Sermon Tone Analysis
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The book of Psalms is perhaps one of the most beloved books of the Bible by many followers of Jesus Christ.
It is full of beauty and wonder, of worship and adoration, of confidence and trust.
Of all the psalms in the Bible perhaps none is better known that the 23rd psalm.
It is a passage loved by people who love the Lord, by people who know the Lord personally.
It is a psalm that takes moments to learn and a lifetime to comprehend.
It gets sweeter and sweeter the closer one gets to God.
Perhaps this is true because Psalm 23 is all about confidence- it is a psalm of confidence in the Lord- and the more a person comes to know the Lord truly and personally, the more meaning these precious words bear forth.
There are some things that you try to say, but mere words just don’t do it justice.
It’s one thing to say, “Well, I have confidence in something.”
But that just doesn’t do it justice- you mean more that those words can say.
So in order to express the just how much confidence we have in something, and the depth of emotion that goes along with that statement- we sometimes will use poetry or imagery to help get across our message.
So negatively we might sometimes want to say- “I don’t trust something.”
But, that just doesn’t convey all the meaning we want to convey, so we will instead say something like this, “I trust him about as far as I can throw him.”
That has a depth of meaning that is hard to convey without the imagery.
This is especially true when we talk about God.
How do you use mundane human finite language to explain and extraordinary, infinite, supernatural being?
Well, one of the ways you can begin to talk about God and express at least something about him with the depth of emotion that you fell is to use imagery.
It is one thing to say “God is a loving god.”
Well, that’s true but that just doesn’t do it justice does it?
It is far better to say something like this:
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky
That does a better job doesn’t it?
That gets closer to what we really mean when we say that God is a loving god.
This is exactly what David does in Psalm 23.
This a a personal, intimate psalm between David and God alone.
It is a psalm of confidence in God- and in order to express just how much David’s trusts in God, he uses three different images to help him express the trust for God that He has deep down in the depth of his soul.
Allen, in his commentary on the Psalms says this, “Accordingly, it has become a song of trust par excellence.”
David used vivid imagery to communicate to God just how much confidence he had in his Lord.
We as believers must learn to put absolute confidence in God.
How do we do that?
David used three different images about God that help us to understand just how much we can trust God.
Through these three images we can understand just how much confidence we can have in our Lord.
If we are going to be able to trust God, and have confidence in Him like we should then:
I.
We must understand the image of the shepherd (vv.
1-4)
Verse one opens with the imagery- The Lord is my shepherd.
Now David could have said- I trust God or I have confidence in God.
But those simply words do not and cannot express the level of confidence David had for his God- nor can they express the depth of emotion going on in his heart.
And so, he does not say, “I have confidence in my God.”
Instead, he says, “The Lord is my shepherd.”
Now this is a very meaningful image to David because David himself was a shepherd.
He knew everything that a shepherd had to do to take care of the sheep.
I have been told many times that sheep are rather dumb animals and they are totally dependent upon the shepherd for everything.
David knew that, and he is trying to express this same sentiment about himself.
He was absolutely dependent upon God for everything.
And did God do a good job at being his shepherd?
“I shall not want.”
or you could translate it this way, “I lack nothing.”
Why not?
How did God provide for David?
v. 2- He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still or quiet waters.
Now we have to be careful here.
If we take our western understanding of sheep and pastures and waters we will entirely miss what David is really saying about his shepherd.
We have to understand what David meant when he said this.
What would this imagery have looked like for David, or for the believers living in David’s day?
Because, that is what will help us understand what David is really saying here in these verses.
Video of Green Pastures.
Picture of “Green Pastures”
Do you start to understand David’s confidence in God?
Just enough- 10 minutes from now- you have to trust the Shepherd.
And that is exactly what David did.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.
This is why Jesus taught us to pray- “Give us this day our daily bread.”
It is why Paul can say,
Picture of “Still Waters”
Still- restful or quiet waters
The sheep are not taken to a rushing stream, but to still, calm lagoons.
Flocks in the ancient Near East were watered at least once a day, usually around noon; but this leading was not limited to finding water to drink.
It included finding a place for cleansing and refreshment.
Here the placid waters could wash the wounds and cleanse the soiled spots.
This is why David can say, “I lack nothing”
But God not only provided from David’s physical needs, there is the spiritual needs of the soul as well.
God as the Shepherd provided everything for His sheep.
David says of his shepherd- He restores my soul.
What the soul needs only God can truly give.
The chief need of the soul is a relationship with God, and a relationship with God is only possible through the one who is the Good Shepherd.
In John 10 Jesus uses this same shepherd imagery to describe Himself.
David said of God His shepherd- He restores my soul.
Only God can do that.
Only God can provided the necessary care for the soul.
And God did that ultimately through Jesus Christ, his only Son.
God knew that the only way for your soul to be restored was through Himself.
But a relationship with God Himself is only possible if we enter into the pasture through Jesus Christ- Jesus said, “I am the door of the sheep.”
He is the door, the one and only door- and if you want God to be your Shepherd then you need to gain access to a relationship to God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “if any many enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
How did Jesus give us access to the Father?
He gave his life for the sheep.
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd … and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
How do you enter through Jesus as the door?
How do you become one of God’s sheep?
You believe.
You must believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who alone can save you from your sin and give you a relationship with God.
Jesus said to the Jews you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.
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