The Song of the Shepherd – Pt.2
Psalm 23:1b
Introduction:
Illust: The story is told of a missionary in the mountains of Turkey who gathered a group of Turkish shepherds together to read the Bible to them. It was a cold night, and as they sat around a fire, the missionary read from (John 10) about the good Shepherd, the thief, the hireling, the sheep and the door of the sheepfold.
Oh, sir, is that in the Gospel? Asked one of the shepherds in surprise. Yes, said the missionary, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh, said the shepherd, the glow of fire lighting his eyes, I didn’t know before that the Bible was a sheep book.
Sheep, shepherds, lambs and flocks are mentioned nearly 700x’s in the Bible. The sheep is the first animal God mentions by name in the Scriptures - (Gen.4:2). From that first mention, the pages of the Bible are populated by millions of sheep.
Interesting that when God wants to describe the special relationship, He has with His people… more than any other description He uses the precious bond that a Shepherd has with his sheep.
Relationship is never more clearly illustrated than in the 23rd Psalm. Where the Psalmist David gladly proclaims, “The LORD is my shepherd!”
Our God is a Shepherd God! Good news is that those who belong to Him are His Sheep!
Ps. 100:3 – “Know ye that the LORD, he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”
In Psalm 23, David as one of the sheep in the Lord’s pasture extols and exalts what it means to be one of the LORD’s sheep.
Sheep are unique little creatures…they are unlike any other animal, wild or domesticated. A horse, cow, dog, or cat can live without its master… it can fend for itself. A sheep; on the other hand, is completely dependent upon the shepherd for its survival. A sheep needs a shepherd! You and I need the Lord!
Focus our attention on the last 4 words of (v.1) – “I shall not want.”
“Want” = to suffer need or to be abandoned; to lack – (lit) because the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not lack anything!
TS: I shall not lack anything because of…
I. A PERSONAL SHEPHERD!
Look: v.1 – Two words: “The LORD”
“LORD” = Yahweh/ Jehovah – this is God’s personal name -- a name so sacred and holy that Jewish High Priests would only pronounce it one time a year and that was in the Temple, behind the veil in the Holy of Holies. The Jewish people considered the name too high and holy to be spoken by human lips.
Ancient Scribes before writing this sacred Name while copying the holy Scriptures would take a bath, change their clothes, take a new pen and ink well and write that blessed Name. Afterward they would destroy that pen because after writing the name Yahweh or Jehovah there was no other word or name worthy enough to be written with that pen.
Our Shepherd’s name is a High name; It’s a Holy Name! Precious Name!
“LORD” = comes from a word that simply means, “I AM.” It was a name Moses learned at the burning bush… it is the name the Holy Spirit moved David to
It is a statement of being… reminds us that our God is…
A. The Self-Existent One
Cf. He is the One who has never had a beginning – and One who will never have an end. He is the One who caused but He Himself was uncaused. Ge creates but was never created. He makes but was never made. There was never a time when God was not and there will never be a time when our God is not!
Quote: The evangelist Angel Martinez described this relationship in this way: "The LORD, the One who made the world and everything that is in it, the One who
lit the taper of the sun and put the stars in their
places, that's my shepherd. The One who threw a carpet of green grass upon the earth and tacked it down with beautiful flowers; the One who scooped up the valleys and piled up the hills; the One who took the song of
the seraph and robed it in feathers and gave us the nightingale; the One who took the rainbow and wove it into a scarf and threw it about the shoulders of a
dying storm, that's my shepherd. The same One, who in the dawn opens the door of the morning and floods the world with light and beauty, that's my shepherd. At evening times He pulls down the shade of night and shoots it through with sunset fire; that's my
shepherd." (1)
Our God is the eternal, self-existent, all-powerful, ever-present, sovereign God of the universe! David – that’s my Shepherd!!!
B. The Changeless One
Now if you or I were to call ourselves, “I am” that would be an incomplete sentence. We would have to ask, “I am what?” We would have to add a descriptive word to the words “I am” such as “I am young or old”… “I am weak or I am strong.”
However, God needs no descriptive word, because God is and He is what He has always been. He never changes!
Ps. 102:27 – “Thou art the same…”
Mal. 3:6 – “For I am the LORD, I change not.”
Illust: Middle “C”
When Lloyd Douglas, author of The Robe and other novels, attended college, he lived in a boardinghouse. A retired, wheelchair-bound music professor resided on the first floor. Each morning Douglas would stick his head in the door of the teacher’s apartment and ask the same question, “Well, what’s the good news?” The old man would pick up his tuning fork, tap it on the side of the wheelchair, and say, “That’s middle C! It was middle C yesterday; it will be middle C tomorrow; it will be middle C a thousand years from now. The tenor upstairs sings flat. The piano across the hall is out of tune, but, my friend, that is middle C.”1
We live in world that is filled with uncertainty and change… times our lives are seemingly spinning out of control… and you and I need a Middle C!
The LORD is our Middle C! Our God is the one constant in an everchanging universe. He is our Rock, Refuge our shelter.
Ps. - “The name of the Lord is a high tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe.”
Because our God is unchanging, His Word is unchanging… promises are unchanging… truth, love, care is unchanging!
He is Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, and to day, and forever.”
II. HE IS A PRESENT SHEPHERD!
Look: Psalm 23:1
Learned that Our Lord is a personal Shepherd = “My.” The Lord is also a present Shepherd = “He and Me”
“Shepherd” = simply means to tend the flock. Word describes the continual compassionate care of our Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.
v. 1 – tells us Who our Shepherd is.
vv.2-6 – tell us What our Shepherd does.
“Is” = present tense – What our Shepherd does for us He is doing right now, and He is doing it all the time!
A. He is For Me
v.2 = leading the sheep into the green meadows and to the still peaceful waters.
v.3 = correcting their wanderings, attending their hurts and leading the sheep along right paths.
v.4 = helping them through the rough and dangerous patches of life.
v.5 = providing a banqueting table of rich green grass on high mountain plateaus safe from enemies.
v.6 = sheep being guarded by their constant companionship of the sheepdogs of mercy and grace… and dwelling safely forever in the home of their Shepherd.
B. He is With Me
Look: v.4 – “I will fear no evil for Thou art with me…”
My Shepherd not only watches over; He walks with me.
David is describing the journey or happenings of life through the eyes of a sheep. We can be assured that whatever the days ahead may hold our Shepherd will be there with us. As we journey into the rich green meadows and drink from the still waters; we can enjoy His presence! We can be assured that if we must pass through a dark and difficult valley; the Lord will be there. Experience His comfort!
There will never a be a moment when our Shepherd is not with us!!!
III. HE IS A PROVIDING SHEPHERD!
David is magnifying the One who had provided every need of his life.
A. A Sufficient Shepherd
Because the LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not lack anything.
Phil. 4:19 – And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Again, this verse doesn’t say God will give me everything I want but He will supply everything I need. Do you realize that most of our greatest needs don’t have a price tag on them? You can’t buy them. Oftentimes our greatest needs are not physical; they are spiritual!
Illust:
B. A Satisfied Sheep
In those words, “I shall not want.” David is simply saying, “There is no lack in my life.” Every need supplied!
I shall not want…
• His riches are unsearchable
• His joy is unspeakable
• His power is unlimited
• His faithfulness is unfailing
• His word is unshakable
• His love is unchanging!
Because the Lord is your Shepherd…
You have a God who hears you, the power of love behind you, the Holy Spirit within you, and all of heaven ahead of you. If you have the Shepherd, you have grace for every sin, direction for every turn, a candle for every corner, and an anchor for every storm. You have everything you need.
All of this and heaven too!!!!
Conclusion:
