“A Personal Psalm”
Psalm 23
This Psalm is, by far, one of the most familiar passages in the Bible. Most of us learned it as children in Sunday School, can say it by memory with a little help, have heard it at virtually every funeral service we've ever attended and often recite it to ourselves for comfort and reassurance in difficult times. It is a very personal Psalm.
It's an old friend we're all familiar with. Yet, familiarity has its downside: We can become so accustomed to the rhythm and meter of the words that we miss the meaning altogether. So, this morning I'd like to take a closer look at these six short verses of scripture and ask you to listen to them as if you've never heard them before. Like Kellogg's Cornflakes', I invite you to "taste them again for the very first time." The passage begins, "The Lord is my shepherd..."
The metaphor of the shepherd is used sixty times in fifty-four verses of the Bible. It speaks of God's compassion – how God provides for our needs, protects us from danger and steers us along safe paths, and how, in mercy, God seeks us out when we go astray and brings us back to the fold.
"The Lord is my shepherd..." It was an image the people of Israel could relate to. Many of them were shepherds. They knew what it meant to go out in front, to lead the way, to be the one who had to decide which path to take. They knew the responsibility the shepherd had to watch over the sheep and guard them from predators. And so, it didn't take much for them to make the connection, to confess the Lord as our shepherd is to place our trust in the Lord.
The psalm goes on to say, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."
Now, there are two ways of understanding wants. One is having what you desire, and the other is being content with what you have. The psalm doesn't say that God will satisfy our insatiable appetites; only that God will give us the things we need for a full and abundant life.
The Apostle Paul warned Timothy about the dangers of excess and counseled him to seek a simple life. He wrote,
"But godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into the world,
and we certainly can't carry anything out.
But having food and clothing,
we will be content with that." (1 Timothy 6:7-8)
Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Give us today our daily bread." He said, "Don't lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth." (Matthew 6:19) What this says to me is, God would have us trust him to supply our needs and be grateful for what we have. The psalm goes on to read,
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: "
Having just returned from Arizona, I can imagine there's a lot of similarity between parts of Arizona and the Judean wilderness, which is the setting for the 23rd Psalm. The Judean wilderness is mostly sand and rocks with a little scrub brush here and there, and we certainly saw a great deal of that in our travels. It's rugged terrain, hot and dry and forbidding. And yet, there are creek bed in the wilderness where, often, a tiny stream of water flows. Around these you can find trees and green scrubs and fertile soil. And so, it's these lush gardens in the wilderness the psalmist pictures as he sees the good shepherd leading the sheep across the jagged hillsides to a place that's peaceful and serene, a place where they can graze and drink and be sheltered from the storms.
Well, I don't have to tell you, we all experience seasons of barrenness in our lives, times when it takes all the strength and stamina we can muster just to keep going. What we need to remember is that it's at times like these that God is especially there for us to see us through.
Do you know the little poem called, "Footprints"? Many of you do. It's about a man walking across the sands of time, looking back over the course of his life. He sees two sets of footprints, his and the Lord's. Then he notices that, at the most troubled times of his life, there is only one set of footprints, so he asks,
"Lord ... I don't understand why, when I needed you the most,
you would leave me."
The Lord replied, "My child, I love you,
and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."
The truth is, God's grace will sustain us through the difficult days of our lives, and all we have to do is lean upon his everlasting arms. The psalm goes on,
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.
Let's be honest, the valley of the shadow of death is a place we're all a little squeamish about. Death is a mystery we cannot fully comprehend. It's a reality of life over which we have little control. No one who's died has ever come back to describe the experience. I think this is why we're so fascinated and intrigued with so-called, "near-death experiences." We'd like to know what to expect. Is it painful? Is it scary? Do you simply wake up on the other side?
We don't know the answers, but we do know that it's an individual experience. Others can be with us and hold our hand and assure us that we're not alone, but they cannot share the experience of death with us. It's between us and God alone. Ironically, those who've walked through the valley of the shadow of death tell us that it's precisely at these moments that we come the closest to knowing that we're not alone. God is with us. His grace is sufficient for our need. The psalm continues,
"Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies."
We all have enemies. If not people who don't like us, we have enemies such as sickness and aging and declining health. God's promise is that, through faith, our enemies will not prevail against us. They won't have the last word. On the contrary, in the face of our enemies, God throws a party in our honor. We're able to feast on the riches of God's grace, even as our minds fade and our bodies grow weak and frail. The psalmist continues,
Thou anointest my head with oil.
My cup runneth over."
In both the Old and New Testament, anointing refers to the practice of sealing a covenant and bestowing a blessing.
The Good News for us today is that we are God's anointed! We are the ones God has chosen to share his grace and love. The 1st Letter of Peter puts it this way,
"But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for God's own choosing,
that you may proclaim the excellence of God
who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
who in time past were no people,
but now are God's people,
who had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy." (1 Peter 2:9-10)
The psalm concludes by saying,
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
And this is the bottom line: God did not bring us into this world to abandon us and put us out on our own. God created us in God’s own image and bestowed upon us the gift of life in order that we might live in a loving relationship with God and each other. God is love, and the love of God is from everlasting to everlasting. Wherever the Spirit leads us, for however long we live, we have the assurance of God's blessings along the way. What's more, we have the promise of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who said,
"In my Father's house are many rooms.
If it weren't so, I would have told you.
I am going to prepare a place for you.
If I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and will receive you to myself;
that where I am, you may be there also." (John 14:2-4)
Well, here's what I hope you'll take home with you today: The 23rd Psalm is more than just a pretty passage of scripture; it's a reminder of who we are and whose we are, of where we've been and where we're going. I hope you'll read it often. Let it remind you of the love of God which enfolds you, the peace of Christ which surrounds you and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within you which promises to give you victory over sin and death, now and forever more.
In closing, let's say the words of this beautiful and personal Psalm together once more:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
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.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Amen.
