Even Though _____, God Is Faithful

A pastor I admire told this story of a Sunday School teacher who asked her class, “How many of you can quote Psalm 23?” Several students raised their hands, including a little girl who was only four years old. She stood up and declared loudly, “The Lord is my shepherd. I got all I want.” She had the words mixed up but understood the message perfectly.

Most everyone has heard of the 23rd Psalm even if they can’t quote it correctly. It’s a poem with no peer and has been called the sweetest psalm ever written. Abraham Lincoln read it to cure his blues, and President Bush read it publicly to calm our nation’s fears after 9-11. We could call it the psalm that calms the soul.

Since this psalm is so familiar, we’re in danger of missing the depth of its meaning. Because its setting is in the world of sheep and shepherds, many of us can slide right past its richness. Are you aware the Bible refers to us as sheep nearly two hundred times? This is not usually a compliment because sheep are smelly, stubborn, and prone to wander.

Let’s read what

Psalm 23 1-6 says:

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

     for his name’s sake.

Even 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 overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

     all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

     forever. (Psalm 23:1–6)

One commentary explains that this passage is a hymn of resting confidently in the Lords care. It uses two images: the first is the Lord as a shepherd who cares for the sheep. We see this in verses 1 through four. The Lord is my shepherd - He makes me lie down in green pastures, do you know what green pastures in Israel looked like? They aren’t the image that may come to your mind of rolling meadows and hills of green with alfalfa waist high but they are rather more like this (picture que on screen) The regions in Israel where shepherds live are predominantly wilderness areas. They have two seasons: the rainy season from November through March (when even the desert becomes green), and the dry season from April through October when the landscape is brown.

Even during the rainy season, the wilderness grasses remain short. Blades of grass grow in the shade of rocks, where moisture is trapped. At first glance, the "green pastures" of Israel look like a barren, rocky wasteland. But each day, a few blades of grass grow and there is enough to nourish the flocks for another day

.The Lord providing and giving provision for the sheep (or for us) is not giving us more than we will ever need but rather providing for the moment. The shepherd will take care of his flock and the sheep are not worried about tomorrow, They are not worried about an hour from now and they are definitely not worried about the current circumstance for they are taken care of by the Shepherd. The truth is that the Good Shepherd will lead you in green pastures and by the still waters. This psalm paints the peaceful picture of the Lord’s care for his children. Ask the Lord to refresh your soul and guide you along righteous paths of healing and restoration Experiencing this rest requires submission to the shepherd

. Louie Giglio writes in his book, Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table, “You may be surrounded by pressures and troubles and uncertainties and misunderstandings, but God has set a table for you in the middle of all this. God’s got your back. He is the Lord of all creation. All strength and power and authority belong to Him. He’s king of the universe. When God is walking you through the valley, you can stop worrying about managing all the outcomes. You can stop looking over your shoulder.” Which leads us into the second image in verses 5 and six. Where we see the Lord as Host who cares for his guest. These two images are familiar experiences in David’s life but they also elicit and evoke other ideas that are common in the ancient Near East, with the deity as shepherd of his people and the deity as host of the meal. In worship, the faithful celebrate God’s greatness and majesty; and when they sing this psalm, they see his majesty in the way he personally attends to each of his covenant lambs. A single flock can have as few as 10 animals or as much as hundreds of them. A good Shepherd knows each and every sheep in the flock regardless of how big the numbers could be, (John 10:3-5). “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.””