Psalm 23

Psalm 23

Scriptures: Psalm 23; John 10:14-16, 27-28; Philippians 4:19

Good morning Strangers Rest. Last week I shared with you that of all of God’s creation He values us the most. This morning I will focus on how we in turn value God. We value God by understanding who He is in our lives and allowing Him to operate freely in His role. This morning we will examine “Psalm 23” as David lays out perfectly how our relationship with God should be if we truly value Him. This Psalm is probably the most recognized Psalm in the Bible, but if you do not understand the context from which it was written, it would be easy to miss some of the key lessons David expressed about our relationship with God. Let’s begin by reading it.

“(1) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (2) He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. (3) He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. (4) Yea, 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 runs over. (6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:1-6)

Psalm 23 was written by a man who had a very close relationship with God and held that relationship in high esteem. David, a man whom God said was “after His own heart” (First Samuel 13:14), was a shepherd. In this song he wrote about the relationship he had with God. He compared his relationship with God to something that he was very familiar with – the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. When you read this Psalm, it is important to recognize that David considered himself to be the sheep and God the Shepherd. To really appreciate what David was sharing, you need to understand a few facts about shepherds and sheep.

I asked this question in Bible study so for those of you who were there you know this answer. The question was this: how many of you would be offended if I called you stupid? How many of you would be offended if I just said you were stupid? Now how many of you would be okay being stupid if that enabled you to have a great relationship with God? Well, my friends, when you read and accept what David was saying in this Psalm, he was saying that he was stupid and that was totally okay with him. I will tell you that when it comes to being God’s sheep, I too am stupid and I am proud of it. By the end of this message I hope you will be too.

Let me share a few things about sheep and if any of these facts hit close to home when you think about your walk here on earth, just whisper to yourself, “He is right, I am stupid.” Now say it quietly so the person sitting next to you don’t try to take you to the doctor when you leave here to get you checked out for talking to yourself. But getting back to sheep – sheep are not the brightest or smartest animals on the earth. As a matter of fact, they are so needy that they require the constant oversight of the shepherd. Sheep are so timid that they have been known to flee from blowing paper. A thunder storm will actually send them into a panic. Now I know that one hit home for somebody after the storms we have had over the last couple of weeks. If a sheep is crossing a stream and gets scared, it will literally drown without even fighting for its life. If sheep are in a barn and the barn catches fire, they will burn to death without trying to escape because they will be frozen with fear.

Another fact about sheep is that the wool that covers their bodies is so heavy that if they fall down and are lying on their backs, they cannot get up. They are incapable of righting themselves and must lay there until someone picks them up or they die. Can you see the similarities between sheep and us? Now what I am about to share next is a sheep’s smart characteristic. Sheep only recognize the voice of their shepherd. They will not follow a voice that they do not recognize. Now here is where many Christians are not like sheep: many have not learned to recognize the voice of the Chief Shepherd – Jesus – because they are following the voice of a shepherd who is not following the voice of the Chief Shepherd. I will let that sink in for a minute. There is only ONE Shepherd that we should be following and if the shepherd over a Church is not following the ONE then you do not need to be following them!