The Lord is my Shepherd

This week has been nuts.

I’m still trying to figure out what to think of it all.

I still am not sure how to respond to all of this.

I am learning how fragile culture and society are.

The things that we have boasted in suddenly seem very weak.

Our economy has been shattered.

Peoples jobs are on the line.

When people don’t work, things aren’t produced.

When things aren’t produced, there aren’t enough supplies.

When people don’t work, they don’t make money.

When people don’t have money, they can’t buy the things they need.

When people don’t work, things aren’t produced.

When things aren’t produced, there aren’t enough supplies.

Our culture has been rocked.

The massive entertainment industry has been cancelled.

Sports seasons done before they started.

I have read of pop stars and musicians who have had to cancel their performance tours and all of that income.

Some have even said that they might lose their homes.

Our society has panicked.

Grocery stores are empty.

Toilet paper gone.

And yet, we are told to be different.

Peter says that we are to have a hope within us.

In , Paul gave a series of commands to describe Christians in hard times.

And the message was this:

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

That should describe us now.

We should be distinct from the culture around us.

We should be able to rejoice.

Our rejoicing and our reasonableness, our level headedness should be known to the world around us.

We should not be panicking.

He says not to be anxious.

So the grocery store has no toilet paper … God is still ruling.

We should be seen as level headed people who:

Make their requests of God.

And who are seen as peaceful.

And how do we do this?

Today, I’m going to take a break from James, and take a detour to a familiar Psalm.

You’ve probably got it memorized.

.

A Psalm that tells us the Lord is our shepherd.

Why is this appropriate?

Because we need to be reminded, we need to be comforted in the reality that the Lord is our shepherd, who guides us through life.

Let’s look at .

Read 3.

gives us 3 reasons to trust God as our shepherd through perilous times.

God is a Shepherd who is proactive.

There is a heretical teaching called open theism.

This heresy says that God has no plan.

That He just makes things up as they go.

I’ll tell you want, that is not a comfort.

If God is not in control of everything, then He’s not God.

If anything were to take God by surprise, then we should panic.

But God is not reactionary.

He is sovereign.

He has eternal decrees.

There are things that He has planned, and He planned them before the foundation of the world.

Compared to open theism, David gives us a different view of God.

Verses 1-3 give us a God, a Shepherd who is proactive.

He begins with “The LORD is my shepherd.”

LORD in all capital letters, means we are talking about Yahweh.

This is the holy and precious name of God.

Verses 1-3 give us 5 ways that Yahweh, leads us as a shepherd.

First, the Lord provides what you need.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

When I was a kid, I read that line wrong.

I read it as, “The LORD is my shepherd, who I don’t want.”

As if it is saying, “I shall not want God.”

But you notice, that there is a semi colon after, “The Lord is my shepherd”.

So the phrase, “I shall not want” is the reality of God being my shepherd.

I need nothing.

Because I have a good shepherd.

There is never a want that is unfulfilled, because God is a shepherd.

Like a shepherd who sees His sheep and leads them to places of food.

God sees you and makes sure you have all that you need.

The culture around us is not living like this.

My neighbor has more toilet paper then me.

I better buy more.

God provides exactly what you need.

This means learning to live with what God has given you.

In Pauls says something interesting, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

He had to learn to live in contentedness.

He said those words while in prison.

That contentment was present when he had a little and when he a lot.

I’m not a prophet.

I don’t know how things will end for our culture.

I am pretty sure things will get better.

But if it doesn’t get better … we have to learn to be content.

We have to learn to find our satisfaction in knowing the Lord.

It’s not in having the newest phone.

Or seeing sports games, March Madness, or seeing new movies.

Satisfaction is that you know the Lord.

2. God is a shepherd who provides rest.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures.”

You can picture the scene.

The shepherd leads his flock, to a green valley.

The sheep are tired.

There may be predators.

But He leads them to a place of rest.

And they forget their concerns, and they lie down and sleep.

This is interesting, because we don’t always want rest.

There are two extremes that people have.

They either work too hard.

I read a report that says Elon Musk, the leader of Tesla and Space X, that he has at times regularly worked as much as 120 hours a week.

There’s only 168 hours in a week.

Since then he has pulled back to 90 hours a week.

That’s one extreme.

Or people play too hard.

The problem for the person who plays too hard isn’t that he works too much, but that he has too many extra-curricular activities.

This is the person who has something every night.

The kids go to taekwondo … at seperate dojos.

He’s got a physical trainer on a different night.f

They are out 7 nights a week.

This is the family that is so busy, that they are exhausted.

The two extremes are playing too hard or working too much.

In God’s providence, He has given us the 4 commandment.

We are commanded to remember the Sabbath.

The Sabbath is a day of rest.

Just like how God created in 6 days and rested on the 7th day.

We work for 6 days, then rest on the 7th day.

This is God’s command for us.

Even Christians are guilty of this.

They’re either so busy that they don’t have time to worship the Lord.

Or their schedule is so full, that church is just one of many things that they do on the Lord’s day.

Let me bring you some comfort.

In fact, I want to look to the sovereignty of God here.

We have been told to do social distancing.

To stay home.

To not travel.

This self-quarantine, this social distancing, might be a good thing.

It might mean you have to have rest.

This means some of you will have to stay home.

This means some of you will have to spend time with your families.

And there are no sports games to watch.

Nothing live to watch.

You have been so busy, you don’t have time to spend time as a family in prayer, or devotion to the Lord.

And what do you know?

Now it’s the only thing left to do.

I love looking for the sovereignty of God, and his grace in life.

This might be an example of God making you lie down in green pastures.

3. He provides safety.

He leads us to still waters.

He could be leading us to the rough waters.

To the ones that mean you might get sucked into the current.

The waters may be dangerous, in His kindness, he doesn’t take us to the most deadly spots.

And think about the kindness of God.

Even in the most dangerous of times, God is always kinder to us than we deserve.

When Adam and Eve sinned, mankind should have ended there.

The first time you sinned, your life should have ended there.

Yet God gives grace.

He spares us.

He gives mercy.

he doesn’t give us what we deserve.

4. God provides reconciliation.

As we start seeing the things that are lacking, we see that He gives us more than we deserve in salvation.

David says “He restores my soul.”

The word for restores means to recover, turn back, or change.

He revives my soul.

This is wonderful and we need to hear it.

While I’m upset that there’s no half & half at the store, I had an even bigger problem.

In our sin, we deserved Hell.

We were lost.

Romans says that the wages of sin is death.

And yet, through the work of Christ on the Cross, He has paid for our sin.

Through the work of the Spirit, He has regenerated our hearts.

If you are in Christ, the Lord has restored your soul.

He has brought it back from death.

Like Lazarus in the tomb, He has given you life.

I may not have half and half, but He has restored my soul.

Let’s be different from our culture.

The lost are frantic because they have no paper towels, but without Christ, they going to Hell.

Why are they panicking over paper towels and toilet paper?

Because what else do they have?

To those in Christ, to those who have God as their shepherd, I may be without paper towels, I may be using a hanky to blow my nose, but I have a soul that has been restored.

And how was this soul restored, by Christ Jesus.

He gave His life for you.

This gives me a comfort that goes beyond what’s going on outside those doors.

5. God is a shepherd who provides a path.

In other words He has a plan.

God is not open-theistic, He has decrees.

There are paths, that He has planned before the foundation of time.

And He is leading us down them.

In fact even in this time, I have a confidence that this too is in His plan.

The Coronavirus didn’t take God by surprise.

And this is a path of righteousness.

It’s a good path.

We are the sheep, and we don’t see what’s ahead.

Right now, the terrain looks rocky.

It’s uncertain.

But we trust in the sovereignty of God.

He knows where He is leading us.

He’s not a blind guide.

And this path is for His name’s sake.

That means God will get glory through it.

We will look back on this time, and praise God for where He has brought us.

By extension, I can also say that if this path that we are on is righteous, and part of His plan, and if He is our shepherd … it’s for our good.

What blessings are you seeing already?

Fathers, are you with your family more?

Families, are you together more?

Are you finding that God has given you a home, and you don’t spend enough time in it?

Maybe the uncertainty is making you realize you have put your confidence in culture, society or yourself.

You’ve built your life on the sand.

And you should have built it on the rock.

Don’t let this period go to waste.

The second reason to trust God in perilous times is that we have a Shepherd who protects.

Verses 4 through the first half of verse 5 explain this.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; ...”

Verse 4 says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death ...”

That’s what our big fear is.

Death is near.

It’s not that this flu is a normal flu or a cold.

It’s that there is death.

That people are dying.

Much of the anxiety that we are seeing, is that it seems to hurt those who are older.

Those that we care about.

Parents.

Grandparents.

Most of the deaths in the US came from a single retirement home in Washington.

The threat of death seems near, and yet David says, “I will fear no evil ...”

And as Christians, we must say, “I will fear no evil.”

The world, they fear.

There is no hope.

They literally fear man, because they fear this virus infecting them.

I will not fear.

Why don’t we have fear?

Because God is with us.

That’s what it says.

“I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

it’s not that He is watching from a distance.

It’s not that He is Facetiming us or watching us from a ring doorbell.

No, He is with us.

Jesus is called the Emmanuel, God with us.

He is near.

The Holy Spirit dwells within the believer.

If you are a Christian, you have the Holy Spirit within you.

He is literally with you.

I don’t know how else to say that, other than the Spirit of the Living God is within your heart.

If you want God with you … He doesn’t get any closer.

God is with us.

If He is with us, then He does things.

David says, “your rod and your staff, they comfort me”

The rod brings comfort.

The rod was the staff used as a weapon.

It’s s piece of authority.

God is a protecting God, and He protects those who are His.

And he has a staff.

This is the staff of a shepherd.

It’s used for leading the sheep, and for directing them.

The rod and the staff bring comfort, because it means that God is leading us.

God is the one with the rod.

He will not allow anything or anyone to take you from Him.

Jesus describes Himself as a shepherd.

He loves His sheep so much that He was willing to lay down His life for them.

Nothing will ever slip past God.

If the Coronavirus gets close to home.

If it hits people we know.

Here’s what we know -

It never escaped the eyes of God.

It’s a part of His plan.

And our attitude is to be one of surrender.

My life is in His hands.

Paul had times when his life seemed uncertain.

When there dangers.

He never panicked.

We’ve seen he said he learned to be content.

describes a life that understands that God guards those who are his, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Death doesn’t mean we lose.

It means to be with Christ.

Don’t forget that.

Look at verse 5, the other way that we do not have to fear while in the valley of the shadow of death, is that God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

I used to have a buddy who was a cop.

This probably wasn’t very nice of me, but cops have a certain edge to them.

He was not very trusting of people.

Probably because he saw the worst.

And if we went out to eat, he’d always want his back to the wall, so he could see the room.

So he could detect any threats.

I knew this about him, and if we went out, I’d usually try to get there before him.

And I’d take the corner seat for myself, so his back would be against the entire room.

He was very uneasy in those settings.

And yea, I did it just to be a jerk.

It’s hard to rest when you think everyone is out to get you.

Yet, God as our shepherd, prepares a table in the presence of our enemies.

While at war, God provides rest.

In times of turmoil, God provides rest.

If you trust in the sovereignty of God, and in His leadership, then you can go to bed at night.

You can sleep.

You can even have joy through hard times.

The third reason to trust God in perilous times is that we have a God who is a Shepherd who makes promises.

We pick this up at the end of verse 5 into verse 6, “you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

He has made great promises to us.

We are blessed.

We have been given favor.

There are certain things that God has decreed for us.

And these promises mean that we can march into any circumstance, and not fear.

There is a branch of theology, called eschatology.

This has to do with end times.

And for too many Christians, eschatology is the forgotten, silenced, or ignored theology.

It’s said to be too divisive, and to start too many arguments.

But if we don’t have an eschatology, then what is our hope?

If we don’t have any concept for what’s coming in the future, then what is our hope?

Your best life now?

Paul describes a Christianity where there is no eschatology.

Where there is no hope for the future.

Where there is no resurrection from the dead.

He says if there is no resurrection, then we are to be pitied.

Our great hope is that if Christ died for you, that He will keep you to the very end.

Our great hope is that if Christ died for you, then when you die, you will not go to Hell, but that you will go to be with Him.

Our great hope, is that though we suffer now, one day we will have resurrected bodies, and reign with Christ.

Our great hope is that as miserable as this world is right now.

A world that suffers the affects of the fall.

A world that suffers from cancer and disease.

A world that suffers from the coronavirus.

Our great hope is that God will make a new heavens and a new earth.

And this new world, will be perfect.

says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

There’s be no more death or disease.

And I look forward to this.

I don’t hope for less disease.

I don’t hope for flattening the curve.

I know that there will be no curve, because one day there will be no disease.

No sin.

No suffering.

No heartache.

David says, “Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ...”

And what about when my life ends?

“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

You know why so many people fear death?

It’s because they think this is it.

The Psalmist speak differently.

As great as this life is he looks forward to something else.

says, “For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

When you understand that eternal life is real, your view of life changes.

When you realize that God grants you a handful of years in this body, but eternity in another, you begin to wonder, “What’s taking so long?”

And you march forward, boldly, trusting in the work of Christ.

John Calvin’s ministry in Geneva demonstrated this.

During Calvin’s ministry, Geneva was terrorized by the plague on five occasions. During the first outbreak, in 1542, Calvin personally led visitations into plague-infected homes. Knowing that this effort likely carried a death sentence, the city fathers intervened to stop him because of their conviction that his leadership was indispensable. The pastors continued this heroic effort under Calvin’s guidance, and they recounted the joy of multiple conversions. Many pastors lost their lives in this cause. Unknown to many, Calvin privately continued his own pastoral care in Geneva and other cities where the plague raged. Calvin’s pastoral heart, already evidenced by the provision of hospitals for both citizens and immigrants, was further revealed as he collected the necessary resources to establish a separate hospital for plague victims. When believers died, he preached poignant funeral homilies with passion and personal concern.

During his ministry, the city of Geneva was terrorized by the plague 5 different times.

In 1542, he personally visited plague infected homes.

This was seen as a death sentence.

The leaders of the church begged him to stop.

They thought they couldn’t afford to lose him.

He was the main preacher and trainer of pastors.

Other pastors joined in his ministry.

During this time of plague, souls were saved.

People were converted.

And yes, some of these pastors died from the plague as well.

But Calvin continued with his pastoral ministry.

He oversaw the development of hospitals for people who had the plague.

And when believers died.

He preached the Gospel.

He preached with passion.

Because he knew that those who are in Christ shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

During Calvin’s ministry, Geneva was terrorized by the plague on five occasions. During the first outbreak, in 1542, Calvin personally led visitations into plague-infected homes. Knowing that this effort likely carried a death sentence, the city fathers intervened to stop him because of their conviction that his leadership was indispensable. The pastors continued this heroic effort under Calvin’s guidance, and they recounted the joy of multiple conversions. Many pastors lost their lives in this cause. Unknown to many, Calvin privately continued his own pastoral care in Geneva and other cities where the plague raged. Calvin’s pastoral heart, already evidenced by the provision of hospitals for both citizens and immigrants, was further revealed as he collected the necessary resources to establish a separate hospital for plague victims. When believers died, he preached poignant funeral homilies with passion and personal concern.

This little Psalm is beautiful.

But it’s more than poetic language.

It describes the heart of those who are under the Great Shepherd, Yahweh.

It gives His sheep reason to trust.

I want you to have this trust.

Peter told his readers in , “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

That was under the context of persecution.

And you aren’t being persecuted.

But there is a threat.

There is a trial.

You are being tested.

I want you to rejoice and have a confidence in Christ.

You have a good shepherd.

He leads and protects those He loves.