Psalm 23
Summer in the Psalms • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
This summer we are going to be going through some of the most famous Psalms
Throughout the 5 Psalms that we go through you’ll see that we need God in every aspect of our life
We will see how the author of each Psalm shows us a different reason for why we need God
Today we are going to be talking about the Psalm 23
Psalm 23
Psalm 23
This Psalm is probably one of the most well known Psalms
I knew about this Psalm long before I got saved and started following Jesus
This Psalm however teaches us something truly special about God
So I want to read it in its entirety and then see what God is teaching us
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
The entire Psalm is summed up in the very first verse:
The Lord is our Shepherd
He is the one who tends and takes care of us
He is the one that guides us and protects us
He is the one that is with us
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.
Jesus is our Shepherd
He is the one that protects us
He is the one that laid down His life for us
He is the one that is always with us
If we are a believer in Christ The Lord is our Shepherd
Jesus is our Shepherd and He is our GOOD Shepherd
The beauty of Psalm 23 is that David tells us exactly what the Good Shepherd does
In verse 1 He tells us
1 The Lord is my shepherd,
I lack nothing.
He tells us that with Jesus as our Shepherd WE LACK NOTHING!
Jesus as Shepherd guides us
He guides us in life
That means he takes care of us
He leads us
He provides for us
He takes care of us
He is the one that leads us
Listen to where David says He leads us
In good
In good
2 He takes me to lush pastures,
he leads me to refreshing water.
Here’s the first place the Lord leads us to
Jesus guides us to good things
When we are following the Lord, He is taking us to good places
He is the one that provides for us and when we follow His leading David tells us that He takes us to lush pastures
He says that the Lord leads us to refreshing waters
This is on par with everything we know about God
17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.
That all good things we have, all good things we receive
They all come from the Lord
God when we are following Him is constantly trying to bring us to good places, provide for us good things
However we know the reality of the world
The world around us is not all sunshine and rainbows
Sin entered the world in Genesis 3 and since that moment everything in all of life has been broken, utterly destroyed
In the bad
In the bad
This reality of life is what caused David to write verse 4
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.
Jesus guides us during the bad
The world around us is broken and hurting
It will cause pain, suffering, heartache, problems
There is no easy solution to what we are facing
The beauty however is that David tells us that the Lord is with us and guides us even in the bad
When we are in the valley and shadow of death — when we feel like everything is crumbling around us and we cannot survive it
That is where David tells us — the Lord is with us
His rod and staff comfort us
Listen to how Jesus the good shepherd is described
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me—15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.”
He tells us that He lays His life down for us
That he single handedly lays down His life for us
That means that no matter how bad or how good the circumstances we find ourselves may seem to look, Jesus the good shepherd is with us
He is guiding us and protecting us
The Lord is our shepherd who leads us in the good and in the bad
Here is how David finishes out this Psalm of why we can trust Him
He restores
He restores
3 He restores my strength.
He leads me down the right paths
for the sake of his reputation.
5 You prepare a feast before me
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness will pursue me all my days,
and I will live in the Lord’s house for the rest of my life.
Jesus guides us in the good
He guides us in the bad
Here is the last thing
Jesus’ guidance restores us
David tells us that He restores our strength, He prepares feasts before us even when we are surrounded by enemies
Goodness and faithfulness pursue us all the days of our life
When we trust in Jesus as the Shepherd of our lives we see that His guidance restores us
He sustains us
When we are in the good, when we are in the bad, when we feel overwhelmed, when we feel like we can’t do anything
He restores us
29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”
When we allow Jesus to be the one guiding our lives he provides rest
He restores strength
He allows us to continue going
Conclusion
Conclusion
Our challenge is quite simple — what areas of our life are we holding captive from God?
What things are we holding with a tight fist saying God you can lead and dictate every area of my life — but not this one thing
Jesus isn’t describe as the mediocre shepherd
He isn’t the meh shepherd
He isn’t the only good when things are great shepherd
He is the GOOD shepherd in all circumstances
He will lead us to good
He will protect us in bad
And he restores us in all areas
So what areas in your life do you need to rely on Him?
Where do you need to give in and let God take control?
When we allow the Lord to be our Shepherd in every circumstance of life — in the good, in the bad, in the in between
We find that He sustains us, and restores us
He takes care of us because he is the Good Shepherd