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Psalm 23
All right, everyone, grab your Bibles, if you have them, and turn with me to Psalm 23. And if you do not have one, there should be a hardback black one under a seat near you. And if you don't have one, that is our gift to you.
Psalm chapter 23. And the title of today's message is The Heavenly Shepherd Host. The Heavenly Shepherd Host. And if you would, please, as always, stand with me for the honoring and reading of God's holy, infallible, and all-sufficient Word.
And we will read these six verses that are, in fact, God-briefed. Psalm 23. Yahweh is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. And even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I 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 have anointed my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. Amen? Amen. Please have a seat with me. Well, I'm not going to sit down, but you have a seat. I'm going to remain standing.
And get your eyes back on the text. The reality, friends, is—and I don't have to convince many of you of this—but life is hard, and we are feeble, and that reality is one of the reasons why we are called sheep, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament alike.
God in the Old Testament, obviously, we see here Yahweh is called a shepherd. And this shepherd gave his church undershepherds, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus in John chapter 10 tells us that he is, in fact, the good shepherd, identifying himself in all ways with this Yahweh shepherd, because he was, in fact, God in the flesh.
And this theme of shepherd really runs throughout the Bible, helping us to understand both that we have a great shepherd and that we are sheep and we are in need of a shepherd. Now, Psalm 23, in many ways, needs no introduction.
And what I mean by that is this psalm is plastered everywhere, and you're well acquainted with that being from the Bible Belt. It is on coffee mugs and t-shirts at Mardell's. It is, in fact, everywhere that you look.
But more than that, it is known to the faint-hearted, the weary, and the sorrowful alike. This psalm, in many ways, is sweet balm to the broken. Its words here are obviously pinned by David, a shepherd himself, someone who would have understood what it meant, in fact, to be a shepherd.
And the reality is many of the images that we have of a shepherd are insufficient. And what do I mean by that? I mean that we oftentimes take this idea of what a shepherd is from storybook Bibles made for children, because there's not a lot of shepherds, especially that exist today, that are doing it in a way that they did in the first century.
When I was deployed, for instance, to Africa, and one of the hottest places and poorest places that the world has to offer, and functions much like they did in Bible times, I saw a shepherd. At the time, I didn't know he was a shepherd.
I thought he was a police officer or somebody in their army. And the reason I thought that is because he had blades to the teeth on him, and he had what seemed to look like to me shoulder pads that he borrowed from the NFL, and he was walking around looking like he was going to potentially murder someone, and yet he had a bunch of sheep with him.
And I remember asking the translator at the time, what's going on here? Is this guy going to hurt us? Do we need to be worried about this? Is he a local police officer in this community? And he said, no, this is a shepherd.
And in that moment, I was like, what? I mean, the only thing I know about a shepherd is that they have long flowing hair, they kind of float around, right? And they carry lambs on their shoulder, and they wear pink, and they're very sweet, and they're very tender, and they're just there to pet all the time.
And I said something like that to him, probably not those exact words, and he said something to the effect of, once again, this was a long time ago, so direct quotes are probably out the door, but something to the effect of, oh no, he's got to be able to protect the sheep, to protect them from creatures that would kill them.
He needs to be able to protect them against thieves that would break in, because people want to steal them for their wool in a place like this. It's really the lifeblood of this entire community, and if he is not willing to do whatever it takes to care for his sheep, even if that means slaying other creatures or men, then he's not a shepherd.
And in that moment, I realized, man, I have had a very deficient view of what a shepherd is. And that began to, you know, many months later, after I had become a Christian, explode my idea of what a shepherd is.
And so when we look at Psalm 23, knowing it's written by a shepherd, about the shepherd, we need to understand that this shepherd is greater and different than you probably think he is. He's more loving, and he's more tender than you think he is, there's no doubt about that, but he's more fierce than you think he is, so that he can protect his sheep.
So Psalm 23, though it is ancient, it is ever relevant, it radiates hope, comfort, and assurance, and it has met many people, not only in the valleys of their own life, but on the hospital beds, as they looked death in the face.
In fact, one church historian noted, as I was reading this week, it has, speaking of the Psalm, sung courage to the army of the disappointed. It has poured balm and consolation into the hearts of the sick, of captives in dungeons, of windows in their pinching grief, of widows in their pinching grief, not windows, of orphans in their loneliness.
Dying soldiers have died easier as it was read to them. Ghastly hospitals have been illuminated. It has visited the prisoner and broken his chains and sung the wayward back home again. It has made the dying Christian slave freer than his harsh taskmaster.".
So this is a big deal, and it's helpful. It's helpful for us to bury our faces in and to let our hearts soak in its truth. So let's do that. The first point that I have, the first thing that I want you to note, is the shepherd's provision.
The shepherd's provision, he is a shepherd, and he provides for us. He begins, the psalmist here, David. Of course, that's what the superscription says, a psalm of David. He says, Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want.
So here we have David presenting God, Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God, as one who is, in fact, not just God, but a shepherd. And so what happens, or what is happening here, rather, is that he is injecting our eyes and our hearts into a relationship between us and him.
By saying he is the shepherd, he is implying that we are, in fact, his sheep. This first metaphor in this psalm describes, you know, this beautiful linking between the Lord and his people with such tenderness, a tenderness that resembles that of, obviously, a shepherd.
He understood a shepherd, and now he's transferring this idea, this imagery of a shepherd, to God himself. And I want you to understand that when David said this, this was likely going to rub a lot of people the wrong way.
And if you understand it correctly, it might rub you the wrong way. And what I mean by that is this. This implies, very succinctly and pointedly, that God gets dirty with his people. It's amazing what is being said here, because in ancient Israel, a shepherd was considered the lowest of lowly, the lowest of work.
It would be like saying, for example, God is like Mike Rowe, the guy who does the dirty jobs. A shepherd would actually live with his sheep 24 hours a day with unwavering devotion. Day and night, rain or sunshine, both in fair weather and in bad.
And he would do that to nurture them, to guide them, and to protect them. And in doing so, accept a full responsibility for the needs and the safety of his flock, even risking his own life for their protection.
And this is what God has chosen to be for his people. We've seen this over and over throughout the Old Testament, and once again in the New Testament. The shepherd is the sheep's everything. He's their constant protector.
We see that this is what God assumes in places like Psalm 28, 9. Save your people and bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also and carry them forever. And in Psalm 103, know that Yahweh, he is God.
It is he who has made us, and not for ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. God is a shepherd, and we must understand him as such. And as such, he gets messy and dirty with his people.
He gets to them in the mess of their life. And that's important because sheep need shepherds. That should go without saying, and I've already said it, but we'll continue to press down. Left to themselves, it is true, and something worth noting, that sheep lack everything.
Sheep need help because they are helpless animals, like we are helpless animals. And they, if left to themselves, they lack everything, as I said. Totally helpless and defenseless, under God's care or under a shepherd's care, all their needs are abundantly met.
So under the watch care of the shepherd who is all-sufficient and exhaustible and unchanging, his sheep are precious to him, and they shall not want. So here he is, Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want.
That means you won't lack anything, right? You will not have want of anything. So if God is your shepherd, if you are in Christ, then he will make sure that you are taken care of. But not just that, he will make sure that you are personally taken care of.
So he has made provision as a shepherd relationally, but he also makes provision personally. I want you to note here, he doesn't just say that he is a shepherd and we will not have any want, he says he is my shepherd.
Now this is incredibly important, and in fact, this is actually really potent. It's compact, but it is insanely heartwarming. He's not just a shepherd, he's your shepherd, Saint. He is walking with you in every single part of your life, through your ups, through your downs, through your heartache, through your joy, through your pain and suffering, and through everything in between.
David here acknowledges that God not only as the shepherd of Israel cares for his people, but as your shepherd cares for you. And this phrase here implies a God who is actively and intimately involved in everything regarding the life of his sheep.
He's not distant, he's not distracted, he's close, present, and concerned with every detail of our lives. This is why Charles Spurgeon, commenting on this passage, said, if he be a shepherd to no one else, he is a shepherd to me.
He cares for me, he watches over me, and he, despite everything that might go ill, preserves me. This is our shepherd. Children, would you look at me for just a second? I want to help you understand this a little bit better.
I want you to picture, if you can, a young shepherd who is walking throughout the pastures, and he loves those sheep, and he knows each of those sheep by name. He knows all of their favorite things to do, whether that be to lay down in the grass, or to walk over by the brook and drink, or to to have his belly itched.
He knows every thing. He knows their name, he knows everything about them. And these sheep, they recognize this voice of their shepherd. And the reason for that is because there's this intimate relationship that they have with one another.
Maybe like you have to some degree with the pets at your house, but on a much grander scale. Now this is what David is trying to get us to understand, that God knows and loves you like that. He loves you and cares for you like a shepherd cares for his sheep.
And so let me ask this question of everyone in the room here. Do you know this shepherd? Is he your shepherd? Or is he just a shepherd in theory, in a world that offers substitutes and shadows that promise shepherding?
There's only one shepherd, and he's only God after through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who says he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father or the shepherd but through him.
It is Jesus. So if you want God as your Savior, you must cling by faith to this Christ who personifies and makes clear the shepherd's shepherdness. And he is personal, present, and providing for every need that we will ever have.
He also makes peaceful provision. Moving on to the next verse, he says in verse two, he makes me lie down in green pastures and he leads me beside quiet waters. Did you catch that? He makes me lie down in green pastures and he leads me besides quiet waters here.
He's pointing to a tranquil and peaceable place of inhabiting. But the first two words here are worth underlining, circling, and bearing in your heart. It doesn't say that he offers a place for you to go and to be laid up in a luxurious place.
He says he makes you lie down. He's not waiting for you to lie down. He's going to press you there by the power of his Spirit and by his loving hand. I have said this as it regards salvation and it extends here.
The Christian is the only one. The sheep are the only ones who do not get what they want. We would rather go to the grass that we think is greener on the other side instead of shop there. And God says, no, you go here where it's tranquil, where it's beautiful, and where it cannot ever disappoint, where nurturing happens.
He will make us lie down in green pastures. So not only are we rebellious, but we're also fearful and we easily panic. And when we're scared, we will not lie down and rest. Why? Because we think that we have to work to get ourselves out of trouble, out of sin.
What can I do to atone for my sin, we think. But the promise of the gospel and what is made very clear even in this psalm as we progress is the only one who can give us rest is Christ. And you will never get rest by trying to create rest for yourself, but by allowing the Lord Yahweh of hosts lead us aside quiet waters and to embark upon green pastures.
Why? Because the shepherd is the only one who can provide the calm assurance that they would in fact make them lie down in grassy meadows. He's the only one who can inject peace into our hearts and satisfaction in the God whom we love.
So here we see abundance, tranquility, nourishment, rest, and a place where ultimately as we will see our souls can be restored. So he removes from us our anxieties, he removes from us our rebellious nature, and he removes from us even our inability to trust him by continually wooing us, loving us, and pursuing us.
Something I read in regard to this text which kind of was mind-blowing to me, and I believe it because I don't know anything about shepherding in real life, it all comes from books, and so if they're lying and somebody out here has been a shepherd you can correct me after the sermon, but here's the deal.
Apparently if a brook that has water in it which will water these sheep, if it is too violent they will not even drink water and they will die. Because they will refuse to drink it. Though they know it will give them life, they will literally die of thirst.
And so a good shepherd will go and they will put rocks to dam up the place so that the waters will no longer be as violent, so that they might drink and have life. And that's what's being said here, that he is doing that for us, and he will do that for us.
Because once again life is hard and we are feeble. You know there's often a saying that kind of rolls around Christian circles that I've, you know one of the blessings of not growing up in church, which I did not really, is that when I hear stupid things I immediately am like that's that's stupid, and why do you guys, why do we say that?
I don't even understand, you know. And one of those is God will, you know, not give you anything you can't handle. You know what, if you read the Bible we can't handle much. All of it's like stuff we can't handle, you know what I mean?
The only verse, you know, in the Bible that would even suggest something remotely close to this is said that says that, you know, whatever sin struggle you might have, that's common to man. First Corinthians, like, I don't remember, it's somewhere in there, you'll find it.
This was not in my notes, that's why I don't know that. But, you know, but he says, you know, but he will provide the way of escape. He doesn't say you can handle it, bro. He says I'll help you handle it.
There's an escape and it's not you, it's me. Oftentimes the Lord will give us in abundance things that we cannot handle so that he can put rocks in the dam and show you that he is, in fact, more worthy than any other false shepherd out there or any other false Savior.
He will still, in other words, the waters. When this verse here is being penned, it's being penned to communicate the idea that waters for the Christian have been stilled. And further expanding on this peaceful scene, weary and worn-out sheep need long, refreshing drink from the rapid stream.
And if we were in the first century, potentially we would say, this stream is Christ, and I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that. He is the fountain flowing with liver water, and so we must come to Christ.
And so in the turmoil of life, this is not saying that he's going to find a back door for us to exit, but rather in the midst of insanity, in the midst of pain, in the midst of suffering, in the midst of anxiety, he has offered to us peace and provision and gives it to us in our sheepness as the great heavenly shepherd.
And so what you must do then is to continually, always, even when you are anxious, scared, or stuck, is to turn to him daily, finding renewal and rest. Because it's him and him alone who knows precisely where to lead you for the refreshment that your soul most craves.
The second thing that I want you to see, which is my second point, is the shepherd's path. Now we saw the shepherd's provision, now let's look at the shepherd's path. The psalmist goes on and says, not only does he lead us beside quiet waters and make us lie down in green pastures, but he restores our soul.
He says here in verse 3, he restores my soul and he guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And so here we have guides or paths that he has for us. The first one is that he is restoring.
It's the restoring path. Now when you look at this, there are different interpretations throughout history of what this is referring to. The word here translated soul in our translation, the Legacy Standard Bible, in other translations is translated heart.
In other translations it is translated as life. And there are a lot of reasons for that, but reasons that we're not going to get into. But I think that whether you translate it that way or the way that's here, it's still faithful to the text.
The question is, how do you think about this? And what do they mean by life? What do they mean by soul? Or what do they mean, you know, by heart? Well here's what I think that they're getting at because of the context, right?
Because he says he guides me in paths of righteousness. So what does it mean that he restores my soul? Well in the Hebrew vernacular, these words often, when grouped together, bring the understanding of bringing one to repentance, causing them to turn around, bring conversion.
We can see that when we look at places like Hosea chapter 14 verses 1 through 3 or Joel chapter 2 verse 12. In Psalm chapter 19 verse 7, this same phrase or word is used to picture the spiritual renewal or revival of a believer.
And so what's being said here really is that our shepherd is not merely one who is concerned with our physical needs and creating a place necessarily for us to escape the trials and hellishness that is found in a fallen world, but rather he's much more concerned to revive our weary hearts and spirits.
To restore is to renew or to bring back to its fullness. When depleted, he revives us. When you think about sheep under a shepherd's care, it's if they're sickly, bringing them back to health with the right medicine, with the right balm, with the right nourishment, and in certain types of milk or whatever the case may be.
Maybe it's getting a baby to her mother. Maybe it's getting the brook to slow down. Maybe whatever is needed in that moment, that is what a shepherd does. And so here that is true of our God, the great shepherd, and he in fact does restore our very souls.
Here's what that means. The great shepherd, if he is your shepherd, if he loves you, will not allow you to continue in sin. He will not let you continue in the issues that plague you. He will not let you be continually anxious.
He will provide for you the very balm, namely the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will remind you of the gospel. He will impress the gospel upon you, and he will convict you of sin and propel you into a life of Christlikeness.
He may have to break our legs to heal our broken bone, to put it in place, but he does so as a shepherd and not as I have often said, a malicious serial killer, and that is good news. Because sheep need guided, and they need guided not just toward repentance, but they also need guided toward righteousness, right?
He continues on, he restores my soul, and he guides me in paths of righteousness. Or you could even translate this or think about it as the right path. You see how this really makes sense in terms of speaking of repentance and conversion or renewal, because the follow-up idea is that he is going to lead you the right way, his way, the way that matters if Christ's sheep are to be moved.
And by the way, I am using this interchangeably because Christ calls himself the good shepherd, identifying himself much like in the I Am statements with God himself. And so if you are Christ's sheep, you are to be moved, you know, from field to field without falling into deep crevices or off ragged cliffs.
So God, by his word and spirit, guides the flock of Jesus Christ collectively as well, effectively in the right way. And what he does is he does it for his own namesake. You see the last part of this verse here.
Now that one is an interesting one, because what you might do is you might get caught up in this, and you might start thinking to yourself, especially if you give way to your fleshly desires and your fallen brain that is affected by the noetic effects of the fall, that really he's doing this because he loves you.
Now, he does love you, but that's not why he's doing it. You might think it's because, well, I'm a great sheep, and he needs me around. You are not a great sheep, and he does not need you around. Also, why is the singular and the plural word for sheep the same thing?
That's an English conundrum, but well, that's not relevant. I just realized that. But he's not interested in continuing to... I lost my complete train of thought with that one. So we're just going to move on, because I don't know where I was going with that.
That's why I shouldn't just say things that pop in my head. Anyway, this means the shepherd's paths are not random. They're purposeful, leading us toward righteousness. And this indicates, of course, a moral uprightness, but a walking in line.
Not only a moral uprightness, but a walking in line with God's children, would you look at me? Now, I want to help you think about this thing in a way as well. Have you ever went on vacation with your family to a place that might be beautiful, to a place that might have many mountains or trees or things like that, that when you see them and you look out there, maybe you see a bunch of animals and they're beautiful, but you got to get through a winding road to get there.
This mountain path, it leads to breathtaking views. But you might have to walk up some stairs to get there. You might have to maybe even feel dangered on your way to it in order to see and get to the beauty that is.
I think about one time when I lived in the land flowing with milk and honey, Huntington Beach. You know, minus all the liberals, but the beach is awesome, okay? And there's this place, it was called Thousand Steps Beach.
And I only went there one time, and as I begin to tell you about it, you'll understand why. But it's very beautiful. It's a very, very, very beautiful place to go. And there's not a lot of people there, so a lot of people are like, we're going to go there.
At least that I was around, because there's not a lot of people there, and it's so beautiful, it doesn't make sense why anybody wouldn't be there until you get there. And you realize it's called Thousand Steps Beach because in order to get to the beach, you've got to walk down and up a thousand steps or more.
And it's treacherous, and it's a lot. It's like, there's steps falling apart because of the water that's flashed up against it. And it's wild, and it's painful. I was in a lot better shape back then than I am now, and by the time I got halfway through, I felt like my legs were going to give out.
That's what's being said all the way up to this point. There's going to be crevices, there's going to be danger, there's going to be hardship, there's going to be trial, and yet God is going to protect you, sustain you for his namesake.
That's where I was at. For his namesake. It's not for you. It's not because you're special. It's not because you're awesome. It's because he's special, and it's because he's awesome. And he upholds his glory by making sure that you are taken care of.
This is the cry of Moses's heart when Israel built the calf after being rescued from the Israelites in the Red Sea, and they build this false image of God, and they begin to worship him. And Moses says, what?
Do not do this. Do not destroy these people. Because if you destroy these people, then the nations will mock you, and they will say, look, you brought them all the way out of slavery. You brought them all the way through the desert.
You did this great miracle amongst the godless, only for what? For them to die in the middle of the wilderness? What was he doing? He was appealing to God's godness and shepherdness and saying, look, to take care of them means you get glorified, you get loved, and that's what matters.
He saves us, he shepherds us, he protects us for his namesake. And that's not unloving, because what we need is to be able to honor and worship God. The third thing that I want you to see, and here's my third point, is the shepherd's presence.
The shepherd's presence. He continues on in verse 4 and says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. For you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
It is incredibly clear here, and if it's not clear already, that God shepherds his people not by just setting things in motion like the deists would believe, but literally is in the mess. And this started at the beginning of Genesis when, and I find this to be an incredible display of who God is and his nature, that when Adam and Eve fall into sin and set this whole world ablaze, God himself makes for Adam and Eve the very things that they cover themselves with in shame.
Why? Because he gets dirt. And though we are fallen creatures, because of the blood of Jesus Christ, he gives us much more than we deserve. What these verses are communicating is that in life's darkest valleys, our great heavenly shepherd, in the valley of the shadow of death, he will never abandon us.
Whatever that looks like. Whatever that looks like. We know this because the shadow of death in the Hebrew literally conveys deep darkness. But even in deep darkness, whether that be from people sinning against you, you living in a sin-marred world, or because you have engaged in any sort of harmful sin to yourself and to the people around you, God's shepherdness will dispel all your fear.
Fear is not an attribute of the people of God. Our Christ, our great heavenly shepherd, has overcome the world. And so as the sheep is guided, he is guided through dangerous places. Church, as you face sorrow, whatever that might look like, as you face dangerous places in your own life, loss, you're tempted to fear everything else but God, remember that he walks with you.
He is present with you through every jab of the enemy's blade, through every jab of the blade that you inflict. He is with you in the presence of the shepherd of the sheep. Here's what that means for you.
You, you, you, you. This is what it means for everyone. You will never walk alone. Never. You might feel alone. You might feel abandoned. You might feel hurt, and yet you never actually are. And it is the duty for you to bury this truth in your heart so that you know that if everyone has left me, the only one who matters hasn't.
And he never, ever will, no matter how dark and deathly of the valley. So not only does he dispel fear, but he corrects with his presence. He continues on, looking at the second half of this verse, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now, the way in which shepherd's staffs have worked throughout the centuries has been the same way, though in some ways they have differed in the way that they look.
And what I mean by that is, if you look at old pictures, especially, and this is maybe just for me, maybe not you all, since I was a child, I've been obsessed with ancient Egypt. It's just, it's a wild deal that they had going on over there, and it's fascinating, and the technological advances that they had that we forgot about, and I mean, there's just like, their religion, wild, crazy, everything, right?
But you can see people and shepherds that are pictured in this kind of deal, and they will have one thing in their hand and another thing in their hand. One looks like a shepherd's crook that you're pretty aware of, you know, the long thing that has the hook, okay?
But it's much shorter, and then the other one's like just a regular rod, okay? And what they've done, which after this, they put it into one thing, but they had the staff and the rod, and first, you know, in shepherds in this time frame, likely would have had something similar to the dual thing here, but even when they did it, it was still the same thing.
They just had one end served both purposes. And what are those purposes? Well, those purposes are this. The rod was to beat the sheep when they got out of line. It was to discipline them, to harm them into life, right?
That's why you discipline your children. You know, hopefully not with a shepherd's rod, but you know, hey, I'm not gonna make any more comment. I don't know how they'll get twisted on the internet, but just, you know, that's what it's for, you know?
You've got to make sure the sheep are in line and following one another and following you, or else it's just gonna be chaotic. And for the heavenly shepherd, he disciplines us so that we might share, according to Hebrews chapter 2, 12, I mean, to share in Christ's holiness, that we might stand before God and be holy, or we might be conformed to Christ's image.
And then the staff part is to bring them in when they are wavering, right? And so if they're not in complete rebellion and they don't need a good whacking, then the shepherd will pull them. He'll pull them back with this hook around their neck, and then they will be guided in that way.
And what David is saying here is saying, when I'm whacked, it's good. And when I am brought by tenderness and a less harsh thing, that's good too. It's all good. It's good that I'm disciplined. You know, he says this in Psalm 119, you know, it was good that I was afflicted, that I might follow your statutes.
And so this rod not only does that, but it also protects everyone else, or protects the sheep from everyone else. So it guides and it protects. And so the illustration here is that God, as the shepherd, cares and keeps safe his sheep on their course of life.
And he defends threats, even if that threat is another sheep or so-called sheep. The shepherd's rod was indispensable to shepherding, if you can't already tell. And these disciplinary tools were a source of comfort to the sheep under David's care.
And if we are paying attention, they ought to be for us as well. Because it says that it is comforting and not something that we should run from, be afraid of, or scared of. The word comfort here in the Hebrew connotes, it's a stupid $10 word I shouldn't use, the idea of a person breathing deeply as a physical display of his or her feeling 65 times.
In the Hebrew Bible, this word is used to speak of comfort and compassion. But perhaps the best known passage that contains this is Psalm 23 here, as well as Isaiah 40 chapter 1, which says, comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
And this word is also used in Hosea chapter 11 verse 8 to convey God's tender love for Israel. So if we are to understand our role as sheep and God's role as shepherds, we must understand that this rod, this staff is actually the loving compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is compassion. Compassion. Do you see God's discipline that way? When he's having to correct, when he's having to move, do you feel excited? Or do you feel uncomfortable? Do you see it as judgment on your life?
Or do you see it as punishment? Do you see it as a sign of his love or a sign of his tender compassion? Because the reason that he disciplines is the same reason that shepherds discipline their sheep, to keep him close, to keep us close to him.
We should love discipline. We should love care. We should love being steered back into the right way. The Puritans were completely and utterly convinced by this reality, which is why so many of them focused on affliction, and they felt it a lot in the era in which they lived in.
So let me just tell you what they said. There's a few Puritans here I want to quote that will help you understand what I'm trying to say here. Richard Sibbes once said, God is purified in the fire. So are the saints by suffering.
Thomas Watson said, God's rod of affliction is a pencil to draw Christ's image more lively upon us. He also said, when God lays men upon their backs, lays them out, disciplines them, hits them with the rod, in other words, it is then that they look to heaven.
John Bunyan said, God's blows are only given to heal us. Richard Sibbes again said, the same hand that afflicts heals. And then again, Thomas Watson has once said, no vessel is ever filled to its brim with grace until it has been emptied by suffering.
Friends, it is good when we are afflicted. It is good when we are directed. It is good when the rod is not spared. And when it is spared, let that be grace to you and live in love out of being graced.
The fourth thing is that I want you to see the host's provision in peril. The host's provision in peril, he goes on to say, you, speaking of the shepherd, prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You have anointed my head with oil and my cup overflows. David here shifts metaphors from the shepherd flock motif, and he does so by switching it to a host of a dinner party. And he does this to reinforce the truth that he is already trying to put forth, although he's doing it from a slightly different angle and expanding upon it because, one, David's awesome like that as he has been gifted and, you know, inspired by the Holy Spirit as he writes these psalms.
He's wanting us to understand in the same way that God will take care of us. Just like he is a wonderful blessing as a shepherd, he is a gracious host to everyone who attends his dinner parties. And what is his dinner party?
I mean, it sounds very youth pastoring, but it's true. Living life under God, right? Living life under God. And so he offers a table of peace, right? He says, you prepare a table before me, verse 5, in the presence of my enemies.
So he doesn't prepare a table in a very, you know, elite place that's above the enemies, for those who would attack, for those who would harm, but right in the middle of them. You see? He's not removing us from trouble.
He's giving us a heart of peace in the midst of trouble. Our God never promises to get us out of the sin-marred world that we have both created and participated in, but only to sustain us in it, only to love us in it, only to protect us in it, only to discipline us in it.
And so he sets this table up in the midst of every horrible person and thing that could, in fact, harm us. And we need not be anxious because it's his table. He's prepared it. And though we're surrounded by enemies, David here is showing not just what he does, but the fact that he, the shepherd, has the ability to provide, to provide, as it says, a table, even amidst great danger.
What am I getting at? Well, if it's not clear, I'm getting at this. Children, would you look at me? I got something else for you, right? Have you ever seen a movie where people, and you might not have, maybe this was a bad illustration, but we're going to do it anyway, a movie where people have gone to war.
There's a battle, right? Maybe it's a cartoon. They're having some fights, you know, a couple armies or something like that, or maybe you've heard it, and there's bombs going off everywhere, and there's bullets flying.
Now, I want you to imagine in the middle of that battle, there's a table, and there's a bullet. Bullets are flying past ears and faces. Bombs are going off around. People are running past the battle, and the people at that table are unscathed.
That's what he's saying here, that if we are under this host, and we are at his table, then that which is evil, that which is set out to harm us, will not ultimately do so, right? Now, that doesn't mean that, like, if we find ourselves in a hard situation that we won't suffer.
No, it doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't even mean that we won't die. Sometimes we can suffer so much that we die, in some ways. I'm not saying that you get so anxious and so overwhelmed with it that you die, although I think that's happened medically, but rather, you know, that sin affects in weird ways.
War is a product of sin, for example, speaking of war, and you might die if you go do it, or you get thrust into it, but ultimately, you will reign in the house of the Lord forever. You will bask in his courts, and you will come before him, and you will be cared for eternally.
A room has been prepared for you, and you will delight in it. And so, friends, even when difficulty abounds, rest once again in this shepherd's, the shepherd host's, this host's provision, because he can give you peace and security in the most unexpected places, because he offers a peace that surpasses understanding, when you should be thinking to yourself, absolutely, I should be overwhelmed.
I should absolutely be dead because of guilt or shame, or I should be able to just give up on life because I am so hurt and anxious. No, in the most unexpected places, the Christian, knowing who their shepherd is, knowing who their host is, knows, I do not have to be moved, but rather, I am safe, I am cared for, and no matter how bad this gets, no matter how much blood might be spilt, it's going to be okay.
It's going to be okay. That's why Romans chapter 8 can say, for those who love God, all things work together for the good of those who love him. If you love Christ, he is going to make sure every single situation that you have ever been in, that is the product of sin, that is the product of harm, will be turned for good.
It's for his namesake, and if he doesn't do it, he's not much of a God, but he is God. He's the greatest God, and in his shepherdness and in his hosting, he will make sure that we are always and eternally and forever taken care of.
And so, you must remember that. You must remember that. You are deeply loved, and you are completely valued, because you are his sheep. He lavishes his love upon his sheep, his protection on his sheep, even when they feel undeserving of that love.
He's better than we are. We want to turn our face from people when they sin grievously. We want to turn our hearts from people who make life harder. We want to do all of these things, but not our God, not our shepherd, and he teaches us to imitate him.
Not only that, but he goes on to talk about the cup of abundance. This cup overflows. The image here of an overflowing cup speaks of abundant blessing, essentially, a never-ending supply of divine grace.
David experienced this, and all sheep will experience this as they are sustained by this shepherd-host, even in dangerous circumstances, because God is infinite. He is an infinite source of all that believers need to live completely and utterly triumphant in him.
In difficult times, in hard times, and in good times, here's what that means. God's blessings to you saints are not scarce. He will provide more, and that is why the Bible tells us that there are new blessings, new mercies every morning.
You think, I've used up my blessings. I've used up Christ's work. God says, no, there's new mercies coming tomorrow. The last thing that I want you to see in closing is the shepherd's promise. The shepherd's promise.
He concludes in this last verse by saying, surely goodness, verse 6, and loving-kindness will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord, or Yahweh, forever. In closing, there are a few things that I want you to note about this passage.
First, God, this great shepherd-host, has promised, surely, according to that first word, goodness and loving-kindness, not harm and malice, not frustration and anger, right? But goodness and loving-kindness, kindness that is steadfast, kindness that will not go away.
In fact, it's loving-kindness and goodness that pursues. He doesn't just offer it. He pursues with it. One of the reasons I love the Legacy Standard Bible is because, one, it's the most literal translation that I think we have, depending on how you define that word.
I know the Greek scholars get into that debate, but we'll talk about that when we talk about textual criticism in Shepherd's Institute. But in most translations, it doesn't say pursue. It says follow.
But here, it says pursue, right? Surely goodness and loving-kindness will pursue me all the days of my life. This Hebrew word literally does not mean follow unless it's following you with pursuit. It's more pursuit.
God's goodness and mercy actively chase you down. Grace chases you down. This shepherd, this host chases you down. And he makes you lie down, he gives you a table, and he makes sure it's safe, and he pursues you continually until the day you see Jesus with goodness and loving-kindness, because that's who he is.
That's who he is. Through thick and thin, through hardship, through trials, through sin, through righteousness, through sadness, through joy, in every extremity of life, God will chase you down with goodness.
God will chase you down with loving-kindness. And it may not feel that way to you in the moment, but this Bible, this word, this God assures us that it is, in fact, goodness and loving-kindness. So much pursuit of this loving and kindness.
David can say, which means we ought to believe, that we will and that he will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever. That's the last half of the verse here. He's chasing us down to bring us home. He's chasing us down to continually bring us home.
One of the best ways I know how to illustrate this is, especially for many of you who have children, it is your job to make sure and care for your children, to make sure that they're taken care of. It's your job to make sure that they do not get annihilated by the many dangers that exist in this world.
And so I think about this imagery of playing with children in the front yard, and there's a busy street. Where I grew up, there was a busy street. One time I saw my sister get hit by a car, because we were playing around and she just beefed it, or just sprinted, and a car was not paying attention, she was not paying attention, and they hit her.
Luckily, they swerved, and she only got hit by the rearview mirror and doing a seven times 360 in the air and wound up in the yard. And so if you live on a busy street like that, or you're in public, or you're trying to walk a crossway, you're going to, if you're around your child, make sure that they're not running into danger.
And what does that look like? I've seen my parents do this. I've seen other parents do this. It looks like this. They're running toward the road. They're running toward traffic. They're running toward harm's way.
And as they're running there, you, as the parent, are saying, quit running, come back here, quit running, come back here, quit running, come back here. Even if they're in rebellion and they're like, sorry, this is my lane now.
I'm too far away from you for me to be able to care about what you're saying right now. I run this, you're not here, and they run, and they run, and they run. And you, what do you do? You preach repentance the whole way.
Return, return, return, return. But you don't stop there, right? If they do not return, what do you do? You sprint, you run with everything that you have in you, and the whole time your arm is out, because they will not, under your watch, be harmed.
And you will, even if it's by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin, even if it's by, you know, just milliseconds, you will grab them, you will pull them, and you might do it with such force that might cause them to get hurt as they fall down, but yet their life has just been spared.
That's pursuit. That's what this God does. This is our heavenly shepherd host. Do you see God in this way? As we consider this Psalm, we need to consider its revelation. And what I mean by that is it reveals a God who is tender, a one who guides, and one who is unwavering in his pursuit to love and care for his sheep, for his dinner guests, even if it hurts.
In a world that is ever-changing, in a church that is oftentimes ever-changing, uncertain, and can feel hostile, this Psalm reminds us that our shepherd is unchanging, that he is faithful, he is present, and he is near.
What a God. What a shepherd. What a host. Pray with me. Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for you, and we thank you that despite who we are, apart from your Son, Jesus Christ, that you did not leave us in the muck and the mire, but that you came, you pursued, and you loved.
And Lord, I pray that you would continue to impress this truth upon us so that we might, even in the midst of our own trials, our own heartache, our own sorrow, that we would believe such things, that we would believe in your protection over the protection of any other false shepherds, and that you would call us to continually press into you as you pursue us.
Work in us, O God, in this way, now and until we see your Son, Jesus, with our own eyes, not by faith, but by sight. And we ask these things in his meritorious name. Amen.