Field Trip

Field Trip Psalm 23 Mrs. Morgan is on a field trip with 45 third-grade students. They’re taking a field trip for a “Day in the City” experience. They’re going to the downtown mall. They will walk to the art museum. They will ride the city transit. They will walk on sidewalks and obey traffic signs. They will have a buddy at all times. What could possibly go wrong? Fortunately, she is not alone. Another teacher is with her, as well as one teacher’s aide and two parents. But Mrs. Morgan is not happy. See Mrs. Morgan run. See Mrs. Morgan tapping on her cell phone. See her talking to the policeman. See Mrs. Morgan’s vision of losing her job. What’s wrong? It could be any number of things. Perhaps little Rosie got sick on the bus. Could be that little Billy’s sack lunch went missing. Maybe Peter or Ruby had a bathroom emergency. But the truth is, it’s worse. A child is missing. After three head counts, it is confirmed. One kid is AWOL, and now Mrs. Morgan needs to determine the missing child’s name. Think of Psalm 23 as a sort of field trip. But instead of a teacher, the leader of this field trip is called “My Shepherd.” The 45 third-graders are sheep. We, too, are the sheep, and the shepherd, being a good shepherd, knows that anything and everything might go wrong. Some of the sheep may get sick. Others may wander off if not monitored carefully. Some will bleat like crazy because they sense a predator nearby. Some will do something stupid and deliberately avoid the shepherd. According to Isaiah 53:6, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way.” Here’s the thing: when a shepherd leads the sheep from the holding pen, or the “fold,” he is officially on a field trip. It’s anyone’s guess as to whether a third-grade teacher with 45 eight-year-olds or a shepherd with 45 sheep has the harder job. On this field trip, the shepherd will need to (1) feed the flock, (2) provide nap time, (3) lead them carefully when passing through narrow and dangerous areas, (4) open up the first-aid kit as needed, (5) feed them again and finally, (6) lead them home. In other words, the shepherd is Provider, Protector, Healer and Host. First let’s look at the shepherd as Provider. The psalmist describes his situation as being without “want” or as lacking nothing. So often we read right over these words without appreciating the astonishing assertion. Lacking nothing? Isn’t there something that perhaps the Lord and Shepherd has missed, forgotten or neglected? Yet David insists that he is lacking nothing when the Lord is his shepherd. We must take his word for it, but one has to wonder if other biblical figures feel as David did. Think of Elijah, who was chased into the wilderness by Queen Jezebel and paused under a broom tree to complain that he alone in all Israel remained faithful to God. He cries out, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of 2 hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10). Did Elijah think that he was lacking nothing? Or think of the Israelites freed from bondage in Egypt. Now they are in the wilderness, and stayed there for 40 years. Did they believe they were lacking in nothing? Heavens, they were complaining all the time. But God reminded them that although they had not crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, they were indeed lacking nothing: “Surely the Lord your God has blessed you in all your undertakings; He knows you’re going through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing” (Deuteronomy 2:7). Or think of the men and women of faith over the past two millennia who have suffered for the faith, people whom every reasonable observer would say had lacked many things. Yet, as Hebrews 11:1 notes, these people, past and present, filter their experiences through their faith, the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Sometimes, our situation might be similar to the kids on a field trip. No doubt at times they might feel that they’re bored, pushed to their limits of patience or deprived. The reality is that Mrs. Morgan is taking care of them perfectly, providing everything the children need, even if they don’t think so. Notice the verb in verse 2, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” Sounds like an eight-year-old talking about his trip leader.  “She made me walk single file.”  “She made me stay with my buddy.”  “She made me be quiet, we even had to take a nap.” (I remember having to take naps in kindergarten. Didn’t want to.) We’re not children, well in some ways, yes, according to John’s message from last week, but we have grown up, too. We are mature believers who understand that it is hard to take the long view, that only God truly knows what we need for the present moment and that tomorrow will take care of itself. That’s why, when we follow Jesus as our Good Shepherd, we do so as an act of faith. We know that we are taken care of and will be provided with everything that we need for our well-being. The shepherd, David says, “leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths.” The Good Shepherd provides. The shepherd as Protector. Sheep prefer sun to shadows. But sometimes, the shepherd has to lead the sheep through dark places and deep valleys where the shadows are long and dark. Often, the way seems dangerous and foreboding. It is not unusual in some states in the West (like Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho) to 3 come across a shepherd who is leading the flock down a state or county highway in order to get the flock to a different pasture. Cars and trucks have to wait until the shepherd gets them off the road. Mrs. Morgan certainly had this same task. On more than one occasion, she and her teacher aides had to lead their flock of 45 kids across streets and intersections. Cars waited. Trucks came to a halt. Crossing took place only in designated areas and when the traffic lights were green. The children were perhaps unaware of all that their teacher was doing for them. But she protected them from harm. She stayed alert for potential dangers. She was always thinking, “What can possibly go wrong?” And when she had answered that question, she made the appropriate adjustments. This kind of attention might evoke love and appreciation. In David’s case, the pronoun in his psalm changes. He had been referring to the shepherd in the third person; “The Lord is my shepherd…” describing what “my” shepherd does. But now, he switches to second person. In other words, he addresses the shepherd directly; “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I 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.” David realizes that something special is happening. So, he turns to the Shepherd and his words reveal a sense of amazement and appreciation, saying in effect, “I know what you’re doing. You are taking care of me; you’re protecting me, and I am very grateful.” Of course, it’s not always green pastures and still waters. Life is not always a rose garden. Sometimes, the valleys and dark paths are necessary and predators and adversity may be present. But David recognizes that in the midst of the valley, while walking dark pathways, while surrounded by predators, the Shepherd is right there, protecting! The shepherd as Healer. It might seem odd, but sheep stumble. They run into things. Kids do that, too. (I still do that – all the time.) They trip. Kids run into each other. They bump into brick walls or fall and bruise their knees. There has never been a field trip in the history of field trips without some incident or accident. Of course, Mrs. Morgan and her aides are prepared. And so is the Good Shepherd. Speaking directly to the Shepherd, David says, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” This is no doubt a reference to the custom of anointing the heads of favored guests at a lavish banquet with oil. But in the context of a shepherd with his sheep, it makes perfect sense to recall that shepherds were not only guards, dieticians, pathfinders and traffic cops, but also doctors and nurses. Psalm 147:4 says, “He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.” A shepherd had to be a medic. He had to know how to treat the most common sheep injuries. A shepherd knew what to do when the sheep had injured themselves, or had been wounded by a predator. 4 Our injuries may be of the body, soul or spirit. Our suffering might be physical, or it might be of the mind or the soul. We could be brokenhearted, or simply broken. We might be at loose ends, or not know which end is up. The shepherd knows how to heal wounds. The shepherd knows where it hurts. Finally, the shepherd as Host. The shepherd leads the sheep home, where the shepherd acts as a host. The one who is shepherd at the beginning of this psalm is the Lord dwelling in a house at the end of the psalm. David has already alluded to the Shepherd as a host with his references to a table that is prepared, a scene that may remind us of the Lord’s Supper, and the anointing of oil, given to favored guests. But now, David reminds us that the shepherd is always aware that he must get the flock to a safe place by nightfall. He leads them to the fold, back to the pen. He takes them to a safe place. David uses this as a metaphor for our eternal home, when we are led at last to the “house of the Lord,” where we shall spend eternity. The Bible says that once there, in this eternal home, “they will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not beat upon them, nor will there be any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). Whatever perils we may face in this life, we can live confidently, knowing that the Good Shepherd will faithfully lead us to our eternal home. Ah, going home. This, you remember, was Mrs. Morgan’s concern. She was missing a student. Of the many things she was charged with doing, returning the children safely to their home at the end of the day was one of them, perhaps the most important responsibility of all. After some frantic investigation, she found out what happened. A parent had met the group downtown, and then, inexplicably, the parent left the group taking his child with him. He and the child returned home without notifying the group leaders. So, Mrs. Morgan was missing a child. How a parent could simply show up and walk off with a child was a matter of grave concern, but it was also incredible that a parent would not have the good sense to let someone know what he did. The Good Shepherd, however, will not lose track of us. David writes, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Although beady-eyed predators may follow a flock, waiting for an opportunity to strike, David says that in his case, “goodness and mercy” shall follow him, not predators, from whom, in any case, he is protected. Then he adds, “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” He is sure he will experience the presence of the Shepherd throughout his entire life and on into eternity; all in all, a rather good field trip for the sheep of God’s pasture! Anything can happen when school teachers take children on a field trip. Our life sometimes feels like a field trip, but fortunately, we have the Good Shepherd who watches over us.