Untitled Sermon

The Lord is My Good Shepherd

The LORD is My Shepherd

It is fitting that Warnesia and Jen lead us in singing “the Good Shepherd” by Joel L. Barnes

As we sang worship to the Lord, we were singing words that can be directly for in His Word,

Psalm 23 which is our focus this weekend. And this weekend we are going to study, meditate and connect with one of the most recognizable passages in all of scripture.  Like John 3:16 even unchurched people are familiar with it.

 For some reason it seems that most of the time we hear this passage is at a funeral or memorial service. families almost always ask for that Psalm to be included or the words of that Psalm are often printed on the memorial folder that is given to those attending.

 Yet as we study this, we are going to find that this is not a Psalm about death – it is a song about life – the kind of abundant, fulfilling, joyful, and worry-free life that can only be found by making Jesus our Shepherd. We recite it when we are afraid. At times of tragedy and disaster, its words give us hope. And like the songs we sang this evening, It is the topic and text for hundreds of songs

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I 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 have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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It’s interesting that out of all the pictures that David could have chosen to describe his relationship with God that he chose that of a sheep and his shepherd. Certainly, that was a familiar relationship for David, who had spent much of his youth as a shepherd, caring for his family’s flocks.

But this Psalm is not written from the perspective of the shepherd. Instead, David imagines himself as one of the sheep and describes what it is like to be under the care of a devoted, loving shepherd.

This is a metaphor or image that was so familiar to the ancient world.  Many of the forefathers were shepherds and they knew what it took to care for their flock.  They knew just how dependent sheep were on their shepherds.  Their lives depended on them.

For example, we read in Genesis 48:15 (NASB95)

 Jacob knew Yahweh’s care as a loving shepherd,

          15      He blessed Joseph, and said,

         “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,

         The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

David knows who his shepherd is … MY he has an intimate relationship with the shepherd… The LORD

Yahweh

John 10:27 – My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Because of David’s work as a shepherd, he knew Sheep learn their master’s voice. And they learn to follow their own shepherd and not others. Sometimes two shepherds of two different flocks will cross paths for a while. The sheep intermingle behind them as they chat and walk along the road together. When the shepherds go their own way, their own flocks hear their voice and follow. An observer would see the sheep separating as they follow their own shepherd.

In the rest of the passage, we will see all the things that God does for His sheep. But all those things are conditional upon a basic premise. The Lord must be your shepherd as He was David’s.

He is mine and I am His

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want  I shall not want -In this verse “want” is a synonym for “lack.”

God’s people do not lack any good thing. Whatever is good, whatever is beneficial, He will provide it for us.

Psalm 34:10 – The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Our God in heaven is the Creator of the entire universe. Everything belongs to Him. The world came into existence by the force of His spoken word. Nothing is too difficult for Him to give to you. I  lack nothing!

He provides with all my needs.

 If He has not given it to you, it is because you do not need it.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

A shepherd’s job was to make sure the herd was well provided for. Nourishment, rest, and refreshment. All of these are pictured here. eating fresh, green grass and enjoying drinking from a calm stream rather than a dangerous, raging river.

 fed, but here David talks about me lie down in green pastures.” Why does he use the word “make?” Does the shepherd force the sheep to lay down in green pastures?

Sometimes sheep are uncooperative.

Sometimes they may want to roam around.

The Prophet Isaiah said  All of us like sheep have gone astray.

They may not be interested in going to the pasture or in staying there. So the shepherd makes them.

Pastor Rick recently spoke at SCBC, and he brought up the account of Mary and Martha.

Mary was at Jesus’ feet listening to His teaching and enjoying being with Him. Martha was busy working and preparing the meal. She demanded Jesus to make Mary help. Jesus told her that Mary was the one doing the more important thing. Sometimes we are like Martha.

Turn to your neighbor and ask “How have you been lately?”

Did you answer, “Busy.” Almost everyone is busy. There are so many things vying for our attention. There seems to be so many things to do and so little time to do it. Our work is busy. Our family life is busy. We need to shop. We need to pay the bills. We need to see the doctor. We need to prepare for the exams. We need to deal, with house payment, with car maintenance. We have ministry responsibilities. The list goes on and on. Even when we take time to pray or read the Bible our phones are often right beside us. Do you ever feel like Martha? I often feel like that.

But you see, God does not want us to feel like that all the time. He wants us to be more like Mary. He wants us to enjoy the green pastures and quiet waters. He wants us to lay down there with no distractions. We are sometimes unruly sheep. And we don’t always take time off voluntarily. So, every now and then he prods us or even makes us.  

My Challenge for you is that tonight when you go home, find a time that you can rest in the green pastures beside the still waters and be with your shepherd.