Psalm 23

Introduction

I’ve been looking recently at some polls online, and it seems that in our country, worry and anxiety are very high

-I saw one poll say that 84% of Americans are worried about our country, and that was back in 2022 which wasn’t even an election year

-There are all kinds of things people are worried about right now

-Immigration, inflation, low wages, conflicts overseas

-But there are many other things even outside of national and political issues that get Christians worried and discouraged

-Some of you here may be struggling with through health concerns right now, maybe your own or those of a family member

-Some of you may be dealing with complicated or strained relationships with family members, or neighbors, or with those who you used to consider friends

-For others, maybe the strain of finances causes you discouragement and opportunity for worry

-Maybe you’re out of work or looking for a better job because the one you have isn’t going to work long-term

-Perhaps you’ve lost a friend or loved one recently, or are on the verge of losing someone

-I look around the room here and I know that for many of you, life is hard or painful or discouraging at times right now

-Sometimes we fall into worry

-Sometimes we begin to lose heart

-We know that the Bible says to trust God, but that’s hard to put into practice at times

-For all of us who battle through the hardships and discouragements of life, we have a precious word from the Lord

**Read text and pray**

Big Idea

Vs. 1

-This is the big idea of the entire Psalm

-Here is what the whole Psalm is about:

-David tells us that if God is our Shepherd, therefore, we don’t lack anything

-What is a Shepherd?

-You see, in our culture, people that own a bunch of cattle keep them locked up in large gated pastures

-They may even have surveillance cameras set up to make sure they don’t wander off or get hurt

-But in this culture, shepherding was far different than being a modern-day farm owner or rancher

-Since sheep are such senseless, weak, defenseless animals, shepherding was an all-inclusive task!

-The shepherd would go out to the fields and live among the sheep

-He would sleep right nearby, ready to spring awake to defend them

-He would care for their needs

-He would tend their wounds

-He would protect them against all harm

-He would guide them in where to go

-He would come rescue them from the messes the got themselves into

If you know the Lord as Savior, brothers and sisters, the Lord is our Shepherd

Therefore, “I shall not want”

-Because of the Lord’s comprehensive and intimate care of His people, we lack nothing

-Do you realize that this morning?

Currently, I’m teaching the 3-5 year olds in SS with the help of Liam, Tate, and Jake Walker

And any of you who have had kids or have watched kids know that oftentimes when a kid gets hurt (maybe falls and hurts their knee) or gets rattled, there’s only on thing they want:

-Mommy

And oftentimes, there’s no way to placate them

-They don’t want a bandaid

-They don’t want to play with that toy you’re trying to distract them with

-They certainly don’t want you

-They want Mom

-And when Mom comes around and picks them up and gently holds them, that child now has all that they need

Brothers and sisters, no matter how you may feel this morning, whatever may be going on in your life, no matter the heartbreak, frustration or loss, God’s Word tells us that if God is your Shepherd, you have all that you need

Now, you may be sitting here this morning saying, “how can that be? I’m going through some really hard stuff right now. How can David be telling me that I don’t lack anything? That I have all that I need?”

That’s a great question

David is going to spend the next 5 verses of this Psalm unpacking why he can say that if the Lord is your Shepherd, you don’t lack anything

And while at the end of the Psalm, your life will probably look the same, your problems will not have disappeared, your trials will still be waiting for you

But if you are saved, you will be able to leave here rejoicing, strengthened and encouraged in the fact that the God of the Universe knows you intimately

Watches over you

And meets your every need

Therefore, you must trust Him

So let’s see why David says that you and I must trust God with meeting our every need

The first reason that you should trust your Shepherd to meet your every need is that

1. Your Shepherd provides sustenance and refreshment in your everyday lives (vs. 2-3a)

-Notice verse 2 and the beginning of 3

**read verses**

These things are ordinary sheep needs

-Sheep need green grass to eat

-They need water to drink

-They need rest

And that, brothers and sisters, is part of the beauty of God’s provision

-He supplies for us in our everyday lives

-Most of us got up this morning to a house that was significantly warmer than the outside temperature

-Some of us had breakfast this morning

-Many of us drove here in cars

-Many of you are going to go out afterwards and have something to eat when I’m done preaching

-You might be sitting here right now, trying not to daydream about your favorite dish at Rey Azteca or Lake Wylie Pizza, desperately hoping that I get done in time for you to beat the Presbyterians to the restaurant

-There’s nothing seemingly spectacular about these things

-But they are supplied by God, are they not?

Notice that these are green pastures

-Imagine the contented feeling of stretching out on the luscious green grass and resting

Notice that the waters are still, or quiet waters

-Sheep don’t like rushing water

-It may scare them or pose danger to them

Now, if I someone was giving me the job of watching a bunch of smelly sheep, I don’t think I’d put much thought or effort into their comfort

“This grass looks fine to me! The water is adequate, they should be thankful they get water at all! Dumb sheep!”

-Not our Shepherd

-Do you know that God cares about you?

-Do you know that God gives us so many things that are even better than we need?

-We would be able to survive with far less than God has given, and yet look!

-We have it so much better than we deserve

“He restores my soul”

Maybe you’re saying: “well, I don’t feel refreshed or restored.”

Why not?

-God grants us refreshment in so many ways

-What an amazing privilege to come and worship here together and to sing corporately

-What an encouragement to get to hear the Scriptures read

-What a blessing to come to church this morning and have a wonderful SS lesson by brother Kevin who spent hours studying God’s Word and preparing it in such a way to be a blessing and help to you this morning

What a blessing to have access to God in prayer, by which we can pour out our hearts to Him

-What a blessing to have the Bible in your own language

-To get to wake up and open up the Scriptures and to hear a Word from God Almighty

-What a blessing to have church members a text or a phone call away!

Brothers and sisters, life is often hard and wears away at us

-But God has given us so many wonderful avenues of being able to be refreshed in Him!

Paul tells the Corinthians,

2 Corinthians 4:16 NKJV

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

-I can’t tell you how many times have come here to worn out by life, or heartbroken over difficult times

-And have found my soul refreshed by you all

-How many times I have found my heart renewed through singing of together

-How many times I have been able to run to God’s word and been strengthened

Your Shepherd loves you deeply, and cares for you in everyday life

He can restore your soul

So God meets our every need by providing us sustenance and refreshment in our everyday lives, therefore you

But second reason that you should trust your Shepherd to meet your every need is because

2. Your Shepherd provides intimate guidance (vs. 3b-4)

Look at the rest of verse 3

“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”

Your shepherd leads you in the right way

How does He do that?

We that there are many ways that God chooses to do this:

-He guides us through His Spirit and His Word

-We can open up the Scriptures and the Spirit illuminates God’s ways to us

Psalm 119:105 NKJV

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

We know that God can use the wise counsel of other Christians to help you

Proverbs 11:14 NKJV

Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

And He ultimately guides us by His providence

Psalm 37:23 NKJV

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

Are you burdened this morning because you don’t know what you should do or how you should proceed?

Don’t be!

God guides His people

Psalm 121:3 NKJV

He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.

But this is not a guidance from a distance, where God merely shouts instructions at us from a safe distance

Look at verse 4:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me;”

Brothers and sisters, we serve a God who walks alongside us as our protector, our guide, and our friend

In the land of Israel, there are rocky and rugged areas

-And in these areas, there some deep valleys, where rock walls are on either side

-And brothers and sisters, there are some of you here this morning that are walking through dark valleys

-But we need to see the connection with verse 3:

-The dark valleys are places where our Shepherd leads us, and they are included in the paths of righteousness

-Just because you are going through something really heartbreaking or hard

-Just because you are really struggling with the grind of life

-It does not mean you’ve done something wrong

-And it certainly doesn’t mean that your Shepherd is not leading you this way

My cousin David told me that sometimes in life, it seems like God is taking us down this path, only to have us turn around and go back the other way

-It seems like God has led us to a dead-end, just to have us turn around and go back

-But in God’s perspective, He’s been leading us down this straight path He’s had for us the whole time

And when we walk through these dark valleys, we don’t need to fear

Why??

Because You are with me

I remember when I was just a kid, somewhere between the ages of 12-14, Chandler was involved at a karate studio over near Rivergate

-And at their studio, they had set up this haunted maze because it was near Halloween

-And so he invited me and some of my brothers and a couple other teens from the church at the time

-And I’ll be honest, I’m not someone who loves scary mazes or scary movies

-I like a good adrenaline rush, but I don’t enjoy getting it that way

-And so it was one of those mazes that’s all dark and they have people jump out and scare you or scream behind you things like that

-And I remember James and Lisa’s oldest daughter heather was there, who’s maybe a year or two older than me

-And Heather’s not a very strong or big or intimidating person, but I remember that she was like, “Come on Braden, let’s do this.”

-And she reached out her hand and took me by the hand, and went into the maze

-And even though Heather might not have been the kind of person you would have picked for a body guard or anything, her presence was pretty calming

-It made all the difference in the world just to have somebody present in that dark place

Brothers and sisters, how much more calming and reassuring when we have the King of Kings walking with us through the dark

He is with you

As you walk through whatever you’re going through right now

-the frustration of your job

-the heartbreak of a broken relationship

-the discouragement and weariness of a temptation or sin struggle

-the weariness of a health struggle

-the struggle with worry over finances

-the sorrow of a loved one passing

He is with you

And brothers and sisters, when He is with us, we fear no evil

Notice the next phrase:

“Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

The staff was an instrument that the shepherd could use to guide the sheep or perhaps get the sheep out of a tough situation they had gotten themselves into

But the rod here in this verse could also be translated “club”

-The shepherd wielded these objects, ready to defend the sheep against attackers

-Our strong Shepherd stands ready to defend you

-No one touches one of His children without His permission

-This is why Satan had to ask permission of God before he was allowed to attack Job

-Because God loves His children, and no harm comes to them apart from His permission for their good

Brothers and sisters, Your shepherd provides intimate guidance

You can trust Him

The third reason we can trust the Shepherd to meet our every need

3. Your Shepherd pours out abundant blessing on you (vs. 5)

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.”

The picture here is of a lavish feast

-A table is set by the Lord, and the Psalmist is the guest of honor

-His enemies who wish to do him harm can only look on helplessly

-Oil is brought out, probably olive oil, and the refreshing and cleansing liquid is poured out on him

-The Lord, the host of the banquet, fills the Psalmist’s cup up to the brim

-The picture is one of abundant favor and blessing

Brothers and sisters, has the Lord not given you abundant blessing and favor?

Psalm 68:19 (NKJV)

Blessed be the Lord,

Who daily loads us with benefits,

How has the Lord blessed us?

Psalm 103 gives us a good place to start

Psalm 103:1–5 NKJV

Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

I want to encourage you to think about your life for a moment:

-Look at all that God has given you!

-Has God given you wonderful church family

-Has God given you the ability to come to church today?

-Has God given you friends and family members?

-Has God given you a roof over your head?

-Has God kept you safe from harm?

-Has God given you eyesight and hearing, and the ability to get around?

God has blessed us with so much!

-Brothers and sisters, things may not be perfect in your life

-You may be struggling with hard things right now

-But God has so richly provided for us in so many ways!

-Our cup truly runs over!

Because of God’s abundant blessing, we can trust Him

Finally, the last reason you can trust your Shepherd to meet your every need

4. Your Shepherd will be with you always (vs. 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.”

The word “follow” in this verse should rather be interpreted “pursues me”

And there is a difference between those two words

A week ago on Friday evening, me and Ash were here with the teenagers

-We had spent time in the Word together, and then usually we play some games for a little bit

-We decided to play hide and seek in the dark in this building, a favorite game of the teens

-So we walked from the teen room over to the building, and the teens followed me over

-So we get in the building and I volunteered to be it

**finish Brooks chasing me illustration**

Brothers and sisters, God’s pursues us with His mercy and goodness

-He is determined to lavish His love and faithfulness on His children

Isn’t that an amazing truth?

-In the same way that many of you may know heartbreaking stories of parents whose kid or kids have gone off the deep end and are doing horrible things and living wrongly

-And yet those parents are still being faithful, still showing love, still reaching out with tender compassion towards their child, despite the perceived indifference

-The parent pursues that child with love and compassion

-Maybe you’re even one of those parents

Brothers and sisters, God pursues His children with goodness and mercy

For how long?

-For a day, a few weeks, a year or two?

For all the days my life

If you belong to the Lord, there never has been since you’ve been saved, nor will there ever be a day where God doesn’t pursue you with goodness and mercy

Even in the midst of the hardship, even in the midst of the dark valleys

And what about after this life?

We’ll dwell with Him forever

Revelation 21:1–4 NKJV

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Goodness and mercy all the days of our life, and then we will dwell with Him forever

Brothers and sisters, has He not supplied our every need?

Conclusion

How can I know this isn’t too good to be true?

How can I be sure that God truly supplies everything I need

David puts down His pen

The Shepherd-Psalm stays in the mouths and hearts of the people of God

-Until about 1,000 years later

-When a Person proclaims to those around Him

“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the Sheep.”

And this Person laid down His life to open the way to fellowship with God

-He suffered and died to win you and I the favor of God’s intimate presence and guidance

And Paul writes about this:

Romans 8:32 NKJV

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

God demonstrated His love for us by giving us what is most valuable, His own Son Jesus Christ

-He rose again 3 days later

-And He tells His followers: “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age”

Brothers and sisters, You can trust God

-You don’t have to live in worry and discouragement

-You don’t have to live in fear

-You can trust in Your Shepherd