Episode 042 – Psalm 23 Pt 9: Practicing God’s Presence
Key Passage(s): Psalm 23:6
David concludes Psalm 23 by proclaiming, “and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” It’s a stunning ending to a stunning Psalm. But what’s David’s context? What’s he declaring? Is he talking about Heaven? Is he talking about the Tabernacle (often referred to as “the house of the LORD”). Is “forever” the best translation? As we seek to answer these questions, I believe we’ll be invited into one of the most significant practices that enables us to grow in our awareness of God, and approach life with a perspective and maturity that we all long to possess.
Discussion Questions
- What’s your biggest takeaway from the teaching?
- Do you have some kind of grounding time to connect with God each day? What does this look like for you? How has this impacted your life?
- David desperately sought to dwell in the presence of God. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 – being that “you struggle to do so” and 10 being that “you can’t wait to”), how would you rate your desire to dwell in God’s presence?
- Have you ever considered the idea of recalibrating to the awareness of God in the midst of your day? What impact do you think this practice would have on your life?
- Despite all that may be going on in the world and in your life, do you trust that God hasn’t lost control, and that he’s working in the midst of it all? Why or why not?
- Do you find yourself holding onto to something in life with a tight grip? How is this affecting your work, relationships, and faith? Where is God asking you to loosen the grip?
- What is one change you will make this week as you seek to daily practice the presence of God?
For Further Study
- Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day by Peter Scazzero
- The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament by Kenneth E. Bailey
- Psalm 23: A Photo Commentary by Steven D. Anderson and Todd Bolen
- Psalm 23: Photo Companion to the Bible (pictures) by Todd Bolen (BiblePlaces.com)
- While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks by Timothy Laniak
- Becoming a Judean Shepherd by Doug Greenwold
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My morning routine which includes 20 minutes of devotional time, which on Tuesday includes listening to this podcast, and prayer is the key to my day. If for some reason something interferes with that routine my day never seems to unfold the way I had hoped or planned. When my Bible app sends me my Bible verse of the day I take 5 minutes to read it reflect on it and pray and it truly makes a world of difference. I also love the blessing God 100 times a day. makes me stop and realize how blessed I am to have electricity when I turn in a light switch and freshwater when I turn on the spicket and all the wonders that we kind of take for granted in the modern world.
Thank you for this series. An ah-ha moment came the previous week when you discussed “He leads me…” and showed a picture of the shepherd in front of the flock, leading them. So many years I’ve read or heard Psalm 23 and never connected with that fact. I’ve always pictured in my mind more of the cowboy on the horse rounding up the herd. The pictures brought home the fact that my Saviour is not pushing me from behind but is in front of me. I do not know the path I am going down but can be assured that God is right in front of me leading the way. All I need to do is take one step at a time, with full assurance that I am walking in steps He has already taken. Please realize that as your ministry has caused me to have this ah-ha moment, I have also been able to share this with others. One such insistence is in the life of my co-worker’s mom who has just found out she has stage 2 breast cancer. Upon finding this out,her husband had a heart attack. This dark, scary, unknown path for her is made a little more secure now having the picture of Jesus being out in front of her. Thank you for your ministry!
Part 9 is a gift …
In nascent ways, walking Psalm 23 in its original context reset a ‘daily practice’ that was scattered for me.
todá rabá (תודה רבה)
I deeply appreciate your teachings and have shared them with family and friends. I struggle with the David of Psalm 23 and the David of Bathseba. How can David who walks with God be so callus to Uriah and Bathseba? When do you think David wrote Psalm 23? When he was a Shepherd or when he was king? Thank you for your series!
Wow that’s all I have to say. This series has been amazing and I’m trying to sink it all in, learn more from my notes and practice much of it daily. Thank you Brad for this series. Getting closer to being caught up to 70th episode.