Psalms 23 & Testimony

Psalms 23
1 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The above mentioned Psalms is one of my favourite scripture in the Bible. What attracted me to this verse is the very first verse. As I meditated on the above mentioned Psalms; especially on the first verse, I had a rough idea of what it meant but I was not too sure. However, after a period of time, I finally took out the Strongest Strong Concordance to find out what does the word “want” really means.

I do have a rough idea of what “want” means in that context but I just want to make sure that I am 100% correct. Finally, I took out my Concordance to check out, what it really meant.

After checking up the Concordance, I have actually realized that the word, “want” (in Hebrew); actually have a number of meanings to it… They are as follow: “to lack”; to have nothing, to go down, recede; to make lower; to deprive; to cause lack, withhold:- want; lack; fail; abated; bereave; have need; made lower, had lack; decrease; cause to fail…

After getting the meaning to this word makes the entire Scripture more meaningful to me; especially for the verse after it… “2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,”

Why green pastures? Ever seen a patch of land which is green? I mean during the period when I was with my previous Company, very often, I have this word, Green, coming into my mind. As I prayed and asked for the actual meaning, the following definitions came into my mind. Green – represents freshness; refreshing; calmness; go ahead; health; to move on; brighter; fruitfulness; full of life!

This is really exciting because it makes the entire meaning to this Psalms more interesting!

I really thank God for this revelation. Without this, I would not have known more. I should really read more and look up into the Concordance more often. I plea guilty for not using the materials I possess and if I had used it earlier, I’d have better understanding to what I had learnt in 2003 – 2004.

Anyway, what’s past is already past. I need to look forward because Ecclesiastes 7: 10 says this “Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.”

I am really astonished at what God have put into place in the Bible. This book is filled with so many ideas, wisdom and strategy in life. What makes the Bible different from any other books is this. The Bible is still applicable to anyone and everyone in this world. Even the Best Selling Books on Leadership/ Business etc, will find their roots in the Bible IF only one reads it with the help of His Holy Spirit.

God is indeed true and real. I am not saying it because God have been real great to me. I am saying that He is true and real because He is always faithful; yes, even when I am unfaithful. He still shows that He cares for me.

He cares so much for me that He knows my future, my desires, the problems I am facing, the problems I will face and more. He knows how many strands of hair I have on my head and He is the One who numbers my days. In fact, He is not only good to me but He is also good to every human on earth; both believers and non-believers!

It just really intrigues me when some scientists say that we are a product of evolution. We evolved from some organic structure and after millions and trillions of years, we are who we are. The most amazing of all is that, they claimed that there are no more of evolution at all, since we have already evolved into humans. Anyway, shall not go into that at the moment.

Last week, I was presented a very pleasant surprise. I was called into the office of my Senior District Manager and he presented me with a sum of money, written on a cheque. I mean, I am still not contracted with the Company and I have not been earning a single cent since my dismissal from my previous Company, In fact, I am running on the negative but God provided for me through him.

That’s not all. On top of the cash given to me, I was given another sum of money by my parents. My parents knew about the cheque that was given to me. They were, of course happy for me but they still gave me more money.

The cash really came in time for me. This is because I almost forgot that I need to pay my education loans of about S$210 in total and I still need to pay off my insurance next month. Surely, He provided me with more than what I expected!

I really pray that the days of lack are coming to an end. I do not want to borrow money or even make loans. If everything goes on well on the 26 July 2007, I will be contracted to the Company and I really look forward for the blessings of God to come into my life. I know I will pass my final test this coming Thursday, not because of my intelligence, cleverness or whatever. I will pass, simply because I have done my part in studying and I now rely upon Him!