He makes me lie down ......

He leads me beside.....

He restores my soul



He MAKES me-- I in my ignorant sheep brain prefer something other than green pastures...what do i want?? Maybe the dessert cuz all the cool sheep (that don't have shepherds) hang out there, o, the mountains would be fun, jumping around all those high places.... I don't realize my shepherds wisdom and i don't see the dangers...i just see it in my foolish sheep sense that those things look cool and those sheep are having fun, right?? When i put it like that (sheep foolishness) you all see the dangers, right.... falling off the mountain?? No water in the dessert.....

He leads me-- He knows where to lead me....i don't know where i am going, but he leads me...i need to trust that....when i get scared of where i am going, discontent with where i am, etc, etc....

HE restores my soul... have you ever felt that?? When he restores your soul??? If you have than you know how precious that is. I guess to a sheep it would be petting, talking softly to the sheep, or just being near.... translate that to a human.... God's hand in your life (working, changing, setting up the details, organizing life and answering prayers), God's voice (his word, his comfort through friends) His nearness (you feel his presence, and his love)

Are you thinking about God today, or is your mind talking to you???

have any of you tried to meditate yet and what have you seen or learned?? --not just from Psalm 23, but from your regular devotions/Bible reading??

o, and Lindsey, where's our translation/explanation of the bowls?? :) smiles

Are you thinking about God today, or is your mind talking to you???

have any of you tried to meditate yet and what have you seen or learned?? --not just from Psalm 23, but from your regular devotions/Bible reading??

o, and Lindsey, where's our translation/explanation of the bowls?? :) smiles

You all have n e new thots on Psalm 23??????? ....Have you been working on it?? How come I am doing all the work???????????? :)

Here's what I was thinking.....Even tho this 'sheep' --David is talking about himself and his life....He is really praising and exalting God through this whole passage. He talks of what God does for him and how faithful GOD is. How God even takes care of him during hard times, what God does for him when he is near his enemies, How God will take care of him through all eternity, etc, etc

Here's a question...what in the world is he talking about when he says, "you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" ???

Why is there a table and why are his enemies there??

Why is it good for God to prepare him this table??

What are you thinking of when someone has prepared a table for you?

What would it mean to you if your enemies were there??

OK>>>I am going back to Psalm 23....Since that is our assignment this week...I can help you out a little bit :)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want......


Here's something to think about... Have I seen God provide for me in the past??...( what has God done for you in the past ??) Do I know this shepherd, or is it my first day here in this fold?? NO>>>> I know him, I have seen Him provide, he has taken perfect care of me from day ONE>>>>so of course this shepherd is going to take care of me now...It may not look like what I think, but he is taking care of me!

The other slant on this is seeing that Of course I won't be in want, THE LORD ALMIGHTY is my shepherd...HE has what I need!! It's like saying The owner of the local Walmart is my dad....I live right next to this Walmart.... ( I KNOW>>>> hhaa haaa) Of course I have what I need, because this shepherd has what I need at his fingertips...He can supply, it is totally not hard for him to get what I need...He is not a poor shepherd.

Question: What is Tim doing in this picture?



Please leave your creative guesses in the comments section.

Questions on Psalm 23....1st installment of meditating/thinking :)

--Is the Lord your Shepherd??

Do you allow Him to shepherd you?





--Assume that you are allowing God to be your shepherd (or rather HE has chosen you and is your shepherd is the real fact of the matter) than.........

What happens as the Lord is your shepherd?? You will not be in what???

ok...So David says...The Lord is his shepherd.... The Lord is being a shepherd to this sheep (David) what an interesting comparison... We don't get it, cuz we aren't around sheep/shepherds...But think of the different stories you know about sheep/shepherd in the Bible....Example the story of the 100 sheep and the one that the shepherd goes to look for....That is a cool example in view of this passage.... God is my shepherd...So if I stray He will come find me. Do you have any other stories of sheep in the Bible that you remember that would help here??

....more to come....help me out here...need your input!!!!

Ok...I am choosing Psalm 23 ESV

The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall

not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green

pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of

righteousness

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.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You annoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will

follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the

LORD

forever.

Well, here's what I am thinking. I was thinking that it would be cool to meditate together on the same thing, here in the blog :) Whatcha think?? (Well I am going to do it here anyway, but if you would like to help me pick something that would be great hee hee) But I was thinking of starting with something that we all kindof know, like Psalm 23 or John 15 ( couple of my favorites :) Unless you all have something different....Tomorrow we will start to go through one of those....You could get a head start by reading one of those...Or choosing one and letting me know by commenting .... All right, see you tomorrow :)

OK>>>>>Here we go, let's translate this thinking idea into meditating..... let's see where we are with it......


Are you all meditating on a passage??? OOOO, no this is what I want my question to be ;) What passage are you meditating on??


(Let's say meditating as just reviewing something over and over in your mind)

OK, evidentially we were 'tagged' by Pastor Brian to do a book meme (?!) Just answer as many as you can :>)

so here are the questions and we get to tag people....sooooo >>>>>> GO!!!




1. One book that changed your life:

2. One book that you have read more than once:

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:

4. One book that made you laugh:

5. One book that made you cry:

6. One book that you wish had been written:

7. One book that you wish had never been written:

8. One book you are currently reading:

9. One book you have been meaning to read:

10. Now tag five people:

Tell me what you think of when you think of meditating?! What pops into your mind???

NOW--tell me what it should look like to meditate on the Bible, or God, or things that have to do with God.... Very practically, very simply....What does it LOOK like??

Whatcha thinkin' about today?????

How are you thinking???

Where are you thinking??

When are you thinking????

Who are you thinking about ???

those are several questions....of course you can answer at least one of them :)

Are you thinking???

Don't forget when you are thinking about Scripture and God to think of God and things of HIM....Not so much in relation to what this has to do with you or yourself...But who God is, what HE is doing in the passage, etc....

The reason I say this is because I often make this mistake. I read the Bible to see what I need to do, or what God is telling me. That isn't bad, but as a habit I think the better way is to 'see' God in His Word.... Or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.

Can you give me some questions to ask when thinking of a passage that would help me to 'see' what God is doing or where his attributes/qualities are displayed??

Are you thinking???

Don't forget when you are thinking about Scripture and God to think of God and things of HIM....Not so much in relation to what this has to do with you or yourself...But who God is, what HE is doing in the passage, etc....

The reason I say this is because I often make this mistake. I read the Bible to see what I need to do, or what God is telling me. That isn't bad, but as a habit I think the better way is to 'see' God in His Word.... Or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.

Can you give me some questions to ask when thinking of a passage that would help me to 'see' what God is doing or where his attributes/qualities are displayed??

OK>>>> are you guys thinking??? Are you thinking about thinking :)???

I am trying and I really appreciate the reminder! Here's why:

I was doing this really regularly for about 3 years, this meditating/thinking process. I have started through the Bible about 3 years ago and am only on 2 Samuel. But I had stopped doing it, really accidentally.

But when we were at small group a couple of weeks ago we were talking about how we do our devotions, and I was telling them all that I do this and I realized I wasn't doing it like I used to. So I went back over some of 2 Samuel that I had already read. I also have a chronological bible that I am working through which helps, because I have both passages right there. And this passage is where I ended up pouring over. 2 Sam 24:1-18 and 1Chronicles 21:1-22:1. I am so glad to be back to this process. It is really so fun and it eventually helps me to get 'into' it. I feel like I can understand more of what is going on and put myself there..... The way I do it is that I read and ReREAD the passage over and over. I started this passage before Aug 30th...Not sure when. The details start to jump out. Like when I first read it, I read about the death angel, but just skimmed over it-- BUT come on!! A death angel!!!!! I have to say I have never seen a death angel hovering in the sky with a drawn sword!!!! And I have never seen or heard of, in our day, a death angel that kills 70,0000 people.... This angel was visible (at least to David and Araunah--so some people saw it) ANYWAY eventually it almost plays through my mind like a movie. I really like that part, cuz that is where I can get 'into' it.... And this passage is sooooo fascinating with the death angel, etc....

Soooo I encourage you to try it.... You have to TRY because this isn't easy at first....But this has been the most interesting the Bible has been to me in all my life! :)

I am reading in 2 Sam 24 and 1 Chron 21.... This is the story where David sins by taking a census.... 2 Samuel says God was angry with Israel and caused David do it 1 Chron says that Satan caused David to do it.... Interesting... Anyway....

So David takes the census, even though Joab asks him not to, than David's conscience bothers him and he repents.... So Gad comes to David and gives him the 3 options of punishment that God is giving him. God will do whatever David chooses.....

1. 3 years of famine
2. 3 months of fleeing enemies.
3. 3 days of severe plague in the land.

David chooses #3 because he says he doesn't want to fall into enemy hands, but God's as God's mercy is great. So God sends a death angel and apparently this angel is visible at least to David and Araunah. 70,000 people are killed and than God relents and tells the angel to stop...So the angel is apparently hovering over Araunah's threshing floor. In the mean time David sees the death angel and feels remorse.... Saying that he is the guilty one and to send God's anger on himself and his family....

But God apparently makes a way of escape for David in instructing him to make a sacrifice. So David sacrifices, by buying Araunah's threshing floor (even though, Araunah wants to give it all to David) and than the angel puts his sword back into the sheath... David keeps sacrificing there and eventually decides to build the temple there, even though the tabernacle was currently in the wilderness at the hill of Gibeon... "Because he was terrified by the drawn sword of the angel of the LORD"

any way, this story is so fascinating to me with the whole angel of death, I have been pondering that a bit :) also wondering about

--God's mercy in this and judgment
--God/Satan causing David to sin
-- God punishing Israel, wonder what they were being punished for this time (lack of love for God likely )
--David's repentance is interesting, did he fully repent originally, or not fully till he saw what the death angel was doing
--Why was David terrified of the drawn sword of the angel if it was sheathed.... Was he remembering it and was it so terrifying that he couldn't get it out of his head

What do you find interesting about this story?? What stands out to you most?? Read it and see what I missed :)