It's Complicated(S1) : WK 1 - WED
(Psalm 23:4, 1 Samuel 17:35-36)
4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. Psalm 23:4
35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! I Samuel 17:35-36
Talk about a contrast! I’ll admit that I don’t often think of the violent nature of shepherding when I read Psalm 23. And yet, to make the connection between these two passages, we learn that the “rod and staff” mentioned in Psalm 23:4, is exactly what a shepherd like David would have used to catch an animal and club it to death. That sure puts a different spin on the peaceful nature of Psalm 23.
I can identify. I am a soul that by and large wants to work towards harmony. I love it when people get along, and I struggle when they fight. I think in many ways I’d classify myself as a pacifist, but I also recognize that there seems to be a time and place where the only option to protect someone may result in the harm of another. There’s no other way to say it but that it’s complicated.
As much as I strive for peace, I know I have a mother bear inside of me. That mother bear roars whenever someone I love is threatened in any way, shape, or form. It may not be with physical violence…
So maybe we’re not just pacifists. Maybe sometimes we’re not just one person, but two, or three. And no, I don’t mean schizophrenia, I just mean we have the people we want to be, and the people we are at the moment. The person we’re growing into, and the person we’re trying to leave behind. We strive for the qualities we want to have, while at the same time recognize that we are all works in progress and that God isn’t finished with us yet.
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)
4 Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. Psalm 23:4
35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! I Samuel 17:35-36
Talk about a contrast! I’ll admit that I don’t often think of the violent nature of shepherding when I read Psalm 23. And yet, to make the connection between these two passages, we learn that the “rod and staff” mentioned in Psalm 23:4, is exactly what a shepherd like David would have used to catch an animal and club it to death. That sure puts a different spin on the peaceful nature of Psalm 23.
I can identify. I am a soul that by and large wants to work towards harmony. I love it when people get along, and I struggle when they fight. I think in many ways I’d classify myself as a pacifist, but I also recognize that there seems to be a time and place where the only option to protect someone may result in the harm of another. There’s no other way to say it but that it’s complicated.
As much as I strive for peace, I know I have a mother bear inside of me. That mother bear roars whenever someone I love is threatened in any way, shape, or form. It may not be with physical violence…
So maybe we’re not just pacifists. Maybe sometimes we’re not just one person, but two, or three. And no, I don’t mean schizophrenia, I just mean we have the people we want to be, and the people we are at the moment. The person we’re growing into, and the person we’re trying to leave behind. We strive for the qualities we want to have, while at the same time recognize that we are all works in progress and that God isn’t finished with us yet.
6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. (Philippians 1:6, NLT)
- Think back to who you were 5 years ago. Are there areas where you have grown and matured? Maybe things you used to do or struggle with that aren’t as much of an issue now?
- What about areas in your life that you struggle with now? In what ways do you hope to grow more over the next 5 years?
- What do you think you can do in your relationship with God to help with these areas?
by Pastor Paddy McCoy
Download PDF Versions of our Series Guides
Daily Study Podcast
The Abide Daily Podcast
Thank You for Supporting the Ministry of Crosswalk
Posted in It\'s Complicated (S1)
No Comments