Pastures

Benjamin Porter

Psalm 23 • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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God's pastures are where we find rest. Not the temporary distraction and instant gratification that our culture defines as "rest," but the sustained source of rest that we find in God, who restores our lives and sets us on the right path. We are invited into this rest now, and look forward to the day that it is enjoyed by all creation!

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Introduction

Last week: Power in knowing the Lord as our shepherd, who provides for our needs, not our wants.

Psalm 23:2-3 continues to develop the image of Yahweh as Shepherd by describing the gracious provisions that he makes for his flock.

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need.

2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

Introduce the lack of rest in our culture:

Who feels desperate for a good night’s sleep?

How many products are there that are meant to help us sleep?

Who gets a weird feeling when they aren’t busy?

Transition: Here’s the reality of our situation- ever since Eden, the default state of our human existence has been restlessness. A kind of restlessness that no amount of sleep can fix. It’s the restlessness described in Genesis 3:17-19:

17 And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Here’s the gist: God says to Adam, “Your work will be incredibly difficult, and it will be in vain; and, oh, by the way, at the end of it all you’re going to die.” That’s the result of Adam and Eve’s rejection of the order and harmony that God had established in creation. And that’s why we’re restless: we have to work just to maintain our fledgling existence, and we have to live with the general dread and anxiety of knowing that we’re gonna die at the end of it all.

I. Our Idea of Rest

To make matters worse, our culture has no idea how to deal with this restlessness. Don’t get me wrong, we try, and we spend a lot of time and money trying, but our responses fall way, way short.

There’s three ways our culture says we can find “rest.”

A. Distraction

First, there’s distraction. This is when we do whatever we can to ignore the fact that we are restless.

Distraction takes many forms these days: Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Video Games, Cable News, Politics, Gossip, and on and on it goes. Hours and hours of content designed to distract us from the stresses of our work, and ultimately from the dread and anxiety that comes from knowing that we will one day die.

Do you know how many hours per day of Netflix the average user viewed in 2020? 3.2 hours. Granted, this is when the whole world was quarantined, but 3.2 hours per day?? Friends, that’s 20 hours per week. That’s a part time job. That’s 1,000 hours per year. That’s over 40 full days. We’re distracted. But we call it rest.

Maybe you’re not the average Netflix consumer. Still need me to prove that we’re distracted? Do this with me: if you have an iPhone, take it out. Open it up. Go to settings. Scroll down and look for an icon that looks like an hour glass. Ahhh yes, “Screen Time.” If you haven’t enabled this already, I’d encourage you to do so now and see just how much time you’re spending on your phone each day. If it’s already enabled on your phone, take a moment to see what’s distracting you the most or consuming the most amount of your time. And and whether you have an iPhone or not, I guarantee you there’s another screen in your life besides the one in your pocket. How much time are you spending in front of those?

B. Instant Gratification

Next, there’s instant gratification. This is when we despair over the fact that our work never ends, seems in vain, or doesn’t bring ultimate meaning to our lives, and we decide that our best course of action is to simply do whatever feels good in the moment. After all, if we’ve all got a one-way ticket with no hope for real rest or eternal hope, why not?

How do we gratify ourselves? We drown our consciences in alcohol, or rely on any number of substances to make us feel good. But it’s not just drugs & alcohol. It’s anything we can consume or binge. You can binge television, you can binge food, you binge shopping, you can binge sleeping. It doesn’t stop.

But at the end of the day, you’re left more empty and in more despair than you were before. You’re hungover, you’re addicted, you have no energy, you’re unhealthy, you have no money and the things you spent it on don’t help. But we call it rest.

C. Self Improvement

Finally, there is self-improvement. Perhaps this one sounds the most innocuous of the three. It may even sound like a good thing. But I think it’s the most pernicious of them all, because this is where we make the fatal assumption that we have the power within ourselves to find rest — to overcome the default condition of work and fear.

You know how this goes: “Just do this 15 minutes a day and you’ll be a different person in no time!” … or “Try this new workout routine!” … or “Try this new diet!” … or “Try this new pill” … or “Try this new app!” … all promising to fix your life in no time.

Or, the worst adage of them all, “be the best version of yourself.” Sorry to bust your bubble, but the best version of yourself is no better than Adam (post-fall!!). There’s not a thing we can do by ourselves to escape the pattern of sin and death that started with the very first humans.

Transition: All three of these — distraction, instant gratification, and self improvement — make the same basic mistake. Each one gives us the impression that we can find rest by ourselves, through our own avenues, and on our own time. That’s what David struggled with too.

II. David’s Struggle for Rest

A. David’s Idea of Rest

You see, David, like any Israelite at the time, had a pretty clear idea of what rest looked like. This idea is rooted in the hopes of the wilderness generation.

This rest is described in the book of Deuteronomy, which records the final words God spoke through Moses to the Israelites right as they were about to cross the Jordan River. Moses tells the people,

Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place and the inheritance the Lord your God is giving you. 10 When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, 11 then the Lord your God will choose the place to have his name dwell” (Dt 12:9–11).

So “rest” is all about living securely in the promised land. But what does David have to do with the promised land? Hadn’t he lived in it his whole life, hundreds of years after Joshua’s conquest? Yes … but here’s the problem: the territory that the Israelites inhabited up to the time of David was nowhere near the amount of territory that God had promised to their ancestors.

Map of promised territory juxtaposed with map of territory conquered by initial conquest juxtaposed with map of territory under David’s control

Therefore, in David’s view, this rest was still to be attained.

B. The Delayed Fulfillment of this Rest

The rest described in Deuteronomy had not yet been realized because of cycles of disobedience that started in the wilderness, and continued all the way up until the time of David:

WILDERNESS GENERATION: The Twelve Spies who scouted out the land of Canaan come back with a devastating report, that the sons of Anakim who are as great as the Nephilim live in the land, and it is too dangerous to conquer. Only Caleb and Joshua have faith that God will go before them and deliver them from their enemies, and lead them into the land. Because of this, entrance into the land is delayed by a whole generation. Numbers 13-14

CONQUEST: Once the people finally cross the Jordan, after Moses has died, Joshua leads them on a conquest. The first city they conquer is Jericho, but God had given the people very strict instructions that the city was to be wholly dedicated to him. That means that under no circumstances was any soldier allowed to take any plunder whatsoever. Well, no surprise, we find out that a man named Achan did just that, which causes the people of Israel to fail in their next conquest. The book of Joshua is quite clear that they did not conquer the whole land. Joshua 7

JUDGES: After the initial conquest, the people of Israel existed only as a loose band of tribes. These tribes, in their fledgling existence, continually broke their covenant with Yahweh and worshipped the gods of the surrounding nations. This gives rise to the cycle we see in the book of Judges: Disobedience — Oppression — Deliverance by a Judge — Rededication to Yahweh — Period of Peace — Disobedience. And the whole book is really a downward spiral, showing the religious and political chaos that defined this period in Israel’s history. Judges 1-21

EARLY MONARCHY: Out of this chaos arises the people’s desire for a king who will unify and strengthen the tribes of Israel. The first king of Israel, Saul, is a man who, by all outward appearances, is the man for the job. He’s tall, strong, and handsome. But he too, at crucial points in his political career, is disobedient to God, and his political success begins to diminish. Meanwhile, he becomes increasingly paranoid about clinging to power. He and his close family meet a tragic death while battling the Philistines, and they all die on Mt. Gilboa. 1 Sam 31

Transition: But Saul’s successor is a man who has been chosen by God since he was a young man, unlike Saul, who was chosen by the people. Ever since his youth David has demonstrated great faith in God and great fortitude in facing Israel’s enemies, knowing that God will give him strength to defeat them.

C. David’s Efforts to Attain this Rest

Not only did David kill Goliath, but he finally crushed the Philistine threat that had existed in Israel for hundreds of years.

But he didn’t just ward off Israel’s outside enemies, he also brought about a measure of unity among the tribes of Israel that had never been seen before

Part of this effort of unification was his conquest of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem, which he made a neutral and centrally located capital.

After this series of great military victories, 2 Sam 7:1 reports, “ … the Lord had given (David) rest on every side from all his enemies ...”

Transition: This is the same language as Deut 12:9-11, and it comes at a very crucial juncture in the story of David.

D. David’s Struggle to Understand God’s Rest

2 Samuel 7 is one of the most important chapters in the story of David, because this is when David expresses his desire to build a temple for God

This seems to be the logical step based on Deut 12:9-11 — the people of God are in the promised land (check), they have peace from all their enemies (check), and now it is time to build a place for God to dwell! Right?

Not quite. After David expresses this desire, God reminds him that he has been present with Israel ever since Egypt, and at no point did he ever need or want a temple.

After all, the promise in Deuteronomy doesn’t say anything about building a temple, but about God choosing where his name shall dwell.

Just like us, David thought he could be the one to bring about this promised rest by himself, by his own means, and on his own time. But he was sorely mistaken.

The prophet Isaiah makes clear that it’s not about a temple:

Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. Where could you possibly build a house for me? And where would my resting place be? 2 My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word (Isa 66:1-2).

In fact, where God chooses to dwell is not about any structure at all, it’s about those whose hearts welcome him in, and rely on him as their sole source of strength.

Transition: And this is what David has come to realize as he writes Psalm 23.

E. David’s Renewed Understanding of Rest in Psalm 23

Look at Psalm 23:2-3 — it’s all about the rest that God provides for us, not the rest that we can find ourselves.

2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

This rest is all about depending on God, our shepherd, for what we need — after all, what can a sheep do for a shepherd? Or what can a sheep do for itself? Not a whole lot.

The rest envisioned here is a true, 7th day rest. It is the desire to reclaim the harmonious order of creation that God had established by once again finding our sufficiency in God, not ourselves.

And it is not simply a set of external conditions — it is a restoration of our souls. It is a renewed source of life. It is a new pattern of living.

III. God’s Rest

The rest that David came to understand — true rest in God — is something we are able to enjoy in part now, and eagerly await to enjoy in full.

A. Present

The rest we enjoy now is all about restoration and righteousness

Jesus talks about this restoration. He says,

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28:30)

The burden of life is not denied here. But amidst our weariness and our burdens, Jesus invites us to find rest in him. And him alone.

And the author of Hebrews recognizes that those who find this rest walk in righteousness. He says,

“a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people … Let us, then, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience” (Heb 4:9-10)

To enter God’s rest means being fully assured of what he has done for us, and as a result walking in obedience to him

B. Eschatological

But the ultimate rest that David looks forward to, and us with him, is when the the sources of restlessness themselves are no more — no more labor in vain, and no more death.

John paints a vivid picture of this rest in Revelation. It is a perfect realization of the rest promised in Deuteronomy. It is the people of God in the New Jerusalem, where there is no violence or chaos, only peace. And most remarkably of all, God’s presence fills every corner of this new Jersualem.

Rev 21:2-3: “God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.

Rev 7:17: “For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Conclusion

So, here we are, tired, stressed out, burnt out, ready to give up. What do we do?

First, pray and read your Bible at the beginning of your day.

You’ve heard it a million times, and you can roll your eyes, but are we doing it? And on whose terms?

Don’t say, “If only I could get through this busy time at work … then I can spend time with God” … or “If only I could get through this semester … then I’ll find time to pray and read my Bible.” Don’t seek rest for yourself and then try to squeeze God in, find rest in him now.

Start your day that way. I guarantee you, 15 minutes at the beginning of your day of prayer and Scripture reading will provide more rest than an extra 15 minutes of sleep after you hit the snooze button.

Second, get away from your screens.

Not only do they quite literally disrupt your sleep, but we waste hours and hours of time on them each day, and yet we find that there’s not enough time in the day.

We’ve got plenty of time to type out a novel-length comment on Facebook, but we have no time to write out a prayer? Or have a conversation with someone face to face about what’s going on in their life, and how you might be able to help them find rest in God?

Third, take a Sabbath.

This one is tricky since in many Christian circles, we use the term Sabbath ad nauseam and what we really mean when we say we’re taking a Sabbath is we’re catching up on our Netflix quota for the week.

A Sabbath, a real Sabbath, is not one day each week that you get to indulge our culture’s idea of rest (distraction, instant-gratification, and self-improvement), but a time that allows you to refocus yourself on God. Spend time in His word that day — identify those burdens in your life that you need to give up to him.

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