Songs of Summer : Love Will Pursue Me (Psalm 23) | Matt Roden | Part 6 of 9

Welcome, everybody, who's joining in online or YouTube or podcast and everything.

Hey, we're glad you're with us.

And uh, my name's Matt, one of the pastors here at Santa Cruz Bible Church.

We've been continuing a summer series like we do in the summer called Songs of Summer.

And if you're wondering what the Songs of Summer are, we've been talking about the most famous and inspirational collection of songs, poems, writings in the entire world, and that is the Psalms of the Bible.

And again, if you haven't read those, you should read those this summer.

Uh, it's a lot, but today we're gonna cover what's considered probably the most famous of all the psalms.

Psalm 23.

Okay.

Now, while we were uh setting up this series, kind of it's funny with a summer series, it's kind of like the draft, basically, like all the speakers get together and everybody kind of calls their psalm that they kind of want to do or they feel really good about, and we kind of do a first round.

And I noticed when we did our first round, no one picked Psalm 23.

And I thought I was like, Man, you can't do the Psalms without Psalm 23, so I gotta do it, right?

We gotta pick it up.

And now, if if some of you are going, what's Psalm 23?

Help me out.

This is the one that famously starts out, the Lord is my shepherd.

Like, so maybe you've heard that one before.

It's only six verses.

So here's the deal: if you've always wanted to memorize a chapter in the Bible, I'd do the one with six verses.

You know what I mean?

Just kind of go ahead and get an easy one there.

Like that this is a super famous, very quoted piece of scripture in popular media and in popular music.

In fact, I was it was so quoted that just to do this alone, I was like, let me just do rap music.

Because it's been quite psalm 23 was quoted in the 90s by Tupac and Coolio in the 2000s by Kanye West and Rick Ross, and more recently by J.

Cole and Jay-Z.

And that's just rap.

Okay.

I mean, that's just that.

Just I mean, it's all over the place, it just shows up everywhere.

Uh, Psalm 23 is commonly read during uh funerals, moments of death, moments of grief.

The best thing I've ever read, actually, about the impact that Psalm 23 has had on people's lives was from Henry Ward Beecher.

Now, Henry Ward Beecher was a 19th-century abolitionist preacher.

Uh, some of you may have heard of his sister, Harriet Beecherstow, who wrote the abolitionist book, Uncle Tom's Cabin.

So, Henry Ward Beecher had seen firsthand the impact that Psalm 23 had had on people in some of the lowest points of their life.

And this is what he wrote.

He says, Psalm 23, it has charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophy of the world.

It has sung courage to the army of the disappointed, it has poured balm and consolation into the heart of the sick, of captives in dungeons, of widows in their pinching griefs, or orphans in their loneliness.

Dying soldiers have died easier as it was read to them.

Ghastly hospitals have been illuminated, it has visited the prisoner and broken his change.

It has made the dying Christian slave freer than his master.

It will go singing to your children and my children and to their children through all the generations of time, nor will it fold its wings till the last pilgrim is safe, and time ended, and then it shall fly back to the bosom of God, whence it issued, and sound on mingled with all those sounds of celestial joy which make heaven musical forever.

I know that's like I know you're thinking, like, why can't we get a preacher like that?

Right?

Gee whis.

My only problem with this is I really hope heaven is not, I don't like musicals, and if heaven is a musical forever, I think he meant just music, not an actual musical where we're singing things we're doing, like I'm getting breakfast and stuff like that.

I don't like that.

Okay, so I don't want to do that.

I will not be a part.

That's okay, but I'll I'll jump in the other stuff anyway.

Um, but Psalm 23 has been a comfort in times of despair for a lot of people.

It has been read to, I mean, who knows how many people in their final moments and has lifted their spirits.

And we're gonna do a little bit, I'm gonna do some old school preaching today.

What we're gonna do is we're gonna walk through just Psalm 23.

And usually when I'm when I'm talking, I kind of talk about one thing and we kind of drill on that one thing.

But today we're gonna kind of take a tour through the psalm and let you kind of connect with this where it connects, and then what we'll do at the end is we're gonna tie it all together and talk about what the whole driving application is uh of Psalm 23 to your life.

But we're gonna start by doing something that we don't normally do, and it's not just because it's a holiday weekend and I'm just feeling clever.

But since this thing is short, we're gonna read it together, okay?

Now, what I'm gonna do is we're gonna read it off the screen so we're all reading the same thing, because that would be weird if we were all reading different stuff, right?

And if you're not comfortable with this, do not worry about it, just hang out where you are.

But if you are comfortable, let's read Psalm 23 together.

The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows, he leads me beside peaceful streams, he renews my strength, he guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies, you honor me by anointing my head with oil, my cup overflows with blessings.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

All right, amen.

So let's talk about it.

What does this mean?

How why does this apply today?

Psalm 23:1.

Psalms 23:1

The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.

Now, David wrote this psalm.

I've talked about David a ton uh in this summer because he wrote half of the Psalms.

You may know David as King David, David and Goliath.

He wrote this.

He also was a shepherd when he was young, so he fell back on that imagery a lot because that was a lot of his young life being a shepherd.

So he would always fall back on that.

Jesus also used the imagery of a shepherd when he said this in John 10, 14, I am the good shepherd, I know my own sheep, and they know me.

Now, here's the question that's all beautiful and all.

But let's be real.

Do you need a shepherd?

Now I know.

Oh, I know some of you are just great Christian people in here.

Yes, we do.

Amen.

Jesus Lord, hallelujah, brother.

Amen.

I get it.

But I'm asking you really honestly, because you may say that here, but once you leave the parking lot, I'm not convinced you'll always think you need a shepherd.

Like, uh and it's do you need the Lord to be your shepherd?

And what I mean specifically is do you need someone to lead you, take care of you, and keep you safe?

Because that pushes against every strong, smart, independent, you know, thing that we have about ourselves.

You know, and it's here's the interesting thing.

If if you need a shepherd, that implies you're a sheep.

Right?

And nobody wants to be a sheep.

Nobody, that's not how you want to visualize yourself.

I mean, I mean, we like to imagine ourselves as lions and and wolves.

And I even see people wearing a shirt.

It's like, I'm not a sheep, I'm I'm wolf.

Well, you look, which, I mean, if you have to say it, it's kind of like if you're like, I'm cool.

Well, if you have to say it, you know, anyway, whatever.

But it's that thing of like, you know, if you have to put it on a shirt, I feel like that's okay, you know.

All right, but sheep, you know, whatever.

It's this thing like, we're lions, we're wolves, we're tough, we're independent, we're strong, we're smart, all these things.

Because sheep, let's be honest, you've seen a sheep before.

I mean, even if you haven't been around one, you know what they look like.

I mean, they're kind of stupid.

I mean, they're kind of stupid, they're weak.

You know, that's just you know, you feel like a little, like, I'm not weak or stupid.

Like, I'm I'm not that and they follow the herd.

This kind of they kind of follow what other people are doing.

I'm not, that's not me.

I don't do that, right?

I don't follow people.

I I do my own thing.

Like, I'm and they're helpless a lot.

They get out there and they get helpless, and they're just out there crying, and he was like, that's not me.

You know, that's just not me.

I don't know if you know this, but if a sheep falls over, sometimes they can kind of flail around and manage to get up, but sometimes they can't.

And when a sheep is on its back and it cannot kick and try to get up, do you know what it does?

It just sits there and it kicks and it cries.

And at that point, if a sheep is fully on its back and it can't get up, it's completely helpless.

And I don't know if you know this, but when they're on their back, gas collects in their stomach, it hardens their stomach, which starts closing off their air.

And if you leave it on their back, it will suffocate in a few hours.

It will just lay there and die.

And why will it lay there and die?

Because there's nothing it can do.

It's completely helpless.

Like, unless a shepherd comes and helps them, they're just they're they're gonna sit there and die.

That's all they can do.

And even that is a process.

You can't just like you know kick it back up or whatever and say, hey, you know, get up.

You have to gently help it back up because all the circulation has left its legs.

I hate that feeling.

Like, you know, and then you have to sit there and hold it while it gets, you know, it's sitting there shaking, and its legs are shaking and it can't stand and it's in pain because the circulation's rushing back and the legs, and you have to stay with it until it's stable.

Excuse me.

And I say that image, and you're like, yeah, I'm not a sheep.

I don't like I don't like that.

That just confirmed it.

I don't need help.

I'm strong, I'm smart, I'm independent, I don't need anybody's help.

I can get up on my own, please and thank you.

But let me just ask you: have you ever been knocked down and had a really hard time getting back up in life?

Has life ever hit you so hard that you just laid there and cried?

Right?

Have you ever felt so helpless in life that you literally didn't know what to do?

And you felt like if someone doesn't come along and help me, I think I'm doomed.

I don't think I don't think I know what to do.

You ever felt like life was kind of suffocating you?

Things are starting to get numb in your life, and you actually need help.

And when the Lord is your shepherd, he gently helps you up, he stays with you until you can stand.

That's what it means to say the Lord is my shepherd.

I have all that I need.

Because even when I'm down, he's helping me up.

It doesn't say that you get everything you want.

It just says I have all that I need.

Because God makes sure in the scariest moments or situations that you will finally stand again.

That there's no moment, no darkness that's so heavy that God is not going to try to help you stand again.

And we don't want to be sheep.

I understand that.

But there's no doubt that we all need a shepherd more than we would like to admit.

Now, verse two and three, actually.

He lets me rest in green meadows, he leads me beside peaceful streams, he renews my strength, he guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

So there's a few things that this is talking about.

God leads us to rest, God leads us to peace, God leads us to strength, he leads us to the right path.

And I can tell you if there's four things that we often need in life, it's these four things: rest, peace, strength, and guidance.

And all that is part of following the shepherd, and those are what he provides for us, because we need rest when we don't know when to stop.

We need peace when worry and fear are starting to overtake us.

We need strength when we don't have anything left.

We need guidance when we don't know where to go.

And this is what God says.

God says, part of you following me is these are things that I will be providing for you.

I will help you rest.

I will help you get strength.

I will help you have peace.

I will help you know where to go.

But again, we are convinced we don't need that help because we're not sheep.

I'm not a sheep.

No, I'm fine.

I like to go, go, go, go, go.

I like to stay busy, busy, busy.

Rest is for wimps, right?

Who needs that?

I like to go until I collapse and then take four sick days and no one knows what happened, and then I'm back up and running again, right?

That's what I like to do, right?

I don't need any strength.

I don't need any help.

I am strong, I'm independent, I don't need this.

This is my fight song, my take back, my life song, all that stuff, right?

That's what I listen to in the car.

I get myself hyped up because you don't understand how smart I am and how I am just resourceful.

You don't know, I'm fierce, all this stuff.

I don't need help.

I can figure out where to go all by myself.

I've done it my whole life, and I can think I don't need any help, thank you.

Sure, I've wrecked the car a few times, but I know where I'm going.

And what God gives us is what's interesting, whether it's rest or peace or strength or guidance or even forgiveness.

These are gifts that you have to accept.

And the problem with accepting something, truly accepting something, is you have to believe that you need it.

Right?

It has to be something that you need.

And one of the things I've always said that is if you never need help, you never usually get it.

And that's kind of a lot of folks that we all know.

I'm not pointing at anybody in here in the room because everybody here knows when they need help and they know when they need counseling and they just do it quickly, you know, and they go like, nope, it's time for me to listen to others, and you know, no, you know, we don't, you know.

I'm sure you all do that, but I'm talking to other people who maybe are online or whoever, you know, listening to the podcast, whoever, that maybe they need some help and maybe just need to hear this.

I don't know, just throwing it out there.

Let's keep reading.

Psalm 23, 4.

This is the one man, this is the one people know a lot, right?

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will know or the valley of death, as it's commonly said in the the the King James Version, um, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

And what this is saying is in the darkest valleys, in the lowest points, God is close beside me.

He protects me and comforts me.

Now we talked a lot about dark valleys last week when we talked about Psalm 30.

So if you are in one right now and you missed last week, I would highly recommend you get jump on and listen to that this week.

It will really encourage you.

But um, I can just tell you, as someone who's lost, like many of you, lost people close to me, had unexpected career shifts in my life where something happened and now like we have to move.

I don't know why we what's going on, you know, all these kind of things, or just times of anxiety or depression where things aren't going right, and every day you just keep waking up and things don't get any better.

You know, it's that thing where you're trying to cope with pain and I'm not sleeping well, and I'm kind of longing for better days and all that.

Um I'm raising the lights a little bit.

It kind of got dark.

It got a little candlelight in it in here.

I noticed everybody started holding hands.

I don't know what happened.

Anyway, so um thank you so much.

I don't know what happened.

I was just like, I was like, am I, I think I'm having a stroke like right now.

Anyway, but I'm not.

Thank God.

That was just the lights.

Okay, good.

Um anyway.

Um, I know I ate a lot yesterday, but I was like, oh my gosh, here we go.

Anyway, uh, anything.

But I I've had these times in my life where I've found that I'm I'm coping with pain.

I'm trying to I just you know want days to get better.

It seems like they're not getting better.

And we all know that a lot of what we struggle with is coping with pain.

If you really boil down your secrets, your struggles, your stuff, it's all coping with pain, how you cope with what hurts.

And we all know that we can get in self-destructive habits or get in patterns of behavior and things that don't really serve us well in those times.

You can get in full in full-on despair as well.

But I found that when I'm coming to God and pouring out my pain and seeking comfort in him, that over time I do feel his protection and his comfort.

Now, let me just tell you, that is not comfortable to sit and pour out stuff to God.

Because usually when you're going through stuff, you're you're, I mean, if you really want to let it out, let it out.

Like be raw, be honest.

Those it's not comfortable, right?

But over time, you do feel a sense of I don't understand why things are going this way.

I'm not quite sure what's happening, but I do feel like you are with me.

I don't always see it, I don't always feel it, but I feel like you're with me.

I mean, I don't know if you know this, but the thing about dark valleys that none of us are good at is you don't march right through them.

Like you're kind of like, oh good, this is gonna be a dark chapter of my life.

I can't wait.

I'm gonna truck through this thing.

Like you, it is not that way at all.

It is a slow, long, painful walk in a valley that never seems to end.

It just feels like it's getting darker and darker in here, and it seems like it's getting lower and lower.

When am I ever gonna get out of here?

But the key is I'm no longer afraid in those valleys because he is with me.

Like I said, I don't always feel it or see it, but it's a sense of God is with me in this, so I can keep waking up every day because I know that eventually this valley will be over, and I know that he is with me, even though I don't understand what all is happening right now.

And sometimes that alone will keep you from going off the rails.

Sometimes that alone is what keeps you from going off the edge and having so much to spare that you just want to quit.

Because you know that you are moving forward, slowly yet surely you are moving forward through the valley day by day, and that God is with you in it.

And if that's you, again, go check out last week if you if that's where you are.

Um, this next verse, verse five.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil, my cup overflows with blessings.

So following the shepherd means that you are well taken care of and honored and blessed, even while you have enemies.

I do not understand why having enemies is part of life, right?

It is somehow a part of life that is unavoidable that you will have enemies.

And I don't know.

I mean, again, all you have to do is go about your business.

You don't even have to get up in anyone else's business, and you will have enemies.

I've I have had this happen.

I mean, it's the weirdest thing.

So I found that out, especially when I started pastoring here, right?

So I'm a like, well, let's do our job, let's turn a church around, let's revitalize a church, let's move toward vision, you know, all that kind of stuff.

So four years ago, we established a new vision.

So, listen, hope for everyone, because that's what the gospel's for, that's what salvation's for, that's who it's offered for, hope for everyone.

So we said, let's reflect, let's go back to the gospel, what this is all about, and then let's let's kind of live this out in a way to reach people in Santa Cruz County that no one else is reaching and get our heart back in tune with what Jesus is about and who he's about, and let's try to do that, right?

And I thought, like, well, yeah.

And then by doing that alone, I made enemies.

And I thought, I'm just doing my job.

What do you care about what I'm doing?

But I made it.

I mean, there's a lot of people that I don't know or barely know at all, I've never met, but some people did not like the concept of letting the sinners back in.

We can't let the sinners in.

Yeah, be kidding me.

Like, you let the you're letting in the unclean, and then the church will be unclean.

You're letting in the gross and the dirty, and now we'll all be dirty and gross, and it's gonna be a big mud pit every morning.

It's just gonna be this thing.

And I was like, I don't, I don't, okay, nope, that's not what, that's not what we said, or that's I mean, I don't know, whatever.

I guess if that happens, that happens.

But it was just this weird thing, and and I found that when I made enemies, I didn't even know what to do because these are people I didn't know, never met, and they wouldn't come talk to me.

Nobody called me and said, Hey, I like what you're doing.

Can we chat?

No, they were like, I'm gonna send you.

A nasty anonymous email, you know, or I'm gonna post some criticism about you online, or I'm gonna uh, I don't know, spread rumors.

People under spreading, and I was like, what like is going on?

And so it was just a weird thing because sometimes I just sit there and go, I'm just doing my job, and then here comes the hate mail, and you're thinking from people that you've literally never met or heard of in your entire life, and you're going, This is weird.

This is just a little weird.

Like, what am I like?

What is going on, right?

And and as I thought about this, you know, for a sheep, your enemies most of the time, if you're a sheep, there was all kinds of animals trying to eat sheep, but wolves were famous for that, right?

Wolves would move in, they'd wait and kind of attack the herd, especially if a sheep kind of wanders off.

That's when the wolf's kind of waiting and they grab them, like before the shepherd could even get them back because they kind of strayed off and that kind of thing.

And so a shepherd has to protect them by using this thing that's in here in the Bible.

Like it says your rod, the rod was a clubbed stick, and you either swung it or you threw it, and that was how you defended the animals against predators that were trying to move in.

And in a similar way, God protects us and blesses us while we're dealing with enemies.

But let me clarify that he's not gonna beat people that don't like you with a rod.

Okay?

So you make post something on social media and someone makes a nasty comment, and you're like, well, we are enemies now, we are no longer friends.

God's not gonna show up to the door, and there's Jesus with a rod being like, you know what you did, and then that's what that's not what happens.

Like it isn't, that's not how it plays out, so please don't get your hopes up.

The trick is here's the hard part about this: you have to trust his protection and not act in anger.

That's what you have to do.

You gotta trust that God is watching out for you, and you have to not act in anger.

I want you to think about this.

If a sheep turns around and tries to attack a wolf, how is that gonna go?

Not well.

How would it go if I went and said, Oh, these people don't like me?

Cool, I'm gonna slash their tires.

Well, this is how it would go.

You'd be reading, go like, hmm, let's see what's in the sentinel.

Oh, our pastor's in jail, honey.

Come look.

That's how that would go.

That's not good.

And it's the thing, you don't again, I was getting up, but no, but you don't have to attack because of the shepherd.

Do you know that?

Like, you don't have to attack.

One of the craziest things I've ever thought about Jesus.

You think about this.

What did Jesus say when all his accusers were lying about him?

What did he say?

Nothing.

Sat there and they were all like, Are you gonna say anything?

Are you gonna defend yourself?

You know what?

Jesus didn't have to defend himself.

He knew the truth, he was secure in that, and you don't always have to defend yourself either.

Some of y'all get on social media late at night and someone comments, and it's like, you know, 1 a.m.

and you've had a little something to drink, and you're going, well, I'm gonna get on here and set this right.

And no, you don't.

You could just delete it and move on.

Like, you don't have to go, like, well, I'm gonna get in an argument with someone I went to high school with who I haven't seen in 30 years over something that both of us don't really know much about, right?

And then sitting there and go like, but and spend your whole time doing that.

You don't have to always defend yourself.

We don't have to.

And in this situation, for me, I was just perplexed, to be honest.

And I thought, God, I just trust you.

I'm not gonna retaliate, I'm not gonna be petty, I'm not gonna get in the mud, I'm just gonna just go on about the business you already had me on.

Because when someone, and this is for all of us, when someone lies about you or is trying to provoke you, you gotta remember and trust in that moment that God is right there with you.

That he's right there.

And there, and this is the trick.

You have to trust that he's right there with you.

This will keep you out of jail, okay?

And trust the shepherd, even in those moments.

That I don't have to always defend myself.

I don't have to go on the attack.

I can just listen, take it and go, well, that's how you feel, and move on with my life.

You know, kind of stuff.

And don't get bitter and don't sit and drive home and be like, I should have said this, and then I should have said this.

And like, do feel do a whole play-by-play.

You know, just let it go.

And just trust the Lord to be your defender and your protector when you need a defender and a protector, right?

Now, the last verse, some of you like, I didn't like that one.

Move on to the next one.

Anyway, uh Psalm 23, 6, which to me sums up the whole psalm.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I have I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

So, this is what the promise is.

The God's goodness and unfailing love will pursue you all the days of your life.

And then it gives a little hint that it goes beyond that because it says that I will be with God forever.

Why?

Because I did something great?

No, because God's goodness and his unfailing love have hunted me down, no matter how far I've ran, no matter how far I've strayed.

He is always pursuing me.

And I will be with him forever.

All the days of your life.

And that's honestly God's love pursuing you is what's happening in this entire psalm.

A God who provides for you, cares for you, gives you rest and peace, strength, and guidance.

A God who protects you and is with you in the dark valleys, a God who will defend you and bless you, a God who overflows our cups with blessings.

That is a love that pursues us all the days of our lives and beyond.

I know some of you go, that sounds amazing.

So what do I have to do for the Lord to be my shepherd?

How does that work?

Well, you do have to acknowledge one thing, and that's Isaiah 53.6, that all of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God's paths to follow our own.

It's acknowledging the need for the shepherd.

It's acknowledging that as fierce and as strong and as smart as we all believe that we are, that we need a shepherd more than we ever would want to admit it.

That first step to come under and be just follow the shepherd is to admit it.

That God, I need your help.

And it's also to acknowledge that, and this is so important, all of us have strayed away like sheep.

I didn't have the heart to tell people who said that we let the sinners back in.

I didn't have the heart to read them this verse.

And be like, did you know you're a sinner too?

Did you know you strayed away just as much?

No, no, but my stray away is a little different.

You know, it's not.

We all, we all make messes out of our lives.

We all are stubborn, we all can be prideful, we all can just, whether intentionally or unintentionally, hurt ourselves, hurt other people.

We all have strayed away.

And that's why we need a shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I have all that I need.

And God's forgiveness and new life and love that He's constantly offering is in every low point and every dark valley, along with all the high points and all the great moments of life.

And when you're down and you feel helpless, he gently helps us back up so that we can move forward again.

What do you do with a love that never stops pursuing you no matter what?

Well, you finally accept that you are deeply loved by God more than you actually can ever imagine in this life.

That you are deeply loved by God, no matter how far away you think you are.

And may you accept that love so that you too can one day say, The Lord is my shepherd, and I have all that I need.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you so much for this psalm and the impact it's had on culture and the impact it's had on so many people's final moments.

And as we reflect on it this morning, it shows us a love that has been pursuing us and continues to pursue us all the days of our life.

So, Father, I pray that you will help all of us to realize with humility how much we really need you and how much we cling to and depend on your guidance and your strength and your peace.

Father, every once in a while we get out there by ourselves.

We feel like we're okay on our own.

And we don't see the danger out in the dark.

And we don't see sometimes, sometimes we imagine that maybe you don't want us back.

But Father, you always are pursuing us with your love and your goodness.

I pray that you will help us to see that and help us, even in the most difficult relationships, or the people who are the most different from us in our lives, to show that goodness and that love to others as well.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.