Receive His Restoration

He restores my soul. – Ps 23:3

Is 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way;”

Each one of us has a past that we’re either running from or/and are ashamed of. We all came into Christ, battered and abused by the Devil. Even though our spirits were recreated anew in Christ, our souls still remain the same – tortured, scarred and hardened.

Are you faint and weak?

Do you feel like giving up?

Have you lost sight of the joy of Christian fellowship?

The LORD, the Chief Shepherd promises His returning sheep a restoration of their souls.

He’ll fetch you back again, He’ll relieve you, He’ll refresh and comfort you.

How does the LORD restore?

Ps 17:7 says “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul”.

The word, “convert” here is the same Hebrew word (shub) translated “restore” in Ps 23:3. It means to return, to bring back, to restore, refresh, repair…

Every time you go to the Word, regardless of what or where you’re reading, watch out for God’s restoration. Be conscious of His love, His promises and the consolations of His Spirit.

There’s joy and full restoration in the Word. Receive and enjoy it today.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Called To Rest

He makes me to lie down in green pastures... – Ps 23:2

Anyone who accepts Christ to become a Christian is accepting a call – a call to REST. In Mat 11:28 the Lord says, “Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The (CEV) says, “If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest.”

Therefore, if the Christianity you are living now is not characterised by REST, some major reassessments needs to be done.

>  When ‘prayer points’ keep increasing and increasing every day....

> When your daily “confessions” are getting longer and longer in order to cover EVERY facet of your life…

>  When your prayer times have turned formulaic and preponderately belligerent...

> When you’ve become more concerned over covering the daily checklist of spiritual activities and lost grip of your relationship with Christ…

Then it’s time to pause and re-reflect.

If your Christianity is beginning to stress you out, if the work of the ministry is becoming overwhelming and burdensome, then you most likely have veered from the path of Biblical salvation.

The LORD says in Is 30:15, “Only in returning to me and RESTING in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. (NLTse) 

The LORD leads His sheep to “lie down” in green pastures. Check the paradigm of your Christianity today; and make sure you are truly Resting in Him.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

“I Shall Not Want”?

When the Psalmist says The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want, Does it mean that you shall not lack anything?

Seriously, that's the impression you get if you read the verse in other translations. You see things like you shall “not lack”, “never be in need”, “have everything you want”, etc. One wonders where theses Bible translators get such happy-go-lucky pictures from.

The notion that a Believer — ipso facto — would not have any unmet need is naïve, childish and… Biblical!

Ps 34:10 says, “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not lack ANY GOOD THING.”

Previously (vs 9) it said, “there is NO LACK to them that fear (the LORD).”

Ps 84:11 says, “NO GOOD THING will (God) withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

Even in the New Testament, the LORD promises to “supply ALL your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:19).

And Rom 8:32 reminds us that “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

Beloved, do not let human experience, logic or philosophy rob you of the blessings in God’s Word. Whether you read that Ps 23:1 in the ancient Hebrew Masoretic, the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, Olde English Wycliffe or ‘New English’ CEV… they will all tell you the same thing:

“because God is your shepherd, you shall not lack anything!”

Are you going to keep rationalising that truth away? Or are you going to agree with God and make it your reality today?

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

Meet The Good Shepherd

The LORD is my shepherd... – Ps 23:1

The opening line of Ps 23 in the Hebrew is “YHWH ra'ah” or literally “YHWH is the one shepherding (me).”

Some secular scholars contend that the idyllic image in Psalm 23 of a nice shepherd taking care of his young, bleating sheep is a western imposition on the Hebrew text. They claim that the original picture language of the Psalm was of a warrior-god staunchly defending his people from harm.

But if this were true, then it would be sort of a catch-22 since the “West” got that serene shepherd picture from … the Bible.

The Hebrew word “ra'ah” means to pasture, tend, graze, feed. The first mention of the word in scripture is in Gen 4:2 where it was said concerning  Abel that he was a “KEEPER (ra'ah) of sheep”... so we aren’t being overly imaginative in picturing a loving carer, are we? Indeed, apart from when it’s used as “shepherd/herdsmen” every other time “ra'ah” is used in the Hebrew it always means to either “keep” or “feed”.

But if these aren’t enough proof, then we need not look any further that the Christ Himself. In John 10 He introduces Himself as “the Good shepherd”; and what does the good shepherd do? He “gives his life for the sheep” (v 11).

That, Beloved, is the true picture of Ps 23. While the pagan image of a warrior – standing sword in hand that secular scholarship wants to impose on the text may sound harmless; it robs it of the intimacy and personal touch that the Holy Spirit wants you to know.

God’s not out ‘there’ protecting you, He’s right here with you. And, yes, that means you shall NOT want!

HALLELUIAH.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

The Most Beloved Psalm

The contents of some biblical chapters or even verses can be so potent that they effectively frame the nature of the book they’re in. A good example is the way the second verse of John’s third epistle seems to overshadow the entire book so much that not many Christians can tell you what that book is about (other than that God wants us to “prosper and be in good health”).

This metonymic property can be observed in other areas also; like when we hear things like “the love chapter” (1 Cor 13), the Faith chapter (Heb 11), etc.

In that sense, Psalms 23 is to the book of Psalms what “Third John Two” is to the book: it frames and characterises it in the eyes of people.

When people say that they love the Psalms, they’re most likely talking about the idyllic picture of the shepherd and his sheep in 23 than the didactic precepts of the word of God in 119. If nominal Christians say they read the Psalms daily it’s probably because they were lured there by the poetic beauty of David’s most popular ode than by the imprecatory railings of 137.

Just as John 3:16 is the most familiar and most widely quoted verse in the Bible, Psalm 23 is arguably the most familiar chapter. It’s a Psalm that appeals to both young and old, clergy and laity, the spiritual and the secular.

It’s simplistic beauty and comfort has resonated through the ages and is the theme of numerous songs, paintings and other expressions. Its soul comforting text is often quoted at funeral services and memorial events and is a staple read in other formal occasions.

Though the opening words of the Hebrew text appears in over four hundred hues in the English language, no translation seems to have succeeded in surpassing the majestic rendering of the Authorised Version coined four centuries ago. And here it is:

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

Take a moment today to read through this short and enriching Psalm again. And let its eternal words bless you richly.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN