“Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; Sing praise upon the harp unto our God: Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to the beast his food, And to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, In those that hope in his mercy. Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; Praise thy God, O Zion. For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, And filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.”
Psalm 147:7-14 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.147.7-14.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 ...