Sermon Tone Analysis

Subject: Fulfillment

ETS: David found fulfillment because of God’s provision.

ESS: We can find fulfillment because of God’s provision.

OSS: Christians would find ultimate fulfillment in God’s provision.

psalm 23:1-

Introduction:

My grandfather died last Monday and went home to glory.

There are many grandfathers that have died and went to heaven, and so, my grandfather’s death doesn’t seem to be anything but typical.

However, it is important for you to know a bit about my grandfather’s life.

My grandfather was the toughest and most stubborn human being that I ever met.

He was once kicked square in the forehead by a horse and simply stood up, shook his head, and went home.

He once nailed his middle and index fingers together with a nail gun and simply apologized that he got blood in my father’s floor.

I visited him numerous times for “the last time,” fully expecting him to die.

He once laid in a hospital bed with six blood clots in his lungs as the doctors waited for one to dislodge, go to his heart, and kill him.

He did not die.

I spent hours and hours across many years sharing the Gospel to him to no avail.

I earnestly begged him to put his faith in Jesus Christ hundreds of times, but he was not interested.

The last time that Grandpaw was in the hospital, I visited with him, laughed with him, and did not share the Gospel with him.

Shamefully, I thought, “I have shared the Gospel with this man hundreds of times and he did not listen.

I am not going to cast my pearls before swine, and I will wipe my feet.”

However, a friend that was with me shared the Gospel with my grandfather as I was walking out, and I listened as my hardheaded Grandpaw gave his life to Christ within a month of his expiration date.

A week or so later, I visited with him and someone told him, “The Lord is with you.” and my grandfather smiled and violently shook his head like I have never seen him do before.

On the day of my grandfather’s death, I was, unfortunately, unable to be with him as he passed away, but I was blown away by the story that those who were with him told me.

They said that he went peacefully.

They said that he struggled to breathe.

They said that between his gasps for breath, he pointed toward the ceiling and said, “I’m going home.”

I will never again read again without thinking of my grandfather.

I wont think of Grandpaw when I read because it is read at every single funeral and is mistakenly associated with death.

I will always think of Grandpaw when I read because his life was so parallel to the life of the psalmist.

You see, we often think that is about David or about the reader, but the Psalm is about God!

And in , we see what is a linear story of life

What you find is a provisional God that fulfills His followers beyond their wildest dreams.

What you find is a provisional God that fulfills His followers beyond their wildest dreams.

What you find is a provisional God that fulfills His followers beyond their wildest dreams.

You find a provisional God that fulfills His followers in the most desperate of situations.

You find a provisional God that welcomes His followers home.

You find a provisional God that is a Shepherd and a Host.

And in , we see what is a linear story of life

Body:

In , we see God in two different ways

So, I want us to look at these two different ways that God is portrayed and see how fulfilling and satisfying this holy God of is to us today.

God as Shepherd

The concept of God as Shepherd was common all throughout Israel’s history.

The sheep was the most economically profitable livestock in all of Palestine

I will never forget coming over a hill in Lebanon and seeing flocks of sheep across the country side with men wrapped in robes and holding a big wooden staff- just like you would picture in the Bible.

And that is exactly what the Psalmist wants us to picture here: God as Shepherd and us as sheep.

psalm 23:1-2

The concept of a Shepherd was common all throughout Israel’s history.

The Shepherd Provides

A Shepherd had to constantly move his sheep around and be in search for green grass and a good water source

In this middle eastern environment, green grass and good water is not near as plentiful as it is here

And if a Shepherd kept his sheep in one location for too long, it would attract predators and they would attack his sheep

But the picture the Psalmist is painting here of God is a wonderful environment of plenty and longevity.

At the beginning of our story, the sheep is in a blissful state of happiness

The Hebrew word for “lie down” here is “Rabats” and literally means to “stretch out.”

The Hebrew word for “lie down” here is “Rabats” and literally means to “stretch out.”

The Psalmist is saying that Yahweh - as Shepherd - is so fulfilling and so satisfying that he - as the sheep - has no need to worry about what he will eat, no worry about what he will drink, and he can lie down and take comfort because he has no need to fear a predator.

God - the Shepherd - provides everything that the sheep could ever desire or want

But don’t miss it, its not the green pasture, the water, or the safety that the sheep ultimately wants and desires; it is God; it is the Shepherd

Therefore, the Psalmist shall not want because he has everything he desires in God.

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If he were to be stripped of everything he owned and all he had left was God, he would be more content than if he owned the entire world.

Why?

Because God is his number one treasure and his number one desire.

We live in a society that constantly wants more and more and more, and we never get enough.

We never get enough because the stuff we acquire is not ultimately what we want.

We ultimately want God Himself.

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” - Augustine

Whether man wants to admit it or not, he will never ever be satisfied until he has God.

Whether man wants to admit it or not, he will never ever be satisfied until he has God.

A man who looks at God from afar is like looking at honey in a jar.

He can look at the golden liquid and be admired, but he doesn’t know what he is missing until he reaches into the jar and has a taste.

But once he has a taste, he can’t get enough.

And when we get Him, we find true joy and lasting happiness and unquenchable thirst for Him.

Psalm 23:

The Shepherd also provides guidance through instruction to His sheep.

What does it mean to lead me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

In verse 3, the Psalmist is making a big and bold claim about God and he is uncovering a profound spiritual truth.

The Psalmist is boldly proclaiming that God will lead him in righteousness because His name and His reputation depends upon it.

God cannot lie.

The Psalmist is boldly asserting that God has to lead him in paths of righteousness - God must show him the difference between right and wrong, truth and falsehoods - or He is a liar.

And if God lies, He ceases to be God.

But God does not lie.

He did provide a way to see the difference between right and wrong

I hold a blood soaked binding of 66 books, written by over 40 authors, over a period of thousands of years.

Thousands - millions of people have sacrificed and cut their lives short so that you can hold God’s path of righteousness in your hand today.

This is our path of righteousness

This is our guidance and instruction from God.

psalm 119:9-

Not only that, but God will give us a supernatural ability to see what we could not see on our own in this book, if we will just ask him.

Please pay close attention to what I am about to say:

Just ink on some paper does not save a human being.

Something supernatural and otherworldly has to happen.

That is not a small view of the Bible - I have a very very high view of Scripture

And for a person to be saved he must have that word breathed upon his heart by the Holy Spirit.

Many a man have read the pages of this book and have walked away bitter.

It is because a supernatural transformation has to accompany the reading or hearing of His Word.

How many times have you read over God’s Word and got nothing out of it?

You know there must be wonderful truths in what you just read, but you did not see it!

We see His Word with eyes of our head, but the eyes of our heart are closed shut

Listen!