Thou Art With Me

October 23, 2015

Thou Art With Me

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”

Psalm 23:1 (KJV)

I am taking a class on spiritual journaling. Our assignment for this week is to spend time with Psalm 23, which for me is like throwing Br’er Rabbit in the briar patch. On the desk in my study is an olive wood carving of The Good Shepherd that I purchased in Bethlehem. The concept of Jesus as the Good Shepherd resonates within my soul, and I am drawn to passages such as John 10 where Jesus talks of himself as the Shepherd and his followers as his sheep. God has used the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 to often remind me he will never, ever give up on me. You can find images of The Shepherd, and the scenes of Psalm 23, throughout the New Testament. As an example, Mark’s description of the feeding the five thousand after “Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass” invokes images of the “green pastures” in Psalm 23:2 (Mark 6:30-43).

This morning I was drawn, once again, to the incomparable line in verse 4, “for thou art with me.” Many years ago, Dennis Jernigan recorded a musical version of Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd” (Celebrate Living CD), and his singing of this line captivated my heart. Several times in the last twenty-five years, the Holy Spirit has brought this line to my attention, and its truth has carried me through some very difficult experiences. I wonder, how different might my life be if I were to keep this line in my conscious awareness throughout each and every day? 

As I ponder this line afresh this morning, I am asking the Lord to help me keep it ever present in my awareness.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.