Scripture Psalm
23:1-6
Video: Little girl
reciting Psalm 23 (“surely?”)
My primary
job is to remind you what you already know. The canon of scripture was closed
over 1600 years ago. The same Spirit who inspired what is written in the Bible
inspires my preparation and delivery AND your receiving and understanding. I
don’t have anything new to tell you. I can only remind you what the scripture
already says. However, some secondary
jobs of mine related to the first is to get you to hunger for God’s Word, to
remember God’s Word, to apply God’s Word to your life, and to live out God’s
Word.
Therefore,
today, and for the rest of your life I hope to make the 23rd Psalm a
part of your life like it never has been before. I am going for life changing
here. This is probably the most well-known of all Old Testament passages of
scripture among Christians and comes in second in the entire bible only to John
3:16. So the material is nothing new, but I hope your reception and subsequent
application is fresh and long lasting.
The 23rd Psalm is known as
the Shepherds Psalm – so let’s look at why that is important to us.
John 10:1-5;
7-11
"I tell you
the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in
by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is
the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep
listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he
has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him
because they know his voice."
"I tell
you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were
thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate;
whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find
pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that
they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
How well David knew God to describe Him so perfectly,
even as He would later reveal Himself in Jesus!
In light of that I want to give you a 7 day challenge to change your
life. Each day for the next week, take one of the 7 points made in Psalm 23 –
memorize that portion of the scripture, meditate on it and receive the promise
God has for you in this great passage.
Psalm 23 (KJV)
1) THE LORD WILL WORK FOR ME!
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
We constantly
feel inadequate – like we are not working hard enough for the Lord. The problem
with that is we miss the point that God is working for us. Just like the good
shepherd who would scout for green pastures and sources of water while we
sleep. Even while he is tending to our current needs he is also preparing a way
for our future needs. Maybe our greatest work is to stop and thank him for what
a loving shepherd he is and for all the work he does on our behalf.
Sheep have a
will of their own – and so do we. We get anxious about something and try
working it out instead of trusting that the Lord is working for us. This week, I don’t want you to try to
manipulate anything into working out for you. Ask God to work out all things
for your good (Romans 8:28) do what he says and trust Him for the results.
Live like the
little boy who messed up the words and said, “The Lord is my shepherd, I don’t want
anything else!”
ILLUS: TWO MEN recite
psalm 23 Great actor and an old man: “I know the psalm, but obviously, this man
knows the shepherd”
2) THE LORD WILL PROVIDE FOR ME!
He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well.
He leads us
to what we need (we have to follow) – green grass and still water. You can’t
make a sheep lie down unless certain things are in place: 1) free of fear 2)
coat cleared of parasites 3) well fed 4) knowledge of the presence of the
shepherd.
Water cannot
be running water – they will drown from weight of wet wool.
3) THE LORD WILL KEEP ME GOING!
He restoreth
my soul:
When you are
downcast it is hard to keep going. Have you ever been downcast? The term comes
from sheep. A sheep lying down near a hallow can roll over on its back but the wool
or fatness of the sheep makes it hard to right itself. The term for this is
that the sheep is cast – or downcast. The shepherd lifts the sheep and holds
him till blood returned to the legs then sets him on the ground to move again –
restores my soul!
How many
times had David found himself downcast by things he had done or things others
were doing to him – each time the Lord restored his entire being – his soul!
4) THE LORD WILL GUIDE ME!
He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
When we
follow our parents, Adam and Eve – we go the wrong way. When we follow our Lord
and Savior Jesus, we go the right way. It is not a question of being a follower
– we all follow one or the other. It is simply a choice of who we will follow.
Following A & E requires nothing of us. Following Jesus requires intention
of the will – you have to want to follow him.
5) THE LORD WILL PROTECT ME!
Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou
art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Hinnon Valley
(Gehenna = hell) Christians walk in the shadow of death but need not fear it’s
full effect as it serves as a transition point.
His weapons
of protection were a staff and a rod.
6) THE LORD WILL HEAL ME!
Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with
oil; my cup runneth over.
The shepherd
would rub oil into the sheep’s wool to repel insects and as a healing balm for
cuts and bruises. Imagine how good this would feel to the dusty, dirty sheep to
have the shepherd massaging oil onto your back and legs and on top of your
head. No wonder the sheep would follow only him. He cares so much for them. The
shepherd could have them graze in a pasture as long as he was there to keep
predator animals away.
“Cup” in
Hebrew really refers to “my life”. Because I belong to the loving shepherd – my life overflows with good
things.
7) THE LORD WILL PURSUE ME!
Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever.
To follow (יִ֭רְדְּפוּנִי / yir·de·fu·ni) means to pursue. Goodness and Mercy will
pursue me every day of my life! That is
a promise that rings true!
I will dwell
in his house forever! Will you! Will you? How do you know? John 14:1-4
Do not
let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's
house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going
there to prepare a place for you. And if
I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am.
A 7 Day Experiment in Trust
Dr. Charles
Allen, beloved Methodist minister, tells the story of a friend who came to see
him one day. His friend was nervous, tense, and he had literally worried
himself sick. The man's physician had suggested that he see his minister. They
talked for awhile, and then Allen took a pad of paper from his desk drawer.
"If you
went to see a doctor, he would give you a prescription, and that's what I want
to do," Allen said. "Take the prescription exactly as I write it.
Five times a day for seven days I want you to read prayerfully and carefully
the twenty-third psalm. When you awaken, before each meal and at bedtime, read
the psalm." Charles Allen says that in a week his friend returned
literally a different person.
CONCLUSION: The good shepherd is the author of LIFE!
Tim Zingale wrote: My brother served his first parish in Massillon,
Ohio, as an associate pastor, with the late Pastor Maurice "Mo"
White. Pastor White was a very large, strong and vibrant man. During one Lenten
season, one of the older, but faithful members of the church came with her
husband to an evening Lenten service. As they were leaving the service, the
woman somehow fell down the outside flight of steps and broke her hip. For some
unknown cause, she did not recover from the hip surgery and died in a few short
days. Pastor White stood with the bereaved husband by the casket the night
before the funeral. Many people came to offer their sympathies. Some were
saying to the sorrowing husband, "God must of had a plan for this, so
accept it." Another said, "It was God’s will and we must live by
it." Still another said, "Somehow God planned this to test your
faith!!" And still another said, "There is a sliver lining in every
cloud, you will find God’s reason behind this eventually.
Pastor White
left that funeral home filled with a very strong emotion of anger at the
"babbling", as he put it, he heard that evening. He went to the study
and rewrote the beginning of his funeral sermon.
Pastor White
began his funeral sermon with this phrase: "My God does not push old
ladies down church steps!!!" Then he proceeded to explain that God cannot
be blamed or accused for all the brokenness of this world. If God is the author
of death, how, how can He be at the same time the author of life as shown
through the resurrection we celebrate each Sunday and especially on Easter. Is
God the God of the living, or the God of the dead? You cannot have it both
ways.
When
we walk through the Valley of the shadow of death we walk not fearing death,
rather following the good shepherd who is also the author of LIFE – abundant
and eternal!
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