Psalms Chapter 23 Discussion Page 7

In taking the bible trivia and only getting between 60% correct most of the time shows I lack in my understanding of the bible.

I am a bit worried that I am not fully understanding of God will and following.

Should I be?

It's like a conversation I had with my mother 6 months before she died. She never read her Bible. I just asked her one day, "aren't you even curious about your Savior you are going to be living with forever? And the wonders of heaven where you'll be living?

Next day I see her at the table reading her Bible. Read it for over an hour. Became a part of her routine. She asked questions about when she'd see her parents and others who had died. If tell her about what Jesus likes. They need our participation to get them started. I read Psalms to her.

I'll see her again. :)

Bible reading & Church attendance are not criteria for entrance to Heaven: only your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross as your sin bearer & the Recipient of the penalty you (and I) rightly deserved. And through your acknowledgement of this & subsequent repentance of sins, the Spirit of God enters your life to give you a re-birth experience & a holiness & acceptability to God.

In my understanding, after such an experience & encounter with a Holy, Merciful God, it behoves us to want to know Him and love Him more. And the chief ways of doing so is by attending to His Word, fellowship with the saints, & enjoying prayerful intimacy with Him.

However, there are some who believe that "now I'm saved, I can do what I like". However, salvation is proven by a heart & mind change & remembering that "your body is (now) the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." ( 1 Cor 6:19,20). Every blessing Don, as you consider this matter & the great cost that was made to redeem your spirit back to a loving God.

John 3:16

Mathew 7:22-27

Mathew 25:31-46

However there is blessing in reading HIS Word

2 Timothy 2:15

Psalm 1:1-3

Psalm 119:105

I'm from the USA, here we can freely buy, read, distribute & discuss the Bible, however In other countries I've heard testified people suffer death, imprisonment & horrible challenges just to take part in any of those. Some were trying to get 1 book into hands of churches overseas. I guess my question to you, is: to have the privilege to read or not read a collection of books written for benefit, life, guidance, wisdom (that others risk death to read) why not?

do, you have to read the bible and attend church services to go to heaven

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me - God will bestow them upon me. This is the "result" of what is stated in the previous verses. The effect of God's merciful dealings with him had been to lead his mind to the assurance that God would always be his shepherd and friend; that He would never leave him to want.

All the days of my life - Through all its changes; in every variety of situation; until I reach its close. Life indeed would end, and he does not venture to conjecture when that would be; but as long as life should continue, he felt confidently assured that everything needful for him would be bestowed upon him. The language is the utterance of a heart overflowing with joy and gratitude in the recollection of the past, and full of glad anticipation (as derived from the experience of the past) in regard to the future.And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever - Margin, as in Hebrew: "to length of days." The expression, I think, does not refer to eternity or to heaven, but it is parallel with the former expression "All the days of my life;" that is, he would dwell in the house of the Lord as long as he lived - with the idea added here, which was not in the former member of the sentence, that his life would be long, or that he hoped and anticipated that he would live long on the earth. The phrase used here, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord," is one that is several times employed in the Psalms as indicative of the wish of the psalmist. Thus, in Psalm 27:4, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." Psalm 26:8, "lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honor dwelleth." Psalm 65:4, "blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts." Psalm 84:4, "blessed are they that dwell in thy house."

Psalm 23 is my best Chapter also. "I shall not want" says you to me that he will supply u with what u need every day.

The Lord Is My Shepherd and I shall not want ever. Amen.

Vr.4 in my life 80yrs. my "god" in heaven has never let me down!! in fact always there to lift me up!!aman praise his holy name!!

"Jesus Lover of My Soul"

Charles Wesley

Jesus Lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly,

While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high.

Hide me, O my Savior hide, Till the storms of life is past;

Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;

Leave, oh, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me.

All my trust on Thee is stayed, All my help from Thee I bring;

Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want; More than all in Thee I find;

Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, Heal the sick, and lead the blind.

Just and holy is Thy name, I am all unrighteousness;

False and full of sin, I am, Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found, Grace to pardon all my sin;

Let the healing streams abound; Make and keep me pure within.

Thou of life the fountain art, Freely let me take of Thee;

Spring Thou up within my heart, Rise to all eternity.

Daniel 12:12

"Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days."

The Anti-Church for a period of time sacrificed true saints until she became sterile. It now has been around 450 years that the True Church was able to leave the wilderness and preach and teach (by example) the Gospel throughout the whole world.

I figured it out. They need to renew their hearts to get rid of the evil in their hearts to stop all the wars etc... do you know where in the Bible a Prayer May Be For That ???

The Lord IS my Shepherd. Though I do walk through the valley of the shadow of death His word comforts and guides me to live in His paths. Though I've sinned He stores my soul and I live a righteous life because He leads me in paths of righteousness to honor Him. Therefore He blesses me abundantly so I can in return be a blessing to the Lord's people in a New Testament Missionary Baptist church where our pastor faithfully watches for our souls and guides us to watch faithfully for the Lord's soon return. Very blessed we are at Kailua Missionary Baptist church at Kalama in Kailua, Hawaii. Amen to Keoki's sermon today about watching out for false prophets. I have that too. I'm standing anchored against him.

Psalms 23 is the power an might coming down from heaven for such a time as this, God said he would never leave us neither for sake us!! That's what psalms 23 means to me the Blood of Jesus all over me I love reading psalms. Father Son & the Holy spirit.

Blessed be the day!! Marlilyn T., I love your comment. I read the 23rd psalm everyday with every breathe in my body. May God continue to bless you and your love ones, especially during this pandemic and we all will heal especially families who lost a love one.

So thankful for the Lord being my Shepherd. He will not allow any bad things to happen to me. He is

always with me. Even allowing "goodness and mercy" to follow me. All of the days of my life these

Angels are with me. Happy that each of God's children have their own two (2) angles to be before and

after them where-so ever they go. I have prayed this Psalm with me through many surgeries and life's

happenings. God never , never has left me alone.

But unfortunately to many see the good shepherd as a magic wand... Instead of having faith trust and believe in His word which is the truth they want everything to happen immediately. God's time is always the best time. Louise

Psalm 23:1 - a proclaimation of King David that the Lord is His Shephered who take good care of him and his needs. Therefore nothing in his need that the Lord will not provide.

So then, if the Lord is also our Shephered, we will lack nothing. We are to rest assured that our Shephered will also keep His sheeps that no one can snatch us out from Him. What more shall we ask for when in Christ Jesus we will have the assurance of His promised and He who promised is faithful and true.

Psalm 23:1 - a proclaimation of King David that the Lord is His Shephered who take good care of him and his needs. Therefore nothing in his need that the Lord will not provide.

So then, if the Lord is also our Shephered, we will lack nothing. We are to rest assured that our Shephered will also keep His sheeps that no one can snatch us out from Him. What more shall we ask for when in Christ Jesus we will have the assurance of His promised and He who promised if faithful and true.

Is the word sovereign or sovereignty in the Bible?

The Bible doesn't address that and I think most people know that. The interesting thing about this question is why is it being asked, and does the answer change anything? First, no one knows the answer. Second, even if you knew the answer it shouldn't change anything and if it did, then there's a big problem. Let's say you're invited to go to be in live in eternity with your loved ones in absolute paradise with total unconditional love beyond your comprehension and a level of fun that is high beyond your wildest imagination. Imagine your best day on earth and multiply that by a billion. Then let's say while you're here on earth someone shares an opinion that dogs won't be in heaven, will that then change whether you believe and follow Jesus Christ? Would someone seriously be willing to throw their eternity and salvation away based on someone's unsubstantiated opinion on something? What if your love of your pet was a 10/10 on earth, but in heaven it's considered 1/1,000,000 level of love and that something a million times greater was prepared just for you. Would that be rational? These are just questions. If someone follows Jesus as a Christian they will find the answer out for themselves after this life.

William, as much as we would like to think that our loving faithful pets will also be with us in Heaven, the understanding of God's creative Work, His Designs & Plans & Scripture itself, suggests that just won't happen.

Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 tells us that even though mankind & animals both return to dust from whence they came, it is only humans whose spirit is preserved that return to God Who gave it (Eccl 12:7). It is true, that all creatures have been given life (breath = spirit) from God, but to mankind, God has given a spirit that transcends anything given to any other creature.

Here are some other verses that lend support to this:

a. Gen 1:27: we're specially made, created in God's Image unlike animals.

b. 1 Thes 5:23: man is comprised of spirit, soul & body, unlike animals, & all three parts of the human makeup will be required by God at their specific times.

c. Mt 6:23: only man can commune with his Creator & has the ability to know, worship & serve Him.

d. Gen 3:4-6: humans have the power of using free will, discernment & choice (all attributes of God) whereas animals exist by instinct without the power to reason, calculate, effectively communicate, create, culturally develop, etc.

e. Rom 3:23: only mankind had the ability to sin against his Creator (re: his the special spirit given him). And that life of gross violation to God's Holy Standards & Character, prompted Him to pursue man to the point of offering up of Himself for man's redemption & restoration.

Animals simply don't fall into the same category as God's specific & special Work of creating man: we were created to love Him, serve Him, to enjoy His blessings & to one day return to Him. Why? Because we were specially created for Him to one day join the Heavenly throng in everlasting worship. Unfortunately, animals (& our beloved pets) don't become a part of this in-gathering after their death as they weren't created to this end - Heaven is not filled with beasts but holy beings.

William Kirkland, I certainly hope there are dogs in heaven. Your question roused my curiosity and I Googled "verses about whether pets go to heaven" after remembering about the verse about God's care of a sparrow.

I found 1Corinthians 15:39 and Romans 8:19 on to be wonderful reads. So yes, they go to heaven.

Additionally, I have wondered whether when we die and leave here do we keep our earthly memories (good and bad) but I feel according to Isaiah 65:16-17 "...: because the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hid from mine eyes." "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, or come into mind."

I also believe that I have read a scripture where we remember "our own" so we will see our own family and pets in heaven but no sorrow will be associated with them just joy.

I hope this helps you. It did me.

Keep reading the Word, it is full of treasures and guidance. I've read it through 3 times, now on my fourth and each time the treasures and guidance increase. Every word means something.

Also, people's comments and Matthew Henry's commentaries inspire me.

For someone who is curious about the bible, just maybe god is drawing you. for no one comes to the jesus except he is drawn of the father. so, this is curiosity that will not kill the cat, so to speak. therefore, i suggest that you start in the book of matthew and read a chapter daily, meditate or think about what has been said/written. starting in matthew and following on thru the books after, you will learn more about jesus, who he is and what he has done, ect. i will make prayers for you because i have hope for you.

Psalms 23:1 comment

1;The Lord is my shepherd; there are two types of shepherds, (hireling and a good shepherd)

A hireling is the shepherd that takes care of the sheep only for money yet the good shepherd does it whole hearted, Jesus Christ is the good shepherd who takes good care of the sheep (believers in Christ both Jews and Gentiles) A hireling are pastors that are preaching for money and without money they don't preach.

He restoreth my Soul, when the Soul grows sorrowful he revives it, when it is sinful he santifies it, when it is weak he strengthens it. It is to the honour of our great God that we should be a Holy people, walking in the narrow way of righteousness. If we be so led and guided we must not fail to adore our heavenly God's care.

Are there dogs in Heaven?

SC, I actually see your lack of understanding of the Scriptures which of course translates to heretical messages. You use the Scriptures, I can see that, but then you pervert it through ignorance. E.g. the Trinity. You assume that the Godhead is Male, as in human male. God is Spirit, without gender, but is referred to as "He, Him", because that is how He has revealed Himself to man. And the same with the Holy Spirit. Christ is the Word of God (without gender), made Man (when you say that "no Mother was anywhere to be found"). Have you forgotten about Mary (Joseph's wife) who was implanted with Holy Seed so as to bring forth a male child, Jesus. This was the only way for God to enter the world.

That "women have been treated as dirt in some countries", is not because of the Godhead being referred in the masculine gender, but because of sin in some males who want to suppress & subjugate women instead of giving them full equality that God had ordained for each of us.

Jesus, the Everlasting Father, is taken from Isa 9:6, where the future special Child is shown to have full equality in the Godhead. And this is not to imply that somehow Jesus has taken over the role of God the Father, but that this Child was the Father's Word made human. In other words, God, the Everlasting Father, came down to man to give His Life for us & He did this in the sending of His Word, Jesus.

Gen 1:26 doesn't speak at all about genders. It is the Godhead at work in Creation (which includes the Word, Col 1:16) & His Spirit ( Gen 1:2) - none are of human gender.

SC has been rebuked in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

She or he is reprobate.