Praise

Music

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Kelly Mowrer

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Series Code: P

Program Code: P000007


00:18 Hi and welcome to Praise. I'm Kelly Mowrer.
00:21 Today we're gonna spend some time thinking about
00:23 the wonderful lessons found in Psalm 23.
00:26 The Shepherd song and so many of us
00:27 know this pretty much by heart.
00:30 And sometimes in my life I've been tempted to turn over,
00:32 just skip over the words.
00:33 I enjoy they're pretty poetry but I don't really
00:36 relate to them or make them real in my heart.
00:38 But during the past couple of years,
00:40 I've come to realize this is so much more
00:42 than just a beautiful illustration.
00:44 It is one of the most comprehensive complete
00:46 pictures of God and His love
00:48 contained in a single Bible chapter.
00:51 Listen now as Annette Campbell sings this beautiful song.
01:18 The Lord is my Shepherd
01:25 I shall not want
01:32 He makes me lie down in green pastures
01:39 He leads me beside the still waters
01:46 He restores my soul
01:52 He leads me in paths of righteousness
01:59 For His name's sake
02:07 Even though I walk through the valley
02:13 Of the shadow of death
02:20 I will fear no evil
02:26 For You are with me
02:39 Your rod and Your staff
02:42 They comfort me
02:51 You prepare a table before me
02:58 In the presence of my enemies
03:05 You anoint my head with oil
03:11 My cup runs overflows
03:19 Surely goodness and mercy
03:25 Shall follow me
03:28 All the days of my life
03:32 And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
03:37 Forever
03:44 Forever
03:50 Forever
06:22 David who was a shepherd himself wrote
06:24 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."
06:28 And my tendency used to be to give the first part
06:31 of that verse about the Lord being my shepherd
06:33 as kind of an introduction to the second half,
06:35 I shall not want, and that's the part
06:37 I would focus on, having no lack, not wanting for anything.
06:41 But then I began to hear things about sheep.
06:44 I realized if God said that He was my shepherd,
06:46 it's because He wanted me to think about not only Him
06:48 as a shepherd but myself as a sheep.
06:51 I wasn't strong like a lion, swift like an eagle.
06:54 I heard that sheep were incredibly foolish
06:57 that they will wander off the path looking at
07:00 any old thing that catches their attention.
07:03 They are dirty creatures, they never get clean
07:05 if the shepherd didn't clean them.
07:06 And sheep are defenseless, they have no way to protect
07:09 themselves against enemies that have claws or fangs or poison.
07:13 God said a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
07:18 He says, I am the good shepherd.
07:21 We are all His sheep. We are dirty.
07:24 We are defenseless. We are wandering.
07:27 How very much we need our Shepherd and His love.
07:31 Listen now as Reggie plays 'The Love of God.'
10:28 As David describes what Jesus
10:30 our Shepherd does for us, he writes,
10:32 "He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
10:36 And He leads me besides still waters.
10:39 He restores my soul."
10:42 How many, many times I crave rest and peace
10:45 and I long to be refreshed.
10:47 There are some things that can provide
10:49 some momentary peace like a vacation or good night sleep.
10:52 But only God can restore us and provide lasting rest.
10:57 You know one day a man was walking along
10:58 feeling as though he's about to break
11:00 from the heaviness of his burden.
11:02 So he paused and seated down for a minute.
11:04 As he looked more closely, he was astonished to see
11:07 that most of his burden was borrowed.
11:09 It was either borrowed troubles from yesterday
11:11 or borrowed worries about tomorrow.
11:14 David wrote "Cast your burden upon the Lord
11:16 and He will sustain you."
11:19 If anybody watching right now would like to lay down
11:21 your burden and be restored and be refreshed,
11:24 remember what Jesus said.
11:26 He said "Come unto me, all ye that labor
11:29 and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
12:27 Rest, the Lord is near
12:32 Refuse to fear, enjoy His love
12:41 Trust His mighty power
12:46 Fills every hour of all your days
12:54 There is no need For needless worry
13:01 With such a Savior
13:04 You have no cause to ever doubt
13:10 His perfect Word
13:14 Still reassures in any trial
13:36 Rest, the Lord is there Lift up your prayer
13:44 For He is strong
13:50 Trust, He'll bring release
13:54 And perfect peace will calm your mind
14:02 There is no need for needless worry
14:09 With such a Savior
14:12 You have no cause to ever doubt
14:18 His perfect Word
14:21 Still reassures in any trial
14:30 Call Him if you grow frightened
14:36 Call Him with loving care
14:42 He'll lift the burden
14:45 And you'll rest, the Lord is near
14:52 Refuse to fear, enjoy His love
15:01 Trust His mighty power
15:06 Fills every hour of all your days
15:15 Call Him if you grow frightened
15:20 Call Him with loving care
15:27 He'll lift the burden
15:30 And you'll rest, the Lord is near
15:37 Refuse to fear, enjoy His love
16:18 And now David starts to write about something really big,
16:23 not just the petty irritations of life
16:25 or the general work burdens that we all have.
16:28 But the stuff that is so heavy,
16:30 we're afraid it might break us,
16:32 he says "Yea, thou I walk through the valley
16:35 of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
16:38 for thou art with me, thy rod
16:41 and thy staff they comfort me."
16:44 I did a quick search on my computer Bible program
16:46 and I came up with 144 different verses
16:49 with the words "Fear not."
16:52 You know many times these are direct command from God
16:54 and I'm ashamed that how often I disobeyed that command.
16:57 I walk through the valley of shadow and suddenly
16:59 I'm afraid, I forget all the ways
17:01 that He's helped me before and I worry that
17:03 somehow maybe this time, He'll not be there.
17:07 And if you're weak like, like I am sometimes,
17:10 use these next two songs to both ask God's forgiveness
17:14 for doubting, and then also ask Him
17:17 to strengthen our faith, so that we can know
17:20 His peace and fully and completely believe
17:24 His words to us when He says
17:26 "Fear not, I am with you, be not dismayed, I am your God.
17:30 I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, yes,
17:34 I will uphold you with right hand of my righteousness."
23:19 And then David ends it by saying
23:21 "Thou preparest a table before me
23:23 in the presence of mine enemies,
23:25 thou anointest my head with oil and my cup runs over."
23:29 Look at how God provides for us, it's not haphazard.
23:32 He prepares a table and not just enough
23:35 but just so incredibly, generously and richly
23:38 that our cup is spilling over, it's too full.
23:41 It can't contain all the blessings He is pouring in.
23:43 "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
23:45 all the days of my life, and I will dwell
23:48 in the house of the Lord forever."
23:52 I've never made a fortune
23:58 And it's probably too late now
24:05 But I don't worry about that much
24:12 'Cause I'm happy anyhow
24:19 As I go along life's journey
24:26 I'm reaping better than I sowed
24:34 I'm drinking from my saucer
24:40 'Cause my cup has overflowed
24:47 Ain't got a lot of riches
24:53 Sometimes the going's tough
25:00 But I've got a friend in Jesus
25:07 And that makes me rich enough
25:14 I thank God for all His blessings on me
25:21 And the mercy He's bestowed
25:29 I'm drinking from my saucer
25:34 'Cause my cup has overflowed
25:43 You know my friend, sometimes in life,
25:45 sadness and sorrow come our way,
25:48 there's not much it seems we can do about it.
25:50 But you know what I found out, one day I looked
25:53 straight up in the heaven and I reached up and touched
25:55 His precious nails, God hands.
25:58 God promised me that He'd be faithful to reach down,
26:01 pick me up and restore me to new.
26:04 I love Him for that today, don't you? Yes.
26:08 So Lord, help me not to grumble and complain
26:15 About the tough rows that I have hoed
26:24 I'm drinking from my saucer
26:29 'Cause my cup has overflowed
26:36 And if I should go on living
26:43 If my way gets steep and rough
26:50 I'll not ask for other blessings
26:56 'Cause I'm already blessed enough
27:01 And this is my prayer for you today.
27:04 May I never be too busy
27:10 To help another bear his load.
27:19 I'm drinking from my saucer
27:23 Yes, 'Cause my cup has overflowed
27:30 Yes, I'll be drinking from my saucer, Lord
27:36 Oh, yes, I will
27:39 This cup has overflowed
27:45 Has your cup overflowed?


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Revised 2014-12-17