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Psalm 23: Start Your Day With This Morning Prayer For God's Providence & Protection · Off The Kirb Ministries

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  Before we pray, let me read Psalm 23 to you.
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  The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
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  He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
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  He leads me beside the still waters.
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  He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of
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  righteousness for His name's sake.
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  Yeah, though I walk through the valley of with the shadow of
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  death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
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  Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
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  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
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  You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
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  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
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  life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
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  Amen. So reads the Word of God.
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  Let's pray, shall we? Heavenly Father, we bow in your
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  presence right now, and we thank you for this Psalm which has
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  been such a comfort, such a relief, such a help to so many
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  Saints over so many centuries, over so many years.
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  And right now we know and we believe that your word is living
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  and it's alive. And this very day, this very
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  morning, Lord, we believe you are going to speak to us.
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  We believe You are going to help us through this Psalm.
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  We believe that there are promises here that can help us
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  right now. Whoever we are, wherever we're
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  listening to this round the world right now, we know that
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  this Psalm is for us. And You have a word and a
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  message for us. Father, thank you that we can
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  say the Lord is my shepherd. He's not someone else's
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  shepherd. He's not another man.
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  He's not another woman. He's not the person down the
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  street. No, he's my shepherd.
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  Lord, thank you that I can say that you are mine and I am
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  yours. Lord, thank you for the
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  relationship that we have with you, our Heavenly Father.
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  The gods who flung stars into space, the God who can name all
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  the stars in the sky knows them all by name.
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  The God who is so big that the universe cannot contain you.
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  Lord, we know that about you. And yet, Father, you love us
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  individually. You have a personal, intimate
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  relationship with us, and we thank you for this.
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  Thank you, Lord God, that if we truly do believe that you are
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  our shepherd and we are your sheep, that we don't have to
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  fear anything. Thank you that we are able to
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  trust in you, the sovereign shepherd, that you will provide
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  for all of our needs. That we don't have to search
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  this world. We don't have to be discontent.
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  We don't have to envy. We don't have to want, We don't
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  have to worry because we know that you are our shepherd.
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  And if there's anything good in this world, Lord God, that you
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  know we need to have, you will not withhold it from us.
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  You will not stop that from happening.
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  So Lord, help every single one of us to be truly be able to say
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  in our hearts, the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want.
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  There's nothing I need. There's nothing I need to say.
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  I must have this Lord because you're our shepherd and you
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  provide for everything we need. You are Jehovah Jireh.
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  The Lord provides. Lord God, we thank you that your
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  word says he makes me to lie down in green pastures.
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  Father, there are times when we can be so busy, we can be so
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  full of activity. We can be so prideful, Lord,
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  thinking that we need to do this and we're needed here in this
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  place. We thank you, Lord, that there
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  are seasons where you make us lie down in green pastures.
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  Sometimes it might be a difficulty, sometimes it might
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  be just a case of a removal of a situation or a person.
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  But Lord, thank you that you do make us lie down at times.
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  And Lord, if there's anyone listening right now who is in a
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  season of difficulty, of grief, of sadness, of just loss, or
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  just not on the mountain anymore, Lord, I pray that they
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  would use this season right now to lie down in those green
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  pastures to get to know you again, to get into your word, to
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  see just what a lovely, wonderful God you really are.
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  Precious Lord, thank you that you lead us to those still
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  waters. Thank you that you led us to
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  drink of the living waters of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Oh, before we were saved, Lord, we were drinking of those WAVY,
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  flurried, messy, dirty waters. We drank of many streams, We
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  drank of broken cisterns. But we thank you right now that
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  you have led us. You have led us to that
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  refreshing, lovely, pure water of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  And we can say with the hymn writer, it is well with my soul,
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  my soul is nourished, My soul is satisfied because Jesus died for
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  me. He's risen from the dead and I
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  trust in him. And we thank you for this, Oh
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  God of heaven. Thank you.
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  As verse 3 says, He restores my soul.
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  There are so many people on this very Internet we're on right now
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  that would promise us that they can restore our soul.
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  They can promise us wealth. They can promise us success.
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  They can promise us happiness. Oh Lord, we know that Satan
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  prowls around like a lion seeking who he might devour, and
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  at times he is so stealthy he dangles things in front of us,
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  thinking that this will give us some kind of happiness.
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  Just like that forbidden fruit that was dangled in front of
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  Adam and Eve in the garden and they ate of it.
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  Lord help us to always remember this verse, that it is only
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  Christ who can restore our soul. Some of us are weary, some of us
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  are tired. Some of us, as we go into this,
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  this new year, we're just hurting.
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  We've had a difficult few months.
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  We've had a difficult year, and we need restoring, Lord.
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  So we as your children cry out to you now and ask that you
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  would restore our soul. You would do that goodness.
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  You would do a new work in US, that you would birth something
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  new in each of us, that this year, these months, these weeks
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  would be precious weeks, precious times of drawing near
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  to your throne and knowing you. Thank you, precious Saviour,
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  that you do lead us into those paths of righteousness for his
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  name's sake. Again, as the hymn writer sings,
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  prone to wonder. Lord, I feel it prone to leave
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  the God I love. I know I can say that.
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  It's so relatable. There have been so many seasons
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  in my life where I've been so prone to wander from you.
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  I've lived in sin, I've wandered away from you, the Lord.
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  Perhaps someone listening right now can say the same things.
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  But thank you that you graciously, you take that one
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  sheep from the 99 that has wandered away, that that sheep
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  that's wandered away from the 100, that one sheep that's
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  that's gone it's own way. And you bring that sheep back,
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  sometimes gently, sometimes firmly.
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  But we thank you that you always lead us back to those paths of
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  righteousness for your name's sake.
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  And Lord God, we praise you right now because you've done
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  that for us. We can think of times we've
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  wandered and you've brought us back and we praise your name.
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  And Father, if there's anyone listening right now who is in a
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  season of wandering, who is in a season of contemplating sin or
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  in a season where they're just not close to you anymore,
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  please, please, Father, bring that person back.
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  Please let this new day as they pray to you, let this new day be
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  a day where they do wonderful business with you, where they
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  have a newness, a joy in their in their hearts, a a new song in
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  their mouth where they praise you And that they would know
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  Christ's righteousness is attributed to them.
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  That they have a righteousness that is not their own, a
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  righteousness that is given as a gift through the cross the
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  moment they trusted in Christ. In verse 4, Lord, we read a
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  verse that is very moving and very serious.
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  Yeah, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
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  will fear no evil, for you are with me.
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  Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
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  Some of us know what it is to walk in that valley of the
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  shadow of death when there's no joy there.
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  There's no laughter, there's no happiness.
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  Just darkness in this valley. It's bleak.
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  It's black. You can't see your your hand
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  even in front of your face. It's so dark.
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  Times of sadness, times when it feels like everyone has rejected
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  you, when it feels like you're walking all alone.
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  It feels like you feel like I can't go on.
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  Lord, some of us have been in that valley.
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  Some perhaps are in that very valley, this very day where they
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  see no hope for the future. And yet, Lord, we know.
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  Your word says even though we walk through this valley, even
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  though there is so much darkness all around us, we will fear no
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  evil, for you are with us. You are with us.
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  You will hold our hand, You will take hold of us and bring us
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  through that valley. Even as all darkness is around,
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  even as though everyone might laugh at us, we're totally
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  alone. We're not alone because you, our
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  Lord, will hold our hand and get us through this dark time.
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  We know that you have a rod to staff and they are a comfort
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  because you are not just some gentle, meek Saviour, though you
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  are those things. You also, Lord, are protected,
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  Lord, and we praise Jesus Christ knowing that He will protect us.
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  If he can defeat the enemy, the evil one on the cross, He can
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  defeat any darkness that might come for us.
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  And Lord, we claim that promise. We thank you for that promise.
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  We rest on that promise that you will protect us from any
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  darkness, any evilness that is surrounding whoever is listening
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  right now. We thank you, Father, that we
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  can rest knowing that Christ is with us.
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  So who can be against us? If the Lord of Lords and the
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  King of kings is by our side? Who on earth, who on this
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  planet, who on this earth can ever put a fault, put a claim
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  against us, children of God, because we rest in him, our
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  shield and our protector. Heavenly Father, as we read
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  verse 5, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my
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  enemies. You anoint my head with oil.
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  My cup runs over. Help us to remember that those
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  who trust in you, you have given them a feast, a feast on that
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  table and you invite us to eat at this feast.
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  You've given us so many blessings, the richness of
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  eternal life, forgiveness of sins, inner peace.
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  We don't always have to be wandering and doing this, that
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  and the other. Like our unbelieving friends and
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  family, we have inner peace, we have joy, we have godliness that
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  you have put inside of us a desire for that which is right.
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  We have justice, we have mercy. Oh, Father, thank you.
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  Thank you for the feast you prepare for us when we open up
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  the Word and we see all these riches, all these Nuggets of
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  gold in your Word. Thank you for the feast even
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  now. Oh how sweet it is to pray to
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  you, the living God, what a gift this is.
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  Thank you Lord God, for the feast you prepare for us when we
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  sit at your table, the Lord's table, and we partake in the
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  Lord's cup and we partake in the bread and the wine.
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  Thank you for that feast to to those who don't know you, it
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  seems so simple and yet we know that that that table means that
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  we have been washed in the blood, the precious blood of our
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  Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Christ's body was
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  broken for us, That body was beaten, it was bruised for us
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  that our body might be renewed and one day in heaven we will
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  have the glorified body. Thank you for that.
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  Thank you, Father, that you anoint our head with oil and our
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  cup, it runs over. We're overflowing with grace,
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  we're overflowing with joy. We're overflowing of all of this
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  goodness. And Father, if there's anyone
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  today who's listening and they are a child of God, they, they
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  do love you. And yet they don't know what it
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  is to have their cup overflowing.
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  Lord, show them the spiritual blessings that they need.
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  Let them know the joy. Let them know the peace, the
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  love that you have and let them walk into this day, this very
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  day, knowing what a good God you are.
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  Lord, let them keep searching, keep tapping at the door,
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  perhaps even keep praying this prayer until they know what it
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  is to have their cup overflowing with joy, to know that you are a
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  loving Godfather. Help me to know that at times I
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  can look in my own cup and and see it as half empty and and and
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  complain and moan and grumble. And yet what have I got to
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  complain about when you have saved a Wretch like me and you
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  have given me eternal life. And no matter what man can do to
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  me, no matter what I can even do to myself with my sins, I'm I'm
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  safe and I'm secure knowing that Christ has died for me and he's
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  given me eternal life. Help us all to trust in that.
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  And Lord God, as we consider this final verse, surely
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  goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
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  I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
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  Father, what a promise that is. I feel very moved even just
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  reading those words out loud again.
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  Some of us struggle in this life.
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  Some of us find it very difficult even to get out of bed
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  this very morning. Some people listening have very
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  little to look forward to. They live in loneliness.
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  They see trouble and trial and tribulation daily.
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  And yet here is a promise that goodness and mercy follow me.
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  I have the Lord and He is my Shepherd, and one day I'm going
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  to dwell in his house forever and ever.
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  I'm going to dwell and see the face of my Saviour, the Lord
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  Jesus Christ. Is there anything more beautiful
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  than the face of Christ? Of course not.
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  So, Father, help us all to fix our eyes on heavenly things, no
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  matter what this day might bring, no matter what trouble
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  might be before us. Help us to fix our eyes on
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  Christ and remember that we have a heavenly treasure.
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  Eternal rich is joy forever with Jesus.
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  And here we are on the other side of a screen.
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  Perhaps we'll never meet each other.
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  Children of God all around the world, and yet in heaven we're
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  going to meet, we're going to rejoice together, we're going to
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  hold hands and sing songs of worship and praise to our Lord
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  and Savior Jesus Christ for all of eternity.
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  What wonder that will be, what joy that will be.
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  What a wonderful day that will be.
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  So Father, help us be near to us.
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  Help us not to complain. Help us to love this, this day.
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  Help us to rejoice that we have right now.
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  We're not promised tomorrow is all we have is now.
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  And so right now, oh, what good it has done us this very day,
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  this very morning to read Psalm 23.
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  It has made our hearts happy. It has put gladness in our soul.
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  And so we pray, Lord, that we take this gladness, this joy
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  into the rest of the day. We pray all of these things in
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  Jesus Christ precious and holy name, our Lord, our Saviour, our
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  Shepherd. We pray all of these things in
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  His name and asked that He would bless our day greatly in Jesus
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  name. Amen.