My Shepherd

There is danger in studying a Psalm like because we are on familiar ground. This is the one of the most familiar chapters in all the Bible. We have heard this Psalm in church, Sunday School, at funeral, weddings. We know this Psalm. Many of us can recite this Psalm from memory. We are familiar ground studying this Psalm. We feel like we know. What more is there to learn?

But have you ever stopped long enough to let each line of really sink in? That’s what we want to do the rest of the summer. We want to go by line by line, phrase by phrase.

So, our summer series is from , and the series is entitled, “Shepherd Me.”

¶ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

“The Lord is my Shepherd.”

We all know what a shepherd is. A shepherd watches over his sheep. A shepherd protects his sheep. A shepherd provides for his sheep. A shepherd leads is sheep. In the coming weeks, we are going to talk about how God is our shepherd. God watches over us. God cares about us. God protects us. God provides for us.

But did you notice the pronoun that I used to describe the shepherd: the shepherd cares for his sheep, the shepherd protects his sheep, the shepherd provides for his sheep.

The sheep belong to the shepherd. We as Christians belong to God. Just as the shepherd controls and rules over the sheep, God is to be the ruler of our lives.

Illustration: Bad Taste About Vandy Baseball

God being the ruler of our lives goes against culture. We don’t want anyone ruling over our lives. We want to be the ruler of our lives. We want to be in control of our own destiny. We want to dictate the terms by which we live our lives.

Cultures doesn’t frame our reality. The Bible frames mine and yours reality.

Why should God ruler over our lives? Why should God determine our destiny? Why should God dictate how we live our lives?

We want to answer the why this morning.

1. God created us.

Going back to the first verse in the Bible, we see that God created the world.

(NKJV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

So, God created the world; He also created humanity and took a special interest in human beings.

(NKJV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

As on commentator put it, “By these words God is showing that humanity is the crowning glory of His creation. We are unique from the rest of creation. We are made in the image, likeness of God.

(NIV) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made …

(NLT) For we are God’s masterpiece …

Wow, we as human beings are God’s masterpieces.

Grady McMurtry: If you had all the money in the world, you could not buy the molecules in one human being.

We are the priceless masterpieces of God’s creation. We were created in his image and his likeness which brings great purpose and enormous meaning to our lives.

Philip Keller said, “I belong to God simply because He deliberately chose to create me as the object of His own affection.”

Illustration: Speech class — what we value most.

What God values most is us.

Because we are the special object of God’s affection, God wants what is best of us. God should dictate how we live our lives because God’s way lead to the best possible life on earth.

Read rest of our lives to see exactly what God wants us to do in our lives. We are going to see in the coming weeks that unlocks the best possible life on earth.

God deserves to be ruler of our lives because He created us.

2. God purchased us.

(NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price …

(NKJV) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

The price that Jesus paid to purchase us: his blood, his very life.

With his death on the cross to save us from our sins, Jesus lays claim on our lives.

Illustration: Beach chairs

(NKJV) Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price …

This point builds on the last. God creates us. We are the special objects of God’s affection. If you want the proof that we are the special objects of God’s affection, look no further than the cross.

Jesus’ death on the cross was an act of love.

(AMP) No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.

(KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Jesus’ death on the cross is an act of love. Because God loves us, He wants what is best of us.

All have sinned. God gave us way back through Jesus’s death on the cross.

With his death on the cross, Jesus purchased us. He laid claim on our lives.

Conclusion

We started with this concept that runs counter to our culture. God should ruler over our lives. God should determine our destiny. God should dictate how we live our lives.

God has every right to be the ruler of our lives. He created us. He purchased us.

We have to personalize this concept. It doesn’t read in that the Lord is our shepherd. It doesn’t read, “The Lord is your shepherd.”

The Lord is my shepherd. God created me. God saved me. God purchased me. God should rule over my life. God should determine my destiny. God should dictate how I live my life. We have to personalize verse 1. God is my shepherd.

We must surrender ourselves to God. We must devote ourselves to God.

But here’s the thing. If God’s the shepherd, that means we are the sheep. Sheep are stubborn animals.

Illustration: Tim and Leigh McCall House (Raised Railroad tracks send speeding cars crashing into home)

We can be stubborn as Christians. We want to stubbornly hold on to control of our lives. We stubbornly determine our own destiny. We stubbornly dictate how we go about living our lives.

We must quit being stubborn. We must surrender to God. We must devote ourselves to the Shepherd. We must personalize verse 1.

Lamb of God

I was so lost, I should have died

But You have brought me to your side

To be led by your staff and rod

And to be called a lamb of God

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