Psalm 23 as a praise for salvation

Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

In verse four it speaks of walking through the valley of the shadow of death. We all walk in this valley for we have all sinned, and sin means death. However, we need not fear this death for we are protected by the rod and staff of the Lord. ‘The Lord uses his rod to beat off our enemy, and with his staff he guides us to the righteousness of the law. We have peace and joy in God’s love. Now, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Circumcised Heart

NKJV - "A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake."

How, exactly, is a soul restored? Since this is the Purpose for Christ coming to earth, for the restoration of our souls, shouldn’t we know what this process looks like?

Ezekiel 11 19-20 . . . N L T: – “And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.”

So, we are told that the Lord will give us a new Heart and Spirit, but how is this done? And yes, believe it or not, there is a description of this Holy Work. It is as follows: Colossians 2 11-15:

N L T: – “When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision – the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

Spare Rod Spoil Child

KJV - "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Prov 13:24 is the Scripture that references sparing the rod spoils a child. Well, what if that rod was a rod of comfort? Or does "discipline" always indicate an angry heart? Why does discipline need to be angry, or upset? Why can't discipline be something that is loving and comforting? Why can't we discipline our children with comforting words and actions? It seems that if we are correct in this idea of the rod being a rod of discipline, then we are able to see that Christ was disciplined with the rod of comfort when He abandoned His parents for an all-nighter.

Luke 2:46-49 NKJV - 46 Now so it was [that] after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. 48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously." 49 And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"

Where's the "Rod" for which to beat Jesus for what he had done to His parents? Right . . . it doesn't exist. Jesus was not beaten with a rod. So, was Jesus spoiled for such a lack of discipline?

I hope you're doing well . . . Blik! I think about you often.

in this life we all live under an impending shadow of death . One day we know we are going to die. This temporary mortal world is the land of the shadow of death

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9:2‬ ‭

psalm 23 is often read at a funeral but it was about his daily relationship with the lord in this life and the faith he had in him the good shepherd this world is where we need a shepherd because we’re all headed to death in the end we live under its shadow continually it could happen any time in this world accident or natural death murder or some other reason.

Death always hangs over mankind’s head in this world but Jesus came into this world offering salvation from death