Our Glorious Shepherd-King
Notes
Transcript
Lately during our studies together each month, we’ve been looking at one of the psalms and considering what it tells us about God.
A few months ago, we looked at perhaps the most well-known of the psalms, the 23rd Psalm, which describes the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the unique and eternal Son of God and second Person of the Trinity.
Something we DIDN’T talk about during that service was how unexpected it is for God to identify Himself with shepherds.
And it’s unexpected, because shepherds in ancient Israel were sort of outcasts in society. They were dirty. They smelled of sweat and soil and sheep. People didn’t really want to be around shepherds because of that.
Indeed, shepherds were generally unwelcome in the Temple of Israel. And so, for God to present Himself as a shepherd would have been unusual and unexpected.
But folks could surely appreciate the WORK of the shepherd, especially in the context of the picture King David drew of a GOOD Shepherd who cared for His flock, consisting of His people.
They could certainly appreciate the picture of God providing everything they needed. Jesus gives His followers rest; He gives us peace. He forgives us, and guides us. He gives us companionship and comfort. And He provides us with food and protection. He accepts us as His own, and he abundantly gives us grace, and security.
And this word picture that David drew for us of God continues to resonate with people today, because we all want and need all of these things.
As we think about how our Good Shepherd provides all these good things for us, treating us not just as valued sheep in His flock, but also as friends, let’s sing together:
WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS
Jesus is, indeed, a Friend of sinners who’ve turned to Him in faith. And it’s appropriate that the 23rd Psalm is so popular in its depiction of Him as our Good Shepherd.
But it’s too bad the the 23rd Psalm so often overshadows the one that follows it, Psalm 24. Today, I want to take a few minutes to look at what THIS Psalm tells us about our God and Savior. Let’s read it together now.
A Psalm of David.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.
2 For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers.
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—even Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.
“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world , and those who dwell in it.”
What makes the earth and all it contains God’s possessions? That’s right. He made it all. He made US all. So we belong to Him, just as surely as a knick-knack you crocheted or a piece of art you painted would belong to YOU.
David looks all the way back to God’s great week of creation to remind us that God is sovereign over all the earth and over every thing that is upon the earth, including you and me.
We all belong to Him, and He is sovereign over us all. And just as the 23rd Psalm should bring us comfort as we contemplate the Good Shepherd it describes, we should find comfort in God’s sovereignty.
We can find comfort in the knowledge that HE is always in control and that He cannot be moved. He is the solid rock on which we can stand. He is our
ROCK OF AGES
What’s really amazing to me about our sovereign God, our King of kings and Lord of lords is that He’s not like other kings. Imagine what would happen if you tried to enter the court of King Charles in England. You’d be arrested — maybe even shot.
But the King of kings and Lord of lords invites us into His courts for fellowship with Him. He WANTS us to come before Him. But there ARE rules. And that’s what David talks about in verses 3 and 4 of this psalm.
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.
Well, now we have a problem, because none of us is clean and none of us has a pure heart. Our sins have made us all filthy. We’re not FIT to stand in the courts of God, much less to stand in His very presence.
We’ve all worshiped other gods. We’ve all glorified things that aren’t worthy of glory. We’ve all put our trust in things that aren’t worthy of our trust. We’ve all sinned against God, and we’ve all sinned against our fellow man.
And our sins have made us unworthy of standing in the presence of the God who made us for fellowship with Him.
But God loves us, and so, He sent His unique and eternal Son, Jesus, to live among us as a man, except without sin. To give Himself as a sacrifice at the cross, bearing our sins and their just punishment so that all who turn to Him in faith can be saved. So that all who trust in Him for salvation can have eternal life. So we can call Him “Friend.” What a sweet blessing it is to trust in Jesus!
TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS
When we trust in Jesus for salvation — turning from the lie that says we can trust in ourselves and our own righteousness or in anything else — we are washed clean by His blood.
We’re given hearts of flesh that can respond to God’s grace to replace the hearts of stone that couldn’t recognize His work in and around us.
And what a blessing this is! We who, through faith in Jesus, have been washed by the blood of Jesus and given new hearts, hearts that have been purified by the presence of the Holy Spirit within us — We receive the blessing of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.
We’re not righteous. He is. But when we turn to Him in faith, we RECEIVE the righteousness of Christ. And now, when God looks at us, He no longer sees sinners.
Instead, He sees people who are being conformed to the image of His perfectly righteous Son, the God of our salvation. This is the blessing David describes in the next two verses.
5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—even Jacob. Selah.
MY FAITH
And here, once again, I’m amazed by the fact that this righteous King, the King of Glory — the God who is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY — invites us into fellowship with Him.
Listen to what David says of Him in the closing verses of this psalm:
7 Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
8 Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.
I think this will be the psalm we all sing when Jesus returns to the temple in Jerusalem for His thousand-year reign over the earth after the Great Tribulation.
Here, David describes even the gates and doors of the Temple responding in praise to Jesus when He returns.
They’ll respond in anticipation and hope for His just and righteous reign upon the earth. And, rather than bowing down, as we might expect, they’ll rise up to allow the fullness of His glory to be on full display.
He is strong and mighty. He is eternal and all-powerful. And all of His enemies will fall before Him.
Back in the second psalm, God says He’ll make the enemies of Jesus a footstool for His feet. You really can’t get much lower than that. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will reign in eternal GLORY, because all glory is HIS. Indeed, He defines glory.
He is the Lord of Hosts. He is the King of glory. And He will reign forever and ever.
Not like the kings of the earth, who keep their people outside the gates of their castles. But as the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep and tends and cares for them personally.
What a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus! What a wonderful hope we have in Jesus!
WHEN WE ALL GET TO HEAVEN
