Daily Dwelling: Staying Close to the Shepherd

THURSDAY, 24 JULY 2025

TEXT: PSALM 22:19-31

19: But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

20: Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21: Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22: I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.

23: You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24: For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

25: From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.

26: The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

27: All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28: for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

29: All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30: Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.

31: They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

(New International Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: WHICH ATTRIBUTES OF GOD FIT YOUR PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES?

The Westminster shorter catechism's definition of God is an enumeration of His attributes:

"God is Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth." Note that these attributes are not exhaustive.

Of all the attributes of God the Psalmist needed, was His strength because he was in a precarious situation.

Being a shepherd and very familiar with life in the wild, the Psalmist envisioned himself as caught up on the buffalo's horns, about to be gored to death.

He also saw himself as a victim of a pack of wild dogs. We are living as aliens in the devil's zoo where people are acting like animals.

That's what happens when we leave God out of our lives, we descend to the level of animals. When men put Jesus on the cross, they acted like animals.

In Africa, people are acting like animals. Human beings are still selling fellow human beings, killing for rituals and kidnapping for ransom.

Some doctors harvest human organs for the highest bidder while some men of God use charms and diabolical means to grow and enrich their ministries.

QUESTION: In order to survive in our sinful world, which attribute of God do you need the most in your present circumstances?

PRAYER: Dear Lord, please give me your power and strength to survive in this wicked world, in Jesus' name. Amen.