"He Covers You, Doesn't He?"

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

    He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

    He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

    for his name's sake.” (Psalms 23:1-3 ESV)

In order for the Lord to be our Shepherd, we must first of all be his sheep. And he said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28 ESV). And he said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24 ESV).

And if we are hearing his voice, that means we are earnestly listening to him in order that we might obey him. And to follow him is to obey him. And to deny self is to give up the self-life. And to take up our cross daily and follow him means to die daily to sin and to walk in obedience to his commands. For if we hold on to our lives of sin, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we die to sin that we might live for Him, and if we are walking in obedience to his commands, by his power, then we have eternal life in Him.

Now, when I think of green pastures beside still waters, what comes to my mind is a grassy hill with a large tree covered with leaves right at the water’s edge and me sitting under that tree and just listening to and watching the water. That says “peace” to me. But true lasting peace that is there even when the world is in turmoil all around me comes from my faith in Jesus Christ and my trust in his sovereignty. I rest in him and he leads me in the paths of righteousness (godliness, obedience) for his name’s sake.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

    I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

    your rod and your staff,

    they comfort me.” (Psalms 23:4 ESV)

We live in very troubled times. The world is going bonkers. Craziness is everywhere. Angst and divisions and fighting and disputes abound. Liars and lies are all over the place – in the news media, in our governments, among our politicians, in our “churches,” and among our pastors and elders. Deception and deceiving spirits are commonplace. Immorality is sky high! Cheap grace has superseded God’s true grace, and so many are professing faith in Jesus Christ while they still live for the sinful pleasures of this world.

Evil is getting more and more evil, and it is encroaching upon us ever so closely now. If we are paying close attention, and we know what the Scriptures teach, we can see the signs of the times in the things which are now taking place in our world. And those who are following Jesus Christ with wholehearted devotion in following him in obedience to his ways are largely being persecuted and cast aside as unwanted, even within some of the gatherings of what are called “churches.” This should not be!

But we are not to fear evil. We should not be participating in any evil, and we should be fearing God by showing him honor, respect, and obedience, and by believing what his word teaches and taking it to heart. But we are not to be afraid of the evil that others do or that they might do to us who are the Lord’s true sheep and who are listening to him and who are obeying him, in practice. For the Lord will see us through every difficulty that comes our way, and he will give us all we need to endure all opposition.

“You prepare a table before me

    in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

    my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

    all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

    forever.” (Psalms 23:5-6 ESV)

Now I believe the Lord wants me to share this with you. Last week my husband and I had our yearly physicals with our doctor. My husband usually sees him first, and he usually tells the doctor something about me. And then the doctor sees me next. Now it turns out that my husband Rick told the doctor about the ministry that God has given to me, and that I write devotions and that I put them on the internet. And so the doctor told me that Rick had said something about that, and he was asking me about that.

When he asked if I was writing devotions and putting them on the internet, I said, “Yes, I am,” and I told him a little bit about that. And then he looked at me ever so seriously and he said to me, “God speaks to you, doesn’t he?” He was very tender in how he said it. And I responded with, “Yes, he does.” And then ever so tenderly he said to me, “He covers you, doesn’t he?” I never had anyone ever say anything like that to me before, but I said, “Yes, he does.” I was just amazed at his questions, but the last one touched me.

And so as I read this last section of Psalms 23 today, that is what came back to mind. “He covers you, doesn’t he?” For I believe that is the message in this last section, which fits with this: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart” (Psalms 91:4 NIV). And it doesn’t mean that I won’t face difficulties and persecutions. I will. The Bible says I will. But that his covering over me will keep me from failing, and he will give me strength. Amen!

He Covers You, Doesn’t He?

Video Talk

September 16, 2024

https://youtu.be/PF_kBVuzecM

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