Who Is The King On Your Throne?

Psalms 23

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He leads 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 You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs 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.

David wrote Psalm 23 because he knew God, God had walked with him but most importantly he knew the power of faith. He did not take it for granted despite his short comings, but operated from a place of divine understanding. The most pivotal thing in our walk with Christ is understanding how He, God, operates through relationship. Truly, you cannot perfect anything without putting it into practice.

 

Faith is a gift and every gift needs to be put into action. A dormant gift will die! David was the last born of his family but there was something quite unique about his upbringing. I passionately believe that his training as a shepherd made him write Psalm 23 from a graphical point of view. Any time I read this psalm, I literally picture myself on a journey and how each time God comes for me, assures me, and how this strengthens my faith in him!

 

Before David was able to accept God as his Shepherd, he had to see himself as a sheep. If we look up the definition of a sheep, apart from its physical description, one of its attributes is the ability to “follow others in the flock.”

 

David looked after sheep, he understood that no sheep had a mind of their own, they followed because they trusted and had assurance that their Shepherd would take care of them, otherwise how can you explain the narrative David drew from

“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”

This is a man speaking from a revelation God allowed him to see by being in “God’s shoes” for a moment. But he only knew this because of the relationship he had with God.

His upbringing made him understand that there are spiritual benefits in following God.
“He restores my soul, he leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake”.

I know that a lot of us religiously read through this Psalm, but if you read it line by line you will understand that your life has not been very different from that of David's. God has used all our life experiences to shape us but truly to strengthen our faith, so that we can move mountains. Not for us, but for his sake. You may have not been a Shepherd boy, but perhaps you have always been a leader wherever you find yourself or held positions of authority. You understand what it means to lead and the importance of follower-ship.

 

“Yea, 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”
David had major bragging rights. He boldly tells God that he knows he is with him. He did not fear. He accepted God’s authority, because he had a way of escape and made his declaration of victory and faith. How many of us have prayed amiss by not understanding how powerful the gift of faith is? David knew that the reward of his obedience (by being the sheep that follows) and his declaration of faith would be to be rewarded in the presence of his enemies and a Godly inheritance. 

Faith does not acknowledge the problem; Faith responds to God. The moment we lose sight and focus on the problem, we have dethroned God, telling him that he is incapable of handling the “small magnified issues” we bring into His presence. Let us drop our titles, the worldly knowledge we have acquired and the algorithm of life. In order to successfully follow God, we need to become like babies whose dependency falls on its parents and, in our case, it is God. 

I challenge you this week to have him lead you, so he can become the King on your Throne! Ask him to guide you, commune with Him because no one can discover the depths of God or discover his limits! (Job 11:7) He’s a never ending well! 

May your faith be strengthened in him! 

Bolanle Boyewa