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Words of Rest, Part Three Psalm 23 |
September 17, 2006 Pastor Tom Marcum |
I told you last week that one of the highlights of the trip that Stirling and I made to Paris a few years ago was our visit to the world famous museum, The Louvre. For anyone even mildly appreciative of great art it is a truly amazing place.
Another highlight from that same trip was our visit to another great museum, also in Paris, The Musee D’Orsay. While not nearly as large in size or as diverse in its collection as The Louvre, the Musee D’Orsay provided us the proverbial “kid in the candy store” experience because Stirling and I share a love of paintings in the style called, “Impressionism,” and the Musee D’Orsay has one of the most important collections of impressionistic paintings found anywhere in the world.
Just last month, we were able to revisit a portion of that “candy store” without ever leaving the Bay Area when we went to the Legion of Honor Museum in San Francisco to see the “Monet in Normandy” exhibit which, by the way, closes today. Claude Monet is not only one of our very favorite painters, but he’s also one of the grand masters of impressionism.
One of the things that captivate me about impressionistic paintings is that what you see in the painting changes dramatically, depending upon your proximity to the painting. And, so, when you view, say, a Monet painting up close it tends to look like little more than a mish mash of colors that could have been thrown together by someone completely lacking in any artistic skill…someone like me, for instance. But then, when you back away from the painting and view it from a distance of 10’, 15’, even 20’ suddenly the painting is transformed into a glorious landscape, seascape or street scene. From this distance you can see things that completely escaped you when you were up close. And then you move back in for a closer look, once again, and now you can begin to understand how these seemingly random splashes of color, in fact, were perfectly placed to produce this breathtaking masterpiece. And then you repeat the process—backing away, then stepping in close, backing away and stepping in close, and with each additional viewing from each additional perspective you see something new and fresh and wonderful.
It’s been my experience that reading the psalms tends to lead to a similar kind of experience. It’s certainly true of the 23rd Psalm, which we’ve been pondering these last couple of weeks.
--We can step away from it, read the entire psalm from beginning to end and from this perspective we are captured by the beauty and wonder of the psalm as a whole.
--But, then, we can move in for a closer look and discover that not only every verse, but also every phrase within every verse is absolutely bursting with beauty and meaning that we can literally ponder for hours.
This morning, we’re going to come back for another up close look at a couple of phrases bursting with meaning that we might very well have missed if we only looked from afar.
And, let’s begin, by reading the psalm together.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This morning, I want us to begin our up close look by zeroing in on this phrase that ends verse 1, “…I shall not be in want.” “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.” What exactly does that phrase mean? How are to we to understand this assertion that because the Lord is the shepherd of my life, I now live a “want free” existence? What exactly does that mean?
If you are familiar the King James Version of this verse you’ll know that it says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Which seems to suggest that if the Lord is my shepherd then “wanting” is an experience that I will never have again. If I am following the Lord, my shepherd, I will be so fully satisfied that I will never again want anything else.
We’ve got a lot of experienced sheep here this morning so let me ask you—Have you found that to be true in your life? Once you met the Lord, you never again wanted anything else. Has that been your experience? Well, let me just ‘fess up, folks. The Lord has been my Shepherd for many, many years and I still want stuff all the time.
--I want my daughter to get a good education.
--I want my dad to enjoy good health.
--I want my wife…to want me.
I have all kinds of wants and so do you. So our own experience tells us that that can’t be what this phrase means. So, if it doesn’t mean that, what does it mean?
Well, you probably noticed that the New International Version we read a few moments ago adds two little words to this phrase that are not present in the King James Version. The words are, “be in” and they added those words because they help us get closer to the actual meaning of the Hebrew text. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not BE IN want.”
--So, the point, then, is not that when we walk with the Shepherd all of our wants and desires instantly and permanently vanish.
--The point is that when we walk with the Shepherd we will not live in a state of wanting. In other words, “The Lord is my shepherd, He provides what I need; I shall not lack.”
OK. That’s helpful. I’m starting to see the big picture but, again, my own experience is urging me to ask this question—Has there ever been a time in your life…even after you started following the Shepherd…when you didn’t lack something? I can’t think of a time like that.
Monday’s are sweet times for me. I spend a lot of time on Monday’s in green pastures beside quiet waters. I anticipate being there with the Lord, this time tomorrow. And yet, as sweet as things will be I will still lack the funds to pay off my mortgage; I’ll still lack the time to read all the books I’d like to read; I’ll still lack the ability to hit a 300 yard drive.
So, the point is, that even when we are experiencing the very best of times in life and in our relationship with the Lord, we can always point to certain things that we still lack. Always. So, what, then, does David mean when he says, “With the Lord as my Shepherd, I will never lack anything?”
Simply this—
--My Shepherd will provide me everything that He knows is good for me.
--My Shepherd will never keep from me anything that is best for me.
--My Shepherd will never lead me into a circumstance or situation without also providing me all that I need to succeed in that circumstance or situation.
--My shepherd will make sure that I never lack anything that I need to do what He wants me to do, to go where He wants me to go or be the person that He wants me to be.
--Whether I’m in green pastures by quiet streams or dark valleys shadowed by death, my Shepherd will see to it that I will have everything that I need.
Folks, if you are a child of God, God has plans for you. Plans, according to Jeremiah 29:11, “to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” And you can absolutely trust your Shepherd to provide you everything that you need to live in that hope and see that future.
In Psalm 84:11, the psalmist says it like this, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.”
In Philippians 4:19, Paul said it like this, “My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
In Psalm 23:1, David says it like this, “The Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not be in want.”
And that leads me to the second phrase that I want us to take an up close look at, this morning. It’s in the middle of verse 3 and it’s the phrase, “…paths of righteousness.” “He guides me in paths of righteousness.” And here’s the question that I want to ask—where do these paths of righteousness lead us? What kind of things do we experience along these paths of righteousness? When I look up from these paths of righteousness, what does the scenery look like? To answer those questions, we need to read the verses immediately preceding and immediately following the phrase. And when we do that, here’s what we see:
Sometimes those “paths of righteousness” lead us through “green pastures” and “beside quiet waters.”
--We have blessedly quiet times to study and meditate upon His word.
--We have sweet times to enjoy with gratitude the abundance of God’s provision.
--We share glorious worship experiences with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Shepherd feeds us and refreshes us and restores our soul. We have the kind of experience described in the great old hymn, “In the Garden.” “He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own.”
Sometimes those paths of righteousness allow us to simply to rest in the arms of our Father, secure in the knowledge that He loves us, He cares for us, He provides for us and He is growing us and accomplishing His purposes in us. Sometimes those “paths of righteousness” lead us through “green pastures…beside quiet waters.” And sometimes, not!
As we read from verse 3 into verse 4 it’s clear that those “paths of righteousness” don’t always look like that. “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. EVEN though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…you are with me.”
Question—does walking through a dark valley mean that I have left the path of righteousness? Answer—absolutely not. And we make a huge mistake when we assume that it does. Folks, the truth is, that if we are faithfully following the shepherd, all of our paths are paths of righteousness. The Shepherd would not lead us anywhere else. God’s paths always lead us in the direction of righteousness because righteousness is key to the plan that He is accomplishing in us and God is not going to undermine His own plans.
--Does that mean that every stage of the journey along the path of righteousness is going to be easy? Absolutely not.
--Does that mean that every stage of the journey along the path of righteousness is going to be one that we enjoy? Absolutely not.
But it does mean that if we are faithfully following the Shepherd we can trust that He will use everything that we experience to accomplish His good purposes.
Romans 8:28 says it like this, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Now, does that mean that we should go out there looking for dark valleys to plunge into? No. But it does mean that we shouldn’t think that the dark valleys of life hold nothing for us other than danger and harm. The truth is that God does some of His most powerful work in us as we walk in faith with Him through those valleys.
“Pastor Tom, that’s a mighty bold statement. Can you back it up?”
Let me try. If you have personally found it to be true…not in theory but in your own life experience…that God has not only been with you in your valleys but He has actually done some of His most powerful work in You in those valleys…stand up, right now and let’s give a visual testimony to the faithfulness of our God.
The Lord is my Shepherd and I will never lack anything that I need to keep moving down the path of righteousness.
© Copyright 2006 Pastor Tom Marcum