Tag Archives: diminished

THINGS THAT DAVID SAID – 1

Bible Study, ,

I SHALL NEVER BE DIMINISHED

At least half of the psalms in the Book of Psalms are attributed to David. He was known as “the sweet singer of Israel”. He said many things that represent eternal truth, not religious platitudes. We could meditate forever on the rich truths he embraced. However, we cannot exhaust everything he espoused but we can weave some into the fabric of our own lives.

Although David lived under the Old Covenant, he said many things that rise above law and ritual, things that have eternal significance and give us a better perspective on the nature of the Father and life in the New Covenant.

Let’s examine some of the things David said, wrote, or sang as the core of his philosophy of life, beginning with the most beloved of all his psalms…

Psalms 23:1 NIV
[1] “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”

Psalms 23:1 NLT
[1] “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.”

Psalms 23:1 CEV
[1] “You, Lord, are my shepherd. I will never be in need.”

Psalms 23:1 NKJV
[1] “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Four translations…four interpretations, but all implying the same basic thought. Since the Lord is like a shepherd, I am assured of a steady supply of every physical and material thing I need.

Was that what David’s heart was saying as he chewed on a piece of grass out in the meadow, musing and watching his father’s sheep? Was he contemplating God’s goodness to him as a young lad in an Israelite family despite the way things appeared to be? Was he contrasting God’s ways with the ways of humans…who elevate themselves above others?

Did his mind range around his own role as a young sheep herder, carrying the huge responsibility of the wellbeing of his daddy’s flock? What was it that weighed on him out there on the hills? Did he consider his own inadequacy and vulnerability against the odds of weather and wild beasts? Did he turn his thoughts, with gratitude, to the faithfulness of his God who gave him strength to stand his ground even against lions and bears?

Let’s look at the words he used.
Shepherd… Hebrew “ra’ah”, meaning “one who tends”, i.e., tends a flock. As always, the meaning is in the context.

What does a “ra’ah” do? In a nutshell, he provides everything a sheep needs and he allows nothing to harm his flock. This takes wisdom, strength, and stamina, a tall order for one so young. Was he conscious of the way in which God supernaturally helped him in times of crisis? Was this God a true shepherd?

Our translators cover the first but neglect the second aspect of a shepherd’s care in the words they used. What if David was conscious that his Shepherd took great care that no psychological or emotional damage happened to him as well as physical harm or need? After all, he was the youngest of eight brothers and was often treated with contempt by his own family, as his story unfolds.

Two incidents illustrate this point.

First incident…

God gave Samuel, the prophet, instructions to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be king in Israel in place of the disgraced Saul. Jesse presented seven sons to Samuel but, each time, God said “No”. What now?

“Do you have another son?” Samuel asked. “Oh him,” Jesse replied. “He’s looking after sheep.” Can you hear the contempt? David’s own father didn’t consider his youngest son good enough or important enough to meet the prophet and join the sacrificial ceremony.

1 Samuel 16:10-11 NLT
[10] “In the same way, all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” [11] Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.” “Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

Second incident…

Israel was at war with the Philistines. Three of Jesse’s oldest sons were in the army. The Philistines’ champion, Goliath, had challenged the Israelite soldiers to a duel. Not one Israelite soldier dared take up the challenge.

1 Samuel 17:14-15 NLT
[14] “David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, [15] but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem…”

Jesse sent David to the battlefront with provisions for his brothers and to check on their wellbeing. When he arrived, his eldest brother turned on him. His accusations were cruel and belittling.

1 Samuel 17:28 NLT
[28] “But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!”

How does a teenage boy feel under the weight of such insult and contempt, especially from a member of his own family? Were these attitudes not even more damaging than any physical challenges he faced out there in the hills with the sheep?

David turned to the God he was getting to know. He was learning that the God of his fathers, the God of covenant, was not only a reliable source of supply, but also a God who never put him down, or let him down no matter what his circumstances. Young as he was, his confidence in the character of God gave him the courage to trust Him when he needed Him. With this kind of confidence in God who never failed, this stripling teenage boy faced, challenged, and killed the Goliath his brothers feared.

Psalms 3:3 NIV
[3] “But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.”

The Hebrew word, “rum”, means “to be high, or exalted.” David was aware of the way God lifted him up and supported him when others put him down, insulted him, and treated him with contempt. “I shall not be in want…” also helped him to treat others the way God treated him.

David’s habit was to “enquire of the Lord” for guidance in every tough situation, and to follow His instructions because he knew that God would always support or vindicate him.

Such was David’s confidence in God that he could tell the world, through his songs, that no matter what, he would never be diminished. What a way to live!

In turn, David took care not to diminish others. He had the power to eradicate the members of Saul’s family in case they threatened him as king. However, instead, he stepped in to lift up Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, in his distress, to the position of a member of his household. As a recipient of God’s mercy, David extended mercy to others.

People think nothing of diminishing others. It happens in families, in workplaces, and in society. In fact, people love to diminish others, even in the most drastic of all ways, by taking another’s life, with hardly a thought.

What if we take a leaf from David’s book? What if we rely on God never to diminish us when the chips are down? What if we resolve never to put anyone else down even if it costs us?

What a way to conduct our lives! As the object of God’s immeasurable mercy…

Psalms 103:9-11 NIV
[9] “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; [10] he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. [11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him…”

…We owe God the same attitude of mercy to others as He has shown us. He steps in to support us in times of trial. Now let’s do the same for others.

Micah 6:8 NIV
[8] “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

You are Your Own Judge

Christian Life, , , ,

YOU ARE YOUR OWN JUDGE

I have noticed, as I have walked and re-walked through the gospels with Jesus, that He was big on human responsibility. He never sanctioned the kind of prayers I often hear people pray – that God would do for us what He has already done, or given us the responsibility to do for ourselves. Jesus always honoured the gift of choice. How often He ratified the choices people made! Take the rich young ruler, for instance. Did He go running after the man to beg him to follow Him, or to make things easier for him? Not a chance! He simply let the man go. He had made his decision, and that was that!

How will we, as prospective disciples of Jesus, respond to His warning? How will we measure our response to His yoke? I am sure we have no desire to disqualify ourselves or to lose what we already have because we have not understood the kernel of His teaching. What I am about to share with you is, I hope, in essence what Jesus was getting at.

I have an acquaintance who works for a small private company. She has worked extremely hard to help the company prosper, bringing in huge amounts of money through sales and service. She recently resigned to take up a position in her husband’s business, much to the disappointment of the company owners – not because of her value as a person but because of the wealth she brought to the company. The husband of the husband-and-wife team has shown his disdain for her decision. Where once he was her “friend”, he is now distant and unfriendly.

I think that this reveals in a nutshell the difference between those who have “the evil eye” and those who have “the eye of light”. Jesus was adamant that He had come to serve, not to be served. He expects those who follow Him to have to same attitude towards other people as His. My friend was useful to her employers as long as she brought in the money. The bottom line is: they used her. Their relationship stood only until the crunch of her leaving hit their bank balance.

What came to my mind through this incident was something like this: Whether they are believers or not is irrelevant. They have been diminished by their reaction to her resignation. Something of what they had has been lost. They measured her worth in terms of money and business. They did not value her as a person and share in her anticipation of bringing prosperity to her family. In fact, they did not even reward her or any of the other staff members by a bonus at the end of the year. They became their own judges.

This leads me to the heart of Jesus’s yoke. If we have chosen to walk in the way of Yahweh, our lives will be characterised by selfless service. We will not use people for our own ends. We will serve people at our own expense. The more we serve, the more we will increase in knowledge and understanding of God’s ways. It’s this “reciprocal” thing again. When we give ourselves away, God gives back by multiplication!

The opposite is also true. When we use people for our own purposes; when we disregard them as people and use them as a means to enrich ourselves, we are diminished as people. We become more selfish and self-serving, less sensitive to the needs of others and dehumanised in our attitude to ourselves and other people.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?’ (Matt. 16: 24-26)

Another aspect of this principle is true. The shallow soil does not allow the seeds to produce roots to anchor the plant in all conditions so that it can mature and produce fruit.  Shallow people trust in God as long as it is beneficial for them. As soon as tests or adversity come, they fall away because their faith in God is opportunistic.

These kind of people will also use rather than serve God just like they use rather than serve others. Is this not diagnostic of what kind of hearts shallow people have? When they are disillusioned with God because He doesn’t answer their prayers – in other words, He doesn’t do what they want – they give up their faith in Him and go back to their old life. Use or serve – this reveals the true nature of our hearts.

Conclusion

The soil adds nothing to the seed. It only provides the environment in which the seed grows. Whether the seed is able to reproduce itself or not depends on the nature of the soil. What is the purpose of the seed? It exists only to reproduce itself so that its fruit can nourish the eater and its seeds can continue the cycle of growth and reproduction in the hearts of other people.

As I pondered on this thought, it occurred to me that this is a picture of our lives. Our hearts are the soil into which the seed falls. Like the soil, we add nothing to the seed but, as it grows and reproduces in us, our spirits are nourished by its fruit. We in turn, continue to perpetuate the life of the seed by sowing it into the hearts of others. Their response will determine its effect on their lives and whether the seed it reproduces will continue to be passed on to others.

What we eventually become in our efforts to follow Jesus and become true disciples is entirely our responsibility. The Holy Spirit will not make the choices for us but He will give us grace and power to put into practice our decision to follow Jesus and to do what He instructs us to do. In the end, as we follow Him, we will become like our rabbi, maturing as we journey with Him, into true sons and daughters of God.

“Be careful how you hear,” Jesus warned. “You determine the measure of your own fruitfulness.”

Pray with me, then, the matchless prayer of David whom God called, “A man after my own heart.”

Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth;

Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (Psa. 86:11)

Scripture is taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

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The Lord My Shepherd

Bible Study, , ,

THE LORD MY SHEPHERD

“The Lord is my shepherd, I Iack nothing.” Psalm 23:1

We all love this psalm. Even people who don’t acknowledge God in their lives know it and, of course, it will be sung at their funeral one day.

Funny how some of the most profound and meaningful passages in the Bible land up as funeral dirges for many people; they read as “funeral” Scriptures – nothing more. Like Psalm 23, and John 14!

This is David’s most well-known and loved psalm. When did he write it? Since he was a shepherd from boyhood, we tend to associate it with the days when he sat around   strumming his harp and watching the sheep. But the life of a shepherd wasn’t one long lazy day in the sun. He had work to do and David was familiar with all the tasks that fell to the shepherd.

But there were those times when his work was done for a while. Then he would sit on a grassy spot where he could watch the sheep and let his mind wander. What did he think about? Perhaps his gazed roamed around the beauty of the scene before him; the tiny creatures scurrying through the grass, the blue of the sky, the soft white clouds floating overhead, the rippling water of a nearby stream.

He heard the birds twittering in the trees, the call of an eagle high above him, the cooing of a dove, the rustle of a mouse in the undergrowth. He felt the warmth of the sun on his back, the dampness of the dew in the early morning. Perhaps, in utter contentment he would lie back for a moment, gaze into the infinite heavens and think, “God’s in His heaven and all’s right with the world.”

He would think of his home, his parents, his siblings, the privileges, the love and laughter of a family, the hearty meal he would enjoy when the sheep were safely penned for the night. Inevitably his mind would turn to the God who created all the beauty around him and blessed him with all the privileges he enjoyed. He would strum his harp and sing praise to the God of his ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Many’s the time, as king of Israel, he would reflect on his boyhood and the years that followed and marvel at the way God had led, provided for and protected him – just like a shepherd! He had been a fugitive from the murderous jealousy of King Saul. He had sheltered in caves, slept under the stars, taken refuge in foreign territory, eaten off the land and, like Robin Hood, led a band of “merry men” who were fiercely loyal and, at times, fearlessly courageous to protect and care for their leader.

As he reflected on his life with all its twists and turns, the realisation dawned on him that Yahweh was to him what he had been to his sheep; first his father’s flock which he had led and guarded with his life, even taking on fearsome predators like lions and bears; then the nation of Israel which was God’s flock entrusted to him. Over the years, God had been a shepherd to him. Had he ever been left to fend for himself, abandoned and hopeless? No! God had always been there, watchful and attentive to his every need, answering his every cry for help.

David “enquired of the Lord” at every turn, even when he failed grievously, and the Shepherd was always beside him, rescuing, leading, forgiving and being what a shepherd was, everything he needed. Not only did he lack nothing; he also had the reassurance that, in company with his Shepherd, he would never be “diminished”.

Included in the Hebrew word for lack or want is the idea that those who live in close association with God will never become less than who they are. God wants not only to sustain us; He wants us to increase. David put in negative terms what God would say positively. “As long as you remain with me and allow me to shepherd you, I will make you much more of a person than you are now. I will help you reach your full potential.”

The best grass, the safest resting places, the clearest streams, the greatest opportunities are what the shepherd looks for to create the environment for His “sheep” to grow, to become strong and productive. In the end, it’s the shepherd who gets the credit for being the best shepherd for His sheep.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.