Psalm 23

THE DAILY WORD
By Jim Seekamp

Monday April 6, 2009

The blessings of Psalm 23 apply to all living believers since after Christ arose from the dead, and up until the Day Of The Lord!

If we look at Psalm 22, we see that it is talking about Jesus going to the cross for us. I'll just show excerpts to save space:

Psalms 22
1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
6. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.
7. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
8. "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
14. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
15. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
16. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
18. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

It is easily evident that Psalm 22 is talking about Jesus going to the cross for us.

Now let's skip Psalm 23 and go to Psalm 24:

Psalms 24
1. The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2. for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
3. Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
4. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
5. He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
6. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7. Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10. Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty-- he is the King of glory.

Here we see the millennium; with the gates of Jerusalem being opened for Jesus to reign from there. Verse 6 says that the people who may ascend the hill of the Lord, and stand in the holy place, are those who have "clean hands and a pure heart". That's the believers; who reign with Christ during the millennium!

So that puts Psalm 23 between Jesus' death and the millennium! That's NOW!

Let's see if we can find any evidence from Psalm 23 itself that this is so!

Psalms 23
1. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3. he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4. Even 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.
5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Notice in verse 4, it says "Though I walk through the valley of the SHADOW OF DEATH"! The valley of the SHADOW of death, NOT death itself! We live in a world that has the shadow of death over it constantly!

Death is all around us: both spiritual and physical. That will not be true during the millennium, or for eternity when we are with the Lord! During the millennium, believers will already have their glorified bodies, and death will have already been defeated! There will be no death for us at that time, or any time afterwards!

But verses 5 and 6 are a dead give-away! (No pun intended).

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

It is very clear that we will STILL HAVE ENEMIES at the time of Psalm 23! That means it can't be the millennium, since the devil will be locked in the abyss!

Our only enemies are the devil and his evil spirits; and they are only around until the Day Of The Lord, and then for a very short time after the millennium, when they are immediately defeated and cast into the lake of fire; unable to hurt us or even be a threat to us, since even our bodies are already redeemed at that point!

Then the clincher is in verse 6:

Psalm 23:6
"Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

It says "goodness and love WILL follow me all the days of my life!" WILL means the days of the life in question are NOT OVER yet! Then it says "I WILL dwell in the house of the LORD forever." In other words, the person is NOT dwelling in the House of the Lord yet!

Psalm 23 is for US, and we should lay claim to the blessings spoken in it by faith! These promises are NOT for someone who is already dead, they are for someone who is ALIVE and still in the presence of his enemies! That's US!

When we die, the Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord; so we will no longer BE in the presence of our enemies when we die!

PRAYER
Father, thank you for Your precious Word, that builds my faith whenever I study it or hear it taught correctly. Thank you for forgiving all my sins, cancelling the law that stood against me, and defeating satan, so I can have victory over him in my life. Help me to hear Your voice clearly so I can follow Your path for my life.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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