Latest / Anchored by the Sword / Overflowing Peace: Psalm 23, Quiet Waters & The Shepherd Who Stays with Tara Dew!
Transcript
- 0:00Thank you for joining me on this episode of the Anchor by the
- 0:02Sword podcast. I pray that today's episode will
- 0:05leave you encouraged and also challenged in your faith.
- 0:08And I pray that. You would take.
- 0:11The stories that are talked about here today and share them
- 0:16with other people. Thank you so much for joining me
- 0:19and enjoy today's episode. Hey guys, welcome to this
- 0:23episode, the Anchor by the Sword podcast.
- 0:25I am here today with Tara due and she had a book come out at
- 0:29the end of last month. It's called overflowing peace,
- 0:33what God says about a peace field life.
- 0:36And I'm super excited to learn more about her, her book and
- 0:41just all of the things. So, Tara, thank you for joining
- 0:43me today. Oh, Gina, I'm so glad to be here
- 0:46with you and everybody who's listening to your podcast.
- 0:49It really is such a gift to be here.
- 0:51Can you tell my listeners a little bit about yourself?
- 0:54Sure. So my name is Tara Do.
- 0:56I am the president's wife of Jamie.
- 0:59He is the president of New Orleans Baptist Theological
- 1:02Seminary and Level College. We have been here in New Orleans
- 1:05for 6 1/2 years and we get to just train up men and women who
- 1:10are called to gospel ministry and who will take the gospel of
- 1:13Jesus into some of the most dark and broken places around the
- 1:16world. I get to teach here, I get to
- 1:18love on our students and it is a great joy of our life.
- 1:22In addition to that, I am the mom of two sets of twins.
- 1:27We have 18 year old boy girl twins.
- 1:30They are freshmen in college. Their names are Natalie and
- 1:33Nathan. And then I have 15 year old
- 1:36twins, Samuel and Samantha who actually will be turning 16 next
- 1:40week. So the week of the podcast, they
- 1:43will be 16 and they are sophomores in high school.
- 1:47So our life is full and busy and loud and we bring a party
- 1:52wherever we go. But I love being a wife and a
- 1:56mom and getting to teach God's word and share His word,
- 2:01especially with ladies all around the country, both in the
- 2:04written form and in teaching. So it's great to be here today
- 2:08and getting to talk about overflowing peace with you.
- 2:11I love that. And two sets of twins, yes.
- 2:15Wow, that you don't hear about that very often.
- 2:17No one doctor told us it might be like one in 800,000 that have
- 2:22two sets of natural spontaneous fraternal twins.
- 2:27And so we are pretty special and I absolutely love being a twin
- 2:32mom. It is great.
- 2:33That's. Awesome.
- 2:35Yeah, my husband is a twin. Oh, so it's really special.
- 2:39And the bond that they have with their twin is really, really
- 2:43special. I wish everybody could
- 2:44experience it so. Yeah, well, one of my best
- 2:47friends and I, we joked that we were basically born of different
- 2:52families, but the same because, I mean, people have even told us
- 2:56like with our hair and our wearing glasses, like we could
- 2:59almost look alike. And like there's been so many
- 3:03times that will literally say the exact same thing at the
- 3:07exact same time without even looking at each other.
- 3:10And we're just like, OK, there you go.
- 3:15The same brain. That's scary for everybody.
- 3:17That's. Right.
- 3:18That's right. I love that.
- 3:21So, Tara, let's talk about your personal freedom story.
- 3:24OK, so I was freed from perfectionism when I was a
- 3:30little girl. I always wanted to be the best.
- 3:33I wanted to be good. I wanted to be perfect, I wanted
- 3:37to make the best grades, and on and on.
- 3:41All honesty, I was probably trying to earn my way to heaven
- 3:44and be good enough for God. But I went to a Billy Graham
- 3:48crusade when I was in elementary school with my mom, with my
- 3:53grandma, and I learned there that none of us can be good
- 3:57enough. None of us are righteous on our
- 4:00own. Even the good things we do are
- 4:03not good in God's eyes. And that he loved us so much, He
- 4:06sent Jesus for us. And so when I was six years old,
- 4:10five, almost 6, I accepted Jesus to be my Savior and he freed me
- 4:17from a life of perfectionism. I still want to do everything
- 4:21with excellence before the Lord, but it's not the same striving
- 4:26that I had when I was really little because I know I couldn't
- 4:29be good enough for God. And so, so now I just get to
- 4:33rest and what Jesus did for me and accepted that gift of
- 4:37salvation. And he has brought freedom in my
- 4:40life in amazing ways because now I just get to be his daughter
- 4:43who's loved not for what I do, but because Jesus's blood covers
- 4:48me. I love that.
- 4:51Thank you so much for sharing. I, my husband and I've talked
- 4:54about it many times because we've been to the Billy Graham
- 4:56Library. How cool it would have been.
- 4:59Yeah, how cool it would have been to get to go to one of his
- 5:01crusades. Oh, he had a way of just
- 5:05speaking the truth in a way a child could understand, or
- 5:10somebody who is an adult. He just had such a way of
- 5:14conveying God's amazing love for people.
- 5:18And I honestly think that's one of the things that just drew
- 5:20thousands to come to Christ because he just explained how
- 5:24much God loved us and how there's nothing we could do that
- 5:29could earn that. Because I think in our human
- 5:31nature, we want to, we want to be good enough.
- 5:34We want to earn it. We want to strive for that.
- 5:37But when you are released from that and you realize he loves us
- 5:42and died for us not because of how good we were but just
- 5:46because he loved us, it changes everything.
- 5:50Absolutely. By chance, are you a first?
- 5:52Born I am. Too.
- 5:56And that is our tendency, our natural tendency to be that, you
- 6:00know, perfectionist, that Type A personality does everything
- 6:05right. And I'm so thankful because even
- 6:08though now I still have that personality, now I think, you
- 6:12know what, it's not for me anymore.
- 6:14It's not to be good enough for me.
- 6:16It's to be to be excellent for the Lord and do everything I can
- 6:20to be excellent for Him. Absolutely.
- 6:23I just, I I wanted to ask that because I've I've been the same
- 6:27way. Yes.
- 6:28Throughout like people pleasing. Yes.
- 6:32I had my perfectionist time probably until about 40.
- 6:36Once I hit 40, there was a lot of things that went away in my
- 6:39head. Not just the brain fog, but
- 6:42just. You know what?
- 6:44As we get older, we get wiser, right, Gina?
- 6:47That's what we're going to say now.
- 6:48We just know that we are wiser. We don't have to strive for the
- 6:52lesser. Things right, right.
- 6:54And, and we kind of stop, I don't want to say we stopped
- 6:57carrying what others think, but we stopped putting so much
- 7:00pressure and so much emphasis on what other people think.
- 7:05There's always still that part that wants to please and make
- 7:08sure that people like us and that kind of stuff.
- 7:11But we also start to learn they're not in my daily life.
- 7:14Like they may be the person who's in my path at this point,
- 7:17but they're not God. So I don't, I don't have to
- 7:22worry. If they're mad at me this
- 7:23second, that's OK. His opinion of us is really the
- 7:27only one that matters. Right.
- 7:29Exactly. Yeah.
- 7:31So what Bible verse or verses are your anchor verses?
- 7:35Oh, you know, in different seasons of my life, I have had
- 7:38different ones. When I was in middle school and
- 7:40high school and really felt a call to ministry.
- 7:43First Timothy 412 was really my anchor verse.
- 7:46You know, don't people discourage you because of your
- 7:50youth as an example in life and speech and love and faith and
- 7:54impurity? And so that one was so crucial
- 7:57for me in the beginning because even though I was young, God was
- 8:00calling me to leadership and to set an example.
- 8:03And for a lot of my 20s and 30s, I loved John 15 verse 5 where
- 8:09Jesus says I am the vine and you are the branches.
- 8:11Whoever abides in me will bear much fruit, but apart from me
- 8:15you can do nothing. And it was really just this time
- 8:18of just deepening my relationship with the Lord and
- 8:21learning how to commune with him and depend on him.
- 8:25And honestly, now that I've written Overflowing peace, I
- 8:28love Psalm 23, verse one. The Lord is my shepherd.
- 8:32I have everything I need because he is our God, because he is our
- 8:37shepherd, then we don't have to strive or be anxious or fearful
- 8:43about anything because in him he's given us everything we
- 8:47need. And so those are three verses
- 8:50throughout my life that have just really been so special to
- 8:53me and ones that I I really cling through in different
- 8:56seasons. Those are all such great verses
- 8:59and I know I became a Christian when I was 16, and so at the
- 9:05time I wanted to do youth ministry.
- 9:08Yes. And that only lasted so long.
- 9:13I told you I went to Venezuela in 99, so it was right when I
- 9:18was starting college. I was a couple years into
- 9:20college at that point and I realized very quickly that youth
- 9:26was not my line. Like that was not where I was
- 9:29supposed to go because I can only handle so much of children
- 9:33and so much of specially teenage children.
- 9:36I have 5 nephews and three of them are teenagers and then two
- 9:40of them are actually adults now. So like I can only handle so
- 9:44much. I was like that was not my
- 9:47gifting so. One thing I love is that as we
- 9:51walk with the Lord, He clarifies our ministry and what He wants
- 9:56us to do, and He weighs nothing. He absolutely weighs nothing.
- 10:00And so I love that you are feeling that call.
- 10:03And then God clarified that for you and is now giving you
- 10:06another ministry. He's good at that.
- 10:09He is very good at that, absolutely.
- 10:11So you mentioned Psalm 23 and the fact that you're book about
- 10:16overflowing peace. It goes into Psalm 23 in a deep
- 10:20way. Can you talk about what made you
- 10:24write this book and also how you knew it was time to come out?
- 10:28Sure. Well, honestly, I love being a
- 10:31Bible teacher and author. I love speaking and and talking
- 10:36to people face to face. And so I really never aspired to
- 10:40be a writer because I'm such an extrovert.
- 10:44But my publisher came to me Lifeway, and they said, we
- 10:47really would like you to write down some of the messages that
- 10:51you're bringing to churches and to women.
- 10:54Because a book is a little missionary that can get to
- 10:57places that you can't feel that. I mean, Gina, you're in Ohio.
- 11:02Your listeners are all over, right?
- 11:04I'm in New Orleans and I might never get a chance to really
- 11:07meet you or talk to you face to face, but a book really can.
- 11:11It can get into the hands of anyone who has Amazon or a
- 11:14computer to order things or lifeway.com.
- 11:17And so I really prayed about that and felt like, OK, Lord,
- 11:21I'm going to take the step of obedience to write down some of
- 11:26the messages that I've been giving at churches.
- 11:28And so in 2023, I wrote down Overflowing Joy, which was my
- 11:34first book, and that walks through John chapter 15, verses
- 11:38that were so, so special to me, but also that I was teaching a
- 11:41lot in churches. And then in 2024 when that book
- 11:45came out, they came back to me and they said, OK, we want you
- 11:47to write another one. What's something else that
- 11:49you're talking about in churches?
- 11:50And I said Psalm 23. So the manuscript for Psalm 23
- 11:54was turned in in 2025, and it is now out in book form here in
- 11:592026. And what I love is that both of
- 12:02them walk verse by verse through these metaphors really, that
- 12:06Jesus gives us to help us understand what a true life in
- 12:11Him looks like. You know, so often we live in a
- 12:15joyless and peaceless world, but Jesus has, it doesn't have to be
- 12:20this way. I have come to give you life and
- 12:22life abundantly. He says in John 1010 and in John
- 12:2615 verse 11, he talks about us having a joy that's overflowing.
- 12:31And then in Psalm 23, it talks about our cups running over
- 12:35basically a life of overflowing peace.
- 12:38And so that's really where these two books came from, as those
- 12:41words in both John 15 and Psalm 23 that talk about just having a
- 12:46life that is overflowing and abundant, not because of things
- 12:51that we can do, but because of what God does in US.
- 12:54And so I often like to say the books kind of found me.
- 12:58I didn't go seeking them out what I was teaching at churches,
- 13:03but also this message that the publishers wanted to just be
- 13:07able to get into the hands tons of men and women that I wouldn't
- 13:09be able to serve otherwise. I love that.
- 13:14And like you said, a book. A book can reach so many
- 13:17different places. It's it's insane.
- 13:20Same with this podcast. I've told people that I sit in a
- 13:25room and a little room in North Canton.
- 13:27OH and the fact that it has reached over 79 different
- 13:32countries just blows my mind and I'm so grateful for each person
- 13:37who tunes in. And it's been.
- 13:39It's been such a fun ride for like 5 years.
- 13:43I love that. And it's, I don't know, it's
- 13:46just so much fun. And I'm, I'm, I'm an extrovert
- 13:49and a teacher as well. I'm starting to do speaking, so
- 13:53it's a new venue for me, a new venture.
- 13:56But yeah, just trying to learn how to have peace as you walk
- 13:59through each thing that God is calling you to.
- 14:02That's in a new season. I.
- 14:04Think that with with this book, I think that'll really help
- 14:07people as well. So what is the general setup of
- 14:12your book? So in the book, it's got 10
- 14:15chapters and each chapter walks through a different image that
- 14:20David uses in the 23rd Psalm that describes who our God is.
- 14:26So as we walk verse by verse, we're looking at these different
- 14:29images that are kind of familiar to us.
- 14:33But because we don't live in an Agricultural Society anymore,
- 14:37because we're not familiar with shepherds and sheep actually
- 14:41miss the truths that are tucked in it if we're not careful.
- 14:45So it is a very slow walk through Psalm 23 where we're
- 14:49looking at 10 different images that David uses in Psalm 23 to
- 14:55tell us about who our God is. And I talk a lot about shepherds
- 14:59and sheep and what they did and their nature and the instruments
- 15:02they use. Because otherwise, in 2026, we
- 15:06might miss some of those truths that are tucked into there
- 15:10because don't know, we're not shepherds.
- 15:12We don't live in fields with our sheep.
- 15:15So we miss these beautiful truths about God if we don't
- 15:20walk really slowly through it. But each chapter is short.
- 15:23It could be tacked on the end of a quiet time.
- 15:25It could be read in a carpool line.
- 15:27It could be read in the bathtub. It could be read over a lunch
- 15:30break. And then at the end of every
- 15:32chapter, there are some more verses that kind of go into that
- 15:36idea or that theme more. And then there's a couple of
- 15:39questions that you can either answer individually or you could
- 15:42answer with a group, like if you wanted to do it as a book club
- 15:45or a Bible study, where you could then go into those more of
- 15:48discussion questions with other ladies.
- 15:50So I really wrote it so that it would be very accessible and
- 15:54easy for people to read through, but also to understand these
- 15:58beautiful images of Psalm 23. So what was one or two of your
- 16:05favorite chapters to write? Oh my goodness, each one just
- 16:09blew my mind. But why don't we start at the
- 16:11beginning? Because the Lord is my shepherd.
- 16:15I have what I need. That's such a beautiful picture
- 16:19Because the word that David uses there for the Lord, it is the
- 16:23name for God, Yahweh. It is the covenant promise
- 16:27keeping God, name for God that he gave to his people.
- 16:30It's it signifies his Almighty nature, his omniscience, his
- 16:35omnipresence, his omnipotence. He is all powerful, He is all
- 16:39knowing, He is always with us. And David uses this powerful
- 16:43name for God and then says he's my shepherd.
- 16:47So it takes this beautiful picture of who our God is and
- 16:50says, but yet he's mine and he knows me.
- 16:54And he says, and because of that I have everything I need.
- 16:57I lack nothing, I shall not want.
- 17:01And and so it's beautiful because in Scripture, God calls
- 17:05himself the shepherd of his sheep over and over and over
- 17:08throughout the Old Testament. And then Jesus in the New
- 17:11Testament will say, I am the Good Shepherd, right?
- 17:14I laid down my life for the sheep.
- 17:16And so just this image about how the Lord is my shepherd is a
- 17:19perfect example of Jesus. He is the shepherd who lays down
- 17:24his life for his sheep and because of his care for them,
- 17:28they lack nothing. So the whole book starts there
- 17:31with talking about us as sheep and how we need a shepherd.
- 17:34But how then Jesus is our shepherd.
- 17:37And then I love verse 2 because this is a beautiful picture
- 17:41where it says he makes me lie down in green pastures.
- 17:45Now, sheep will never lie down to sleep if they're hungry or if
- 17:51they're scared. And so if a sheep lies down, you
- 17:55know they have a Good Shepherd who has cared for their very
- 17:59needs that day. And so when it says he makes me
- 18:02lie down in green pastures, we are reminded that the shepherd
- 18:06has provided food for their sheep and they're so full and so
- 18:11satisfied that they can lie down.
- 18:13We also know that they're not scared.
- 18:15They're not scared of predators attacking them.
- 18:18They're not scared of friction with other sheep, and they can
- 18:21just lie down and rest. And that's a perfect
- 18:24illustration for us of what our God does for us.
- 18:26He says in the book of John, I'm your daily bread.
- 18:30He has given us everything we need for that day.
- 18:34And just like the shepherd would provide green pastures for their
- 18:37sheep, Jesus provides for us everything that we need.
- 18:41But in addition, we can lie down and rest because He is God and
- 18:46we're not. We are not holding this whole
- 18:49world together. Praise the Lord.
- 18:50Praise the Lord we. Do not have it all together.
- 18:53We do not have, you know, all this power and all this energy.
- 18:57He's created us to rest and lie down at night.
- 19:02We can lay our head on the pillows knowing He's God and
- 19:06He's got it. And I don't have to be afraid,
- 19:09and I can sleep in perfect peace because he is my shepherd.
- 19:14And so Psalm 23 keeps going. We could look at the still
- 19:18waters. We could look at the rod.
- 19:19We could look at the staff. We could look at the paths of
- 19:21righteousness, the table, the oil.
- 19:24I mean, there are so many images in this Psalm that aren't just
- 19:28perfect parallels to who Jesus is.
- 19:32And because He is our Savior, we could have lives that overflow
- 19:37with peace. Amen.
- 19:39Absolutely. I am a water girl through and
- 19:42through. You're from New Orleans, so you
- 19:44understand that, Yes. So as soon as you said that, I
- 19:48was like, yes, we're going to talk about the quiet waters, our
- 19:51living water. So can you share a moment when
- 19:54God's peace is felt like that for you?
- 19:57Oh, absolutely. So the idea that the waters had
- 20:00to be quiet was really important for sheep because sheep were
- 20:04scared of loud noises. So if the water was rushing.
- 20:07They would be too scared and they'd be overwhelmed and they
- 20:10would not drink. But in addition, if the waters
- 20:13were too stagnant, sheep can go to those but then be poisoned by
- 20:18the algae and the bacteria that has grown in those stagnant
- 20:21waters. Shepherd has to lead the sheep
- 20:25to quiet waters or waters that are trickling but slow.
- 20:29That's the perfect water for them.
- 20:31My husband calls it Goldilocks water.
- 20:33It's not, it's not too slow. It's just right.
- 20:38And I think you and I can can think about our lives and we can
- 20:42think about sometimes the rushingness of our lives and
- 20:45the, the loudness of social media and TV and news articles
- 20:50and podcasts that, you know, that are that just fill our mind
- 20:53with worry. That can be really overwhelming
- 20:56to us, right? And I think This is why our
- 20:59country's having a mental health crisis, because there is just
- 21:02all this noise and loudness all around that sometimes we want to
- 21:07retreat to things that are poisonous to us.
- 21:11We have an overwhelming amount of drugs and alcohol use in our
- 21:14country right now where people are trying to drown out the
- 21:17noise and they're using things that are poisonous to them and
- 21:22not what God wants. And he says, come to me and you
- 21:26will never thirst again, right? I give you living water.
- 21:30I give you sweet water. That's another way that that
- 21:34that phrase can be used. But just like a shepherd would
- 21:37lead the sheep to water that was not too loud, but also not
- 21:41poisonous for them, that's what our God does for us.
- 21:45He doesn't want us to be consumed by the noises of this
- 21:48world and he doesn't want us to drown out everything with poison
- 21:52to our souls. He wants us to come to Him and
- 21:55get a water that truly will satisfy us and be living to our
- 22:00souls. And so, yeah, Chapter 3 is all
- 22:03about the living water and that He gives to us, that we will
- 22:07have everything we need. Absolutely.
- 22:10And I love how the verses in John when he encounters the
- 22:14Samaritan woman at the well, I love how well those correlate
- 22:18together that you can kind of, you can bring that those two
- 22:21verses together. And she she went there because
- 22:26that was the still the day that was where it was peaceful
- 22:30because she didn't want to hear judgment from other people.
- 22:33And so that's when you were talking about ways that you can
- 22:36retreat that are not the greatest, or you can find a way
- 22:38to retreat in God when that noise is too much.
- 22:42Yep, that's exactly right. I love the Samaritan woman
- 22:46that's in John chapter 4 and it's it's neat because we're it
- 22:51uses the word Javier, which is somebody that carries water with
- 22:57you. And when she had no friends,
- 22:59that means she had no Javier's no one to carry water with.
- 23:03She was so alone. And you're right, she went in
- 23:05the middle of the day, which was never when the women went to
- 23:08draw a wire because she didn't have any friends and she didn't
- 23:11want to be around other people that would talk to her about the
- 23:14four husbands she's had, the one boyfriend she's living with now
- 23:18and about her past. And yet the only thing she
- 23:21brings to the well that day was her water jar.
- 23:23And that's the very thing she leaves when Jesus explains who
- 23:27he is to her. And then she runs to all the
- 23:30people she didn't want to be around and said, come meet the
- 23:32man who told me everything I ever did.
- 23:36Love it because she was the first missionary.
- 23:38She was the 1st who brought people to Jesus.
- 23:41And what I love about John is he says, and some believe because
- 23:44of what she said, but men or believed after they met him,
- 23:49they're living there. And I love that because that's
- 23:52who our God is. He wants us to come to him and
- 23:55be nourished and refreshed. And that's what he gave to that
- 23:59woman at the well that day. So it's just such a good story,
- 24:03Gina. It really is.
- 24:05And I think that the chosen brought it so well to life for
- 24:10those of us who are visual people that to see her running
- 24:15off crying and saying all that and then, yes, leaving the water
- 24:18a joke behind. And they're like, I wonder if
- 24:20she'll need that Jesus is all smiling.
- 24:24And, you know, or Jonathan Romney playing Jesus is all
- 24:26smiling. And it was just the perfect
- 24:30picture of this. Yes, absolutely.
- 24:33She she had found everything she had been looking for.
- 24:37Absolutely. So you talked a little bit about
- 24:42the noise of the world and the the mental health crises and
- 24:47some of the things that are going on.
- 24:49So let's talk about the peace in the dark valleys.
- 24:53Yeah, yeah. Ari Manuel, let's talk about
- 24:55that. Number one, the promise of God
- 24:59being with us and also an encouragement that you would
- 25:01have for people walking that. Absolutely.
- 25:04So this is perhaps the most quoted Bible verse in all of the
- 25:08Bible. It's what's read at funerals.
- 25:11We we know this verse. But what I love about Psalm 23
- 25:14is it's actually a Psalm for those who are living.
- 25:17It is a way to live. And verse 4, where it says even
- 25:22when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, David
- 25:26was referring to a real place, a real place that shepherds would
- 25:30have to walk between the upper pastures and the lower pastures.
- 25:34It's a real place in Israel that to this day at noon time,
- 25:38there's no sunshine. There's no sunshine for 24 hours
- 25:41a day in this valley. And this valley was scary for
- 25:44shepherds because as they were walking their sheep from the
- 25:46upper pastures to the lower pastures, predators could be
- 25:51lurking in the crevices. Enemies could try to attack
- 25:54them. And it was a place that they had
- 25:57to walk through to get from those pastures to the green
- 26:01pastures. And what I love is that David
- 26:06would have walked with his sheep many times through this valley
- 26:09of the shadow of death. But yet he says now my God has
- 26:14done that for me. And even when I walk through
- 26:17that valley, you're with me. And there's a beautiful change
- 26:21that happens right there in that verse because it goes from
- 26:24talking about the Lord and this third person to now you.
- 26:30You are with me. Your rod, your staff, they come
- 26:34for me. You prepare a table.
- 26:36So there's this shift that David makes from talking about the
- 26:39Lord to bringing him really nearby and saying you are there
- 26:43with me. And I think it's such a reminder
- 26:46for us. Two things that I really want to
- 26:47say here. Number one, you are going to get
- 26:51through that valley. It doesn't say when I stand in
- 26:54the valley of the shadow of death, right?
- 26:56Or when I stay in the valley. No, these shepherds knew they
- 27:00were walking through it. And sometimes when we're going
- 27:03through a dark valley, it can seem like it lasts forever.
- 27:06But I want to bless you. You will get through it.
- 27:10It's not going to be like this forever.
- 27:12There is sunlight coming, there is joy coming, there is peace
- 27:18coming, right? I love the verse that even says,
- 27:21you know, even though there's mourning and weeping in the
- 27:24night, joy comes in the morning. And that's just such a reminder
- 27:28you will get through whatever valley you're going through.
- 27:32The other thing that it says is even though I walk through the
- 27:35valley, this is not sometimes going to be something that
- 27:38happens immediately. It's not a Sprint.
- 27:40It's not something that you run through.
- 27:42It's not something that you try harder to just get out of.
- 27:45Because there are lessons that the Good Shepherd teaches us
- 27:50when we are walking through those times.
- 27:54And so know this about your Shepherd.
- 27:58You can have peace because he is with you.
- 28:02And those words for you are with me is the climax of all of Psalm
- 28:0723. The verses that lead are go up
- 28:10before it are like leading up one side of a ladder.
- 28:13And then those words for you are with me are like the top of the
- 28:16ladder. And then the other verses come
- 28:18down from it and said is the crux of the whole Psalm.
- 28:23And we can get through the valleys because he's with us.
- 28:27Yeah, We can lie down and rest in those green pastures because
- 28:31he's with us. We can sit at a table in the
- 28:33presence of our enemies because he's with us.
- 28:36This is his omnipresence, meaning God is fully present
- 28:41everywhere with you. So whether you're in the car or
- 28:45whether you're in your bathroom, or whether you're in your
- 28:48workplace or your neighborhood, God is with you.
- 28:52And those words change everything.
- 28:54We can have peace, not because of our circumstances, but
- 28:58because of his presence. We can have peace because we
- 29:02have Jesus. And that's why Jesus would say,
- 29:06and John, you know, in this world, you will have trouble,
- 29:09but take heart. I've overcome the world.
- 29:13My peace I give to you. And, and honestly, we think of
- 29:18peace as like the absence of struggles or the absence of
- 29:21sorrow or the absence of trials. But that's what the Bible says.
- 29:27The Bible says even when you are walking in that valley, you can
- 29:31have peace because he's with you.
- 29:33Even when this world has trouble, you can have peace
- 29:35because Jesus is with you, right?
- 29:37So it just changes everything. Absolutely.
- 29:42I love. That so much.
- 29:44That's such a just a beautiful reminder and I never thought of
- 29:49it that way with Psalm 23, that it's like an up and then an over
- 29:54and then a down. I never thought of it that way.
- 29:56So that's a brand new way of thinking about it.
- 29:59It's beautiful. And I didn't know that until I
- 30:01really started studying and diving in deep, taking the slow
- 30:05walk through each of these verses because it it just is so
- 30:11beautiful how David writes it. And you know, a shepherd is the
- 30:15only occupation that lives with their animals.
- 30:19If you think about cattle, they don't have a farmer that lives
- 30:22with them in the field since they don't have a rancher that
- 30:26lives with them in the field, but shepherds do.
- 30:29They live with their sheep, they eat with their sheep, they sleep
- 30:32with their sheep because sheep are so defenseless otherwise.
- 30:37That's our God. He never leaves us.
- 30:40He never forsakes us. We can have comfort because He
- 30:45is with us. And that's such a beautiful
- 30:48thing about our God that is so different than the other gods of
- 30:53this world, right? With a little G, right?
- 30:56They're not omnipresent, but our God is.
- 31:00Absolutely. So I have loved this discussion
- 31:04in diving more into Psalm 23, also getting to learn more about
- 31:07you and just all the different things that we got to talk about
- 31:12today. Also, you want to talk about
- 31:16what is coming in 2027? So in 28, overflowing love will
- 31:23come out every two years. Overflowing joy was 2024,
- 31:28overflowing peace is 2026, and then overflowing love will come
- 31:33out in 2028 but also in 2027. Yes, a Bible study on the fruit
- 31:39of the Spirit will be coming out from Lifeway and just learning
- 31:43what does it mean to walk in the Spirit and grow in the likeness
- 31:48of God? How can we as His followers show
- 31:52and display Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
- 31:56faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
- 31:58So yeah, a couple of things happening down the pipeline,
- 32:01which is so exciting and just yet another way that I get to
- 32:04serve women, especially around the world.
- 32:08So I pray God's blessings if you happen to read or do any of
- 32:12those on you. I love it and I can't wait to
- 32:15have discussions about it closer to time.
- 32:18So that would be great. Yeah, Tara, where can people
- 32:21find you? So if you're on Facebook, I have
- 32:24a Facebook author page. It's just my name, Tara Doo DEW,
- 32:28like Mountain Dew with a little hyphen and then Bible teacher
- 32:32and author. And on that Facebook page, I
- 32:35will post podcast or worship songs or articles or just things
- 32:40that encourage me as well as my speaking schedule.
- 32:43And that way if I'm coming near a town near you, maybe I could
- 32:46meet you. So if you're on Facebook, please
- 32:48look up that author page, Tara Do, Bible teacher and author.
- 32:52In addition, our seminary website, which is New Orleans
- 32:56Seminary. You can look that up and find
- 32:58information about my husband and I, our podcast together and also
- 33:03where maybe we'll be speaking together or he'll be speaking.
- 33:06So whether on Facebook or on New Orleans Seminary, you can find
- 33:10out more information about both of us.
- 33:13Awesome. Thank you again so much.
- 33:15What is the last piece of encouragement you want to leave
- 33:18people with today? I would remind you no matter
- 33:21where you are, no matter how exhausted or anxious or frenzied
- 33:27you might find yourself in, I would want to remind you that
- 33:32you have a very Good Shepherd. His name is Jesus and He loves
- 33:37you so much. He is with you.
- 33:40He will provide for you, He is faithful and He will guide you
- 33:45to green pastures because He is for you.
- 33:50So be reminded of His love and His care for you today.
- 33:54It has been a blessing to be here with you.
- 33:57Thank you so much again and guys have a great week and I'll talk
- 34:00to you next episode. Thank you so much for joining me
- 34:03for this episode, The Anchor by the Sore podcast.
- 34:06I pray that. The story that you.
- 34:07Heard Today will encourage your faith, challenge your faith, and
- 34:11also help you as you walk in your daily life.
- 34:15If this episode has done that, please.
- 34:16Feel free to leave. A five star rating and review.
- 34:19Wherever. You listen to this podcast so
- 34:22that others can find it and grow as well.
- 34:24Have a blessed week and I'll talk to you next episode.