No Doubt About It

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth 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 thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth 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.

Every verb in this Psalm is a sure one: I shall not want; I will not fear; I will dwell. There are no maybes, no probablys, and no doubt of what will happen. David wrote it with no wiggle room. If by some chance these things don't happen, if God abandons David, there's no way to go back into the psalm and tell yourself: "Well, it did say He might be with me; I guess He wasn't this time." No, David is so sure of God's provision and guidance that he declares it unapologetically, and thankfully he's right: we serve a dependable God. As the old hymn says, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" - and there's no doubt about it.