Dial Daily Bread: My Shepherd Leads Me

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

David says "my Shepherd … leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (Psalm 23:3). "Leads" young people in their choice of a college, or training for a career? Yes! Leads you in your choice of a job, or where to live? Yes! Does He also "lead you in a path of righteousness" concerning whom to marry? The answer has to be Yes, or the psalm is a fake. (Of course you must accept His leading!)

And to all of us at some time comes that journey through "the valley of the shadow," whether we are teens or in our 90s, and we need a Shepherd or divine "Pastor" with us. Please note: the relief from fear in the Shepherd Psalm is the result of a choice: "I WILL [to] fear no evil." The choice can be made today, long before the shadowed journey begins. And it is not merely an adjustment of emotions through psychology; it is a rational, logical, reasoned choice arrived at through careful thought.

The reason why "I WILL [to] fear no evil" is because I believe the Good Shepherd is "with" me; I believe I have a Companion in my journey through either sunshine or shadow. And how can I bring myself to believe such Good News? Because I appreciate that the Son of God became our Second Adam, the new Head of the human race, the Father adopted me "in Christ," I am "in Him" as He went through the agony of "hell" (Psalm 16:10), I identified with Him when He cried out "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Having by faith "in Him" and with Him conquered that greatest of all fears, no lesser fear can now assail me. From now on His "rod and staff" no longer annoy me; tribulations and chastisement "comfort me," says David, even though I may feel like I am "punished" "every morning" (Psalm 73:14, TEV). "Whom He loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every SON whom He receiveth" (Heb. 12:6).

Now by His grace nothing but joy lies before you, "goodness and mercy" all your "days." And best of all, you really WANT to "dwell in the house of the Lord forever" instead of in the movie theater or at the mall. A new motivation now transcends fear of being lost or hope of reward, and even for teens "the world is crucified unto [you]" (Gal. 6:14).

Copyright © 2009 by Robert J. Wieland.
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