Author: Christine Wyrtzen

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6

Ask a college student why they are eager to go home on Spring Break and all kinds of answers emerge.  Sleep in. See their dog. Eat their favorite foods.  Go to their favorite local places with friends.  What might be far down on the list is spending time with their parents. 

But heaven?  My Father is the center of my joy and the source of all other pleasures.  The feasting, prepared by God’s own hands, is depicted earlier in this Psalm.  Oil that runs abundantly over His child’s head is also described.  All of this portrays lavish hospitality in the Near Eastern culture.  This is a Father who satiates His children with unfathomable abundance. David says elsewhere, in his prayer to God, that he feasts on the abundance of God’s house and basks in the rivers of His delights.  

The word ‘delights’ is built from the same root word for Eden! Paradise restored, indeed.  Our ending is only a new beginning.  I shouldn’t be calling death the ‘end of life stage.’  It is the ‘embryo for new-life-stage.’  

It doesn’t feel good to go home and be treated like a guest; limits and a certain formality prevail.  I’m not free to roam and fully relax. I can’t get a drink or fix myself a meal without it being offered.  Or, I know I have to ask for it.  I will not be a guest in the house of the Lord.  I will be home.  God’s lavish hospitality is poured out on sons and daughters.

Someone once said, “As I travel along in this world, I’m in awe of many things, like the colors I see in autumn or the flowers that bloom in spring.  To me, there is no kind of awesome apart from what home can bring, like returning to wake in my old bed to hear the birds sweetly sing.”   We might assume that to experience nostalgia, we have to have known it from previous experience.  Ah, but that is the grand mystery of heaven.  We are going home and although we’ve never been there, it will feel familiar.  All along, this eternity was put in our hearts.  

I can’t wait, God.  Amen

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Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.  Psalm 23:6

Stephen Lawson of Ligonier Ministries tells this story regarding goodness and mercy.  

Dwight L. Moody, a famous evangelist of the nineteenth century, was once approached by a woman who needed counseling. Two men, she claimed, were following her. Whenever she stepped onto the city trolley, they stepped onto it behind her. When she stepped off, they stepped off. With a nervous twitch in her neck, she insisted that she had even been followed to his office by these very two men.

Moody could easily detect that this precious woman was suffering from a mental delusion. There was no one following her. But to put her at ease, he told her: “Those two men following you are David’s men. Their names are Goodness and Mercy.” He turned in the Bible to today’s scripture and showed her, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.” She was relieved and exclaimed: “That is wonderful. I have always wondered what their names are.” The woman left that day with peace of mind, comforted to know that it was goodness and mercy that were following her.

Is this reasonable to think that this is true?  If I look at ‘follow’ in Hebrew, the word if jirdepuni, meaning ‘to pursue.’The intent of God to bless us is so strong that it does pursue us.  Warmed to the core of my spirit, I think of this from Psalm 139.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

I can run from God, or try to, but I am pursued because I am His and He loves me.  His desire to bless me is what moves Him to go wherever I go.  He is not a stalker; a menacing presence.  He is the Shepherd who never, not even once, loses track of one of His sheep.  

God is Good.  God is Mercy.  Surely ‘Goodness and Mercy’ shall follow me.  Some of God’s children proclaim that they feel cursed, that trouble follows them.  Although there are times we are out of His will, we are never out of His care.

I will never be lost because You will never lose sight of me.  Love is my shadow.  Amen

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You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  Psalm 23:5

There are two stunningly beautiful things about this verse.  

1. There is a table that is being set for me, prepared by God Himself.
2. It’s on display for my enemies.  

God prepares sumptuous meals no matter the season.  When I’m resting, it’s green grass to nibble on and enjoy.  When I’m working, it’s fuel for my labors.  When I’m with kindred spirits, it’s the fodder for rich conversation.  And when I’m with enemies, it’s my life-source for strength.  Nothing else will sustain me. 

The thing is ~ it’s the same Word ~ with the same power ~ from the same Father ~ all the time.  What changes is my need and my application.   The more dire the circumstances, the more life-giving the spiritual meal. 

It is humbling enough that God prepares the feast.  Even if He didn’t customize what’s on the table, I would be in awe that He called my name to come and dine.  But considering that He has anticipated my circumstances ahead of time and discovering that the table spread out before me reveals delicacies fit for royalty, I am arrested in place by this kind of love.  Who does this?  Once in a lifetime would be enough but this banquet table is there any time I want to go partake of it.  

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  I John 3:1

Do my enemies discern that such a spiritual meal exists?  Oh yes, and it confounds them.  They wonder why I don’t give up, why I still trust God, why I’m not bitter, why I’ve not conceded in the battle, and why I have the strength to keep going until the end.  They may not see the awe-inspiring spread on God’s banquet table up close, but they know it’s there.  They see its effects.  

As God is preparing and serving your feast, he makes your enemies sit on the outer fringe of the scene and watch everything unfold. They see the Lord himself spreading your table with food, escorting you to your seat and waiting on you. Then they watch as you fill up your soul with heaven’s delightful fare. I tell you, no demon power, including the devil himself, could ever comprehend this kind of love, mercy and grace.             From David Wilkerson

Lord, I smell the bread baking and hear the wine being poured.  I’m coming.  Amen

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He leads me in paths of righteousness . . . Psalm 23:4a

The beauty of walking slowly through a passage is being able to look at every little thing as if it were a new gift to unwrap.  As someone well-seasoned in Bible study, I can just assume (especially if I can recite the 23’rd Psalm from memory) that I understand a phrase like ‘paths of righteousness.’  I don’t and I’m still learning.   

I have often asked, and perhaps you also voice these questions ~ “Why does God make it so hard?  Since He promises to lead, and since He tells me that I am a sheep who cannot find my way on my own, why not speak louder so that the path is unmistakable?”

God is all about growing me up into the stature and maturity of His Son.  If I can take God by the hand and not have to think for myself at all, isn’t this the stuff of toddlerhood? Infant faith begins with this kind of baby steps but mature faith encompasses the ability to engage my intellectual faculties to the glory of God. 

“Those who are skittish when it comes to rigorous study, deep thinking, and theological precision have wanted us to believe that our problem is the mind, when in fact it’s the flesh.”  Sam Storms

I must learn to train my mind, to know how to build precept upon precept, in the artful ways of wisdom.  Sound decisions are, more often than not, made by a student of the Word who has set out to learn the mind of God, through Scripture, with abject humility.  

Yes, great knowledge presents a temptation to be proud but it is not knowledge that is the enemy.  It is my pride.  Paths of righteousness are ever before me.  God makes them clear for every level of spiritual development.  Milk for the babes; meat for the mature.  And, in that light, I can know that God will grant me the humility to listen, the grace to obey, but He also encourages every intellectual pursuit to be harnessed to the truth of the Scriptures.

I can be lazy and want to be led like a baby.  Forgive me.  Amen

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The Lord is my shepherd. Psalm 23:1

In the daytime, sheep are put out to pasture.  They graze, nap in the sun, even play.  At nighttime, they go back into the sheepfold to sleep in safety. Day after day, and night after night, their way of life is unchanged.  Their familiar routine offers security, abundance, and relationship.

The rhythm of a Christian’s life, the person who knows Jesus, should also be one of resting, grazing, and working.

• When threatened by wild animals, I run back to my shepherd, and to the safety of the fold.  My heart may be beating wildly but nothing can hurt me outside of His will if I stick close to Him.  Restorative rest is a promise He gives me.
• When following the Shepherd, I enjoy abundant spiritual food.  The Word of God is a pasture, always green.  It must surely resemble the lush green landscapes of New Zealand, the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen.  Take a back country road and what you see around every turn is another pasture of sheep.  Each view is a postcard.  The food Jesus provides for me, meditatively and instructively, is the likings of the finest pastures.
• When I have eaten sufficiently, work awaits.  The work is not abusive.  It is not laden with high expectations without the foundation of proper nourishment and proper equipping.  The shepherd has given me both.  He has fed me, He has tutored me, and He has trained me.  My work is the culmination of His promise.  “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Work in the context of a relationship is the key to a joyous calling.

When this rhythm exists, the rest of the Psalm makes sense.

Your pastures are so green and satisfying, Jesus.  I have rested, I have eaten, and now I will work.  In Jesus name, Amen

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The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.  Romans 8:16

What do our hearts often do when we read God’s words? Yes, on some days, there’s a struggle to connect. Ah, but on other days, there’s a visceral connection. Sometimes when we read His words, when we hear a kingdom story, when we sing certain worship songs, or when we see something He created, we exclaim.  Right? Our hearts leap and strain toward God.  We are moved, wide open, and stirred to adore with a new level of passion. 

Perhaps this is exactly what Elizabeth felt in her womb when her unborn baby, John the Baptist, was in the presence of Jesus for the first time.  Jesus was, at this point, in Mary’s womb and the two women were just greeting one another.  Elizabeth felt John leap within her.  Metaphorically, I believe this perfectly captures what happens when the Holy Spirit bears witness with my spirit.

Yes, there have been a few periods of spiritual dryness in my life when I felt almost nothing.  God seemed distant even though I knew He wasn’t.  When I read scripture, it was dry as dust in my mouth.  But, I’ve come to believe that this should be a temporary place on a Christian’s journey.  For the most part, my heart should be experiencing a habitual kind of ‘leaping.’

I am not a big fan of the ‘What would Jesus do?’ bracelet.  Christianity is more than just doing what is right. Many unbelievers have a sharp moral compass and do the right things most of the time even though they don’t embrace Jesus.

Following Jesus is a journey of the heart. Truth must elicit a heart-response.  I need to live asking, “Jesus, would you help me feel what you feel as well as think what you think?”  When He does that, more of me will be fully in sync with Him.  A leaping spirit will characterize more of my life.

Perfect union. That’s it, Lord. You grafted me in, made me to dwell in the Vine for sweet communion. Don’t let me be content with anything less than a spirit that leaps in Your presence. Amen

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For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  Roman 8:14

Isn’t everyone who lives on planet earth God’s child?  Many think so and refer to the human race as children of God.  It is a warm, fuzzy concept but untrue.  Everyone who lives on planet earth is God’s creation but not necessarily His child.  The dividing line is what each one does with Jesus.

In John 8, Jesus told a few Jewish people, including its leaders, that the only ones who were really disciples were the ones who followed Him.  Those who didn’t accept Him as the Messiah and follow His teaching were slaves of sin.  The Jews were indignant, insisting that they were related to Abraham and were not slaves to anyone.  Had they forgotten that they had been slaves of many nations during their long history?  And even while they were saying this to Jesus, they were under the domination and authority of the Roman Empire?  Pride does obscure the naked truth!

It is not possible to be led by the Spirit of God if I have not embraced Christ. Why? Because the Spirit of God will lead me to think and act like Jesus. His Words and His actions will challenge my own thoughts and actions most every moment I am alive. His Spirit will call me to do what is against my old nature. Submitting to the steep climb will not be possible without loving the One I follow. It will be too hard to sustain the pace without the fuel of love propelling me upward.

Another paraphrase of today’s scripture is this, from Jesus’ teaching.  All who love Jesus will prove it by listening to and obeying His Spirit. Deferring as a way of life defines sons and daughters of God.

Even now, the thought of following you in the hard things makes me feel alive. There is an ache to walk the path of Your Spirit.  Amen