PSALM 23:1-3A!--REVIEW!--PART 2 6/86--Bible Study With Grandpa! DO 2220
1. PTL! TYL! WE KNOW THIS PSALM BY HEART, SO I'LL JUST READ IT BIT BY BIT & SEE IF YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS. It's one thing to know it by heart & be able to recite it, it's another thing to know what it means! You might be able to pronounce a word, but you still might not know what it means. So it's a good idea to know it. Amen? PTL! Thank You Lord for this beautiful Psalm that's been such a comfort to so many people!
2. "THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD." What does that mean? We are His what? (David: We are His sheep!)--Right! And what does a Shepherd do? (David: Takes care of the sheep.) Does He love His sheep? (Children: Yes!) And what things does He do for His sheep? Well, we're going to find out in this Psalm!
3. BUT RIGHT AWAY HE SAYS THAT SINCE THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT! Remember what we decided about that word "want"? Does that mean we won't want anything? We won't desire anything? It's an old English word. What does it mean to be in want? (David: Poor.)--To be poor, & not have the things that you really need. So what it really means is, "I'll not need something that I don't get. I won't be in need, because the Lord will supply all our needs!" And also even in the modern meaning of the word, He supplies our wants too, the things we want, doesn't He? He says, "Delight thyself in the Lord & He'll give you the desires of your heart." (Psa.37:4) That's the wants!
4. (TECHI: BUT IF THE LORD SUPPLIES ALL YOUR NEEDS, YOU WON'T WANT ANYTHING!) Well, sometimes people want a little bit more than they really need! But the Lord kind of spoils us, He's good to us, because we really delight ourselves in Him, so He gives us all the desires of our hearts. That's even more than you really need! Don't we have a lot of things around here that we don't really need? All you really need is what? (Techi: Jesus!)--Yes, Jesus, but you have physical needs.
5. THERE ARE ONLY TWO THINGS THAT YOU REALLY NEED TO SURVIVE!--Man says, food, clothing & shelter, but God says, in fact the Apostle Paul says, "Having food & clothing therewith be content." (1Tim.6:8) Paul didn't have any shelter, he didn't have any home, did he? He was just a pilgrim & a stranger like so many of us. We don't have any home either, we just live in somebody else's house. But it's ours while we have it.
6. BUT CAN YOU EXIST WITHOUT SHELTER? (Techi: Yes!) You can live without shelter. You don't have to have a shelter or a house. It's good to have in a storm & when it's raining, but you can survive! Your major necessities are food--you can't survive without food--& those of us in the North can't survive without clothing!
7. BUT WHEN THE WEATHER'S HOT, PEOPLE CAN RUN AROUND NAKED MOST OF THE TIME & EVEN FORGET THEY'RE NAKED! "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" Who was it that told Adam & Eve they were naked? (David: The Devil!)--The Devil, that's right, because he wanted them to be ashamed of being naked! Right away he started this business of being ashamed of sex & ashamed of your sexual parts made by the Lord, & ashamed of nakedness. He told them they were naked. "Oh, naughty, naughty! Aren't you ashamed of yourself being naked?" Sounds like some System parents, doesn't it? That's of the Devil! Being naked is nothing to be ashamed of, in fact it helps keep you humble! You all know exactly what you look like from head to toe, right? When it's warm you can't stand to wear much clothes, you just wear the bare minimum for sanitary purposes.
8. WHY DO YOU EVEN WEAR PANTS OR PANTIES IN HOT WEATHER?--TO PROTECT YOUR BOTTOM FROM DIRT & SOILING ETC., so that you won't get dirty from dirty seats or sitting on dirty walls or dirty places, & so that you won't make things dirty in case you're not clean enough when you sit down on couches & chairs & nice beds etc.--Not to keep warm, but just for sanitation!--To keep yourselves clean & keep the things you sit on clean. My oh my, look how much we got out of the 2nd phrase of the 1st verse, "I shall not want!"
9. "HE MAKETH ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES." WHAT DOES THAT DO FOR US? (Fam: It gives us rest.) I think we mentioned that once before, that it shows we have had a good meal from that nice green grass & then we lie down to rest. (Maria: You brought out how all animals, normally after they eat, they lie down to rest.) That's when I get sleepy, in the afternoon, after I eat lunch, & why we give everybody an extra hour off for their afternoon siesta so they can take a little rest after eating! Because all your blood goes to your stomach to digest that food & leaves a lot of your muscles & your brain. You can't think so clearly when you've got a full stomach & you can't exercise so vigorously. Your stomach needs that blood to digest the food, so we often lie down & take a little nap after lunch. We don't have to do that after supper because we're going to go to bed pretty soon. We don't have to do it after breakfast because we should be full of energy by that time, after a good night's rest!
10. "HE RESTORETH MY SOUL." I think we covered that too, we went into what a soul is. What's a soul, Mama? (Maria: Spirit & body!)--Spirit & body combined, otherwise you don't have a living soul. You're not a living soul unless you've got both body & spirit, spirit & body, right? You're a complete soul when you have a spirit & a body. In a sense, soul is symbolic of life, because a body & a spirit joined together is a living soul! It's a soul that has life!
11. AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT HE RESTORES IT? The first thing Techi said was that it means He saves it. Well, that's true. It also has several other meanings, it means that He restores your strength, He encourages you & He inspires you & He feeds you both spiritually & physically. He has to feed your spirit & He also has to feed your body. So "restores" means "to give back strength to". When you're tired after the day & you've worked hard or played hard or whatever, you need to be restored. So what do you do at the end of the day during the night? (David: You rest.)--You sleep! And while you're sleeping, your spirit & body are restored.
12. THERE ARE TWO PROCESSES OF METABOLISM, WHICH SCIENCE CALLS IT, GOING ON IN YOUR BODY ALL THE TIME! One is called catabolism. It is a Greek word meaning that your body is being torn down by the process of death that man inherited from sin. The Devil & the forces of evil are constantly trying to tear your body down & destroy you & make you die, kill you! "Cata" literally is a Greek word for casting down. And the "bolism" means a process. So catabolism is the casting-down process. The Devil is working on the catabolism to cast you down & tear you down & even kill you if he can!
13. BUT THERE'S ANOTHER PROCESS CALLED ANABOLISM, WHICH MEANS TO BUILD UP! God's process of life, anabolism, is working to constantly build you up & recreate your strength & your cells that have been burnt up & cast down, to give you strength! That's restoring your soul, right?--Because you wouldn't have a soul pretty soon if you died & your body went back to the dust & your spirit went to Heaven, then you'd just be a spiritual being for awhile. You'd have a kind of a body called a God-body or theophany, but that's a big theological thing, we don't have to go into that!
14. BUT YOU CAN REMEMBER THAT YOUR SPIRIT BODY IS CALLED A THEOPHANY, IT MEANS A GOD-BODY. It's not exactly like your physical fleshly body, but it is a form of flesh like Jesus had when He rose from the dead. He said, "Touch Me, feel Me! A ghost doesn't have flesh & bone as you see Me have!" (Luk.24:39) But you notice what He didn't mention there? Usually we talk about flesh & blood! And the Word says, "The life of the flesh is in the blood." (Lev.17:11) Fleshly life is in the blood! If you didn't have any blood you'd be dead, right? Jesus had flesh & bone when He rose from the dead, but He didn't need blood any more, because He had a supernatural immortal body which no longer required blood for feeding His body & distributing the fuel & oxygen etc. to all parts of His body through the blood. So your resurrected body, tell us what it has & what it doesn't have. (David: It has flesh & bones, but not blood!)--Right!
15. YOUR BODY WHEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD WILL STILL HAVE FLESH & BONE LIKE JESUS SAID HIS DID WHEN HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD!--BUT NO BLOOD! How about that? You don't need blood! (Techi: So when Jesus showed the disciples the hole in His hand...) It wasn't bleeding. (Techi: It wasn't even scarred red?) It wasn't even bloody, it was just a hole! How about that? It was probably healed up, just a scar actually. Jesus still had scars!
16. WHY DO YOU SUPPOSE IN HEAVEN IN OUR RESURRECTED BODIES, THE LORD LETS US STILL HAVE THE SCARS THAT WE USED TO HAVE? (David: To remind us?)--Yes, to remind us. Soldiers are even proud of their wounds, it shows that they've been in a battle & conquered & survived! They even brag about their wounds. You even get medals in the army for wounds, think of that! They show that you really fought & you really suffered!
17. SCARS ARE VERY IMPORTANT TO THE GOVERNMENT, CAN YOU GUESS WHY? Why do they take your picture to put on your driver's license? (Fam: To prove who you are.) What do they call it? (Fam: Identity.) It's to identify you! And when you are filling out forms for the government, even sometimes for jobs, you're supposed to give all the various identifying scars you have, to show the government, so they'll know it's you, because you have a scar here & a scar there etc. It's a part of your identification. When you go to a bank & cash a check you've got to produce identification so they can make sure you're the person you say you are. When you cross borders, what do you have to produce? (David: Passports!)--Right, to show who you are & to make sure you have permission to travel. It's for purposes of identification.
18. AND THAT'S ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS JESUS USED HIS SCARS FOR! After He came back in His resurrection body He used His scars for whom? (David: His disciples.) Particularly which one? (David: Thomas.)--So-called Doubting Thomas. He showed His scars to prove His identity, to prove He was Jesus, that He was who He said He was! Because although He looked like Jesus, Doubting Thomas apparently was really a real doubter! Of course, when He saw the Lord He must have surely known it was the Lord, but he didn't ask then. Only before he saw the Lord did he say, "Oh, I won't believe it's He unless I put my fingers into the wounds in His hands & His side!" (Jn.20:25)
19. BUT THE LORD KNEW WHAT HE SAID, RIGHT? So that when he saw the Lord he was no doubt ashamed & quiet, he didn't ask to see them then! But Who told him to go ahead & put his fingers in the hand? (Techi: Jesus.)--Jesus! He said, "Go ahead, touch Me, feel Me, put your fingers in the nailprints & know that it is I, even I Myself!" (Jn.20:26-28) So what did Jesus use the scars for? (David: Identification!)
20. YOU SAY, "WELL, WE CERTAINLY DON'T NEED SCARS IN HEAVEN TO IDENTIFY US!" Well, Jesus needed it to convince somebody who was a little doubtful, Doubting Thomas. Maybe we won't need them with the Angels & with the Saints, but maybe we'll need some scars to identify ourselves with some of the people we rule over so they'll know for sure it's us. "Yes, that's the same guy, he had a little scar on his head or a little scar on his face." Oh me, I'm just covered with scars! Not covered, but I've got a lot of scars! There's hardly a part of my body, a leg or an arm or body or head that I don't have some kind of a scar on! I've gone over those scars with you before so I won't do it now. The first time I ever did that was with Mama one time, I remember, & then I got into telling her all the stories of how I got the scars.
21. WELL, SOLDIERS LIKE TO BRAG ABOUT THEIR BATTLEWOUNDS BECAUSE THEN THEY LIKE TO TELL THEIR STORIES ABOUT THE BATTLE & HOW THEY WON & ALL THAT SORT OF THING. But anyhow, how in the World did we get into all that? We were talking about restoring the soul & got into bodies & spirits & how that you don't have any blood. But you will still even have scars & you'll still look like you used to.--Probably better, but people will still be able to recognise you.
22. DIDN'T THEY USUALLY RECOGNISE JESUS IN HIS RESURRECTED BODY? There was only one time when they didn't recognise Him! Well, Mary Magdalene was weeping & praying in the Garden & wasn't looking very carefully. You know how if your eyes are full of tears you can't see very well. She saw this man at a distance & she thought at first it was the gardener. But then she soon saw it was the Lord. (Jn.20:14-16)
23. BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER TIME WHEN THEY DIDN'T RECOGNISE JESUS, WHEN WAS THAT? (Maria: On the road to Emmaus.) But why? This shows you one of the powers we'll have! He deliberately disguised Himself! He hid Himself, in a sense, from them, so they didn't know who He was. We'll be able to do that too! (Techi: Why did He want to do that?) Well, He wanted to have a little discussion with them. He was always a teacher & He was giving them a test.
24. REMEMBER WHAT THEY WERE DISCUSSING? THEY WERE GETTING A LITTLE BIT DOUBTFUL, WONDERING IF JESUS REALLY WAS THE MESSIAH! This was before they knew He was risen. They were discussing, "Well, I wonder if He really was the Messiah, because surely the Messiah wouldn't have gotten killed like that!" And they were troubled & discouraged, wondering, "How could He be the Messiah & have gotten killed?" They didn't know the Bible very well, did they, as they should have. One of them was named Cleopas, but I don't think it even names the other one, does it? It could have been any of the disciples, any of the believers who were kind of discouraged & doubtful & wondering if this was the Messiah after all. (Luk.24:13-31)
25. SO JESUS APPROACHED THEM ON THE ROAD & STARTED WALKING ALONG WITH THEM, BUT HE HID HIS IDENTITY SO HE COULD TEST THEM! He said, "Oh fools & slow of heart to believe, know ye not the Scriptures that said this & that" & He gave all the Scriptures about how the Messiah was to come, but also to die & rise again etc. "Don't you know all these Scriptures?" He began testing them on the Scriptures, reminding them of the Scriptures which made it very plain that He was going to do all these things & then die & then be risen again! So they began to understand, "Oh, that's true, maybe He is the Messiah after all! Maybe He was!" That was their attitude.
26. SO THEN THEY INVITED HIM TO STAY FOR SUPPER WHEN THEY GOT TO THEIR HOUSE. And it was a custom in those days, as we still often do & is always a church custom, whenever you had a distinguished visitor of any kind--they still didn't know it was Jesus--but it was a custom to ask the guest to say the prayer, the thanks for the food, & also to take the loaf of bread & break it.
27. THEY ALLOWED THE VISITING GUEST TO ALWAYS BREAK THE BREAD, IT WAS KIND OF SYMBOLIC. It was also probably a forerunner of the Last Supper & our present Communion. And He was to break the bread & pass it around. That was a courteous gesture to the guest. And as Jesus broke the bread He revealed Himself to them & they knew who He was, & then He vanished! He did it on purpose to let them know who He was, & then they knew that it was Jesus & they knew that they had been talking to Jesus, & He was the One that was teaching them those Scriptures & convincing them that He was the Messiah, Jesus was the Messiah!--Although they didn't know it while they were talking to Him that it was even Jesus, much less the Messiah!
28. SO WE GOT ALL THAT OUT OF JUST REVIEWING THAT MUCH OF THE PASSAGE. I think that's about as far as we got last time! So our review took up the whole lesson time, how about that? Well, it's been a long time since we had our last lesson, so we had to make sure you still knew it. You learned a lot from this review, didn't you? So we'll have to take up with "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" next time, because that's a heavy word, there's a lot in that!--And if it took us this long to just cover the review of the first 2-1/2 verses. I always have to give you illustrations to show you what it means!
29. AS FAR AS THE SCARS ARE CONCERNED, IT'S PERFECTLY NATURAL FOR YOU TO HAVE SCARS! I don't think the Lord's going to have any ugly scars or that we're going to have any scars that will make us look bad or anything. If anything, maybe the Lord will make any little scars you have shine to show what you suffered! It wouldn't be anything bad & make you look bad. I think anything grotesque the Lord will make beautiful!
30. ALL RIGHT, I THINK THIS IS ENOUGH BIBLE CLASS FOR LITTLE CHILDREN! Don't you think that's quite a bit? We want to try to keep these short.--Especially when Grandpa can get so much out of one word! So PTL! David, you close in prayer & we'll all say the Lord's Prayer together. If you come a little closer I can reach you, that's good children, & the rest of you can just hold hands symbolically, stretch your hands out toward each other. After all, if "He sent His Word & healed them", why can't we join hearts even if our hands don't touch? PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ!
31. (DAVID: THANK YOU JESUS FOR THIS GOOD BIBLE CLASS THAT WE HAD, & thank You for how we got to review even the first 3 verses. Thank You Jesus how we got so much out of it & that Grandpa can explain these Psalms & Proverbs for us & that he's such a good teacher & we understand them so well! We pray that You will please bless this day, Lord, & in all that we do, help us to look to You, Jesus. Please help Grandpa & Mommy to have a good day in their working & resting & whatever they're going to do. Please keep all the Family safe & help them not to get any cuts or accidents, Lord, in Jesus' name.)--Amen! As we pray the prayer, Lord, that You taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer) Keep us all safely today, bless us & make us a blessing, Lord, & our Family around the World, give them many souls for Your hire, Lord, in Jesus' name! PTL! Hallelujah! Amen! TYL!
32. (SINGS:) "GOD BE WITH YOU TILL WE MEET AGAIN, BY HIS COUNSEL GUIDE, UPHOLD YOU, in His arms securely fold you, God be with you till we meet again! Till we meet, till we meet, till we meet at Jesus' feet! Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again!" Does that mean until we meet when the Lord comes? Every time we meet we meet at Jesus' feet! Can you prove that by a Scripture? (Children: "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them!")--Right! (Mat.18:20) So we always meet at Jesus' feet! PTL!
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