23: (The Cud of Psalm 23)

Greetings...he said with a sheepish grin. How's the flock. Oh I know...you're thinking that maybe...there should be a reference to a cow...since this is a Ruminator Rambling....an extension of The Ruminator Sunday School Class...where we be mooin' and a chewin' on the Word of God...like a cow chews the cud....like the ruminant they are. Well...BAAAAAAAAAAA. Some would say that maybe a sheep would have been more Biblical...since...after all...the children of Israel did worship a GOLDEN CALF. Well...BAAAAAAAAAA.

"For every beast of the forest is MINE, and the CATTLE on a thousand hills." (Psalm 50:10) MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

But for this Rambling....we look at the Shepherd...and the sheep.

In these six short verses...there are 17 references to ME/I. There are 12 references to the Lord. So what we have here is a song sung to the plucked psaltry...akd PSALM...about a relationship between...
ME (the sheep)-------->and--------->THE LORD...(our Shepherd)

O.K....O.K....let me get this out of the way. The first picture is a reference to ME being in the Bible. "Your ROD and Your Staff...they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4) I had no idea that I was in the Bible. I am YOUR Rod...I am HIS Staff. NOTE: Be sure to see the tongue faced firmly in my cheek before you write back with a stinging rebuke for being so arrogant) : )

1. The Lord is MY Shepherd: Insert your name where it says my. Make this one personal...because it is personal. It is not just a relationship between sheep and shepherds...or between David and God...but it is an intimate relationship between YOU and GOD.

2. I shall NOT want: If you are in the throes of WANTING...check out your relationship with the Shepherd...or check out you checklist of your wants. "My God shall supply all your NEEDS (not your greeds) according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (and their ain't no shortage in Christ Jesus). (Philippians 4:19) NOTE: As I am writing this...I am listening to and recording the album REAL TO REEL by Noel Paul Stookey (yes...Paul, of Peter, Paul and Mary). The first song is 23rd Psalm. He adapted and arranged this Public Domain Foundation song back in 1977. I have since adapted and arranged it adding in Isaiah 40:31 and Amazing Grace)

3. He makes me to lie down in green pastures (pastures of tender grass). We are now talking about what we "SHALL NOT WANT"...that our shepherd will provide. I don't know about you...but I go and go and go and go and go...until my body finally screams out...REST!
When I lay down...I can almost hear my body release with an audible...aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh. Well our Shepherd...knows that we need REST...and he makes us lie down in a place of tender grass. Sure...grass is good for eating...as we chew...process...digest...regurgitate and begin to chew on the cud...BUT...I see a tender place to rest...not on hard, dirty, muddy soil...but tender grass.

NOTE: The picture of the man jumping for joy with guitar (a 2nd cousin to the Psaltery/Lute twice removed on it's mamma's side)...is Phil Keaggy from his album WHAT A DAY. Wouldn't you leap, jump, cavort, rave on if you realized your needs were met? I would.

4. He leads me beside still waters: Sheep...are...well...they/we...are sheepish. If the waters were RUSHING...it would be hard to take a long, leisurely, drink of cool, clear...water, water, water. NOTE: To be sure...there is a place for rushing, mighty waters in the life of the believer. Rivers of Living (lively) waters will be flowing of us as the inside wells of salvation overflows... speaking of the Holy Spirit. But WATER represents...not only the Holy Spirit but also The Word of God...and we drink deep of the Words of The Shepherd. We become RENEWED by the washing of the water of the Word.

5. He restores my soul: Oh for the restoration of our minds, our will....choices we make and our emotions. The Rolling Stones sang about an Emotional Rescue...but they have no clue about true rescue that we have because of our Shepherd restoring the totality of who we are...our souls. "The Kingdom of God is not meat nor drink...but (1) righteousness (right standing) (2) peace (wholeness/rest (3) joy (emotional overflow)...IN THE HOLY GHOST."
(Romans 14:17)

6. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His names sake: As one of His children... as one of the heirs of salvation...as one of His namesake...we have a promise of being led down a path. Everyone is being led down a path. Those who don't have the sheep's best interest at heart will lead us down paths of destruction. But our Shepherd...who loves us...has our best interests at heart...leads us down a path of right standing...RIGHTousness...NOT WRONGeousness. NOTE: Dogwood (the group not the tree) has a song called REMEMBER WHOSE CHILD YOU ARE. We need to remember that we are His NAMESAKE...and when we take those paths of WRONGeousness (aka unrighteousness)...we smear His name in the mud... and their ain't nothing worse than a muddy sheep over all of that white as snow wool.

7. Yea (yes indeedy)...though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...I will fear no evil: Hey...this path of RIGHTEOUSNESS...that we are being LED on BY THE SHEPHERD... may lead through VALLEYS...where there are SHADOWS of DEATH. The first thing you need to remember...that even though there are shadows in this world...shadows can only mean that there is a LIGHT. We must keep on walking...THROUGH the valley...don't set up camp and dwell there forever. Jesus was led...by the HOLY SPIRIT...into the wilderness (a lonely place) to be tempted by the devil. Jesus in the physical was depleted of ability...but he was repleted with the Word of God, The Spirit of God, and the Authority of God to face the temptation. The two fold aspect of these valleys....is devil temptation (designed to pull us away from who we really are)...and God testing (to strengthen us as we press into Him). Jesus CAME OUT the other side of the wilderness experience...returning being ministered to by angels...and be IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (devil 0 God 1). In the valley of the shadow of death... be sure to come out the other side.

8. I will fear no evil...for You are with me: In the valley of the shadow of death...or for that matter whatever you are going through right now...you will have every opportunity to fear...BUT...He speaks..."Fear not." NOTE: In the Ruminator Sunday School Class...we have been studying Psalm 27...the question is...with the Lord as our LIGHT and SALVATION... "whom shall I fear." The expected answer...is NO ONE! I asked the class...what would Jesus say to you...IF He was here with you today...in your situation, circumstance, sickness, financial difficulty? The answer was..."Fear Not." I had the class close their eyes...and I walked around and touched various people and spoke calmly..."fear not." Then I had the class...with their eyes still closed...touch the person/persons around them...and speak..."fear not" to them...because... it is a fact that Jesus...by the Holy Spirit in us...is still speaking. We are the BODY OF CHRIST... the hands of Christ...the extension of Christ...so there is no need for fear...He is with us.

He is with you. He has a ROD (not me) used to prod us along as we need to keep on moving... and a STAFF with a crook...to pull us back for potential danger...or if we swerve off the path of righteousness. Be glad that I am not the shepherd...I would be beating you with the rod...and yanking out of anger with the staff. Our Shepherd...uses these tools to COMFORT us...in times of shadows of death...because...He has NOT turned-tail and run away from the evil...but is RIGHT THERE WITH US.

9. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: The table represents a place of worship. The table represents a place of eating, food, fellowship. The table represents a place for us to recline and relax. The table is promised IN THE WILDERNESS. When we...as sheep DON'T believe that God can prepare a table in the wilderness...it angers God.

"Yes, they spoke AGAINST God: They said, can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?" (Psalm 78:19-20) The expected answer is a RESOUNDING YES!!!! If He can do it in a wilderness experience....He can do it in a Death Valley experience surrounded by enemies.

10. You ANOINT my head with OIL: Oil was used to keep the flies away. The OIL is symbolic of the Holy Spirit in our lives...as the lord of the flies...beelzebulb tries to distract us. Anointing...is the pouring out...the rubbing into...the smearing on of nard, ointment, oil. It is used of consecration, prayers for the sick, etc. "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with (1) The Holy Spirit (2) power/dunimas/dynamic ability...and how He went about (1) doing good (2) healing ALL who were oppressed by the devil (little d) for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38) Note: Sickness/Disease are considered to be oppression by the devil... NOT blessing from God.

11. My cup runneth over: This is like the Luke 6:38 verse for me..."Give...and it shall be given unto you...(1) good measure (2) pressed down (3) shaken together (4) running over...shall men give unto your bosom. As Ed Ames sang..."my cup runneth over with love." As Dottie Rambo requested in song..."Fill my cup Lord...I lift it up Lord..." His heartbeat is not TRICKLE DOWN blessings. His Shepherds heartbeat at the table prepared before our enemies is OVERFLOW. We are not like the Syrophonecian woman who begged for healing crumbs from the table like a dog. We have access to the whole table...prepared before our enemies.

12. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: I would be remiss if I did not say..."Don't call me Shirley." (Leslie Neilson in Airplane). Also I would be remiss if I did not point out that Shirley, Goodness, and Mercy has got our back in the valley. The bottom line...we leave a trail of goodness and mercy where ever we go.

13. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life...FOREVER: Dwelling is taking up residence in. Brenda and I have been in our current house going on 23 years. We are in the process of getting the house ready for our retirement (where I can lay downs Speech Therapy/Tent Making) and pursue my passion of writing, teaching, guitar/worship...and we can travel on missions. We plan to (unless the Lord changes the plans) to dwell within the household of the Boyd's forever. There is a permanency in the KINGDOM...when the Lord is your SHEPHERD.

Well...there ya go...that enough CUD for ya?

Love and Sheepish Kisses
Rodney "Rod and Staff" Boyd