The Lord Provides

We are starting a new sermon series today called “The Lord is My Shepherd.” We will be looking at what is the most famous of the Psalms, the 23rd Psalm which is believed to be written by King David. To help us understand this Psalm we will be using a book called “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller. Since David was a shepherd, this book tries to look at how the psalm was written through the eyes of a shepherd.

We will also be handling the main scripture differently during this series. Instead of reading the small part of the psalm we will be focusing on, I will be reading all of Psalm 23 each week but from a different translation. This week we will be using the most famous translation for this passage the King James Version of the Bible.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Please pray with me…

We are focusing this week on the first verse of the 23rd Psalm, it reads “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” To begin we need to make our focal point on who David is speaking of when he says “Lord.”

This is easy in a way because we can assume that he is talking about his God who if we are Christians is also our God. We can assume that David is viewing his God as the one who created all things and has helped the Jewish people up to this point survive against numerous foes and numerous possible disasters. He has been their creator, their protector. The one that will never leave them or forsake them.

David also would have known of what we call The Holy Spirit. In the case of David, it was the Spirit of God that would often be upon people. It was the Spirit that would work on earth to help the people become who God wanted them to be.

We can also add the Son of God to the mix. Our shepherd is the one that came down to earth as our example and Savior of our sins. Jesus came and lived among the Jewish people showing them what it meant to live their lives as God intended. He showed them the importance of loving their neighbor and caring for the least of those within society.

It is through the actions of Jesus that the Holy Spirit is now able to be not just upon us but within us, helping us on our journey of becoming holier every day. Leading us down the path that God desires for us to go.

Phillip Keller in his book explains “the Lord” this way. (Read bottom of page 4) We have a God that wants to be our shepherd. We have a God that wants us to be willing to be his sheep.

David in this Psalm doesn’t just say that the Lord wants to be his shepherd. He makes it clear that the Lord IS his shepherd. The Lord IS his and also our shepherd if we desire for him to be, because He brought us into being. He created humankind and his son died on a cross so that we could be born again.

We were born to be his sheep. We can see within scripture that God would eventually form his own flock. A group that he would protect from those trying to destroy them. The Jewish people, they were God’s original flock.

The Lord not only created us, but he also bought us. His son paid the price so that we could be owned by him. Due to what happened in the garden humanity became slave to sin. We cannot stop sinning but we can ask to be forgiven.

Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross. He bought us our freedom. But not only the Jewish people. Jesus offered all people the possibility of joining the flock. He gave all of humankind the opportunity to have the Lord be their shepherd.

Our first reading this morning from Galatians says it this way. “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

We have been made free; the price is paid. Keller remembers when he bought his first sheep…(Read bottom of page 6). We are precious to God. He bought us through his blood and tears. He loves us and cares about us.

When we let the Lord be our shepherd, we are able to lack nothing. When I first heard of the 23rd Psalm as it states in the King James “I shall not want” I was confused on how just by having the Lord be my shepherd I would no longer want anything. But when you look at this scripture with the writer being a shepherd you receive a better understanding of what this scripture means.

Just like in every profession there are good shepherds and not so good shepherds. There are shepherds that put the needs of the sheep first and there are shepherds that seem to only be looking for a profit from the sheep they are raising.

The Lord is not that type of shepherd. The Lord puts the needs of the sheep before his own needs. The Lord makes choices that are going to be good for the well-being of the sheep. As we will find out in later weeks, a safe secure environment is needed for the sheep to not be stressed.

This is what David is saying. We lack nothing because we have a shepherd that provides all that we need to be happy. When we allow the shepherd to guide us and protect us, we shall not want.

This is how Keller compares the two types of Shepherds. (Page 15-17) We have to be willing to believe that our God is the good shepherd and that “we shall not want.”

A part of us putting ourselves into the hands of God is us realizing that through Christ all things are possible. When we give our life over to our shepherd, we need to be willing to rely on our shepherd through the good and the bad. We need to have the faith to believe that God is with us no matter what we are going through and that he will never leave us.

We have the ability to communicate with our shepherd through prayer. Unlike the shepherd of the sheep, we can ask God to help us in our time of need. We can thank God for all that he does for us.

We have available other believers to tell us about what God has done for them. We have people in our lives that can remind us that we need to let the good shepherd be in charge and how letting him provide has impacted their lives.

This does not mean that bad things are not going to happen. It does not mean that we are not going to face challenges in our lives. But we will know that when these challenges occur, we have a God that will not leave us. We have a good shepherd.

The first Christian that died for the faith was named Stephen. He was arrested and when asked about Jesus he gave an explanation on why he believed. He ended that statement with how those that had arrested him had killed the Messiah that they had been waiting for.

As you might expect, this did not go over well, and they decided that they were going to stone Stephen. As this is about to happen Acts 7:55 says that “Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”

We often hear in scripture about Jesus sitting at the right hand of God but based off of this scripture when things get bad, we have Jesus standing up with us. Going through what we are going through. Knowing the pain that we are feeling because he has felt that same pain in his own life.

He has lived through physical pain. He has faced the pain of loneliness. He knows what it means to be betrayed by someone close to him. He is aware that people are not always going to keep their promises. Jesus will stand by us. He will never leave us.

I don’t know what you are going through right now. I don’t know the pain that you may be facing. But what I do know is that the good shepherd wants to provide for you what you need in this moment.

It is easy for us to be reminded that we should turn all of our worries and anxieties over to God. It is another thing to live that out. It can be difficult at times for us to believe that anyone can help us.

The Lord wants to be your shepherd. He wants to help you “lack nothing.” He wants to stand beside you, never leaving you, as you are facing the troubles, dilemmas, and hardships that you are currently facing.

Cry out to him. Let him know what you are feeling. Tell him if you are mad at him or feel abandoned by him. Our God can handle it. He wants you to be honest but he also wants you to ask for his help.

I have tried the other ways. I have attempted to mask my pain through the means of the world and what I have discovered is that it doesn’t work. You may find some vice helps but it only numbs the pain, it doesn’t remove it

Jesus wants to be your good shepherd and help you overcome what you are facing. He wants to be your helper. As David believed the Lord provided for him. God wants to have that kind of relationship with you. The only one stopping that from happening is you.

As we have our closing hymn, I want to give you the chance to have God help you today. I will be over here ready to pray for you if needed today. You may need to ask God to be your Lord and Savior for the first time.

You may only need for someone to say on your behalf that you need God in a special way at this time. I want to give you the chance to do that today. If you are online I may not be able to help you right now but message me. Ask for me to pray with you and we will set up a time for us to pray together.

Our closing hymn is “Close to Thee” the words will be on the screen.