Two guys are walking through the woods and come across this big deep hole.
"Wow...that looks deep."
"Sure does... toss a few pebbles in there and see how deep it is."
They pick up a few pebbles and throw them in and wait... no noise.
"Jeeez. That is REALLY deep... here.. throw one of these great big rocks down there. Those should make a noise."
They pick up a couple football-sized rocks and toss them into the hole and wait... and wait. Nothing.
They look at each other in amazement. One gets a determined look on his face and says, "Hey...over here in the weeds, there's a railroad tie. Help me carry it over here. When we toss THAT sucker in, it's GOTTA make some noise."
The two men drag the heavy tie over to the hole and heave it in. Not a sound comes from the hole.
Suddenly, out of the nearby woods, a sheep appears, running like the wind. It rushes toward the two men, then right past them, running as fast as it's legs will carry it. Suddenly it leaps in the air and into the hole.
The two men are astonished with what they've just seen... Then, out of the woods comes a farmer who spots the men and ambles over.
Hey... you two guys seen my sheep out here?
You bet we did! Craziest thing I ever seen! It came running like crazy and just jumped into this hole!
Nah, says the farmer, That couldn't have been MY sheep. My sheep was chained to a railroad tie.
You have to appreciate sheep humor in part because it’s really hard to find a good sheep joke, and I’m still looking. But I tell this joke so that we can remember who sheep are and try and think like they think. This is important for the next couple of weeks because the 23rd Psalm is written from the sheep’s perspective. Yes we can say that in here we find promises of God, that these are the things that God does for us, but the Psalm is written by David from the point of view of a sheep.
Because David was a shepherd, he understood the depths of the statement that “the Lord is my Shepherd.” He understood the depth of care and sacrifice that entailed. We saw last week that there is more to the sheep lying down in green pastures then simply saying good night sheep, they need be free from fear, strife, and need. We also so that there is much more to the still water then we first imagine.
Today we’re going to look at the next verse, as we look at this passage let’s stand and read it together. Psalm 23:1-6, “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.”
Today we’re going to begin by looking at the phrase, “He restores my soul.” Have you ever felt like your soul needed restoration? We all do and we can learn something from the literal sheep. The most common time when sheep need restoration is when they become cast. Now this doesn’t mean that they have a part in a play, what it means is that somehow someway they have turn up onto their back with their feet up in the air.
So you can picture what a problem this is, a sheep alone, in the wild, flat on it’s back with it’s legs flailing in the air. But it’s even worse then it sounds. As they’re on their back flailing away gases begin to build up in their stomach, if they don’t find a way to relieve those gases the eventually they will die, under normal circumstances this can take a few days, but on a hot day it can be a matter of hours. We can be just like those sheep we can appear to be fine and suddenly find ourselves in mortal danger.
It’s not just a matter of literal life but our spiritual life. We can be strolling along and wham we get hit with a temptation that we know we should say no to, but we don’t and now there are consequences that we’re going to have to deal with. Or one of the tragedies of life blindsides us and now we’re questioning God and everything else about our entire existence.
It’s in those times that we relate to the Psalmist when he writes, “Why are you down cast, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God’ for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Notice that this statement starts with a question? Why are you down cast, O my soul? On the surface, really shouldn’t he know why? But what is revealed is a deeper truth that not all of our problems our logical some of them are emotional. Sometimes we know why we are upset, we know that we should trust in God, we may even know deep down what we need to do to get out of our problem. But knowing all of that stuff in our heads, doesn’t solve the problem for our hearts. That’s where the Psalmist found himself and sometimes that where we find ourselves and so we’re like those cast sheep flailing about looking for answers when they’re emotional.
Like those sheep the only answer for us is the shepherd. That’s part of the duty of the shepherd is to restore the cast sheep. The danger is very real, usually one of the first signs to a shepherd that he has a cast sheep is that he can see the buzzards circling waiting for it to die. Sometimes he goes looking for the sheep because it was missing in his count was wrong, that’s a desperate search because he knows that wolves, and other predators would love to find a cast sheep.
So to us the first thing that the shepherd should do is to go find the sheep and stand it up. I mean that just makes sense, but when a shepherd finds a cast sheep he cannot simply stand it up, he must roll it on its side and slowly relieve the pressure that has built up. This is a process that takes some time, as the shepherd leans over the sheep and messages it’s stomach muscles as the gas slowly works it’s way through the sheep’s system and the whole time the shepherd is going to talk to the sheep the words that he says will be a mix of encouraging words, telling the sheep how much he loves the sheep and how valuable the sheep is. But the other half of the words will be telling the sheep not to repeat the actions that cause it to become cast and warning it of the danger, the things that could have happened.
So what about us those times when we find ourselves cast. Those times when it feels like our lives are at a standstill, that we are stuck on our backs waiting for the next disaster to strike. The answer at those times is the same answer as when we are feeling healthy and strong? Our hope is always in the Lord our shepherd. It may be tough to see in the midst of the struggle, but the Lord, our shepherd is always the answer and He will move in ways that we may only see on the other side of our struggle. Look at what the Psalmist wrote, “For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. God has been and always will be the answer when we become cast. But let’s look for a few moments at some of the reasons that it happens. Understand that this is not a complete list, and also understand that sometimes, the issue is simply that life is difficult and can wear us down at times. Those times we can’t avoid, but I think we can all admit that there are times the we get into trouble all by ourselves, and while it’s comforting to know that our shepherd can and will rescue us, we would rather avoid needing rescue in the first place. The first way that sheep can become cast is when they look for a “soft spot.” It’s when the sheep come to a time of relaxing and they look for a soft spot to lay down. They find what looks like the perfect spot and they sit down and sink in at some point they know that maybe they should get up but their just so comfortable they don’t notice that they’ve started to lean over on their side a little bit, and so the snuggle down a little more they’re not doing anything wrong, and they lean over a little more, and a little more, just relaxing until the next thing they know the soft ground and grass that they were leaning on gives way and the roll not just all the way on their side, but the gradual lean that they’ve been doing has also shifted their weight and bam, they’re cast with their legs flailing in the air. They didn’t do anything wrong but now their in mortal danger, why? Because they weren’t doing anything right either.
Understand sheep need rest but to stay healthy sheep have to be on the move, it keeps them lean, and strong and safe. We’re like the sheep, yes there are times when we all must rest, if not we can break down emotionally, physically or both. God knew this to be true when He commanded that we take a Sabbath rest. Thin about it, God gave us 10 major commandments, and one of them was to take a day off. If it’s in His top 10 it must be important. But it’s supposed to be time off not permanent retirement. Some of you are already retired from work, the rest of us probably hope to be there some day, but that’s retirement from work, not from God. We are always called to be in service for God. Yes we may take a break, but it’s supposed to be just that a break. You need to find a place of ministry and then do it. If your service for God is limited to coming on a Sunday Morning and listening to me preach and the praise team sing, you are in danger of becoming cast. You need to find the ministry that God has for you and do it. It may be as simple as greeting people on a Sunday morning before church, but whatever it is, find it and do it. Sheep can become cast when they become stuck in a soft spot.
A sheep carrying around too much wool is also in danger of becoming cast. We think of wool as a nice thing, pure white, soft, fluffy and warm. Sure we can see why a sheep would need sheered in the summer, but the rest of the time it must be great, after all a wool coat can be expensive. But the truth about wool on a sheep is something else, it gets, dirty smelly and heavy. Grass, dirt, manure, everything that the sheep walks through or lays on can get stuck in its wool. If the coat is allowed to get to heavy the sheep can lose its balance and bam, their cast.
The same is true of us, how much baggage we carry around can cause problems for us. There’s a reason that we’re supposed to forgive and forget, it’s because if we dwell on the memories of past wrongs then they will be with us always, and every time you think about it, it makes the pain fresh, it’s like a wound and you keep picking the scab off, you’ve got to let it heal if not, you can end up like the sheep, flailing around and going no where. When you carry that baggage around and refuse to let it go, the weight can eventually wear you down and tip you over.
When the weight of the wool becomes to great the shepherd has to step in and sheer the sheep. It’s an uncomfortable process for the sheep and very labor intensive for the shepherd, especially in David’s day. I mean today they can get out the motorized sheerer and get it done, but back then it was all by hand. It was a bad process for sheep and shepherd alike. It still is, because when the past is defeating us, the only thing that God can do is walk us through a process where we learn how to let go. We’re better off just following God’s example, forgiving and then choosing not to remember, not to think about, the wrong that we’ve forgiven. God says in Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” God knows that it’s better to forgive and forget and so should we.
Finally sheep can become cast because they are simply too fat. Yeah we do know how this happens you eat too much and exercise too little. When this happens the effect on sheep is the same as the weight of the wool, it can tip them over and they can become cast. The solution is the one that we fear as well, the shepherd will cut back on the amount of food that is available to the flock, he will spend more time walking them and exercising them during the day. That’s right, the discipline of diet and exercise.
Well you can be literal about it, and if that’s you there’s a group of us planning to attempt Pat’s Run in April 4.2 miles and you’re invited to join us, and yes you can walk. Or you can take the spiritual interpretation, which is that we get focused on the food that is unhealthy for us, rather then the good food that is good for us. In other words we spend more time chasing the things of this world rather then pursuing the kingdom of God. when that happens our shepherd will come and put our feet back on the path. Again, I’m not saying that we don’t pursue success and the good things in the world, because there are plenty of examples in the Bible of people who were successful on earth and also with God, we can start with Abraham. But what I am saying is that we have to find a balance between to two and get the spiritual food we need if our soul is to remain healthy.
That means that we spend time in God’s word, but also with God, that means living life as if you’re with Him. We need to live like He did, laugh like He did, serve like He did, worship like He did, love like He did. You get the point we need to walk with God and in His Word. The alternative path can lead to our destruction unless the shepherd intervenes. Hebrews 12 tells us a little bit about God’s discipline look at 12:6-7, “Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what don is not disciplined by his father? Regardless of the cause, be it soft spots, too much wool, or being too fat, the shepherd can restore us, but it’s better to just discipline ourselves to stay in His word and walk with Him.
The promise that He will restore our soul is comforting, but look at what it means that He leads us in paths of righteousness for His names sake.
Well first let’s look at the question why do we need paths of righteousness, and why do we need to be led on them. After all we live in a world where we understand that we are all basically good people, except the truth is that we aren’t. Spend just a few minutes with Sarah and any of her 2 year old friends and it won’t take long for before you hear the word mine. We don’t have to teach our kids to grab the stuff that they want. It’s just human nature, we want what we want and we want to be comfortable. That means that we’re going to settle into our own patterns, patterns determined by what we want, and we’re going to take what we need and more then that what we want to make us happy.
How does this look in regards to sheep? Simple, left on their own sheep will go to the same places over and over again until all that’s left is a desolate pasture and foul water. If you go to a sheep ranch of an inattentive shepherd where the sheep are left to fend for themselves what you will see is that there are sheep path that have been cut into deep ruts because the sheep go over the same paths over and over again because it’s what they know. The result is that the rutted path scar the countryside. Then you’ll notice that the pastures have scraps of grass growing in them rather then lush fields of grass. They were once lush, after all now one selects a desolate pasture to raise sheep on. The reason that a ranch is there is because there were once grassy fields there. But they are no more, because the sheep will eat grass until there’s nothing left. When they eat the grass down to the dirt they’ll actually dig at it with they’re hoof until they’ve eaten part of the roots too. This leaves the ground open to erosion from wind and rain, until the grass is so damaged that it only grows in little clumps. The solution is for the shepherd to move the sheep from one field to the next in an orderly fashion. This stops them from eating the grass past and healthy level, and also stops them from covering the same territory over and over again and carving the paths into the ground.
This process of getting the sheep to move from a pasture that is still lush and comfortable to another pasture is not always easy, you know why because sheep are stubborn. So are we, in fact I’m sure this is one area where we beat out the sheep because I know how stubborn I can be, and I know that I’m not alone in this room. So for our lives to be productive and healthy God has to lead us in paths of righteousness. So what does that look like? Well here are four things that we must do to truly follow our shepherd.
I must love Christ and others more then myself. We talked in the first week of this series about how the shepherd must lay down His life for the sheep and that for God it’s not just the one time sacrifice on Calvary but everyday. That is the example that we must follow. Listen to the words of 1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” When we put the needs of others in front of ourselves then we walk on a path of righteousness. We are walking with Jesus, that one of the steps of restoring our soul, just walk with our master and love others more then ourselves like He did.
I must also be willing to follow a different path. It’s following the same paths that get the sheep into trouble, and the same thing with us. Sheep like to be with other sheep and the same is true of people. We like to be with other people, we like to be accepted by other people. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there is something wrong with compromising your beliefs in order to be accepted by other people. When Jesus called His disciples, the call was simple He said, “Follow Me.” This was a call to follow Him, yes, but the deeper implication was that they would leave other people behind. We must be willing to follow God even when our friends are headed on a different path. If their path isn’t with God then it’s the wrong path anyway.
Next, I must be willing to follow instead of lead. This is when we put following God ahead of our rights. Heard a great song about a man contemplating where God was sending him to serve as a missionary and one of his arguments with God was “shouldn’t I go with the food I know.” He was willing to go on a mission trip to Italy, but the places he was feeling called to were a little my sketchy from a culinary standpoint. But that’s what this means, it means that we follow God and go where He calls, regardless of the conditions.
This brings us to the final step I must learn how to be content. Yep this one came up in the first sermon of this series and here it is again. The reason is that in this life and the next everything that we have and ever will have comes from God and He’s either given it to us or withheld it from us for a reason. He may be disciplining in us as is the case with the cast sheep, or it may be something else. It may be that someone had a greater need. It may be that He’s got an even bigger blessing for us. The point is that we may not know why God has us where He has us, but we can trust Him. Imagine the sheep who’s standing in a field of perfectly good grass and the shepherd tells him it’s time to go. The sheep doesn’t know why, he doesn’t know that the grass is getting a little shorter that is healthy for it, he doesn’t know that he and the rest of the flock need some exercise, or that maybe the shepherd is concerned about a possible predator. The sheep doesn’t know why the shepherd is moving it, but the shepherd does. The trusting sheep simply trusts that there is a reason he is moved and that the next pasture will be sufficient as well. When we trust in the good shepherd it is.
There are times in all of our lives when we don’t know why God does what He does, or denies our hopes and dreams, but we can all trust that there is a reason for it and that He does what He does to better us. Do you know what His motive is? David did, it’s that last line, for His names sake. So many people don’t understand God because they don’t know His motives. They picture God as this referee in the sky who is keeping track of rights and wrongs, but look at the titles God gives Himself, Father not referee, Shepherd not judge. God does what He does not just because He loves us but because how He treats us reflects on Him. He will always do what is best for us for His names sake. At the end of the day and the end of life it is the only name that will stand. If you have never accepted Him as the Lord of your life won’t you do it today? Our Lord, the shepherd wants to lead you in paths that will make your life better from the moment you ask Him to, will you do that today?
