THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume I
March 2006
Number 5
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Psalms 96:2
THE Twenty Third Psalm
BY:
Jack Goff
This Psalm was written
by David when he was king of Israel. Back when he was a boy about seven years
old, according to the tradition of the Jews, his father took over his education
and taught him a trade, that of being a shepherd, so he spent his boyhood and
youth tending sheep. In writing this Psalm, he puts himself in the place of the
sheep and writes from that perspective.
[The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want] I can trust the
Shepherd to take care of me, I belong to Him, and He loves me, He will furnish
my every need.
[He maketh me to lie down in green pastures] The Shepherd
knows I will be restless and cannot sleep if there is nothing for me to eat
when I get up in the morning, so at the edge of dark, He takes us on a little
distance where the grass has not been picked over, and beds us down there for
the night.
[He leadeth me beside the still water] The Shepherd knows that
I am easily strangled if the water is rough. I cannot close my nose as a horse
or cow can do. So I need a smooth place in the stream to drink.
[He restoreth my soul] When I awake in the morning, always in
a strange place, I see the Shepherd and go to Him, He rubs my head, pats my
back, gives me every assurance He is still here to watch over me.
[HE LEADETH ME IN THE
PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR HIS NAMES SAKE] I am sure He will not lead me
astray. He will lead me to the high meadows where the grass is green and lush,
not where the wolf or bear or lion might hide. He is accountable to His Father,
my owner.
[YEA THOUGH I WALK
THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH] The narrow valley that leads to the
high meadows is a cleft between two towering rocks that almost come together
high up, so the sun can never reach the floor of the valley.
[I WILL FEAR NO EVIL]
There are cracks, holes, and caves in the gloom of this valley but I am not
afraid.
[FOR THOU ART WITH ME]
As long as the Shepherd is near we will be safe no matter what we may come
upon.
[THY ROD AND THY STAFF
THEY COMFORT ME] I know that with your club you can kill the lion or bear or
any man or beast that threatens us that your walking staff that has the
Shepherd’s crook, will fit behind my front legs and you will be able to lift me
out of any hole or crack I might fall into.
[THOU PREPAREST A TABLE
BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES] You go before me and clear the
poison weeds that grow in the high meadows placing them out of my reach atop
the large rocks scattered there. The weeds dry and die where I cannot get to
them.
[THOU ANOINTEST MY HEAD
WITH OIL] The medicated oil used keeps any fleas, ticks, or other biting
insects away.
[MY CUP RUNNETH OVER]
This cup has medicine in it, with my nose put to the bottom, the fluid will
come up to my eyes and will keep away the thirsty flies that always swarm in
this desert country trying to get the life giving moisture from my mouth, nose,
and eyes.
[SURELY GOODNESS AND
MERCY WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAY OF MY LIFE] I will always live in the care and
protection of my Shepherd, so I will have a full life.
[AND I WILL LIVE IN THE
HOUSE OF THE LORD FOR EVER] At the end of life’s day, the Shepherd will take me
home to dwell in His sheepfold forever. Jesus says in John 10:11, “I am the good
shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” Then in John 10:14 He says, “I am the
good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.”
Jesus laid down His life
for you! Whose sheep are you?
—
The Editor’s Page
When we hear the name
Jonah, we are reminded of his disobedience and subsequent encounter with the
great fish. And yet, there is more to Jonah’s story than being in the belly of
a fish for three days and three nights. I speak of Jonah’s reaction to God’s
decision to spare Nineveh after Jonah had preached “Yet forty days, and
Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah
3:4)
At Jonah’s preaching,
the people of Nineveh from the king down, repented in sackcloth and ashes. “Then
God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented
from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do
it” (Jonah 3:10).
God’s decision to spare
Nineveh reveals a side of Jonah that is both surprising and disturbing. It is
surprising that a preacher would be upset with a successful response to his
sermon. It is disturbing that he appears to want something bad to happen to the
Ninevites. (Jonah 4:1-2)
However, when we think
about it, Jonah’s reaction is not as rare as we might think. It is what I shall
call the ‘Jonah Syndrome’. I feel I should put a disclaimer in at this point.
Any resemblance to yourself or anyone you may know is entirely intentional.
It is obvious that from
the beginning Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. This could have been because
of Jewish prejudice or some other such thing. He says that he knew God was not
going to destroy Nineveh and therefore, his going there was a waste of time
being that God was a merciful God. But, does this explain his anger being so
great that he wants to die? Read on.
Reading Jonah’s prayer
recorded in chapter two gives a little insight into what he suffered in the
fish’s belly. He was at the point of death but could not die. The physical pain
was no doubt terrible. However, his mental anguish was equivalent to being
forsaken by God. His was a horrible state of affairs for three days and three
nights.
He is set free and
preaches to the Ninevites. What does God do? He gives them a pardon. After
Jonah had suffered three days and nights in the fish's belly, the Ninevites get
off Scott free.
Can’t you hear Jonah’s
thoughts? Someone is going to pay for what I have been through. It is not fair
for those who caused me so much pain to get away with such meanness. I am going
to sit here, watch, and wait for God to give them their just due. I will not be
happy until I see them suffer.
Jonah syndrome afflicts
the heart and destroys the soul. Do you suffer from Jonah syndrome?
WHO ARE WE?! (2)
Life is not easy for
anyone. It is especially not easy for
those who desire to live a life of righteousness. The devil will do all in his power to disrupt
and destroy the righteous life. He will
assail us from without and he will assail us from within. “So I find it to be a law that when I want
to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my
inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of
my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be
to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God
with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin” (Romans 7:21-25 ESV).
The ‘war’ that exists
between the inward man and the fleshly man does not excuse man from his
sins. The childish excuse, “It’s not my
fault, he made me do it” is just that; an excuse that does not excuse behavior. God created us in His image giving us free
will. This free will affords us the
ability to make choices between actions we take. Mother Eve could have refused to take from
the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis
3:6). Joshua knew that the
children of Israel had freedom of choice, because he admonished them to choose
to follow Jehovah (Joshua 24:15). The writer of Hebrews shamed Christians who
had not grown in the knowledge of the Lord after the appropriate time had
elapsed. His purpose was to emphasize
the need to be spiritually mature having one’s senses exercised to be able to
discern good from evil (Hebrews 5:14).
The most prevalent sin
committed by man is the failure to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). This is a direct result of man’s inability,
or unwillingness, to keep his fleshly man [emotions] under the control of his
inner man [intellect]. Jesus proclaimed
that those who were taught by the Father would come to Him (John 6:45). Christians are a taught people who understand
that serving the law of Christ with their mind is the only way to keep the
fleshly man under control. Their example
is none other than the Lord Jesus Himself.
The Lord took on a body of flesh that He might experience the human
condition and in so doing the Hebrew writer says, … (He) “was in all points
tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews
4:15). The Lord’s example is
the example of self-control. Self-control is where the mental state [intellect
of man] is in control of the physical state [fleshly appetites]. The Lord’s self-control was perfect, i.e.
without flaw [without sin]. His physical
body tempted Him and caused Him much suffering as it did in the garden the
night of His betrayal, but He never gave in to its physical lusts.
To be continued
The Last Word
####################
WHAT MUST I DO
Hear: Rom
Believe: Heb 11:6
Repent: Lk 13:5; Ac 17:30
Confess: Matt
Be Baptized: Ac
TO BE SAVED?
###################
FAMILY MATTERS
RADIO PROGRAM:
The Pound church
has expanded its work with the beginning of Walking By Faith radio
program. Walking By Faith will air each Sunday at 9 a.m. over WDXC,
102.3 FM radio station. We who are the Pound church need to get behind this
effort and get the word out to our friends and neighbors. The larger the
audience the more who will hear the gospel. We can make a difference in our
community. Never forget, if we labor lawfully, God will give the increase. Pray
that God will bless this effort.
HOME BIBLE STUDIES:
Just a reminder
that we need to be thinking about establishing home Bible studies now that the
winter weather is subsiding. Not only will this effort give an opportunity to
study with the lost, it will strengthen those who open their homes for these
studies. There awaits a blessing for those who participate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Pound church web site = www.poundchurchofchrist.org/
The Pound Proclaimer is published
monthly by the Pound church of Christ 9517A Orby Cantrell Hwy. Pound, VA
24279
— All articles by
the editor unless otherwise stated
— Editor: Glen
Young
— Phone: 276-796-5767=Office
— 276-796-7401=Home
— Time of Services
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— Assembly—11 am
— Assembly—6 pm
— Wednesday: Bible
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— e-mail: gyoung47@ntelos.net or gyoung47@poundchurchofchrist.org
— All questions or
comments regarding the content of this bulletin should be directed to the
editor. He may be reached at the e-mail given above or at P. O. Box 802 Pound,
VA 24279-0802.
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