
mouth should always be filled with the praises of God. When our mouth is filled with praises it
can ‘still the enemy’ (Psa 8:2; Matt 21:16). “Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and
a twoedged sword in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments
upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to
execute upon them the judgment written” (Psa.149:6-9).

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Col 3:16). Many around us are
facing a spiritual famine—a famine of hearing the Word of God. They do not have the ‘word of
His grace’ to sustain them in their trials; they do not have the ‘word of His
power’ to set them free. When there was a famine over the face of the whole earth in the Old
Testament, Joseph had corn in his storehouses to supply to all . People from all countries came
to him. Do we have the corn of the Word of God to give to the hungry hearts around us ? When
Boaz (a type of Jesus) gave Ruth parched corn, she had some left over for her mother-in-law
after she had had her fill. When Jesus fed the multitude with bread and fish there were
basketfuls of left-overs. The Lord wants us to “eat the fat and drink the sweet and send
portions to them for whom nothig is prepared” (Neh 8:10). Let us not be like the fruitless fig
tree that Jesus cursed—unable to satisfy the hunger of others.
 “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory
and praise of God” (Phil 1:11). Dorcas was full of good works (Acts 9:36). The works of
righteousness are works done in peace (or with peace) far away from the ‘spotlight’ and only
for the glory of God (Jas 3:18; Isa 32:17).

“Just a channel, full of blessing

To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation,
All Thy loving message sound.”

Before our cup can run over with blessings, first, the cup has to be clean. Only if honey is
poured into a clean cup will the honey be clean. We read about the silver cup of Joseph in
Genesis 44:1,2. Joseph is a type of Jesus. Silver stands for purity. The silver cup of Joseph
therefore stands for the very purity of the heart of Jesus. Only the person with the silver cup
could be Joseph’s servant (vs 17); only he can enjoy all the good things Joseph has for him in
his palace—not the others. We may come to church, get filled in the Spirit etc, but only if the
silver cup of our Joseph (Jesus) is found in our life can we enjoy all His fulness. Joseph
commanded the steward (Holy Spirit) to put the silver cup into the sack of the youngest
(smallest, humblest, meekest, lowliest, gentlest person). When we humble ourselves, our
Joseph will put the silver cup into our life. Beloved one, do you have the very purity of Jesus?
We must love the purity of Jesus till we become as pure as Jesus.

One way to be full to overflowing is to “launch out into the deep”. Peter and the other
fishermen had toiled all night and caught nothing. Jesus told them to launch out into the deep
and cast their nets, and when did, they had such a large catch that they beckoned to others in
another ship. They filled both ships so full that they began to sink (Lk 5:7). Child of God, do you
long for an abundance of God’s blessings? “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price,” calls the Lord (Isa 55:1). Believe Him and step into a deeper
life. In Ezekiel Ch 47, we read of Ezekiel being taken to the waters which were first only ankle-
deep but which finally became a river to swim in. Don’t linger in the ankle-deep waters; don’t
stop with knee-deep experiences either. Draw closer to the Lord, spend more time with Him.
Desire higher spiritual experiences.Go on till you reach the ‘waters to swim in’ — let the
fulness of God sweep you off your feet. Then you will have more and more to keep giving to
others.

“He satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness” (Psa 107:9).
For the Lord to fill us with the fulness of goodness, we need to thirst for it. “Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled” (Matt 5:6). The more
we keep giving out what we have, the more we are given.

“Give, and it shall be given unto you: good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom” (Lk 6:38). “There is that
scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth
to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also
himself” (Prov 11:24,25). What we give will be given back to us in abundance. The widow of
Zarephath had only a handful of meal and a little oil but when she made a cake for Elijah with
the meal and oil, the Lord multiplied the little she had to overflowing. When we give love, the
Lord will give back love to us—good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running
over. When we offer forgiveness, in the same way it will be given back to us. Although it may
take some time, it will definitely come back to you. If you plant an apple tree, it will take a few
years for you to get apples but you certainly will get it.

Our outside is the overflow of the inside. “Out of the abundance (overflow—margin) of
the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth
good things and an evil man out of the evil treasure, evil things” (Matt 12:34,35). Let the love
of God be shed abroad in your heart, and you will shed love wherever you go, on whomever
you meet. Your words will be words of love, words of kindness, words imparting comfort and
encouragement. “My heart is inditing (bubbling over with) a good matter; my tongue is the pen
of a ready writer” (Psa 45:1,2).“As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” (Prov 23:7). Fill your
heart and mind with thoughts of things that are pure and lovely and your whole life will be
pure and lovely. You will spread the fragrance of Christ no matter where you go.

In Matthew 12:43-45 we read of a man who swept and garnished his house but left it
unoccupied. Evil spirits more wicked than the one that had occupied it earlier, came and
occupied it. In the early century church there was a man whose heart Satan so filled that he
lied to the Holy Ghost! (Acts 5:3). So child of God, keep your heart and mind filled, full to
overflowing, with the right things.

The fulness is not to be for a day or two. It should be a fulness that continues till we
meet the Lord in the air. “My cup runneth over, abundantly, marvellously, and gloriously.”



TWELVE

THE BEST OF GOD_SURELY !

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life”

This is the last verse of Psalm 23. If we listen carefully to the Holy Spirit we can learn
many beautiful and glorious truths which will bring a great blessing to our life.

The verse starts with ‘surely’. Many things in life are not sure. We are not sure whether
we will be alive tomorrow, whether we will still have a job or whether our country will continue
the way it is now. But through a close relationship with God we get a blessed assu- rance. Two
things will surely follow us all the days of our life if we faithfully follow our Shepherd —
goodness and mercy. The psalmist was very sure. You can really rely on God. He will never fail
you. If you love somebody and if you know that that person is the best person available under
the sky, you will be sure that person will not let you down, won't you?

For ‘goodness’ the word tob is used in Hebrew. In

eight places in the Bible the word tob is rendered as
‘best’. For example, in Songs of Solomon 7:9 we read the word tob for ‘best’. The best wine
mentioned here goes down the throat sweetly. “Surely, the best of God shall follow me all the
days of my life.” Beloved one, if we really learn to lie down (humble ourselves), if we are
willing to be humiliated, then surely, the very best of God shall follow us—not for one or two
days but for all the days of our life. He makes us lie down or humiliates us—the Lord does it—
so that we can have a very close relationship with Him. Although we are not sure about
tomorrow, one thing we can be sure of – ‘the very best of God shall follow me all the days of
my life.’ So let us rejoice inwardly when we are humiliated. Only the Lord can satisfy us and
meet our needs. He is the Fountain of Life. Let us therefore do away with all excuses and have
time for God.

“The goodness of God leadeth unto repentance.” Therefore, all the days of our lives, we
should have a broken and contrite heart. The more we receive the goodness of God the more
we should repent. God Himself gave a testimony about Job—that he was a man who
‘escheweth evil’ and that there was no fault in him. But when the same man (Job) saw God he
said, “I repent in dust (sackcloth) and ashes.” “But why is God happy to see my heart broken?”
you may ask. Beloved one, unless your heart is broken you may not be able to see what is
inside it. An apple may look fresh and juicy; but a cut could reveal a rotten core. If you do not
have a broken and contrite heart, it is a bad sign; it means the goodness of God is not
following you. God wants to give us all His goodness. God is good to those who are of a clean
heart (Psa 73:1). The cleaner our heart the better we will find our God to be. Goodness follows
us everyday, which means, every day we should repent, every day we should have a broken
and contrite heart. If I have not repented today, it means I have not tasted the holiness of God,
the goodness of God today.
“Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: Thou settest a crown of pure gold on his
head”
(Psa 21:3). The goodness of God gives a crown of pure gold ie., the goodness of God helps us
to have crowning pure thoughts.

Mercy also follows us. It is the mercy of God that we are forgiven. If it had not been the
mercy of God, we would have gone down into the pit long ago for all our pride and
stubbornness. It is the mercy of God that we are not consumed. It is the mercies of God that
upheld us so far. There is also a final mercy. That is the Coming of the Lord. “Keep yourselves
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (Jude
vs.21). The Coming of the Lord is not a judgment for us, His children, but a mercy.

“The king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be
moved”
(Psa 21:7). Because of the mercies of God we will not be moved. We trust in Him because of
His mercies. Some are always shaky and never settled in their decisions and plans in life. We
must look to the mercy of God. Once a little boy, who had Psalm 23 read out to him before
going to bed, asked his mother the names of the sheepdogs the Shepherd had to protect the
sheep. The mother answered, “I suppose He had none.” “How did the Good Shepherd protect
His sheep then?” the boy asked. The mother had no answer. With that the boy went to sleep.
The next morning, excitedly, the boy told his mother, “Mother, I know the names of the
sheepdogs – Goodness and Mercy!” The Lord’s goodness and mercy are protecting the sheep
(you and me)—not our holiness, our fasting, or our cleverness. God has wonderfully kept us
through. Goodness and mercy are like two guardian angels—behind us, before us and all
around us. “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him” (Psa 34:7).
When holy angels are all around us we are protected. But if we deliberately sin it is different.
Do you feel the angels of God around you? Do you sense peace and quietness? We must
preserve the immediate presence of God. If we do, we are in the spacesuit of the glory of God.
The holy presence of God is all around us.

‘Follow’ in the original language is ‘run’. Goodness and mercy are quickly running after
us. If goodness and mercy are to be running after us, we should be running after God. “Draw
me and we will run after Thee.” The blessings of God are not for slothful and slumbering
people. We must have a hunger and thirst for God. Christian life is like flying an airplane. If you
stop you drop. When learning to cycle, there is a tendency to keep looking down. We must
keep looking ahead and not look at the wheels or at the handlebar. The Word of God says,
“Run the race looking unto Jesus.”

Surely goodness and mercy shall run after me all the days of my life — in summer days
and winter days, in gladsome days and troublesome days, in fasting days and feasting days, in
days of health and in days of sickness, on birthdays and funeral days, in bright days and bleak
days. For a child of God, there are no bad days. Some say, “Not too bad” when asked “How are
you?” That is the language of unbelief. Because of our doubting nature it says, ‘surely’ in this
last verse of
Psalm 23. All the verses in the Bible are sure. Today is good, tomorrow is going to be better
and the day after, even better. When the Bride of Christ thinks about the future, she rejoices
and smiles (Prov 31:25). Let us be hot and zealous for the Lord all the days of our life.

In Hebrew there is no singular for the word ‘life’; it is in the plural – ‘lives’. The very
language of the Bible is beautiful. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
— my life on earth and my life in eternity. If our hope is only of this earth, we are most
miserable. “Surely the very best of God shall follow me all the days of my life.” This faith
should keep surging into our spirit or else the devil will try to put a negative thought into us –
“You will be sick with an incurable disease and there won’t be anyone to look after you!” Some
people worry about their end as if God is dead. “Even to your old age I will bear and carry
you,” the Lord has promised. Mothers call their children, ‘my child’, even if they have become
sixty and have become grandmothers. It is the same with our God — He does not have
grandchildren, only children. And you are very special to God, as if you are His only child on
earth. All His care is for you. God is very concerned about our end — that it should be the
best. “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected end”
(Jer 29:11).

“Surely goodness (the best of God) and mercy shall follow me.” You do not have to
follow them. If you follow them, they will flee from you. You just keep following the Lord. Keep
living in the immediate presence of the Lord. Even if a thousand fall, keep going by the Word
of God, for that is enough. That will be accepted in heaven.

A person’s last will, cannot be changed after he dies. It is the same with the New
Testament or the New Will. Jesus died and therefore the Will(Testament) cannot be changed.
The Will has been sealed and confirmed. One day, while Napolean, the Emperor of France, was
riding his horse, the horse went berserk and Napolean was about to fall. An ordinary soldier
helped him. Napolean thanked him saying, “Thank you, Captain.” Straightaway the soldier
went to the captains’ mess and insisted he was a captain. When asked, “You don’t have a star
and you are in ordinary uniform; who told you, you are a captain?” he answered, “Napolean
told me.” “Then you don’t need a star or a uniform. There is no greater authority than that,”
he was told,and allowed in. The King of kings has said, “Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life.” We do not need to show a star or a uniform. A greater
authority is here. It is written for you and for your sake.

It says, “all the days of my life”—days, not weeks, months or years. We must count our
days here in our earthly sojourn. “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts
unto wisdom” (Psa 90:12). If we number our days we shall not spend our years ‘as a tale that
is told’. In this temporary life on earth, the time here is termed as days; but it says, “I will
dwell in the house of God for ever.” In eternity there will not be any more days or weeks, but
‘forever and ever’.



THIRTEEN

THE HOUSE OF GOD FOREVER

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”

In this last part of Psalm 23, the psalmist speaks of his assurance. It is a positive,
statement of assurance — “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” The psalmist does not
say, “If I am lucky I may dwell in the house of the Lord” or, “Perhaps I will go to heaven.” We
need a blessed assurance. If we follow the Good Shepherd we have this blessed assurance—“If
Jesus is mine, heaven is mine, all the goodness of heaven is mine.”

To be led by the Shepherd upto the House of God in heaven we should follow Him to the
house of God on earth. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,” says God’s Word
(Heb 10:25). “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord” (Psa
122:1). If you do not have a love for the house of God on earth, you do not love the house of
God in heaven. Now if you are not happy to go to the house of God on earth it is because you
are not happy to go to the house of God in heaven. The first century Christians were in the
house of God everyday. The King’s business
is more important than your own business. You must love to go to the house of God.

“Let us go to the house of the Lord,

And adore Him, O saints, great and small;
Lift your voice, praise Him with one accord,
For the great things He hath done for all.”

The house of God is also called the house of mercy. It is God’s goodness and mercy that
brings us to the house of God.“ I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy: and
in Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple” (Psa 5:7). We come to the house of God
because of the multitude of His mercies. The more we come to the house of God, the more we
will have a multitude of God’s mercies. If goodness and mercy follows you when you go to
church, how much more goodness and mercy will crown and compass you if you live in the
house of God and serve Him ! Coming to the house of God brings in a multitude of the mercies
of God. Then, living in the house of God will bring multitudes and multitudes of the mercies of
God. When the queen of Sheba came to Solomon she said, “Happy are these thy servants.”
The devil has put in the hearts of many people a fear to serve God because the devil knows
that the house of God is the house of
God’s mercy and goodness. Those who live in the house of God will be compassed about and
covered with the mercies of God. That is why God is calling you to serve Him. One day in the
house of God is better than ten thousand days elsewhere.

In Hebrew one meaning for the word ‘dwell’ is ‘marry’. In Nehemiah 13:23,27, we see
the word for ‘dwell’ used for ‘marry’. After a bride gets married, she goes to live forever in the
bridegroom’s house. Now we are in this miserable earthly house (body) but soon the Rapture
will take place. We will see our heavenly Bridegroom and, as the Bride, we will live in the
House of the Bridegroom forever and ever after the wedding. That wedding can take place at
any moment. You should have this blessed assurance: “My days are going to be filled with
glory and when the Lord comes He will not leave me nor forsake me.”

‘The house of the Lord’ in Hebrew is bayith. In

II Chronicles 9:11 bayith is translated as ‘palace’. The same word is used in Psalm 23:6: “I will
dwell in the palace of the Lord forever.” This is the way the psalm ends. God has called us to a
glorious place.

The word bayith is a peculiar word. It is, in some places, translated as ‘prison’. ‘Palace’
and ‘prison’ are poles apart. But it is written like that, in order to reveal a beautiful truth.
Joseph felt the prison was a palace because the Lord was with him (Gen 39:20-22). When the
immediate presence of God is in your life, your
prison will become a palace. When the presence of God goes from your life, your palace
becomes a prison. Your palace or mansion of comfort can be a prison of torment. It is the
presence of God that makes the difference. Happiness is not living without problems but being
in the presence of God. King Saul was literally in a palace, but since God had left him he lived
in fear. He was afraid of David, the little shepherd boy. David should have been afraid of Saul;
but because God had left Saul, he was afraid of David. David was a wise and obedient servant
—any master would be happy to have a servant like that. But Saul was afraid of David. The
reason was that God had left him. You make your own palace or prison. Your marriage, your
Christian life, can be a prison or a palace. It does not depend on the circum- stances around
you; it depends on the presence of God in your life. When God departed from Saul, an evil
spirit started to trouble him. But Joseph was cheerful in the prison and he asked the others
why they were sad. Do not give room for any thought, word or deed that is outside the will of
God. Then you can say, “I will dwell in the palace of the Lord for ever and ever.”

In the Word of God, ‘palace of the Lord’ speaks of Zion. “Beautiful for situation, the joy
of the whole earth, is mount Zion…the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a
refuge” (Psa 48:2,3). Zion is the highest place in eternity; it is the perfection of all
blessings. God wants to give the very best to us. This is seen in Psalm 23 from the beginning
to the end. Only God has the very best. The psalm ends with the very
best of God and God wants to convey to us the message that He wants us to have the very
best towards the end of our life.

Psalm 23 ends with Zion, the palace of the Lord. A hundred and forty-four thousand
consecrated servants of God will be on Zion. “If any man serve Me let him follow Me. Where I
am there shall My servant be” (Jn 12:26). They are the happiest and the most blessed people
on earth and in eternity. Zion is the best of God. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty God has
shined. Zion is the fountain of blessings, the perfection of blessings. The saints in other places
in eternity will share in the blessings of Zion in accordance with their spiritual growth.

“The Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation. This is My rest forever:
here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her
poor with bread” (Psa 132:13-15). God’s rest is different from man’s rest. Although God is
always at rest, here it is particularly stated, “This is My rest forever.” This is the special rest
when God is resting in us. When we rest in God, God will rest in us. God is seeking this rest.
There is a perfection in rest and a refreshing, reposing rest in the presence of God. When we
live in the immediate presence of God our inner man will be refreshed and restful, even if the
whole world is crumbling down around us. This is a glorious rest. I will abundantly bless her
provision.” Zion has an abundance of provision. “I will satisfy her poor with bread.” Zion is full
of poor people, but these poor people have plenty of provision—“blessed are the poor in
spirit.” We must hunger and thirst after a deeper spiritual life. Whatever the state of your
spiritual life, believe that your life will end in the way Psalm 23 ends. God will honour your
faith.
“Thy presence is joyous and sweet to my soul,
My lips shall now show forth Thy praise;
To dwell with the saints on Mount Zion is my goal,
For Thou art Jehovah-Shammah.”

If we preserve the presence of God, all the blessings in Psalm 23 are for us forever and
ever. God has an ‘expected end’ for us that can be realized only if we believe it. Each day is
going to be better and better and the last day is going to be the crowning day. “ The path of
the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Prov 4:18).
The Word of God is the sure foundation for you — believe it. You should not be swayed or
deceived by what you see. One man of God said, “I am not moved by what I see, but by what I
believe.” We must believe what God speaks to us. Psalm 23 is written to you and about you.
“In the volume of the book it is written of Me.” So put your name there and read it aloud: “The
Lord is John's Shepherd; John shall not want. He maketh John to lie down in green pastures,
etc, etc.” Jesus is the Apostle and High Priest of our profession (confession) (Heb 3:1). He is
interceding for you depending on what you believe and confess. For example, if you say,
“Lord, I believe that I am going to die perfect and end my life in shalom, because your Word
says so. My prayer life, my holy life and my character are going to get better and better by the
grace of God. The very best day of my life will be the day when I leave this earth, etc,” then
Jesus will pick up these words and say, “Father, My son believes what I have written. He
believes he is going to end his life perfect.” Then the Father will say, “Amen.” Heaven will say,
“Amen! Amen!” Angels will say, “Hallelujah!” The Lord is able to do more than we ask or think.
But if you believe, “I am going to be miserable and no one is going to be there when I die,”
how can Jesus intercede for you before the Father? Such unbelief will make Jesus weep. Jesus
can intercede only for what we believe and confess. That is why it is written, “Looking unto
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith (or confession)” (Heb 12:2). You may have a fear of
sickness and the devil may be tormenting you. Pas S B Ernest, one of our pastors, suffered
many heart attacks. When he had a massive attack in Singapore, a doctor who was there said
that it was the end, but in the evening Pas.Ernest attended the service and preached like a
lion. Once, during an attack, he suddenly opened his eyes and told those praying around him,
“I will not die of a heart attack.” That might have given the devil a heart attack! This faith of
the Son of God should be injected into our spirit. Hebrews 12:2 means that what we believe,
God will accordingly finish. It is God Who put that faith into us. He is the Author of our faith—
the One that creates that faith in our spirit. Many people are destroyed for the lack of this
knowledge. Where there is no vision, people perish. Our hearts should be transplanted—our
evil heart of unbelief should go. We must believe the Word of God.

Pastor S B Ernest had many illnesses but he would often say, “I will not die of sickness.”
God honoured his words. One Sunday he preached a powerful sermon and ended the sermon
saying, “When I die, the Lord will shake hands with me and say, ‘Well done Ernest, enter into
the joy of thy Lord.' I will have many crowns and rewards, but more than all that, when I go
there, the Lord will say to me, ‘Continue your ministry, Ernest, in Zion.’ But when you
accountants, doctors and nurses die, the Lord will not say,‘ Continue your job in heaven.’ ”
That was Pas.Ernest's last sermon. The next day, he called a number of pastors and elders and
had a time of praise and prayer with them, and lay down and slept in the Lord. When you
speak words of faith, Jesus will take your word to the Father and will say, “Father, grant it to
him.”

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith, without wavering; (for He is faithful that
promised)” (Heb 10:23). We should confess our faith, not our doubt; otherwise God’s heart
will be grieved. ‘I will dwell in the house of God forever’ ie. for all of eternity. With what
certainty David speaks! When the devil came to Jesus, He said, “It is written...” When the
enemy comes like a flood we should say, “It is written….” The thoughts God has towards us
are thoughts of peace, thoughts of perfection—to bring us to a perfected or expected end.
The perfected end Jesus has for His precious child for whom He died is, the very best of God.
At the marriage of Cana Jesus gave the best wine last. That is the nature of God. Psalm 23
ends in such riches of glory and grace. We must give up all our worries, fears, doubts and
cares as we meditate on this verse.

How do we know we will go to heaven when we die? That’s easy! Heaven is in us; we
have already entered into heaven. We do not enter into glory after death; while living on earth
itself we enter into glory. We do not see Jesus after death; while living itself we see Jesus with
our inner eyes.

§§§§§

FOURTEEN

WHEN YOU DIE...

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever”

There are three very important things you should be sure of about your death—(1) How
you die or in what spiritual state you die (2) Who goes with you when you die (3) Where you
are going when you die. All these questions are answered in Psalm 23. It does not matter
where we die, or at what time, but we should be able to answer these three questions.

In verse 2 of Psalm 23 we read of how we should die or in what spiritual state we should
die. It does not matter how long you live. It does not matter how much bank balance you have,
how many friends you have or how educated you are. What is important at the point of death
is, your spiritual state. At the beginning of your spiritual life you may have been in spiritual
heights. That is good, but the state you are in in your dying moments is much more important.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” ‘Green’ shows peace. ‘Green pastures’ means
‘abundance of peace’. When we die we should have abundance of peace. “Mark the perfect
man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace” (Psa 37:37).

For a saint, death is like, lying down to rest after labouring the whole day. Simeon said,
“Now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace” (Lk 2:29). After a day’s work, nobody is afraid
to go and rest ; rather, they look forward to going and lying down. For a saint there is no terror
in death. It is as if the Lord is saying to him, “My child, you have worked hard for Me. Now it is
time for Me to make you lie down.” That will be the sweetest moment of our life on this earth.
When the Lord makes us lie down we will have abundance of peace. Normally, sheep graze
standing. When they lie down it shows they have eaten and drunk enough.

It is God Who gives us rest. If we try to find rest ourselves we will be restless but when
we really labour for the Lord, then the Lord will seek rest for us. Naomi told Ruth, “Shall not I
seek rest for you, my daughter?” Ruth was not seeking rest for herself but Naomi was seeking
rest for Ruth.

“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord” (Rev. 14:13). ‘Blessed’ means ‘happy’.
‘Happy are the dead,’ signifies that they were happy while dying. Today when you are alive or
when you are given a promotion you may be happy. But here, it is not that happiness which is
spoken of. The psalmist speaks of the valley of the shadow of the death. Valley shows humility.
When a person dies he is brought to the depths of humility. He could have been a great man, a
famous man, a wealthy man, but death strips him of everything — he has to humble himself
and come to the valley; he has to forget all his greatness and pride and come down. Dying is
truly a humbling experience but you can be happy while dying if your life is right with God. For
some, it is at that time that all kinds of terrors come upon them. If your ‘call to go’ comes now,
will you be happy or afraid? ‘Blessed are they that die in the Lord’ means, ‘Happy are they who
die being united with Christ.’ ‘They rest from their labour’ means that they are blessed in their
rest. Their rest will be a sweet rest. For saints, death is a sweet sleep. “The wicked are like the
troubled sea, they cannot rest.” ‘Their works do follow them,’ means that their reward will
follow them. “Consider their end and follow their faith,” we read (Heb 13:7). You can live as a
hypocrite but you cannot die a hypocrite, for, at the time of death you have to face reality.

In Genesis Chapter 1, we read, “The evening and morning were the first day”, “The
evening and the morning were the second day” etc, to describe each created day. The end of
the day is the morning. We are the creation of God. “Those who are in Christ are a new
creation.” Our end, the end of our day (life) should also be the bright morning, when the Sun of
Righteousness shines with glory and majesty. His grace is new in the morning. Our end should
be full of grace. In the morning everything is fresh. Our past was an evening, a darkness; but
our life must end in the bright morning. On the sixth day (last day), God saw that everything
was very good. Of every day of our life, the Lord should say, ‘Good’. But on the last day the
Lord should say, “Very good. Well done, good and faithful servant !” We should be in the
height of our spiritual life when we die. Abraham is a type of a saint. The Lord appeared to him
when he was seated at the tent’s door in the heat of the day. Our end should be spiritually hot,
not cold. We should not be saying at the end of our life, “I can't enjoy the presence of God, I
don't have a desire to read the Bible. I don’t like to go to church, I have no interest in spiritual
things, etc” When it is time for us to go, we must be in the heat of the day. The Sun of
Righteousness should be right in its zenith. “The path of the just is as the shining light that
shineth more and more unto the perfect (noon) day” (Prov 4:18). The angels came to Lot in
the evening, when everything was cold. This is a type of a backslider’s death (not fully
backslidden though, for two angels came to take him). The evening is when darkness and
shadows start coming in. Lot was at the city gate judging others but Abraham was at the tent’s
door (shows faith life). Jesus said, “Pray that your flight may not be in the winter” (Mk 13:18)
ie. when you are spiritually cold. All our life we must be hot and zealous for the Lord. We must
pray, “Lord, don’t take me when I am spiritually cold. Like Abraham, I must be in the heat of
the day, in the height of my spiritual life.” The last verse of Psalm 23 is the best insurance
policy for a child of God. Let us believe that our departure will not be in winter but when we
are in the height of our spiritual life.

“I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand” (II Tim 4:6).
Paul says two things here. Before saying, “The time of my departure is at hand,” he says, “I
am now ready to be offered.” A bold statement indeed! In the Old Testament, when a lamb
was taken to be sacrificed, the priest would first examine it and see whether it had any
blemish (spot), whether it was deaf, dumb, lame or blind. ‘Ready to be offered’ means,
‘without blemish, spot or wrinkle’. If the time of your departure has come, it does not
necessarily mean that you are ready to be offered, for, spiritually you may be deaf, dumb,
blind or lame or you may have some spot or wrinkle. If the time of your departure comes
today, are you ready to be offered? Even before we are born, the Lord has the time of our
death written down in heaven. “His days are determined, the number of his months are with
Thee, Thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). That time could be any
time. It does not matter whether we are young or old. We must always live ready for the
Coming of our Lord or our departure.

Who goes with you when you die is also important. Demons go with some people. When
an alcoholic dies, the demon of alcohol will go with him. He will not get liquor there in hell, but
all eternity he will be crying out, “Liquor, liquor!” Even after a million years in hell that spirit
will keep urging him to take liquor. When immoral people die, the demon of immorality will go
with them. The one you are following will go with you. If you follow the Lord, live in the
immediate presence of God, then the Lord will come with you. The psalmist says, “Thou art
with me,” not “He is with me.” He is looking at God and saying, “You are with me.” The
personal pronoun ‘you’ makes such a difference.

The greatest blessing of heaven is the presence of God—not the throne, the crown, the
mansion or the rewards. Do not lose the presence of God, for, the presence of God is heaven.
Without Jesus, heaven would be like hell, but with Jesus even hell will be like heaven. Billy
Bray used to say, “Even if I go to hell, there I will praise God and shout, ‘Hallelujah !’ Then the
miserable Satan will say, ‘Billy, get back. This place is not for you!’ ” Only the presence of God
matters. When we lose the presence of God, when we are out of the presence of God, we are
practically dead. Those who go to the moon or other planets, wear air-conditioned
spacesuits that contain oxygen, as other planets may have poisonous gases and no
oxygen in their atmosphere. In one sense, this is the way we must live. We need heaven’s suit.
Then we will be breathing heaven’s fresh air. We will experience heavenly peace amidst all the
crookedness around us. Once the spacesuit is removed, fairly soon the man in space will be
dead. That is why we should live in the presence of God. There is a sweetness in living in the
immediate presence of God. Every word coming from the heart of God will encourage, sweeten
and comfort us. When worn out by work, the presence of God will refresh us. The Word of God
says, “In His presence there is fulness of joy.” There is a difference between ‘fulness of joy’
and ‘joy’. Fulness of joy could mean that every part of our being is full of joy. Spiritually, it
means much more. “In Thy presence is fulness of joy and at Thy right hand are pleasures for
evermore” speaks of the fulness of joy in the immediate presence of God. The more you live in
the immediate presence of God, the more you are filled with joy.
 Once a man had three friends. He spent more time with the first two friends than with
the third. He spent most of his time in life with the first friend; he would leave home early to
work for that friend and he would spend many, many hours working for him— sometimes even
ten to twelve hours a day. That friend never gave him satisfaction and yet he kept working
very hard for him. He spent quality time with the second friend also. But with the third friend
he spent very little time—hardly a few minutes a day, although this friend was longing to
spend more time with him. One day this man was called to court. The poor man was scared.
The king knew all the mistakes he had committed in his life. He went to the first friend for
help but that friend said he could do nothing to help him. He refused to go with him to the
king. He let him down. Then he went to the second friend. This friend said he would come with
him only up to the king’s gate. At last he went to the third friend. That friend gladly
accompanied him all the way to the king and pleaded with the king on his behalf and the king
got him freed from all guilt and shame. The first friend was money—almost all his life he had
been spending hours and hours working for money. The second friend was family and friends.
They come only up to the grave. The third friend was Jesus. Jesus comes with us till the end.
The man was sad that he had had only a little time for this true friend. How much more he
would have profited if he had spent more time with Him! It was Jesus who rescued us from hell
fire, judgment, condemnation, and punishment. And how many rich and great blessings He has
for us! But we spend only a few minutes a day with Him. Remember, what matters is, who
goes with us when we die. Money will take wings and fly. Our relatives, friends and family will
come only up to the grave. Only Jesus comes with us all the way. So let us spend more time
with our Lord than with anyone else.
“Jesus is all the world to me,
I want no better friend;
I trust Him now, I’ll trust Him when
Life’s fleeting day shall end.
Beautiful life with such a Friend;
Beautiful life that has no end;
Eternal life, eternal joy,
He’s my Friend.”
“My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest” (Exo 33:14). This means that
when the presence of God is with us we have rest. The more of the presence of God we have,
the more rest we will have. The less of the presence of God we have, the less rest we will have
and the more restless we will feel. “The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the
everlasting arms” (Deut 33:27). It is beautiful to be carried. The Word of God says, ‘Even to
your old age I will bear you and carry you.” Always being carried by the Lord is, living in the
presence of God. “If Thy presence go not with me then carry us (the congre- gation) not
hence. If Moses lived in the presence of God, God would carry not only him, but also the whole
congregation of Israel. If one person lives in the imme- diate presence of God, millions will be
blessed and carried by the Lord to heavenly Canaan.

We need to also know where we are going. “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever,” says the psalmist. Our life on earth is like a race. A man who is running has a
destination in mind. If a man is running without a goal, he must be mad. In our Christian life
we should have a destination. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in His temple” (Psa 27:4). Once there was a clown in a king’s court. The king
gave him a staff and told him, “You are the No.1 fool in the world, but if you find a worse fool
than yourself, you may give this staff to him.” The clown took the staff and went around the
kingdom trying to find a worse fool than himself. One day, he heard that the king was sick and
dying. He straightaway came to the palace. The king said to the clown, “I’m going on a very
long journey and I’m not going to return.” “Do you know where you are going?” asked the
clown. “No,” replied the king. The clown then presented his staff to the king and said, “You
are the No. 1 fool, for, you know you are going on a long journey and that you are not coming
back, but you don’t know where you are going!”

Jesus once sat on a donkey and went to Jerusalem. The donkey had been tied; it could
not have gone to Jerusalem and even if it were loosed, being a wild donkey, it would never
have known how to get to Jerusalem. You may not know how to go to New Jerusalem or Zion,
but Jesus in you knows the way. God has called us to a glorious life. Do not die as a sinner or a
backslider. ‘Sleep’ as a saint. Let us keep New Jerusalem and Zion before us. We are like
donkeys but our Jesus will take us there.

§§§§§

FIFTEEN

A MINI BIBLE INDEED!

Psalm 23 is a spiritual diamond. Let it be ours. We will never face spiritual poverty then.

In a deep sense, it can be said that the whole Bible (66 books), is squeezed into the six
verses of Psalm 23. The Bible begins with, “In the beginning God”, and ends with “Amen”.
“Amen” is also a name for God. Just as the Bible begins and ends with God, Psalm 23 also
begins and ends with God. Psalm 23 starts with “the Lord” and ends with “the Lord forever”. If
the Lord is your Shepherd, He shall be your Lord forever.

The words of this psalm are riches and glory, a mine of wealth. In the six verses of Psalm
23, the Lord wants to show us that He is all in all. Jesus is revealing Himself in seven ways
here. In the first verse He appears as the Shepherd. In the second, “He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures,” He appears as El-Shaddai or ‘Mother-like God’. It is the mother who makes
us lie down. In the third verse Jesus appears as the Restorer or ‘Kinsman’. — It is seen in the
Book of Ruth, that a kinsman is the one who restores. The same verse continues as, “He
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” ‘Leadeth’ means ‘guideth’. So
Jesus is seen as a Guide. In the fourth verse, “Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they
comfor me,” He is the Comforting Companion. And in the fifth and sixth verses, “Thou
preparest a table before me...surely goodness and mercy shall follow me,” He is revealed as
the Provider or the “Heavenly Father Who provides”. In the verse “Thou anointest my head
with oil,” He is represented as the Anointer. This represents the Holy Spirit. So, in these seven
ways the Triune God is presenting Himself as our all in all in this psalm.

Seven names of Jehovah we see portrayed in this psalm are:

Jehovah Raah – The Lord is my Shepherd
Jehovah Jireh _ The Lord will provide
Jehovah Shalom – The Lord sends peace
Jehovah Rapha – The Lord that healeth
Jehovah Tsidkenu – The Lord our righteousness
Jehovah Shammah – The Lord is there
Jehovan Nissi – The Lord my banner (victory)

The psalm is practically for those who personally take the Lord as their Saviour and as
the All-in-All for their life. The psalm begins with, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I SHALL NOT
LACK.” This thought continues till the end of the psalm. “He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures” means, “I shall never lack satisfaction and rest.” “He leadeth me beside the still
waters” means, “I shall never lack refreshing.” ‘Leading’ here, is ‘carrying’ as a shepherd
carries his sheep. There is no exhaustion in going to the waters. First there is rest, later the
refreshing (Isa 28:11,12). “He restoreth my soul” means, “I shall never lack revival in my
soul.” After receiving salvation, rest, satisfaction and refreshing, the next step is restoration or
revival in our soul. True revival is the lasting revival that will never die away. “He leadeth me”
means, “I will never lack divine guidance.” The Divine Companion is always guiding and
showing us the way. The Lord keeps speaking so that we may not go astray. “He leadeth me
in the paths of righteous- ness” means, “I will never lack His righteousness.” “Though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil” means, “I shall never lack divine
boldness and faith even in the worst situation.” The key to all these things is, “Thou art with
me” which means, “I shall never lack divine companionship.” In this pilgrim journey, it is a
comfort to know that we have a wonderful Companion Who has promised, “I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee.” “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me” means, “I shall never lack
divine direction and comfort even in the worst or most distressing times.” “Thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies” means, “I shall never lack spiritual and
material food for myself, for others and even for my worst enemies.” “Thou anointest my head
with oil” means, “I shall never lack anointing.” “My cup runneth over” means, “I shall never
lack spiritual and material drink for myself and for others — even to share with my worst
enemies.” “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” means, “I shall
never lack anything I need in this life.” “I will dwell in the house of God forever” means “I shall
never lack anything in the life to come or in eternity.” Except for the first and last verses, all
other verses are in the present tense for, it is the present blessing. God is called ‘I Am that I
Am,’ for He is ever present. In eternity it will always be the present tense. There is no future.
Even the past will be the present there.

In a sense, the first three verses of Psalm 23 describe the Old Testament experience and
the next three verses, the New Testament. In the first three verses God is mentioned in the
third person. “He maketh me to lie down”, “He leadeth me”, etc. From the fourth verse God is
no more ‘He’; God is ‘You’. “For Thou art with me”, “Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me” etc. We
know that the Old Testament is a shadow and that the New Testament is the reality. The use
of the word ‘He’ depicts God as being rather far away. The word ‘You’ indicates that one is
facing the person and addressing him. From the fourth verse God becomes closer. Our lives
too should be like that. As we near the end of our lives we must be closer to God than ever
before.

The psalm shows, step by step, how a man can be prepared for heaven. All the blessed
truths, doctrines, experiences are squeezed into this psalm. The first verse, ‘The Lord is my
Shepherd’ shows the experience of salvation — Jesus becoming our Shepherd. After we are
saved, ‘He leadeth me beside the still waters’ – the Lord leads us to water baptism. It says, ‘He
leadeth me’, not, ‘I go’. After you are saved, the Shepherd of your soul leads you to water
baptism. If you obey, He will lead you to the end. Still waters are ‘waters of quietness’
(margin). If you do not take water baptism after you are born again, one thing is sure—you will
be restless in your soul. The next experience is ‘He restoreth my soul.’ He restores not only
our soul but also the body. After we take water baptism the truth of divine healing becomes
applicable to us. The Israelites leaving Egypt is a type of salvation and their crossing the Red
Sea is a type of water baptism. It is after crossing the Red Sea that the Lord said, “I am the
Lord that healeth thee.” The same order is set in Psalm 23. If you are a saved child of God who
has obeyed the truth of water baptism, you must trust the Lord for your healing. Then, ‘Thou
preparest a table’ – This is the experience of partaking of the holy table. Then ‘Thou anointest
my head with oil’— This is the anointing of the Holy Spirit. God, in His mercy, anoints some
with the Holy Spirit even before they receive water baptism. But the right order is, “Repent of
your sins and be baptised; then you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The next step is
‘My cup runneth over.’ Following the anointing of the Holy Spirit, there is a life of an
abundance of God’s blessings. Our cup (heart) overflows with blessings. It is an overcoming
life. The next expe-rience is ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me.’ The goodness of God
leads us to repentance and it is the mercy of God that sustains us. After this experience the
Lord helps us prepare for the Rapture. ‘Looking for the mercy of God…’ Finally “I will dwell in
the house of the Lord for ever.” We finally go to the House of God in heaven. So we see in
Psalm 23 all the blessed truths of the Bible by which a sinner can get saved and finally go at
the Rapture to dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
 §§§§§

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