#319 - Kyle Thompson // From Death to Life: The LORD Is My Shepherd

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit,

the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts

are Jobimarton and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's

sharpen up.

Welcome to the New Week of the Daily Blade. So I haven't done this up to this point on

the Daily Blade, but I actually want to dedicate the episodes this week to a specific person.

And that is my Uncle Kevin. So he's technically my great uncle, but for my entire life,

he was just Uncle Kevin or he became Kev Dog at some point. I don't really know the story behind

that, but I was calling him Kev Dog there for a little bit. But he actually passed away

in the early morning hours of February the 21st of this year. So he battled a bunch of

different ailments that attacked his body for many years, but he can finally rest easy now,

which is very, very helpful and makes us all pretty happy. So it actually was while I was

recording four hours worth of the forging table episodes for my undone-of-life podcast,

when I got the news that he had been taken off of life support, and that my family was not sure

how much longer he would make it. And as soon as I got done recording with my guys, I went to the

hospital where he was. It was very, very late. His bride, my aunt Terry and his youngest daughter,

my cousin Lindsay were there with him. And you know, as you can imagine, my Uncle Kevin was

there, but kind of not there at the same time. And I think most of you know what I mean at this

point. And as I was sitting next to his hospital bed, I wasn't really sure what to do or say for a

while. Because this, I mean, for all intents purposes, he was the best man in our family, just

an absolutely solid man, a solid believer. But I brought with me up to my, up to his bedside,

I brought my Bible with me. And so I decided to just retune. And so I actually read two different

Psalms to him. And then I just talked to him a little bit. And I wasn't sure if he was aware

enough to know that I was talking to him, but I just told him how much he meant to me and what I

learned from him over the years. But this week on the daily blade, I'm actually going to go over the

two Psalms that I read to him and then pass along some of the wisdom to you that I got from my life

observing how Uncle Kevin operated. So the first Psalm that I read to him was one that I'm sure

most of you have heard of or heard something about it at some point in your life. And that's Psalm

23. And I chose Psalm 23 because it seemed appropriate for someone that was almost assuredly about

to pass away. So this is a Psalm of David. And I'll read it all here. The Lord is my shepherd. I

shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He

restores my soul. He leads me in the pass of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. You're

rod and your staff. They come for me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You annoy my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the

days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So I really want to focus in

on verses one through three today. So verse one, the Lord is my shepherd. So the word Lord is in

all caps. And anytime that you see that, you need to remember that that is the covenant name for God,

which is Yahweh or Jehovah. So when David proclaims that Yahweh is his shepherd, he is describing a

deep and personal relationship with God, yes, and additionally a covenantal relationship with God.

And continuing in verse one, I shall not want. So this is David acknowledging that because Yahweh

is his shepherd, he has divine provision. God is sufficient. God provides what is necessary for

his sheep to protect them, to provide for them, to prosper them, and ultimately to save them.

And then when you get into verses two and three, we see how God does that. Yahweh provides

rest. Yahweh provides restoration. Yahweh provides leadership. Yahweh provides spiritual renewal.

And he does so for his glory. And here's the main point. David can only experience the fullness of

God's divine provision if he has faith in God. And in order to write this, perhaps the most famous

psalm of all time, David had to transfer his faith from himself and onto his creator God.

Otherwise, there would be no ultimate recognition of what God has done is doing or will do. And for

David, it would be impossible to have ultimate fulfillment. So come back tomorrow and we'll look at

the rest of Psalm 23. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help

equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review.

Stay sharp.