1 Mountains and Valleys Psalm 23:1-6 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Everybody has a shepherd The lord is my shepherd. I would like to be your shepherd. It s not like the Lord is my shepherd and you don t have one. The Lord is my shepherd and he can be your shepherd. He makes me, he leads me, he restores me. That is what the shepherd does. Overview and introduction The psalm is very personal. There is no "we" or "us" or "they," but only "my" and "me'' and "I" and "he" and "you." It is an overflow of David's personal experience with God. One of the reasons it has such an attraction for us is that we all hunger for such authentic experience with God, and a personal witness to that experience brings us a step closer ourselves. So in the spirit of the psalm I thought I would point out a few things that have jumped out to me personally.
2 I. God leads me through difficulty to get to what s next. I am going through. Vs. 4 4 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. A. Vs. 4 is a shift. 1. In the first half of Psalm 23 David refers to God in the he and I context. 2. Psalmist is I do this and he does that. 3. In verse 4 there is a shift, it now becomes I and you. See that guy over there he and I work together. He is really good at what he does. He and I are good friends. I am talking about him. He and I are close friends. Now, if I want to address him directly instead of saying he I say you. I am really inspired by your work ethic and how well you do your job. Thank you for being a good friend. Now I move from talking about him to talking to him. See that. 4. That is exactly what happens in verse 4 of the Psalm. 5. We are led to talk about God and then to talk to God. Application It is not good to talk long about God without talking to God. I should interweave in my theology talking to God. In my talking about God I should talk to God. Don t go long with talking about God without talking to God. B. Why go through the valley? 1. Rebellious? not the case. 2. To get to somewhere else. Yes that is it! 3. Go through the valley to get to the next place God has for you. 4. Keep moving! Keep going! Don t stop now! 5. Move Forward.
3 C. Why does David switch where he does? 1. Going through valleys draw us closer to God. We are more prone to talk about God in the green pastures and more prone to talk to God in the valleys. 2. I have learned more about trusting God in the hard times than I have in the easy times. D. Valley thoughts 1. A valley is a low place between two mountains. 2. Every day of life is not lived on the mountain top. John 16:33 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. 3. Valleys draw us closer to God. That was one of the most difficult things I have ever been through but I wouldn t trade it for anything? Why? We draw closer to God in the valleys and in the valley when we are close God reveals more of himself and we are strengthened. In green valley s we tend to talk about God but in the valley s we talk to God. Application Do not go very long with talking about God before you talk to God. Pray right now 4. I will fear no evil. a. No evil will I fear. Question How can David say I will fear no evil in the valley? 5. Rod and staff they comfort me. a. I have confidence in the protection and direction of God. b. Rod and staff they comfort me. c. Rod was like a club it was used to defend.
d. Staff was used to direct and to save. e. No matter how dangerous or how long the valley is I have the comfort of the mighty shepherd who defends me and directs me. f. This is a picture of a strong, warrior shepherd. g. He is fully capable to lead the way through the valley and defend and direct. 4 Application If you re going through a Valley experience right now take confidence in the ability of the Great Shepherd. If you re going through a Valley experience right now take comfort that he has got this. When I know the capabilities of someone it gives me more confidence in them. God has got this God has got you 6. The psalmist is walking through the valley. II. God prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies. God comes to my rescue every time. God supplies I can have intimacy with God. Jesus is my best friend. Dinner date Vs. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. A. God the shepherd is now God the host. 1. He prepares a table. 2. Anointing with oil. Luke 7 the anointing of Jesus. He gets mad and says you didn t anoint my head with oil but she anointed my feet. Jesus is a great host. And he keeps my cup full. Before my enemies two possible meanings. 1. David is trying to get across that the enemies are being kept away. A pic of safety. 2. A pic of victory where the POW s are forced to sit outside and watch.
5 Ephesians 4:27 and give no opportunity to the devil. (ESV) and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV) and do not give the devil an opportunity. (NASV) He looks for a crack or crevice. Character, door you opened, weakness, reoccurring though, habit, personality propensity, He is looking for a crack or crevice. B. It is not really about you. 1. He is after your father. 2. If your child suffered harm 3. I am trying to hurt the Father. Roaring like a lion seeking who he can devour After a while he tries to pull up a chair and sit at your table. Don t let a killer sit at your table. How do I know if he is at my table? 1. You re never going to make it through this. Don t get your hopes up. You cannot win this. Victory is for other people but not you. Nothing is going to change. 2. You aren t good enough. You ve never been good or strong enough, insignificant, not worthy. 3. Everybody is against you. No one at work likes you. Everyone tolerates you. Everyone is out to get you. They hate you. Do not let them get to you. Defense. What are groups of lies the enemy tells? What do I do? Lock eyes with the shepherd. Eat with him what he has prepared for you. Don t give a seat to the enemy at the table. What do we get at the table? Him - Jesus His word I don t live by bread alone The will of God He did not say
6 I will prepare a table before you in the presence of God. Presence of your enemies. Why does he prepare in the presence of my enemies? Colossians 2:13-15 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Dothan story from Bible. We re surrounded but open their eyes so he can see. Army came and Elijah said make them blind. Come this way. Let them see. The king said should kill them no feed them and send them home. I don t need to get in defensive posture my cup runs over, my head is anointed. Then this happened and the armies ceased striving against Israel. Public disgrace of the enemy. I want all of you to watch what I do. I want you to watch me take them through. You thought you were going to destroy them but watch this. You thought you were going to The reason the table is in the enemy is so that God can get the glory. John 10:10-11 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. C. Good news is because we live in a battle. 1. Battles of life list them??? 2. Light vs. dark D. Resist the temptation to take vs. 5 as the normal everyday occurrence. 1. This is part of the plan. 2. Not always through the valley. 3. Sometimes the banquet hall.
7 4. The valley leads through to the banquet hall. E. He anoints me head. 1. I have everything I need and I have extra to go around. 2. III. God chases me down blessings. Vs.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Follow does not mean lag behind. It is a very active word to pursue. Most of the time is to pursue to persecute. Run from police on interstate. You dropped your wallet and I was trying to get it to you. By the way that drawing you won the contest. You have to call it in soon or you won t get the prize. You are under arrest and you come with me and you pass from vs. 5 to vs. 6. I want to dwell in the house of the Lord. The police is headed for the country and into a huge gate and to a beautiful estate. This is my place and I want you to come live with me. One problem with that analogy focuses way too much on building and grounds. David wanted to be with God and not in a building. David wanted to be with God himself. Flintstones, meet the Flintstones They're the modern Stone Age Family From the town of Bedrock They're a page right out of history When you're with the Flintstones Have a yabba-dabba-doo time A dabba-doo time We'll have a gay old time