Psalm 23 - The Shepherd Psalm - 1/16/11
Turn with me this morning to Psalm 23. If you open your bible right in the middle, you probably will land somewhere in the Psalms or just a little right of the Psalms. This is one of the most familiar passages in the whole Bible. The only passage I can think of that might possibly be more familiar to us is John 3:16.
This is a passage that has provided comfort and hope to billions for 3,000 years. We read it at most funerals. We recite it when we are afraid. At times of tragedy and disaster, its words give us hope. It is the topic and text for hundreds of songs in the Christian church. It is quoted in secular music as well - from U2 to the Eagles to Marilyn Manson. It is part of secular tv shows, like Lost. What is it about this Psalm that touches the heart of so many people?
The book of Psalms was the songbook of Israel. In it we find David and others giving us songs to sing that reflect the depth of meaning and emotion that we all feel in life. The Psalms are not just an account of what David [or another psalmist] was feeling, but rather the psalmist bares his soul to us, draws us into his world, and calls us to share his feelings and emotions as he uses practical examples to show us his point.
The Psalms were constantly on the lips of Jews. My mother always was singing around the house - whether washing the dishes or weeding the garden or putting up wallpaper. Half the time she forgot the words, and made them up; but the rejoicing spirit was what was important to her. Dave Roever, a Vietnam War hero, once said, music isn't what you hear, it's what you feel; the feeling is the important thing.
When you go to the Smithsonian - "To Fly" - you actually see what the pilot sees
*Hersheypark - Cinemascope - you get dizzy, scared, nauseous
What questions are crying out in your heart? You will find them asked in the Psalms. What emotions are rushing through you? You will find them expressed in the Psalms. And you will also find comfort and answers in the Psalms.
And this Psalm, the 23rd Psalm, is one of the greatest of all the Psalms. It is a Psalm of David, who grew up as you remember, as a shepherd boy. And it is his reflections on how the relationship of a shepherd and his sheep compares to the relationship of God to His people. We don’t know when in his life David wrote this: maybe as a young shepherd, maybe after defeating the giant Goliath, maybe when running for his life, maybe in later years when his kingdom was firmly established. Many times in his life match the themes in this Psalm. And that’s what is so wonderful about it and what has touched billions of hearts. The theme of this Psalm is one we can all identify with.
Hopefully by now you have found the passage. Many of you may have memorized it in other translations. I’ll be reading it out of the NIV. In fact, it’s printed on the tearoff of your bulletin. David writes this:
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides 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 love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Let’s pray that God would speak to us from this passage: PRAYER
The first thing we want to see here in this passage is David, a shepherd, calling God a “shepherd.” Remember back to the Nike commercials of 20 years ago - with Bo Jackson, a famous baseball player, cross training and doing all these different sports: Bo knows football, Bo knows tennis, Bo knows weightlifting.
That’s what David is saying here: God identifies with us. To David, a shepherd, he looks at his God and says, My God understands me! God knows what it is to be a shepherd. So many times it is easy to push away people who try to get close by saying, You just don’t understand what I’m going through. But David sees that God DOES know what its like for him to be a shepherd.
In fact, David knows that while he has sought to be a good shepherd, it is in God that David finds the ideal of what it means to be a shepherd. God sets the ideal for us.
God is the perfect pattern of care and correction and provision and protection.
The scriptures tell us in Hebrews 4:15, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Our God understands the temptations we face. He knows what its like to battle desire and temptation; to struggle with fear and stress; to feel like giving up and giving in. He knows us perfectly.
Just like a shepherd knows his sheep, God KNOWS each one of us by name. He knows our besetting faults and sins. He knows where we are weak and where we are strong. And He loves us each uniquely. That’s why David can say the Lord is “MY” shepherd. Psalm 139 tells us that God knows me - David says,
O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
David says in that same Psalm, God accompanies me through every situation I face -
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
David says God has uniquely created me - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
David reminds us that God searches our hearts - Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
In the scripture God is not presented just as an almighty God who is far above us -- He is shown to be a God who has intimate knowledge of all of our doings, one who knows the worst about us, but one who loves us in spite of all our imperfections. Just as a shepherd knows his flock, he knows which sheep tend to butt or bully the others, which ones tend to wander off, which ones are feeble and weak, which ones need extra attention, God is MY shepherd. He knows me perfectly.
Then looking at that first verse, we see the present reality - The Lord IS my shepherd. Throughout this psalm, we are reminded about the constant, present, continual relationship between the shepherd and the sheep, between my God and I. He makes, He leads, He restores, He guides, You are with me. This psalm shows the daily care given to the sheep by the shepherd.
When you ask a Christian to give a testimony about what God has done for them, what do you normally hear? Well, I used to be a real mess 30 years ago, and God really changed my life. But the question is, What has God done for you in the last 30 days? In the words of the song, What have you done for me lately? A Christian who is in relationship with his or her God should be able to share about the ongoing love and care received from their Lord. If the only testimony you can give is about how you were saved many years ago, something is wrong. You have strayed away from the shepherd!
And then, we want to think about the first words of the Psalm. The LORD is my shepherd. It is easy to read this psalm as we did earlier, thinking about what God does for ME. But we can also read it focusing on our God.
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides 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 love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
It’s the same words, but they give a different focus when we think about what our God does for us.
This Psalm starts with the words The LORD - all capital letters. Sometimes we forget what that means when we read. We think, well, they’re just capitalized out of reverence for God. No, that’s not the reason why. There are different names for God used throughout the bible. Elohim, God the creator. El Shaddai - God Almighty, the powerful God. El Elyon- the Most High God - the God who is above all others. Adonai - master. But the most common name for God throughout the scriptures is the personal, covenant name of God - Yahweh. In English, we like to use the name Jehovah. In Hebrew, the language of the Jews, they only wrote down the consonants; vowels are expressed by dots below or beside the consonants. However for the Jews this name was so precious, they would not speak it aloud - lest they broke God’s commandment to not use His name in vain.
So, when they read the OT and came to the word Yahweh, the name of God, they would speak the name Adonai - Lord, or master. And so they used the vowels of the word Adonai to the letters of Yahweh and we end up with Jehovah. Whenever we see LORD - this is the name Yahweh.
Now, what does that name mean? It comes from the words “I AM” - He is the self-existent one. He is the God who is, apart from any others. Remember when Moses sees the burning bush and says, “Who shall I say sent me?” God answers I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’
There are different thoughts about what that means. The first thing it means is He is the eternal God. He is the God who was - before anything else existed - the God who is - and the God who eternally shall be. He is without beginning or end. He alone is eternal.
The second thought about that phrase is that it expresses an elliptical clause - I am . . . who I am. If you need a healer, I am a healer. If you need a helper, I am a helper. If you need a friend, I am a friend. I am the God who can meet your every need.
But this is the name for the God who is in relationship with us. This is the covenant name of God. God has no need of mankind. We are created solely for His pleasure. It pleased God to make man. But God has chosen to commit Himself to relationship with us.
The Lord . . .is . . . my . . . shepherd. The God who makes a covenant with us, is in ongoing relationship with us, He knows us uniquely, and cares for us with the utmost care. This Psalm is not really about the sheep, not about the shepherd, but about the relationship between the shepherd and His sheep.
So really the first thing we see in this Psalm is the PARTNERSHIP - between the shepherd and the sheep. He is the shepherd . . . I am the sheep. Now, as we go through this Psalm together we will see that it is not a compliment to be called a sheep. Those who raise sheep and know them well will tell you they are some of the dumbest animals God ever created. They take endless attention and meticulous care. They follow one another and all go astray. The prophet Isaiah writes (53:6) We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. God identifies us as sheep.
But the question today is this: are you HIS sheep? In the middle east, there are many shepherds with many flocks of sheep. Only a certain set of sheep belong to any shepherd. Jesus uses the shepherd analogy again in John 10 - I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
God gives eternal life to His sheep. But His sheep are the ones who follow Him. In the middle east many shepherds will come into town or a watering hole and all the flocks come together. When it is time to leave, a shepherd stands up and gives a loud wail - demo - and all of his sheep leave the rest of the crowd and come after the shepherd.
God says my sheep listen to my voice and they follow me. Let me give you some news today: if you are not following the shepherd, you are not His sheep! There are too many churchgoers in america who want to live their own life, do their own thing, go their own way, but want to call themselves by the shepherds name. Jesus said, if you aren’t following, you aren’t His sheep! My sheep listen to my voice and they follow me.
Today, ask yourself, IS the Lord your shepherd? Have you made the choice to follow Him. John 1 tells us, He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Have you made the choice to receive the forgiveness offered through Jesus Christ. If so, it means your life will change and you will FOLLOW the Lord. You will allow Him to be in charge of your life!
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. As His sheep, we love this verse. We think it means something it does not. We read it to mean I can have anything I want. But rather, the verse says I shall not be in want. The KJV says I shall not want. Instead of the idea of getting things, it is the idea of contentment. When the Lord is our shepherd, we are satisfied, we are content. Paul writes in Philippians 4 - I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
One schoolgirl was once asked if she could recite the 23rd psalm. She stepped up and said, The Lord is my shepherd; that’s all I want! And that is the idea here. Contentment.
What does it take for you to be satisfied in life? We so often are driven by our desires. We always want a little more money - a nicer car - a better job - a more loving spouse - more obedient kids - a more fulfilling life. But when the Lord is our shepherd, HE should be enough for us. 2 Peter 1:3 reminds us, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. We have all that we need to live a godly life.
We like to give excuses why we aren’t following God. If only we had more courage to witness, more bible knowledge to teach others, more time to serve. . . But the truth is that God has given us everything we need to live a godly life. So ARE WE? Are we living a life that pleases Him?
We’re going to stop here today, and we’ll pick this psalm up again next week at verse 2, as we look at the daily life of a sheep. But in closing, let me ask you two questions:
1 - Are you His sheep? Have you made the choice in life to follow the Lord? If not, I would invite you to come forward today and trust Christ as your savior. And
2 - Are you content with your God? Or do you look for contentment, meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in all the things the world dangles before your eyes. Are you content to obey the shepherd and follow Him?
Let’s pray.
