10.24.05

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever. - Psalm 23.

Erick, Oklahoma is about 14 miles south of where I live, and it is the hometown of Roger Miller, who composed and sang a vast number of songs. They now have a Roger Miller Festival every year at Erick (It was Saturday), and they also have a Roger Miller Museum there. While we were on our way to a service at the Erick Nursing Home this afternoon in the church van, we started talking about some of the songs Roger had written. One of those songs was “You Can’t Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd” which is the first line of the first verse of the song. The other verses include these lines: “You can't take a shower in a parakeet cage”; “You can't go swimming in a baseball pool”; “You can't change film with a kid on your back”; and, “You can't drive around with a tiger in your car”. At the end of each verse is the line, “But you can be happy if you've a mind to”.

I agree with Roger that there are some things in this life that are impossible to do or at least are very difficult to do. However, in spite of that there are some things that we do have control over. One of those things is the state of our mind. We can as Roger said be happy if we want to be, and we can go beyond happiness to having supernatural peace in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.

King David was the psalmist who wrote the 23^rd Psalm. Reading this psalm one thing is obvious, and that is that the author of the psalm is at peace. He is at peace with himself, his world, and his God. Even though David had experienced some very difficult circumstances in his life, he was still able to have peace. David had his wife taken away from him, he was hunted like a wild animal for many years, and he knew what it was like to have a child die. But he still had peace and that is amazing!

How did David have peace when so many circumstances in his life were unpleasant and out of his control? David tells us in the very first words of the 23^rd Psalm where he says, “The LORD is my shepherd….”

You can have the same kind of peace that David did even when your life may seem out of control and is filled with difficult circumstances. You can have the same kind of peace if you have the same Lord as your own shepherd and that shepherd is Jesus Christ.