Sunday, May 31, 2009

The Lord is not their shepherd

Let us preach the gospel to the lost because:

The Lord is not their shepherd; they shall be in want.
He doesn't make them lie down in green pastures,
but they wander alone in the wilderness.
He doesn't lead them beside still waters,
but they thirst and hunger in a dry and parched land.
He doesn't refresh their weary souls.
He doesn't lead them in paths of righteousness for his name's sake,
but they meander and stumble along the highways and byways.

When they walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
they will fear evil, for he is not with them;
they do not have his rod nor his staff
to comfort them and protect them.

He doesn't prepare a feast for them,
they are helpless when waylaid by their enemies;
He doesn't anoint their head with oil;
their cup is empty.
Surely sin and judgment shall follow them
all the days of their life,
and, unless they hear and believe the good news,
they shall never dwell in the house of the Lord.
No, not ever.

11 comments:

  1. This breaks my heart and stirs my soul. Thank you Patrick.

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  2. Thanks for such a nice post, I am truly impressed by your blog work, salute you for this!

    Elena
    Medela metro bag

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  3. Stealing this for Sunday School this morning. Thanks.

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  4. Actually, I was inspired to "reverse" Psalm 23 after listening to a visiting preacher named Ray Notley do something similar. So Notley gets the credit.

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  5. "unless they hear and believe the good news"

    God doesn't WANT them to believe. Otherwise, they would.

    It's quite something to have the most powerful force in the universe actively seeking your death and destruction and your perpetual torment in a lake of fire, isn't it?

    "Who can argue against God?"

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  6. Another blowhard who thinks they're addressing things that have never been addressed before at all in the over 3,000 posts on Triablogue. Try again Anita.

    Thanks for posting this Patrick!

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  7. Am I supposed to shed a tear? Doesn't the Calvinist God want all this that comes to pass?

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  8. Kim said:

    Am I supposed to shed a tear?

    No, not necessarily. But, assuming you're a genuine Christian, it'd be good if you preached the gospel -- tears or no tears.

    Doesn't the Calvinist God want all this that comes to pass?

    God wants us to preach the gospel.

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  9. And you need to teary eyed psalm23 sob story to encourage you to do it. How... inconsistent.

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  10. Kim said:

    And you need to teary eyed psalm23 sob story to encourage you to do it. How... inconsistent.

    You'll need to explain from the Bible how you think it's inconsistent for a Calvinist Christian to encourage other Christians to preach the gospel. Not merely assert it.

    Besides, we've already covered this ground before. Check out the archives.

    By the way, you wouldn't happen to know Michelle Renee or Ruby Red, would you?

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  11. It's pretty obvious the Troll B-Gone isn't working. That'll be the last time I order anything on eBay using Patrick's credit card....

    Oh wait. It says here that Troll B-Gone only works on male trolls. The only thing they got for pseudo-Arminian lesbian chick trolls is Whack-A-Troll, but there's a disclaimer that it's practically ineffective due to an excess of harpy blood in the target that allows spontaneous regeneration.

    It also costs 5x as much. Bummer for Patrick's credit line.

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