Sermon Tone Analysis

pray

PsalmWhy we do the names of God?

Why we do the names of God?

We read about Jehovah-Jirah, our provider.

We discussed Jehovah-Rapha, our healer.

We studied the rights and protective nature in having God as our banner, Jehovah-Nissi.

We learned that He’s our peace, Jehovah-Shalom.

And today, we’ll seek to have a deeper understanding of just who Jehovah-Ra’ah is.

But why is it so important?

There’s this dichotomous relationship between religiousity and Christianity.

In religiousity (secular conventional thought) there’s this negative correlation about knowledge of God and depth of relationship.

Even though, in our worldly relationships, it’s just the opposite.

By this line of thought, the more we know our true friends, the more you’ll hate them… the more you learn about your spouse, the more you’ll dislike them… the more you know the God of the Bible, the more you’ll resent Him… the more you’ll love, the more self-righteous you’ll be.

That’s crazy to us even in our flesh!

Juxtapose this irrational thought with that of Christianity:

When we know and learn

The more we know and learn about Him, the more we’re in awe of Him… the more we love Him, the more we obey Him, the more we’re driven by His mission, the more informed we are by His heart, and the more we’ll love one another.

Let’s dig into possibly the most “beloved of the 150 psalms in the Psalter, and possibly the most loved chapter in the entire Bible.

This particular Psalm’s authorship is given to David, who, of course, was a shepherd as a young man

1and was also called to “shepherd the people of Israel as their king.”

and was also called to “shepherd the people of Israel as their king.”

How fitting was it that David chose to reveal the LORD as shepherd!

He was one, and understood the lifestyle of them - living with and serving as their guide, sometimes doctor, and as their protector.

Historically, he was aware that other patriarchs of Israel included Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses were once shepherds.

The psalm’s title associates it with David, who, of course, was a shepherd as a young man (1 Sam.

16:11) and was also called to shepherd the people of Israel as their king (2 Sam.

5:2).

How profound and distinct it was also, to reveal Him as shepherd!

Typically, throughout the Psalms to this point, God had been referenced as a distant “king” or “deliverer”, or an impersonal “rock” or “shield”.

So I first want to get into David’s brain and understand why he wrote what he wrote, and why God saw fit to speak through him to us through this particular Psalm.

In the Jewish economy of David’s time, the shepherd’s task was to find grass and water for the sheep, to protect them from wild animals, to look for and restore those that went astray.

This was their responsibility.

And because shepherding was so fundamental to Near Eastern society at that time, the word “shepherd” became a term associated with leader/ruler.

The Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians often referred to their kings as shepherds who protected their people.

Well here, and throughout the OT, God is pictured as the Shepherd of Israel, and specifically, this psalmist.

God is the royal shepherd who cares for His people, and is concerned about every aspect of their/our lives.

As we move through this psalm, there are three element we should pay attention to:

Conditional relationship

Relationship type

Time relation

Conditional

IFF the LORD is your Shepherd:

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the juxtaposition in the ideas of just the first half of the first verse.

LORD, capital L-O-R-D, is the English translation of the personal name for God, first revealed to Moses at the burning bush in .

This name, repeated more than 4,000 times throughout the OT literally means “I am who I am.”

Hayah asher hayah

It is an inexhaustible name, like its bearer.

Chiefly, it refers to God’s timelessness, on the one hand, and to his self-sufficiency, on the other.

Self-sufficiency means that God needs nothing.

He needs no wisdom from anyone else; he has all wisdom in himself.

He needs no power; he is all-powerful.

He does not need to be worshiped or helped or served.

Nor is he accountable to anyone.

He answers only to himself.

Timelessness means that God is always the same in these eternal traits or attributes.

He was like this yesterday; he will be like this tomorrow.

He will be unchanged and unchangeable forever.

He is the great “I am.”

On the flip side, is the word shepherd.

We’ve discussed some of the history of this.

But what I didn’t mention was how this was considered the lowliest of works.

That if a family needed one, they’d delegate that 24/7 task to the youngest child.

Who would want to be a shepherd?!!!

Yet, David says, it’s Jehovah that’s CHOSEN to be our shepherd!

IFF the LORD is your Shepherd:

Verse 1 says:

You shall not be in want…

this means to lack nothing; which is interesting because left to on their own, sheep would lack just about everything.

They are the most helpless animals.

But, if we belong to the one who’s self-sufficient, inexhaustible (never tiring), and immutable (never changing), then we’ll lack nothing.

what shall we not be in want for, IFF the LORD is our shepherd?

this means to lack nothing; which is interesting because left to on their own, sheep would lack just about everything.

They are the most helpless animals.

But, if we belong to the one who’s self-sufficient, inexhaustible (never tiring), and immutable (never changing), then we’ll lack nothing.

We won’t lack rest

Phillip Keller is a pastor and author who for eight years was himself a shepherd.

Out of that experience he has written A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.

It throws light on this and other statements.

Sheep do not lie down easily, Keller says.

In fact, “It is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met.

Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear.

Because of the social behavior within a flock sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind.

If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down.

Only when free of these pests can they relax.

Lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food.

They must be free from hunger.”

Fear.

Friction.

Flies.

Famine.

Sheep must be free from each of these to be contented.

And as Keller notes, only the shepherd can provide the trust, peace, deliverance, and pasture that is needed to free the sheep from them.

We won’t Lack Life

Why? “He restores my soul.”

The literal translation for nephesh is “life”, it’s probably stating that the LORD restores us to life/salvation.

Phillip Keller explains this by the situation known to shepherds as a “cast (or cast down) sheep.”

What happens is this.

“A heavy, fat or long-fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground.

It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax.

Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground.

It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically.