WHAT KIND OF SHEPHERD IS THE LORD? PSALM 23
Upon whom do you depend? How do you know you can depend upon them? Who depends upon you? How can they be sure you’re dependable? It takes strong relationships to know.
We depend upon our parents, our spouse, our children, our siblings, our friends, our doctors, our law enforcement officers, the people from whom we buy things. We depend upon them and they depend upon us. It’s a sad situation when those that we’ve depended upon proved to be undependable.
Once in a while, when Marlene lets me go out shopping by myself, and if I don’t get a list of things to purchase, I may come home with some of the stuff I wasn’t supposed to get and forget some of the stuff I was supposed to get. Sometimes, even with a list, I’ll bring home some stuff not listed. But usually I’m pretty dependable.
When it comes to depending on others, we all have basic needs that can be fulfilled only by others. Things like – intimacy, family, friendship, medical care, and social times.
All of us, like King David, should realize that we are very dependent upon The Lord. As king David pondered his prestigious position, and he cannot help recalling the days of his youth, at home with his father and siblings and sheep. Perhaps he sighs with nostalgia and recalls how he depended upon Jesse for shelter, sustenance and safety. But now, they depended on Him as their king. But David was wise enough to know that he could not govern well on his own. He depended on his advisors and his army to help him lead the people and to protect them. But above all others David depended on the Lord and wrote,
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 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. 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. 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.” Psalm 23:1-6 (NASB).
How does David assess and describe God, the Lord, the Good Shepherd?
I. THE LORD IS A PERSONAL SHEPHERD:
A. Notice the first-person pronouns.
1. The Lord is MY shepherd.
2. He makes ME lie down in green pastures.
3. He leads Mein paths of righteouwness...
4. He restores MY soul...
5. He guides ME...
6. He is with ME...
7. He prepares for ME...
8. He comforts ME...
B. Make it personal between you and the Shepherd.
1. You need to personally get to know Him.
2. You need to personally worship Him.
3. You need to personally trust Him.
4. You need to personally obey Him.
C. While technically Christianity is a religion, but better than that it is not rigid rituals but relationship with Jesus Christ, and a life lived by His Spirit.
D. Just like every other relationship your relationship with with the Shepherd has to be cultivated and kept alive.
1. You can do that by spending time with Him in prayer fellowship throughout the day chat with Him – pray for that person in the ambulance, for that police officer who has a driver stopped, and for those who were involved in a wreck on the freeway that you observe as you go on by.
2. You can do that by learning from Him in reading His word and learning His will and His teachings.
3. You can do that by meditating on that Word and thinking about how to apply it in life situations and then to apply it.
E. Keep your relationship with the Shepherd personal. As a small boy in Colorado when I would refer to mother or dad I would say “My mother,” or “My dad,” even when I talk to my siblings. one of the siblings said to me well they’re my mother and dad too, to which I said “No they’re not – they’re my mother and dad. Well, even though He is MY Shepherd, you, too, can enjoy that personal bonding of Shepherd and sheep. We will then comprehend the meaning of His being a PERSONAL SHEPHERD, and we come to know that:
II. THE LORD IS A PROVIDENTIAL SHEPHERD:
A. That means “I have enough and more than enough.”
1. The Shepherd provided Green pastures, far better fare than what they may have had out in the desert places.
2. The Shepherd provided quiet waters.
a. The sheep were afraid of roaring rivers.
b. If sheep happened to fall into a stream, unless he is rescued he’s doomed.
c. He’d look like a giant cotton ball with legs flailing and sticking out floating down the river.
3. The Shepherd provided a banquet in the presence of the flock’s enemies:
a. Coyotes, bobcats, foxes, eagles and all kind of other predators.
b. They may lurk in the shadows but the sheep can eat peacefully knowing the Shepherd is there.
4. The Shepherd provided healing oil when the sheep would get an abrasion.
B. There were likely times when the nomadic shepherds were leading their sheep that the food was scarce, but God never runs out of sustenance for the sheep.
C. Listen to these biblical promises:
1. “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (NASB)..
2. "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.” Isaiah 55:1-2 (NASB).
D. Unlike the home for boys where David Copperfield made the dastardly mistake of asking for more dinner and was looked upon as a pariah by the over-fed, over-paid, over-selfish officials of the home. “Mooooorrre? David Copperfield wants Mooorrre?”
1. God does not resent our hugest requests. “You are coming to the King, large petitions with you brin “
2. There is enough for everybody to have exactly what they need, and beyond that, and we can count on It because He promised it.
E. Let me show two contrasting situations:
1. At the First Christian Church in The Dalles it was potluck Sunday. Everybody must have expected everybody else to bring the food because what they ended up with was nothing but baked beans and jello salads.
2. Marlene and I were on vacation and we stopped at the Sizzler Steakhouse where they had steak and all you can eat shrimp. I took them at their word, and I hate to admit this but, when I asked for a 9th serving of shrimp, Marlene said “I think that’s all you can eat.” Come on! These were just popcorn shrimp they weren’t the nice big butterfly ones I really like. But whatever your need is God has said He would provide it. The Lord is a providential Shepherd
III. THE LORD IS A PROTECTIVE SHEPHERD:
A. “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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” Note these important facts:
1. David and the Shepherd walk through the valley. It is not a box canyon, there is an exit at the far end.
2. Death is a shadow, a truly impotent and harmless nonentity that is nothing more than where the light is blocked off. For the believer, death is passing from the shadow into the light.
3. We walk with the Shepherd, or He walks with us, or we walk together.
4. The Shepherd’s protection affords us His comfort.
5. So we can eat and live in the presence of enemies because we in the presence of our Shepherd.
B. This does not mean that we will never suffer harm but it does mean that no one can touch our soul even though they are able to destroy our body.
1. Should they do that, I can envision the Saints accompanied by Jesus and the Angels, looking down and shouting, “Goodbye forever losers. You thought you beat me but Jesus gave me victory.”
2. If God is for us who can be against us? And believe me God is for you.
3. “The LORD is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?” Psalm 118:6 (NASB).
C. We are protected by The Father,The Son and The Holy Spirit from:
1. Depression.
2. Defeat.
3. Discouragement.
4. Despair.
5. Death. Yes even death.
D. Nothing, no one, can harm the lamb Jesus protects.
E. A significant part of the Shepherd’s protection is seeking the sheep when they have wandered away. Let me close with a story of searching for the lost: A family was on their annual Christmas trek to Chicago. Each year they brought their family to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and visit the museums. This year they decided to finish their Christmas shopping at suburban Woodfield Mall. In the midst of all the fun and excitement, one of them noticed that little three-themeand-a-half- year-old Matthew was gone. Terror immediately struck their hearts. They had heard the horror stories: little children kidnapped in malls, rushed to a rest room, donned in different clothes and altered hairstyle, and then swiftly smuggled out, never to be seen again...they are split up, each taking an assigned location.
Unsuccessful, they trudged back to their meeting point. None of them had found him. And then grandpa appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand. Matthew wasn’t even shook up To him, there had been no problem. His dad asked grandpa where he had found him. "The candy counter," he replied. "You should have seen him. His eyes came just about as high as the candy. He held his little hands behind his back and moved his head back and forth, surveying all the luscious options." Matthew didn't look lost. He didn't know he was lost. He was oblivious to the phenomenal danger he was in. This is a candy-counter culture, where people who don't look lost and don't know they're lost live for consumption. But what joy when they are found!
Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost. He came to seek and save me. He came to seek and save you. Each of us can say, “I’m the lamb that the Shepherd left the flock for, I was out in the cold all alone, but indeed the Shepherd found me and put his arms around me I’ll never be alone any more.
