The Good Shepherd, Psalm 23
Faithful & True • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 11 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The theme for our sermon series for the year is “Faithful and True.”
The title comes from Revelation 21:1–6 (CSB),
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne:, Look, 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. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life.”
In verse 5 we are told that these words are faithful and true. It’s our hope that as we move throughout the year that you will come to know and see that God’s Word is faithful and true because He is faithful and true. This picture of God’s faithfulness at the end of time is consistent with who God is before the beginning of time. There are some similarities with how God is described in Revelation 21 and how He is described in one of the passages we read this past week.
We covered some significant ground this past week in our Bible reading plan. I’m not saying that every day isn’t significant, but we covered some of the most popular moments in the Bible. But, Psalm 23 is one of the most popular passages in all of the Bible. This Psalm is one of the most popular and quoted of all time. I can’t remember many funerals where this isn’t read. It’s one that brings us comfort in our hardest moments. Let’s look at it together…
Psalm 23 (ESV)
“1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, 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 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Throughout the Old and New Testament God is described as the Shepherd of His people.
God is the Good Shepherd of Israel
We have seen this in the Psalm 23, but it is also found in Genesis 48:15 (ESV), “15 And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day.”
Also in Isaiah 40:10–11 (ESV), “10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”
God is the Good Shepherd who refreshes, restores, corrects, protects, provides, and abides.
The Good Shepherd Refreshes and Restores
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul.
The Good Shepherd Corrects and Protects
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The Good Shepherd Provides and Abides
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
God doesn’t just provide when things are good. God provides for you and invites you into a meal in the presence of your enemies. He abides with you and has prepared a place for you to abide with Him in eternity.
Just like David writes in Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,” Jesus is the good shepherd that provides everything you will ever need, including the sacrifice your sin requires.
God is the same Shepherd to all of His sheep
You may be tempted to think that God only cares for some, or that God cares more for others than He does for you.
But, this could not be further from the truth. The God of Psalm 23 will do the same for you as He will the strongest of Christians. The reason is because God’s love is the same for all of His flock.
“Our good Shepherd has in His flock a variety of experiences, some are strong in the Lord, and others are weak in faith, but He is impartial in His care for all His sheep, and the weakest lamb is as dear to Him as the most advanced of the flock.” - Charles Spurgeon
This means God will leave the 99 for you
This means God will provide for you
He knows what’s going on in your life and you can bring everything to Him and He will listen and act toward you like He would the holiest of people in the world.
The health and wealth gospel doesn’t really believe this. They believe that God does more for some than he does for others. They believe that God has favorites and that His favoritism is given to those who do the most or give the most… I’m not proposing that you don’t have to do anything for Him or that how you live is no consequence… I am saying that God’s love, care, provision, and protection depends on his love for you.
God doesn’t promise to get rid of your hardships or your enemies… God promises to sit down with you in the middle of your mess and eat with you, encourage you, and affirm you as His.
Know that God cares for you and about you…
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is everything you will ever need.
Jesus is the fulfillment of everything that Psalm 23 describes. Look with me at John 10:11.
John 10:11 (ESV) Jesus says, 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus accomplishes the refreshment and restoration our souls need through the cross and the giving of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus gives us the correction and protection our lives need through His Word
Jesus provides for us and abides with us now and in eternity.
You see Jesus is the fulfillment of everything David wasn’t…
The role of the King of Israel is to shepherd the people of God. It says in 1 Chronicles 11:2 (ESV), “2 In times past, even when Saul was king, it was you who led out and brought in Israel. And the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over my people Israel.’ ”
But, with all that David did well, He wasn’t perfect. But, David points us to the one who is perfect. David was a Shepherd King that points us forward to the one true Shepherd King… Jesus!
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is the only way to be right with God.
John 10:7–11 (ESV)
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus says that he is the door… what that means is that first century shepherds would have stood in the open space and served as the gate. They would only let those sheep who belonged to them in, and they would call out to the sheep and their sheep would come to them. Jesus has not come into the flock to hurt or harm, Jesus has come to guide and guard the flock belongs to the Father. Jesus has come to give life not death. In fact, He has come to take on death so that we could receive life.
Jesus said the same thing a little differently in John 14:6 (ESV), “6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
There is no other way to be right with God and know the Good Shepherd apart from believing and trusting in Christ.
In fact, Psalm 23 is true for those who trust and believe in Jesus Christ. But, the truth is that Jesus is the Good Shepherd to the sheep who are his. And that means if you are not His, and if you have not trusted in him, believed in Him, been forgiven by Him, and saved by Him then Psalm 23 is not for you… but it could be… in fact God wants it to be true for you.
Jesus saves everyone who believes
John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 10:8–13 (ESV)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Will you come to Christ and know the Good Shepherd?
Jesus Shepherds all who are His in the same direction
Revelation 7:17 (ESV) says, “17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
This means that Jesus is your shepherd and that He will lead you to what you need and that He will care for you in the midst of your needs.
Hebrews 13:20–21 (CSB) says, “20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever., Amen.”
This means that Jesus shepherds His sheep to do His will and gives us what we need to be faithful to Him in all that we go through.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is Faithful and True
My hope is that you are encouraged, comforted, convicted and drawn to the Lord this morning…
Thoughts, Quotes, Notes:
Psalm 23 is not the only place that speaks of God this way, Isaiah 43:1–3 (CSB) says,
“Now this is what the Lord says—the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel—“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior. I have given Egypt as a ransom for you, Cush and Seba in your place.”
In other words, Jesus Christ is to His sheep all that they ever need. As the little child said when misquoting this psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd—what more shall I want?”
Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Ps 22–24.
“Our good Shepherd has in His flock a variety of experiences, some are strong in the Lord, and others are weak in faith, but He is impartial in His care for all His sheep, and the weakest lamb is as dear to Him as the most advanced of the flock.” - Charles Spurgeon