Participants: Mike and Gayle Tucker
Series Code: MGH
Program Code: MGH000090B
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00:01 We're back.
00:02 We are using Psalm 23 as a pattern 00:05 for pray for our spouse 00:06 and we have found out that there are two petitions 00:09 that we have covered this far, seven in the entire Psalms. 00:12 But the first two petitions are to be my God 00:15 and give me rest. 00:16 And so I pray for you that He will be your God, 00:18 be your shepherd, 00:19 and that He will grant you rest. 00:21 But now what's the third petition? 00:23 Well, let's pick up with verse 3 at Psalms 23, 00:26 it says, "He restores my soul." 00:28 This version actually says, "He restores my life." 00:30 Yeah, and that basically 00:32 that next request is simply heal me. 00:35 That's the first part of verse 3, heal me. 00:37 You know, if you are ill physically, 00:40 you feel like your life has been taken, 00:42 your life has been stolen. 00:44 Chronic illness is especially, severe illnesses. 00:46 You don't have the ability to get out and do things 00:50 and to be active 00:51 and to interact with other people, 00:54 you don't have the ability 00:55 some times to care for yourselves, 00:57 and you feel like your life is gone. 01:00 So if I pray for you, restore his life, 01:03 Lord, heal him, give him the healing 01:06 that he needs in a spiritual ways 01:09 and in physical ways. 01:11 And some of the healing is physical 01:12 as we have just mentioned, 01:14 but some of it is emotional healing, 01:16 psychological healing. 01:18 But there is also a need for spiritual healing as well. 01:20 And I don't know exactly what that means for everyone, 01:23 it's a different story for every person, 01:25 may be that they need forgiveness for their own, 01:27 their own lives, 01:28 or may be they need an infusion of God's grace 01:30 so that they can forgive others. 01:32 But God knows what's best, 01:34 and so here this doesn't tell God how to heal, 01:37 it just says, Lord, restores life. 01:39 Restore his life, you know, 01:41 heal him from resentment, from fear, 01:45 from physical ailment, from any thing 01:48 that may keep him from being whole. 01:50 Right. 01:52 Give him his life. Right. 01:53 Now, next petition is found on the second half of verse 3, 01:56 read that for us. 01:57 It says, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness," 02:00 or "He leads me in correct paths", 02:02 according to this version, "For the sake of his name." 02:05 All right, now again, we are asking now for guidance. 02:09 So the petition is guide me, or guide my spouse, 02:14 be my spouse's guide. 02:16 Now, in the east shepherds lead their sheep 02:20 and in the west we drive them. 02:22 Behind them with whistles and dogs or whatever else, 02:25 you know, we drive the sheep. 02:26 But in the east the shepherd leads the sheep 02:28 and the sheep know the shepherd's voice, 02:30 he sings to them, he speaks to them, 02:32 and they follow him wherever he leads. 02:34 And even if they go along a narrow pathway, 02:36 they will trust him 02:38 and they will go wherever he follows 02:39 because the know the shepherd 02:41 as their are best good at heart. 02:43 And he will sing, he will call to them 02:45 and they will come. 02:47 It's described that when he walks the sheep will, 02:50 its especially when there is a narrow pathway, 02:52 they'll push ahead and get up and nuzzle his leg, 02:55 and he will reach down and pet and call that sheep by name, 02:58 because he knows each one by name. 03:00 Thus being reassured that they fall back in line 03:02 and the next one will come up for attention as well. 03:04 There's an intimate picture of the shepherd and the sheep; 03:07 he leads. 03:08 And if God is leading you, 03:10 if you are being led by the master shepherd 03:12 by Jesus himself, 03:13 wherever He lead you are goanna be okay. 03:14 That's right. 03:16 And you only develop that by time with the shepherd. 03:18 Yes, yeah. 03:20 So that's part of a prayer too, 03:21 it's this my spouse can be with the shepherd enough, 03:26 that he knows him, you know. 03:28 But the last part of this petition, 03:30 "He leads me in paths of righteousness 03:32 for His name sake." 03:34 Now that's important because of this, 03:37 the reason He will lead you 03:38 when you ask for it is not because of you, 03:41 not because you are of your merit, 03:43 not because you are good enough to deserve being led, 03:46 or not because you pleased Him. 03:48 He will lead you because He has promised you, 03:51 and He will always be faithful to His name. 03:54 He will respect His own name. 03:57 And so it's saying lead me not because I deserve it, 04:01 but for the honor of your own name, 04:03 be faithful to your name. 04:04 I have people come to me say, Pastor, please for me. 04:07 So I'll be happy to pray for you. 04:08 Now you are praying for yourself? 04:10 Well, yes, but you are closer to God, 04:11 he will hear your prayer. 04:13 Well, that's just a misunderstanding. 04:15 It is. 04:16 God will answer your prayer not because of my goodness 04:19 or because of your goodness, 04:21 He will answer for His own name sake, 04:23 and that's something is far more dependable 04:25 then my goodness, your goodness, 04:27 because either one of us, 04:28 the best way are is not all that good. 04:30 No, it's not that good. 04:31 It's not that good. 04:33 But God is always good. 04:35 And if we depend upon His name, which He will always honor, 04:39 He will always honor His own name, 04:41 then we can trust Him and He will lead us, 04:44 He will answer our prayers. 04:45 I think another beautiful part of that is that it says 04:48 that He will lead us in the paths of righteousness, 04:50 and when you study the word righteousness 04:53 in the original language, its is a word of relationship. 04:56 Right relationship. Right relationship. 04:59 So it's saying that He is goanna lead you 05:02 not just into doing all the right things, 05:04 with good behavior, 05:05 we tended to think righteousness is good behavior. 05:07 No, He's going to lead you into relationship with Him. 05:12 And for His name sake He will do that, 05:14 because that's what He has promised to do, 05:16 because He loves you so dearly 05:18 and He want you to be close to Him in relationship. 05:19 And by the way, 05:21 that's where genuine good behavior comes from. 05:22 Oh, yeah. 05:24 It's right relationship. It is. 05:25 That's where the changes are made. 05:27 The next one is in verse 4, he says, "Keep me safe. 05:31 Even though I walk 05:33 through the valley of the shadow of death 05:34 I will fear no evil for you are with me, 05:36 your rod and your staff, they comfort me." 05:39 The valley and the shadow. 05:41 Yeah, you know, in the summers, 05:43 the shepherds in the East would take their sheep 05:45 up to the high mesas. 05:47 It was cooler, there was plenty of grass, 05:50 there is no large vegetation or boulders or anything 05:54 for predators to hide behind. 05:56 The days were long, there were no shadows 05:58 because it was on the top of the mesa, 06:00 so nothing to cast a shadow, long days, 06:02 plenty of light, plenty of grass, 06:05 and it was cool, it was sheep heaven. 06:07 Sheep heaven. 06:08 That's right, that's where they wanted to be. 06:10 Yeah, but winter was not heaven. 06:11 No. 06:13 And it seems odd that in winter instead of staying up 06:15 where it might be warmer, they actually came down, 06:19 and they came down because you know, 06:21 they couldn't be up there in the cold 06:23 where there was nothing to eat up there either. 06:25 The grass was thin up there, 06:26 they had to come down to the valleys where could eat. 06:29 They could eat down there. 06:30 But you have shorter days in the winter. 06:32 And there are mountains on either side, 06:34 there is larger vegetation and boulders, 06:36 place is for predators to hide. 06:38 It was called by shepherds the valley, 06:40 the shadow of death, 06:42 the valley, of shadow of death. 06:44 And so that's where you would loose the sheep, 06:45 not on the high mesa, 06:47 but every sheep had to go through the valley, 06:50 the shadow of death. 06:51 I think we need to hear that. Yes. 06:53 Every sheep had to go through that, 06:55 every couple is going to go through times 06:59 when it feels like the valley of the shadow of death, 07:01 whether it's because they feel distance from each other, 07:04 or may be the two of them 07:06 are going through a circumstance of life 07:07 that it's just very difficult. 07:08 Right. 07:10 May be there is an illness, 07:11 may be there is a death of a child, 07:13 may be there is, you know, who knows what, financial ruin. 07:16 Doesn't matter. 07:17 It is always the valley of shadow, 07:19 the shadow of death. 07:21 And he is... 07:23 we have no need to fear 07:24 when we are in the valley of the shadow of death 07:26 because He is with us. 07:27 It says His rod, yours rod and your staff they comfort me. 07:31 You got the rod and the staff, 07:33 the rod was usually either a straight stick 07:35 or else it was a stick 07:36 with a kind of a gnarled part of wood on it, 07:39 and it was used mainly for protection 07:42 and it would fend off wild animals, you know. 07:45 And if it was a longer, just straight stick, 07:49 sometimes that was used for correction for the sheep. 07:51 You know, to get them back in line 07:53 sort of thing, you know. 07:54 So protection and correction. 07:56 But the staff with the shepherds crook, 08:00 and they would use for rescue, 08:02 pull the sheep out underneath those front legs 08:05 if it and pull up to safety of some sort, 08:07 fall in a ravine or something. 08:10 So we have protection, correction, and rescue, 08:14 I need all of those. 08:15 All of those, all of the time. Yes. 08:18 You know, so, Lord, give Mike what he needs in that record, 08:22 you can pray that for your spouse, 08:23 give my spouse what they need, correction, 08:26 you know, protection, all of those things. 08:27 A rescue if he needs to be rescued. 08:29 Oh, and how many times do we need to be rescued? 08:31 Constantly. 08:32 So you can pray for your spouse, 08:34 you can pray for yourselves as a couple 08:36 who need to be rescued. 08:37 Right. 08:39 Sometimes we are just rescued from ourselves. 08:40 Whatever it is. 08:42 But we need to be rescued, do we not, from our own pride, 08:45 our own arrogance, our own feeling of sufficiency? 08:48 And we can't do it, 08:49 that's the thing, we are not sufficient 08:51 and so we put it in the hands of the one who is. 08:53 There is only one who has the power to rescue me, 08:56 to redeem me, to see me through to the other side. 08:59 That's right. 09:01 The next petition, it is provide for me, verse 5, 09:04 you wanna read that? 09:05 Verse 5 says, "You prepare a table 09:08 in the presence of my oppressors" 09:10 or "in the presence of my enemies, 09:12 You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs overflowing." 09:15 Wow. 09:16 "You prepare a table for me." 09:18 Now, before a shepherd wouldn't allow his sheep 09:20 to graze in a field that he was not familiar with, 09:23 he would cause them to lie down, 09:25 and then he would go through that field 09:27 on his hands and knees. 09:28 And he would remove sharp stones, 09:31 he would remove a sharp briers, 09:34 and pull out noxious weeds, 09:36 and basically he would get this area 09:38 ready for his sheep to graze safely. 09:41 And that process of removing those things 09:43 was known by the shepherds as preparing the table. 09:45 Preparing the table. 09:47 So the picture is of the Savior going before you... 09:50 On his hands and knees. 09:52 Yeah, preparing the way for you 09:53 so that you can have that what you need. 09:55 God prepare the way for my spouse, 09:58 I know he may be coming into something 10:00 that may be difficult, but, Lord, 10:03 prepare the way, get rid of all the obstacles, 10:05 get rid of anything that might harm him. 10:08 That's a beautiful prayer. 10:10 You know, I want you praying that for me. 10:11 Absolutely. 10:13 Anything that might harm me would be taken away 10:15 because of the love of my God. 10:17 And what a comfort for me to know 10:18 that my wife is praying that for me, 10:21 what a comfort, and what a privilege for me 10:24 to be able to pray that prayer for you. 10:26 Prepare the table for Gayle, Lord. 10:29 Take those things out of her way that could hurt her, 10:30 that could stand as an impediment to her best good. 10:35 So it says, You prepare a table for me, 10:37 you have anointed my head with oil. 10:39 The anointing oil was used to signify 10:42 that someone was set aside for special purposes, 10:45 and so you have set aside for... 10:47 set my spouse aside for special purposes, 10:51 and let that oil be 10:52 the representation of the Holy Spirit 10:54 that is just covering my spouse, 10:56 so that they are enabled, novel, 10:58 and quick and for service. 11:00 And my cup overflows, we have more than what we need. 11:03 More than what we need, if we would recognize that, 11:05 you know, and just acknowledge to God, 11:08 surely we are asking for a lot of things. 11:10 But I think the acknowledgement to Him 11:13 that we realize He has given us more than we need, 11:17 we are over flowing with gifts from His hand, 11:20 and yet we're asking for few more. 11:22 We don't wanted to ever stop, 11:23 but we were grateful that we have it. 11:25 A father doesn't mind when his child ask for a lot. 11:27 He does not. 11:29 Verse 6 is the last petition, and that is take me home, 11:32 "Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me 11:35 all the days of my life" some translations say 11:37 "mercy will follow me all the days of my life 11:39 and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." 11:41 Take Me Home. 11:43 Now dwelling the house of Lord forever, 11:44 few grow up in the home with father who loved you, 11:46 and nurtured you, and cared for you. 11:48 Spending eternity in that home was good. 11:51 If you grew up with an absentee or a violent father 11:53 or an abusive father, that's not a picture for you. 11:56 But if indeed, you can imagine the father of your dreams 11:59 and multiply that by about a billion times 12:01 you have scratched the surface of just how good God is, 12:04 and how good it would be to live in His house. 12:06 And I think anyone who has grown up 12:08 in this difficult situation has had that dream, 12:11 you know that, imagine what it would be like to have a father. 12:15 The father who is perfect, who loves me. 12:17 The first part of this is surely goodness 12:19 and loving kindness or mercy will follow me. 12:22 The word loving kindness and our mercy 12:24 is translated from the Hebrew word 12:27 "hesed" or "chesed" depending upon 12:28 who is translating it. 12:29 So word origin meaning it takes 26 English words to translate. 12:33 It refers to a love of fanaticism. 12:36 And so intense is this fanatical love that, 12:39 that word is never used to describe 12:40 a man's love for a women, 12:42 because that love is not fanatical enough, 12:44 it's never used to describe a women's love for a man 12:46 because even though you have 12:47 a greater innate capacity for love, 12:49 it's not strong enough for chesed. 12:51 It's not used to describe a women's love for her children 12:54 because that's not stronger enough. 12:55 The only time it's used is to describe God's love for you. 13:00 His fanatical love will follow me, 13:02 and even the word follow is not a good translation. 13:04 Yeah. What should it mean? 13:06 Well, it should mean to stalk. That's, right. 13:08 That's the words what it mean. 13:09 That's the scary idea, to being stalk 13:11 but to be stalk by perfect love. 13:13 By perfect love, fanatical love. 13:15 Perfect love is not going to overwhelm you, 13:17 perfect love is going to just lift you up 13:20 and draw you in, that's what being stalked by. 13:23 I wanna be stalked by God. Absolutely. 13:25 I don't want Him to ever give up 13:27 because so many times I'm going the wrong way, 13:29 I want Him to continue, 13:31 and I want Him to continue to stalk you, 13:33 I wanna know that He is always drawing you close to Him. 13:36 I want to know the same thing for you as well, 13:38 the fanatical love the father will bring you home. 13:41 And that's what I want for you too, 13:43 I want you to be able to be with him in the paradise. 13:46 Well, that's just a pattern of how to pray. 13:48 We encourage you to take scripture, 13:49 use this Psalm, use any other Psalm, 13:51 or any other pray you find in scripture, 13:53 pray for each other, pray for your spouse, 13:56 pray for your children. 13:58 It's going to make difference in your family. 14:00 We want you to do this 14:02 because we want you to be madly in love forever. |
Revised 2016-06-09