A.c.e. Up My Sleeve

Subject: The Shepherd

Modified Subject: The Good Shepherd

Thesis: The Good Shepherd providentially cares for His flock.

Objective: To trust in the provision and care of our Lord.

Psalm 23 – the funeral passage. I say that because so many people place this passage of scripture on the

memorial cards of their deceased loved ones. As I looked up memorial cards for funerals, this was the

number one Bible passage.

Let’s read Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and loving‐kindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So why is this scripture fit for a funeral? It’s a life passage – it states that fact not only in the 6th verse, but the writer, David, was alive when he wrote it – and he wrote it in the present. But it’s only a life passage of Scripture because of a funeral – a death.

It appropriately follows Psalm 22, because it only applies to you when and if you believe Psalm 22. The Lord is only my Shepherd when we understand Psalm 22 and the redemption that we have in Christ, because of His blood shed on our behalf when He bought and purchased a people for Himself. This Psalm has no meaning to the unbeliever.

Now I break this passage of scripture into three parts I call the ACE up my sleeve

A – Abundant Life

C – Confident Life

E – Eternal Life

If you’re not familiar with Psalm 22; it is the Psalm that foretells of the crucifixion of Christ – 1000 B.C.

First line: My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

Other verses

• And all my bones are out of joint

• They pierced my hands and my feet.

• They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

• All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord

Now this first section refers to the Lord in third person.

A – The Abundant Life

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

The Lord is my Shepherd.

The first verse establishes the shepherd and the theme of trust, but the Lord’s providential care is limited. David did not say the Lord is the Shepherd of all, nor did he say the Lord is the Shepherd of Israel – he said the Lord is my Shepherd because he believed in the Lord as his only hope for salvation.

Only when we get Psalm 22 and the redemption we have in Christ because of His blood shed on our behalf when He bought and purchased a people of His own.

This is not universal.

- Ephesians 2:1-3; 2 Corinthians 4:4 versus John 1:11-13 - "become"

o Ephesians 2:1-3

 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

o 2 Corinthians 4:4

 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

o John 1:11-13

 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

o We don't need to "become" something we already are

o We are all His creation, but we are NOT all His children

Only those who have been redeemed by the death in Psalm 22 can make the claim in Psalm 23