“Psalm 23”
When reading the 23rd Psalm I guess you can be forgiven if your first thought is “So, who died?”
If 1 Cor 13 is the wedding scripture – Psa 23 is the funeral one.
Although some years ago I took a calculated risk and used Psa 23 as the text for a wedding sermon.
I think one reason Psa 23 is so strongly associated with funerals and death is its strong message of comfort, the presence of God, and hope.
Characteristics of God which are so important in the midst of grief.
Psa 23 has the sense of being a crisis Psalm.
A psalm to pray when events threaten to overwhelm and we need to be reorientated to God; reminded that He is with us; reassured that He is still in control.
It is a Psalm that is like a map when we are at an intersection in life. If not feeling utterly lost.
It is a Psalm that has the ability to enable us to consider what has happened and give light to the way ahead.
Today – the 30th December – the penultimate day of 2007 is a good time to allow Psa 23 to weigh on our soul.
Insofar as the “funeral” aspect of the Psa 23 goes – 2007 is about to pass away for ever.
Do you leave it with a sense of unfinished business? Was it a year of unbridled expectations?
Was it a year which resulted in many areas of growth for you?
Was it a year of disappointment?
Was it boring? Mediocre?
Painful?
As you consider the previous 12 months, which aspect of Psa 23 speaks to you most relevantly?
Its message of rest?
Comfort?
Restoration?
Presence in the valley of the shadow of death?
Victory in the presence of hostility?
The promise of dwelling with God forevermore?
Which aspect of the leading of the Lord as Your shepherd (as described in Psa 23) best speaks to your life at this time?
These are important considerations.
And they mark the way Psalm 23 is often read. After or in the midst of a season or event.
Nothing wrong with that.
But how about we read it before the event or season.
How about we read it as we stand at the beginning of 2008?
Let’s pray Psalm 23 before the year begins.
Let’s approach 2008 with an awareness of the kind of way God leads His people – if – they will follow.
A month or two ago I went away for a prayer day.
I was sitting outside and suddenly this huge racket and noise started up.
Sheep were being moved from one paddock to another one. They were some distance away – but what a noise!!
I went inside to make a coffee and came back outside and by now the noise was much fainter and in the distance – but it was obvious that while movement had taken place, the sheep were still making as much noise as before.
Even though they were much better off and they now had greener pasture. Literally!
In that moment, it struck me how apt the Biblical analogy of sheep and shepherd is for the relationship between God and humanity.
He leads us – and I am sure with a lot of racket and noise and objections ringing in His ears.
And while movement is achieved, the noise does not necessarily die down.
Even though it is obvious that we are now better off for what God has done and where He has led us.
Psalm 23 and 2008.
As your mind goes to the next 12 months with all its certainties and uncertainties what does Psalm 23 say to us?
Psa 23 is a tremendous vision for the journey of the next 12 months.
But the quality of that journey depends on one crucial aspect.
The first phrase of Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my shepherd”.
With hand on your heart – can you say that?
With hand on your heart – are you willing to live up to that claim?
I would imagine we would all say “yes” to that.
Let’s test our “yes” though.
Psa 23 and 2008 comes down to this.
Will you heed the Shepherd’s voice?
In whatever form that takes?
Psa 23 is expressed again in the New Testament.
Unpacked if you will.
Listen to Psa 23 as Jesus quotes it and applies it…
" “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”" (John 10:1-5)
"“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”" (John 10:11-18)
There is much here – but the centre of gravity is listening to the shepherd’s voice.
In another example – Jesus confronts one of His disciples with the same message.
" When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”" (John 21:15-19)
Psa 23 and 2008?
How does that fit?
What will it mean for me?
For us?
To read Psalm 23 with 2008 in mind, to hope to experience the dimensions of Psalm 23 in everyday life means to heed the Shepherd’s voice.
To listen to Him.
And the implication of listening to His voice – in fact the inescapable consequence – is that it will affect the way you relate to others.
In John 10 He said He had others to bring in to be under His care.
For Peter, the proof-positive of his professed love of Christ was how he treated others.
Feeding and tending those Whom Christ had laid His life down for.
Psa 23 and 2008.
I think we would all hope that whatever comes our way that Psa 23 would be our testimony.
But through Christ – there is the mandate that we are the means of Psa 23.
To profess that Lord is my Shepherd means that He will speak and in response to His question “Do you love Me?” will call us to be the means of ministering to others and to allow for the fact that you (ambassadors) are the means to green pastures and still waters; the means of restoration; the one to walk through the valley of the shadow of death; to enable others to dine in the presence of God in the midst of pain…
Presented By: Rev. Geoff New