The Lord Is My Shepherd Psalm 23 4 th Sunday of Easter Coffee House Worship Service Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Pastor Roger Dykstra Calvary Lutheran Church Grand Forks, ND Not as often but way more than just once or twice I ve said those words with someone who didn t even remember who I was and maybe didn t even anymore remember who their loved ones were, but as soon as I said, The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want, their lips started moving to say the rest of the words with me, because these they did remember Can you remember and say them with me? The 23 rd Psalm The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want In the Old Testament, anyway, it s hard to imagine any other chapter or verse that is more well-known, or more cherished. In my own life, I wouldn t even want to try to begin counting how many are the times, personally and even more so, pastorally that I have turned to this Psalm s precious words and priceless promises. Oftentimes more than I can count times I ve read it to someone as we both knew, and loved ones gathered with us knew, that death was drawing near, and again and again I ve watched tense faces become at peace faces almost as soon as I started with the words, The LORD is my shepherd. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. We have a dog a rescue dog that our daughter rescued only to discover that as a single young female who was working the long hours she was working beginning a professional career, it just wasn t fair to a very active Jack Russell/Rat Terrier cross to keep him cooped up in an apartment 12 hours a day, so in the fall of 2006 he came to Grand Forks and its wide open spaces to live with Grandpa and Grandma. His name is Captain.
- 2 - Sometimes actually, way more times than I d ever thought I would before having a dog sometimes, thinking about Captain and me, I ve thought about God and me. I ve thought for example what would it be like if I trusted God and just delighted being with God the way Captain trusts me and just delights to be with me. Captain (and I didn t see this coming!) Captain has taught me a whole lot about faith! The 23 rd Psalm was written by David, who, before he was King of Israel, didn t spend his days in Grand Forks as the Grandpa of Captain; as a child and a young man, he spent his days in the hillsides around Bethlehem, as a Shepherd of Sheep. -And just like, thinking about Captain and me, I ve sometimes thought about God and me, so, too, David, thinking about his sheep and him, sometimes thought about God and him. -But whereas my reflections become sermons, David s reflections became songs. -He was musician and a composer. And many of the songs he composed are preserved for us (with words only, no music, unfortunately) in the Bible s book of Psalms, absolutely the most well-known of which is the 23 rd Psalm. And we, most if not all of us, are familiar with it and have said it many times But what I want to do ere this evening is say it just a little more slowly than we sometimes do, not by saayyying it sloooowllly, but by saying it kind of verse by verse and even phrase by phrase, and just pausing for a few comments or reflections along the way So The LORD is my shepherd -We have a Tuesday morning men s study at Perkins every Tuesday and we look at the text for the week, and so this Tuesday we looked at Psalm 23. -One of the guys there had grown up on a farm with some sheep. -He said, As farm animals go, sheep aren t that smart! (Actually, I think he used the word stupid!) -He said, A sheep takes a wrong step and gets one hoof caught in a fence row and it can t figure out how to get free. -And sheep are vulnerable. And they don t really have any way to defend themselves. They need care, and they need protection, and they need guidance. David the shepherd saw himself as a sheep vulnerable sometimes wondering off to do not smart things sometimes finding his way into jams he wasn t sure how to get out of sometimes -But David s sheep had a shepherd who cared for them. -And David s sheep were just fine as long as they listened to the voice of their shepherd and followed the lead of their shepherd. -And you know what? Those are two things that sheep are good at: listening to, and following, their Shepherd. - The LORD, David said, is my Shepherd, reminding himself and us not only of the strong love that loves us, but also the importance of listening to Love s voice, and following Love s lead.
- 3 - The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. Another translation translates this, The LORD is my shepherd, I have everything I need. I think it s worth noticing that what the Psalm says is that with the LORD as my Shepherd, I shall not want; but what the Psalm does not say is that with the LORD as my Shepherd, I will have each and every single thing I ve ever wanted. -Listening to the Shepherd, we learn the difference between wants and needs, and we learn not to want when we already have what we need. He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside still waters. -To list the things sheep actually need isn t actually to make all that long a list. -A safe place to live, to sure and shepherds provide their sheep with that. -And then, of course, food and drink to sustain life in Bethlehem s very rugged countryside David as a Shepherd knew how much his sheep did need him to lead him to those things. -Reflecting on that, though and learning as he reflected he thought of the fact that he had all the food, the water, the things that he needed for life, and he gave thanks to God his Shepherd for that. -And you know what? When it comes to quality and joy of life, there is a way, way, way, way, way, way, way big difference between those who have everything they need and those who have everything they need and are grateful for that. But then David went on to think of the fact that some of the things that we need in order truly to live aren t things at all. And thinking of those things he needs for life that aren t things, he wrote of his Shepherd, He restores my soul. Some people learned the hard way some have not learned yet that some of our greatest needs are not the needs of our bodies, but of our souls. As someone else once said, there is a God-shaped emptiness within each of us, and God is the only one who can fill it. Or, in the words of St. Augustine, who, after as a young man running off to sample every worldly pleasure the world had to offer, returned to the faith he was raised in and to the Shepherd to write, Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in thee. David knew that. And so, with joy and gratitude he wrote of his Shepherd, He restores my soul. And, He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Guess what? Turns out faith isn t just about what I believe, it s about what I do. -It s not just about my resting in the arms and grace of Jesus, it is about walking the righteous path God created me to walk and calls me to walk, and doing so, says David, for his name s sake. -How s that for a news flash tucked into the middle of this precious Psalm Life isn t meant to be lived for the glory of me, but for the glory of God. - He leads me in the paths of righteousness, David says (i.e. he leads me on the path he created me to walk), for his name s sake.
- 4 - Which takes us to the next precious verse Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil A number of images come to mind. Like this one Or this one. Or, getting back to shepherds and sheep, how bout this one?
- 5 - Walking the path God created and calls us to walk in a world that isn t in every way the world God created and calls it to be, sometimes the path can lead us to what might be fearful places, except that what?, David says. I m not afraid! Because why? Because a path that is the path God calls me to walk will also always be a path I don t walk alone, for the Shepherd always, always, every time! the Shepherd walks with his Sheep. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Shepherds carried rods and staffs They could fend off wild animals with them With the hooked end, they could reach down into deep crevasses or up onto rocky ledges to rescue their own trapped or lost animals with them. As I walk the valley I m called to walk, David said, I will fear no evil not because there is no such thing as evil, but because the Lord my Shepherd walks the path including the fearful and shadowed valleys with me. And he protects me. And comforts me. Indeed, David goes on to say, on the path I walk with him, even when fearful things all around me are looking on, he keeps providing for me, for Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: At the Tuesday men s breakfast study, I told the guys that one place my thoughts go when I think of a table prepared in the presence of an enemy is to the times I ve taken communion to someone nearing the very end of life, and shared that table with them in the presence of death the enemy. One of the guys said, You know, my mom was a saint I mean, a saint. She believed in Jesus and she taught me to believe in him. But in the end, she was afraid of dying. Until the last couple of months, when, I don t know, she just wasn t afraid anymore. And I m not sure exactly why. I said to him, I sure can t tell you. But what I can imagine is that one day she was sitting there in the presence of that fearful enemy of hers death and she felt him looking at her and preying on her but then she felt the gaze of another her shepherd and she heard the voice of that other of Jesus. And he said, Irene, come sit at my table and feast on the food of my promise that I am with you now, that I have a place prepared for you for forever, and that I will walk you from here to there, and I will never let you go. I don t know that that s what happened with her. But I have been blessed and honored to serve that meal to many, many like her, in the presence of the enemy death reminding them of their shepherd s love for them, and his promise that he is with them always, and will give them eternal life. And then I also often make the sign of the cross on their foreheads sometimes with water from their drinking cup recalling the promises of baptism, which are promises that echo the next promise of Psalm 23: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. In the Old Testament, being anointed with oil was a sign that one had been chosen by God. And those whom God chooses God blesses.
- 6 - And those who are blessed (when they start counting their blessings and being grateful for each and every one ) even in hard times begin to see something that a person is so blessed to be able to see, and that is that our cups in so many ways aren t just full, they are filled to overflowing and what they are overflowing with are way more than and way better than things; for what our overflow with are the presence and the promises and the grace and mercy and the peace and the love that the Shepherd does give his sheep. And so, Surely, David concluded, knowing the overflowing blessings and promises of God, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Oh my goodness, there is so much more I could say Let s just say again together: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.