More Than A Funeral Song

It is amazing how God’s word comes more alive to us when you spend time delighting in it and meditating on it (think of Ps.1). In anticipation of this message and as a spiritual exercise, I stopped 3 x a day for the last week to recite Psalm 23, out loud, only to discover there is something deeply personal about Psalm 23.

You’ll see there is no “we” or “us” or “they”. David speaks about himself and God, there is only “my” and “me” and “I” and “he” and “you.” In other words, it’s about no one else. It’s about David doing spiritual business with his God.

So this morning, I’m asking that we see the way David spoke about God and to God and all that meant for him, so that his personal encounter with God, becomes our personal encounter with God. I want you to see he’s your great shepherd, who provides for you, protects you and preserves you. In the most difficult and dark of circumstances he is with you.

Let’s meet with God, today. Let’s open the blinds and let light shine in and see the promises of God in this amazing Psalm to encourage your hearts.

(READ) ¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, ³ he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Worship happens a lot easier when matters of life are smooth, right! Free with our singing, our praying, our fellowship. Different story when life is not so smooth.  I know when I’ve been through dark valleys it’s hard to sing “The Joy of the Lord is my strength”, it’s hard to pray fervently, it’s hard to fellowship with others, it’s hard to be in church. Yet I’ve learnt, those are the most crucial times to sing, to get on my knees, to be around others who love the Lord.

I say that, because as I read Psalm 23 my first impression is it almost seems out of reach to be in a place of such trust and confidence in God, like David. Yet, at a different time in history he struggled with the same sorts of worries, difficulties and anxieties we do, and yet found a way of responding to God in light of those things.

Hard seasons didn’t drive David away from God. Hard seasons drove him to God. So David’s response isn’t out of reach, it can be your reality, today!

GOD PROVIDES FOR ME

Psalm 23 describes 4 ways God provides, the first way is in being our personal Shepherd. David says “The LORD is MY shepherd”. For David, recognised formerly as a shepherd and now a king this is a huge statement. He’s saying there is someone who is greater than me. YAHWEH the king. YAHWEH my Shepherd.

David is saying the LORD of Israel, the LORD who created the heavens and the earth, is my LORD. I know him, personally. I follow his lead. I do what he wants me to do. I go where he wants me to go.[1] Phillip Keller says of Psalm 23:1 that this is “the idea of being utterly contented in the Shepherd’s care.” [2]

The second way God Provides (is with) All My Needs

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Other versions of v.1 say, “I shall not want” or “I have everything I need. So is David meaning here that God gives him anything he wants?[3]

I think V. 1 is hugely relevant because we live in a day of want, and getting what we want. And we can get a little ticked off when we don’t. It happens in the Church. Happens in our relationships. And it happens in our walk with Jesus. But Jesus should never be confused with the genie in the bottle. We don’t believe in Jesus to get what we want. We believe in Jesus because he’s our shepherd in whom we lack nothing.

The tension of want will always be there, but Psalm 23:1 teaches us that if God is our shepherd we have to find a way of being completely surrendered to him, and content with not getting what we want and trusting him to provide only what we need. I will never be without anything that God as my shepherd wants me to have for his glory and my good. I lack nothing means Gods provision will always be precisely and perfectly what he sees I need. Not a dollar more, or a second less[4].

I’ve often said if the only thing God gave us was himself, he’s already given more than I need. I love the simple words of the old song: Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus, You can have all this world, Just give me Jesus[5]

The 3^rd way God provides is in giving us rest. In giving us rest – to my previous point – he’s providing what we need. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters…

What should not be lost on us, is that David’s picture of green pastures and water is not what you would typically find in the landscape of the time.

Any greenery and water were seasonal, yet both absolutely essential for the sheep’s survival.

Often meaning a long pilgrimage for the shepherd to find. Only the shepherd knew ahead of time what the sheep needed and only the shepherd knew where the pastures and the water could be found.

Philip Keller writes that sheep do not lie down easily and will not unless four conditions are met. Because they are timid, they will not lie down if they are afraid. Because they are social animals, they will not lie down if there is friction among the sheep. If flies or parasites trouble them, they will not lie down.

Finally, if sheep are anxious about food or hungry, they will not lie down. Rest comes because the shepherd has dealt with fear, friction, flies, and famine.[6]

David wants us to understand that our Shepherd holds nothing back. He goes all out for his sheep. And remember its personal, he knows the names of his sheep – he sees (name…) … He knows exactly what rest and replenishment each of you need.

And what V.2 teaches us is that God provides rest for us and that – “he makes me…he leads me” – he, takes us there. Right now, you’re thinking “I’ve had a long week; things have been ultra-busy, and I am absolutely exhausted, I could really use a rest” Ps. 23’s rest is not that kind of rest, it’s bigger than that.

God making me lie down in green pastures and leading me beside quiet waters, is God, making me rest in the confidence and the knowledge that Christ is my Shepherd, provider and protector, whatever the chaos in the world around me. Whatever the fears, frictions, flies, and famines, it is in my heart, mind and soul saying, “ahhh, I know Gods got me!”

4^thly, God provides restoration ³ he refreshes my soul.

Did you notice David says he refreshes my soul? Why the soul? Because we can be physically broken, and in pain, but if our soul is strong we can endure. Listen to what the Psalmist said in Ps 116:7 Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.

And, Psalm 42 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

In fact, Ps 42 helps us see what David means in Ps. 23. Because God refreshes my soul, it means he helps me see him, he brings down the shutters of what’s keeping me blind to him. He helps me see hope, he helps me see his greatness, he, turns my life around and nudges me back toward him.[7]

If our souls are refreshed, we can navigate difficult times. But if souls are crushed, difficult times feel like we’re in the spiritual doldrums. You’re furiously paddling your waka but you’re staying in one place.

I’ve been there. And it took God to put people in my life like Phil Pawley, my mentor, to help me see God, again. In fact, to jump in the waka with me. Sometimes we need that. That’s how God works, in refreshing us.

God and his word is never the last place we go to for the sake of our soul. Ps 62:1-2 Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. God is the only one who can completely and sufficiently, satisfy and refresh our soul.

How’s your soul, today, right now?[8] Come to him, he will refresh your soul, because you matter to him.

The final way God Provides is through Guidance. (v.3) He guides me along the right paths or paths of righteousness as some versions say.

This simply means in right relationship, or right standing with God. So I think what David means is that there can be a number of paths we can take in life, some will not be the right path – namely they lead us astray – and some will be right paths – leading us to God.

Listen to this prayer: Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long (Ps. 25:4-5).

I don’t know that I’ve ever heard the audible voice of God, or seen a visible sign of God guiding. But God does guide. How? Through his word. Regarding our finances, a relationship, marriage, what my priorities ought to be, a change of career – his word guides. Ps 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

But the word on its own – though it’s God’s word, and is completely adequate – doesn’t give us every detail for every situation.

So, we need the Holy Spirit at work in us, nudging us, with the word. He will always prompt and fill in the blanks where the Bible is not explicit. And the Spirit will always align with the word, never deviating. He will always draw you to doing right and what glorifies God[9].

God guides me, on right paths, as I pray, as I engage with and study his word, as I’m led by the Holy Spirit,

Folks, we don’t always like or want the path God has for us. That’s why we don’t hear him sometimes. Because it’s a tough path, or a path that takes a lot of my time and money, doesn’t mean it’s not the right path![10].

There’s a reason God guides you on right paths… for his name’s sake. For his names sake! What’s in God’s name? Everything about God. His identity, His authority, His character and reputation.

We know Jesus’ name is the “name above all other names”. We know that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… (Phil. 2:9-10) We know, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12 (ESV)

So it’s because of his name that he has your best interests at heart, that he wants to guide you on his path.

Well, God Provides for me…secondly,

GOD PROTECTS ME

Significantly, it is at the crises moment in the Psalm that the “he” of Vv. 1-3 becomes “you” and David now addresses The Shepherd in the 1^st person.

⁴ Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. We can only imagine from the clues of scripture the scene David had in mind. It wasn’t uncommon in Palestine for shepherds to travel on dark desert roads and through valleys where danger was imminent. Either way, David is using his surroundings as metaphor to describe the inevitable difficulties and dark days we face.

God will not always keep us from difficulty or dark days. He doesn’t always keep us from serious illness, marriage problems, issues in our families, visa and employment challenges. The language the bible uses is not if, but when, or as we go through life’s difficulties.

Isaiah 43:2 says When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

In James 1 “whenever you face trials of many kinds”. Jesus said in John 16 “you will have trouble”

God doesn’t say if, but “when you” And when we do, God protects us…

A story is told of someone watching a Crecopia moth go through the struggle of freeing itself from its cocoon.  In an effort to help – and not realising the need for the struggle – the person snipped the shell of the cocoon. The moth comes out of the cocoon its wings all crimped and shrivelled up. As the person watched, the moth remained weak. If left alone the moth would have gone through the struggle of breaking out of the cocoon, developing its muscle system, ready to spread its wings and fly. Instead the moth was doomed to a short life, despite the good intentions of the person. The struggle and adversity of the moth is important for its strength to fly. God designed it that way[11].

Struggle and adversity are vital for our spiritual muscle development. Let’s be ready for it. The presence of the Lord doesn’t eliminate adversity and evil.

David’s message is despite imminent danger and inevitable dark days; the presence of the Lord means you don’t need to fear evil. Because he is with you, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. I love the picture of v. 4. This simply means that in the same way a shepherd had his resources to help guide, protect and correct his sheep, God has his supernatural resources at his disposal, for shepherding you.

We don’t need to fear because we have a 100% guarantee he will never allow permanent separation to come between you and him. Rom. 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I know some of you are going through difficulties and dark days right now. I want you to know God doesn’t stop being the shepherd in the dark valleys. He is with you!  (Isa. 40:11) He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart…

He is with you…and as we move from v.4 to v.5 I want you to notice something very special. This is bigger than David believing that God the Shepherd is with him, providing for him and protecting him. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

The metaphor here reflects a Middle Eastern hospitality tradition, where a host would prepare a lavish meal and while seated at their table, you are under their complete protection, guarded from any enemy. Because the reputation of the host is at stake.

David’s sense of security and trust in God is so strong and real, it’s as if he’s in the very home of God, being hosted by God, at Gods table, enjoying the very best God can offer him, without any fear at all…while the enemy watches on[12]. “I know Gods got me!”

1. 5 has a simple application: God not only protects you, he protects you extravagantly, with more than you need. “God’s got you”

When you’re a Christian, God is your host. You are filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19). Full of all that God wants to give you. Full of all you need for those difficulties and dark days. This is the table you and I sit at, every day[13].

The 3rd and final promise of Psalm 23 is that…

GOD PRESERVES ME

(v.6) Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…

The phrase “goodness and love will follow me” meant something deeply significant in ancient Israel. Surprisingly, in the OT the phrase “will follow me” is used to describe the relentless pursuit of an army chasing down an enemy. You’ll recall David knew 1^st hand what it felt like to be pursued, hunted by Saul.

So David experienced betrayal, the burden of leadership and the consequences of his own sin. And yet despite the difficulties and dark days he faced, David had the depth of faith to look back on his life and recognize that he had not been pursued by trials alone; the goodness and love of God had relentlessly pursued him.

This is why we sing “your goodness is running after, its running after me!” God is relentless running after you, hot on your heels! Church, whatever you are dealing with, right now, God is with you!

God Preserves, and recognising this, is why David’s life goal was…and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Ps. 27:4 helps us see what David’s heart was in Ps 23, One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Surely David’s life goal of Psalm 23:6 has to be our life goal?[14]

We know that in OT days meeting with God was in a physical place – the place where God dwelt. Today “dwelling with God” can be anywhere…

He is present everywhere, making the encouragement and the challenge for us to commune with God, to be conscious of God, to be present with him, everywhere and in everything, our goal; dwelling, living in/with Him!

Thankfully, this is possible because of Christ. The work of the cross. With us “to the…?” (Matt. 28) Because of the Holy Spirit, with us.

We might have made our plans for the next hour, day, week, but there’s no guarantee what’s in store. Psalm 23 offers so much encouragement for difficult times and dark days[15], and it will all be true for you when God is the Shepherd of your life. Whatever is ahead for you, you have this promise upon promise from Psalm 23: He Provides for you, He Protects you and, He Preserves You.

The Lord is with you!

 

Footnotes

[1] http://bible.com/r/ByQ Oswald Chambers said, “Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading

[2] Ultimately our personal Shepherd gave his life for us. John 10:11, 14-15 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. The shepherd knows his sheep and his sheep know him. Why would we not be content nor want to know a shepherd willing to give his life, for us?

[3] No other parent will identify with this but for some reason v.1 reminds me when our kids were young, in the supermarket, you have to navigate the aisle of temptation where all the lollies, chocolates are. I want one of those, I want…and what do we say. “You don’t always get what you want. You have everything you need at home”

[4] When we have to wait through three sets of light changes, he knows. When we have to wait for a surgery date, he knows. When there’s only 2 eggs, and one onion in the fridge, he knows.

[5] give me jesus lyrics – Search

[6] http://bible.com/r/7lj

[7] The Hebrew verb “shub” primarily means “to return” or “to turn back.” It is used extensively in the Old Testament to describe physical returning, such as returning to a place or person, as well as metaphorical returning, such as turning back to God or repenting from sin. The term is also used in the context of restoration, indicating a return to a previous state or condition. Strong’s Hebrew: 7725. שׁוּב (shub) — Return, turn back, restore, repent

[8] Let him help you see him. Let him bring down the shutters of what’s keeping you blind to him. Let him help you see hope, and see his greatness, let him turn your life around and nudge you toward him.

[9] Job 23:11 For I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed his ways and not turned aside.

[10] How often in life have we made a life decision that involves Jesus needing to fit in or catch up with us? How does God lead? He shows us the right path on his word.

[11] From Trusting God, Bridges, J, pg. 173

[12] David sees the enemy in his periphery. David is aware of the enemy.

[13] But evil, dark days and tough circumstances still battle against us. So in what ways, today, does God set a table for us? Through you and I. Through seeing and anticipating the needs of others. Through giving our time – sometimes considerable time – to listening. Through generosity. Through hospitality. Through asking “how are you today, can I pray for you?” Through these kinds of acts of love, we become Gods agents at his table. The most important table we have before us, that God sets, is the Lords table.

[14] This is not talking about in church every Sunday or at small group – as great as those are – this is being with God, trusting God come what may!

[15] Psalm 23 is not a cure for difficulties and dark days, it’s a promise he’s with us in them.