Devotions

We are all familiar with Psalm 23. Its comforting message is well known even among non-believers. This renowned psalm was written by King David, and its most famous passage is in the opening verse: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

The Hebrew word David uses for ‘want’ in this verse indicates lack. David is saying, in other words, “I shall not lack anything.” When we combine this meaning with the first part of the verse, David is saying, “The Lord leads, guides and nourishes me. Because of that, I lack nothing.”

In this brief verse, David gives us yet another reflection of the Lord’s character and nature. The literal Hebrew translation of the first part of this verse is Jehovah Rohi. It means “the Lord, my shepherd.”

Jehovah Rohi is not some benign, passive figure. He isn’t a hireling who does little more than provide food and guidance. He doesn’t merely point us toward the grassy pasture and pools of water and say, “There’s what you need. Go and get it.” Nor does he turn a blind eye to our needs. He doesn’t run the other way when he hears our cries for help and sees us in trouble. No, he knows every pain we endure, every tear we shed, every hurt we feel. He knows when we’re too weary to go another step. He knows just how much we can take. Most of all, he knows how to rescue us and bring us to a place of healing. Time after time, he makes us lie down for a time of healing and restoration.

The Lord our shepherd is compelling us to follow him into his rest. The Lord says in Exodus 29:45, “I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.” The word ‘dwell’ here means “to abide by, or to settle down beside.” This word signifies not just a passing presence but a permanent one, a presence that never leaves. It’s something God imprints permanently on our soul. It’s his very near and eternal presence.

The picture here is glorious: Our shepherd offers to come to us in the midst of our pain and depressed condition and to sit by our side. His powerful and protective presence abides with us and lies down beside us. We have this confidence that our shepherd is among us.

One of the great obstacles for people when they get a direction or word from the Lord is this fear: If you don’t succeed, you’ll be labeled the failure, and you’ll lose credibility.

If God calls you to do something and he says to cross over that Jordan, you go over the Jordan, no matter what the price is. When you get over there and things seem to fall apart and the success that you had imagined or thought isn’t there, that can be incredibly discouraging. If you take a step of faith and you don’t succeed, some people around you are going to ridicule you and laugh at you.

You know what? Who cares? You didn’t cross the Jordan for personal gain, merit or glory. You crossed it to be obedient to Jesus. The results are up to him.

If you put your eye on the results, you’ll lose heart. If you keep your eye on Jesus, you’ll never lose heart even if the circumstances change. Sometimes you get halfway across the Jordan, and God says, “Stop! I only wanted you to go halfway. Turn around and go back.” In those moments, you might be tempted to cry out, “But we’re almost there!”

We live in a culture that is saturated with this idea that God is there to assist you with your dreams, desires and ambitions. That’s totally backwards. You are here on this earth to obey God, not to fulfill your own plans, dreams and desires. You are here to obey God, to walk in the Spirit and to move where God has called you.

This is the hardest part for me to understand because I know that God has called me into some things that — by all indications and in all ways that you can measure it — were a failure by human standards. In those times, I have to trust in what the Bible instructs us, such as “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6, ESV).

There are certain parts of life that I thought failed, but now when I look back in history, it was a great success in God’s kingdom. That success was not because of the effect it had on others but because of the change that God was working in me.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5, ESV).

Years ago, when I was pastoring in a small town in Canada, we met a young Christian woman who lived out the truth of this verse. She was one of those people who seemed to experience heartache after heartache.

Sometime after her husband left her and their four children, her beautiful four-year-old daughter began to appear ill. It turned out that the child had leukemia, and the disease took her life. I cannot begin to describe the incredible anguish—the wailing and the depth of sorrow—that came into that mother’s heart.

A few months later, a different lady in our community was told that she had only a short while to live. She was not a Christian, and she shut everyone out, choosing to live in total darkness and despair. Many of us attempted to visit and encourage her, but she refused to open her door to anyone…until one day. This young mother went over to the woman’s house and said, “Wait! Before you shut the door, I want to tell you that I recently lost my daughter to leukemia. I understand what you’re going through.”

The door opened, and the young mother ended up not only leading this woman to Christ but also walking with her through her difficult days until she went home to be with the Lord.

There are times when we have to ask: What is the value of a soul? Is it worth it? What price did God pay for a soul? I hope you are beginning to see how unwise we are if we live only to escape every difficulty, as if the gospel we pursue is somehow only for the sake of making us comfortable! Every trial we go through is an opportunity for the testimony of Christ to be made manifest in our lives. Learning to thank God for the trials is critical not only for our sake but for those around us.

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}

God doesn’t want your home, car, furniture, savings or any of your possessions. All he wants is your strong belief in his Word, and that may be the one thing that other, more spiritual-appearing people lack. You may look at another person as being more spiritual than you, but that person may actually be struggling hard to keep up an appearance of righteousness. As God looks at you, he declares, “There is a righteous man or woman.” Why? You’ve admitted your helplessness to become righteous, and you’ve trusted in the Lord to give you his righteousness.

The writer of Hebrews tells us we are accounted as righteous in God’s eyes only with one important qualification. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1, NKJV). “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

You may claim, “I believe this. I have faith in the God who resurrected Jesus.” The real question for you is do you believe the Lord can resurrect your troubled marriage? Do you believe he can bring to life a spiritually dead relative? Do you believe he can raise you up out of the pit of a debilitating habit? Do you believe the Lord can erase your cursed past? Do you trust his promise “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten” (Joel 2:25)?

When everything looks hopeless — when you are in an impossible situation, with no resources, and no hope before you — do you believe God will be your Jehovah Jirah, seeing to your need?

Do you believe he’s committed to keeping his promises to you, and that if even one of his words fails, the heavens would melt and the universe collapse? If we are struggling to have this faith, we must go to Christ like the man with the demon-tormented son. “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:23-24).

God gave the prophet Jeremiah a revelation of his name Jehovah Tsidkenu (pronounced Je-HO-va  Sid-KAY-noo) in a time of crisis similar to the one we face today. “Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is his name by which he will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’” (Jeremiah 23:5–6, NKJV).

What does this mean for us, in practical terms? What is this righteousness he’s the Lord of, and how are we to know and understand Jesus in this role?

Paul gives us some insight into God’s definition of righteousness in several passages.

• • “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness’” (Romans 4:3).

• • “Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness” (Romans 4:9).

• • Therefore he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does he do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” (Galatians 3:5-6).

Each of these verses refers to one thing that Abraham did to attain true righteousness: he believed.

Finally, Paul provides the Lord’s definition of righteousness. “[Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what he had promised he was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness’” (Romans 4:20–22).

The Bible could not make this matter any clearer. Righteousness is believing the promises of God, being fully persuaded he’ll keep his word.