Abundant Thanks for an Abundant God- Psalm 23:1-2

We are entering in, let me turn my mic on, that'll work. We're entering into what I like to call the

the season of abundance and it kind of starts with Thanksgiving because there's

going to be an abundance of food, right, and you're going to eat your fill and if

you're anything like me then you don't just have one Thanksgiving gathering to

go to, you've got multiple so you're going to really eat your fill over the

next few weeks to the month and then no sooner does Thanksgiving end than the

Christmas season begins and there's going to be an abundance of shopping, an

abundance of wrapping and gift-giving and receiving and guess what, there's

gonna be more food and so gym memberships are really gonna go up in

January again but we are entering into the season of abundance and it's

gonna be really easy over the next two months to get caught up in the busyness

of everything, right. I mean when you become an adult it's actually pretty

hard to even enjoy Christmas anymore because you're just so busy and so over

the next two months there's gonna be a big season of busyness and it's gonna

be really easy to get distracted and caught up in that and so I thought it

would be nice for the month of November if we would just take some time to be

thankful, to take a step back from all the hustle and the bustle and all the

busyness and just reflect on all that we have to be thankful for as Christians

and I was planning on doing a whole sermon series on reasons we had to be

thankful and I was gonna do different passages in the Bible and I wanted to

start with Psalm 23 and I was like that's be you know it's one of my favorite

Psalms I'm gonna preach a sermon on that and so I started writing the sermon and

after I got through two verses as you can see I had a sermon. We're actually

gonna do a little series on Psalm 23 just looking at a few verses each week

maybe next week only one verse but this Psalm does a great job of showing us

all that we have to be thankful for as Christians. I know that we know it as

the funeral Psalm because that's where most of us hear it and that's most of the

time where we hear it preached but this Psalm is so much more than just a

funeral Psalm. This Psalm line after line verse after verse just puts the glory in

the goodness of God on display. It shows who he is and what he does for his

people and it just shows us all that we have to be thankful for and I don't know

about you maybe you're like me but every morning that I wake up and the older I

get the more this becomes true every morning I wake up and I realize God has

given me another day of life I'm thankful. I'm more and more thankful for

God every day that he would continue to see me this wicked wretched sinner and

choose to give me another day of life to not only do that but he would say that

despite this person's sin and disobedience I still want him and I want

him to be part of my flock and I'm gonna make sure that he is I'm increasingly

thankful for God and his goodness every day and so really the whole point of

these first two verses that I want to show you is that we should give

abundant thanks for an abundant God. We have a God of abundance do we not church?

He is abundantly good abundantly gracious abundantly merciful abundantly

loving and I could keep going on for the next ten minutes but you get the point

our God is a God of abundance and so as Christians we should give abundant

thanks for an abundant God and you might be here this morning and you might be

thinking well pastor that's easy for you to say but I don't really have much to

be thankful for this morning. Life has gotten pretty hard recently. Times are

troubling an election is happening this week money's pretty tight right now

there's drama in the family work isn't going great and I'm just generally

unhappy so what do I have to be thankful for this morning and that's actually the

question that I want us to consider. How can we have a spirit of thankfulness

regardless of our circumstances? How can we do this? So how is it possible as a

Christian to maintain and have this spirit of thankfulness regardless of

the circumstances that we face in our lives and I think that this psalm is

going to address that. So let's dive in see what the word says Psalm 23 one my

hope is that by the end of this series you'll have this psalm memorized and you

can say it from memory there will be a test on that so be looking forward to it

but Psalm 23 one the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Now as you know

throughout this psalm David is going to be using the metaphor of a shepherd and

his sheep and this was really close to David's heart because you'll remember

that long before he was a king and long before he was a warrior what was he he

is a little shepherd boy watching over his daddy's flock and so this is very

near to David's life and what's interesting is most scholars believe

that that David was an old man when he wrote this psalm they believe that he

wrote this at the very end of his life nearing the time of his death and so

just get this picture in your mind here is David as an old man he's nearing

death and as he's reflecting on his life and all that God has done for him he

sees the work of a shepherd and he sees the love of the shepherd and so he

starts by saying the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want and you need to

understand that David is not just recognizing God's goodness to him only

but he's also reflecting on God's goodness to all of his people but this

phrase I shall not want it's the same phrase used in Deuteronomy 2 7 where the

word says for the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your

hands he knows you're going through this wilderness these 40 years the Lord your

God has been with you you have lacked nothing now literally in Hebrew what

this says is these 40 years the Lord your God has been with you you have not

wanted it's the same phrase that's used here and so David is recognizing that

just as God was gracious to provide all the needs that the people of Israel had

during their time in the wilderness so too God has been gracious to bless David

and provide David with everything that he needed in his life and I want us to

recognize this attitude here as a spirit of thankfulness to say that he has no

wants David is saying that he is perfectly content and what is contentment

but thankfulness if you were truly content then you are thankful for all

that God has given you and this means that it is possible to be truly content

and thankful regardless of the circumstances you face in life Paul says

this in Philippians 4 11 through 13 not that I'm speaking of being in need for I

have learned in whatever situation I am to be content I know how to be brought

low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance I have learned the

secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance in need what's the secret I

can do all things through him who strengthens me so what is the secret of

contentment church what's the secret of being thankful in all circumstances it

is recognizing that you can do all things through the one who strengthens

you you can be thankful with little because Christ is the one who

strengthens you and sustains you even when you have very little you can be

thankful with abundance because Christ is the one who provided everything for

you in all situations in all circumstances we can be thankful because

we have a shepherd who knows what his sheep need and he provides everything

that we do need and you might think well it sounds good but it's awfully hard to

practice and I would agree with you right it's hard to practice being

thankful like this in all circumstances but let me tell you something I have

personally witnessed it I witnessed it firsthand when I was living in

Charleston I think I've told you this before but when I was living in

Charleston I became really good friends with a homeless man named Stephen

Stephen was the most thankful content joyful Christian I have ever met in my

entire life every time I would see him he would just be walking the streets

singing praises to the Lord talking about God he had a sharpie and he would

write Bible verses all over every inch of his skin so that people would ask him

and he could share the Word of God with them I mean everything he did was just

all about God and I'll never forget one day we were right outside Bubba Gump

shrimp restaurant and Stephen comes rolling down the street and I start

talking with him and I said Stephen have you eaten today do you need any food

we're right here I can go and get he said nope God's gonna provide for me I

was like I'm sure he will maybe I'm the one through whom he's providing so like

could I do this for you he said no I trust God he's gonna provide so then I

watched him walk over to a trash can and he reaches in the trash can and he pulls

out this half the in hamburger and he starts eating it and he says praise God

God has blessed me with protein today and then he found an apple he starts

eating that too and he says praise God God has blessed me with fiber today and

then what really got me because it was gross but he did it anyways is he found

a little bottle of milk that barely had anything left in it and he took that

final sip of that milk and he said praise the Lord God has blessed me with

calcium today too we're over here complaining about our lives and not the

fact that we're not making more money than we are the fact that we can't

afford our dream car or a dream house or we can't afford the new iPhone which is

the exact same as the last iPhone and the one before that the one before that

we're complaining about all these little petty things and here's a homeless man

eating out of a garbage can thanking God for providing him with discarded

nutrients you see to say that we shall not want is not to say that God has made

all of our dreams come true but it is to say that God has provided us with

everything in our lives that is essential so God's not going to make all

my wishes come true and all my dreams come true but he is going to provide me

with everything that is needed and essential for my life so how can we have

a spirit of thankfulness regardless of our circumstances thank God for what you

have and trust God for what you need that's the point I want to make here

this morning thank God for what you have and trust God for what you need my mom

is smiling because I stole that from her that's my mom saying that's not mine so

all credit to Lisa Chapman goes to her thank God for what you have trust God

for what you need that's what she used to tell me all the time growing up most

of you know me really well and you know that I never worry I never struggle with

anxiety I never overthink everything it's just not who I am by nature of

course it is that is me to the core right I worry about everything I get

really anxious and worked up and overthink everything and so I remember

there were times growing up I mean we didn't have a lot we were pretty bad off

at times and there were times where we really didn't have anything and we were

struggling and I remember there would be times when there was a bill that needed

to be paid or something that was coming due and I was like mom what are we gonna

do I mean we don't have the money to pay for these things what in the world are

we gonna do like I don't know how much plasma is going for these days but I'm

sure I could sell that off like whatever we need I've got two kidneys we could

sell one of those make a little money and I'm trying to think through all these

solutions and mom it was so pure infuriating at the time because every

single time mom would just go thank God for what you have and trust God for what

you need I'm like I get that mom I understand praise to the Lord but what

are we gonna do and she said we're gonna thank God for what we have we're gonna

trust God for what we need and every single time the Lord provided for us the

good Shepherd knew what his sheep needed and he was good to provide that's

exactly what David is saying here the Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want why

shall I not want because God is going to provide for me he's going to make sure

that I have everything that I need and everything that is essential for my life

and you might be saying well pastor I don't really have much I don't have much

this morning well the Bible says in first Timothy 6 8 but if we have food

and clothing with these we will be content let me ask you a question do you

have food at your house everybody eat breakfast this morning yeah do you have

clothes to wear now listen you don't have to answer that because I know the

answer okay clearly you do and nice clothes at that even if this is your only

outfit you have clothes to wear so you have food to eat you have clothes to

wear the Bible says with these we will be content everything else is just icing

on the cake is it not I mean how petty is it of us to complain about all these

things that we wish we had that we do not have and we rarely take the time to

remember that God owes us nothing we are entitled to nothing from God we are

sinners enemies of the Lord before Christ God doesn't owe his enemies

anything except justice you wouldn't give your enemy anything and yet God is

so good that he provides for those who even hate him he provides for those who

were going to curse him all day long and so we don't need to be complaining about

all these things that we don't have when we need to take time to realize that

everything we do have comes from the Lord and he is good because he didn't

know us anything and gave it to us anyways and I want to just remind you

this morning that everything good you have in your life comes from God the

Bible says in James 1 17 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above

coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or

shadow due to change so thank God for what you have trust God for what you

need because everything good in your life comes from the father and David

gives us even more reason to be thankful look at the first part of verse 2 with

me the Bible says here he makes me lie down in green pastures what a beautiful

sight is it not he makes me lie down in green pastures I learned something

really interesting recently because I was reading a book that I highly

recommend I recommended it to the Wednesday night crew it's a book called

a shepherd looks at Psalm 23 and it was written by a shepherd named Philip

Keller who spent a portion of his life as a shepherd and decided to write a

devotional book on Psalm 23 from the perspective of a shepherd and so he

writes on every line and it was interesting when he got to this part he

said it's interesting that the Bible says he makes me lie down in green

pastures because it's almost impossible for sheep to be made to lie down unless

four requirements are met in order for a sheep to lie down they must be free from

fear free from tension free from aggravation and free from hunger and the

most interesting part about all of that is please notice this it is only the

shepherd who can provide those things it is only the shepherd who can provide

release from these anxieties and is only the shepherd who makes it possible for

the sheep to lie down and be at rest Keller recounts that when he first

became a shepherd his flock was under constant attack and threat he said he

would wake up to find that there were some sheep dead from cougar attacks he

also discovered that rival farmers were coming by night with their dogs and

picking off the flock and so what he said is that he started sleeping outside

every single night with his rifle right beside him and at the smallest sounder

Russell he would jolt up call his collie and dash out into the night with his

rifle in his hand ready to protect his sheep and he said this he said that over

the years he found that nothing so quieted and reassured his sheep as to see

him in the field he says the presence of their master and owner and protector

would put them at ease as nothing else could do I think children are not very

different from sheep we made the mistake Anna and I of reading Judah the story of

the three little pigs when he was way too young for that apparently because

after we read that story to him he went through this long phase where he was

deathly afraid of the big bad wolf I mean it all times he thought the big bad

wolf was gonna come get him all the time especially at night and so we would be

trying to put him to bed and he didn't want to go to bed or go to sleep or be

left alone because he was worried that the big bad wolf was gonna break into

our house and come get him in the middle of the night and then we had a pack of

coyotes outside our house and then he became deathly afraid that coyotes were

somehow going to break into our house open the door go up the stairs open his

door and eat him in his sleep and so he was having a hard time lying down and

going to sleep and wanting to be not letting not wanting to be left alone and

so he's going through this fear and he's not lying down and so I just told him I

said hey buddy listen as long as your daddy is in this house you don't have to

be afraid of the thing I said as long as I am in this house there's nothing and

there is no one going to come in this house and they're certainly not going to

make it up the steps I promise you that they are not coming to get you so as

long as daddy is here you're safe and without assurance he started to lie down

and go to sleep what is it that makes David lie down like a sheep in green

pastures here what is it that frees him from fear and anxiety enough to rest it

is the presence of the Good Shepherd right next to him and the same thing is

true for us church when we are riddled with anxiety when we are fearful about

the future when we're distressed and uncertain nothing can quiet those fears

and anxieties like knowing that Jesus is with us I know that storms are coming

there's not a thing I can do to prevent that I just want to know that when I'm

going through the storm Jesus is going to be in the boat with me amen I need to

know if I'm gonna have to face it please just let me know Jesus is going to be

with me and the Bible says that he is you know I said well how do I know that

pastor well Jesus says in Matthew 28 20 and behold I am with you always to the

end of the age and again in Hebrews 13 5 the Bible says for he has said I will

never leave you nor forsake you church listen to me this promise is yours in

Christ no matter how alone you feel no matter how overwhelmed you are no matter

the circumstances you face in your life Jesus our good Shepherd has promised you

personally that he is with you and that he will never leave you he will never

forsake you and so as his sheep we are free to rest and isn't that good we are

free to rest in the presence of the good Shepherd knowing that he is with us and

watching over us and so if you want to foster this spirit of thankfulness this

morning then here's what you need to do learn to treasure the presence of the

good Shepherd more than the presence of the good Shepherd there's an intentional

play on words there so if you're listening to this later I apologize to

that it's not going to make sense to you but we need to learn to treasure the

presence of the good Shepherd more than the presence of the good Shepherd the

great Puritans and Thomas Watson said it like this he said we love we must love

God more for what he is than for what he bestows the way I would say it is that

we must never love God's blessings more than the God who blesses we have to

learn to treasure his presence in our lives more than the things he gives us

because here's my concern as Christians today we have this really bad tendency

to judge the goodness of God based upon our circumstances or the things we have

correct and so we say if we go through a hard time we're tempted to doubt the

goodness of God how can he be good if this is happening if there are things we

want in life and we fail to get them then we question the goodness of God

here's the problem the Bible says God is good period but we've added an amendment

as Christians today and we say God is good amendment as long as and then we

fill in the blank God is good as long as life is good God is good as long as he

follows my plan for my life and make sure that I can do everything I want to

do God is good as long as he gives me everything that I want in life God is

good as long as I never face trials as long as I never face setbacks or hard

times or persecution God is good as long as and here's the problem church God's

goodness is not dependent on any of those things in any way shape or form the

Bible says God is good and because he is God he is good all the time because God

never changes the Bible says in Hebrews 13 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday

today and tomorrow he's always the same God is good because he is God his

goodness does not depend on your circumstances God was good long before

you were ever even a thought in your parents mind God was good long before he

ever established the foundation of the world God has always been good he is

always good and he will always be good we don't need an amendment God is good

all the time in church all the time God is good and so we have to learn to stop

judging God's goodness and basing his goodness on our lives and our circumstances

and the things that we have and this good God tells us that regardless of what

we face in life he is always with us and just as the presence of the shepherd

allowed the sheep to rest in peace so too the presence of the good shepherd

allows us his sheep to rest in green pastures Jesus said this in Matthew 11

28 to 30 come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I'll do what church

I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle

and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy

and my burden is light so are you tired and worn out from your circumstances

this morning are you beaten down from life the Bible says come to Jesus find

your rest in him are you anxious and fearful the Bible says cast all your

cares on him because he cares for you are you under weight of the pressure

from the world from expectations are you feeling the pressure of trying to live

up to the expectations of others Jesus is inviting you to get out from under

that yoke this morning and take his yoke upon you which is easy in light you see

here's the thing I know that you want your problems and your difficulties to

go away but listen to me say this as your pastor even if that were to happen

you're gonna have peace for a moment and guess what's gonna happen next month

you're gonna have more problems and more difficulties and you're gonna lack that

peace again so listen wouldn't it be better to learn to find your peace in

Jesus so that you can have peace regardless of your circumstances it's

not so much better than what we have been doing it is for me at least and

that's what the Good Shepherd offers us he makes us lie down in green pastures

he is with us and he is watching over us there's one final reason I want you to

see this morning to be thankful look at the second half of verse 2 yes we've

only made it to the second half of verse 2 I know it feels like it's only been

five minutes he leads me beside still waters now some of your translations

might say quiet waters in Hebrew it literally says waters of resting places

and here's what's interesting about this phrase the first time a portion of this

phrase is used is all the way back in the book of Genesis and Genesis chapter

Genesis 2:15

2 verse 15 the Bible says the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden

of Eden to work it and keep it now you're wondering okay pastor we see that

verse I don't see anything about waters of resting places or resting places it

looks like just work and keep so what am I missing well that phrase put him in

the garden in Hebrew it actually literally says that God caused him to

rest in the garden so this Garden of Eden this meeting place between God and

man it was a resting place where Adam and Eve were invited to rest in the

presence of God and so when David says that the Lord leads him beside waters

of resting places he is saying that the Lord satisfies his soul in a way that

allows him to experience true rest you see church it's not enough simply to be

in green pastures in order to find rest the soul must be satisfied in a way that

allows for rest to happen you see what's interesting is a sheep will not rest as

long as it is thirsty and if a shepherd is unable to lead his sheep to clean

pure drinking water Philip Keller says this he says sheep will drink water from

polluted potholes where they pick up parasites and diseases so unless a

shepherd is able to lead his sheep to clean pure drinking water they're gonna

drink out of polluted potholes and try to quench their thirst with that I want

to tell you that in the same way our souls will not enjoy true rest and true

satisfaction until they have drunk deeply from the well of Christ Jesus

said in Matthew 5 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness

for they shall be what satisfy this is the satisfaction that we need but like a

bunch of sheep we are trying to satisfy our thirst by drinking out of a bunch of

polluted potholes we're like the man who stranded on a desert island and he's

slowly dying of thirst and he wants so badly for that thirst to be quenched

and to fill water on his tongue and his lips that he starts to look at the ocean

he says that's a lot of water I bet it's pretty cold too it probably

feel pretty good in the moment but we all know what would happen right if he

tries to drink that water to satisfy his thirst what's gonna happen so I'm gonna

make it worse it's gonna worsen his thirst it's gonna kill him quicker and

so too we often try to satisfy that thirst that we should have for God with

all the things that the world has to offer with fame and with fortune with

relationships with material goods or even worldly comfort and listen to me

church I want to tell you all of these things are nothing but salt water they

cannot satisfy your soul they will only worsen your thirst and they will kill

you quicker the only thing that is going to bring you true lasting eternal

satisfaction is Jesus Christ Augustine was right when he said oh God thou has

made us for thyselves and our souls are restless searching until they find their

rest in thee we find this satisfaction and rest by drinking from the waters

that the Good Shepherd leads us to listen to Revelation 22 17 the Spirit

and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who

is thirsty come let the one who desires take the water of life without price so

Jesus has come drink deeply drink your fill it's no cost to you and when you

drink this water of life you will become a new changed person an entirely new

creation in Christ and I know you might be thinking to yourself right now pastor

that sounds nice I'm sure it's even theologically correct it is but I don't

see any water so how do I do this if I don't see any water how am I supposed to

actually drink this water that Jesus is offering here's what you need to

understand drinking is just a metaphor for taking in and for accepting and

believing in Christ when you take in the message of the gospel when you believe

in Jesus when you depend on him for life just as a person depends on water for

life then you are drinking the waters of life that Jesus offers us and the ones

he promised to the Samaritan woman at the well only then will your soul be

truly satisfied and only then will you find peace and rest and so here's what

we need to do if we want to develop this thankfulness this morning we need to

follow the shepherd to the true source of satisfaction follow the shepherd to

the true source of satisfaction if you take notes in your Bible if you

underline in circle in verse 2 circle the word leads that's an important

detail you need to notice here David said he leads me beside still waters

leads meaning David is following wherever God leads because he knows

that God is going to lead him to the good places to the quiet waters to the

waters that can satisfy my question to you this morning is what do you think it

is that you need to be truly satisfied some of you this morning think I would

be satisfied if someone would just tell me I'm doing a good job if someone would

tell me that I'm a good spouse a good parent a good grandparent a good friend

that I'm doing a good job other people think this morning that they'd be

satisfied if they just had a little more money in the bank account maybe a car

that's a few years newer maybe a house that's in a certain neighborhood let me

ask you something even if if God gave you all those things do you think you

would actually be satisfied or would you just not find something else

something new to start desiring and thinking you need I want to tell you

something this morning the Good Shepherd never leads his people to pot holes with

polluted water the world will lead you there the culture will lead you there

and they will say these are the good waters drink deeply from them and you

will be satisfied and it will only make you sick the Good Shepherd does not lead

his people to potholes with polluted water I want to tell you God wants more

for you than a life spent drinking from potholes do you believe that this morning

that is not what God wants for his sheep he wants more for you than a life spent

drinking polluted water out of potholes he is offering you eternal satisfaction

in Christ joys and pleasures forevermore in his right hand when you learn to

drink from the well of Christ and you taste true satisfaction then you will

finally stop settling for polluted potholes because that is not the life

God intended you to live remember our scripture reading Jesus said I came that

they may have life and have it abundantly that is what he wants for his

people the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green

pastures he leads me beside still waters this is what we have to be thankful for

this morning Christians that we have a God who provides for every single one of

our needs and everything that is essential in our life that we have a God

who is with us every minute of every day he is with us on every mountaintop and

I promise you he is with you in every single valley and we have a God who

satisfies our souls eternally in such a way that we would never want the

polluted waters that the world has to offer again he says come drink deeply

this is who our God is this is who the good Shepherd is and so as his people

this morning let us give abundant thanks for an abundant God amen