The Journal ran an article last week about the need to screen vanity plate applications so nothing offensive or obscene gets embossed on government issued license plates. For example an Ontario woman’s request to put her maiden name on her vanity plate was denied because the plate would have read: WEED. The Ontario government obviously doesn’t want to be thought of as condoning drug use. The fun thing about vanity plates is that they often have more than one meaning. For example there is a plate that reads: U R NXT. If you’re tailing this vehicle the meaning seems obvious. You’re the next vehicle in line. There must be another, more macabre meaning however because this plate, U R NXT, belongs to a hearse.
It often takes a moment to make sense of a vanity plate when you first see it. For example, if you saw a plate with the following letters on it, GODISNOWHERE, what would you think is the intended message? It depends doesn’t it? Is the owner of that car an atheist? If so, the plate should read “God Is Nowhere.” If on the other hand the owner of that vehicle is a believer, then the plate must read: “God Is Now Here.” Perhaps the way YOU read the plate says more about you than the owner of the plate. “God Is Nowhere.” “God Is Now Here.” Let’s face it; we’ve felt both to be true at times haven’t we? Today’s sermon text, the well-known Psalm 23, assures us that God is now here to provide, to protect, perpetually.
Psalm 23 begins, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul” (Psalm 23:1-3a). If you were to hike around Ireland, you would see sheep everywhere lying down in green pastures because water is abundant on the “Emerald Isle.” Keep in mind, however, that Psalm 23 was written by King David. He had been a shepherd in the hot, dry, dusty Middle East. It would have been no easy thing for a shepherd there to find lush green grass and flowing water for his sheep to enjoy. One Bible commentator, who himself had been a shepherd in east Africa, wrote that a shepherd would have to work hard to provide green grass and water in a climate like the one David worked in. He would have to cultivate and irrigate a patch of ground to provide those comforts for his sheep. That was hard, dirty work. Yet the shepherd who did this obviously loved his sheep.
And so it is with God. He loves us very much and works hard to provide what we need so that our soul will be at rest. Then how come we have sleepless nights? How come we worry about the state of affairs in our household? Why do we look at what we have, or don’t have and think: “If God is here, he must be asleep because he’s not doing a good job of caring for me!” Such an attitude shows a lack of trust in God’s power and concern for us. It’s a sin for which we need to repent. And it’s a sin that we all struggle with because we live in a society that says more is better. But that wasn’t David’s attitude. He said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want” (Psalm 23:1). In other words, with the Lord as my shepherd I really have everything I need. Or to put it another way, if the Lord doesn’t provide it, I must not need it. The Apostle Paul got it when he wrote: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:6-9). God IS now here, Brothers and Sisters. He is caring for you. Even right now you are lying down in green pastures even though you may not have the kind of home, car, or health you would like. Stop pining for these things and let your heart be at peace.
One of my most vivid memories of a backpacking trip I took in Ireland was seeing a thin ribbon of white undulating over the green mountainside. When my buddies and I got closer we saw that a shepherd was leading his flock from one pasture to another. And so, says David, our God also leads us. “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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” (Psalm 23:3b, 4).
The sheep I saw in Ireland followed their shepherd over some tricky and slippery terrain because they trusted that he would bring them to somewhere good. That’s the confidence we also have. Our God is now here to lead us on the right paths, paths that lead to the goal of heaven. Will the journey be easy? No! We will have to go through deep narrow valleys that cast a shadow over us. But even then we won’t be afraid because of the middle words of Psalm 23. In Hebrew poetry the most important thought of the poem often comes right in the middle. The heart of Psalm 23 are the words “You are with me.” What difference will it make to know that God is with you? Children, what difference does it make to know that your parents will be there to take you to your first swimming lesson, or that they are running along side of you when you first take the training wheels off your bike? What difference does it make to know that you won’t have to go to that doctor’s appointment alone? It makes all the difference doesn’t it? What you’re afraid to do on your own you’ll do as long as your parents are standing by to help and protect.
Fellow Christians, David compares us to sheep for a reason. Like sheep we are timid and frail. And just as a sheep will never suddenly turn into a ferocious bear to stave off a cougar attack, nor will you suddenly turn into some sort of superman or superwoman to deal with life’s difficulties when they come calling. Dealing with cancer, for example, doesn’t make you stronger; it knocks you down a notch or two. Handling stressful employees or employers doesn’t give you energy; it saps it away. But even when troubles like these cast a dark shadow over your life you don’t need to fear evil. Why not? Because even though you remain a frail, timid sheep your staff-carrying shepherd is at your side protecting you. Why, not even the deep shadow of death is something that need frighten a Christian. A pastor who had just lost his wife to illness was riding to the funeral with his four children, all under the age of 12. As they drove along in silent sadness an 18-wheeler passed them throwing its shadow over the car. The pastor turned and asked his children: “Would you rather be run over by that truck or by its shadow?” “Well, Daddy, by its shadow of course,” replied the youngest daughter. “Everyone knows that a shadow can’t hurt you.” The father then said to his motherless children, “Your mother has not been run over by death but only by the shadow of death.” That, my Brothers and Sisters, is our comfort too (Gaylin Schmeling). Our Good Shepherd, Jesus, laid down his life for the sheep. He died but came back to life. Death may still buzz around us but like a bee that has lost its stinger it can’t harm us. It’s only a shadow of its former formidable self.
But now why does our Shepherd lead us through deep dark valleys to begin with? Why can’t we take the “sunny” path to heaven? The simple fact is that just as water can only flow into a ditch or valley, so God’s blessings can only flow and be collected in the valleys that have been carved into our lives by experiences that are often excruciatingly painful (Philip Keller). Those who are proud and puffed up on the other hand see no need for God’s blessings. As a result those blessings roll off of them like water cascading off a barren mountain peak.
Yes, we can be certain that even in the shadows of dark valleys we still have God’s blessings because David writes, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:5, 6). At this point in the psalm David compares God to a king. And what a king he is! He is a king that serves us. Even in the face of our enemies God provides for us – and not in skimpy measure either. Our cup isn’t just filled it overflows.
So what are you doing with these blessings that are overflowing from your cup? Are you sharing your time, your talents, and your treasures, or are you selfishly and thoughtlessly slurping them up like a child trying to inhale as many potato chips as he can so his siblings don’t get any? David’s description assures us that we can afford to be generous when sharing our blessings, for God is now here to provide and to protect perpetually, not sporadically. There remains a need for us to be generous in sharing our blessings, not just because this congregation wants to build a new church but because our church body leaders have announced again the need to cut funding to mission fields both here and abroad. The offerings just aren’t there to support the number of missions we were once able to support. I know that we’re in a recession but I refuse to believe that God’s people really don’t have the means to continue to support these missions AND increase support for their own congregations. If only we would remember that God is now here perpetually providing for us that we may provide for others. David brings that thought home with the last verse of the Psalm: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6). The Hebrew word “follow” can be translated as “hound.” When we follow our Shepherd, goodness and God’s mercy don’t just show up every now and then they hound us like a faithful dog. No matter what happens to you, sickness, financial ruin, or rejection by loved ones, turn around and you’ll see that God’s goodness and mercy are still there with you.
I don’t think they had them in David’s day but if they would have, don’t you think David’s vanity plate would have read: “God Is Now Here”? David was certain of this fact. Note how he called God “my” Shepherd, not just “a” shepherd. In the same way God sees you as an individual not just a number in the flock. He loves you very much. And so God is now here in your life to provide, to protect, perpetually. Amen.
