Declare Your Dependence
Psalm 23
July 4, 2004
Introduction
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or the hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis, had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft- spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
SOURCE: Paul Harvey, News and Commentary, July 4, 1974.
They gave us a free and independent America.
Today we celebrate the sacrifices of these brave men and women who paid such a high price for our independence. Our freedom has not been cheap but rather it has come at a high price. In America we have placed a high value on our independence, as we should, but as Christians I believe that we need to place a higher value on the fact that we are dependent not independent.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. :6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
This is without a doubt one of the most loved passages in all of scripture, its words are filled with the great comfort and care of God for His people. Within these six short verses I believe we find the basis for living our lives in a complete dependence on God. David clearly focuses on five key areas that we can declare our dependence on God.
I. God gives us His Provision
The LORD is my shepherd,
All of these wonderful and beautiful promises we find here are conditional and the condition is clear and simple. They revolve around the word my. The LORD is my shepherd. Clearly these promises apply only to those who have placed their faith and trust in God. It is impossible to ever be able to experience the care of the shepherd if you refuse to follow Him.
The Hebrew understanding of the shepherd was undeniably linked with the role that the shepherd played with the sheep. The shepherd was responsible for the care and the well being of the sheep. We need to understand that God is the shepherd and we are the sheep. We belong to Him and we belong with Him.
This one phrase carries the weight of the entire psalm because it is the LORD God of Israel, the great I am, the ruler of the cosmos, the creator of all things that has offered to shepherd all who would follow Him. His desire is to be the shepherd of your life.
I shall not be in want.
The promise here is extremely clear, when you follow God He will provide for every need in your life. He who cares for His people like a shepherd cares for sheep will bring every good and precious thing into your life.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.
Just as a shepherd provides for their sheep in every possible way to meet every possible need; God makes provision for every aspect of the human need. The shepherd took the sheep to green pastures to provide physical nurishment. God provides for all of our physical needs. The shepherd took the sheep to quiet places to provide rest. God provides for all of our emotional needs. However, God goes one step further than the shepherd could ever be able to go. God restores the soul.
II. God gives us His Protection
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
God protects us in three key ways. The first is the fact that He gives us direction for living our lives. David called this paths of righteousness. The simple fact is that God gives us the right direction at the right time to the right degree all the time. Everything that God does is right but He gives us the choice to follow Him. If we will follow God’s direction we will never be out of His guidance and care.
The second way is through His presence. If we make the choice to walk with the shepherd, we will always be in His presence. The truth is that we can never be out of God’s presence but we can be out of step in our walk with Him. When we walk in step with God there is absolutely nothing that we cannot go through in life. This gives us freedom from fear because God protects us from evil because when God stands with us, nothing can stand against us.
The third way is through the rod and the staff. Shepherds would carry these two items as tools of the trade so to speak. The rod was a weapon that was used much like a club to defend the flock against wild animals or thieves. The staff was much like the rod but had a curved end and was used to help guide the sheep.
God defends us with His rod and beats back the enemies of our lives. God guides us with His staff and shows us the way we are to live.
III. God gives us a place of Peace
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
God prepares for us a place filled with His peace. The table that God prepares for us is one of celebration and victory. The place that God gives us is one of security and safety.
The ancient custom was to have a celebration feast following a victory in battle. One of the customs was to have one or more representatives from the enemy that was defeated to prove the fact that they were indeed no longer a threat. God has already won our greatest battle for us and He will share His victory with us.
One day we will sit at the table of God and watch as our enemy of death is finally defeated and we celebrate the total victory we have been given through Christ.
IV. God gives us a place of Prominence
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
God has promised to give us a share of His personal honor. The ritual of anointing was to show honor to a guest and allow that guest to know special favor with the host.
The most common anointing was done on the feet as a sign of appreciation that the person had come to the hosts home. However, this anointing was very special, it was an anointing of the head. This was used on special occasions such as the coronation of kings and the commissioning of prophets or priests. In this case it is a special honor to show that the person was of great importance to the host
God has shown us our importance to Him through the death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.
God will also pour out an overwhelming amount of blessing into your life. In Hebrew customs the host of a banquet could show a special blessing to a guest by giving them an overflowing cup.
The host would take the guests cup and place it within a large bowl and then fill the cup and allow it to overflow. The meaning was that the guest with an overflowing cup would be denied nothing that they requested.
God has not only given you a place of great honor but also a place of great blessing.
His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power has no boundary known unto men:
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
—Annie Johnson Flint
V. God gives us a place of Permanence
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever
God shows us His goodness as a proof of His care for us. If you follow God and place your life in His care, it will be filled with His goodness. God’s goodness impacts every area of life and fills our lives if we will allow it.
God gives us His love to prove His faithfulness through the ages. When God’s love flows into your life and it fills you, it will not leave you the same. The love of God transforms people into what they can become rather than what they are now.
These two aspects of our relationship with God follow us through life. The Hebrew literally means to pursue or to chase. This is one of the only places where the word is used in a non-hostile form. It would seem that there was a strong assurance from David that God’s goodness and love would never leave him.
God gives us a special relationship with Him. The house of the LORD is likely not a structure but rather a metaphor for having a close relationship with Him. In Israel, kings would make special individuals a member of their house. These people would not live in the palace but would enjoy a close relationship to the king. We have been offered a close and enduring relationship with the God of universe.
The final aspect of the promises is that God seals this special relationship by allowing us to enjoy it with Him through all of eternity, when the metaphor for relationship melts into a reality. We will one day be given a place with God that will last forever.
Conclusion
Today can you honestly say that God is your shepherd? Can you say that you are following Him?
