"Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
John 21:19 (NIV)
Dad used to always talk about Aunt Betsy traveling with grandma; in many of his ‘historical’ stories, Aunt Betsy was beside his mom. She was my grandfather’s sister and became quite close to my grandmother in their old age. One of my cousins remarked at a funeral service this week about Aunt Betsy’s faith. He said that she didn’t say much about the Bible, but every now and then she would look into his eyes and say: “The Lord is my shepherd.” After the service another older lady approached me and said: “The Lord is my shepherd too.”
I wonder friend, “Is the Lord your shepherd?” In our churches these days, we don’t talk about this aspect of discipleship very much. We talk about mission – Proclaiming, Healing and Feeding - but don’t dwell on the wonderful aspect that a follower of Jesus Christ can say with certainty, that Jesus is my shepherd! This 23rd psalm is all about that wonderful aspect, and what a beautiful psalm it is.
Friend, can you say with David that the Lord is your shepherd? Can you testify that you have a personal connection to Him? Our Lord tells us that His sheep know His voice and they follow Him. (Jn10:4) Do you know His voice? Do you follow after His Words? Do you obey Him above all others? If the answer is yes, then friend Psalm 23 is your personal testimony!
The words of this psalm bring comfort; they bring hope and they bring peace into our souls. To stand by the death bed of a disciple of Christ and to speak the words: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” is to speak into them the truth, that at that very moment the Lord Jesus is about to take them from the jaws of defeat at the hands of our worse enemy called Death, and sit them with Him at a glorious table as He welcomes them home!
The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want!
O Lord keep me close, keep me close!
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