It’s Mother’s Day, May 12th.
And for me, that means we’ve been in the midst of the Covid-19 Crisis for 2 months.
Being a sports fan, the seriousness of the crisis hit home on March 11th. That was the day NBA player Rudy Gobert, starting center for the Utah Jazz, failed to show up for the tip-off of an NBA game as the opposing team and 15,000 fans waited. He didn’t show up for 20 minutes, players from the opposing team began to ask his teammates where he was, and then there was the shocking news. He had tested positive for the dreaded virus. The public address announcer then told the waiting crowd that the came had been cancelled. Twenty minutes later, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced the NBA season had been suspended indefinitely.
Ironically, it had been only two nights earlier, amid some Coronavirus concerns during a press conference after an earlier NBA game, that Gobert himself had mocked the suggestion that the virus could be of any real concern. After reporters questioned him following the game in the press room, Gobert got up and deliberately touched every reporter’s mic and recording device on his table before he departed for the dressing room.
Now, two months later, we know that Gobert was at that moment likely most contagious with the virus, because folks that have the virus are most contagious two or three days before becoming symptomatic. The NBA season may never be resumed. The question is when life will ever get back to normal as the nation has been on lockdown. The U.S. has become the center of the Pandemic, 75,000 people have died and the impossible choice that people face is whether to stay home and risk not being able feed their families versus going back to work and possibly bringing the deadly virus home to infect their loved ones.
Yes, it is a completely unexpected, uncertain and anxious time in the United States of America. Do we pay our bills and feed our families, or risk getting a deadly and very contagious virus.
So amid all the anxiety, we continue in our series in the Psalms—Hope in Anxious Times—and this morning we go to what was once a well-worn page in the Bibles of most Americans—where Americans went in times of anxiety and even deadly epidemics in our past history—Psalm 23.
Psalm 23 is a song of absolute trust, utter and complete confidence, written by the great Jewish patriarch David—a song that specifically talks about the fact that as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we can trust the Lord even then to protect, provide and bless, even eternally.
Unlike Psalm 91 last week, this Psalm is explicitly said to have been a Psalm of David. Before we examine what it says, it’s important to recall David’s unique qualifications as the writer of this Psalm. You might remember that David himself was a shepherd in his youth. When the prophet Samuel was directed by the Lord to find the new King of Israel to replace the erring King Saul, he was told that he would find him among the sons of Jesse. As it turned out Jesse had eight sons, and only seven of them attended the anointing ceremony—the first seven. David, the youngest of the eight, had been left to shepherd his father’s sheep. It was only as the first seven were rejected that David was called and the Lord directed his anointing as Israel’s next, and heretofore, greatest king. And remember the reason he was anointed as King—because he uniquely had a heart after God’s own heart. In other words, he had the same kind of heart God has toward His sheep—a heart that so loved his sheep that he was willing, if necessary, to courageously offer his own life to save them.
Then remember the defining event in David’s life. Again, his older brothers had been selected for military service by King Saul. David had likely been deemed to be too young for military service. He had been tending his father’s sheep with supplies for his brothers when the Philistine Colossus, Goliath, came forward to challenge Israel. David, upon seeing this uncircumcised Philistine defying the armies of the living God, then offered his services as Goliath’s challenger to King Saul, noting his unique qualifications. His qualifications: That he had slain both the lion and the bear who had dared attack his flock of sheep.
So David uniquely understood what it took to be a good shepherd, and a good sheep. He uniquely understood and personified the courageous, self-sacrificing love of our God for the sheep of his pasture, and he reflects that unique wisdom to us here, as he speaks of himself as one of the sheep who follow the Lord, His shepherd.
This is David’s personal testimony of the Lord’s care for him throughout his life—a life fraught with many dangers and trials, and yet a life which despite the presence of a multitude of enemies and dangers, was always completely provided for, completely protected and abundantly blessed to the very end and beyond.
And again as we embark upon our meditation on this great Psalm, it is critical to notice why David qualified as one who would receive all these incredible promises of provision, protection and abundant blessing. As in Psalm 91, the condition for this kind of blessing, is noted right at the outset. David had made the Lord His Shepherd. In other words, the promises of this Psalm are not good for just anyone who claims them, or anyone who reads it. The promises of this Psalm are not for all people generally. They are exclusively limited to those who have done what David did. David explicitly made the Lord his shepherd. In other words, He had determined to both trust and follow the Lord’s direction for his life.
Thus, if you want these promises of provision, protection and blessing to apply to you, then you need to follow in David’s footsteps, who followed in the Lord’s footsteps. You need to follow the Lord—do what He says in His Word, the Bible. You need to make the Lord your Shepherd.
Make the Lord your shepherd.
For David said the reason for all these abundant blessings throughout his life is, as verse one put is: “The Lord is My shepherd.”
Now we ought to make note of the fact that both in the Old and New Testaments how often God compares believers to sheep. I think there’s a reason for it. Sheep are terribly vulnerable to all kinds of dangers without a shepherd. They are terribly vulnerable. They need someone to lead and guide them. When sheep have no shepherd, they are invariably in big trouble. They are ultimately entirely dependent on their shepherd for their welfare.
Think first of their predators—wolves, and bears and lions. What chance does a sheep have against any of these predators. I mean, there are a few rams with horns in any flock. But the great majority of sheep I have ever seen in any flock of sheep or the most unimposing, defenseless creatures you can imagine. For the prospective predator, they are an easy meal. There is absolutely nothing to fear. Apart from a shepherd, they represent dead meat on the hoof.
They are also pretty poor at knowing how to take care of themselves. There is absolutely nothing more forlorn than the picture of a lone, lost sheep. He likely has absolutely no idea where to go to find pasture and water, apart from his shepherd. He’s as good as dead without a shepherd’s guidance.
And so that’s the picture painted for us of mankind. Lost sheep, absolutely defenseless and vulnerable without a shepherd.
And it’s interesting that Mark 6:34 tells us of the Lord Jesus’ concern for those who are lost sheep, those of us who are sheep without a shepherd, or perhaps those who have the wrong shepherd. In Mark 6:34, we find this description of Jesus as he encountered crowds in Galilee:
When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” Why did he begin to teach them many things? Because these sheep needed to begin to follow the Lord, and to know how, by following His teachings.
And the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd. In John 10:11 He said this about Himself: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
And the Lord Jesus did indeed lay down his life for the sheep, for you and I. And that’s a key in understanding how to make Him your Shepherd. Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross to pay for your sins and rose again to prove it. By putting you trust in Jesus as the one who died for your sins your sins can be forgiven. By choosing to follow Jesus, you make Him your Shepherd. And then all these promises that David claimed for himself also become good for you. He becomes your Good Shepherd, and He will provide, protect and give life to you even as he provided and protected and gave life, even eternal life to David.
So the first question you need to ask this morning is this: Have you made the Lord your shepherd? Have you trusted that Jesus died for your sins and rose again to prove it? And finally, have you decided to follow Him, through following His teachings found in His Word, the Bible. When you do, all these promises found here become good for you, even as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death as it is occupied by the dreaded Corona-virus.
Put your trust in the Lord Jesus as your Good Shepherd right now. Begin to follow him.
And then the second statement of verse 1 becomes true for you. You shall not want. You shall not lack for anything you need. You can trust the Lord to provide for whatever you need.
Do you see the connection? The Lord is My Shepherd. I shall not want. We could read it this way: Since the Lord is my Shepherd, therefore, on the basis of that fact, I shall not want. I shall not be in any kind of need of anything. My Good Shepherd, the Sovereign, Loving Lord Jesus shall provide whatever I need, however I need it, whenever I need it.
The first of those needs mentioned herein is the need for provision—food, water, rest, and refreshment.
Trust the Lord to provide for you—food, water, rest, restoration.
Verses 2 and 3: “He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
What does a sheep need? He needs food and water. He needs rest. This is a picture of Paradise for any sheep. God makes David, he makes you and I lie down right where we would most want to. In green pastures, alongside quiet waters. Not brown, or yellow or dead pastures. But green, verdant, nourishing pastures. And they’re not alongside a roaring, cascading dangerous creek, but rather alongside quiet waters, that pose no danger to the thirsty sheep. All this restores our soul. Soul means life. When we would otherwise be faint from hunger, or thirst, or discouragement or fear, He knows just what we need to restore our soul and even our very lives.
And the Lord has some skin in this game. It’s in his self-interest as well to do so. The rest of the verse tells us so. “He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Where are these places of restoration found? In the paths of righteousness—when we follow the Lord and do what pleases Him. And He guides in these paths for His name’s sake. His reputation is a good shepherd is at stake by how well we do, or don’t do. As God says in Psalm 46, “My name will be exalted among the nations.” God cares about His reputation and His glory. And His glory and reputation is best served among the nations of the earth by demonstrating that He’s a good shepherd by taking care of His sheep, no matter the obstacles.
Trust the Lord, do what is right, and He will provide for you.
As David put it in another Psalm, Psalm 37:25: “I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or his descendants begging bread.”
Then, David tells us his own experience, that from it, we can also trust the Lord to protect, even as death looms over us.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)
Boy, is it evident that we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death now! We are walking through the valley of the shadow of the Covid-19 virus. David’s saying that death can be all around, the gloom of death can be looming over us. But when the Lord is with us as our shepherd, we need fear no evil. Because the Lord our Shepherd, our protector is with us. And then he tells us just how the Lord will take care of us. He uses His rod and His staff to keep us in line, keep us from leaving the flock.
The rod was used to count sheep, but also as a means of discipline. When sheep began to stray, they often learned to stay with the flock because the shepherd would teach them, through loving and protective discipline, that remaining in the flock, staying in fellowship was the means to safety. The discipline of the Lord is the discipline of a loving heavenly father for his children, intended to keep them from the dangers of our own folly. The rod could also be used as a weapon against any invading predators.
The shepherd’s staff, including a crook. A round crook that could be fit over the sheep’s body to pull them back in line—exhibiting the loving care of the shepherd. So the Lord uses the rod and staff figuratively to protect us as we walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, even and especially in this Covid 19 Crisis, if only we will follow Him and trust in Him as our Shepherd as the great David one did.
So do not fear, but be comforted, in this time of anxiety, illness and danger. The Lord is with us, He comforts us and protects with His rod and His staff.
Finally, expect the Lord to abundantly bless and give eternal life. Expect the best, because the Lord is that kind of Good shepherd.
David concludes His great song praising the blessings of the great shepherd in this way:
Psalm 23:5-6: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
It seems here the scene now transcends the picture of Good Shepherd and dependent sheep. David addresses the Lord personally in prayer apparently as a man among men. He tells the Lord just how abundantly the Lord has and will bless Him. The Lord acts as His servant, His shepherd, and prepares a table before Him, even in the very presence of his enemies. You think of David’s lifetime, and he had plenty of enemies. And yet not one ever got to him. In the very presence of David’s enemies, God prepared a table of blessing for David, his servant, the man after his own heart. How did He do so in David’s life? My goodness, David became the great king in Jerusalem over all Israel. God defeated all his enemies and crowned him in this life with glory and honor and riches in Jerusalem. Indeed, his cup, a sign of blessing, overflowed with the blessings that the Lord poured upon him.
And this was just the beginning for David, even as it can be just the beginning for us. “Surely, David says, confident in God’s goodness toward him, goodness and lovingkindness- and there’s my favorite Old Testament word, hesed, the Lord’s loyal love and mercy, Surely that loyal love and mercy of the Good shepherd, shall follow me all al the days of my life. And then once again, at the end of a Psalm, we find that notable Old Testament promise of eternal life. And even when I depart this life, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Such is the certainty, the confidence, the trust and the hope of the one who makes the Lord, the Lord Jesus, His good shepherd. He shall indeed dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
My encouragement in this moment of crisis in the world, as the dark shadow death looms ever closer is to do what David did. Make the Lord, the Lord Jesus, who laid down his life to pay for your sins and rose again to prove it, your shepherd. Trust Him, follow Him as your Lord and Savior, and be confident He will protect, provide and bless in this life and eternally.
The Good Shepherd, Jesus says to you: Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 For My yoke is [b]easy and My burden is light.”
If you haven’t done so, do now with me in prayer. Remember, this prayer only counts if you mean and show it by beginning to actually follow the Lord and His Word.
