Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [21] The Comforting Rod and Staff

Closer to Home

Last week I heard of a church pastor, the Scottish John J Murray, aged 85, fall ill with Covid-19. The first pastor I have heard falling to this new disease. Sadly he passed away, but his son was able to write these hope-filled words on social media:

"Mum and I were able to spend a few minutes with him before he died and I was able to read the last few verses of Romans 8 which he will now be experiencing in all its fullness with the Saviour he preached about through over 40 years of ministry.”

And just today, we had the first confirmed case of Coronavirus in our own church family. The circle is tightening, and as we near the national Covid-19 peak, we all need the comforting words of Scripture.

The words of the Pslamist today are all comforting, but perhaps not as we might at first expect......

A Puzzle: One or Two? 

Psalm 23:4 has always puzzled me: "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me" because I have never personally seen a shepherd walking around with two sticks, a "rod" and also "staff," but of course eastern shepherds may be different.

But then I read shepherd MacMillan's talks on Psalm 23. He believes the psalmist is talking about the one and same object, used for two different purposes. The "Shepherd's Crook," a long rod with a classic crook at one end, was used sometimes as a rod, and sometimes as a staff. One and the same thing. Not two sticks, but one. One stick, two uses.

But, and here's the point, both uses are comforting, says the psalmist, "your rod and your staff comfort me."

The Comfort of the Rod of Correction

We start with the use least likely to be called comforting. That shepherd's crook can be used to protect the sheep from dangerous animals, yes, but it can also be used to give them a not-so-gentle butt of correction.

The gentle Shepherd of the sheep must, on occasion, discipline his sheep. 

MacMillan says that there were occasions when he put his sheep through circumstances they did not like at all. Three times a year they were dipped in a strong-smelling disinfectant: even the head was pushed under the surface - for their own good. 

In the process of getting them into the tank, a shepherd may appear - to the layman  - to be handling the sheep too roughly. Tourists watching the process would sometimes rebuke the shepherds for their rough handling, but to a skilled shepherd's eyes, it was not rough handling at all: it was exactly what the sheep needed.

Scripture talks about God's discipline like this: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons." (Hebrews 12)

The idea is this: just as good earthly fathers discipline their children for their good, so our Father in heaven, disciplines us for our good. As long as we remember that discipline is for our good, we can surely rejoice. Later, Hebrews 12 goes on to say that discipline "produces a harvest of righteousness"  encouraging God's people to strengthen arms and knees weakened by discipline. The image is of a saint weakened by temporary discipline, but now being encouraged to stand up and strengthen up again.

The end purpose of discipline is to root out sin in a believer and bring about the comfort of soul that always comes with holiness. There is no happiness or blessedness without holiness. If God does not help you put away that stubborn besetting sin, how will know the unfettered joy of the ungrieved Spirit surging through your soul? 

The greatest joys belong to the godliest saints!

Any school teacher or wise parent, will tell you that the most miserable children are those whose parents fail to lovingly discipline; spare the rod and you will indeed spoil the child. Contrawise, the happiest children are those who have learned from loving correction.

So the (loving) rod of correction turns out to be a comfort!

Is a reader "smarting under the rod" because they are failing to grasp this longer term noble purpose? The Good Sheherd uses the rod lovingly, always lovingly.

In one of the most remarkable hymns ever written, William Cowper explains that one day he began praying this:

I asked the Lord that I might grow
in faith and love and ev'ry grace;
might more of his salvation know,
and seek more earnestly his face.

  'Twas he who taught me thus to pray..

But then look at how God anwered his prayer:

and he, I trust, has answered pray'r....
but it has been in such a way
as almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour
at once he’d answer my request,
and by his love’s constraining pow’r
subdue my sins and give me rest.
Instead of this he made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart,
and let the angry pow’rs of hell
assault my soul in ev'ry part.

Why this rod of correction?

 "Lord, why is this?" I, trembling, cried;
"Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?"
"Tis in this way," the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and faith.
 "These inward trials I employ
from self and pride to set thee free,
and break thy schemes of earthly joy
that thou may’st find thy all in me."

The purpose of the rod was to rid Cowper of false gods, which are no gods at all, false idols which are illusions and lies, so that the true and living God would become his one and only rest, his only joy and his only hope.

The Comfort of the Staff of Help

The second use for the one shepherd's crook is to help the sheep in a more direct way. A sheep gets stuck in boggy ground and the shepherd draws it out with his staff.  A little lamb ambles away from the flock and the shepherd gently pulls it back. A sheep seems irritable and uncomfortable and  the shepherd uses his staff to lift the woolly fleece and look for wounds or ailments.

In this way the shepherd's crook is used for comforting ends of a very direct nature.

So it is with the Great Shepherd. Perhaps, because we can feel the rod more than we can discern the staff, we tend not to notice or even remember the Shepherd's staffly care for us.

But every day, the Lord tends us with his staff. I take the staff to be all those innumerable providential circumstances in life which God both orchestrates and uses to bless us and build us up. He provides us with brothers and sisters in Christ, along with kindly acts from them, whether a text, an email, a card, a phone call. He provides us with employment. He places us in situations or connects us one day with someone who turns out to be pivotal in our lives. He protects us from harm both seen and unseen. The staff of comfort.

And don't forget that we are daily being served by angels! The staff of comfort.
 

I remember as a teenager how God brought into our home one weekend a man who was due to speak at a missionary meeting. That godly Christian man - I do not remember his name or even his face - took a real interest in this scraggy teenager. Somehow he sensed that God's calling was upon me. He asked many questions and encouraged me along. Decades later I was able to look back on that one visit as the start of my calling into full-time Christian ministry.

Our loving Shepherd's unseen staff is working gently behind the scenes urging us on day by day. 

Whatever purpose the Chief Shepherd uses his shepherd's crook, as a rod of chastisement or as a staff of help, remember, it is always for our good and always for our comfort.

A SONG FOR THE DAY

I have chosen as our song for the day, that most remarkable hymn mentioned above. It is rarely sung these days, perhaps because the truths are uncomfortable, but some good folks have found a tune which helps us to sing along with it.

 
I asked the Lord that I might grow
in faith and love and ev'ry grace;
might more of his salvation know,
and seek more earnestly his face.

’Twas he who taught me thus to pray,
and he, I trust, has answered pray'r,
but it has been in such a way
as almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favoured hour
at once he’d answer my request,
and by his love’s constraining pow’r
subdue my sins and give me rest.

Instead of this he made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart,
and let the angry pow’rs of hell
assault my soul in ev'ry part.

Yea more, with his own hand he seemed
intent to aggravate my woe,
crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
humbled my heart, and laid me low.

"Lord, why is this?" I, trembling, cried;
"Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?"
"Tis in this way," the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and faith.

"These inward trials I employ
from self and pride to set thee free,
and break thy schemes of earthly joy
that thou may’st find thy all in me."

William Cowper


You can hear it to a singable tune HERE

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

 

Our loving and gracious Father in heaven,

We thank you for the many ways your staff of comfort leads, guides, protects and provides for us. We thankyou that we are protected from harm both seen and unseen.

We pray today for our troubled world, and especially for our own country. We lift up all those who are working and serving at the sharp end, caring for those caught up in this new disease.

We pray that you will help us to remember that your rod and your staff are both designed to bring comfort to our souls.

Teach us to humble ourselves under your mighty hand so that you may lift us up in due time,

We ask these things in our Risen Saviour's Name

Amen

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [20] I Will Not Fear Death

 The Great Plague of London, 1665

Reading through Daniel Defoe's journal of the bubonic plague in London, where he was living, we can't help noticing both similarities and differences with Covid-19.

Mortality rates for Europe were very high: close to one third of the population died, that's a very big difference, thank God.

Another difference was the complete ignorance of how the plague was spread (rat fleas spread the bacterium Y. pestis). Without transmission know-how they were unable to slow it down. People fled London in their panicked droves blocking the streets with horses and carts. How thankful we should be of God's good gift of science.

Another difference was the relatively slow speed it spread across London. Defoe could chronicle, day by day and week by week, the slow advance of the plague towards his part of London by the number of deaths recorded in each area. By contrast, with global travel and global commerce, Coronavirus has spread across the globe in a very short period of time. Was it not just last December that we heard of this modern plague?

But perhaps the most significant difference between then and now is how Daniel Defoe instinctively turned to the Bible for counsel. His brother had sent his own family ahead of him into the countryside and urged Daniel to flee himself with the three words, "Master save thyself!"

But various attempts by Daniel to leave London failed (a servant deserted him on one occasion, another time there were simply no horses left in London to be bought or hired), and so he became convinced that "Providence," as he puts it, wanted him to stay. Although he was a single man at this time, he had a business making saddles so he was responsible for other people and familes. He searched the Scriptures and lighted upon Psalm 91, which is about pestilence, especially verse 7, he says, which reads;

A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.

From Psalm 91 he decided to stay in London and stick out the plague. "I scarce need tell the reader that from that moment I resolved that I would stay in the town casting myself entirely upon the goodness and protection of the Almighty; I would not seek any other shelter whatever."

Now I do not know if  Defoe was a true believer or not. One of the problems in a culture that called itself  "Christian" was that everyone thought they were Christians, and people who were not truly converted  might just automatically turn to the Bible for comfort. The Lord alone knows the heart.

That being said, it is refreshing to read of someone turning to the Scriptures for counsel in a time of desperate need.

When it comes to death and dying, we who truly believe, ought to turn to the Scriptures for help and comfort.

And today, in Psalm 23, verse 4, we do that, for we read:  "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me......"

We don't talk about Death anymore

Into this most beautiful pastoral and peaceful psalm David abruptly introduces the "D" word. Perhaps we wish he hadn't. In our western culture - at least until very recent Covid-19 times - we have avoided the word.

Because we do not have someone in our immediate circle dying every week or so, since we are the beneficiaries of wonderful medicine and nutritious food, death is a rare phenomenon for most of us.

In other lands, frequent bereavement is the norm, so thoughts of mortality press into the mind regularly. But perhaps by the end of the next few weeks, everyone reading this blog will be touched, whether family, friend or village, by death.

I am so glad the David does not gloss over death, for all of us will one day die, and life beyond the grave is the Christian's greatest future hope and deepest longing.

Notice three things..... 

Death is a Valley

First, David calls death a valley. Mountains hide the sun from valleys. The sun is out, but only refracted and reflected light reaches the valley. And that reminds us that the process of dying is a sad time. One only has to read the description of old age leading to the severed silver chord and the broken golden bowl in Ecclesiastes 12 to confirm this sober fact. The Lord Jesus Christ wept over the death of his good friend Lazarus and Paul called death the last enemy.

I don't personally look forward to growing old.

Death is bad news because death, against the thinking of the world, is not natural. Death is an imposter in God's good world. Adam and Eve, had they not eaten from the one tree would have eaten from the other tree - and lived forever. We were meant to live forever and forever, but the moment sin came into the world, so did death, for the wages of sin is death.

Death is a valley: none of us should be surprised about the sadness of death. It would be strange for it to be otherwise. Death, and all of its friends are sorrowful.

The idea that death invokes sadness is also hinted at by the notion that we must walk through this valley. We do not pass through in a brief moment, unless we die all of a sudden, but even then others will walk through the valley in their grief over us. The valley takes time to traverse.

There is the descent into illness, then the passing itself, and then the grieving of those around us. It could be a very long walk. 

David is preparing himself for death. It is a wise man or woman, who understands these things and prepares both heart and mind. 

One of the most joyful and godly women I have known wrote down a whole sheet full of instuctions about her death and funeral, long before she departed. That was not eccentricity, it was solid wisdom, for she knew her time would come  - and her thoughtful actions also spared her loved ones anxious uncertainty in a season of grief.

Are you ready for death?

I will Fear no Evil

But gloom be gone! David says, in the second place, that when he walks through that valley, he will fear no evil. He is confident, before the event, that he will not be frightened.


Christians do not fear death - this has been one of the defining characteristics of Christians in all ages. Wesley declared of the Methodists "our people die well." The Christian preacher F B Meyer wrote confidently, “I have just heard to my surprise that I have only a few more days to live. It may be that before this reaches you I shall have entered the palace. Don’t trouble to write; we shall meet in the morning!”

We sometimes hear believers say that they fear the process of dying, by which they mean the decline, the pain, the uncertainty, but not death itself. Is not David challenging that fear as well?

Is David not saying that he does not fear the whole valley, from start to end?

If today we are fearful, though many miles from the valley, we need to remember that God does not give us tomorrow's grace today. He will give us the grace to walk through the valley when the time comes. When we step into the valley, then he will give us grace. 

David is utterly confident that when he begins the walk he will fear no evil.
Now why?

Because the Good Shepherd is With Me

David will not fear the valley of the shadow of death - when he has to walk it - because he is confident that the Good Shepherd will be with him.

He has walked with the Good Shepherd many years already and experienced his faithful leading, provision and love, he's confident that that same loving care will also accompany him in the valley. Why not?

Many folk across the world today are dying in isolation, without the normal companionship of family or friends. Covid-19 is turning death into a lonely experience.

But Christians never die alone! They need to be assured that though husband, wife, children, parents and Christian friends may be barred from their final hours, the gentle Spirit of the Lord Jesus will be with them, making his presence real.

A SONG FOR THE DAY
Our song today is the recent, by hymn standards, (1996) and beautiful rendition of Psalm 23 by Stuart Townend.


The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want;
He makes me lie in pastures green.
He leads me by the still, still waters,
His goodness restores my soul.

And I will trust in You alone,
And I will trust in You alone,
For Your endless mercy follows me,
Your goodness will lead me home.

He guides my ways in righteousness,
And He anoints my head with oil,
And my cup, it overflows with joy,
I feast on His pure delights.

And though I walk the darkest path,
I will not fear the evil one,
For You are with me, and Your rod and staff
Are the comfort I need to know.

 Hear it HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Dear loving Father in heaven,

We thank you that believers can talk openly about death - and most of all because it is but the doorway to eternal life with God.

We thank you that because Jesus rose triumphantly from the dead, we will rise too.

We thank you that death, our last enemy, has been gloriously defeated by our Saviour's resurrection.

Help us to prepare for death. Help us to be strengthened by the truth that our Good Shepherd will be with us in that valley, for he is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We pray these things in the exalted name of Jesus!

Amen

Daily Devotions for Difficult Times [18] Paths of Righteousness

 

The Other Side to Sheep

Don't do this at home.

Many moons ago (I want to separate, you see, the foolish actions that follow, from the wiser me of today; this happened many moons ago), I stopped our car in a mountain pass with fields of sheep on either side of the road. We got out of the car to stretch our limbs and then I did something real dumb: I called out to the sheep!

To my surprise - and fright - they came down off the mountainside in their droves, or should that be flocks, and surrounded the car!

I can only surmise that my voice sounded much like the voice of their true shepherd.

As I say, don't do this "at home!"

Sheep are followers; they listen to a shepherd's voice and follow him.

Having said in our last blog that sheep are prone to wander, we now point to another characteristic of sheep - they are also capable of following a shepherd. "My sheep hear my voice; I know them and they follow me" says Jesus  (John 10:27).

Psalm 23 verse 4 reads, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

Paths of Righteousness

Whenever sheep are seen walking in a straight line, says shepherd MacMillan, you can be sure that they are following a shepherd. It's the only time they walk in a straight line. On their own, they are all over the place, but with a shepherd up front, they'll walk in a straight line.

That's the meaning of "paths of righteousness." The Lord Jesus walks in front of us, and we the sheep, follow behind in straight paths,  just paths, holy paths, righteous paths.

Satan tries to lead us astray into crooked paths, impure paths, wicked paths. But the Lord Jesus only and ever leads us in the paths of righteousness.

The path of righteousness is living in love, holiness and godliness, in every department of our lives: money, leisure, work, relationships, family, state, neighbourhood, church and so forth.

Discipleship

But how exactly does Jesus lead us into paths of righteousness?

Someone says "Well, through his Word and Spirit, as we read it, hear it and meditate on it." And who could quibble with that. Of course, yes, of course.

But is that all?

Is there no "human example" aspect to it? After all, a husband might read "husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church" but if he is privileged to actually observe a husband demonstrating practical self-sacrificing love for his wife, will that not help him to know how to work out that exhortation in real life?

It will, for sure.

I believe it is a great mistake to imagine that Christian learning is done merely from Bible Studies. I am aware that some may possibly misunderstand me, but the Western church at least, has been so shaped by the bookish Academy that we think that a Christian can learn the paths of righteousness from words alone.

We have forgotten that God came down in human form and lived by example a godly life before the Twelve, and they listened not only to his teaching, but they also watched his holy life.

The Twelve were "led in paths of righteousness" by Word and Life.

Now that Jesus is in heaven, how can that happen? We can't watch Jesus live a godly life, and his holy Apostles have all gone home.

Well, one of the last things Jesus said to the Twelve was "Go and make disciples of all nations." What he meant was this: "You go and do for the world what I have just done for you. Just as I taught and lived before you, so you both teach and set an life example to the world."

And this is what the Twelve did. They gathered little groups of people (called churches) and taught by both lip and life.

Look at what Paul says:

"I urge you to imitate me." (1 Corinthians 4:16)

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice." (Philippians 4:9)

We can't learn to follow Jesus merely by reading the Bible on our own, or "going to church" on Sundays. We become followers of Jesus by copying the living examples of those who have been on the road longer - or deeper - than we.

Putting it all together

Many vital implications flow out of this teaching: that we learn to follow the Good Shepherd as we follow his older sheep (by older I do not mean age, I mean spiritual maturity).

First of all, undershepherds (elders) must invite people into their homes and lives to teach them the straight paths of the Shepherd. By watching how elders serve in their homes, how they use their time, how they care for their families, the flock are being taught - by example. There is no such thing, in the New Testament as distance learning!

Second, you and I grow best by committing ourselves wholeheartedly to a flock, a church, where we can see first hand, and follow the example of other more mature believers.

Thirdly, older believers ought to take seriously the task of leading younger lambs onwards and upwards. What a deep challenge to spur on older Christians to Christlikeness!

Older Christian: if a young Christian lived in your home for a year, what savour of Christ would they pick up? There can be no greater challenge for older believers than this: young sheep are watching you. No, they are imitating you. And you cannot take anyone further than  you have travelled yourself.

Fourthly, make sure that the saints you follow are saints you know. In the internet age any Trickster Tom, Dodgy Dick or Heretical Harry can set themselves up as a teacher. You have no idea what kind of life they lead off screen.

True pastors fear this aspect of the internet age. Members of our congregations can end up following people who sound plausible in two dimensions, but whose offscreen lives are unknown. Let's make sure that the people we follow are known to us in the flesh: that's how Jesus led the Twelve, and how Paul made Christ-like Christians.

Fifthly, wow do we have to be careful with young lambs! They are watching every move and every word. It's called imprinting: a newly hatched chick imitates whatever it first sees. There is a spiritual imprinting also. A baby Christian is hyper-influenced by the first Christians they come across. We must make sure that we set the highest standards of Christ-like speech and actions in their presence.  Not in a hypocritical way, of course, but in a genuine and natural way.

A kind of "preachy" blog today, I realise! Forgive me!

But if we want to unfold how our Good Shepherd leads us today in the paths of righteousness, discipleship is essential teaching.

In sum, Let's follow, in word and deed, godly examples in our churches.

In sum, Let's become godly followers of Jesus ourselves so that - not when, but as - we take young lambs under our care, we ensure that by Life, Word and Spirit, they become fully dedicated followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For His Name's Sake

And why does the Lord us in the paths of righteousness? "For his name's sake." The Glorious Name of the Shepherd is connected to the lives of his sheep! He wants us to live in paths of righteousness   so that we will reflect well on his Spotless Name. Just as children are an echo of their parents, so followers of Jesus are an echo of the Saviour.

A SONG FOR THE DAY
My song for the day is a prayer that the beauty and fragrance of Jesus will fill our churches and lives, so that  lambs in the flock will become like Jesus, and the Name of the Chief Shepherd will be honoured and exalted.  

May the fragrance of Jesus fill this place. (Men)
May the fragrance of Jesus fill this place. (Women)
May the fragrance of Jesus fill this place. (Men)
Lovely fragrance of Jesus, (Women)
Rising from the sacrifice (All)
Of lives laid down in adoration.

May the glory of Jesus fill His church. (Men)
May the glory of Jesus fill His church. (Women)
May the glory of Jesus fill His church. (Men)
Radiant glory of Jesus, (Women)
Shining from our faces (All)
As we gaze in adoration.

May the beauty of Jesus fill my life. (Men)
May the beauty of Jesus fill my life. (Women)
May the beauty of Jesus fill my life. (Men)
Perfect beauty of Jesus, (Women)
Fill my thoughts, my words, my deeds, (All)
My all I give in adoration.

Graham Kendrick

You can hear it  HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Gracious heavenly Father,

We pray for those who mourn the loss of loved ones, many elderly, but not all, in this season of global pestilence.  

Have mercy on us, we pray.

Thank you for the promise that your Beloved Son, our Good Shepherd, will lead us in the paths of righteousness.

How we thank you for the church. We miss the physical presence of our brothers and sisters. We see so much of your beauty in them and pray that we may all grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,

In whose Exalted Name we pray these things,

Amen

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [17] He Restores my Soul

 

The Repair Shop

Call me old fashioned if you wish,  but I love the current BBC series called "The Repair Shop." I don't have time to watch every episode but if I need an hour's chill, I sometimes go there.

For the uninitiated, people bring in an old beat-up item - it may be an old chair, doll, suitcase, toy, clock - you name it - and a team of experts lovingly bring it back to life.

The restored object is put under a cloth and when the owner returns it is revealed in all its glory, often amidst gasps of delight and sometimes reminiscing tears of joy. It's a great hour's unwind!

If we were to ask, "How come the object got into that shoddy state in the first place?" all sorts of reasons would come forth.

Neglect would be one - no-one cared for it. Accident would be another - the object suffered an unfortunate mishandling. Purposeful malice might even be another - someone trashed the item, perhaps in a domestic dispute (though no-one has yet admitted to this one!)

Whatever the cause, the object is damaged and only expertly help can bring the thread-bare object back to its former glory.

Shabby Souls

Like material objects, so the soul. It is quite possible for our souls to become dilapidated, bedraggled, tired and shabby.

Oh, for a whole host of reasons.

Deep and long trials can wear down the soul. Battles with stubborn staining sins can weary the spirit. Bereavement and loss - of  a thousand and one kinds - can weather away the shine, not to mention the joy, of the Lord.

The inspired king David knew by personal experience many of these malaises of the soul (just read his other psalms!) and so he includes in his shepherdly Psalm, both mention of this plight, and the divine cure.

We're up to the first part of verse 3, the line which reads, simply, "He restores my soul."

Wandering Sheep

When a shepherd reads all this "restoring of the soul" he is convinced that the psalmist is talking about bringing back wandering sheep.

Shepherds tell us that sheep by their very nature go astray; one shepherd says that there is no animal on the planet more prone to wander than a sheep. A Bible writer confesses, "all we like sheep have gone astray."

There is what we may call primary straying - something all mankind has done. Walking out on God, away from our Creator. From Adam onwards this is the universal plight of mankind. Having eaten the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve hid from God, and were cast out of the Garden. And thus, outside of the Garden and East of Eden, every single person, except for One, has been born.

It's a tragic plight and the one for which the Son of God came into the world: namely to seek and to save the wandering lost.

But that's not the astraying of Psalm 23:3.

No, the straying of this psalm is the straying of sheep who have already been called by the loving Shepherd, brought into the safety of his flock, but then, foolishly, wandered off again (and perhaps again). And so they need restoration.

Shepherd MacMillan says that some sheep are especially prone to wander, and these he always had to keep his eye on. He also says that chasing after wandering sheep absorbed a full half of his time (undersheperds should note that stat well!)

Some sheep, says MacMillan, go astray because they have found a nice comfortable grassy hollow into which they lie to rest. Before long, blood supply to their legs is cut off and they actually can't stand up by themselves! Macmillan got to know these rascals and used to chase them out of their comfortable chamber before everlasting sleep overcame them.

Isn't comfort a cause of straying with us too? Too much comfort in this world is not a good thing, and is alien to so many Biblical faith analogies - the soldier, the runner, the boxer. More time on our hands should be translated into more service to Christ, not more "fun"; more money in our pockets should turn into more kingdom giving, and so on. If we want to follow Christ down the true narrow way, we must shun comfort in this life and "deny ourselves."

With other sheep, the problem is not ease but weight. Some sheep already far from the flock could not find their way home, because their wool had become long, and now filled with innumerable twigs and bits of this and bits of that. All these weighty encumbrances slowed the sheep to a standstill - and the sheep simply couldn't make its way back home. The shepherd's answer was to shear the sheep on the spot - shearing season or not!

It is possible for a true believer to become so weighed down with "stuff", the cares of the world, hobbies, sports, pleasures - not necessarily bad stuff -  that their spiritual legs give way under the load and they cannot return home to the flock of God or the Good Shepherd.

You get the picture.

For one reason or another - and the reasons are manifiold - a sheep can wander away from the Good Shepherd, and  away from the safety of the flock.

 The Cure for Wandering Sheep

The psalmist says "He restores my soul," meaning the Good Shepherd restores my soul. In each case above the foolish sheep was unable to return home on his or her own. The shepherd was needed, the shepherd had to do the restoring.

So how does the Great Shepherd of the sheep "restore our souls?"

Well, for one, he appoints undershepherds - pastors and elders - whose task it is to leave the ninety and nine and chase after the lost sheep. A wise sheep will listen very carefully to the voice of the Great Shepherd, behind the voice of an undershepherd.

Another way the Chief Shepherd brings the sheep back is - oddly - he lets them go. Like the prodigal father of Luke 15, who no doubt with tears, hears his younger son's headstrong demand to leave home, so the Good Shepherd may let a wayward and stubborn sheep just go.

He knows that one day pain and sorrow, hardship and shame will come upon them, and after they have fed the pigs, they'll come to their senses, and tail between their legs return home.

A third way the Shepherd of our souls brings us home is through his Word.

To a wandering Israel, God spoke through his aching prophet Hosea:

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.
You sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to him, "forgive all our sins and receive us graciously..."

Notice that God even gives the wanderer the very words to say! "Take Words!"

"Here's a prayer I made earlier", says God, "you don't even need to make one up yourself. Just pray this one."

If you are a wanderer, read Hosea 14, it's truly beautiful! The most wayward sheep must be melted by the gentle appeal. And at the end it encourages the wanderer with the promise of renewed fruitfulness, after barren wandering.

If you're not a wanderer, know this, you don't need to wander. Backsliding isn't a necessary Christian experience. If we walk closely with the Lord and his people, and pray like the hymn below prays, we need not wander. 

A SONG FOR THE DAY
I'm a new Shane and Shane fan you will have discovered, and here is a wonderful old hymn which stirs the soul, but with a beautiful new twist to the ending.

The hymn - as so many are - is a prayer.

A prayer that God will keep us from wandering and bind our hearts to him.

Pray it as you sing it, or if you prefer, sing it as you pray it.

Come thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise mine Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I'm come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed his precious blood

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts....

..above all else
I adore Your name
Above all else tune my heart
To sing Your praise

Above all else
I adore Your name
Above all else tune my heart
To sing Your praise

Above all else
I adore Your name
Above all else tune my heart
To sing Your praise

The highest praise
The loudest praise

To the name above every name

Prone to wander Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts above

Orginal hymn by Robert Robinson & Martin Madam

 
Hear it HERE

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Our gracious Father in heaven, 

We pray today for those who suffer the tragic bereavements of our present plague. And especially those within the household of God. 

May they grieve with hope, inspired by the promise that just as Jesus rose from the dead so will those who trust in him also rise from the dead.

We confess that we recognise this line of the psalm all too well. 

We know all too well that sin easily entangles. We realize that many things can slow us down and divert us from the narrow path and into bye-path meadow.

Keep us close to your heart.

Bind our wandering hearts to you.  

We ask these things in the Name of the Risen Lord of lords

Amen

Daily Devotions for Difficult Times [16] Quiet Waters

QUIET WATERS

Isn't it strange what memory logs.

For example, this story from a past teacher of mine, now 40 years into the past.

He went on a trip to a dry and barren part of Africa where water was a most precious commodity. When he got back, he told my class, he realised how wasteful we in the West are of this life-giving resource; how much water we squander compared to how little Africans had to make do with. After his return, he found himself chiding his children every time he found them wasting this treasure.

His visit to a hot and arid land made him view the precious asset of water in a completely new way.

When you and I, brought up in water-abounding nations, come to this little line of Psalm 23...

"He leads me beside quiet waters"

....we too can pass it by without really taking in what David means. But in the arid environment of Palestine, they knew: water is life. Without water to drink, people and sheep die. Stark as that.

What are the first two rules in The Survival Rule of Threes? Humans can survive three weeks without food but only three days without water (the other two rules: three hours without shelter and three minutes without air).

Remember, from our last blog, that shepherd MacMillan found a knotted ball of dry grass in the stomach of a sheep who had food, but no water?

If the Word of God is the "green pasture" of Psalm 23, what are the "still waters"?

The Holy Spirit

Throughout the Scriptures, water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit:

"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.(1 Corinthians 12:13)

"For I will pour out water on the thirsty land. And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring. And My blessing on your descendants" (Isiah 44:3)

In a previous blog I quoted the most famous verse of all:

 "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:37-39)

A sheep needs not only green grass, a sheep needs water. Water to help them digest the grass, and water to hydrate the whole body.

In the same way, we need God's Word and His Holy Spirit. We must hear God's Word, read God's Word, and meditate on God's Word; but we must also have God's Holy Spirit to make the words come alive to our minds, cause them to sink deep into our hearts, and move our wills to respond to them in worship and obedience.

The Holy Spirit, fully God, fully divine, is the blessed Third Person of the Godhead. Along with The Father and The Son, the Three Persons make up the One and only Living God. Someone helpfully described the Trinity like so:

There is one God. 

But there are Three who are God. 

But there are not three Gods, 

for the Three are One.

The Church began on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon the new covenant people. Without the Holy Spirit there would be no church. No Spirit, no Church. 

The Spirit of God gives us a new heart, convicts us of sin, creates within us the experience and reality of being adopted into God's family, works in our hearts to make us holy, gives us gifts to serve each other with, and produces the likeness of Jesus in our characters.

To say the Holy Spirit is vital to our walk with God, is to put it very very mildly indeed.

Why still waters?

Why then are these waters called still waters? 

Well sheep will not drink, I am told, from fast moving streams. It's once again, the skittish nature of the creatures.

And the same with us. The loud rippling voice of the Law does not often move us. In fact we want to do the opposite of what we are commanded to do!  It is rather the gentle working of the Holy Spirit, who is also called the Comforter (the actual word in Greek means one who comes alongside of) that  empowers, carries and encourages us along.

If you have a weakness that you know about, what's the best way a friend can help you?  How about  pointing it out every day? Will that work? Probably not! It will just annoy you, because your conscience will be stirred up to despair again and again. 

No, the best way to help a struggling friend is to come alongside them and gently, over time, help them along, creatively, tenderly, wisely.

The still waters describes the "Come alongside" nature of the Holy Spirit.

Someone once called the Holy Spirit The Gentleman of the Godhead. Now don't misunderstand that description, for the Spirit is no kind friend of unrepentant sin. But the Spirit of God is the Person of the Godhead who can so easily be neglected and forgotten. 

Between Word and Spirit, Spirit can be pushed into the shade while Word gets the limelight. This easy neglect is true even though the Spirit inspired the Word, and even though the Word is servant to the Spirit, namely the sword of the Spirit.

But we must not, we dare not, neglect the still-waters Spirit.

God works in our hearts over the years by his Word and by his Spirit, nourishing our souls and transforming our characters.

Summing it all Up

What ought we to take from "he leads me beside still waters?"

For one, we ought to thank God for his precious gift of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving Water of our souls.

For another, we ought to pray before we read the Bible or hear a sermon preached, that the Holy Spirit would make the green grass of the Word edifying to our needy souls.

Thirdly, we ought to pray for our preachers and teachers, that they might know the Holy Spirit working in their hearts as they prepare each week and preach each week.

And finally, we ought to be diligent so as not to grieve the Spirit of God who dwells within us - there is a whole new glorious mystery in iteself! We ought to walk upright and godly lives day by day, repenting of our sin - with deadly seriousness - using the spiritual gifts God has given us, allowing our stubborn characters to be renewed into the likeness of Jesus.

Then the "still waters" of the Spirit of God can move unhindred in our souls.

But do you have the Spirit of God living within you?

You will know.

It's possible to be all churched up and even doctrinally  "as sound as a pound" but have no living experience of God by his Spirit. Jesus speaking to hordes of the Most Religious People in the World, invited them like so:

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'

Accept his invitation to drink today, believe in Jesus Christ and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

A SONG FOR THE DAY

I love this new hymn about God's Spirit because its words are both shaped by truth and soaked in truthful experience. It is a prayer.

Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Let the presence of the risen Lord,
Come renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see,
Give me passion for Your purity;

Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.
Holy Spirit, come abide within,
May Your joy be seen in all I do.
Love enough to cover every sin,
In each thought and deed and attitude.
Kindness to the greatest and the least,
Gentleness that sows the path of peace.
Turn my strivings into works of grace;
Breath of God show Christ in all I do.

Holy Spirit, from creation’s birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth,
Cause Your church to hunger for your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise;
Lead us on the road of sacrifice,
That in unity the face of Christ
May be clear for all the world to see.

Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

You can hear it HERE


A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Merciful Father in heaven, 

We thank you for all the blessings that still crown these strange days.

We thank you that you sent the Holy Spirit into the world, and we thank your Son that he too sent the Spirit into the world. 

We thank you that he who first inspired the Word is pleased to use that Word, his Sword, to accomplish great things in our hearts, lives and the world.

Forgive us for too often neglecting your Spirit, for not walking in step with Him, for not allowing him to lead us.

Teach us before we come to the Word, to ask the Author, the Spirit of the Living God to open our blind eyes, unstop our deaf ears, and soften our hard hearts, so that we might become not only hearers of the Word but doers of it also.

Thank you for Green Pastures and thank you for Still Waters

In the Mighty Name of Jesus

Amen

Daily Devotions for Difficult Times [15] Green Pastures

"He makes me lie down in Green Pastures"

Psalm 23:2

Widening our Vision

One of my habits of reading is to expand my understanding of human life. Each of us has been shaped by a narrow sliver of human experience. Generally, we are born in one city, into one class of society, have lived mainly in one country or culture, undertaken one career, and so on. Few people span, by upbringing, employment or experience, even two cultures or social classes, let alone the vast spectrum of human practice found across the globe.

Each of us, to put it another way, lives in one small ghetto.

Reading the lives of people different from us - or better still, spending time with them - helps to bridge the gap.

I say all of this, because without outside help, I don't really understand this verse. When I see sheep on an English mountainside I see them eating green grass and that seems to be the important thing - food - not lying down on the grass.

I would have expected David to say "He leads me to green pastures for food." And indeed he does mean food here, but he means more.

The Need for Rest

This is where a shepherd's wider experience comes in. Instead of me trying to understand what all this lying on the grass means, I shall ask a shepherd.

Right away shepherd MacMillan tells me that while sheep need rest it's hard to get them to lie down. That's why Psalm 23 talks about God making us lie down.

So there are two truths in today's line, the need for good nourishing food, but first, the need for rest.

Apparently, and I am relying on Douglas MacMillan's shepherdly expertise here, there are at least four reasons a sheep won't lie down, won't rest.

Fear is the first. If there is anything unusual around the flock - a new person, a strange animal, a car, whatever - they will not rest. How often Jesus said to his disciples "fear not" when they had to face  unfamiliar cicumstances.  He says "fear not" to us too. By his Spirit, the Lord Jesus is with us, so let us fear not.

"Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you, 
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
 (Isaiah 41:10)

Agro from other sheep is a second reason sheep won't sleep. There are bully-boy sheep who are constantly stirring up their fellow sheep, butting this one here, chasing that one there. To solve this problem, the Good Shepherd has commanded Christian sheep in a flock to cold-shoulder divisive sheep  (Romans 16:17) and he has commanded his undershepherds to rebuke them (Titus  3:10). Once the bully-sheep are dealt with, the flock can, once more, "lie down in green patures."

Flies and insects are the third reason a sheep can't rest. Buzzing around the head, a sheep can be driven  to utter distraction by these little critters. We too can be disturbed by little things, little issues, which whizz around our minds. The Shepherd's divine repellent for fly-like anxieties is to bring them to God in prayer, making sure those prayers are sprinkled with thanksgiving.

Hungry sheep can't rest, that's the fourth reason. Which brings us to the food of green pastures.

But not so quickly. God wants his sheep to rest. He created the Seventh Day for that purpose. That day of rest, in turn, points to the spiritual rest God gives us when we turn to him in faith and repentance. We are not saved by our works, but by trusting - resting - in Jesus' finished work.

And then as we journey along the path, God wants us to rest in him every day. Not to be fearful, stirred-up, troubled or hungry sheep, but to lie down in green pastures.

Perhaps one of my readers doesn't yet experience the rest of salvation. Jesus calls you to himself today!

 "Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

(Matthew 11:28-30)

Green Pastures for the Soul

Green Pastures speak of spiritual food, food for the soul. And that spiritual food is the Word of God. "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4). Put simply our souls are nourished by the Word: the Word read, by the Word preached and by the Word sung.

Just the other day I was listening to a sermon by Timothy Keller on Psalm 88 preached at Holy Trinity Brompton Church  in 2018 (see it on YouTube).  It fed my soul.

Saturday is my day off. But you know something, if I do not read my Bible in the morning, by noon I feel empty and weary and spiritually dry, not to mention more irritable than normal!

We need to feed on God's Word.

One day a sheep jumped down onto a ledge where lush green grass was growing. Unfortunately the sheep couldn't get back up.  Once the grass had been eaten, the sheep died. The shepherd discovered a dry knotted ball of grass in the sheep's stomach. The sheep didn't have any water, so it could not properly digest the good green grass.

Tomorrow we discover that as well as green pastures, sheep need still waters......

A SONG FOR THE DAY
Our song for the day is about the promises of Scripture on which we can stand - which means on which we can rely - in every different cirumstance of life.

From the breaking of the dawn to the setting of the sun,
I will stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Words of power, strong to save, that will never pass away,
I will stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
For Your covenant is sure,
And on this I am secure—
I can stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.

When I stumble and I sin, condemnation pressing in,

I will stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
You are faithful to forgive that in freedom I might live,
So I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Guilt to innocence restored,
You remember sins no more—
So I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.

When I'm faced with anguished choice, I will listen for Your voice,

And I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Through this dark and troubled land
You will guide me with Your hand
As I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
And You've promised to complete
Ev'ry work begun in me—
So I'll stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.

Hope that lifts me from despair, love that casts out ev'ry fear,
As I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Not forsaken, not alone, for the Comforter has come,
And I stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.
Grace sufficient, grace for me,
Grace for all who will believe—
We will stand on ev'ry promise of Your Word.

Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

You can hear it HERE.

A PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Our loving Father in heaven,

We thank you for the supreme blessing of spiritual rest. We thank you that we do not need to do good works in order to be saved. We thank you that through the perfect life and the atoning death of the Good Shepherd, the work of salvation is completed. 

Help us to remember, again and again, his words on the cross "It is finished."

We thank you for your holy Word. Help us to crave the pure spiritual milk of the Word so that by it we may grow up in our slavation, now that we have tasted that the Lord is good.

Make us to lie down in your green pastures, for we ask these things in Jesus' Name.

Amen.