Paradigm Shift

"Thou preparest a table before me" - Psalm 23:5a

The focus of Psalm 23 shifted, becoming no longer "He", but "Thou". It happened when speaking of God's protection - "Thy rod, Thy staff..." No longer is the speaker telling someone about God but is speaking directly to God.

Life in Christ is one-on-one, a "Thou and Me", which can't be explained to others.

As the refrain of C. Austin Miles' 1913 hymn, In the Garden,¹ says

And he walks with me, and he talks with me,
and he tells me I am his own;
and the joy we share as we tary there,
none other has ever known.

- fritz

^{1 - http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh314.sht}

Righteousness After Restoration

"The LORD is my shepherd...He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake" - Psalm 23:1a, 3

It is only after his restoration of our soul that we can be lead in paths of righteousness.

His restoration makes us want to do the right thing and he, then, enables us to do so with his Holy Spirit - not as a precondition to be his but as the result of being his. This is his work, and he gets the glory for it.

Charles Wesley, Anglican Priest and brother to John Wesley who founded the Methodist Church, wrote in his hymn "O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing"

He breaks the power of cancelled sin
He sets the prisoner free
His blood can make the foulest clean
His blood availed for me

- fritz

Restoration of Soul

"The LORD is my shepherd ... He restoreth my soul" - Psalm 23:1a, 3a

Those who have made a study of such things tell us the soul is where our Mind, Will, and Emotions reside.

There are experiences in life that mar the soul. Dysfunctional people never intended to become that way; life squeezes the stuffing out - but Jesus, our shepherd, restores.

We don't get our act together first then come to him, we come as we are, submit to his Lordship, he restores as we follow.

Take a moment (Hey, you have time) to read the lyrics of the old hymn, Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy (Joseph Hart, pub. 1759)¹

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and pow’r.

Refrain:
I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.

Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

- fritz

^{1 - http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Come_Ye_Sinners_Poor_and_Needy/}

Love makes its own choice

Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
- Hymn: O God, Our Help in ages Past, Isaac Watts

I don't know why my wife loves me; she probably couldn't tell you, either. It is God's gift to her and me we can enjoy but not explain.

Love is that way - it chooses its own objects of affection. Our part is to accept it, or not.

God's Love for us is like that, too. Why he would choose such an unlikely candidate, who is only here for a brief moment, is beyond my cognitive powers. Mine (and yours) is to respond with a "Yes!" or move on.

"In him we were also chosen ... to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 1:11, 3:18b-19

Love doesn't tolerate, it chooses.

- fritz