Shepherd Looks at 23rd Psalm Week 1: The Lord is My Shepherd

Psalms 23:1

What are some characteristics of a good teacher versus a bad teacher?

What are some characteristics of a good parent versus a bad parent?

What are some characteristics of a good pastor versus a bad pastor?

uh oh… I better be careful here.

What are some characteristics of a good shepherd versus a bad shepherd?

This last question is much harder.

None of us have been Shepherds.

We are going to read Psalm 23 in a moment and the premise of this entire Psalm is that there is a good Shepherd and His presence is an eternal comfort to His sheep.

On the flip side of that. There are many bad Shepherds.

Bad Shepherds are always making promises that they cannot deliver.

Never delivering what the sheep expect the Shepherd to do for them. Never meeting their needs. Only leaving them with a desire for something more.

SO just in comparing those two premises.

What is your life seeking right now?

Are you caught right now always desiring something more?

These questions and more are addressed in Psalm 23.

Let’s read Psalm 23 together real quick.

Let’s read it slow too and marinate into our soul’s.

God is calling us to a dependent life. A life fully given to Him.

God is not calling us to an INDEPENDENT life. A life of self-sustainability.

Making something great of yourself.

Man, that’s actually a pretty shallow way to live.

Making much of Jesus! Joining His story and being a part of that story no matter how big or small a role I play… Holy smokes man, that’s INCREDIBLE!

God calls us something much better than glorifying ourselves.

He calls us to follow Him.

Following Him implies we do not follow our self.

Maybe that’s a scary thought to you.

Maybe it’s scary to willingly give up being controlling.

But maybe that’s just because our view of God is often too small.

We feel unwilling to allow Him to have authority in our lives - to own us.

Tonight we are going to focus on the first phrase of Psalm 23 only.

“The Lord is my shepherd.”

David proclaims here “God, He owns me.”

He is MY Shepherd.

This statement should stir us.

It should make us feel a little uncomfortable.

Again, that willingness to give up the control I hold onto so tightly immediately goes away when we proclaim God is my Shepherd, because it also implies I’m one of his sheep.

Who is this shepherd?

Who is the Lord?

What is He like?

What is His character?

Does He qualify to be my shepherd?

These are all great questions to ask.

So who is our Shepherd.

He is God in 3 persons.

God the Father - Author, originator of all that exists. In his mind, everything took shape.

Jesus, the Son - The Savior. The artist. The creator of all that exists. He brought into being all that the Father formed.

The Holy Spirit - The one who works in our mind and spirit to help us see how God (and all that God has created) is real, active, and relative to me as an individual.

So when we consider the 3 persons of God and consider “The Lord is my shepherd”

again… this should stir us!

This should give your life incredible dignity as an individual.

This should also blow our minds that God cares about us, little us, and gives us purpose and meaning.

David here also seems to be saying.

LOOK!

Look at this.

Look who my Shepherd is!

Look at his attention to detail.

Look at all He’s made.

Consider it. And then have your mind blown that in all that is in creation.

It’s us!

We are His Sheep!

We are His image bearers and the thing in all of creation that he desires to be most close too!

He’s MY SHEPHERD!

Consider this too:

When you look up at the night sky and see the stars.

What is a star?

Some are planets, but most are what?

SUNS!

Most stars we see are suns in other galaxies we will never go too.

But if we took a field trip tonight to the closes star to us, Alpha Centauri, did you know that if you got to that sun and set up a telescope and looked back at our star, the sun.

Did you know we couldn’t even see earth?

Our planet is so insignificant in the scope and size of the universe that if you went to the next closest sun to us and looked back, you wouldn’t even know we exist.

We are so small.

What do we really think we can accomplish that would impress God when you consider His works.

But don’t miss this this is so important.

That shrinking feeling you have right now is also the very feeling that should drive us back to David’s proclamation tonight.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!

Because guys, despite our miniscule existence, the fact remains, God wants to be your shepherd.

He invites you into the fold of his sheep.

Who could care better for me than the one who created all those crazy suns out there?

We belong to Him simply because He made us and declared over us “You’re made in my image.”

And then we tried to taint His image with sin.

And Jesus went even further and said, I’ll pay for your sin. I’ll give my life in exchange.

You see sheep, as we will learn much more about, require meticulous care.

They require constant attention.

They are afraid of everything, insecure, stubborn, stupid and develop bad habits.

Just like me!

Yet despite all of these things

even more.

BECAUSE of all these things, Christ chose us.

Romans 5:8 “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It doesn’t say that despite our sin Christ died, it says that while we were in our sin, Christ died.

Our sin qualifies us for Jesus’ mercy.

SO Jesus buys us.

He calls us by name.

He makes us His own.

He delights in caring for us.

He is always working on our behalf to ensure we benefit from His care.

Keller talks about how when he purchased his first fold of sheep, he bought them during the great depression.

It was an incredible cost to him to purchase these sheep and so the sheep mean’t something to him.

A good shepherd always then marks his sheep so that he can recognize which sheep belong to his fold if the sheep intermingle with another shepherd’s fold.

The way you do this would be to take each sheep, put their head on wood block, and carve a custom sign or image into the sheep’s ears.

This would be their mark to show they identify with you.

Guys the cross is our mark.

Jesus, through the cross, says, in Luke 9:23 “23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

All that means is simply this.

I belong to Jesus.

The cross is all I got to show for my life.

And Jesus, he’s the good Shepherd who paid it all to bring us into his fold.

God in His wisdom is the Good Shepherd.

DO we know Him?

Do we understand the grace, mercy, and tenderness which he gives to us every moment?

Over the last month, I’ve had 2 different significant discussions with young men in their 20s.

These are young men who have been out of high school for a while now.

They are living as adults, one is married, one is not.

I will tell you this.

One of these guys does not follow Jesus and one does.

Can I tell you, the way I relate to both of these guys is very different.

For the friend who loves Jesus, there is an undertone of joy in that relationship.

This guy is struggling man.

He’s got some anxiety.

He’s got fears

He’s got a lot that heals dealing with personally, professionally, and things that pertain to the near future.

But the questions he’s asking are really this…

Ben, How can I be sure I’m living my life for Jesus?

I want to live for Jesus, I want to know that I am doing something for Jesus, how can I know that?

I’m not going to to go into much more details, but I’ll tell you 2 things I told Him.

Unbelievers don’t ask those questions.

If you don’t love Jesus, guess what, you’re never asking if you are living for Him.

2. Jesus wants you to be assured, He wants you to know Him, so even if you’re asking those questions, there’s nothing wrong with you!

For me, this is a great time to come alongside this guy and show Him the good Shepherd and remind Him how the Shepherd meets our needs continually.

For my other friend though…

His struggles are largely the same.

However, this other guy openly tells me He wants nothing to do with God.

For years this has been the case.

He is still invited to follow the good Shepherd, but for now, He doesn’t want Him.

What about you? Do you belong to the good Shepherd?

Do you I find joy in being one of His sheep?

Do i find freedom and complete fulfillment in my Shepherd?

Do i find my purpose and satisfaction when I am with Him?

One day each of you will be in your 20s and you will be thinking about these things.

My prayer for you is that you know the Good Shepherd now.

And that you follow Him into your future knowing that you purpose is in Him.

Isaiah 53:6 “6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus paid it all.

There is no one else, nothing else, in all creation worthy of following more than Jesus.

Is He your Shepherd today?