In Your Own Words

If you had to write down your faith in your own words, what would you say? Would it bear marks of certain creeds? Maybe part of the Lord’s prayer? Would it tell a story or sound like a hymn?

What about the 23rd Psalm? It is arguably the most well-known Psalm, but it is often spoken over deathbeds and at funerals or watched in Hollywood movie scenes. It is a Psalm for endings.

Then why do we speak it today over yourselves and the Confirmands as they begin a new chapter in their journey of faith?

Maybe in one sense this Psalm seems all too familiar. You know it by heart. Maybe in another it seems all too foreign. Maybe you aren’t friends with any shepherds, or your parents never bought you a pet sheep. Either way, today is what we call Good Shepherd Sunday. Although perhaps every Sunday here is Good Shepherd Sunday as we sit and face our Good Shepherd window here in our sanctuary.

While we may use Psalm 23 for many endings, I doubt David had the same thing in mind when he wrote it. When we read this Psalm, its powerful words resonate with us still. A shepherd as a young boy, David was putting his faith into his own words from his real-life experience.

This is such a beloved Psalm that many others have put their own unique spin on it over the years. Eugene Peterson. Different poets. Musical artists. Even Coolio began his famous “Gangsta’s Paradise” in 1995 with the line ‘when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.’” K.J. Ramsey has recently written a book of prayers that flow through the motions of Psalm 23 and what it means for Jesus to be the Good Shepherd.

All of these individuals have been inspired and moved by the language of the famous twenty-third Psalm enough to try and put it in their own words.

Each week when I met with the Confirmands we would look at ancient words, doctrine, and Holy Scripture. We would look at what the Church said. We would look at historic creeds. We would look at Scripture. And a few times I would ask, “if you had to put this in your own words, what would it say?” How would you describe your faith, in your own words?

David described his faith here like a sheep being led by a good shepherd. If anyone could relate to the life of trying to tend sheep, it was David. He knew. Kent French says “these fluffy creatures could be at turns affectionate, stubborn, stupid, aimless, passive, easily startled, and always hungry.” Hmm, no wonder we can relate to sheep. Sheep could be hard to handle. They didn’t follow directions well. They need constant feeding and grooming and leading and protecting from enemies. In other words, sheep are 100% dependent upon the shepherd.

But with the Lord as shepherd, David says we shall not want. We shall not lack. We shall not need. This is not the language of scarcity, emptiness, or low fuel. This is the language of being filled. Right from the beginning.

And it is personal language. Personal pronouns. I, me, and my are used 16 times within these 6 verses. The Lord isn’t just your neighbor’s shepherd or your friend’s shepherd. Say with me “the Lord is my shepherd.” It’s personal.

And what does this shepherd do? This shepherd makes you to lie down in green pastures. Sheep need green pastures to survive. This imagery here is beautiful. Not a field that is dead or full of weeds, but a green pasture. It is full of life and growing. And what do we do here? We lie down. We rest. It is almost like the God who created us for Sabbath is also starting off his role our shepherd by leading us back to holy rest.

And from that place of rest we are led, beside still waters and in right paths for his name’s sake. In this place of rest, the Lord restores our soul.

Oh my goodness, who wouldn’t sign up for the first 3 verses of Psalm 23? I mean, doesn’t that sound like a retreat or a vacation? Relaxing by a lake? A day on the beach? What would rest be in your own words? That is where the Lord is seeking to lead you.

But none of us want to sign up for Psalm 23:4. It is a quick and sudden change of scenery from green pastures to dark valleys. We don’t want it because we already know it. The landscape is too far ingrained in our memory. The hurt still fresh. Maybe you are there now. Grief and loss and sickness and depression. When I used to volunteer as a hospital chaplain, I could sometimes feel like I was walking around in death’s shadow, never knowing what I would encounter from room-to-room.

But David says that no matter what valley we are in, we need not fear. Despite all the evil that there is to fear, David says fear no evil. This is not some trite phrase we hang on a wall or stick on a coffee mug. This is David’s statement of faith. It is his song of trust in the presence of the Lord in all things. I remember I visited one lady before her surgery. I held her hand and she looked at me and said “I’m not worried. Jesus has been holding my hand my whole life.” This was her faith in her own words. Jesus holding her hand. Gary Simpson says “this is the psalm that sits up with the believer in the challenges of sleepless nights and uncertain days.”

God doesn’t just walk with us through the valley. God lead us and comforts us. A shepherds rod and staff had two purposes. The staff which you see Jesus pictured with here in our window was used for guiding. It was to corral the sheep and to herd them to safety. The hook on the end was also used to be placed around the neck of the sheep to rescue them. The rod was another tool used to defend the sheep and ward off enemies. In every valley, God is going ahead of you and preparing a path, comforting you and protecting you.

But then something even more interesting happens. We are in this tough spot, and the Lord starts setting out a table with food. Any of us with common sense are going “huh?” This is not the time for a meal. When I was growing up, my family had this weird knack for always going out to eat when there was a bad storm. I remember sitting at the Golden Corral watching the traffic lights swing outside in the middle of a tornado watch and thinking “this is not the time for a meal.” In the presence of the storm, we need fight or flight. We need to prepare. We don’t need to sit down for a six-course dinner.

But the shepherd as Lord has something else in mind.In tending sheep, a shepherd would often try to lead their sheep to higher ground to be able to look out and have better visibility of your predators. The Lord sits us down at the table with our enemies in sight. Storms may be raging around you. You may feel like all is against you. ” It is like Michael W. Smith’s song that says over and over again “it may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You.” K.J. Ramsey says “neutrality is the nicest kind of evil. God prepares a table without two sides. God gives us a feast while our enemies stand by.”

When we feel there is no way out, God feeds us and anoints us. This is a way to honor us, a way to set us apart, a way to mark us as God’s own. Suddenly the not lacking in verse 1 has begun to overflow in verse 5. The cup that perhaps was empty now suddenly cannot contain it all.

And then in the lovely last two verses, the enemies are not what is chasing us anymore. Goodness and mercy are. Not just following. Goodness and mercy are chasing us down, chasing us right into the house of our shepherd. Gary Simpson says it this way: “The goodness of God is in every place before we ever arrive at a particular place....God’s goodness has already been where we are planning to go. The goodness of God is so present that every direction that we turn to look, we bump into goodness again. The goodness of God goes ahead of us, clearing out new ground, pulling us to new terrain, lighting a pathway in the dark places of new possibility, opening doors that no one can shut.”

This is the goodness of our good shepherd. These are the words of David that bring faith to life. But what about you? What would your faith be in your own words?

Well, today I have asked our Confirmands to share Psalm 23 in their own words. Here is what they had to say.

From Henry:

The Lord is my caregiver. He lies me down in beautiful green pastures. I follow him down river banks. He cares for me and leads me through the best paths. I walk through the darkest valley but I am not scared because I know that you are there with me. When you carry your rod and staff I am scared of nothing. Even though there are enemies all around you prepare a table for me and I am not afraid. I will follow you for my entire life and I will stay in the house of the lord for the rest of my life.

From Kenlee:

I am led by my Lord who is my Shepherd.

He leads me to a place of peace where we will lie our heads down and rest.

He takes me to the high places where His Name is honored by His people.

I am His sheep that He protects from danger.

The Lord provides me with the nutrients I need.

The Lord has given me all of the blessings to meet Him in the afterlife.

If my cup overflows with goodness, then I know my Lord will be with me forever.