“Where Do We Go When Life Struggles Hit?”

Psalms 23 sometimes referred to as: The Pearl of Psalms, The Nightingale Psalms, or The Shepherd Song about His Shepherd. Psalms 23 also gives us a picture of a tender Shepherd, who leads his flock, protecting them from the perils of the wilderness but also the picture of the Greatest Host.
Psalms 23 has been recited over and over in my life since a child. I remember as a child, I had to memorize this memory verses. At a church I had gone to, there were certain times of the year where we had stood in front of the congregation and recite memory verses in Samoan. Let me just tell you, reciting them in Samoan was lot more difficult, a lot of the times; you didn’t understand what you where saying. Us kids those days, really wasn’t thinking of what we were saying, it was after we had said it, and that was when the excitement started. It was when what goodies, or where our treat was coming from. At times it would be like a game, in what we would call our ultimate destination and it would be like McDonald’s or Jack in the Box. The mega destination if we did the best would be Fun Factory. When it came to learning the verses we were rebels, until the day came to do it, we knew what our big prize would be.
It is when we become older and get in that stuck mode, which is where we revel Psalms 23. When all else failed us, then we turned to the last thing we know, our bibles and we read the Psalm that David wrote when he was a shepherd. I had gone through many trials and tribulations. For me, Psalms 23 wasn’t in sight. I was blind and deaf to God, yet God was doing His work in telling me to listen, and he did it through people that were around me. And then recently I went on vacation because I was going through struggles in my life that I couldn’t handle, all I knew that my heart was full of anger, rage, and hurt. At first my anger was towards people, then I began to have rage, but rage in a different manner, I had made an excuse that I was starting to get angry toward the people who was treating God invisibly. Well, in all these trials, I decide to go away. What surprised me was God knew exactly where I needed to be. In a room full of books, a library, and that is where my room was. God worked to the point that I did a 360 turn that I was now waking up in the morning and my schedule look this. Between 7am and 2pm that is the time God allotted me to be in His presence, He told me, come and sit here, I said ok, then He told me, you see all these books, well they are yours so you would have time for me. I will take you away from this world, and where I take you, you will feel my peace and presence, you will take time to know me. And I did. Well, so, I did what God wanted me to do. In between my time with God, I had emailed a pastor and asked him for a sermon writing assignment. He said to write a sermon on Psalms 23. I have not written a sermon on Psalms 23 before. I took up the challenge. Then as I began to research Psalms 23, it was as if Jesus said, Jessie, I am your Psalms 23 and I am shepherding you at this moment. What are you going to give up for me Jessie? I told Jesus this, I will give up hours for you, so I could know you intimately and my heart is longing to be in your presence. Psalms 23 is quite simple. God is my shepherd, my teacher, my guide, my source of hope and peace, my rest, who replenishes my life. Everything I need for my daily life and the answer to my struggles in life. When I had come back from my trip I had another interesting short talk with another pastor, and I told her, Psalms 23 is a revolving cycle every day. It is a continual cycle that revives us every day. As I reflect upon Psalms 23, it fully opens and awakens the words for me as I am in the presence of God, at the time I had given all to him. I have also seen it where when I am in the presence of God, I have no fear, I have no worries, I have no troubles. In Psalms 23:3 says, “You let me rest in fields of green grass, you lead me to streams of peaceful water and you refresh my life.” What powerful words these are? They are true in my own experience; Psalms 23 is repeating itself as I open my bible, and studying his words, and as I open myself to be Shepherd by God.
“There was once a Shakespearean actor who was known everywhere for his one-man shows of readings and recitations from the classics. He would always end his performance with a dramatic reading of Psalm 23. Each night, without exception, as the actor began his recitation - "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want"...The crowd would listen attentively. And then, at the conclusion of the Psalm, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor's incredible ability to bring the verse to life. But one night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience spoke up. "Sir, do you mind if tonight I recite Psalm 23?" The actor was quite taken back by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to recite the Psalm, knowing that the ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent. With a soft voice, the young man began to recite the words of the Psalm. When he was finished, there was no applause. There was no standing ovation as on other nights. All that could be heard was the sound of weeping. The audience had been so moved by the young man's recitation that every eye was full of tears. Amazed by what he had heard, the actor said to the youth, "I don't understand. I have been performing Psalm 23 for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training - but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your secret?" The young man quietly replied, "Well sir, you know the Psalm... I know the Shepherd."”

Sermon of the Palsy

Once upon a time, there was a man who had never been sick a day in his life. When he felt a little pain, who would think to, why worry about it? It’ll go away. But this time, the pain didn’t go away. In fact, it got worst. So, he finally gave in and went to the doctor. The doctor didn’t waste any time thoroughly checking him out. And the doctor gave him his diagnosis. “I got some bad news and some good news.” The doctor said. The man said, “I will take the bad news first.” “Ok,” the doctor replied and there was a note of sadness in his voice. “You have a terrible disease. In fact, it’s terminal.” “Are you sure doctor, I have never been sick before, Are you sure there is no mistake?” “I’ve never made a mistake in a diagnosis,” the doctor assured him. “But don’t you want to hear the good news?” The man answered, “oh yes, I almost forgot about the good news.” “I have a cure for your disease. I developed it, and this the only place you can get it. It cost me everything I had, but I can give it to you free of charge.” Capernaum city is on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. To the northwest of Carpernaum is Mt. Meron. To the southwest of Capernaum is the village of Cana. Carpernaum was Jesus’ headquarters from which He conducted His Galilean ministry and where He considers His home. There in Capernaum was a man with Palsy. Palsy is a paralytic, the loss of the power of voluntary motion in any part of the body. Jesus had just come back from his ministry. News had spread that Jesus is in Carpernaum. So, everyone gathered there, even scribes who came from the villages of Galilee, Judea, and from Jerusalem. If you can imagine this church being overcrowded and there are people standing outside in the corridors and you are tightly squeezed to each other. Let’s use this century as an example of how this would happen. So, there is just one door, the main entrance, but if you were outside there are still people outside surrounding the church. Here are these four men outside with a paralytic on a gurney, and if I was one of those men, how do I get my friend to see Jesus to be healed. Wow! It must have been tough on them. They don’t see a ladder, the only way they would know is to go to the airport hire a helicopter and reel down the palsy man and his four friends unto the roof. What caught my eye in the story is how they knew exactly where to open the roof where Jesus would be at. And to be lowered down in front of Jesus, that must have been quite a sight. They had faith to even bring their friend to Jesus to be healed. And they knew where their faith would be in exact roof top. Let’s return to the past at that moment. So, they lowered the palsy on a mat in front of Jesus and Jesus says “Son, your sins are forgiven.” He looks at the Palsy’s four friends and their faith as we see in Mark 2:5. It says, When Jesus saw how much faith they had” meaning the four friends. “He said to the cripple man, my friend your sins are forgiven.” What faith these four had with their friend. Sometimes, we help our friends out and sometimes we give up on them. We don’t have the faith for the friends because we are busy struggling with our own faith. We continue on with this miracle that is happening. The scribes who where there, started to think amongst themselves. Why would He say such a thing? He must think he is God. Only God can forgive sins. This is not the first time in the bible of how people are wondering this way. If we remember Luke 7:36-50, the story of the woman who wept on Jesus’ feet and the guests who were their said, “Who is this who even forgives sins,” just as the scribes are thinking it, scribes were the copyist of scriptures and teachers of law. Scribes comes from the name “sepher” and means scripturalists, those who explained and copied the law. I am going to stop for minute. And let’s reflect on the scribes. We know that they are good in scriptures, yet they wonder, why are they wondering, in those days Jesus was on earth, God talked to the prophets. In our day we wonder so aimlessly of a God, of Jesus. We have a book that is given to us to know God, to know Jesus. We are so very near to God. He speaks to us through various ways. We do get caught up with the world. And we lose sight of everything. Our minds are clouded and blinded and we miss out of what God is bestowing to us every single day. I am grateful because at the end of this story in Mark 2:12, they believed and trusted when they saw with their own eyes what had just happened. They even praised God and said, “We have never seen anything like this!” Back to our story of the man and doctor, well, that was good news to the man, and he knew immediately he’d done the right thing going to this doctor. He got excited that started walking towards the door, and the doctor stopped him. “You can get the medicine from my colleague next door (The Holy Spirit). And you’ll need to keep in close touch with me.” This comment brought the man back to reality. He sat down and asked more questions. “Doctor, are you really sure you can keep me from dying and cure me of my disease?” “Absolutely, I’ve never lost a patient.” “Never?” “Never!” The man asked, “Did you say I have to get rid of the disease to keep from dying? Man, are you out of your mind?” The doctor replied in astonishment. “Being well is not a duty, but a privilege!” The man said all right. “Just remember to keep in touch with me and take your medicine, I can give you this assurance, you are not going to die as long as you keep in touch with me.” So, the man left. He felt so good that after awhile he figured he did not need to his medicine quite so faithfully. For few days, he even forgot to take it all. Sure enough the symptoms came back. He went back to the doctor who knew exactly knew that he had not been faithful with his medicine or his calls. “You simply must do as I say in order to continue being well.” “You are still assured of the cure I promised, but in order to be well, you will need to take your medicine and keep in touch with me.” After this, the man didn’t forget his instructions; day by day he took the medicine and he kept call to be sure he was correctly doing what the doctor wanted him to do. At his next visit, although he had been faith to his instructions, the man was visibility troubled. He said, “sometimes I feel I’ve got the disease licked, but other times I am not sure I can faithful enough in my contacts with you and with my to really ever totally free of this problem.” The doctor said, “Listen friend, you have to remember that you haven’t got the disease licked; as you say I do. The cure is mine. Your assurance will never be in your taking the medicine. Your assurance is in me, your doctor, Trust me! It is because of the certainty of the cure you are made well. That fact that you can still, at anytime have a recurrence of the symptoms shouldn’t discourage you but remind you or your need of me. If you lack assurance, it’s because you don’t know and trust me. Remember the work is mine, and I am able. Isn’t that assurance enough?”