Sermon 2 on Confidence in the Lord Psalms 23

This

Psalms is usually classified as a psalm of confidence in the Lord’s care. David knew what a shepherd is all about because in his early years, he had spent it caring for sheep (1Sam 16:10-11) Sheep are completely dependent on the shepherd for provision, guidance and protection.

Jesus Christ is the shepherd to all humanity even though some have refused to see Him in such light. In the NT, Jesus is known as the good Shepherd (John 10:11), the great Shepherd (Heb 13:20) and the chief Shepherd (1Pet 5:4). This Psalm focuses on the qualities of discipleship.

When we recognised the great Shepherd we would not be frighten, nor would we be disobedient. We would only recognise Him if we know His voice. The sheep knows their master voice and they obey him. We must familiarize ourselves with the master’s words so that we can know when, how and where He leads. Listen, Jesus said ‘my sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me… (John 10:27-30).

This classic individual psalm covers all the life experiences and the singer (David) praised God for His goodness in delivering him and us today from various life-threatening situations e.g. illnesses, oppressions, Satan’s attack, even covic-19. Praise God for all who have been recovered from covic- 19. Our prayers are with those who have passed as a result of this and we keep on with earnest prayer for those who are still suffering with it. The good Shepherd Jesus remained God, and He is good all the times.

This hymn of confidence in the Lord’s care uses two images to describe God.

1) The Lord as Shepherd for the sheep (vv1-4)

2) The Lord as a host who cares for His guest (vv5-6).

These images would be familiar for everyday life experience, today but they also bring to mind other ideas common to the people of the ancient near east. Note that Jesus is the only Shepherd who has been with us from birth, in all that life has or is throwing at us and He will be the very and only one who will journey with us through death. Above all He is the one to whom every knee shall bow before and every tongue shall also confess that He is Lord to the glory of the Father Amen.

We would now look at the deity –as-The Shepherd (vv1-4):

Verse 1; David begins his prayer by expressing his confident in the Lord. In his culture, kings were often called the shepherd of the people and were sometimes spoken of as shepherding an entire nation (Num 27:17, Jer31:10). David is affirming oneself to a similar nature of a sheep; the sheep totally depended on the shepherd for everything. The Israelites in the desert, had experienced God’s provision for their needs (Neh 9:20-21).

Under God’s care, we lack nothing; David depended on the Lord for all things e.g. he looked unto God for wisdom in godliness and for living, for all his supplied i.e. mentally, physically, spiritually, emotional etc. He trusted the Lord’s guidance and protection including his life. Jesus says ‘I will supply all of your needs… (Phi 4:19).

This verse is a description of what it means to be a great and good ruler; Christ is the only great ruler who had lay down his life for his forks (John 10:11). Luke mentioned ‘Christ as the King whose perfect rule will be established (Lk 23:2-3). Jesus is a Shepherd to individuals as well as all the nations on earth.

The Shepherd; shepherd his flocks, gather his lambs and gently lead them (Isa 40:11).

Verse 2: Green pasture means fresh green grass. The waters are quiet and easy to drink from, rather than trouble and dangerous, this fresh water sustains the life of the sheep. A green pasture is abundance in expression, constantly renewing, and overflowing goodness of the Shepherd. David here is helping us to see the abundance of peace of mind that we find in the sheep/shepherd relationship.

A green pasture is a place of cool and refreshing rest, water of stillness, whose quiet flow invites a response ‘I will feed them on a good pasture says the Lord’ (Ez 34:14) and ‘He will guide them to springs of the waters of life’ (Rev 7:17).

Verse 3: The restoration, refreshment, or revival of a soul indicates the returning of life of vitality (Ruth 4:15, Proveb 25:13 and Lam 1:19). Through the process of restoration; previous tensions and worries are dissolved. To restore means to revive or to quicken something (Ps 19:7). Restoration of our souls can occur when we “let go of our ways and allow God’s way to become our way” We can expect right guidance because God leads us always to a safe landing.

The indwell Christ within us, through His Spirit leads and direct our paths, with regards of His perfections, pledged for our welfare. The path God leads us are the path of blessings not the path of burden for His name sake (Ps 5:8).

Verse 4: The awareness of our own mortality often comes with sickness, trials and hardship. But the Lord our protector can lead us through these dark and difficult valleys to eternal life. We don’t have to be afraid of death because Christ has defeated the power of death (1Cor 15:25-27). Even in such period of suspense, danger and insecurity in the world, the faithful in Christ find assurance that God is with them and thus they need not fear. Daniel had the confidence that God was with him that is why he was not afraid of what Nebuchadnezzar could have done to him.

The deity of the Lord as-a-host: Here we see how David drops the metaphor of a shepherd and picks up that of a host. God is now depicted as a host who prepare meal to welcome the persecuted, the rejected, the weak and strong alike. All are welcome and are invited into the Lord’s mansion. (In my Father’s house there are…)

Verse 5: No matter how dark one’s night is , like David one should have full confident in prayer that God is a Father of all possibilities. In Christ, joy is sure to come (Ps 30:5) And when joy comes, the enemy will only watch helplessly and see how one peacefully enjoy God’s protection and provision. I.e. God’s generous hospitality .This Master’s hospitality therefore, causing the enemy to become captive at the victory celebration feast.

Verse 6: Goodness, mercy and steadfast love are the assurance for us that God is showing His grace upon us. You see God’s promise for the human-race was not just for the enjoyment of this life but it extend also to the life to come in His presence (Ps 16:9-11, Ps 17:15, Ps 49:15).

In this Psalms David sum-up how needs are met, guidance is been provided and how through God’s mercy we obtain forgiveness. So, the combination of the Lord as Shepherd and Host gave David the assurance of facing tomorrow in confidence. And because of this confidence, David said ‘he will live in security in the house of the Lord. What an experience full of hope. Confidence in the Lord in Psalms 23 is summed up Psalms 27:1-4.

In the rough times of any valley of death like the world is experiencing today, believer need to remind themselves that God is going through with them. For when we have such confidence, then fear, worries, doubt and insecurity will be lessened; thus, providing comfort to the trouble mind.

Therefore, let us all take each verse of this song/prayer/hymn and relate it to our personal situation, and in so doing we should allow God to direct, lead, provide, and sustain us. David put his confidence in the Lord and we share in his testimony. Am very sure of this; if we put our confidence in the Lord, we would testify of the assurance that God’s love never fails.

May the Lord bless and keep us; The Lord make His face shine on us and be gracious to us in Jesus name Amen.