The Psychiatrist's 23rd Psalm
The Lord is my external-internal integrative mechanism; I shall not be deprived of gratification for my viscerogenic hungers or my need-dispositions.
He motivates me to orient myself toward a non-social object with affective significance.
He positions me in a non-decisional situation.
He maximizes my adjustment.
Although I entertain masochistic and self-destructive id impulses, I will maintain contact with reality, for my superego is dominant.
His analysis and tranquilizers, they comfort me.
He assists in the resolution of my internal conflicts despite my oedipal problem and psychopathic compulsions.
He promotes my group identification.
My personality is totally integrated.
Surely my prestige and status shall be enhanced as a direct function of time,
And I shall remain sociologically, psychologically and economically secure forever.
I don’t even know what half of those words mean but I’ll tell you this, God’s version sound a whole lot better then the world’s version does. “The Lord is my shepherd…” It’s not just that it sounds right but it sounds comforting, tangible, real. That is what God is, and why we celebrate Christmas, because on that dark and lonely night, God came down in the form of a man, in a form we could see, touch and hear to all of our senses He became real.
Over the next few weeks we are going to spend time looking at one section of the writings of the Prophet Isaiah. He wrote 66 chapters that are filled with judgment, justice, love, and redemption. Throughout all of his writings, through the hard times as well as the seasons of peace and prosperity, there is a thread of hope. Some of the most vivid and awe-inspiring words of hope that have ever been produced are found in the pages of Isaiah. His brilliant and encouraging words are set against a backdrop of politically and spiritually unsettling and disastrous times.
But God moved upon Isaiah’s heart and he was able to write about God’s promises because he had his heart and mind fixed on the sovereignty of God rather and on the circumstances of this world. A study of all of his writings in valuable, but for the next few weeks our study is going to be limited to these 6 verses. By the way after that we will be walking line by line through the 23rd Psalm. The focus of this study will be the different titles that are given to the Promised One that Isaiah saw as clearly as if He had already come. Understand what this passage is, this passage could be called a birth announcement. Isaiah is declaring to the whole world and for all time that the Messiah was coming and with awe saying what he would be like. If we could look back with the 20/20 vision of hindsight we would see how clear Isaiah’s vision was, he saw the one who would make things right once and for all. The titles that Isaiah gives us are –Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. I think that anyone who knows Jesus as Lord of their lives would have to agree with me that those titles capture the heart and ministry of our Lord.
I want to take a minute to take a paintbrush and dab it into a pallet of despair, dejection, and desperation so that we can paint a canvas of utter darkness-darkness that was familiar to those who lived in Isaiah’s time darkness that may present in our land and your life this morning. If that is true then know that the same great light that was seen so clearly by Isaiah can bee seen today.
Let’s look at Isaiah 1:1-2 to begin, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the day of Uziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For the Lord has spoken. ‘I have nourished and brought up children, And they have rebelled against Me.’” Uziah died in 740 B.C. after reigning as king for 52 years. Under his reign Judah was strong and many people prospered. Jotham, Uziah’s son, reigned for 16 years and his administration was remembered for its many building projects, material prosperity, and military successes. Jotham did something his father never allowed, the worship of idols, and the decline of the nation began. Ahaz, who was Jotham’s son, was known as an evil king and he ruled for 16 years. The idol worship permitted by Jotham was taken to a new level as Ahaz sacrificed his own son to pagan gods. Ahaz also nailed the temp doors shut and forged alliances with the surrounding pagan nations rather than trusting in the Lord for the nation’s security. Last of all, Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, is known as a great king and he reigned for 29 years. He reopened the temple and brought about much needed religious reform. Hezekiah destroyed the idol worship that had been permitted by his father and grandfather. Tradition tells us that Isaiah saw the end of Hezekiah’s administration and then he was he was killed by Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, by being sawn in two.
Yes the 40 years of Isaiah’s ministry were difficult times for Judah. The truth of the matter is that after Uziah died the nation was sick with prosperity, they had forgotten the Lord, and they were set on doing what they wanted to do. The Assyrians were getting ready to be the rod of judgment in God’s had to get the attention of His people. It was in the year that Uziah died that Isaiah had a marvelous vision of the Lord and it brought him to his knees.
Read along with me in Isaiah 6:1. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.” As I was studying this past week I realized that there are some parallels between Judah and what has historically been true here in America. Under Uzziah and Jotham the nation was strong militarily, they were prospering financially, and there were building projects that dotted the landscape. These things would lead you to believe that everything in Judah was coming up roses and that the people were good and godly people. Things are not always as they appear. Turn with me to the very first chapter of Isaiah and let’s allow the Lord to look beneath the surface to the hearts of the people of Judah.
Isaiah 1:21, “See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers! Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water. Your rulers are rebels, companions of thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.” The leaders of the city who were supposed to administer justice for the people were being bought for a price. They were neglecting the very people God had always held before them to protect – the widows and fatherless. The judge’s decisions were tainted by bribes and they were catering to the rich who found themselves in their courts.
The House of God was in no better shape than the court system in Judah. The people who had witnessed the power and grace of God over and over again had now forgotten. They didn’t need God with all of the prosperity they were enjoying. They continued to visit the temple until the days of Ahaz, but their visits were empty rituals and nothing more. Turn with me to Isaiah 1:12-23 and let’s look beneath of the appearance of the beautiful temple. “When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” The court system was being bought, and the temple was being trampled.
With this darkness as a background Isaiah writes a passage of hope. The focus of the passage is joy. Listen to the words of verse 6 again, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” That is what God does, no matter how dark the background may be, He is the light, He is the Joy, He is the peace in any circumstance.
How had Israel, His people, gone so far astry? It really is quite simple. It wasn’t that they weren’t going to church, it wasn’t that they weren’t saying the right things about God. Because the passage says that they were doing all of the ritual things to the point that it made God tired of hearing them. What went wrong in Israel, what is going wrong for too many people today is that they had lost their awe of God. When was the last time we found ourselves where Isaiah did literally unwilling to speak because the awe of God blows us away so much that we feel unworthy to speak in His presence?
In times of darkness and fear people often search for a psychologist or therapist, the person who listens to your troubles and then gives encouragement and advice on how to handle those personal problems. I don’t know about you but there I times I think I could use a therapist.
But that is not the kind of counselor that Isaiah is talking about. The meaning here refers to a wise man versed in law and diplomacy. A closer comparison would be the presidential cabinet. These people were entrusted with the direction of the nation and they were charged to look out for everyone’s best interests. But rather than being wise and following the path that God laid out for His people they went out of their way to go another direction. They went so far as to import God’s to follow since they didn’t want to follow the one they had, the only one who was real. Worse the people followed them. Oh maybe not entirely, at times they still spoke the right language or participated in the right rituals, but that was more of a habit or insurance policy sort of thing rather than a heart commitment. Actually, that sounds really familiar too, and if your commitment to God is on the level of an insurance policy then look at those verses from Isaiah again, God wasn’t fooled then, and He’s not fooled today. If you think of God as an insurance policy rather than Lord of your life and you think that is good enough, the only one who is fooled is you.
So God begins to tell Israel about her future, and look at this, part of the punishment for Israel was that God was going to take down their councilors. Their national leaders were going to fall. Understand the councilors were corrupt but so were the people, and to corrupt people corrupt council doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. For most of the people this would have seemed to be a terrible thing, when it happened it was viewed as a tragedy. Part of their punishment was that their councilors were pulled down. But I think that this shows us something of the wonder of God, do you realize that their punishment was also part of the cure, it wasn’t a random act, for Israel to get back to following God, the people who lead them astray had to be pulled down.
Their fall was part of the punishment of God but understand, part of the promise of God is that He would become their councilor. Think about that for a moment, they were promised that one day the veil that separated man from God would be torn down and they could talk to God face to face. Today we can talk to God it’s called prayer, it is a major step up, but imagine this, one day in Heaven we will see God. It was a great promise then, it is a great promise today. The meaning of the promise of councilor is that God will be involved in our lives everyday.
But what about the meaning of wonderful? First of all the word for wonderful occurs 21 times in the Old Testament and everyone of the refers to the work of God. Think about how thick the Old Testament is. I mean that is a really big book, it follows a peoples history through thousands of years, events that encompassed the lives of literally millions of people are documented and for all of that, the word wonderful is only mentioned 21 times, it wasn’t a word they threw around often.
It think it is important that we don’t miss the awe that they reserved for this word. When something was wonderful it only came from God. If we lose that wonder that sense of awe for what God has done I’m afraid that we run the risk of ending up exactly like Israel did. So let us look at some things that are wonderful about God. There is the wonder of love. John 3:16 we see it so much we take it for granted but listen to the words, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” God loved us so much that His Son wasn’t too great a sacrifice for us.
There is the wonder of life. Look at the what Jesus said he came to give us, John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” So many people so busy running away from the Lordship of God that they missed the fact that all of the rules He set up were to guide us into an abundant life.
What about the wonder of peace? Now there’s two kinds of peace that God gives us. The one that we tend to think of is the comfortable one, the peace that passes understandings in our trials. That kind of peace is wonderful. But I think the other kind of peace is even bigger. I’m talking about the fact that the universe is at war. We are warned about the Principalities and powers in the heavenly places. The places we can’t even pick yet. When I was young I accepted Christ on this basic understanding there was God’s side and there was Satan’s side, and God won so I wanted to be on His team. Do we realize that apart from Christ we are the enemy of Christ, we are at war with Him, but then we have this promise from Romans 5:1, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have* peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When we allow God to become our Lord we stop being enemies and He gives us peace.
What does that peace mean? He introduces us to the wonder of joy. Christmas was an invasion, Satan was given the earth to rule, Job tells us that Satan wandered the whole earth, it was his. Then BANG! A star appears in the East and God is with us, we never have to be apart again. How does the angel announce it? Luke 2:10, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”
What does it take to get that joy? We simply have to ask for the one thing we all need. We must call on God admitting that He is Lord and then we experience the wonder of forgiveness. That is what Jesus came for look at Matthew 1:21, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So what should the result be? It should be this, with a God so wonderful, worship should be the focus of our lives. Matt Redman sings a wonderful song called “Missions Flame.” I think everyone involved in church wants to see missions do well, we want to see people accept Christ so that nobody goes to Hell. That is a great motive, but listen to these words”
Let worship be the fuel for mission's flame
We're going with a passion for Your name
We're going for we care about Your praise
Send us out
Let worship be the heart of mission's aim
To see the nations recognize Your fame
'Til every tribe and tongue voices Your praise
Send us out
You should be the praise of ev'ry tongue
You should be the joy of ev'ry heart
But until the fullness
Of Your kingdom comes
Until that final revelation dawns
Send us out
You know the mission field isn’t just in some foreign country or someplace else. The third largest mission field is the USA. Everyday we should realize that we are called to be missionaries right here where we are. We are to live for Christ and share Him with all of our lives. Not because it is a rule or requirement, but because we are so in awe of who He is and what He has done.
But to many times we serve Him because it’s the rules. Let me ask this question, do we share Him as a life preserver or do we live a life focused on how wonderful He is. I talked with a student a while ago, she turned off by her church and questioning the whole Christianity thing. She made a great observation she thought that almost everybody at her church only went because they didn’t want to go to Hell, and if the Bible was real she didn’t think it should be that way. I told her she was right. Listen there is nothing wrong with becoming a Christian for fire insurance, but you’re not supposed to stay there. Most people accept Christ to avoid Hell, as a child I did it, but you’re not supposed to stay there.
At some point you are supposed to grow, as you grow you understand that while we were enemies, while we were living in rebellion against God, He chose to come down and be with us, to die on a cross so that we could live. Then with power that only God could have He not only rose from the dead but then ascended into heaven to leave no doubt in the minds of his followers who He was. He did all of that because He loved us so much that He literally didn’t want to live with out us. That kind of love should put us in awe. But then He didn’t stop there when He got up to Heaven the God who created the universe began to prepare a place of us, a place He has worked on through the centuries. Why because He loves us so much that He only wants the best for us. The knowledge of that kind of love from that kind of God is so wonderful that our lives should overflow with the awe of it. There shouldn’t be enough lights on our house or our trees, there shouldn’t be enough songs we can sing the wonder of it should fill the whole year. Jesus is the wonderful one.
