Sabbath Sunday Devotion | 2025
Psalm 23: A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 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.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Imagine King David as he walks up the hillside of the Mount of Olives. His feet are bare and his head is covered. Tears run down his face so heavily they leave a trail in the dirt as he climbs. (2 Samuel 15:30) His beloved son Absalom has united David’s own people against him. He has fled Jerusalem with the family that are still loyal to him with no sense of what is going to happen next. Each tear that falls represents the mourning of an individual mistake. How could he have been a better father? A better king?
As David emerges from another grove of olive trees he sees a familiar sight. Stones have been stacked high to create four rugged walls. Three are enclosed and another with an opening in the middle, just large enough for a man to fill the void. He knows this sight very well. Long ago he had spent many days and nights filling that void. The fog in his mind begins to clear as he remembers the simplicity of that time. Before he had the duty to his nation or his son, he just had his sheep.
However, the most beautiful memory is what David realized during those times of watching those sheep. He could have the most secure pen in the valley, the strongest body to fight off the lions, and the sharpest mind to know where to find pasture, but in the end he would never feel in control. He, when it came down to it, was just as frail and in need as the sheep. So as he continues to climb, the tears of mourning begin to subside as he musters the strength to sing a song he has been meaning to write down for a while, “The Lord is my shepherd…”
At Glory Church we have spent the whole year of 2025 considering the favor of the Lord. Along the way we studied the life of Joseph, learned about Godly wisdom, discovered what really matters to God, sat in the truth of His blessing, sought to shine a light on untruths, and ended by realizing that everything from God points to Jesus. Our church grew together in our knowledge of the word, began to challenge each other more and more, and most importantly led people to Jesus– so how should we sum up His favor?
God’s favor is a firm foundation for the life of a believer. When David wrote, “surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life” he could not have been more correct. Not only did the goodness of God follow him personally, but it was made manifest in that Jesus Christ came to earth as the goodness of God to complete everything King David wished he was but wasn’t. Our ability to consider the favor of God is dependent on our capacity to understand that His true favor goes far beyond ourselves. “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God, “who is and who was and is to come, the Almighty.” - Revelation 1:8
“Count your blessings” is a popular Christian phrase. When I count the things God has given me it is easy to attribute them to His favor– but the more I count blessings I realize I often don’t view the blessings correctly. We buy houses and call it favor, but if God’s favor is only in the house it will surely fade. We get the job and call it favor, but if God’s favor is only in the job it will surely fade. We are only good at counting the blessings we can see clearly, and we do not see very clearly a lot of the time. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known”.
Instead of attempting to count blessings, let’s focus on seeking His presence. If we seek His presence we will naturally encounter His favor. David did not write Psalm 23 to make a tally of the good actions of God. He wrote it to bring himself back to the moments where God met him in the quiet and told him that he was fully known and cared for.
As a church, we could spend years and years on this same word “favor”. We won’t because we don’t need to, but there will be moments where God brings us back to the root of His love and the simplicity of the shepherd. We will feel overwhelmed in a moment, yet find peace in knowing the abundance of His favor. “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalm 23:6
Happy New Years Glory Church!
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We cannot wait to worship with you in the New Year.
Devotion written by Pastor Dalton Bradley
