Psalm 23 is a chapter in the Bible
that is very familiar with Christians all over the world. I myself memorized it at the age of 5. So when I decided to make gratitude a habit
for this month and focus on gratitude from a biblical standpoint, I was a
little perplexed that this was the first place God lead me to study. I didn’t really understand but His Spirit
encouraged me to look at this chapter from the lens of gratitude! I was completely blown away at the affects
gratitude can have on my life from this chapter after doing so. Here is what I found.
Verse 1 - GRATEFUL FOR THE BLESSINGS IN FRONT
OF ME
“The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.”
When I have an attitude of gratitude
I’m not stressed about obtaining the material things I want because I’m focused
on how God, my Shepherd, has provided for all my needs. I notice amazing things going on in my life
when I am grateful instead of noticing the amazing things going on in other
people’s lives that I want but don’t have.
When I focus on my wants I miss the blessing right in front of me. God has already taken care of my needs.
Verse 2 – GRATEFUL THAT I DON’T HAVE TO FIGURE
IT ALL OUT
“He makes me lie down in
green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.”
He leads me to the provisions, to
the open floodgates where my supply is never ending. He wants to meet my needs, desires, and wants
but I must step back and allow Him to do so.
I need to stop getting ahead of God by thinking I know the right direction
to the ample supply He has for me, and start following Him there.
Verse 3,4 – GRATEFUL THAT GOD TAKES CARE OF IT
ALL
“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.”
Living righteously isn’t
boring! Trust me! If you know my life story you know I am
evidence of this. In fact, living for
God is an adventure because God’s power can and will do incredible things in my
life when I let it! He is a big
God.
But I haven’t always lived
righteously. What I’ve noticed since
being right with God again is the incredible peace I have from this restored
relationship. I don’t have to worry
about anything, my needs, my enemies, my failures, my social status or my
reputation. He takes care of it all and
He vindicates me. I don’t have to worry
about my future, death, evil, or sadness even though those things will come my
way. He promises to always come to my
rescue.
He allows those things to come into
my life so I see my need for Him and relinquish the control I’ve given myself
over my life. This world will hurt me
because it is broken. But I don’t have
to allow the brokenness of this world to break me because I can look with
gratitude on every season and circumstance.
By doing this I am able to see how He is working and how I am growing
and learning. With that gratitude will
come a restoration of my soul out of the ashes.
Verse 5 – GRATEFUL FOR HAVING ENEMIES
“You prepare a table
before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my
cup overflows.”
It is easy to show kindness or gratitude
towards those who love me, but what about my enemies? David wrote this Psalm and he had many
enemies. People he thought he was close
to tried to kill him or take away his rightful God anointed position. But God always took care of David. His cup was never dry and he learned many
things from the hardships his enemies caused him. When I am in the midst of my enemies I have a
heightened awareness of my fears, doubts, and what is going on around me, I’m
more self-aware.
When God delivered David’s enemies
over into David’s hands he chose to allow God to vindicate him instead of
vindicating himself. Planted in the
house of the Lord the righteous man will flourish regardless of what is around
him. The enemies of the Lord will
perish.
Verse 6 – GRATEFUL FOR THE PROMISE
“Surely goodness and mercy
will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the
Lord forever.”
Gratitude is the gateway to the
dwelling place of the Lord. It’s the
gateway to being blessed. It’s the
gateway to love, acceptance and many good things in life.
So I end by
asking this question, what are you grateful for today? Today I am grateful for God’s truth and how
He desires to reveal it to a willing heart that’s ready to learn and open to
change.
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