“But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22:34-37, 39-40 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.22.34-40.KJV
He Comforts Us
In ancient Israel, the rod and staff of a shepherd protected and guided the sheep, and even reminded the sheep that the shepherd was there. And so King David (who was a shepherd as a boy) used the metaphor in Psalm 23:4 to convey this truth: God was his protector and guide.
King David faced death many times and had enemies bent on killing him. He also dealt with his own sin issues and personal mistakes. But in the midst of all this, he repeatedly turned his attention to the faithfulness and assurances of God.
Where did he find these assurances?
King David would have been a student of the Hebrew Scripture, the Torah—the first five books in our Bibles.
To a Hebrew, the Torah wasn’t just a story about God, it was the very Word of God. It was authority, promise, and guide. It was this Word that David based his life—and his psalms—upon. David could write about God’s character because:
1. He knew the Word of God.
2. He experienced the faithfulness and goodness of God based ...