DFC Weekly

“The LORD is my shepherd” – Psalm 1:1

As I shared with you in the last devotional, to overcome our fears is simply to ask yourself, “How big is my God?” I don’t know about you, but my God is my LORD! He is the sovereign God, the Lord of lords, He is omnipotent, He is omnipresent, He is omniscient. “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:5) Now to place your fears in perspective, just compare the size of the object of your fear with the size of our God… the LORD is always bigger, amen?

But here is another amazing insight of the psalmist- this same LORD is my personal shepherd. In the ancient world, shepherding was the lowest of all tasks. If a family was engaged in such business, the youngest member would have the dreaded responsibility of watching the sheep. Something David knew all too well. So why would our LORD be identified as “my shepherd?” Why would the psalmist place these two identifications in juxtaposition to one another? Answer: because He is a loving God.

Shepherding was undesirable because it was a task that entailed a consumptive nature to serve. One had to watch and care for his sheep 24-7. Constant attention was needed because sheep are known to be the most stupid of all animals. But isn’t it is the heart of service that best exemplified our LORD, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) And that is why Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd, “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep… and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:2-4)

Jesus set aside His glory to come into the world. He could have came in any form, He could have had any position but He chose to be our shepherd, caring for us in everyway… “What is man that You magnify him, and that You are concerned about him?” (Job 7:17)

God is concerned, so much that He sent His only Son to die for us, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (John 10:11; 15) Not only is God our LORD to protect us from any present fear, He is also our shepherd so that He would protect us from the ultimate fear to come- the condemnation from His wrath, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.” (1 John 4:18)

Amazing, “The LORD is my shepherd.” Amen.

Pastor Sung

“The LORD is my shepherd” Psalm 23:1

I was listening to a comedian once when he was speaking on the topic of fear. He mentioned about a recent finding of a particular research that revealed that the greatest fear experienced by individuals was public speaking. It surpassed the fear of death. So the comedian concluded that if people had a choice, they would rather be in the coffin at the funeral than coming forward to deliver the eulogy. When he said it, it was quite funny. Interesting the perspectives of how one sees fear.

But when it comes to fear, that is exactly what it is, a perspective. I have a fear of heights, acrophobia. I become paralyzed when standing on a ledge or attempting to work on the roof of my home, but I don’t experience the slightest bit of fear if I stood on top of a chair. Fear is not only a perspective but proportional.

It is interesting that David places LORD in juxtaposition with my shepherd. Here is the key to overcoming our fears… First, “the LORD,” Yahweh or Jehovah, our God who has the attributes of omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient and sovereign. He is self sufficient, self reliant, self existing just as He identified Himself to Moses, “I AM” (Ex. 3:3). He does not need power outside of Himself, He needs not wisdom apart from His own, He needs not our love, He needs not our worship- He is God, “the LORD.”

When a believer mediates upon the attributes of our God, “the LORD,” why should we fear? For whom should we fear? “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” (Heb. 13:4-6)

The only person that should strike fear in us is God, “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” (Prov. 1:7) When one has the appropriate fear of God, it subsides all other fears. To fear the LORD is to love Him. To fear the LORD is to have the proper relationship with Him, “Only the fool says there is no God in his heart.” (Psm. 14:1). When one fears the LORD, he is guaranteed the protection of his LORD.

Here is the second key- the personal, intimacy of our LORD, “The LORD is my shepherd.” When you have God on your side, He is not a distant force field, but rather He pledges to be with you, “I will never leave you not forsake you.” He is our shepherd, the individual that cares for his sheep, protects his sheep, provides for his sheep. He cares for every aspect of the sheep’s life so that the sheep may live his life in peace.

What an amazing thought- “The LORD is my shepherd.” The next time you are immersed in fear and anxiety, have your mind and heart rest and meditate on this wonderful passage. May God bless you as you look to trust Him and experience His peace (Phil. 4:5-6).

Pastor Sung

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” – Job 1:1

As we live in the world of AIMing and e-mails and now twittering, it is interesting the names we come up with for ourselves. Just look at the e-mail list for these devotionals, there are people who think highly of themselves, “chosencho.” People who don’t think too highly of themselves, “lindaxmunster.” People with favorite verses, “psalm66×20.” People and their toys, “lukecarrera” and those who might forget their name so they have to repeat it three times, “unieunieunie.”

I recently went to a prep meeting for an upcoming retreat I have to guest speak at and the young lady asked me, “Are you ‘yulbo?’” Yes, I am. “Well, Pastor Sung, I didn’t know taht was you. I found it in my spam folder and I began to read one of your devotionals.”

What is “yulbo?” some of you might have been guessing. Well, it is a very poor transliteration of a Korean term of endearment for what a married person calls his spouse. When my wife asked me some fifteen years ago and I explained it, she literally laughed in my face as she pointed out my ridiculous spelling error.

But there is one particular e-mail address that I want to point out, a young man who identifies himself as “coramdeo.” That is a Latin term meaning, “before the face of God.” To this particular person, all of his existence, both private and public thoughts and actions, are lived out consciously before His face. Living Coram Deo arouses our fear of God. The person who is aware that God is seated front and center of their life will fear the Lord and that is a very good thing. But how can living in fear be a good thing?

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning place, not the end. It is the primary school for the Christian not the graduate program where one achieves his doctorate. Fearing the Lord is where we begin to search for God’s wisdom and knowledge. The fool by contrast says, “There is no God in his heart.” (Psalm 14:1) He is one who lives as though divine wisdom and knowledge is irrelevant.

God is a holy God and we are not holy nor a God. Through Coram Deo we realize we are in deep trouble and we need help. Through fear of the Lord, we know we are sinners, we lust, we lie, we cheat, we covet. By living Coram Deo, we run to the cross where God’s holiness and His unending mercy intersect. Living Coram Deo, we find grace. We find the life changing power that we could only find in the Cross. Living Coram Deo drives us to obedience and a greater desire to know this precious God. That is the end point of wisdom and knowledge.

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” – Job 1:1

May you live with the fear of the LORD so that you may come to know Him better. God bless you.

Pastor Sung

So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

10 Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD. – Gen. 13:8-13

I used to go camping quite often but as one gets older, the comforts of a hotel room with complete maid service seems more attractive when having some time off to get away. But I do remember a time when I went with some guys to a lake near Solvang. When we arrived at the camp site, we looked for an area which we thought would provide some shading during the long days. There was a nice looking floral bush that curved outward as a natural overhang for any tent that desired to nestle under its protective foliage. But in the wee hours of the morning, we were awaken to the buzzing sound of bees. It turned out that we had laid our tent over a nest of bees who had chosen their residence attracted to nectar from the same floral bush!

When we make decisions, the consequence of our decisions will soon be realized just as pitching that tent over a bees’ nest. Everyone’s accounting for their decisions will be to God and God alone, “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Rom. 14:12). The question is, “What decisions do you make and do you know why?”

Here is a story of Abram and his nephew Lot. They have both become prosperous and their herdsmen began to bicker over the lack of grazing land. Abram gave his nephew first choice and agreed that he would go in the opposite direction. Lot looked with his eyes (not with his heart with faith) and saw the lush plains of the Jordan valley and he pitched his tents near Sodom.

How often have we acted like Lot? We go off to college, get caught up with having “fun.” Rather than being directed by your faith, you go with your eyes to the lush way of life, partying, drinking, etc., all the things we didn’t get to do when we were in the church scene. But how does that effect your character? What devastating effects does that have on one’s faith, relationship with our Christ?

As one gets older, you come to church, but your heart is not there. And with harden habits formed in your life, you come to live a dualistic life. You have more acquaintances with unbelievers than believers, not for the purpose of ministry but because you desire a commonality in seeking a more materialistic lifestyle with them. And with such an emphasis on a compromised lifestyle, it offers fertile grounds for hypocrisy which your own children can fully view which then leads them to dread Christianity so when they go off to college, they totally deny their faith and offer no credibility to Christ. All because you had chosen to pitch your tents near Sodom. And we know what happened to Lot in Sodom.

Whatever happened to Abram?

The LORD said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” So Abram moved his tents and went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD. – Gen. 13:14-18

Can you see your future as if you looked in a crystal ball? Well, you can. It will all be based where you choose to pitch your tent. May you choose to be led by your faith and not by what you see. Pick your ground wisely. God bless.

Pastor Sung