8/9/2020 - Who Is Leading You? - Psalm 23

Psalm 23 is one of the most recognizable chapters in the entire Bible. You've probably heard it at least a dozen times if you attended Sunday school. It's a go-to for funeral programs and Hobby Lobby has made money selling its' lines on faded pieces of wood. Even those who do not attend church have likely heard this psalm before. When verses and chapters become familiar, we tend to not pay close attention to them. When we see it in our Bibles, it can be tempting to think, Oh, I know what this says already. Why read it again? My challenge to you is to read it and then ask yourself these questions... Who or what is leading me? Am I setting up my tent in the valley? Have I lost sight of God's overwhelming provisions for me? Like sheep, we are all being driven by something or someone - even if that someone is us. The psalmist King David vividly puts things in perspective when he describes God's ability to lead us to the place we really want to be. It's not that our lives are free from enemies, it's that God's power protects us from those enemies. It's not like we will ever be free from dark valleys, it's that God's wisdom guides us through the darkness. Truly he is the good shepherd. Why would we follow another?