Psalm 23
Easter 4, Good Shepherd Sunday
Psalm 23
April 17, 2005
The Lord is My Shepherd
After A. Smith
Introduction: Psalm 23 is undoubtedly one of the best-known passages in all the Bible. Most of us learned it as children and it continues to be a comfort to those who are dying, or those who have lost loved ones. Maybe it’s so well-loved because it is so personal and individual. When we read it, we don’t think of David shepherding his sheep 3,000 years ago. It applies to us. "The Lord is my shepherd".
This morning, some of what I will be sharing with you concerning the life of a shepherd has come from a book by Philip Keller. Philip grew up and lived in East Africa where he was surrounded by sheep herders similar to those in the Middle East. As you know, David was himself a shepherd. He was known as the "Shepherd King" of Israel. But he saw the Lord God of Israel, as his shepherd. He speaks in this psalm as if he was one of the flock, one of the sheep. And it is as though he literally boasted aloud, "Look who my shepherd is -- my owner -- my manager! The Lord is!" “The Lord is my shepherd.” He chose us, he bought us, he calls us by name, he makes us his own and he delights in taking care of us.
A Sunday school teacher asked her group of children if any of them could quote the entire twenty-third psalm. The teacher was skeptical when a four and a half year old girl came to the podium. The girl confidently faced the class, made a little bow, and said: "The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want." She then bowed again and sat down. She may have overlooked a few verses, but I think that little girl captured David’s heart in Psalm 23. The idea throughout the psalm is that we are utterly contented in the shepherd’s care and there is nothing else that we desire. God has promised to provide our needs both physical and spiritual.
2. He Maketh Me to Lie Down in Green Pastures: He Leadeth Me Beside Still Waters. It’s not easy to get a sheep to lie down. A strange thing about sheep is that they will refuse to lie down unless several requirements are met. They must be free from all fear. They must not be aggravated with flies or parasites. They must be free from hunger. It is the shepherd who must see to it that his flock is free from any disturbances. Now sheep are very easily frightened. When one startled sheep runs in fright, all of the others will follow behind it in blind fear, not waiting to see what frightened them. But nothing quiets a flock of sheep like seeing their shepherd in the field with them.
Like sheep, we also are easily frightened. We live in an uncertain life. Any hour can bring disaster. And generally, it is the unknown, the unexpected, that frightens us most. But nothing quiets our souls like knowing that our Shepherd is near. Suddenly things are not nearly as terrifying. Our Lord is with us. "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (I Timothy 1:7).
And sheep will not rest until they are free from hunger. They are constantly trying to satisfy their gnawing hunger. Palestine is a dry, brown, sun-burned land. Shepherds have to search hard for green areas. They find green pasture so that after the sheep have eaten enough, when it was free from fear and tension, it would finally lie down.
Our shepherd provides us with what we need both physically and spiritually, but especially spiritually. If we hunger and thirst after righteousness, he has promised to fill us. All of our needs are met in Christ. He meets our need for spiritual food by giving us himself in the Lord ’s Supper, where He satisfies our souls with the forgiveness of sins. He also "leads us beside the still waters". Jesus made it clear that the thirsty souls of men and women can only be fully satisfied by coming to him. In John 7:37, he stated, "If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink." Our Shepherd leads us beside the still waters.
3. He Restoreth My Soul. There is an Old English shepherd’s term called a "cast" sheep. This is a sheep that has turned over on its back and can’t get back up again. It happens frequently. And when it happens, all the sheep can do is lie on its back, with its feet flaying frantically in the air. Sometimes it will bleat, but usually it will just kick. If the shepherd doesn’t arrive within a short time, the sheep will die. That’s one of the reasons why a shepherd is always looking over its flock. Many times a shepherd will search for hours for a single sheep, only to find it on its back, lying helpless. With the shepherds help it gets the sheep back on its feet. That’s probably what David had in mind when he said, "He restoreth my soul" because that’s how our Lord treats us. We stumble and fall, we become so helpless. And yet our shepherd is patient and tender and helpful in getting us back on our feet. Our Savior Jesus restores us too when we are in trouble. Jesus showed tenderness and care towards sinners. Jesus restores our souls.
4. He Leadeth Me in the Paths of Righteousness For His Name’s Sake. If sheep are left to themselves, they will continue to graze the same hills until they turn to a desert waste. They will gnaw the grass to the very ground until even the roots are damaged. They need a shepherd who will lead them to good grazing area. We are a lot like sheep. As humans, we prefer to follow our own fancies and turn to our own ways. "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6). And so we need a shepherd who can lead us in paths of righteousness, and our Lord does just that. Our shepherd is not a driver but a leader. He doesn’t stand behind us with a stick, saying, "Go on, and do that." No, he goes ahead and leads the way for us. Our Lord leads and he always leads us in the paths of righteousness. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6).
5. Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will Fear no Evil: There are going to be valleys in life for all of us. Some of us have many valleys, some few. Some of us have deep valleys, some not so deep. But, somewhere in our journey, we must all cross the valley of the shadow of death, for "It is appointed to men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27). Its time may be unknown, but it’s certain to come. As we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we walk with Christ or we walk alone.
Remember how when you were a kid, you considered yourself to be big. You didn’t understand restrictions. You could take care of yourself. But whenever a thunderstorm came up, you climbed in bed with your parents. We needed to know our loved ones were close. So it is in life. As adults, we often don’t feel like we need God. We can take care of ourselves. But as death approaches, we all run to someone stronger. There is no better one to run to than the one that overcame death and the grave.
6. Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me. In the Middle East the shepherd carried only a rod and a staff. The rod is kind of like a club. The shepherd learns from childhood how to throw it with amazing speed and accuracy. It becomes his main weapon of defense for himself and his sheep. He uses it to drive off predators like coyotes, wolves, cougars.
But it is also used for discipline. If a sheep wanders away or approaches poisonous weeds, or gets too close to some danger, the rod is thrown to send it back to the flock.
The staff, on the other hand, is a long, slender stick, often with a crook or hook on one end. The shepherd will use the staff to guide sheep along a new path or through a gate. He doesn’t beat the sheep. He just nudges them along. At times, the staff may be used to get a sheep out of trouble, to pull it from the water or to free it from thorns. To those of us who are God’s sheep, the authority, power, might and guidance of the Lord are indeed a comfort. "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."
7. Thou Preparest a Table Before Me in the Presence of Mine Enemies. I’ve never seen sheep sitting at a table. What a sight that would be. In much of the world, though, the high plateaus of sheep pasture are called "mesas" which is Spanish for "tables". David probably means the pastureland has been prepared as a table. In the spring, after the snows melt, the shepherd will take his sheep up the mountain to finer pastures. But first he will go up into the rough, wild country. He will watch out for predators, check for poisonous weeds and uncover any snakes. In similar fashion, our Lord takes care of us in the presence of our enemies. In effect, he has gone ahead and checked things out. He has known our sorrows and endured our struggles in order to help us through. He has even prepared a way for the darkest door of all, that of death. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies".
8. Thou Anointest My Head With Oil; My Cup Runneth Over. A particular problem sheep have is insects -- flies, mosquitoes, gnats. Sheep are especially bothered by the nose fly. These flies buzz around the sheep’s head trying to deposit eggs in the noses of sheep. The eggs then hatch to form a worm-like larvae that crawls up the nose creating great aggravation. So, at the beginning of fly season, shepherds will mix up an oil concoction, applying it to the head of the sheep. This way the shepherds takes care of His sheep and we are reminded that our Lord takes care of us too.
9. Surely Goodness and Mercy Shall Follow Me All the Days of my Life: And I Will Dwell in the House of the Lord Together." Our Lord truly cares for us as a good shepherd. No matter what else may happen, we know that goodness and mercy will follow us. And we are so content in our flock and in our shepherd that there is no desire for a change. "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." But we can only confidently state this last verse if we can state the first one -- "The Lord is my shepherd".
Conclusion: Jesus never hesitated to make it clear that as He shepherds us there would be a new and unique relationship between him and us. And there would be a distinct mark upon the man or woman that would differentiate them from the rest of the crowd, the rest of the sheep.
The shepherd marks his sheep. He takes a large, sharp knife. He cuts a distinctive mark into the ears of his sheep. In this way, even at a distance, it is easy to determine to whom the sheep belongs. It is not an easy thing to do, for either the sheep or the shepherd. But from that mutual suffering an indelible lifelong mark of ownership is made that can never be erased.
As Christian we bear our shepherds mark. The mark of Jesus is the cross. Jesus stated emphatically, "If any man would be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." It is through Christ’s cross that He has made us His sheep and it is through His cross that He truly is our shepherd. “The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. It is through His cross, by faith, that we receive all that is given in the 23rd Psalm, food that satisfies the body and soul, protection now and forever, and the joy of knowing that we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The cross is the mark of Christ and it marks us as his forever.
The Lord is my shepherd. What a difference that little word "my" makes. It is all the difference between joy and sorrow, purposefulness and meaningless, eternal life and eternal death. A famous actor was once the guest of honor at a social gathering where he received requests to recite favorite excerpts from various literary works. An old preacher who happened to be there asked the actor to recite the twenty-third Psalm. The actor agreed on the condition that the preacher would also recite it. The actor’s recitation was beautifully intoned with great dramatic emphasis for which he received lengthy applause. The preacher’s voice was rough and broken from many years of preaching, and his diction was anything but polished. But when he finished there was not a dry eye in the room. When someone asked the actor what made the difference, he replied "I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd." With confidence we can say the Lord my shepherd? And I know who my shepherd is. Amen
