Psalm 23 Pt 1
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Part 1
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
VS 1 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want:
1. We have all seen fear at one time or another. Fear that’s on many forms, anxiety, stress, panic, and obsession.
a. But what is the most common fear that people face? WORRY.
c. We have all worried about a situation or circumstance that we knew would be the worse in the end; But, eventually worked out.
2. We have to learn to observe God’s hand at work so we don’t miss what God is trying to show us. If we don’t do this we will find out ourselves running scared and we consume ourselves with worry all over again.
a. Thankfully God shows us how ti deal fear of worry.
b. David deals with the issue of fear in one of the most familiar passages of scripture known.
c. At what point in the life of David did he write the 23 Psalm? (I believe it was early in his life)
Elab Jessie’s son Big, strong sons, none of them were God’s man for King.
ry.
Samuel asks if he have any other sons. This is where David comes into the story.
d. As David was watching his sheep and thought about what he did.
“I watch over them, I protect them, I have to defend them, I lead them, I go after them when they go astray, I bring them back home to safety, I keep them out of danger.
e. David thinking this is what I do for the sheep because I am a shepherd. This is what God does for me, The Lord is my shepherd. And since God is my Shepherd, why worry?
Four important Characteristics about worry.
1. Worry is unhelpful:
2. Worry is unreasonable:
It creates a lot of noise, fumes and smoke, but it accomplishes nothing. Your car in park, with the engine running, and you’re going nowhere.
2. Worry is unreasonable:
3. Worry is unhealthy:
He found out that worry affects the circulatory system. the heart, the glands, and the entire nervous system.
Mayo wrote, he never knew anyone to die from overwork, but many that dies from over worry.
You cannot worry yourself into a longer life, but you can worry yourself into a shorter one.
4. Worry is unnatural:
There is no such thing as a natural born worrier. It is a learned behavior. The more you practice it, the better you get at it.
a. We can face the unknown without the worry that produces fear.
b. If the Lord is my Shepherd, then can handle anything that comes our way, if we know God. When David says
Ill: Kids Sunday Class and the 23 Psalm.
The 23 Psalms starts with “The Lord” This is God who addresses my past. This is the God of present in the here and now. And this is the God who is the God of the future and all eternity.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever”
a. He is with us past, present, and future.
b. Don’t worry about the past. He is the God of the past.
c. Don’t worry about the present. He is the God of the present.
d. Don’t worry about the future. He is the God of the future.
He is the God who is there holding out his hand.
This is easier said than done. We may worry about things we use to take for granted. Work, food on the table, safety if kids in school. Etc……..
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Jesus is speaking of basic needs. Don’t worry, worry is habit forming.
THE WORK OF THE SHEPHERD
“The Lord is my Shepherd” Not a shepherd, or the Shepherd, but “my shepherd”
David claims a possession of ownership by God. As believers we have that same claim.
David knew that there were four critical things that a shepherd does for the sheep.
He provides. Shepherd provides food, water, and others necessities of life. Sheep cannot provide anything for themselves. They are incredibly helpless animals.
If they were left alone in a pasture, they would eat the grass down to the dirt and destroy the land. The shepherd had to guide into new fields. They ate not very intelligent animals.
He protects:
David when getting ready to fight Goliath, spoke of fighting off a lion and bear that had come after his sheep.
Sheep have no natural defense; they have no way to protect themselves. They have to depend on the shepherd to protect them.
He guides:
Sheep have no sense of direction and very poor eye sight. If they see something if front of it, they follow it.
Sheep don’t have the ability to find their way back home like a dog does. Sheep need to be guided. They are a lot like people; they will follow whatever is in front of them even if it leads to certain destruction.
He directs:
The shepherd is responsible for directing the sheep when his behavior leads towards danger. That is what the Lord does for us.
He directs us away from that which is harmful, He directs us through the valley of the shadow of death and back home again.
So the shepherd does four things. Provides, protects, guides, and directs. That is exactly what God does for us.
Real sheep don’t worry
David said “the Lord is my shepherd. He cannot be your shepherd if he is not your Lord.
What does it mean for him to be Lord? It means to recognize that he is the one in charge of our lives.
14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
The Lord says that his sheep know him, listen to him, and follow him. Do you do that? That is what it means for him to be Lord.
It makes it very clear that nothing can snatch you out of his hands. So why worry?
Worry and faith do not go together.
“I shall not want”
Think of things you have gone through in the past, and what you are going through now. If the Lord has taken care of your past needs, don’t you think he will take care of you future needs?
When we are going through tough times do you really lack what you need?
God takes care of our needs and he provides for us.
7 “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’
Everything you go through the Lord knows about it. Elab
“I shall not want” Is looking to the future, and not worry about what lies ahead because “The Lord is my shepherd”