I need Thee.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. he guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:1-4

I took Biblical Interpretation my freshman year at OBU. As i was reading through the Psalms tonight, i found these notes that we took in class one morning written out in the margins. It's always such a good reminder to realize that EVERY word in the bible was placed there on purpose.... every punctuation mark. And that's what we learned to pay attention to and look for while in this class.

Verse 4 starts off by saying 'Even though i walk'.... notice it doesn't say run. We don't run from our fears, pains, or valleys... we embrace them. Let yourself go there. We walk, maybe at times we kind of do a little power walk, but still we aint running. We facing them things HEAD ON... to make sure that we conquer them the right way... and the next time you're faced with it, you will know exactly where to go, and what to do.....

The next part says 'through the valley'.... through meaning that it will NOT last forever... you keep on moving. Thank goodness we aren't stuck there forever, or sitting ... we are walking through... facing it head on, and continually moving forward to seek the Lord.

'i will fear no evil'..... refuse to be discouraged... choose to lean on the Lord. Let Him and Him alone be your comfort and deliverer.

I also find it neat the it's the shadow of death... the awesome thing about shadows is, it can't exist without a light being SOMEWHERE. So look to the Father, the LIGHT of the world and He will guide you through....

The valleys are going to come - there is no way to run from or prevent them. It says in Ecclesiastes 3 there is a time for everything... so we know these times are going to come. But we can take comfort in knowing that they won't last forever, and God is there to carry us through them. He is there, walking right beside us... EVERYDAY! I am learning to let go of the steering wheel, and complete control of my boat, and let God steer the way.... sometimes i don't even realize that i have a death grip on certain things, but God will reveal that to me too.... I have realized that i have to let myself be completely vulnerable and broken - so that in my weakness His power can be proven perfect. I need Him bad... very very bad...

I need Thee every hour, most Gracious Lord... no tender voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee, oh i need Thee... every hour i need Thee... oh bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee. I love you Father.