The Lord Prepares

We continue this week with our sermon series “The Lord is My Shepherd.” We have been looking at Psalm 23 through the eyes of a shepherd to allow us to receive a greater understanding of what it means to allow God to be our shepherd.

We have been using the book “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller to help us get a glimpse of what King David is trying to say to us. This week our focus is on how “The Lord Prepares.”

We have been reading a different translation of Psalm 23 each week. This week we will hear Psalm 23 from theLexham English Bible.

23 1 Yahweh is my shepherd; I will not lack for anything.

2 In grassy pastures he makes me lie down; by quiet waters he leads me.

3 He restores my life. He leads me in ⌊correct paths⌋ for the sake of his name.

4 Even when I walk in a dark valley, I fear no evil because you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare before me a table in the presence of my oppressors. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

6 Surely goodness and loyal love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will stay in the house of Yahweh for a very long time⌋.

Please pray with me…

This weekwe are examining verse 5 of Psalm 23 which says “You prepare before me a table in the presence of my oppressors. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.”

· We havea Lord who cares about us and prepares a path for us to take.

· A Godthat does all that he can to keep us away from those things in life that can harm our relationship with him and with those around us.

· Keller givesus a better understanding of what King David may have been thinking of when he focuses on verse 5 of Psalm 23.

· He offers this explanation on what sheep and tables have to do with each other.

· Keller bringsup that when you look at this scripture through the eyes of a shepherd it takes you to the high Mesas where a shepherd would take his sheep.

· He pointsout that Mesa when translated to English means table.

· He goeson to say that the shepherd prepares the journey to the Mesa and looks around the Mesa itself before he takes the sheep with him. (Read middle of page 100).

· The shepherdmakes sure that not only is he preparing a safe pathway for the sheep, but he also is preparing ways for them to receive what they need on the journey in order for them to be safe.

· God attempts to dothe same for us. He offers us not only the best path to take but he also gives us ways for us to remain healthy on our journey.

· God doesthis in different ways.

· He preparesus for the journey by letting us know ahead of time the best way for us to go.

· God sometimesdoesn’t want us to take the easy path.

· He maywant us to choose the hard path that prepares us for the calling that he has for us.

· God maysend us on what seems like a wayward journey when in fact when we are done, we realize that it was the right path for us.

(My seminary journey-Felt led to seminary at 22 but chose not to go. It was at 44, 22 years later that I began seminary. Seminary was not only a time of learning about God but it also was a time of learning about myself, a time of healing.. When I look back God put into my mind about going to seminary at 22 but I was not ready. He prepared the way for me to begin 22 years later.

· He putspeople into our lives to offer us examples of how to follow him and to lead us to go on the journey that he has designed for us.

One wayI God prepared me to attend seminary was through a Bible study I attended and eventually led. These men were able to show me how to live a life following Jesus instead of just believing in Jesus.

· He has us read scriptures to help us see how we keep out of the dangers that are lurking during our journey.

A shepherd prepares the way for the sheep by looking for plants that will harm the sheep if they eat them while they are eating the grass.

Keller points out that there are some plants that are prevalent on a Mesa that if the sheep would eat them, it would kill them. The shepherdduring his time of preparing for the journey will pull those plants to protect his sheep.

· Our shepherd offers us the same protection through the word that he is given to us within the scriptures.

· He gives us rules such as the ten commandments to help us live our best life focusing on him and those around us.

· He gives us consequences such as Adam and Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

· He does this so his sheep will know that there are some things that we should stay away from and if we don’t, we may end up facing consequences for our actions.

· God also gave us a way to connect to him through his son.

· This isthrough remembering what Jesus did for us.

· We physicallyremember his actions when we take Communion.

· His body was broken for us, and his blood shed so that we would be able to have our sins forgiven.

· John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church, believed that communion offered us a special moment with God.

· A chance to evaluate our lives and our connection with him.

· The difference between us and the sheep is that God offers us the choice.

· He mayat times choose to remove the temptation, but he may also test us to see if we are willing to follow what we know is his will instead of our own human desire to have or do that thing.

· Paul offersus a good example of this when he points out that he has a thorn in the flesh.

· At no timedoes he let us know what the thorn is. Many people have tried to guess but at no point are we given the answer.

· I wonderif that was Paul’s plan.

· Paul bringsup that he struggles with this thing, it could be physical limitations. It could be a desire to do something that would be against God.

· The pointis we don’t know.

· Paul points out that he asked God to remove it, but God has chosen not too. According to Paul, God told him “My power is made perfect in weakness.”

· Is it possiblethat we aren’t told what Paul’s weakness is because we are supposed to look at our own lives and discover our own “thorn of the flesh.”

· What ifwe used Paul’s struggle to help us discover the area or areas that we may be struggling with on our spiritual journey.

· We knowfrom Paul’s journey in scripture and the fact that he wrote a majority of what we call the New Testament that Paul did not let his weakness stop him from spreading the word of God to those that God called him to speak with.

· Maybe, acknowledging our own “thorn” will open us up to be more open to God and to be able to receive even more clearly the calling that he has for each one of us.

· God tests us, leads us, and helps usall while our enemy is watching.

· Last week we spoke of how Satan is waiting for the opportunity to lead us astray.

· Our good shepherdhas prepared a way for us so that we can overcome the obstacles to our faith that Satan places before us.

· Jesus has many names, among those is that he is the anointed one.

· He is the one that is to come to save all of Israel.

· He of course not only came to save them but to save all of humankind.

· When we give our life to Jesus, we receive our own special anointing.

· We become marked by Jesus as his brothers and sisters. We become children of God.

· Our anointing comes through being filled with the Holy Spirit.

· What we call the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit communicates with us and how we can allow God to have control of our lives.

· Keller brings up that sheep also in their own way are anointed.

· They were not anointed for the purpose of a special relationship.

· They were anointed in order for them to be free from the annoyance of flies. (Read middle of 112 and bottom of 113.)

· Keller speaks of a transformation within the sheep from being annoyed and practically being driven crazy by the flies to being relaxed and being able to be calm.

· This should also be a sign of the transformation that occurs in our lives.

· When we give our life fully over to God through Jesus the annoyances of the world should be replaced by the glory of the kingdom of God.

· This is easier said than done.

· Many of us are still distracted by those earthly ideals that can have an impact on many parts of our lives.

· Our “thorn” may get in the way of our relationship with God and lead us down a path away from instead of towards God.

· God wants us to be content with what he offers to us instead of focusing on what the world offers us. Keller explains it this way (Read middle of page 121).

· Our first scripture shows us that not only has God prepared a path for us, but God has also prepared a place for us.

· A place that is with him.

· A place where we live forever with our shepherd, our Lord.

· We are able to reside in this place when we give our life over to him.

If you haven’t already, I want to give you the chance to give your life to the one who desires to lead you, help you, and has prepared a place for you. At the end of our prayer today I will offer you some words to say to give your life to him.

Please pray with me…