Summer in the Psalms 2024
Psalm 23
Pastor Jefferson M. Williams
Chenoa Baptist Church?06-23-2024
Resume
I led a team to find a new Worship Arts pastor for our church a few years ago. We received over 200 resumes! I would take the resumes to a coffee shop and read each one slowly and prayerfully.
I then assigned each resume a number 1-5 and placed them in piles.
The first pile was the “no pile.” (1-2) These were resumes that didn’t fit what we were looking for. Several of these resumes were from African pastors who said they would work for free if we could get them a visa to come to the U.S. This pile was the biggest.
The second pile was the 3-4 resumes. These were people who had the necessary skills and experience.
The third pile (5) was by far the smallest. These were people who had the skills and experience but also had something else- a good fit with our present team.
Out of that pile came the person who would eventually become our worship-arts pastor - Andy.
He had everything we were looking for and more.
What if you asked for resumes for Someone to be the leader of your life? To guide you. To protect you. To save you?
What would that resume look like? It would look like Psalm 23!
Background
Psalm 23 may be the most well-known portion of the Old Testament. Believers memorize as children and even non-Christians know these words.
Augustine called it the “Martys Psalm” because so many people recited it as they died for their faith.
Abraham Lincoln was said to recite Psalm 23 during the darkest day of the Civil War.
George W. Bush reminded the nation that the Lord is our shepherd after 9-11.
Charles Spurgeon called this Psalm one of the seven wonders of the world.
Commentator Peter Craige writes:
“There are few Psalms in the Psalter so well loved and well known as Psalm 23. Its appeal lies partly in the simplicity and beauty of its poetry, strengthened by the serene confidence which it exudes.”
James Montgomery Voice wrote:
Millions of people have memorized this Psalm, even those who have learned a few other Scriptures. Ministers have used it to comfort people who are going through severe personal trials, suffering illness, or dying. For some, the words of this Psalm have been the last words they have uttered in life.”
This 3,000-year-old song has provided comfort and hope for countless believers.
But, I fear that it is so familiar that we don’t hear the words. We also misunderstand the message.
Psalm 23 is read when? At funerals. But it is more about life, abundant life than it is about death.
So what do we learn about God from this amazing Psalm?
Please turn in your copy of God’s Word to Psalm 23.
Prayer.
The Shepherd and Provider
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
David begins with the covenant name for God, Yahweh. This is a personal name for God. It means He is self-sufficient, never-changing, and keeps His promises.
Notice that this is in the present tense - is. This shepherd is always with us and will never abandon us. He knows us personally and will take care of us. He guides us.
A few years ago, I took a college-aged friend to the St. Louis zoo to see elephants. She loves elephants but has never seen elephants in person. I paid for a personal guide to accompany us. This person was very knowledgeable about elephants and guided Jamie as she experienced elephants for the first with tears streaming down her face.
Notice also that David doesn’t say, “the Shepherd” or “our Shepherd.” He writes “My Shepherd.”
David, as King, was known as the shepherd over Israel.
"He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Psalm 78:70-72)
But he is declaring here that he is a sheep of the real Shepherd - God.
In the Psalms, David calls God a “rock, refuge, and strong tower” (see Psalm 18).
But here David has a more personal picture in mind.
This a common Old Testament theme:
David writes in Psalm 28:
“The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.” (Psalm 28:9)
The prophet Isaiah wrote:
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. (Isaiah 40:11)
Again and again, God is called a shepherd. This is an interesting picture of God. Shepherds were the lowest social class. The job usually fell to the youngest son, (like David), and the shepherd lived with the sheep to care for them.
The Bible likens us to sheep over two hundred times.
Sheep are the most helpless of domesticated animals. They cannot fend for themselves and need to be cared for and protected 24/7.
Sheep need constant supervision because…well…they are intellectually challenged. The fact is they’re not too bright. Sheep can wander off easily and do not have a good sense of danger. They don’t have claws or fangs. They can’t run fast. Thy get lost easily.
Let me stop here and ask a very simple question. Is the Lord your Shepherd? Do you look to him to lead, guide, direct, protect and encourage you?
To see Jesus as your shepherd, you have to humble yourself and see a sheep when you look in the mirror.
Acknowledging Jesus as your shepherd means understanding that you are a sheep - utterly helpless and dependent.
The Shepherd meets our needs.
As usual, David’s mind is probably going back to the way that God provided for the Israelites during the exodus out of Egypt and the journey to the Promised Land:
“The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.” (Duet 2:7)
Some sheep are called “fence crawlers.” They are discontent and are always searching for greener pastures.
With the Shepherd leading us and providing for us, we don’t have to be like that sheep.
Some of you have needs, financial, and emotional, in your marriage, with your children.
The Shepherd promises to meet your needs (not your wants). If you trust Him, He will take care of you.
Feeding and Leading
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
Notice that the shepherd “makes” him lie down in green pastures, plural.
Sheep don’t like to lie down. According to Philip Keller, a pastor, and shepherd, to feel safe to lie down, the sheep must be free from fear, friction, and flies, (in the summer, the shepherd would apply an anointment to their heads to keep the flies away),
and trust the shepherd for food.
Israel is an arid, dry, rocky land. There are green pastures in ale winters and early spring. The shepherd would lead them from pasture to pasture. When they arrived, he would have the sheep lie down from about noon to three in the afternoon.
Sheep need green pasture to eat. They need the shepherd to find it.
Cowboys drive cattle. Shepherds lead the sheep.
Sheep are afraid of running water because their wool can get waterlogged and they can be drowned so the shepherd will dam up a stream to provide the sheep still waters (plural).
This is a picture of rest and restoration.
Some of us need to learn to “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Karen Wade Hayes writes:
“When we rest in Christ, our burdens become lighter. God restores our broken, worn-out spirits. Gratitude flows. Our stress levels decline. Space opens for the fruit of the Holy Spirit to fill us with gentleness, patience, kindness, self-control, love, and more, equipping us for whatever lies ahead in the remains of the day.
When our souls rest, we experience peace and contentment overflowing into our actions. For example, we become better able to deal lovingly and patiently with the flawed people we encounter (ourselves included).”
The shepherd provides safety and rest for the sheep. And what is the result?
David writes that his soul is restored and refreshed.
This word can also mean found.
Sometimes we, like sheep, wander off. Isaac Watts, the hymn writer, said it this way,
“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the one I love.”
Jesus said that He came to “seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
God says through Ezekiel:
“I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” (Ezekiel 34:15-16)
Jesus told this parable:
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:4-7)
One time, in Mississippi, we were in the youth room after church and Joshua was a toddler. I looked down and he was gone. He wasn’t even in the room.
Soon, students were running all over the church yelling his name. Maxine and I were panicked. Finally, he was found in the bathroom. We didn’t discipline him for leaving because we were so happy to have found him.
The shepherd pursues the sheep “until he finds it.” His heart is intensely involved because of his love for the lost sheep. When he finds it, he doesn’t beat it or berate it. As is the custom, he puts it on his shoulders and carries it home.
If you are 1,000 miles away from God, it’s only one step back. But if you are that far away, don’t be surprised when Jesus comes looking for you!
Sheep sometimes wander away and end up on their back, unable to right themselves. This is called being “cast down.”
Maybe today, you need the Shepherd to restore your soul. To set you right back up.
Some of you are overwhelmed, depressed, anxious, or angry.
Some people think that when they are cast down, when they fall, when they fail again, that God is tapping his feet and taking His head in frustration.
[Video of sheep falling in a ditch]
But the shepherd will pull the sheep back on their feet time and time again.
Jesus has compassion for your pain.
?“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36)
In a season of deep depression David wrote;
“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)
I am called to be your shepherd. The Latin word for shepherd is “pastor.”
Peter gives me these marching orders when it comes to taking care of the flock that He has entrusted to me:
“Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (I Peter 5:2-4)
I am called to care, lead, encourage, challenge, protect, and feed the sheep of Chenoa Baptist Church.
Charles Spurgeon wrote nearly 150 years ago, “A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats!”
Guides for the Glory of His Name
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
The Shepherd is then said to guide us along the right paths.
When I was a youth pastor, we took groups white water rafting several times. At the front of the raft was an experienced guide.
They had gone down these rapids hundreds of times and knew exactly how to navigate the waters.
We had to do what he said, exactly when he said to. Left! Right! Back! We had to trust and follow His voice.
There are many voices out there competing for our attention. There are many paths that we could follow. But only one leads to our good and His glory.
God knows you. He created you. He knows what path is best for you. He guides you by His Word, by His Holy Spirit.
David wrote in Psalm 5:
“Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies—make your way straight before me.” (Psalm 5:8)
Maybe you feel lost right now. You don’t know which way to go. Follow your shepherd.
Calming and Comforting
So far, this Psalm has been encouraging and bright. Now, it shifts into a minor key.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
David doesn’t say “If you go through the valley.” It’s not a matter of if but when.
Sheep are very nearsighted and there are times the shepherd has to take them down into the valleys to get to the next green pasture.
They are scared of going down the valley. It’s hot and dark. There could be wild animals or robbers. There could be a flash flood and they could all be swept away.
Maybe you are grieving or feel alone. Maybe you are experiencing fear about the future. The Shepherd doesn’t give you all the answers. He gives you something much better - His presence.
Chuck Shieler was in the hospital and told me, “I haven’t always felt this way but I know that God is right beside me. He is taking care of me. I can talk to Him anytime. He will be with me through this.”
Philip Keller writes,
“It is not until we have walked with Him through some deep troubles that we discover He can lead us to find our refreshment in Him right there amid our difficulty.”
He will walk with you through the deepest valley. He will never leave you like a hired hand when things get tough.
In another one of the I AM statements we will study soon Jesus responded to Mary and Martha as they were grieving their brother Lazarus:
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” (John 11:25)
In modern translations, He is said to lead us through the valley of the “shadow of death.”
The story is told of a pastor who lost his wife in death and was left to single-parent their little girl. She couldn’t fully understand all that had happened.
But one day while she was in the car with her father, she saw the shadow of a truck passing by. The setting sun made the shadow huge, much bigger than the truck.
The little girl said, “Daddy, look at the big shadow.”
He said, “Sweetheart, would you rather be hit by the shadow of the truck or by the truck?”
“That's easy,” she said, “I'd much rather be hit by the shadow.”
He said, “That's right, darling. And it was only the shadow that hit Mama. The truck hit Jesus two thousand years ago at Calvary.”
That’s why in The Twenty-Third Psalm, David calls it “the valley of the shadow of death.” Jesus has taken the sting out of death and the dread out of the grave! He has become our victor!
The shepherd has a rod. This is a defensive tool to wack wolves on the head.
The shepherd has a staff. It is specifically designed for sheep.
This is used to pull sheep back from the edge.
With a sheep that wanders away continually, the shepherd will break the sheep’s legs and carry them until they heal.
Maybe you are in sin. You know it. God knows it. But no one else might know it. You feel guilty and ashamed a lot.
Maybe the shepherd needs to discipline you in order to get you back on track. He does that out of love and not out of anger.
He will restore you.
After the resurrection, Jesus found Peter and asked him three times if he loved Him. In doing so, Jesus restores Peter and gives him a mission, “Feed my lambs. Take take of my sheep.” (John 21)
Serving and Satisfy
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
David now changes metaphors. Verses 1-4 give us a picture of a shepherd and his sheep in a field. Verse 5 is a picture of a host welcoming a special guest to a banquet table.
This is not a small table. This is not a box lunch. This is a lavish banquet at a huge table of abundance.
That you are invited to sit at. Why? Because of anything you’ve done? No. Simply because He loves you!
One time I took some students to Golden Corral to eat dinner. One of the students hung back with me because she had never been to a buffet and she didn’t know what to do.
She looked at all the different options of food and then asked, “What can I have?” I smiled and said, “Anything! You can have anything!” Her eyes got wide and she whispered, “Can I have dessert first?” I barely got the yes out before she was heading for the ice cream bar!
Table fellowship in David’s culture meant friendship, love, and loyalty. Eve his enemies would sit with him in peace.
When a special guest entered a house, the host would anoint their heads with a drop of oil. This would be cooling and smell good.
When your cup runs low, wine is abundant (joy) and never runs out.
David was looking forward to Revelation 19:
“Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Rev 19:9)
There are times when a mother ewe will reject a baby sheep. No matter how many times the shepherd puts the baby back with the mother, she will not acknowledge or care for these sheep.
These baby sheep will hang their head so low that it looks like their necks are broken. They are called “bummer lambs.”
The Shepherd must intervene or the lamb will die. So the shepherd feels the lamb and holds the lamb close to his chest so it can hear his heartbeat. He cares for the lamb as he would one of his one children.
When the lamb is old enough, it is placed back into the flock.
Guess which lamb will run to the shepherd first when he calls?
A lot of us are rejected and broken like a bummer lamb.
Ann Lemont wrote:
“It’s okay to be messy and broken. The best people are.”
But Jesus, the Good Shepherd, invites you to His table of acceptance, extravagant love, and abundance.
There all the lies of the evil one are seen for what they are and you are given a new name, a new purpose, a new heart, and a new future.
?Pursuing and Keeping
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
“Surely” is emphatic. He is saying “I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
When you get up in the morning, God’s goodness and lovingkindness are pursuing you, chasing you. How long will He pursue you? Your whole life!
And what is our final destination?
We will sit down at the table at the wedding supper of the Lamb and make our permanent home with God forever.
Maybe some of you are plagued with doubts. You doubt God loves you. You doubt your salvation. You doubt your future.
But you don’t have to live in doubt if Jesus is your good shepherd. He promises an abundant life that starts now and lasts forever. And nothing can separate you from pursuing love.
As Paul told the Romans:
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
You can live in freedom and joy knowing that you are secure in the Shepherd’s hands.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:27-29)
If you are in Jesus’ sheepfold, if you know His voice and follow Him, then you can be secure in your salvation and know that God will never give up on you.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
Jesus declared:
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:14-16)
Jesus knows the sheep. This is an intimate, trusting relationship with sheep that He knows by name:
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:1-5)
Most of us are not very familiar with sheep or shepherding. But the people that Jesus was talking to lived in an agrarian society and in the Near East even today the shepherd is a very common figure in culture.
The picture that Jesus paints for them is a sheep pen. This would be a large enclosed structure in town, perhaps connected to a house, that was made up of stones with briars on top.
The shepherds would come in from grazing the flock in the pasture and bring them to the sheep pen where they would be kept with other flocks overnight while the shepherd slept at a nearby inn.
There would be a night watchman that would guard the sheep and he was the only one who could allow access to the sheep in that pen.
The sheep follow him because they know His voice. They will not follow a stranger because they don’t recognize their voice.
But I think we see what He was saying, right?
All throughout the Bible, we are likened to sheep. It’s not a compliment. Sheep aren’t the sharpest crayons in the box. They are helpless and utterly dependent on the shepherd.
One pastor I listened to this week pointed out that there are no wild sheep. If you let a normal animal run free, they will go wild.
But if you set a sheep free it will eat all the grass in the same area till it’s gone and then eat each other’s poop and die. They will get lost, get stuck, will eat poison plants. They are scared by silly things.
It will look up at you as if to say, “Where am I and when are you fixing my dinner?” They will wander.
Isaiah wrote that:
“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way…” (Isaiah 53:6)
Not long ago, 1,500 hundred sheep fell off a cliff in Turkey while their shepherds were eating breakfast. Only 400 of them died because they were a cushion to the rest of the ones that fell.
It’s not all bad. Sheep are emotional, they bond with their fellow sheep, mourn when one dies, rally to protect each other, and they are fiercely loyal to their shepherd.
And Jesus says that if we are His sheep we will follow Him because we know His voice.
[Video of the shepherd calling his sheep]
One of the things that stood out to me this week was the fact that “he calls the sheep by name.”
The shepherd knows His sheep and He calls them by name and leads them out. They would often give sheep names based on their appearance - brown leg, fluffy, black ear.
Jesus knows His sheep intimately. He knows their names. If you are his sheep, He knows your name.
Do you know the voice of the shepherd?
Do you follow that voice?
He Knows the Shepherd
A famous actor who was well-known for being able to recite great passages. A pastor was there as well.
The pastor asked him to recite Psalm 23. The actor said he would be only if the pastor would recite it after him.
The actor recited Psalm 23 so beautifully that people gave him a loud ovation.
The pastor stood to recite it and didn’t have the eloquence of the actor but when he finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
The actor was asked what the difference was. He said, “I know the Psalm. He knows the Shepherd.”
Ending video: Still Waters by Leanne Crawford (Youtube)
Ending Song: Yet Not I
