Revisiting Psalm 23

Take a trip in the Wayback Machine. We've been

in Psalm 106 going through it, but we're going

to go all the way back tonight to Psalm 23. Some

of you may have heard this psalm before. Psalm

23. If you have not ever heard it, then you should

read it. You should listen to it. It's a good

one for us to revisit from time to time, so we're

just going to revisit it tonight, even if we...

Most of us don't need to read it. Yeah, yeah,

that's right. I suspect... Different translation,

maybe. Yeah, I suspect a lot of you probably

memorized this when you were a kid. I know when

I was in third grade, we did. And if you did

memorize it, you probably memorized it in the

King James Version. That's the version we'll

be looking at tonight, just because that's the

familiar version for this verse for most of us.

Psalm 23 is where we will start. Let's pray and

then we'll jump in. God, we come to you. We thank

you for your good word and we thank you for just

the beauty of this passage that maybe we've read

it a bunch of times or maybe for some tonight

listening online or even in here, it's the first

time they've ever heard it. I pray, God, that

whether it's the first time or the tenth time

or the hundredth time, God, that your word will

speak to us tonight and we'd grow from it. I

pray that your Holy Spirit would just be with

us and give us a good... A few minutes together

in your word. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.

Alright, Psalm 23. This is a Psalm of David.

Now David was a shepherd, so this language that

he uses describing the Lord as our shepherd and

kind of that relationship and what that looks

like between a shepherd and a sheep is one that

David would have understood. And it's one that

we can understand too, even if we're not shepherds

or sheep herders, we can understand the beauty

of what David is talking about here in relation

to the Lord. Now, David certainly was a man after

God's own heart. We see that in Scripture, but

we also see that David... He did plenty of things

that were not right, that were not what God really

desired. And we need to learn from David's life

because there are plenty of times that we've

done things that are just, that are not right,

sinful things. But even still, David knew the

importance of calling out to the Lord, of praying

to God, of praising God. And that's the type

of language that we see so often in these Psalms

of David. And he says in verse one, the Lord

is my shepherd. I shall not want, or there's

nothing I lack. I have everything I need. The

Lord provides for me everything I need. And when

you think about a sheep, it's really dependent

on that shepherd. A sheep is probably not going

to make it very long on its own. Now, a lot of

times people will say sheep are dumb, but sheep

are not that dumb. Sheep are actually pretty

smart. They have pretty good eyesight. They're

pretty fast. Sheep are pretty good animals, but

nevertheless, They really need a shepherd. Sheep

are an animal that's going to follow whoever

is leading them. And David uses that as an illustration

that the Lord is our shepherd, that we are to

follow the Lord, that the Lord's going to take

care of us. What does the shepherd do? leads

the the sheep where they need to go for safety

for security for provision and that's what we

see in the rest of the verse he maketh me to

lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside

the still waters beautiful imagery there he's

not he's not taking the sheep to a raging river

farm to drink out of he's not taking them to

the middle of the desert he's taking them to

a place that that is that is of abundance where

there's Plenty of green grass where there's still

water for them to lave aside and for them to

drink from. And the shepherd, it's his job to

find these places for the sheep, to say, I know

where the good places are. I know where my sheep

need to go. I know where there's provision. I

know where there's safety. I know where there's

abundance. And God, as our shepherd, leads us

to the places that we need to go. He leads us.

on the paths of righteousness for his name's

sake. He guides us along the right way so that

we can get to those green pastures and those

still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth

me in the paths of righteousness for his name's

sake. What a beautiful first half of that verse.

He restores my soul. Now there are times in life

that our souls need to be restored. Sometimes

it may be because of our sinfulness. It may be

that we've been living in a way that is not,

what God desires. We've been doing things and

saying things and acting in a way of disobedience

and in sinfulness that we just feel the burden

of that in our soul. And praise the Lord, God

will restore our souls. David understood that.

He knew what it was like to call out to the Lord

when he had sinned greatly. And so David understands

these are powerful words when he acknowledges

that God will restore our soul. Maybe our soul

needs restoring, not because of sin that we have

committed, but just because life is tough. And

sometimes it just wears you down. Maybe you're

doing the best you can and just work gets you

down or life gets you down. Whatever it may be,

there are things in life that sometimes we feel

the burden of that and our soul just needs to

be restored. And David says, hey, look, God is

our shepherd and he is the one who restores our

soul. He leadeth me in the past. of righteousness.

Okay, so a good shepherd is going to lead his

sheep down a good path. Now, we know who the

good shepherd is. We read the New Testament and

we see that Jesus is the good shepherd. He cares

for the sheep and the sheep hear his voice and

the sheep follow him. Now, same example here.

Jesus is symbolically our shepherd and we are

symbolically sheep. That Jesus is the one who's

going to provide for us and prepare for us and

lead the way for us to follow him. And where

does he lead us? He leads us down paths of righteousness.

He leads us down good paths. Now in life, we

certainly have choices to make. We come to these

forks in the road sometimes in life where we

have, am I going to go down this path or am I

going to go down that path? And here's the thing

about the paths of the world. It's oftentimes

the paths of the world, they look better at first

glance. You look and you see a path going up

a hill and you say, man, that path looks easy.

It looks good. It looks smooth. It looks like

it has everything that I ever want. And a lot

of times the paths that God leads us down, they

may not look so good. They may not seem like

the best path in the moment. something that God's

calling us to or leading us to, we may say, man,

that don't seem like that's going to be very

much fun, or that doesn't seem like that's going

to be easy, or I don't see how any good could

come from that. And sometimes the path that the

Lord wants to lead us on, it may not look like

the best path. But we have to be careful because

if our good shepherd is leading us down a path,

it is the good path. Even if another path looks

better, we find out quickly when we... when we

stray from following the shepherd, that when

we get over the hill of that path that looks

good, it's downhill from there. And we find that

maybe it's not the best path, as good as we thought

it was. But we need to remember that Jesus is

a good shepherd. So wherever Jesus leads us,

it may not always be easy. It may not always

make sense. We may say, man, I don't know why

God's leading me here, but if God is good, Jesus

is good. He's going to lead us on the path of

righteousness, not the path of destruction. Verse

4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou

art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort

me. Now that's a beautiful language because sometimes

we are in dark valleys in our life. Again, sometimes

it's our own doing. Sometimes we are living in

sinfulness and we are in a dark place because

of the way we've been living and our heart's

gotten dark. And sometimes we find ourselves

in dark valleys in our life. Sometimes it's not

necessarily of our doing. Sometimes it's just

life and our life path. We go through life and

things are tough and it just seems so dark and

hopeless and like there's no light at the end

of the tunnel and it's not fun. Whatever gets

us into that valley of the shadow of death, it's

not fun to be in a dark place. It's not fun to

think, man, I feel like I am so dark and I am

so depressed and I am so burdened that I don't

think I'm going to make it through it. It's just

going to kill me this place is so dark. But what

does David say? Yea, though I walk through the

valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil

for thou art with me. So whatever may... may

get us into our dark valleys in the future or

whatever maybe has gotten us into a dark valley

today, we need to remember that the Lord is with

us, that it's just for a moment, that we may

be in the valley today, but if we would seek

God, that he can bring us to the mountaintop

tomorrow. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort

me. So the shepherd has a rod, has a staff, and

certainly the shepherd protects the flock. Maybe

he uses that staff to fight off a wolf or to

fight off some other danger. Maybe he uses that

staff to correct the sheep, to pull the sheep

back into the fold. The Scripture says the Lord

disciplines those that he loves, and perhaps

there are times that the shepherd has to make

sure that the sheep does what he says. Maybe

that rod of correction or that little hook on

his staff is able to pull that sheep back into

the fold, even if he wants to. He wants to go

off on his own. Maybe the Lord has to do that

for us sometimes. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table

before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou

anointest my head with oil, and my cup runneth

over. Again, this idea of blessing that David

is saying, God has prepared a table before me,

a feast before me. God has anointed me with oil.

I am blessed. It's obvious to all of my enemies.

The Lord is with me and I have won because the

Lord has brought me victory. Now sometimes in

our life we may have enemies that come against

us and it may seem as though our enemies are

winning. We may look at the world and we may

see a lot of evil taking place and it may seem

as though the enemy is winning. But ultimately

those who trust in the Lord will have victory.

They will be the ones who are sitting at the

feast, that the table prepared before them. The

enemies of God's people will look at God's people

and say, man, we thought we had them, but God's

people will always be victorious. And David acknowledges

that truth, that God has prepared that table

before him. Verse 6. Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me all the days of my life, and

I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Isn't that a beautiful thing to desire, goodness

and mercy? Surely goodness and mercy will follow

me all the days of my life. Now, without the

goodness of God, we're in a bad shape because

there is only good in God. There's no other source

of good in this world. And David acknowledged

that, hey, when I'm in the presence of God and

His goodness, then I'm in good shape. Surely

goodness and mercy shall follow me. Praise the

Lord for God's mercy. We need God's mercy because

we sin and we do things that are deserving of

great punishment, of death. But God is merciful.

He does not give us what we deserve. And David

rejoices in that. He acknowledges that. Surely,

he says, goodness and mercy shall follow me all

the days of my life, and I will dwell in the

house of the Lord forever. I will dwell in the

Lord's presence forever. And that's a good place

to be. It's a good place for us to be is in the

presence of the Lord. Now, ultimately, we trust

in Jesus Christ. When we leave this earth, we

will certainly be in the presence of the Lord

for all of eternity. But even in this life, when

we pause and pray, when we meditate on the Lord

and His Word, we are in the presence of the Lord.

And it's a beautiful thing when we take time

to intentionally seek out God. And David acknowledges

that there. He's giving us some good words here,

words of encouragement. That we need to be led.

We need a shepherd. We need somebody to lead

us because life is tough. And we sin and we go

through dark valleys and we wonder how we're

going to make it. Where's our provision going

to come from? Where's our safety going to come

from? Our security? How are we going to overcome

our enemies? How are we going to overcome our

temptations? How are we going to have our souls

restored in the midst of our seasons of just

burden on our soul? Well, David says it's going

to be through the Lord. So Jesus Christ is our

good shepherd. Are we following him tonight?

He will only lead us to good places. So we need

to follow him and trust him and know that he

will provide for us and take care of us. Let's

pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for these

good words. I pray that we would think about

them, that we would reflect on them, that they

would come to our mind, dear Lord. Maybe there's

a time in our life that things are going to be

tough, and I pray that you just would recall

your word, that we can draw strength from this,

dear Lord, Grace, dear Lord, and just live in

your mercy and know what your goodness feels

like, God. I thank you for your word. I pray

that it will just resonate in our life and our

daily life. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.