Shepherd and Guide - Psalm 23

                                    

This fall we’ll be journeying through the psalms. The psalms are Israel’s songbook, giving us words to talk to God, helping us find the words we need to talk to him as they speak to life and all that life can throw at us. They speak of joy and worship, of fear and hopelessness, of anger and confusion, and even of revenge, yet in all the psalms, except one, they end in trusting in God.

We begin our journey with Psalm 23, one of the most loved and well-known psalms in the Bible. This is a psalm of trust and hope written from the perspective of the sheep, from our perspective, as we look to God and Jesus. Psalm 23’s about belonging, being part of the flock. It’s an honest psalm, acknowledging our need for a shepherd who sticks by his sheep in quiet and in difficult times, a shepherd who’s diligent in his responsibilities. We need a shepherd because we’re not nearly as capable of taking care of ourselves as we believe we are. Of course, many of us can do fine without a shepherd when things go smoothly; it’s when life doesn’t go smoothly that we look to our shepherd, or we end up struggling along without hope, without peace, without a foundation of meaning, purpose, or belonging.

King David wrote this psalm in a spirit of trust and faith. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” David has no ordinary shepherd, his shepherd’s the Lord himself, a powerful claim. “I lack nothing,” doesn’t mean that we get everything we want, but it means that we turn to our shepherd when we need something. David calls us to trust that our shepherd knows us and our needs better than we know ourselves. He provides for us in our needs: physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally. Our shepherd provides enough for the entire flock; it’s up to us to make sure that we care for each other. There are always those who have more, those capable of creating more, while others aren’t able to provide for themselves and their families as well. This is why we’re part of a flock, we bring what we have to the table and make sure all have enough, whether it’s physical help, encouragement, a sense of belonging, or even a sense of purpose as we walk together. The early church in Acts 2 understood this, it made Roman emperors crazy.

The shepherd “makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” The Lord takes his sheep to pastures filled with healthy grazing, to quiet waters so they can drink safely. Sheep dislike running water and Israel’s filled with mountain streams so good shepherds would divert water from the streams to create quiet pools so the sheep would drink. Our shepherd cares about rest for our souls, about the worries, fears, and anxieties that fill many of our hearts and minds. More people are living with stress today, many of our teens and young adults confess to living with almost constant stress and growing levels of anxiety, but adults aren’t immune to this either.

Part of this comes from our economic situation, part of it comes from our obsession with social media and the freedom many people feel to strike out, bully, mock, and hurt others. Social media can have a negative influence on us, there’s growing nastiness and followers of Jesus are often part of it or impacted by it. We complain about our children and youth constantly on their phones, but parents and grandparents are often as much at fault. When camping, I noticed families and friends sitting at their campsites, staring at their phones rather than being with each other. It’s difficult to refresh your soul on social media, we need to turn to our shepherd to refresh our souls.

We need our shepherd’s guidance to keep on the right path, for our soul’s sake, and for the sake of our families, church, and community. How we live impacts others. Many of us aren’t always so self-aware and fail to recognize those times when we need those green pastures and quiet waters or wander down questionable paths. We’re not always good at listening to our shepherd’s guidance and how the Spirit urges us to keep our eyes on our shepherd. Over the next few years, we’ll be working as a church family to focus more deeply on faith formation and faith practices to help us in each of our households to grow deeper in our trust in Jesus and shape our lives more deliberately on Jesus’ way.

David recognizes the Lord has a destination and path in place for us, but that path will not always be easy. Jesus’ way is different than our society’s way and he doesn’t always fill us in on the why of his way. It takes trust that Jesus’ path is the right path, that he’s leading us on a path that leads to flourishing and shalom for us personally and as communities. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we often choose our own paths instead like wandering sheep. Trust is hard, and we’ve been influenced by our culture’s insistence that we know better than God what’s best for us. This attitude goes back all the way to Adam and Eve who figured they knew better than God what was best for them and didn’t trust God completely and listened to voices different than God’s. This is one of  the reasons why we may find our path sometimes leading into dark valleys.

David gets real now about the importance of those times in green pastures and beside quiet waters. There are going to be times when we’ll walk through the darkest valleys, times when evil will feel close, when the shepherd’s path will be hard. There will be times when we’ll walk through sorrow, fear, loss, and brokenness that will sap away our strength and hope and make it hard to trust our shepherd as our souls and hearts get overwhelmed when life becomes turbulent and chaos engulfs us. This is a sharp turn from green pastures and quiet waters.  Our shepherd doesn’t always protect us from dark times, allows them to enter into our lives. I’ve experienced dark times like many of you, and what’s carried me through those times is the knowledge that I don’t walk those times alone. In experiencing darkness, I’ve learned to trust that Jesus will lead me back into times of light. I’ve learned to appreciate those times of green pastures better.

David trusts that, “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.” Jesus offers us this same assurance when he tells his disciples, John 14:15–18, “If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” We hear an echo of this in Hebrews 13:5–6, “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Jesus doesn’t come with a punishing rod or staff. Jesus’ rod and staff pulled me from times of potential disaster while protecting me from situations and people who only wished to hurt and destroy. Jesus’ presence gave hope and strength to make it through those dark times, even when they lasted longer than I wished.

David sees his shepherd as a protector and provider, especially in dangerous times, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” In the fields and wilderness are lions, bears, bandits and more and the shepherd protects his vulnerable sheep from these dangers. In the middle of danger, the shepherd sets a table, a place of hospitality and acceptance, a place of safety and plenty. In biblical times, it was custom to invite travelers and strangers to come eat while the host provided a safe place to refresh themselves. The table echoes ahead to Jesus’ parables of banquets and wedding feasts; for me it also echoes ahead to our communion table where we remember Jesus saving us from our sin through his sacrifice.

Enemies don’t always become friends; evil will always be part of our world until Jesus returns. This psalm doesn’t pretend that everything is always going to be alright, but it does promise that the Lord is with us, will provide for us, that he’s not stingy in providing us with what we need, whether it’s material things, grace, forgiveness, comfort, peace, or his presence. “My cup overflows.” The sheep’s trust in the shepherd shines brightly in the end, “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.” The sheep are confident in their shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep; Jesus, who took all our sin away on the cross, who protects us from Satan and evil, and who will come when our place in the Father’s mansion is ready, to take us home to be with him forever. Until that time, we choose to trust in our shepherd.