We often say that no matter how often we read the Bible we can never exhaust its riches. With every study, we learn something new about a particular text. We find the meaning to a word, we see the emphasis of a passage, or we see the application of a text to our lives. I have found these things to be true in numerous places, but probably nowhere as much as the 23rd Psalm. I have preached this text at funerals for both the saved and the lost. I have preached this for Pastor’s appreciation services and for the typical Sunday morning service. This text has comforted me in loneliness and it has convicted me in seasons of pride.
I began to look at this text again Wednesday night after service. During the closing prayer it was mentioned that while we are undeserving of receiving anything from God, we ask of God because we know Him to be gracious and merciful, and that He gives good gifts to His children. Therefore, as Hebrews tells us, we can come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in a time of need.
It is that thought that we find expressed in this text, and that want to dive into for just a moment this morning. Why does God do what He does to those who do not deserve it?
David sets the tone of this psalm in the very first verse when he gives us the identity of the Shepherd. The LORD is the focus of this psalm. I have preached this psalm many times early in my ministry with a focus on the “me’s” that we find in these verses. However, it is not the “me” that is the focus, but the “He”. This psalm isn’t necessarily about all that the Shepherd does or gives to me. The true emphasis of this psalm is not the blessings of being a sheep. David mentions those things that He may glorify the Shepherd who gives them. It is solely because of the Shepherd that David shall not want. Essentially, David is saying that because God is leading him, he will lack nothing. Every need will be met, every trial can be faced, every heartache will find comfort, and as David will say in a later psalm, though weeping endures for a night, joy will come in the morning. I don’t want to put words into his mouth, but I do think David would agree with this statement, if it were not for the LORD being our Shepherd, we would have sufficient want. We would be lacking greatly. David does say basically that in Psalm 124.
Psalm 124 “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”
It is only because the LORD is on our side, and only because He is our Shepherd that we can have any confidence whatsoever. If it were not for the sovereign hand of God working and controlling our lives, then we could not be assured of anything. Needs may be or may not be met. Trials may or may not be overcome. Heartache may or may not be healed. Weeping may or may not turn to joy. But our God is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, and therefore we can be assured that we shall not want.
Not only does David identify the Shepherd, but he also tells us of His activity. Notice first that He makes us to lie down in green pastures. I looked up the Hebrew words for “make”, and “green pastures” trying to do the typical word studies. Honestly, there is nothing very interesting hidden within the meaning of those words. The idea behind them, however, is quite refreshing. David, by illustration of a shepherd taking his sheep to green pastures, where there is cool, still water, gives us the understanding that our Shepherd gives us rest.
We often use the expression “No God, no peace. Know God, know peace” when we are describing the comfort of knowing God. No longer is there the tumultuous uncertainty of our hearts as we had before our salvation, but now, through the abundance of grace shed upon us by God, we have rest. Where we thought before the outcome of our lives was determined by chance, opportunity, the fates, or some other unknown force, we now know that our lives rest in the sovereign hand of an infinitely wise, good, and loving Father. Now we can rest. I have had to think through this and be reminded of this myself over the past few months. There is a long list of things that can go wrong during a pregnancy. As I have watched our son grow, and seen the pictures, I have subtly tried to count the number of fingers and toes. I look at his hands and feet. How his bones are shaping up. He is being formed by God inside April’s womb, and it is a process I can’t see except every few months. In my mind I think of all the things that could go wrong, but when I consider who is forming my son, I understand that regardless of how things turn out, nothing will have went wrong. No amount of normal or deformity is an accident. As of right now, we are told everything looks fantastic. He is growing, he is active, and firing on all cylinders. No need for alarm; but there is no need anyway. Our Shepherd, gives us rest. It is because I know not only Who is forming my son, but I know that the one Who clothes the flowers in the fields, feeds the lion’s cubs, and gives the birds a nest, will also watch over me. And so, I can echo the words of David:
Ps 3:5 “I laid me down and slept, I awaked for the LORD sustained me.”
Ps 4:8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.”
Notice verse three. Not only is there rest provided, there is restoration. Most commentators agree that this is the direct result of the food and water in the previous verse. Simple enough, isn’t it? When we are hungry our strength weakens, concentration lacks, and our coordination becomes uncoordinated. But when we have eaten, gotten us something cool to drink, and are sufficiently full, it all comes back. We feel like we could work some more, we can think more clearly, and everything seems to be moving in harmony again. Such it is when our Shepherd restores us. Though it may have been a long and tiresome battle against sin, though we feel as if we will fall at any moment under the weight of our burden, our God and our Shepherd will restore us.
Not only does He restore us, but He leads us into righteousness. I am convinced, although it seems as though much of the evangelical world would disagree, that if we are a Christian, we will be different. I do not think it is possible for a truly regenerate Christian to continue in the same sins they were accustomed to. We do see in Scripture where Christians sin, and we all know personally that they do. I don’t mean that Christians are perfect, or that they can fall into sin for extended periods of time. Scripture is abundantly clear however, that if we are a child of God, we will be sanctified over the course of our lives. We will be more and more conformed into the image of Christ as time goes by. It may be incremental at times, and it may also appear that we have taken a few steps back, but as we examine our lives, we will see that we have progressed in holiness. Numerous verses could be quoted calling for us to lay aside the sin besets us, to be renewing our minds and not conforming to the world, to bring all thoughts under the obedience of Christ, and the reminder that if we are in Christ we are a new creation. As the saying goes, you may come as you are, but God will not leave you that way. He leads us into righteousness.
Our Shepherd gives us peace and leads us in His paths, but He is also our protection. Verse 4, that famed verse for Christians on their deathbed, tells us that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, there is nothing to fear because He is with us. Job describes this same valley:
Job 10:20-22 “Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little, before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; and land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.”
This is where we are all headed. Unless we go out like Elijah or Enoch, or the Lord himself returns, we will all walk through this valley. I don’t think that it is heaven that scares us, rather, it is the event that gets us there. So much uncertainty lies in death. Will there be pain? Will there be a struggle? Will I get to tell everyone goodbye until we say hello again? When that final gasping breath is taken, what then? We know to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, but for folks who need an itinerary and all ducks in a row, we need some more details and a little assurance. Here it is: He is with us, His rod and His staff will comfort us, we need not fear any evil. Our Shepherd will handle the uncertainties.
Lastly this morning, before we answer the question of why, look at verse 5. David is writing this psalm from the perspective of one who is and has been in battle. David recounts in some way all those times that the enemy was attacking, those times when Saul was ready to pin him to the wall with a spear, when Goliath towered above him, and the Philistines thought they could smell victory. In the midst of his enemies, God provided a banquet. We look forward to the days when God grants us a feast of Isaiah 25 description; a feast of fat things, choice meat, and well aged wine, where tears are wiped away, and our reproach has been taken. But we don’t have to wait to enjoy the feast.
Prov 9:7-9 “Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy vanity.”
There is nothing wrong with enjoying the liberty given to us in Christ. Rejoice! Be glad! Feast in the presence and glory of our Shepherd. The life of a sheep is not a solemn faced affair, but one of green grass, cool water, comfort, and joy that the Shepherd has already defeated our greatest enemy, and one day all will be put under His feet and we will dwell forever with Him free from all fear.
But why? Why is our Shepherd so actively doing all of these things? Why would the Shepherd, as we read earlier in John 10, lay His life down for the sheep? Why would He go and gather all the lost sheep of His fold that none may be lost? The end of verse 3 tells us; for the sake of His name.
His name, not ours. Our Shepherd does these things so that He may be exalted as a wonderful Shepherd, and not so that we would proclaim ourselves to be wonderful sheep. God has not saved you because of the appearance of your wool. He has not saved you because He considered it an honor to be your Shepherd, for you make the rest of the flock look better. God has not saved you because He looked through time and saw that you would choose Him to be your Shepherd. He became your Shepherd, set you apart to become a part of His flock, for His name’s sake. God is concerned with His glory above everything else.
Eph 1:5-6 “He has predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace”
1 Cor 1:29, 31 “No flesh should glory in His presence. That, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let Him glory in the Lord.”
Ps 106:8 “He saved them for His name’s sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known.
1 Jn 2:12 “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.”
Is 48:11 “My glory will I not give to another.”
Psalm 100 tells us to “enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. To be thankful unto Him and bless His name”. Why? Because we are the sheep of His pasture. He has made us and not we ourselves.
God’s ways are more wise than ours. His wisdom far surpasses ours. Simply for who He is, He deserves the glory, honor, and worship.
Rev 4:11 “Thou art worthy O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
He is our Creator and Redeemer, and those titles alone are worthy to be praised, but He, the Good Shepherd, gives us gifts and blessings on top of those things that we might see just how wonderful He is.
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above the heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.”
The View From My Study 