BIBLE STUDY INTRODUCTION (2/5/15)

BIBLE STUDY: "A Study of Psalm 23 Verse by Verse"

Date: (2/6/15)

 

Prayer:

 

Father God in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. We desire Your will to be done in our lives. We thank You for Your mercy and grace. Thank You, Lord, for give us a heart to study Your Word. As we start this study, bless us to honor You first of all.  We praise Your name, Lord. King David wrote this Psalm because He believe You to be his Shepherd, and his protector.  Help us to study with our whole hearts that we may gain knowledge with understanding, so we can use the wisdom You give.  By the time we finish studying and reading this Psalm, may our hearts be uplifted and encouraged so we can share it with others.  Help us to keep Your precepts diligently.  Let Your precepts be our goal to understanding Your Word.  In this study may Your face shine upon us, and teach us all we need to know in this study of Psalm 23 for the glory of God.  In Jesus' name we pray, AMEN.

 

 

Title: Introduction: Psalm 23

 

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. ³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. ⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

 

I shall not want - This is the main idea in the psalm, and this idea is derived from the fact that God is a shepherd. The meaning is that, as a shepherd, he would make all needful provision for his flock, and evince all proper care for it.

I have read the book of Psalm, but never went into deep study before, except in theology classes. This gives me a chance to dig deep into this well-known Psalm. Psalm 23 is one of the most well beloved and well-known scriptures in the whole Bible. It is in this Psalm that we meet Jehovah-Rohi, the Lord my shepherd.When I was a young girl my father had each of his children to learn this psalm by reading it every night until we could repeat it from memory. After dinner and just before bed time, we would all gather around my father and mother and read aloud.  When I learn to repeat it I was so happppy!!!  It was a challenge too. And, it was a blessing at the same time. This Psalm blessed my sister who was illiterate while here with us. She is with the Lord now! She had memorized this Psalm enough to read it and learn to read from it. Glory to God! We made sure it was in her obituary, because she loved this Psalm.  This Psalm really covers the bible itself. Each verse has a meaning that gives us comfort and joy. The Lord is our Shepherd!

There is a famous psalm written by David that, if written in today, would be Christian music's number one hit – a multi-platinum recording. It is Psalm 23 and perhaps you have heard of its lyrics? There can be no question that this song beautifully expresses the goodness of trusting in a personal shepherd. But, I understand that a shepherd probably holds very little weight for those of us in a busy city or even a quiet suburban town. So, let's modernize this reference that David, and later Jesus, used. Instead of calling the main character a good shepherd, let's exchange it for the word 'bodyguard.' The idea of a constant protector is what David was communicating and David, a once shepherd-boy turned mighty king, understood the importance in taking care of helpless animals. David also knew that the Lord was faithful in providing and watching over him.

Can we echo this response when we find ourselves running or hiding in metaphorical caves? Can we echo this when we feel forgotten or lost? Hopefully, we aren't only proclaiming the following words found in Psalm 23 when life is working in our favor. For the truth is, these words can produce the most power in our lives when we feel the very weakest. Let's take a look at each well-chosen lyric to further understand David's words to God: The book of Psalm 23.

 

Before we do that, let's look at the table of content of this study of Psalm 23. As we look at this Psalm, we will see a shepherd's life also required him to spend a great deal of time alone out in the countryside. With no one to talk to, the shepherd had time to think about many things. He could (if he so desired) just allow his mind to wander aimlessly from thought to thought or else he could utilize the time to develop his thought processes and to draw near to God. The shepherd life gave great opportunity for a person to use the time to become a man/woman of great devotion and prayer.

 

Obviously David spent his time doing just that. Psalm 23 is a testimony of David. Every verse of it testifies of a truth about God and the relationship David had developed with Him. In Psalm 23, David painted with words, a picture of God as the Great Shepherd of his life. What David was to his sheep, he considered the Lord to be that and even more to himself as one of God's sheep. 

As we study this Psalm, I pray that we too will want to say as David said: "The Lord is my Shepherd!"

 

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS PSALM:

1) To remind ourselves of the wonderful provision, protection, and preservation the Lord furnishes His people

2) To note how this psalm foreshadows the blessings provided by "The Good Shepherd", Jesus Christ

SUMMARY

This much-beloved psalm of David makes use of the Shepherd motif to describe the deep faith and hope available to the child of God, made possible the watchful care of the Lord.  It also mixes other metaphors, especially that of a gracious Host.

As outlined below, David begins by illustrating the provision of the Lord, both physical and spiritual (1-3).  David then describes the protection of the Lord, as he travels through dangerous places and in the presence of enemies (4-5).  The psalm ends with an expression of faith and hope in the Lord's preservation, that God will furnish the goodness and mercy needed throughout life, so that he made abide in the house of the Lord forever (6).

The Christian sees in this psalm a wonderful foreshadowing of "The Good Shepherd", Jesus Christ, who gave His life for His sheep and even now watches over them  (cf. John 10:11-15; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 5:4).

A good follow-up to this psalm is Psalm 100, which expresses the praise we should render to God as His people and the sheep of His pasture.

OUTLINE

I. THE SHEPHERD'S PROVISION (Psalm 23:1-3)

   A. NO LACK OF PHYSICAL NECESSITIES (1-2)

      1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want (cf. Luke 12:22-32)

      2. He makes me to lie down in green pastures

      3. He leads me beside the still waters (cf. Revelations 7:17)

   B. NO LACK OF SPIRITUAL NECESSITIES (3)

      1. He restores my soul (cf. Revelations 3:19)

      2. He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake

         (cf. 1Co 10:13)

II. THE SHEPHERD'S PROTECTION (Psalm 23:4-5)

   A. THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH (4)

      1. I will fear no evil, for He is with me (cf. He 13:5-6)

      2. His rod and staff comfort me (cf. He 12:5-11)

   B. IN THE PRESENCE OF ENEMIES (5)

      1. He prepares a table before me in their presence (cf. John 16:33)

      2. He anoints my head with oil, my cup runs over (cf. Ephesians 3:20)

III. THE SHEPHERD'S PRESERVATION (Psalm 23:6)

   A. ALL THE DAYS OF ONE'S LIFE (6a)

      1. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

      2. All the days of my life (cf. 2Timothy 4:18)

   B. FOREVER (6b)

      1. I will dwell in the house of the Lord

2. Forever (cf. John 14:1-3)

 

Table of content:

 

Week # 1          (The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.)

Week # 2          (He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.)

Week # 3          (He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.)

Week # 4          (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.)

Week # 5          (Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.)

Week # 6         (Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.)

Week # 7          (Conclusion)

 

 

There will be a prayer weekly, a word of the week weekly, a question weekly, God's Names weekly, questions to answers weekly, and a different version of Psalm 23 weekly.

 

Thanks to all who have responded through the different sites, blogs, or just through email. God bless you!  It's a blessing to study God's Word! (Psalm 119:105)"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."