Two biblical examples of prayer!

Over the next few weeks we are going to look at two examples of
prayer in both the Old and New Testament.

The first one, unfortunately
most people will recognize from eulogies, as it is mostly used at funerals, but
when we break down this prayer from David we see that it was in reality a vision
of the promised Messiah.

Psalms 23
The Lord
is my shepherd;
I shall not
want.
He makes me to lie
down in green pastures;
He leads me beside
the still waters.
He
restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths
of righteousness
For His name’s
sake.

Yea, 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.

You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You
anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs
over.
Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me
All the days of
my life;
And I will dwell in the house of
the Lord
Forever.

The first line, The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want, is
giving reference to Jesus being the one who protects, provides, and guides us as
the shepherds of David's time did. I do find it interesting that this Psalms was
written about a thousand years before Jesus' birth, but is unmistakable in who
it is describing as the Lord.

As we read on we find the Lord leading His
sheep like a shepherd of the day would care for his flock. He makes me to lie
down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. This paints a
beautiful picture of how God cares for us and every one of our needs are
met.
 
He restores my soul; He leads me in
the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Our souls are restored and our
paths are clear of any unrightousness leaving us free to focus on worship
and praise of our Lord.
 
Yea, 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. Our
Lord, like the shepherd has His shield over us as we journey through the valleys
of our world. It is so comforting to know God is there in everything we
do.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the
days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

These lines show me that this is
about our salvation and us living the abundant life now, and it not just being
about our journey into heaven.

Tonight when you pray think about
these words and meditate on them and feel the peace that David felt as he looked
out at a thousand stars spread throughout the sky by our
creator.