Psalm 23

Transcript

Rob McFarlane: 0:58

Today, I'm speaking on Psalm 23, and we'll be having a fresh look at this psalm, seeing how the Lord is our shepherd, our guide, and our host. Let's read Psalm 23 together, and I'm reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will 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. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In Psalm 23, we see a personal relationship available to us as individuals. In verse 1, we told, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. One version says, I have everything that I need. With the Lord as our shepherd, we lack nothing. And then in verse six, he says, Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. If the Lord is our shepherd and he is our source, then the result will be a life marked with goodness and mercy. Notice how he says, Goodness and mercy will follow me. What do we leave behind? What fragrance or impression do we leave behind in our lives? I once heard someone say, Some people bring joy wherever they go, and some people bring joy whenever they go. Which one are you, my friend? Let's be those who are those who leave a fragrance of goodness and mercy wherever we go, that there would be joy as a result of us being with other people, that there would be peace and people would experience God's steadfast love. Now, 17 times in this psalm, we see the personal pronoun used my, me, mine, and I. I want you to first of all notice that it's not plural, but individual. And yes, we need to be a part of a local church where we can corporately worship together, but in this psalm, the emphasis seems to be on an intimate, personal relationship between an individual and their God. He is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he is mine. God wants us to have this personal, individual relationship with him. It also makes me think about people who criticize some worship songs, saying there's too much about us in those worship songs. Well, if that was the criteria that you used on this psalm, then you would disqualify this psalm and perhaps would need to say, I can't really read this psalm because it seems to focus so much about the individual. But you see, worship is an individual experience. Whether we do it corporately or we do it on our own privately, we need to experience him in this intimate one-on-one relationship. So today, let's have a fresh look at this psalm. We see three settings or relationships in this psalm. Number one, we see in the field he leads me as a shepherd. Psalm twenty three, verse two and three says, He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul, he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. What a beautiful setting. Green pastures and still waters. Our God wants to be our shepherd and he wants to lead us into a peaceful and uh and an incredibly abundant place in our relationship with him. He wants us to experience those green pastures and still waters. Remember that he in the field leads us as our shepherd. It also says in verse 3 that he restores our soul, he leads us in paths of righteousness or the right path for his name's sake. There are so many people that are struggling with things in the area of their soul. Let me remind you: you are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body. There's a difference between your spirit and your soul. Your spirit is the eternal you that will live forever, and your soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. And God wants to be our shepherd. He wants us to experience peace in our minds and in our emotions. He wants us to experience joy rather than fear or depression or anxiety. He wants to be our shepherd. He wants to lead us. And this psalm is an invitation for us today to engage with the Lord as our shepherd, for him to lead us into this beautiful setting of green pastures, still waters, and paths of righteousness. Today, friend, I encourage you to make sure that you develop a habit of spending time with the Lord, to allow him to be your shepherd, for him to speak into your life through his word and through times of worship and prayer, that he may lead you in the right path. Secondly, number two, we see in the valley he is with us as a guide. Let's read Psalm twenty-three and verse four. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. So in the valley he is with us as our guide. Now we saw in Psalm 23 verse 4 a change of tone. It's no longer He leads me, but it's even though I. And there's times where we stray from the right path. There's times where we through our own choices or through things that happen to us and around us find ourselves going down a path that is not the best path. It's described in this psalm as the valley of the shadow of death or a dark place. But even then, we have no need to fear. We fear no evil because He is with us. He wants to be our guide, and we can with confidence say that He is with me in the valley of the shadow of death. You know, in times of difficulty and challenge, God wants us to experience His presence in a unique and wonderful way. He is with us. He said, I will never leave you or forsake you. I am with you always to the end of the age. We also see in verse 4 reference to the shepherd's rod and the shepherd's staff. The rod was for discipline and the staff was for comfort. God wants to use his word as that rod and staff in our lives. And as we spend time in God's words, there's times where he will challenge us and rebuke us and show us things that we need to adjust. And there's other times where he will comfort us and give us hope and courage, and we'll experience his promises in our lives. As a preacher, I know that part of preaching is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. There's times when people are struggling with something, and it's amazing how God's word, the same message that you preach as you preach a sermon, can bring comfort to some. But for those who are just comfortable in their lives and not really pursuing an individual personal relationship with God, it needs to afflict them and uh and cause them to be uncomfortable so that they pursue the Lord. So, secondly, we've seen that the Lord wants to be our guide in the valley, and we need not fear anything, because he is with us. Number three, in the house he prepares a table for us as our host. Psalm twenty-three verse five and six says, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a wonderful picture again. He wants to invite us to the table. And I've said that it's in the house, and perhaps it's not in the house for for in your concept of reading the psalm, it might be a picnic table. But regardless, it's a table where there's the blessing of food, a anointing oil on our heads, and our cup overflowing. God wants us to experience that overflowing relationship with Him. A pessimist says, My cup is half empty. An optimist says, My cup is half full. But here the psalmist says, My cup runs over or overflows. And God wants us to experience that overflow of joy and peace and abundance and love in our lives. He wants to invite us to come to the table and experience a wonderful relationship with Him. It doesn't have to be an ideal setting for you to experience this blessing of food, oil, and an overflowing cup. It is also available to us even in the presence of our enemies. I find that just incredible. Where you are facing opposition or criticism from others, God wants us to come into a place where we can experience the delights of his blessing, even in front of our enemies. You know, uh there's a lot that the Bible says about enemies, and an enemy by definition is someone who's opposed to you, who's criticizing you, who's attacking you, who is seeking your downfall. And like you, I too have had and sometimes can say in the present tense, have enemies. If you think you know who they are, you're probably wrong. But uh, one thing I do know is that in the midst of pressure, criticism, or attack from others, God wants us to come to a place where we can experience the delights of his presence. He wants to be our host, he wants to prepare a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies. Let's pray together. And as we do, let's ask the Holy Spirit what he wants us to do. Which one of these relationships he wants us to experience today? Let's ask him to speak to us. Let's pray. Father God, thank you that you are good to us, that in the field you lead us as a shepherd. In the valley, you're with us as a guide. And in the house, you prepare a table for us as our host. We ask you, Lord, to lead us today in green pastures and still waters, to lead us on the right path. We thank you that even in the valley of the shadow of death, when we stray from the right path, that you are still with us, that your rod and staff they they discipline us and comfort us. And Lord, we ask you to bring us back onto the right path. But we thank you that you never leave us or forsake us. And Lord, thank you that you prepare a table for us, even in the presence of our enemies, that you anoint our head with oil, and our cup overflows. May our testimony be that goodness and mercy follows us all the days of our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen.