Peace To You

When we were living outside the United States, we’d sometimes make a trip into the big city to go to Costco. The prices tended to be outrageous for items from the States, but we would just start craving something familiar, and Costco was one of the places we’d go to find things like Frosted Flakes, Mountain Dew, cheddar cheese… You know… all the healthy American stuff.

During one of our trips to Costco, the guy who was at the register struck up a conversation with us while he was scanning our items. We were obviously not from around there, so he asked if we were American… Yes… And then he asked if we were missionaries… Why, Yes we are!… Then he started telling us about his church, and he taught us a short phrase that they would use at the end of their church service as a kind of blessing… In Mandarin it is pronounced “ping an” … which roughly translates as “Peace to You”... which is the title of today's message.

With everything happening in our country and around the world… I just felt we should pause this morning and experience “ping an” or "peace" from the Lord, which led me to our passage today of the 23rd Psalm. For many of us, these verses have become so familiar that we tend to read over them quickly... like we're on auto-pilot. But in the life of a Christian, these verses are very special and can bring you comfort and peace when you crave it the most.

Psalm 23 is a beautiful description of our relationship with God… It promises comfort and protection and provision and blessing to those who follow and remain close to Jesus. Let’s stand and read it together…

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

4 Yea, 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.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Let’s PRAY… thank you, you may be seated.

This Psalm was written by King David… and in this Psalm, David starts by saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Since God is his Shepherd, guess what David is? That's right... He’s picturing himself as a sheep.

King David spent many years as a shepherd when he was growing up… Being a shepherd back in David’s time was very difficult and dangerous work. He would lead the sheep to the fields where they could graze… and to water, usually wells that had been dug… the shepherd would have to pull the water up from the well for his sheep.

He watched over the sheep all day to protect them from other animals, like lions and bears. The shepherd would gather the sheep at night into a fenced area… if the herd was far from home, he needed to make his own fence out of branches and thorns. As the sheep gathered in the pen, he would count them to make sure none were missing. If any were missing, he would search and search and search until he found it and would bring it back to safety.

At night, he would often lay across the doorway so that he would know if one of the sheep tried to wander off, or if another animal or a thief would try to come in and take one of his sheep. Even as a young boy, David would watch over and take care of his father’s sheep. David knew a lot about being a shepherd. Picturing God as the Good Shepherd in this Psalm makes a lot of sense... David understood first-hand what kind of loving attention and sacrifice it took to be a good shepherd.

But why did David want to picture himself as a sheep? We see this in more parts of the Bible than just Psalm 23. For example, Psalm 95:7 says… “For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” David knew a lot about sheep… he spent a lot of time watching sheep and understanding their behavior… This guy was an expert… And he realized that people are a lot like sheep in many ways.

First, he knows that sheep are very STUBBORN.

My mom raises sheep on small acreage in Oklahoma. When we go over to visit, we help her take care of the sheep… and I can tell you from experience that sheep are very stubborn. They want to go their own way and do whatever they want to do. If they want to wander off, they will wander off. We have to be careful to keep the gates closed so the sheep don’t get out.