Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.49UNLIKELY
Fear
0.13UNLIKELY
Joy
0.54LIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.5LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.25UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.88LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.69LIKELY
Extraversion
0.04UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.6LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.53LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
*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.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9