“…and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13
Throughout Scripture the believer is faced with an extraordinary paradox. How can a God, All-Mighty though He be, speak with such simplicity to an individual’s heart, and bring forth a response well-pleasing to Him? How is it that One who is All-Knowing, for Christ IS our wisdom, speak through His servants, and sometimes by angels in heaven, in such simple terms, and yet, accomplish in a life, or a people, or nation, His eternal purpose? The answer resides in what the Lord Jesus declares to us at the end of what is termed, “The Lord’s Prayer.” The Lord brings the whole of this model prayer to a quiet, and yet, magnificent, all-inclusive climax, by declaring: “…for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.” Why does He say this? If one would step back and look at what God has declared in His word concerning His dealings with men, and how He works in the circumtances of life to reach the lost soul’s heart, one is immediately struck by the fact that all is possible, in things great and small, because God possesses the “kingdom.” That over which He reigns is perfectly under His control. He is the Soveregin Ruler over all, and this by His perfect, everlasting power. He exercises this authority in the lives and circumstances of men that they would see, and recognize His glory, the revelation of Himself, and then turn to Him to be saved, and blessed. The entirety of His dealngs with men has its absolute foundation, and realization in this: Christ is King, the Kingdom is His, and also the glory of that kingdom. Where He reigns His glory is revealed, whether in the heart of an individual believer, or in nations and peoples.
A second paradox discovered in God’s dealings with men, is demonstrated in His dealings specifically with individuals. Christ, as the Great Shepherd, speaks concerning His sheep, in that He calls them all by their names. Thhough He would taste death for every man, yet He specifically calls the individual. How could a God so great and powerful, even consider man who is so little, and insignificant? The Psalmist wrote: “What is man that Thou art mindful of him?” This indeed is a great question which needs a valid answer. God revealed to David, and to us today, in the 23rd Psalm, something of His gracious dealings with men, through these two paradoxes which have existed always.
Perhaps one of the greatest reasons for which the 23rd Psalm is so widely known, quoted, and believed in with regard to knowing God, is the matter of accessibility. God gives to the shepherd, David, access to Himself, by giving him a knowledge of who God is, and how God will work, and reveal Himself to the believer. So, David, writes: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” The truth revealed here is very personal, and profound. This Eternal Shepherd chooses to belong to David, even though David is a sheep. How can this be? It is because of God’s intent and initiative. If David is to know God, he must first see that God is truly God, the very seeker of David’s heart. Secondly, David must understand that God will specifically respond to David’s faith as a shepherd would concerning his sheep. The great and wonderful difference between the shepherds who are men, and Christ who is God, is the fact that “…the kingdom, the power, and the glory belongs to Him.” Thus, nothing is impossible to Him as the Great Sheperd, in fulfilling His word. David’s appropriation by faith of Christ as the Sovereign Shepherd lays the ground work for believing Him to be and to do exactly as He has declared, even if one cannot understand as a sheep what the Shepherd is doing. The great principle by which the Shepherd reveals Himself to the sheep is faith in His faithfulness.
Dear Father, Lead us and teach us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.