The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
The Daily Blade, hosted by Pastor Joby Martin of the Church of Eleven22 and Kyle Thompson of Undaunted.Life, is a short-form devotional show that equips Christians to apply the Word of God to their everyday lives.
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The Daily Blade: Joby Martin & Kyle Thompson
#44 - Joby Martin // For His name’s sake – It’s not about you.
Psalm 23 offers profound truths that go beyond comfort, emphasizing God's ultimate purpose for His glory rather than our own fulfillment. By examining the verses in light of their intended divine focus, we uncover the essential nature of true worship, God's protective jealousy, and the core of following Jesus.
• The love of God is centered on His glory, not personal comfort
• Misinterpretation can occur when we insert ourselves into scripture
• God as a jealous deity reflects His protective love for us
• The Hebrew concept of 'hasid' illustrates God's nurturing nature
• Following Jesus involves recognizing His supremacy over life
Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
Speaker 2:All right men, welcome back to Psalm 23. Again, one of the most famous psalms in all of the world. Even if you're brand new to Bible study, you've heard this one. And today we're going to talk about why so many people probably like this song psalm, why so many people love it and why we're probably very, very wrong. Again, we're going to read the first three verses. Again, we're going to read the first three verses. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. And there's a little bit more to that verse we'll come back to.
Speaker 2:I think this is why so many people love this psalm, because you get to this point of the psalm and you begin to think, wow, god's really into me. Now let me be perfectly clear. God loves you, god is for you. Anybody that dies for you is for you. But it's not all about you and you're like I don't know. Pastor, if you look at the psalm, he's really into me. I mean, he's making me lie down by green pastures and he's leading me besides still waters and he's leading me in paths of righteousness. Isn't God doing all of these things for me? And the answer is no, absolutely not. God does not exist for you. God exists for God. God exists for the glory of God. The reason that the Lord is your shepherd, the reason that you shall not want, the reason he makes you lie down in green pastures, the reason that he leads me beside still waters, the reason that he restores my soul, the reason that he leads me in paths of righteousness, is for his name's sake. This may be the most shocking thing you've ever heard, bro. It's not about you. Again, god is for you. It's just not all about you, and one of the worst things that you can do when you come to study the scriptures is to insert yourself into the scriptures. It's not about you.
Speaker 2:My friend Matt Chandler, who will be on the Daily Blade at some point, so mark your calendars for that, he is most famous for saying you're not David, that so often we misread the scriptures. We like to insert ourself into the scripture as if we're the hero and we're not the hero in the story of David and Goliath. You're not the little guy out there that can overcome the giant. Jesus is the one that overcomes the giant of sin and death on our behalf, for our sake. So do not get confused.
Speaker 2:God does not exist for your pleasure, for your comfort, for your ease, to meet all of your dreams. That is not why God exists. God exists for the glory of God, and for God to glory in anything other than himself would be idolatrous, because God is ultimate and what God knows is what we need more than anything. Is God not a better version of ourself? And for God to put anything above himself would be the worst thing that he could do.
Speaker 2:When the Bible says that God is a jealous God, this doesn't mean that God is jealous of us. That is silly. Do you think God saw you get up this morning and put your pants on and think, man, I wish I had some pants like that? No, you dummy that he owns everything, he has everything. He has no use of the things that we have.
Speaker 2:God is a jealous God because God is jealous for us.
Speaker 2:He is not jealous of us and he knows that for us to worship anything other than him will not lead to life, but it would lead to death and despair and destruction.
Speaker 2:You see, I know we're talking to a bunch of men, but one of the greatest illustrations of this. The bible says that god is long-suffering. The word there is has said it means that that that he is, that he is love towards us. Some people translate it blessed kindness and it is a word picture. That word, has said, is a word picture of a baby crying out for its mom and then the mom lactating and giving the baby what the baby needs. When you and I cry out, what we actually need is God, and for God to give us anything other than himself would kill us, would lead to our destruction. You see, the reality is that the Lord is our shepherd and that he is our green pastures. He is our still waters, he restores our soul, he is our paths of righteousness and when we follow him, we follow him for his glory, for his namesake. The reason we follow after Jesus is not because he makes our life better, but because Jesus is better than life.
Speaker 1:Peace. Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.
