Lesson 4C: Heaven on Earth - Psalm 23

4c.1  When the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan, they were still sheep herders living in tents, herding their sheep from place to place.   Archaeology shows that they continued to live in tents for quite some time.  That is because the cities they had conquered lay in ruins.  It would take a while to rebuild them - some never were rebuilt.  Scientists have found fire pits made by the children of Israel among their ruins.  It makes sense.  The ruined walls would help protect the tents and cooking fires from the wind and the rain. 

4c.2  Living in tents had its advantages.  A city with a fixed location could be attacked for its defensive position, or for the wealth it contained.  But what gain would there be for an army attacking a group of tents?  Besides, the people living in the tents could see the army coming and leave before it got there.  They would have time to muster their own defenses from any high hill where they could gather together - and then run again if need be.  They could gather together in force, attack their enemies, then disappear into the desert. It was the perfect life of freedom under God.

4c.3  That is how the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, and even at the time of king David many of them  (if not most of them), were still living that way.  (No doubt, they had developed small farm plots, vineyards, and orchards as well.)  Why live in a stinky middle eastern city when you could live in a nice tent?

4c.4  God had promised the people of Israel that if they kept his covenant he would make their days as the days of heaven upon the earth.

"...you shall lay up these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth."  Deuteronomy 11:21

4c.5  For the first several hundred years the nation of Israel had no king.  They were a loose confederation (brotherhood) of twelve tribes ruled over by judges whom the Spirit of God rushed upon to deliver the people in times of need.  Prophets also spoke to the people, delivering God's word and His will, as the Spirit of God rushed upon them.  Thus the people were under the direct rule of the Spirit of God.  It was leadership by charisma.  There was no intervening king; no autocracy.  No army was conscripted.  (Clans supplied their own.)  There were no public works.  Only the tabernacle - the place of worship - served to draw the people together. Their worship of God was the basis of their unity, and their national identity.  The only tax the people had was the tax for the upkeep of the tabernacle and its service.  What a picture of freedom!  David grew up in this kind of Israel.

4c.6  There, in the hills of Bethlehem, he tended sheep.  He took his harp or his lyre with him, composing his own music and worshipping God with heartfelt praise and thanksgiving.

4c.6  Psalm 23, David's best known psalm, is a picture of his life as a shepherd.  Yet he pictures himself not as the shepherd, but as one of the sheep.   Most Christians memorize this Psalm because of its very personal connection to God.

  • 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
  • He restores my soul:
  • He leads 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 You are with me;
  • Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
  • You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
  • You anoint my head with oil;
  • My cup runs 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.

4c.7  This beautiful psalm is a picture of the kingdom of God in the life of every individual believer.  Jesus is the Shepherd.  Psalm 23 contains several of the greatest statements of faith ever made: "I shall not want," and "I shall not fear." 

4c.8  Notice that this psalm does not say we will never experience evil.  Believers are not exempt from the trials of life.  But God has promised always to be there, His continued presence assuring us of His power and His heaven.

Discussion:  Talk about Psalm 23 and what it means to you personally.  What are the green pastures and the still waters?  Where is the Spirit of God in this Psalm?  What is the house of the Lord?

Memory verse:  Psalm 23


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