Psalm 23 part II. Sun 25 Aug 2002 am
A Modern Version of the 23rd Psalm by a Japanese writer
The Lord is my Pacesetter - I shall not rush.
He makes me stop for quiet intervals,
He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity,
He leads me in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind,
And his guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret,
For His Presence is here,
His timelessness, His all importance, will keep me in balance
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity,
By anointing my mind with His oils of tranquillity
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours,
For I shall walk in the Pace of my Lord
And dwell in His House for ever.
A couple of weeks ago we looked at
- shepherding. Still waters. Guidance. Peace
This morning I want to look at
1) The Soul
“He restores my soul”
- there’s a few images, here
a) sheep by water
- led to the water by the shepherd
- lying down in green pastures
X= the wool advert with Pachabel’s canon playing in background
- all fat and fleecy. Clean
Have you seen sheep in Israel?
- sometimes hard to tell if sheep or straggly goat
- can see why I’m not a farmer
Well: this is the picture of the straggly Mediterranean/middle east sheep being restored
- becoming fat and fluffy
- we are in danger of thinking this is only ‘within’. And to us the use of word ‘soul’ justifies this. (and is true. Peace within = most impt)
- but that wasn’t their understanding in OT
- they actually focussed a lot on the ‘outside’, material, here and now
- as very little understanding of afterlife or ‘soul’/spirit
- “if you’re gonna bless me… bless me materially, now, HERE” Make me fat and fluffy!
- Cf: note, Job’s reward was all material
The reward came here and now, and it was physical.
Now- the NT DOES give us a fuller perspective. It’s THEREAFTER that the scales are balanced. And God is very concerned about saving our spirits
- but the approach of the Bible in general is NOT to separate soul, body and spirit
- WE do. ‘it’s inside that matters’, and we follow the Gk culture in doing so
But HERE there is no separation. ‘Soul’ refers to the WHOLE being
- = ‘He restores ME’. Body, mind and spirit
- = a sense of complete wellbeing
- it shows God’s concern for you as a whole being
- God is concerned about your physical health, job, mental state, soul, spiritual life. You
- The hairs on your head. The money in your pocket
- He wants to be helper and Lord of both… ALL
In your journey with Him there WILL be times when He restores you. And you feel fat and fluffy in SO many ways
b) Sheep around the neck
There’s another image of restoration, here
- it’s the shepherd rescuing and restoring the lost sheep
- prodigal sheep style. The sheep who got itself into a state in the brambles of life
- it’s restoration to HIMSELF (the shepherd, the Lord) and the flock (the fold, the body of Christ) rather than within self
- Illustr: Pete Turner (now works for Vis a Vis). Cameraman on Highlander films. Describes how God ‘let him fall’ like a runaway train…and followed him to catch him, and return him
- “and home rejoicing brought me!
- I guess it’s been so long for some of us we have forgotten what it’s like to be ‘restored’ by the Lord. Have become concerned with little things, when in those days, it was just good to be saved!
Philip Yancey tells the story of a prodigal daughter who grows up in Traverse City, Michigan. Disgusted with her old fashioned parents who overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, the length of her skirts, she runs away. She ends up in Detroit where she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. The man with the big car – she calls him “Boss” – recognises that since she’s underage, men would pay premium for her. So she goes to work for him. Things are good for a while. Life is good. But she gets sick for a few days, and it amazes her how quickly the boss turns mean. Before she knows it, she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, and all the money goes to support her drug habit.
One night while sleeping on the metal grates of the city, she began to feel less like a woman of the world and more like a little girl. She begins to whimper. “God, why did I leave. My dog back home eats better than I do now.” She knows that more than anything in the world, she wants to go home. Three straight calls home get three straight connections with the answering machine. Finally she leaves a message. “Mom, dad, its me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way, and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, I‘ll understand.” During the seven hour bus ride, she’s preparing a speech for her father. And when the bus comes to a stop in the Traverse City station, the driver announces the fifteen-minute stop. Fifteen minutes to decide her life.
She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. But not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. There in the bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and a great-grandmother to boot. They’re all wearing goofy party hats and blowing noise-makers, and taped across the entire wall of the terminal is a computer-generated banner that reads – Welcome Home!
Out of the crowd of well-wishers breaks her dad. She stares out through the tears quivering in her eyes and begins her memorised speech. He interrupts her. “Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. We’ll be late. A big party is waiting for you at home.”
Restoration to the shepherd… father… fold… flock
- soul and spirit restored
2) the valley
But life’s not all green pastures, parties and water is it?
- the grass may be green, but it still needs mowing!
And David knows all about REAL life.
- craggy dark valleys with wolves, lions and bears in them. Waiting to tear him… the sheep
- = the valley of the shadow
- shadow of death
- darkest valley
It’s fascinating that this comes right after Vs2&3- “He leads me, guides me in the right paths”
- inference- this experience is as much part of God’s path… the journey of the Christian… as the green and watery bit
- can’t have one without the other. Though we are told we can… nay should!
- Jesus didn’t
And it’s here that Christians often come into their own, best
- when their mettle is tested
- “Christians are like tea bags. You don’t find out what they are made of till they are in hot water”
- when all around you is dark… and you face… face up to… the worst case scenario… you realise
- I’ve got the Lord, and the things that matter “got my flesh, got my bones, got my fingers got my toes… got my Lord”
- And He and His people love you
I’ve found Christians prove INCREDIBLY strong when the chips are down
So- what is the ‘dark valley’
- it’s whatever you are facing: darkness, evil, feeling alone
- … whatever God is with you IN and leading you THROUGH
- truly!
- Ultimately it’s the valley of death. The long shadow leading to it. The sudden shadow of it. Something that we must all face, one way or another
- And for the believer is to be feared even less than the noises in the valley. The transition
- It’s just a release into the fullness of God, if you’re a believer (though it can cast a long shadow, give a sting to those left behind)
- Yes: we may fear dying… but not death itself
- It’s victory. It’s ‘forever with the Lord’
So- how should we react: to the valley. To the shadow. To death?
- “I will not fear”
- like Perry
What of the darkness of these last 2 weeks? Holly and Jessica
- has it shocked you? Occupied your mind? Challenged your faith?
- It should!
- It should be addressed, publicly, too. From here. Where the valley meets the light of God’s word
- We can’t be in denial that these things happen. “not mention them lest they destroy our fragile faith”
- Where is your faith in your faith?!
I’ve spoken to a number of people.
am aware I really don’t have full answer for this stuff. I trust God by faith. I FEEL the horror of life. It takes FAITH to believe in God (in circumstances like this) it takes a BIG step of faith to not believe in God
Did God hear our prayers, in this valley.
- yes. But He didn’t intervene. Not in a way we can see (yet!). Probably won’t be able to see
but that’s nothing new. Shouldn’t really take us by surprise- unless we HAVE been in denial of the reality of life
- 6M Jews killed in last war. They prayed!
- Illustr: me to Dad re Africa “but they’re not Christian”. Got the flailing (intellectually) of my life. Rightly so. They prayed, all right!
- But it’s nothing new. And it wasn’t new to Jesus. As though He’d never seen innocent suffering
- 100s of children died at his birth. ‘Holy Innocents’
- tower of siloam fell. Death much more common!
- And aware of that, He still taught followers to pray “our Father”
- Told us: your hairs are numbered. God cares. Knows
- Taught us to pray ‘deliver us from evil”
- Pray it and mean it!
God’s will is NOT being fully done
- Hence “thy kingdom come, thy will be done”
- The Muslim believes God’s will is being fully done. InchAllah.
- I don’t believe that for one second
- And His will will not be done fully until the end. Then the valley of shadow will disappear altogether
- His will CAN’T be fully done: as He can’t override our free will (won’t)
- We are told to pray and BRING His will
Billy Graham’s daughter was being interviewed on the Early
Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something
like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11).
Anne Graham-Lotz gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She
said "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just
as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our
schools, to get out of our government and to get out of
our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that
He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give
us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us
alone?" In light of recent events...terrorists
attack, school shootings, etc. Let’s see, I think it started
when Madeline Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body was
found recently) complained she didn’t want any prayer in our
schools, and we said OK. Then, someone said you better not
read the Bible in school... the Bible that says thou
shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbour as
yourself. And we said, OK. Then, Dr. Benjamin Spock said
we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because
their little personalities would be warped and we might damage
their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). And we
said, an expert should know what he’s talking about so we said OK.
Then, someone said teachers and principals better not discipline
our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators
said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when
they misbehave because we don’t want any bad publicity, and we
surely don’t want to be sued (There’s big difference between
disciplining and touching, beating, Smacking, humiliating,
kicking, etc.) And we said, OK. Then someone said,
let’s let our daughters have abortions if they want, and
they won’t even have to tell their parents. And we said, OK. Then
some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and
they’re going to do it anyway, let’s give our sons all the
condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we
won’t have to tell their parents they got them at school.
And we said, OK. Then some of our top elected officials
said it doesn’t matter what we do in private as long as
we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn’t matter
to me what anyone, including the President, does in private
as long as I have a job and the economy is good. And then
someone said let’s print magazines with pictures of nude women
and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the
beauty of the female body. And we said, OK.
And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and
published pictures of nude children and then stepped further
still by making them available on the internet. And we said OK,
they’re entitled to their free speech. And
then the entertainment industry said, let’s make TV shows and movies
that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let’s
record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic
themes. And we said it’s just entertainment, it has
no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go
right ahead. Now we’re asking ourselves why our children
have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and
why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and
themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard
enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to
do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW." Dear God, Why didn’t you
save the little girl killed in her classroom?" Sincerely,
Concerned Student... AND THE REPLY "Dear Concerned Student, I
am not allowed in schools". Sincerely, God.
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the
world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the
newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have
to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan
who, by the way, also believes in God.
Funny how we are quick to judge but not to be judged. Funny
how you can send a thousand ’jokes’ through e-mail and they spread
like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the
Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how
the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace,
but the public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and
workplace. Funny how someone can be so fired up
for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the
week. Are you laughing? Funny how when you go to
forward this message, you will not send it to many on your
address list because you’re not sure what they believe, or what
they WILL think of you for sending it to them. Funny how I
can be more worried about what other people think of me than
what God thinks of me. Are you thinking? Pass it on
if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it....no one
will know that you did. But, if you discard this thought
process, then don’t sit back and complain about what a bad shape the
world is in!
Maybe God doesn’t intervene in the valley, much. Deism? Non-interventionist?
- I can’t believe that. In Christ God
- Intervened! Got involved. IS interventionist
- (thank God for Jesus!)
- steps into our dark valleys. And DOES:
- come to our hearts. We can testify to that
- Act,. Deliver. At times. Can all give testimony to that
- So: we trust God and do not fear for what we don’t understand
Here’s something very real. Conveyed in this psalm. In the Lord’s prayer. In lots of the Bible
- evil is very real. There is a beast in the darkness of the valley. Sometimes you see him unmasked
- I’m not just saying this because ‘I’m an evangelical and the Bible tells me so’. I’m at a phase of life where I don’t believe anything because someone else shouts it at me. I’ve been through the loop of questioning
- ‘maybe evil was just their cultural way of describing the bad things of life. Mental illness. But we understand more, now”
- their way of avoiding blaming God
- Calvin & Hobbes: Calvin: Do you believe in the Devil? You know- a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption and destruction of man?
Hobbes: I’m not sure Man needs the help
- I believe in personal veil, now BECAUSE of my observation of life AND my understanding of the Bible
- Illustr: People taking steps towards Jesus: knocked back, stopped from coming to Alpha, wrong ‘partner’ comes along just at the wrong time
And it’s not just limited to adults
- its in all. Touches all. Pollutes all. See it in Jamie Bolger’s killers. It’s in our world
- in fact: realise we’re in enemy occupied territory! And he’s thrashing like a wild beast as he knows his days are numbered
Those are SOME of my thoughts about this most recent shadow of evil
But how do WE react. As Christians
- “I will not fear. I will fear no evil. For you ARE with me”
Where’s God in all this?
- with those girls
- I’m not being trite. Doing theological gymnastics so I can keep my faith intact
- JESUS FELT THIS. And only He ultimately felt the FULL evil of this… and of the WHOLE WORLD
- Why do you think it went dark on the cross for 3 hours? What do you think He felt as He carried the sins of the world. It’s evil. Paid the price to the devil for our yielding to sin
- Cf Aslan. Majestic beast. Shaved. Tortured
How are we to react in the valley.
- Keep the faith.
- I will NOT fear. For evil may be dark and real
- But you are omnipotent. (this is not dualism)
- the second ten commandments
- 1. Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities
- 2. Thou shalt not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass
- 3. Thou shalt not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one has yet succeeded in accomplishing this
- 4. Thou shalt face each problem as it comes. You can only handle one at a time, anyway
- 5. Thou shalt not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows
- 6. Thou shalt not borrow other people’s problems. They can better care for them than you can
- 7. Thou shall not try to re-live yesterday for good or ill, it is forever gone. Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now!
- 8. Thou shall learn to be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own. It is hard to learn something new when you are talking, and some people do now more than you do.
- 9. Thou shall not become "bogged down" by frustration, for 90% of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action
- 10 Those shall count thy blessings, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessings add up to a big one.
- I will not fear: for you are working your purposes out. Globally. In our lives
- You can bring good out of this. Please redeem this valley.
- Restore their souls
Friends- in our lives evil is NOT in control and will not have ultimate sway. “no power of hell no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand”
- Illustr: me at 12 . Freaked at night (like kids are. Mine are a bit at moment). “the worst you can do is kill me and then I get to go and be with Jesus”
- = naive, cocky but true
Though I walk through the valley- “YOU are my shepherd I have no needs”
Part III tonight
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