Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
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Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Psalm 23:1-6; The Lord Is My Shepherd
Jason Sterling May 11, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me this morning to the Psalms. So go to the center of your Bible, open it. You should see the book of Psalms. Turn to Psalm 23. This morning we are starting our new summer series, summer in the Psalms. We've done this a couple of times over the last couple of years. We're going to keep doing it. I figured out I think we've covered about 30 Psalms, so we've got about 120 more to go and we'll keep, slowly but surely over the years, making our way through the book of Psalms. But we're going to spend some time again in Psalms this summer. And students, I know you thought school was over, but we've got a summer project for you and for our entire church as a congregation. You'll see this. You might have seen this in our newsletter. It comes out on Fridays, the pilgrimage. But next week you're going to see a card in the upper gathering hall and on one side of the card you're going to see a summer reading plan, monday through Friday, that will take you through the entire book of Psalms and then on the other side you'll see Psalm 23. We're called to hide God's Word in our heart and one of the ways we do that is memorizing Scripture. We did this a couple of years ago with Psalm 121. We're going to do it again as a church with Psalm 23. You can do that as a family, and then at the end of the summer our church will recite that together during one of our worship services. Again, I'll remind you, but it will be available next week in the upper gathering. So be on the lookout for that. We're starting the series this morning by looking at Psalm 23. We're going to cover this over the course of two weeks, and so this week we'll look at the first half, next week we'll look at the second half. I will read all of it this morning for the sake of context. This is God's Word. Follow along with me as I read. It'll be behind me on the screen. It's also printed in your bulletin. This is the Word of the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want he makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake, and 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is God's word. Let's pray for the Spirit to come and help with the preaching of the word, but also the receiving of God's Word. Let's pray for the Spirit to come and help with the preaching of the Word, but also the receiving of God's Word this morning. So let's pray together now.
Speaker 1:Father, this is a very familiar psalm to a lot of people. Some of us have already memorized this. We've been reciting it since we were very young, and so I pray that you would come this morning through your spirit, and make it like we're hearing it for the very first time. I can't do that. Only your spirit can do that. So make it fresh, make it new and, more than anything, I pray that's no accident that we're here. You have this word for us on this Mother's Day morning, and so come and may we have a powerful encounter with the Lord, jesus Christ, through the Word and through His Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:At the end of the year I read a book and the title of the book was the Lord of Psalm 23, by David Gibson. Maybe you've read that book, but it really opened up for me Psalm 23 in a new and fresh way, and the Lord used it to really minister to me during that season of my life. It has shaped the way that I view this psalm and it will give me, and has given me great assistance in my preparation for these sermons over the next couple of weeks. David is the writer of this psalm. You'll see it at the top of Psalm 23.
Speaker 1:And this is arguably the most famous and well-known psalm, or even passage, in the entire Bible. Even if you have not been around the church maybe you're here this morning and you're not a Christian chances are you are familiar or have heard Psalm 23. Spurgeon calls this psalm the pearl of the psalms. You've heard this psalm read at funerals. Perhaps this psalm read at funerals, perhaps it's been recited on deathbeds. People have clung to this psalm in their darkest moments in life. But what's interesting is that the psalm is more about security and life. Only one verse verse 4, speaks about death. This psalm is about life and about security and it's meant to shape the way we think about all of life, and my hope this morning is that God would give us fresh eyes to see the beauty and the security that is found in this very familiar psalm.
Speaker 1:So let's dig in. Let's look at this psalm under three headings the shepherd, the supply and the security. Shepherd, supply and security. Let's look at those in turn this morning. Number one the shepherd.
Speaker 1:The psalm begins with the Lord is my shepherd. Is there any more powerful opening to a passage of scripture in the Bible than that the Lord is my shepherd? You're going to get used to me Perhaps you already have gotten used to me saying this by now but anytime you see the Lord in all caps in your Bible, it is referring to the personal and covenant name of God, and so this literally reads Yahweh is my shepherd. And I want to stay here for just a second because I think we normally race right past that. Our tendency, I think, is to focus on what and how God shepherds us rather than focusing on who it is that is actually doing the shepherding. And I'm going to tell you who it is that is doing the shepherding, in my opinion, is the most amazing part of this psalm.
Speaker 1:This is Yahweh, the one who thundered on Mount Sinai and who set the entire mountain ablaze. Your shepherd. It is Yahweh, the one who drowned the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea and saved his people. This is Yahweh, the one who appeared to Moses in a never-ending burning bush. This is Yahweh, the one who spoke the entire world into existence with a word. This is your creator, the one who knows you by name, who knows everything about you and who knitted you together in your mother's womb. This is Yahweh, god, the one who holds the world. You think you know where this is going. You get the point Holds the world in his hands that causes the sun to rise and the sun to set. And the point is that this is no weak shepherd, this is no small presence. It is the Lord of hosts. And David. Notice what he says next. This is not a shepherd. The shepherd, he says my shepherd. It is so personal. Yahweh, the God of the universe, has stooped down and he is personally taking care of you and me From start to finish.
Speaker 1:Look at the Psalms, if you have it. Open there the language used to describe your shepherd, the Lord. Look at how active. He makes Not you. He leads, he restores, he prepares, he anoints, he does it all. He anoints, he does it all. Psalm 23 teaches us that if you belong to God, that you are in a world of active initiative, active strength and leadership and protection and care.
Speaker 1:Now look at the second part of verse 1. I shall not want. Well, wait a minute, I don't know about you, but I want all the time. So what does that actually mean? Well, some people take it to mean that God gives us everything we desire. Well, we know that that can't be it. A better translation of the word want is actually lack, so that it reads the Lord is my shepherd. Therefore, that's the flow. Therefore, I shall lack nothing. Or, as one commentator translates it I love this the Lord is my shepherd. Therefore, what more do I need? In other words, friends, if you have Yahweh, if you have the Lord as your shepherd, you have everything you need, because a good shepherd, what Knows the needs of the sheep and does something about it, provides for the sheep and does something about it, provides for the sheep. If God is your shepherd, you will lack nothing, that you need nothing. That is truly essential. Notice I did not say God provides your extravagant wants, no, but your needs.
Speaker 1:David Gibson says this psalm is a tool in God's hands which he uses to recalibrate our wants and our desires. It is trying to train my sense of need to be better attuned to what God provides, to letting God decide what it is that I need. And so then the question is okay, that sounds great. How in the world do I live that way? You live that way when you know that the Lord God, the Lord of hosts, is your shepherd. The Lord of hosts is your shepherd. I love my daughter and my wife very much and I long for them to be able to say I shall not want. But that's never going to happen, not on this earth, not with me as their father. I am finite, I have limited resources. I cannot possibly supply their every need in this life, but God is not like me, god is not like us. The Lord is your shepherd and he is the one the Bible says never sleeps, never slumbers and watches over you.
Speaker 1:So what does that mean for you this morning? Well, I want you to pretend I were to give you a legal notepad right now, or maybe you could write it on your bulletin. And when I give you that notepad. I want you to write down everything that you're worried about in your life. You might write down sin, a sin that's greatly impacted your family or a relationship, or perhaps your marriage. You might write down a chronic illness or a debilitating disease. Or maybe your concerns are about your work or your family, or your aging parents or your children, or a relationship status, or the selling or buying of a home. It might be about your health, or your future or school, and the list goes on and on.
Speaker 1:And imagine showing that list to God and you know what he would say, and you know what he would say. He would say what if I just took over the whole thing? What if I just took it all? He would say give me everything, all of that, whatever it is on your list, because I am the Lord, your shepherd. I've got you, I know you, I made you, you can trust me, I will take care of you. You will lack for nothing that you need. So that's the first thing the Lord is your shepherd. Secondly, we see what the Lord, our shepherd, supplies. That's our second point.
Speaker 1:What does it feel like to be shepherded by the Lord? Well, the first thing it feels like peace. Look at verse 2. He makes me to lie down. If you know anything about sheep they can be panicky, they can be fretful and fearful. If they need food, they won't lie down. If they're being attacked by flies or by parasites, they will not lie down. Sheep lie down when they feel safe and satisfied, and so, when God is your shepherd, you are loved and you are cared for and protected and provided for in such a way that you're able to take a deep breath, you're able to rest and you're able to take a deep breath, you're able to rest and you're able to lie down. And let's work that out.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I want you to understand this morning is that this passage, and really the entire Bible, assumes that everyone in this room, including me, has a shepherd. Everyone is looking to someone or something for life and care and protection and peace. You're either looking to God or you're looking to something else. God is the true shepherd who gives life and freedom and rest and joy, and a false shepherd is a shepherd that comes to steal, kill and destroy. A false shepherd will beat you up and crush you and leave you fearful and fretful, and the hard part is that bad shepherds are often very hard to spot because they're often very good things.
Speaker 1:Work is a God-given thing. Work is a horrible shepherd. If you make your work and your career your shepherd, it will crush your relationships, it will take away your joy, it will always demand more and it will destroy your humanity Terrible shepherd. Your health good thing God-given thing. Awful shepherd. If you make your health your shepherd, it will take your life, not give you life, because it will always demand more A better diet, more weight loss, more exercise, a better running time Horrible shepherd.
Speaker 1:Students what about academics? Academics are a great thing, a needed thing, but a bad shepherd, always demanding more, more study time, more pressure, more stress and comparison. And if you make your academics your shepherd, you'll push out your friendships because you won't have time for them, because you have to study, and then in the end, you will be lonely and needing community. That's not freedom, that's not green pastures. That is a bad shepherd who is enslaving you and taking your life.
Speaker 1:But when the Lord is your shepherd, he makes you lie down, he gives rest to your soul because everything that is needed to make you perfect before a holy God has been done by the Lord, jesus Christ, and so he gives you peace with God and this shepherd has done everything for you and the Lord. When he is your shepherd, you can then say no to achievement and to success and you can stop finding your identity in everything else and stop running yourself ragged trying to gain social status. Why? Because you belong to him and because you are a sheep in his pasture and he is your shepherd, you can lie down, you can be at peace, you can rest and be satisfied with life. The other thing the Lord does is he pursues us, so gives us peace and pursues us.
Speaker 1:Look at verse three. He restores my soul. Again, who's doing everything? The Lord is doing everything. He's the one bringing the restoration, and the phrase here and this stood out to me this week this phrase can also mean bring back to repentance or salvation, and so it can also read he brings me back, he brings my soul back and brings restoration in life, and it gives the picture of a sheep being lost and then being found and brought home and brought back. It gives the picture of a sheep maybe being helpless and hurt and injured and the shepherd coming and restoring the sheep back to health and bringing them home. And I love that image because when a sheep is in trouble, only the shepherd can restore them and bring them the health that they desperately need. And what you see here in this aspect of God's shepherding is very clearly seen in Luke 15. Maybe it's a parable.
Speaker 1:You're familiar with the parable of the lost sheep, remember? In the parable God is the shepherd and he leaves the 99 that are safe and he goes after the one that is wandering. Why would you leave all the sheep the 99, and go after the one? All the sheep, the 99, and go after the one? You would do that if the thing you were searching for had great value. Think about it. If I lose a pair of sunglasses that are five bucks, who cares? I don't go looking for them. If you lose a family diamond that's been in your house and your family for 100 years, you go looking for it. It's an all-out search. God leaves everything to pursue lost sinners at all costs. It's an all-out search because they are valuable to him, and he puts that in that parable. He puts the sheep on his shoulders and it says he brings the sheep home rejoicing. Isn't that what we all want? Don't you want to be so valuable to someone and so cherished and loved that the person is willing to drop everything in order to come get you, in order to come restore you and find you and bring you home.
Speaker 1:Some of you this morning are weary and you're at the end of your rope and that could be from your own doing or that could be from the circumstances of life but you feel empty and exhausted and vulnerable and you want someone to care and restore your weary soul and lead you to life. That is exactly what God does as your shepherd this morning. Maybe you feel lost or like you've wandered off spiritually. Maybe you need restoration of soul. God is looking for you. God is pursuing you to bring restoration to your soul and to bring you back home. How does he do it? That's another sermon Word spirit, repentance, forgiveness, through bringing you back into the fold and into community and through look at verse 3, putting you on the paths of righteousness.
Speaker 1:The shepherd we see. Secondly, the supply what he gives us, what he does for us and lastly, the security he brings. If you've been in our church, you know we're going to get to Jesus. Well, this psalm gets us to Jesus pretty easily, because you cannot read this psalm without thinking about how Jesus applied this psalm to himself in John chapter 10, when he stood up and said I am the good shepherd. And Jesus, by saying that and applying that to himself, is once again claiming to be God in the flesh and Jesus as the good shepherd. We see that the shepherd provides for us unbelievable security.
Speaker 1:Do yourself a favor today go read John, chapter 10. And at the end of John chapter 10, verses 27 and 29 are some of the most comforting, thrilling words that Jesus ever spoke. He says my sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, I give them eternal life and they will never perish. And then here it is, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. Let me read that again no one will snatch them out of my hand. I love that. Nothing can pluck you out of Jesus' hand, friends, right there you have what makes the gospel good news. Right there you have why there is abundant life with the good shepherd. Notice it doesn't say nothing can pluck Jesus out of your hand, thank goodness. But instead, the sheep find comfort in knowing their security is not in their grip on Jesus. Their security is in Jesus' grip on them. Did you hear that that will bring water to a weary soul.
Speaker 1:Friends, the hope of the gospel is not wrapped up in your performance. It's not wrapped up in your goodness. It's not wrapped up in your goodness. It's not wrapped up in your faithfulness. It's wrapped up in his faithfulness, in his grip on you, in his perfect record and performance and strength. That is the promise of the good shepherd.
Speaker 1:All of us need to hear that. I need to hear that because some of you this morning, if you're honest, you feel like your grip has slipped on Jesus. You say I'm full of pride. You don't know what I've done. You say I'm struggling with anger. You say I'm struggling with anger, I'm struggling with a pornography addiction and I am tired. You say, and I am ready to give up Because I am so exhausted and my grip is so weak. And Jesus says to every one of you this morning I am faithful, I've got you. Your grip is weak, my grip is strong and firm and tight and I will never let you go because my sheep will never be snatched out of my hand. And you say how in the world is that possible? How can a shepherd be that good? Because in that same chapter, you know what Jesus says I'm going to die for the sheep and I'm going to lay my life down on my own accord. To lay my life down on my own accord, on my own accord. Jesus voluntarily went to the cross and took the punishment that we deserve for our sin. Think about that. Who in the world would voluntarily die for sheep? God would, why? Because he is the Lord Jesus, the good shepherd, and if he died for you, he's going to get you home. If he died for you, he's going to get you to the end. You, he's going to get you to the end.
Speaker 1:Revelation 7. It's an amazing passage. There's a giant number of people from every nation, tribe and tongue, and they're looking at the throne and it says that the Lamb, who is Jesus, is in the midst of the throne and it says he will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water. And listen to this. He will come off the throne and wipe away every tear from their eyes. Will your work do that? Will your career do that? Will your success do that? Will your academics and your money do that? No, jesus will do that, because Jesus is the good shepherd.
Speaker 1:One of my callings as a pastor is to always ask you where are you with the shepherd? And so that's my question as we close when are you with this shepherd, the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ? He comes to give you abundant life, to give you peace and restoration and unbelievable security. Will you come to him this morning? Friends, jesus is way better than you think. Let's pray. Let's pray. Friends, jesus is way better than you think. Let's pray. Father, thank you for being our shepherd. Forgive us for looking to so many other things to be our shepherd rather than looking to you. And, holy Spirit, I pray that you would help us to trust in your goodness so that we give you everything and we can, because you are that good and we are that secure in you. So give us the courage to do that today, in Jesus' name, amen.