One of the most beloved chapters
in the New Testament
is John chapter 10. And the reason for
that is because in that chapter,
John presents Jesus as the good shepherd.
He's the good shepherd who calls his sheep
by name,
he leads them,
he,
cares for them, he protects them, even being
willing to lay down his own life to
protect them from predators.
And it is good as we think about
that chapter and as we think about that
shepherd
to have that kind of shepherd, isn't it?
To know that our God is not a
God who is far removed from us,
who just sets the world into motion and
then lets it go,
but a God who actually shepherds his people,
who loves us so much that he sends
his son to be that shepherd for us.
It is good to have
Christ as our good shepherd.
And that image of God,
God's people, people being led and being protected
and being cared for and being shepherded by
the Lord is an ancient one, is one
that you find time and again
in the Old Testament.
And perhaps,
chief among those places in the Old Testament
where we see that image of that kind
of God is Psalm 23.
It's not just the most beloved of David's
Psalms.
It's not just the most
beloved psalm in in the psalter, in the
entire psalter, but it's probably,
as James Montgomery Boice calls it, the best
love chapter
in the entire Bible.
Even people who don't memorize scripture,
will memorize Psalm 23.
Only in fear and trembling when a new
translation comes out would any kind of, translator
or edition dare change a word in Psalm
23
because it is so beloved.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon called it the pearl of
the Psalms.
In Psalm 23, the reader finds comfort,
encouragement,
and hope. And as we consider Psalm 23
this morning,
notice that in it, God is represented in
2 ways.
He's represented as our shepherd
and he's also represented as a host of
a banquet.
This is interesting, of course, because David,
had experience
with both roles.
In first Samuel 16, for example, after God
has rejected Saul,
he sends the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to
find
the the person who is to be the
new king.
And he goes to the house of a
man named Jesse.
And after Jesse presents
7 of his sons
the prophet realizes that none of these is
the one who is to be the king.
And so he asked Jesse if there is
perhaps another son.
And Jesse tells him that indeed there is
another son, the youngest of his sons, but
he's not there because he is tending sheep.
So we learn there that David, who is
to be the great king,
was a shepherd.
So when David is brought to Samuel then,
Samuel recognizes him as the one who will
be the Lord's anointed and so he indeed
anoints him in that moment and the rest
is history.
Now as king, of course, David had many
opportunities to host many banquets, as you can
imagine.
His table was always full. There were all
sorts of occasions to do that. One example
of that that you may recall is from
2nd Samuel 9 where David hosts Jonathan's son
to eat at his table, Mephibosheth.
You may recall that David is a gracious
host on that occasion,
and has Mephibosheth
at his table. Now, interestingly enough, in Psalm
23, it's not the speaker who is the
shepherd or the host,
God is.
And that's where the power of this psalm
lies.
It's not a Psalm that,
primarily
encourages you to trust in your own ability.
It doesn't invite you to rest in the
security of your possessions.
It doesn't embolden you to face your adversaries
with renewed self confidence.
It's not a call to arms. That's not
what it is,
1st and foremost.
It is a call to the arms of
your shepherd.
Now,
in terms of God being a shepherd in
this Psalm, we see that from the very
beginning. In the first line
of the psalm,
that we see that the Lord
is my shepherd. In fact, the first line
is a summary for the entire psalm. James
Montgomery Bose says this about the psalm. He
says, The psalm is a masterpiece throughout
but if ever a psalm could stand almost
on a single line,
it is this one. And the line it
can stand on is the first.
In fact, it can stand on only part
of the line, the part which says, The
Lord
is my shepherd.
Notice that the word Lord is in all
caps.
That's an indication
that in the Hebrew, it was the covenantal
name of God that was used,
represented by the four consonants, the four letters,
which often is read now as Yahweh,
y h w h in our English,
alphabet.
So those four letters, whenever you see
those four letters show up in the Hebrew
Old Testament, it is represented in our English
Bible with the word Lord in capital letters.
The point there is that it's the covenantal
name of God that is used. It's the
name that God revealed to Moses in Exodus
3.
When God spoke to Moses from the burning
bush
and God tells him,
tell the people of Israel
that the Lord
has sent you.
It is the Lord that binds himself
to deliver his people
from
their enemies.
It's the covenantal name of God that is
used here in Psalm 23. Now you might
recall, what was Moses doing in Exodus 3
when God speaks to him from the burning
bush? He was shepherding the flock of his
father-in-law,
Jethro.
So this name is is what's used here.
The first word, in fact, of Psalm 23
in Hebrew is Yahweh.
Yeah In fact, it says, Yahweh, my shepherd.
Yahweh, my shepherd. Lord,
my shepherd.
Notice the intimacy that is conveyed by those
words.
Yahweh, the God who made a covenant with
Israel,
he is my
shepherd.
He's not just Israel's shepherd.
He's not just my parents' shepherd.
He's my shepherd.
Dear Christian, do you know that Christ is
your shepherd?
Children, do you know
that Christ
is your shepherd? He's not just your parents'
shepherd,
He's your shepherd.
Do you hear his voice, dear Christian, in
his word
as he shepherds you? Do you obey his
word?
Do you submit to it?
Is your faith nurtured
by the word of your shepherd as it
is given to you in his word? And
are you nurtured also in your faith at
his table?
Do you follow wherever he leads you?
Do you trust him?
Do you rest in him no matter what
the circumstances of your life might present?
Or do you follow other shepherds? Because you
see, there are lots of shepherds.
Many would want to shepherd our lives and
they try. There's lots of voices that want
to speak to us and want to guide
us in all sorts of different ways.
Do you follow those other shepherds believing that
they will take better care of you, perhaps?
Do you listen to those other voices
believing that their wisdom and way are better
than the wisdom and way of God?
Is the Lord
really
your shepherd?
Look at verses 23.
We read, 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.
He makes me. He leads me.
He restores me.
The emphasis is on the sovereign and providential
care of God. It is he who does
all these things,
and it's a caring thing that he does
for us.
Now, why does the psalmist affirm,
I shall not want which means
I shall lack nothing. It's not because sheep
are intelligent,
independent,
and self sufficient creatures.
No.
Sheep are dumb,
vulnerable, and needy.
Without the shepherds leading, the sheep will find
no pastures to feed on.
Middle Eastern studies professor Kenneth Bailey
comments that sheep won't even drink water
if it is running water
because they're too afraid to get near it.
It must be still water.
The shepherd must lead the sheep to still
water or they will not drink.
Without the shepherd's scare, sheep are very vulnerable
not only because it's hard for them to
find food on their own and find water
on their own that they would dare to
drink, but also because they're very vulnerable to
predators.
Sheep are not particularly good at defending themselves.
They don't run very fast so they can't
get away.
Without the shepherd's guidance,
sheep will wander off
and get lost.
In fact, where we read here, he restores
my soul,
it literally says,
he returns
my soul or he returns
my life. In other words, he returns me,
he finds me.
And perhaps,
that may recall images,
bring images into our mind of Luke 15
in the parable of the lost sheep and
how the shepherd leaves the 99 behind to
go and find the lost sheep. That's the
kind of shepherd that we have.
And he does this because his reputation is
on the line as a good shepherd. He
doesn't lose a single sheep.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
It's good for us to know that Christ,
our good shepherd, puts his reputation on the
line in his care for us.
So when we are undergoing difficult
things, trials, tribulations, we can know
that we will not be lost
because our Good Shepherd is the one that
is protecting us. Listen, sheep,
left to themselves,
lack everything.
But the psalmist affirms, I shall not want.
I
lack nothing
because the Lord
is his shepherd
and that lord is the one who is
in control of his nurture,
of his care,
and of his protection.
Do you know what God do you know
that God
cares for you in this way?
Children, this is one of the reasons that
God has placed you under the care of
your parents.
Your parents are to provide for you,
to protect you,
to care for you,
and they're to disciple you. They're shepherding you.
So whenever you practice family worship at home,
I know that that is your favorite time
of the day to do family worship. That's
how my kids are,
said no parent ever.
It ought to be our favorite time
because we are being conformed to the image
of Christ.
Your parents do this because they are being
obedient to their shepherd when they catechize you,
when you study the catechism together.
That's what we're doing we're discipling you. We
are shepherding you. When we do corporate worship
together that's what's going on and not just
you but your parents. We are all being
shepherded
as we do this, as we come together.
The good shepherd makes his sheep
lie down and feed on green pastures, David
tells us. Now, of course, that means that
he provides food for them just like God
provides our food.
That's why, we have that petition in the
Lord's prayer that we would that the Lord
would be the one who provides our daily
bread and he does that and we're thankful
for that. But it's not just physical food
that he provides, the green pastures also represent
spiritual food,
spiritual nourishment.
He gives us his word.
Charles Spurgeon comments,
What are these green pastures?
But the scriptures of truth?
Always fresh,
always rich,
and never exhausted.
Are you feeding
on the green pastures?
Are you feeding on scripture? Is it your
daily bread?
It is by contemplating and digesting God's word
and by allowing God's spirit to quench our
thirst with his grace that our soul is
nourished and refreshed
and as the Psalm says restored.
We are returned to life as we read
this word which is our life.
What a blessing that this psalm begins with
a reminder
that God provides us with rest
and restoration,
that he provides us with his word to
nourish us.
Now, are you availing yourselves
of this provision from God?
Are you submitting
to his care? Is it your priority to
always begin your week
with worship
and with rest as you are doing now
on the Lord's day?
This is why not only do we worship
on the lord's day but also we rest
on the lord's day. We have refreshment. We
have fellowship.
We need that. It is a way in
which our shepherd cares for us and so
we have to avail ourselves of such a
good care.
Look at verse 4
now. 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. Notice the pronoun change
that takes place here in verse 4.
We go from he,
he is my shepherd, to you.
During,
during summer and fall in Israel,
the weather is very, very hot
and the shepherd has to lead his flock
to find pastures to eat because the the
scorching heat of the sun will make all
the grass die.
And so this is why this can entail
going into,
dark valleys
where the shadows protect
the grass there from the heat of the
sun and really what they tend to feed
on is just weeds
but but the ravines in the in the
valleys also allow the grass to grow whereas
in the areas that are exposed, the grass
would not grow.
But valleys are places, of course, where predators
and thieves can easily hide because both of
the rugged terrain and because of the darkness.
Wickedness loves darkness.
Danger loves darkness. Doing things in secret.
Even though we are children of the light,
sometimes we have to deal with darkness, don't
we? And we can be sure that in
those dark places,
our Lord is with us.
Now flash floods also occur frequently in the
Middle East and valleys are particularly dangerous places
when that happens because without warning, they'll come
and and they will flood the valleys and
so,
it's a dangerous place.
So the psalmist indicates therefore
that not only are green pastures and still
waters part of God's provision and plan,
but so are dark valleys.
It's important for us to hear that.
It's not just that when things are good
we can say, oh, God is shepherding me.
He is caring for me.
Even in the dark valleys, he goes before
us.
He leads us into those dark valleys
and he does not let go.
Somehow,
because he is so great, he uses those
dark valleys to conform us more to him.
To make our prayer life better.
To remind us that he is the one
who provides all our security, and all of
our comfort, and all of our care.
Puritan Thomas Boston writes,
everyone knows what is most pleasant to him
but God alone knows what is most profitable.
It is during these dark and dangerous times
that he, as our shepherd, is closer
than ever.
Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil
for you
are with me, the psalmist says.
He doesn't say, for he is with me.
He says, no, you
are with me.
He's talking to his shepherd.
How good is that to know that he
is with us?
Your rod and your staff, they come for
me, says the psalmist. The rod,
and the staff were the tools of the
trade for the shepherd.
The rod was used to fend off predators.
The staff was a walking stick to guide
the sheep and even with the hook at
the end to,
to to bring the sheep back into the
fold whenever it would wander away.
Even in the valley of our life, we
must draw comfort in the fact that God
as our shepherd is our guide and our
protector.
It's even comforting to know that death itself
is now a mere shadow
because our shepherd has led the way through
death.
Look at what the author of Hebrews writes
in Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15. He
writes,
since therefore the children share in flesh and
blood,
Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things,
that through death
he might destroy the one
who has the power of death,
that is the devil, and deliver all those
who through fear of death were subject to
lifelong
slavery.
Our shepherd has walked
this dark path before
and he has conquered it. He has swallowed
it up.
He has removed its sting.
Only its shadow remains.
And if there's a shadow, you can be
sure that there is light beyond it. Christ
himself
is our light.
It is in the hope of his light
that we now walk.
Now, what about this image of God as
host? In verse 5, that's where the metaphor
changes in this Psalm. He goes from shepherd
to host. Look at verse 5.
We read,
you prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup
overflows.
Now,
in the heat of the ancient Near East,
it was customary that when you were hosting
a banquet,
you would, whenever you would receive guests, you
would anoint their head with oil. And the
reason you would do this is because it
would provide refreshment to their skin and also
would be oil mixed with,
with perfume and so it would provide a
pleasing aroma for the guests and for all
the other guests who were there.
And the overflowing cup that we see here,
is a symbol of the gracious
and abundant provision at the table
of this magnificent
host. So he's a host that takes care
of his guests in every way. In 2
Corinthians 4, Paul writes that we as Christians
have received the greatest gift of all and
that this gift has been given to us
who are mere jars of clay.
But these jars of clay
are overflowing
with this gift. Our cup
overflows.
The gospel rightly received
cannot be contained.
Our cup overflows so that others might taste
and see that the Lord, this great host
of the banquet,
is good.
William Secor, the Puritan writes,
why does the Lord make your cup run
over
but that other men's lips might taste the
liquor?
The showers that fall upon the highest mountains
should glide into the lowest valleys.
This is why we are
to, evangelize.
This is why we are to share the
good news of Jesus Christ with others. This
is why we are to invite people to
come to our gatherings
on Sunday morning to worship this great host
and even during the week so that they
can learn more as we study the Bible
together but not just study the Bible together
as we,
demonstrate the love of God, the forgiveness of
God, the mercy of God, the graciousness of
God to one another. That's how God shows
his love for people as we,
as his body, do the very things that
God calls us to do.
The fact that the table is prepared in
the presence of the psalmist's enemies is a
picture of total victory.
The hostess conquered
all of his and all of our enemies.
It was customary, of course, in antiquity whenever
a general would triumph to actually prepare a
feast and he would have the the,
the ones who were captured, those captives of
the enemies at the feast not eating but
watching the victorious army,
enjoy the spoils of their victory. So there's
a sense in which that's going on but
that's not all that's going on. Perhaps even
more important than that, it's a picture of
the host's steadfast love and loyalty.
He throws a banquet for the psalmist
in the presence of the psalmist's enemies.
The host is not ashamed
of his guest.
The host is willing to publicly align himself
with the psalmist
no matter the cost.
Now, we might be ashamed of ourselves when
we sin.
It's a grievous thing.
We say, how can we be sinning again
when we have such a gracious host, such
a good God,
such a pure Savior?
And there we are again,
sinning.
And so we feel shame from that.
And Satan, of course, reminds us of our
sin constantly.
How good it is to know
that our host is not ashamed of us.
He prepares a table
for us in the presence of our enemies.
He aligns himself with us. He says, He
is mine and I am his.
Remember that. It's not that our sin is
not significant it's not that we shouldn't,
turn away from it. We should, of course.
But know that our Lord knows everything about
us
and he loves loves us nonetheless.
While we were his enemies,
Christ died for us and he has adopted
us. We have that kind of gracious host.
The host is willing to publicly align with
the psalmist no matter what the cost is.
And the host treats the psalmist
in the presence of those
who hate him
as his honored guest
anointing his head his head with oil and
having his servants
always at the beck and call of the
guest, making sure that his cup
never runs out, that it always overflows.
Imagine if we treated our host with that
kind of loyalty.
He's not ashamed of us but are we
ashamed of him?
Would we honor him in the presence of
his enemies?
Those who would speak against him
no matter what the cost might be to
us. You know, a time might be coming
when we'll be called to do that very
thing.
There's a sense in which we are called
to do that now, of course, but when
the cost will be very significant,
will we will we be embarrassed of our
host? He's not embarrassed of us even though
he might have reason to.
We have no reason to be embarrassed of
him. May we not be embarrassed of him
when the time comes. So again, this message
is that those under his sovereign and providential
care will lack nothing. They shall not want.
The 2 images in Psalm 23, that of
shepherd and of hosts, both bear witness to
this fact.
Remember, according to Scripture,
the testimony of 2 witnesses is trustworthy.
And here we have 2 witnesses, that of
a shepherd and that of a host,
saying, you are mine.'
The scriptures
are 2 witnesses in one sense. The Old
Testament bears witness to the Messiah that will
one day come. The New Testament bear with
bears witness to that same Messiah that has
already come. Two witnesses
are worthy
of of trust.
And we have here 2 witnesses
to God, the shepherd,
and the host. This is grace upon grace.
It's a picture of the fulfillment of God's
promises,
which of course lead us to verse 6.
Look at what verse 6 says.
We read,
surely goodness
and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my
life,
and I shall dwell in the house of
the Lord
forever.
In the end,
under God's care,
the predators that seek to devour us will
fail.
The shepherd with his rod and his staff
goes before us.
And goodness and mercy, that is goodness and
steadfast love, like like 2 dogs that are
caring for the shepherd's flock are at our
rear guard.
The Hebrew for verse 6 actually reads, And
I will return to the house of the
Lord for the length of my days.
Which is a picture of fulfillment of God's
promise to sustain us, to per to persevere
us, to preserve us.
When we belong to the good shepherd,
we don't walk alone
and we don't lack a home.
In John 10, Jesus says, I am the
door of the sheep.
If Jesus is your shepherd,
that door never closes.
In John 637,
Jesus says, all that the father gives me
will come to me
and whoever comes to me, I will never
cast out.
John Bunyan, the Puritan pastor and author of
the Pilgrim's Progress commenting on this verse writes
he imagines this,
sinner before the shepherd, before Jesus Christ having
this conversation, the sinner saying,
but I am a great sinner, sayest thou.
I will know in no wise cast out,
says
Christ. But I am an old sinner, sayest
thou.
I will in no wise cast out,
says Christ.
But I am a hard hard hard hearted
sinner, sayest thou.
I will in no wise cast out, says
Christ.
But I am a backsliding sinner, sayest thou.
I will in no wise cast out,
says Christ.
But I have served Satan all my days,
saest thou.
I will in no wise cast out,
says Christ.
But I have sinned against light, saest thou.
I will in no wise cast out, says
Christ.
But I have sinned against mercy,
saest thou.
I will in no wise cast out,
says Christ.
But I have done no good thing to
bring with me, saest thou.
I will in no wise
cast
out, says Christ.
The grace, and mercy, and compassion, and steadfast
love of Christ our shepherd is so great,
so limitless for his flock that we can
rightly say, The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.'
Of course, we know all of this is
true.
Not because of David
but because of David's son and David's Lord
and David's shepherd.
Jesus
fulfills
this promise.
All of these promises. After Herod Antipas
beheads John the Baptist,
the fame of Jesus grows.
His miracles and teaching are attracting many, many
followers, many, so many that they this crowd
gathers around him and they want to crown
him as king.
Now you can be sure
that Herod's court was closely following Jesus,
trying to determine whether or not he was
to lead an insurrection.
In Mark 6,
Jesus saw a great crowd that was following
him, looking to him in hope. And we
read that Jesus has compassion on this crowd
that was following him because they were like
sheep without
a shepherd.
So you know what Jesus does?
Jesus gathers them
and he sits them down in green pastures
and besides the waters of the Sea of
Galilee.
And he tends to their spiritual needs by
teaching them.
And then he miraculously, with just 5 loaves
of bread and 2 fish,
prepares a meal before them even in the
presence of Pharisees
and of Herod's spies.
And they eat until they are satisfied.
All 5,000 of them, their cup overflows.
In John 10, Jesus tells us that he
is the good shepherd who lays down his
life for his sheep.
In Hebrews 13 20, Jesus is called the
great shepherd of the sheep.
In 1st Peter 5:4, Jesus is called the
chief shepherd.
In Revelation 19,
we read of the wedding supper of the
lamb,
where Christ will be the lavish host
and where guests will lack nothing.
But I leave you with the words of
Revelation 7 verses 15 to 17 which present
for us a picture of Psalm 23
fulfilled.
The Lamb of God, who is also the
shepherd of the sheep and the great host
of God's temple
whose inhabitants lack nothing. Look at what we
read there.
Therefore, they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day night in his temple.
And he who sits on the throne will
shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst anymore.
The sun shall not strike them, nor any
scorching heat.
For the lamb, in the midst of the
throne,
will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of
living water.
And God will wipe away
every tear
from their eyes.
Beloved, Christ is the good shepherd.
Is he your shepherd? Let's pray.