David's Relationship with God

David's Relationship with God Psalm 23 Over the last weeks, as we've been focusing on David son of Jesse we've been thinking about the different aspects of his character and life. We've seen how he was plucked out of obscurity when Samuel anointed him as the future king of Israel, how the Holy Spirit then came upon him in power, and how he showed such tremendous faith in the Lord when he fought against Goliath; then as he fled from Saul, for a long time living as an outlaw; and as he took over the Kingship of Israel after Saul died. We've seen too what a passionate man David was ... as he wept with Jonathon before leaving him when forced to flee for his life as, full of anger, he led his men to destroy Nabal who had insulted him, before he was stopped by Abigail, Nabal's wife, as he danced unashamedly before the Lord when he led the procession with the ark into Jerusalem, and of course we have seen how his passions were to overtake him when he committed adultery and murder with Bathsheba and Uriah. Then last week we read how David was brought back to the Lord, displaying true repentance for his sin and receiving God's forgiveness. David, then, was very much a human being displaying the very best as well as the very worst aspects of the human personality. In many ways the perfect example of fallen humanity, but nevertheless he had a deep awareness and knowledge of God, a wonderfully close relationship with Him ... and nowhere is that relationship better expressed than in the twenty third psalm. There can be no doubt that it's the most well known and most loved of all the psalms. It has its background in the experiences of David and also of the whole Israelite nation in the time of the Exodus, but it's also struck a very real cord both with Jews and Christians, as well as non-Jew or Christian, down through the centuries. It speaks of the Lord who is the Shepherd, who cares for, who protects and guides his sheep at all times. As well as of the Lord who is the host, the one who provides every good thing for his guest and who gives the assurance of eternity to be spent in his presence. And as such it surely speaks to all our deepest longings; our longings for inner peace and full satisfaction in this life and the next ... something that all religions and philosophies would claim to be a means of searching after, and yet which ultimately only those who look to the way of the cross will succeed in finding. And it's no coincidence that the 23rd psalm is placed where it is ... right after psalm 22 which is very much the psalm of the cross. And of the relationship between the two psalms Spurgeon says these words; "There are no green pastures, no still waters on the other side of the twenty-second Psalm. It is only after we have read, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" that we come to "The Lord is my shepherd". We must, by experience, know the value of the blood-shedding, and see the sword awakened against the shepherd, before we shall be able to truly know the sweetness of the good shepherds care." Psalm 23 is a deeply personal psalm, as we see right from its beginning; the Lord is my Shepherd, it tells us. Whether or not he's anyone else's, he is definitely my shepherd. It's about personal experience, personal knowledge, as well as conviction of what is fact for me. The Lord is my shepherd, not might be my shepherd, or wouldn't it be good if he was my shepherd, but he is my shepherd. And for David, as indeed for the people of Israel as a whole who were steeped in the image of the shepherd and his sheep, this would have been no randomly chosen phrase. They were a pastoral community ... Abraham had been a shepherd, as had Isaac and Jacob, and Moses, and as, of course, had been David. And so it's understandable that from the exodus onwards shepherd language had been used to describe all their leaders including David. So that for instance we have in 2 Samuel 7:7 the Lord saying to David, "Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, 'why have you not built me a house of cedar?'" And too, it was an image that had long been attached to their true leader, to Yahweh, so that shortly before his death when blessing Joseph, in Genesis 48:15, Jacob had referred to the Lord as, "the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day." For the Israelites, then, thoughts of the shepherd out with his sheep on the hills, would have evoked feelings of security, of dependence, protection and safety, of constant care and provision ... all concepts which we find here in this wonderful psalm. Because the Lord is my shepherd, says David in verse 1, "I shall not be in want". What did he mean by this? That he was going to get everything that he wanted, when he wanted? Surely not! After all his life was never plain sailing. He spent his youth out on the hills shepherding the sheep, facing danger. He fled from King Saul and was forced to live in caves in the desert. There'd been great tragedy in his life too ... he lost his best friend Jonathan, he lost his baby son as a result of his own sin after which he lost various other of his sons including Absalom who turned against him and from whom he'd once again to flee. So then what did David mean by the words, "I shall not be in want"? Simply that he was fully satisfied by all that God provided him with. Not that he'd everything his heart naturally desired, but that he'd discovered by experience that what God gave him, left him wanting no more. What a blessed condition to be in! Our world is full of people who're never satisfied, who're constantly looking for greater and greater thrills. What an opportunity for those who know Christ's salvation today, to demonstrate the fulfilment that that he alone gives! David then continues on to describe that sense of wants met, of needs completely satisfied, as he says: "He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul." Sheep of course are docile creatures, suffering from a lack of initiative amounting to weakness, so that they're easily lost or led astray. And David will have known from experience that without a shepherd the sheep were virtually helpless, depending totally on the shepherd to find pasture and water for them, as well as providing shelter, medication and aid in birthing. And he recognised too, also from his experience, that this was in effect his position in life ... that on his own he was like a sheep in need of a shepherd. So often he'd taken the wrong turn and become lost, he'd found himself in the wilderness with nowhere to lay his head, he'd been in dire need of nourishment, and yet God had always been his sure shepherd. He was the one who'd made him rest in fields of green grass, who'd not only brought relief to him, but had brought him to a place of abundance where there was the best of provisions. And more than that he'd made him lie down amidst the fresh green grass, allowing him to take his ease, to enjoy being there. God, in other words had met all his needs. So that, just as the sheep needs water from time to time to supplement the moisture from the succulent grass and a place of safety to drink it from, as opposed to a wildly flowing stream that would frighten and might carry it away, so the Lord had led David to the place that he could take his fill of refreshment. Not to a place of danger but to the quiet pools so that his soul, his inner spirit, might once more be revived and strengthened. And why was this? Well because, just as the shepherd would lead his sheep along secure paths that would keep them safe, and ensure they got to the place of refreshment, so the Lord wanted him to follow true and straight paths that were in keeping with his will for David, paths of righteousness, so that he might live in a way that would bring glory to God's nature, so that God's name would be glorified. We saw that when David had gone his own way with Bathsheba, turning his back on the paths of righteousness, not only did he bring shame on himself but he also made God's enemies show utter contempt for God. However such wasn't the case when David allowed himself to be guided in paths that were right, that were righteous. But even though the sheep were guided along good paths by their shepherd, even though they were given the best of provisions, David was aware that there might well still be danger on all sides from both wild animals and thieves ... the reason why he carried his rod and his staff, verse 4. The rod being the shepherd's crook, which was used to catch and pull back from danger any sheep that strayed, and the staff being a wooden club often studded at the end with nails that could be used to fight off any enemies. Well, in a similar way, David had known dark times, dangerous times, times when his very life was threatened, and yet always he'd known the Lord's presence with him, he'd known his wonderful comfort, and all fear had been taken away. Then suddenly it seems as though David is overcome by God's provision for him and he seeks a new image that'll express the immensity of all that He's done for him. And so the scene changes in verse 5 as David no longer thinks of himself in terms of the sheep and God in terms of the shepherd. No, now he's the guest and God is the host at a banquet. Not just an ordinary banquet either but one spread before him in the very presence of his enemies, where all are able to witness God's blessings, even those who'd do him harm were he not protected by the Lord. It's a wonderful feast at which he's treated as the honoured guest who'll have his head anointed with oil ... as was the custom for such a guest. What's more his cup is filled beyond all his expectations, filled to overflowing. What more could he possibly have? And yet there is more because David, in considering God's tremendous love, care, protection and provision, is fully confident that this goodness and love will be with him for the rest of his life; that God who chose him as his sheep, as his guest, will never cease to bless him as long as he lives. And not only that ... David anticipates being in God's presence forever. Such were David's feelings then as he reflected back on his life and as he considered his relationship with the God of Israel who'd become so personal to him when he'd taken him from tending the sheep to rule over his people Israel. Not only graciously choosing him, but forgiving him, leading, protecting and providing for him and guiding him in his righteous paths for his name's sake. But then, as we suggested earlier, this psalm doesn't only apply to the life of David. Because the six verses that we've looked at surely reflect the desire of all mankind. And indeed they speak of truths that are God's desire for all mankind. But then we must remember that they do stand on the other side of the cross, on the other side of Psalm 22. In other words this very personal experience of God that they describe can only be enjoyed by those who come to him by way of the cross ... through faith in the Lord Jesus and in what he achieved by his death and resurrection. After all he's the one who tells us (John chapter 10 from verse 14): "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep." Therefore, for those who now have experienced God's saving grace through Christ Jesus, who know that they've been chosen by Him, Psalm 23 should ring with notes of tremendous truth; because the Lord now is their shepherd, such that their soul is fully satisfied. The story's told of a poor man, a Christian, who was reduced in his old age to circumstances of great poverty. "You must be badly off", said a kind hearted neighbour to him one day when they met, "you must be badly off; I don't know how an old man like you can maintain yourself and your wife; yet you're always cheerful!" "Oh, no!" he replied, "We are not badly off, I have a rich father and he never lets me be wanting" What! Your Father? Asked the neighbour, he must be some age. Oh replied the old man "My father never dies, and he always takes care of me!" The old man, who didn't know where his next meal was coming from, knew what was truly important in life, and he was fully satisfied. And once we can say from our personal experience, "the Lord is my shepherd" we also can say: "I shall not be in want", "I have everything that I need". Because the Good shepherd cares for his sheep and so provides for all my needs. He lets me rest in fields of green grass, leading me to quiet pools of water, fully satisfying the deepest needs of my soul from his word and by the presence of his indwelling Spirit; and so I know the peace and wholeness that only he can give as he works out in my life his plans of righteousness. What's more whatever life throws at us, even though we walk through the darkest of valleys, we'll be able to say: "I have nothing to fear and I will not fear, because my shepherd is with me, protecting me with his club and guiding me with his staff." We'll be able to sit before the Lord amazed at all the good things that he gives to us, convinced that whatever happens to us in our lives his goodness and love will follow us. And that finally, when we die, that won't be the end, but rather we'll dwell forever in our Father's house with its many mansions, of which Jesus again spoke in John chapter 14, where, he said, he was going to prepare a place for his own. What a joy to be a Christian! I wonder, do we still experience that joy, as David did who looked to the coming of Christ? Are we continually conscious of his many provisions and are we filled with anticipation at all that is still to come? Or have we perhaps let the darkness, the dangers, that surround us distract us from the presence of the good shepherd with us; so that we don't feel fulfilled and rested in his presence; so that we don't follow his guiding steps as we should; so that we feel fearful when passing through the valley of the shadow? Perhaps we've not yet begun to think in these terms, like so many still looking to false paths to false shepherds, rather than to the one good shepherd. By God's grace may we each be able to repeat the words of David, "the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want" and know them, without a shadow of a doubt, to be true. Amen