23rd Psalm
When Moses asked God, by what name should he be known, God answered, My name is “I AM.” Seven times in John’s gospel Jesus names himself the same way, followed by an aspect of what he does for us.
Today we look at a core name of our Lord from both old and new testaments. Jesus says earlier in this chapter from John’s gospel we heard this morning, “I am the Good Shepherd” (v.11), and more than that, in v.7 he says, “I am the gate” (or door), through which the sheep must come.
After two years of letting it lie fallow, this morning we are taking (I hope) a fresh look at what this means through the magnificent art of the 23rd Psalm. This shows us exactly how the Lord shepherds us into fullness of life, the life of his resurrection.
This life we enter into begins with faith. You’ll remember Jesus said in that same room a week after he was raises, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe.”
Jesus said he is the Good Shepherd, so Psalm 23 begins with a great affirmation of this same faith – “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Every promise in the psalm hangs on the power of this promise.
King David, the psalmist says, I believe in God; I believe that God cares, and I believe that God cares about me.” The Lord is my Shepherd.
Sheep are pretty defenceless and dependent, and they live by innately trusting the shepherd. Faith and trust are entwined. When our faith is tested and the Lord is found to be utterly trustworthy, it increases our trust.
Which leads us to be able to say, that because the Lord is my Shepherd, I will have everything I need, I shall not want, I will lack nothing.
As Paul writes to the Philippians, “My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
All our lives are a combination of times on the mountain top, and times in the low valleys. The promise of Psalms 23 is that we will have everything we really need for a real life, really worth living; this summarises the whole 6 verses.
I grow tired… He refreshes my soul and my spirit. The valley is long, deep, and lonely…you are with me. I’m anxious … Your rod and your staff comfort me. I fear death… I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Shepherds are active, not passive. Faith is more than belief. It is the trusting of ourselves to God, depending on Him to lead us to the life worth living.
A part of the power of the Psalm is that it is a roadmap, but not a ‘how to’ guide. It touches us where we live and hurt and struggle. We soon discover that if we are to have a life worth living we need a power from beyond ourselves.
In this road map, God is our guide. “He guides me in right pathways for his name’s sake.” God’s nature is to guide. He’s not a reluctant leader. We are often reluctant followers. His leadership is sufficient.
Like sheep we wander from the fold, but the nature of the shepherd is to seek the one lost sheep. The remarkable arithmetic of the parable of the lost sheep is that the Good Shepherd will leave the ninety-nine to share his love with even the one.
Our God is the God of lost things. He puts us back on the right road
All of us need a renewing power for life. God never says to us – ‘well just be stronger.’ Instead, Jesus, the Good Shepherd supplies his supernatural strength.
This new life is a life of peace. “He will make me lie down in green pastures and lead me beside still water.” Jesus promises us many times his peace. What is peace? The absence of problems and pressures? No. These are a part of the “givens” of our lives.
Is peace the absence of all conflict? No, there are times when even Jesus calls us into conflict with the destructive forces of life.
Peace is really built on the promise of His presence. “My peace,” Jesus said, “I leave with you.”
Peace is the presence of His Spirit in our lives. When we have called out to the Lord in dependence, in comes the Jesus, the Good Shepherd and he never goes away again.
The peace of the twenty-third psalm is built on that great first promise, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” That is the one critical constant in changes of our lives. That God shepherds our whole lives.
Our loving God knows our limits. “He will make me lie down.” He will give us peace forcibly if need be if the path we are on is leading us away from peace. We sometimes don’t know our limits and we exhaust ourselves in heaps of different ways. The principle of this passage is that God will never put on us more than we can bear.
David knew the struggle of the soul to understand the suffering of life. “Why God?” “Where are you God?” The psalmist found his answer where we always find it, not in an explanation of suffering but in the presence of God who sustains us.
We can’t drink the water of life from raging water; he leads us beside the still waters where we can drink. Prayer is going to the still waters. It’s getting our bearings in a world where we are beckoned in a thousand directions.
Prayer is realising again that God is in control, and that brings peace to our lives. The lord is constantly saying to us, “My peace I give to you.” The peace that passes all understanding because it comes with all the power of God Almighty.
The faith that we proclaim brings hope which comes from the certainty of God’s presence. We live an abundant life of hope. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
We’ve spoken before about how Palestine is a land of great mountains and deep valleys. As the sheep moved through the valleys darkened by the shadows of the mountains, wolves would attack from the shadows.
But the Good Shepherd is with them with all the power of his rod and his staff. These are the source of all our comfort; no matter how much life’s circumstances may seem to attack us.
As a parish priest, I go into situations where people are hurting or grieving. I realise that my abilities and words are limited. The valley of the shadow of death is often exactly that.
But what gives me strength is to know that I come in the name of One who is a good, guarding, guiding Shepherd.
This same faith produces in us gratitude and praise to God. “You spread a table before me in the presence of all that troubles me.” People, situations, and circumstances. You have anointed me with peace, my cup is full to overflowing.
The Lord has prepared a banquet table for us. Prepared it before we were even born.
This same faith enables us to truly see what Paul told the Romans, “we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose?” (Romans 8:28).
The Good Shepherd goes before us to remove the noxious weeds and other things that might harm us. So we can really taste and see that the Lord is good. He goes before us to prepare the way, and goes behind us to protect us. He hems us in.
Each wound we get; he anoints with oil to heal it. No matter how carefully the shepherd prepares the way, the sheep are still bruised and wounded by the thorns and thistles. At the end of each day, the shepherd gently rubs the healing oil onto the wounds of the sheep.
We need to squarely faces the reality of evil and suffering in this world. Even those who follow the shepherd endure the pain of living in a world such as ours.
Sometimes we are wounded by the effects of our own sin, but often we are hurt by being a part of a world where suffering is a reality and where it rains on the just as well as the unjust. The Good Shepherd heals us because he loves us and has already laid down his life for us.
This faith when we proclaim “The Lord is my Shepherd” then results in the certainly and confidence of life now and also for eternity. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
By knowing that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who has already laid down his life for us, we can lead a life confident in his promise that we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, starting right now. Let me pray.