(Ecclesiastes 4:9) Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Now I haven't had a chance to study that, so if it's out of context please forgive me. It is the first verse that came to mind to me during my Neurology appointment today.
I went to see Dr. Buday, but after serveral minutes he called his associate Dr. Lawrence in to examine me too. I have to admit this was the first time that I actually felt that the doctors were really seeking the cause of my problem. And I am very grateful to the Lord.
The result: I started a new medication today, so please pray that that helps. Also, I have another MRI scheduled next week on the 6th of November.
Your continued prayers are, as always, welcome. And know that I am in prayer for you.
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word."
jmb
I began our study with the first phrase of Psalm 23, "The LORD is my Shepherd." I didn't realize today that I forgot to ask you, dear readers, to comment! This weblog is an easy forum for us to discuss our thoughts about this Psalm. I hope that you will partcipate if you have time.
"I shall not want." In Psalm 23, this sentence is from one word chacer.
Chacer at its root means "to lack" and by implication "to
want" (Strong's Dictionary). This word occurs 40 times in the Old Testament.
We see it after the flood in Genesis 8:3 (and 8:5 "decreased"), "and
after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated." They
failed; they were in want. They "decreased."
It is only ten chapters later that we see this word again in another familiar
passage in Genesis. In chapter 18, the Lord has come to speak with Abraham about
Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham knows that his nephew Lot is in Sodom and asks the
Lord, "Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, wilt Thou destroy
the whole city because of five?" And He said, "I will not destroy
it if I find forty-five there" (Genesis 18:28 NASB). Here we see chacer
used as "lack" or "lacking."
The next time we see this word is Exodus 16:18 when God provided manna
for the children of Israel. It says, "he who had gathered much had no excess,
and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he
should eat" (NASB).
The Lord blessed the Israelites, and they didn't lack a thing (Deuteronomy 2:7).
God promised the Israelites a land where they wouldn't lack anything (Deuteronomy
8:9).
Part of God's law was to provide for the poor "whatever he lacks"
in the seven year cycle God gave the Israelites (see Deuteronomy 15).
When David was on the run from Saul he went to a king in Gath to hide. But when
he heard what the king's servants were saying about him, he was afraid what
the king might do and pretended to be insane. That is why king Achish said,
"Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this one to act the madman in
my presence? Shall this one come into my house?" (1 Samuel 21:15 NASB).
There is another "famous" instance of this word. Elijah, the prophet
of God, had told the evil king Ahab that there would be no rain the next few
years except by Elijah's word. God provided miraculously for Elijah at a brook
by commanding ravens to feed him there. But when the brook dried up, God sent
Elijah to a widow in Zarephath of Sidon. But she hardly had anything. But God
performed a miracle by the word of the prophet: (1 Kings 17:14 KJV) For thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall
the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. It is that word "fail" that is the word chacer in Hebrew. That jar of oil did not lack until the Lord allowed it to rain again.
In the well-known Psalm, David asks "What is man, that Thou dost take thought
of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? {5} Yet Thou hast made
him a little lower than God, And dost
crown him with glory and majesty!" (Psalms 8:4-5 NASB). The word "lower"
is chacer in this verse.
The bible says, "The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who
seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing" (Psalms 34:10 NASB).
The Proverbs are filled with verses about people who are "lacking sense"
(Proverbs 6:32; see also 7:7; 9:4, 16; 10:13, 21; 11:12; 12:9, 11; 13:25; 15:21;
17:18; 24:30; 28:16). In fact, every verse in Proverbs uses chacer
in a negative sense except one. In Proverbs 31:11, the bible says, "The
heart of her husband trusts in her, And he will have no lack of gain" (Proverbs
31:11 NASB). This is talking about the "virtuous woman" whose "price
is far above rubies" (v. 8).
In light of many of these verses, it is easy to see why David says, chacer
"I shall not want." God has promised to provide for those who seek
Him. In the context of the Psalm, we are the sheep; the Lord is our Shepherd.
Let us seek Him. And He will provide for all our wants.
* Or the angels; Hebrew Elohim; Septuagint
aggelos back
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The LORD is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name�s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
(NASB)
Heaven's Veil
When veiled by clouds, Thy glory hid,
When moved by doubt and fear, I cry.
Thy Spirit wilt move; Thou wilt not forbid
Mine eyes to see Thy grace on high.
If dark the path to Thy gates,
If full of fire, of falls, of fright,
I pray that I may contemplate
Thy Word, O Lord, which is my Light.
Since by Thy Word I understand,
Since by Thy Blood I am made free,
Thy grace is sufficient for me to stand.
Pray let Thy Spirit illumine me.
And this same Wind by breath or gale,
Revealeth to me Thy Heaven�s Veil.
October 19, 2002
james m. bohannon
The idea for this poem came from sunset in Maryland and sunrise in Michigan on my 20-something-odd hour journey to Saginaw.
Isn't it great that even when we feel that God is veiled from us "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). We have not seen God, but we have seen His Veil: His grace and love.
jmb
My Sunday school teacher asked us about meditating on God�s Word this past Lord�s Day. He mentioned Psalm 23. Later, when I read the passage, I wrote things down that I noticed. I�d like to share these thoughts over the next few days. I pray that they will be a blessing to you.
�The Lord is my Shepherd�
My first thought was how even though I cannot see what is ahead, the Shepherd can. He sees the path before us and prepares me to face what may come. Furthermore, the Shepherd wants the best for me. Another thing is I don�t have to know where I am going; I just have to trust the Shepherd.
More to come�
_______________________________________________________________
The LORD is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name�s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
(NASB)
I was filling sorry for myself today. Then I realized I was thinking of myself when I could have been praising the Lord. Here's my song:
"Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. {2} Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. {3} Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. {4} Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. {5} Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. {6} Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!"
I haven�t written a blog in a while. I�ve been pretty down in recent days. I had a few things in mind for a blog, but I hadn�t felt motivated to write one until tonight. I am going to try to please everyone.
When Danielle (not Danielle Jennifer) and I were talking on Instant Message the other day, I said I would write a blog on compliments. You know as Christians we should be nice people. We should say nice things about each other. Often though, we talk about the bad things people do and not the good things. I know I am guilty of that. Our focus is wrong. (Forgive me, this won�t be deep, I am just going to ramble: this last sentence for example. Our focus is wrong. We say that a lot, I suppose. But what do you think about when you say it? I just really thought about what that sentence is saying. Yes, you guessed it: analogy time. Let�s talk about photographs. Have you ever taken a beautiful picture, well, it would have been but it was a little out of focus? That�s what that sentence means.) So (if you are still following me) if our focus is wrong what should it be on? Jesus.
See, no deep thoughts tonight. Just Jesus. And isn�t it great that He is enough? My inspiration to write about Him tonight is because of a poem that my cousin sent me. She based it on II Corinthians 12:9:
�And he said unto me, �My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.� Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.�
Let�s talk about that �power of Christ.� (This is for Casey!) The word �strength� and the word �power� in the King James is the same word in the Greek: dunamis. That�s the word from which we get dynamite. And what we need to remember is that it means �miraculous power.� We have �miraculous power� because of God�s grace.
I�m sure now, you want me to tie it all together. Well, let me try: When we are weak, let�s get our focus on Jesus. His grace is our �miraculous power.� When our focus is right, we will build up our brothers and sisters in Christ (I Thessalonians 5:11), not tear them down. So now I want to compliment my sister in Christ, Wendy O. Thank you for honoring Christ in your life by being so kind.
God bless and keep you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
james micah bohannon
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My Grace is Sufficient for Thee
M. Snider
As the path I travel seems drear,
Remind me, O Lord, You are near.
Close beside me, to lead and to guide me,
Jesus, what have I to fear?
You've said, "My grace is sufficient for thee,
For my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Empty before Your throne I grieve,
Father I fall down to my knees,
For when I am weak, then am I strong
Because Your grace is sufficient for me.
I delight to do Thy will, O my God,
Yea, Thy law is within my heart,
But often times I am so weak,
I stumble before I can start.
Show me the way You'd have me to go,
Never leading me to wrong,
And when I feel frail, remind my heart,
You alone are my strength and my song.
You've said, "My grace is sufficient for thee,
For my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Empty before Your throne I grieve,
Father I fall down to my knees,
For when I am weak, then am I strong
Because Your grace is sufficient for me.