Following is a recent message that was broadcast over KWXY (98.5 FM or 13.40 AM). You are invited to listen every Monday through Friday at 7:15 am.
Good morning, this is Rich Dorst; thank you for listening to Joy in the Morning. If you are interested in receiving copies of our broadcast, just phone us at 341-8300 and request a copy. And friends, if you do not currently have a church home, our church family warmly invites you to join with many other listeners who have visited with us recently. And now, for today's message of joy.
The 23rd Psalm
The 23rd Psalm has comforted and encouraged millions of people who have been beset by life’s problems.
The Los Angeles Times (August 10, 2003) ran a feature article about Pam and Scott Erdman. Pam and Scott were in love and working on master’s degrees at my alma mater, Fuller Theological Seminary, in Pasadena, when Scott was diagnosed with metastasized melanoma.
Doctors gave him two years to live.
It was 1981. Pam was twenty-two, studying to be a family therapist, and Scott was twenty-four, preparing to go into the ministry.
Despite the prognosis, Pam followed her heart and married Scott. By God’s grace, the doctors proved to be wrong. Twenty-two years, a son, and ten surgeries later, the disease has taken Scott’s colon and spleen, one kidney, and part of his pancreas. But he still works full-time on the pastoral staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood.
Living with her husband’s illness has stretched Pam “to the end of myself and beyond,” she said.
Of course, there have been many difficult days during those twenty-two years. But during the long journey through her dark valleys, the 23rd Psalm has become Pam’s rock of comfort, hope, and peace. “It’s been my lifeblood – I just hang onto it,” she said.
The 23rd Psalm is probably the most loved and most quoted passage in the Bible. Its theme of God as a shepherd leading His flock through the valley of the shadow of death,
preparing feasts in the presence of enemies, and bringing followers to days of goodness and mercy has strong appeal for people facing life’s problems.
Whether or not you are familiar with the Scriptures, you probably at least know of this psalm. Let me share it with you from the traditional King James Version:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
When you need the unique peace and comfort that God alone can give, pray this prayer. And, most importantly, turn your life over to the Good Shepherd. Everything in Psalm 23 is promised to you, if you will but follow the Shepherd!
