My Shepherd, Psalm 23 - Pastor Chuck Smith - Topical Bible Study

Let's turn now in our Bibles to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 right here in Psalm 23 this morning. We would like to take a closer look as David sees God in three aspects: as

shepherd

, as guide and as host. The

psalm

begins with the statement the Lord is my

shepherd

, you may think it is quite presumptuous of David to claim that kind of relationship, who do you think you are to say well, the Lord is my shepherd, back in the book of Genesis Jacob? That patriarch had gathered his twelve sons around his deathbed, he knew that the time would come when he was going to die, so he summoned his sons to his deathbed and, while they had gathered in the room, he gathered every ounce of strength that remained in that fragile. body to support himself in a sitting position putting his feet on the side of the bed, he looked at these children and began to prophesy over them and with that voice now that is weak due to the age of 165 years, he begins with Reuben my firstborn. the beginning of my strength but you will not prevail because you have a weakness of your flesh and you have not been able to overcome it Simeon Levi you are instruments of terror your anger is fear Jewish beneath you will be the gathering of the people the scepter will not go away until Shiloh comes and around of the circle he prophesied and finally came to the eleventh son, Joseph, and said to him: O Joseph, you are a fruitful branch of true branch that hangs on the wall, the archers have shot you badly, but your bow remained strong because the arms of your hands They were strengthened by the strong God of Jacob where the Shepherd of Israel will come from and that's why the prediction that God would be the Shepherd of Israel the strong God of Israel where the Shepherd would come from, so David realized that and said that The Lord is my shepherd, of course, turning to the New Testament, we hear Jesus declare I am the Good Shepherd.

I give my life for the sheep. David and seeing the Lord as his Shepherd, probably so it was. more significant for him than for you, you have never been a shepherd, you do not know the shepherd's relationship with the sheep, but today, having been a shepherd, having known the responsibilities that the Shepherd has for the shepherd's care of the Sheep, was something extremely significant and comforting for him to be able to declare the Lord is my shepherd daven knew that it was the shepherd's job to protect the sheep from Predators sheep are very defenseless animals they have virtually no means of defending themselves In self defense the only defense they have is to run and therefore they must depend on the shepherd to protect them from predators.

The Shepherd must guide them to food and water. Sheep left to themselves do not have the innate ability to find their own pasture. If you drop the cheap in an area, they will eat it up to all the grasses there, but then they will continue eating in the same area by pulling out the roots until it is completely gone and then they will just starve. Until death they do not move to the next hillside where the grass is green they simply have no sense that way they have to be led to the pastures the same goes for water they have no instinctive sense of finding the water holes they have to being led to the water, the cheap is a pretty helpless animal, so David knew it was the Shepherd's responsibility to make sure the sheep's needs were met because the Lord is my shepherd.

He protects me from predators, he sees that I am provided for and knows that the shepherd must watch the sheep to prevent them from wandering because the sheep can get lost very easily if they go over the ridge of the hill where they cannot see. the rest of the flock are lost, they don't know the way back, they have no searching instincts, you let them go and they have no sense of direction on how to get home. Now there are many animals that have excellent crawling insects. cats have a tremendous search instinct, you can put them in a bag, take them to the other side of town, let them go and they will find their way home, a tremendous search instinct, you must get rid of a cat, even the donkey has search instincts , the Bible says about the donkey who knows his master's crib and knows where the food is.

A few years ago in Israel there was a man who had stolen some things and the police were chasing him and he was riding his donkey but they cornered him so he He left his donkey and ran away, so the policeman just waited and watched the donkey arrive at dinner time. The donkey went home and the thief was arrested. He says the donkey knows his master. Chris knows how to find his way home, but not with the sheep. They get lost so easily that they need the shepherd to take care of them to make sure they get home safely and that's why David said the Lord is my shepherd knowing that as a shepherd the Lord is responsible for bringing them home safely because The Lord is My Shepherd.

David said that I You will not lack if you have a faithful and diligent Shepherd, one who will look after you and take care of you, you really should not have anyone, the Shepherd will see that you are provided for in another Psalm. David said that the lions lack and suffer from hunger. much stronger than the sheep and still experience wrath but those who trust in the Lord will lack nothing good David said that means those who are stronger than me can experience once those who are wiser than me can experience one But because the Lord is my shepherd I will not lack He completely takes care of every need in my life I will not lack provisions David said because he makes me lie down in green pastures Philip Keller in his book a shepherd look at

psalm

23 declares that there are There are four things which are necessary before a sheep goes to bed.

First of all, the sheep must be free from all fear. If he is afraid, he will not lie down. Secondly, it has to be free of friction with the other sheep. Sometimes the sheep. They fight with each other and when you have been in a fight you do not go to bed thirdly you have to be free of flies or parasites if you are bothered by flies or parasites you are restless and do not go to bed and finally you have to have a full stomach if you are hungry a sheep will not lie down but we will continue looking for food he makes me lie down in green pastures what a beautiful image that we can see in our minds as David draws this verbal image for us here is the Sheep contained without fear without friction with a full stomach without annoying parasites or flies just lying there in the green pastures surrounded by green pastures I will not lack refreshment because he leads me beside the still waters the duty of the shepherd of course must lead the flock to good places good watering places Jesus one day they were in the area of ​​Samaria near of the city of Shechem was resting at Jacob's well when a woman came to draw water and he asked her for a drink. and she said, how come you ask me for a drink if you're Jewish?

I'm a Samaritan, we're not supposed to talk. Jesus said woman, if you knew who asked you for a drink, you would have done it. He asked her for a drink she said what do you mean there is no way that well is deep you have nothing to draw the water with Jesus said yes but if you drink this water you will be thirsty again but if you drink the water that I give you you will never go back to be thirsty it will be like a well of living water that flows from within takes me next to calm waters the thirsty life the thirsty soul finds in Jesus that refreshment that living water one day in the Temple The mountain Jesus stood up and cried out to the multitude of people, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink, because whoever drinks the water that I give, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from the innermost part of his being, finally me.

I will not lack courage because he restores my soul. There are many times in life when we are faced with pressures that are actually greater than what the Apostle Paul can bear when talking about the things of ministry, the things that he had to do. make the pressures that were on him he said and who is enough for these things who in the world can handle this but then he said but our sufficiency is not of ourselves our sufficiency is of Christ he restores my soul as I get the right perspective as I put my eyes on him, he strengthens me, he helps me, he restores my soul.

There are many times when I begin to look at everything that needs to be done. I look at the problems. They seem to grow as I look at them. I can do it I just can't there is no way and then I start to focus on the Lord and I realize that they are not my problems there is nothing he can do when we were just a block away, in the little chapel, we bought 10 acres of land here and I would stop at the sign there and look at these 10 acres and see this huge parcel of land and I knew the thousands of dollars it would take to develop the property and build the church and I thought, what are you doing Smith to that congregation of people?

How on earth can you afford the facilities that are necessary? And I would start to panic waiting for that green arrow and when I get to that point of panic you know you are ready to press the button the Lord would speak to my heart and say whose church it is I said well it's your church Lord he said then what are you? worried about oh I don't know and the worry would go away so what's your church you're going out of business your problem man I said Samian by the time I get to the highway it's the Lord's Church she's going to take care of it he won't if he no then it's not my problem anyway his problem is his church he would say who created the problem who brought all the people you did it Lord it's your fault so I'll take care of it and he did it he restores my soul but my soul would be restored from that panic or almost panic suggests resting every time Tim his hand will take care of a praise to the Lord, you know, he restores my soul in the second stanza of the psalm, see God as a guide.

He guides me along paths of justice for the love of his name how many times do we come to those crossroads in our lives where we don't know which path to take there are two paths before us sometimes it's the difference between the best and the best the best but I want to do the best the best I don't know which path I should take I don't know how wonderful it is to be able at that moment to surrender your ways to the Lord and say Lord, you guide me now on the right path you guide me in the best way there is that poem that describes the feelings that I often We have in these types of situations that it is going where I should take the voice cries in the night I am a tired and exhausted pilgrim is my light on the right to see me, I know, but the path is very dark and the travelers are so few, no one who to ask I'm there, I don't know which direction I need direction, I need guidance, I need help.

Oh God. guide me in the right path, he guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake, it is interesting that as soon as he talks about God leading me in the path, he then declares and yes, although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil because you are with me, you see, the psalmist was a realist and realized that one day while God was guiding him along the path of life, the past was going to become a valley, a valley that he calls a shadow. . of death he realized that death was an eventual reality for everyone so he was not going to escape it although one day his path would take him to that valley now some things he noticed here first of all he said yes, although he walked through the valley He didn't say I'm going to walk in the valley of the shadow of death I'm going to walk through it Secondly he said yes, although I walk, you know you can run all your life and it seems like I'm running All my life I can't keep up.

I run as fast as I can, but I'm still a little behind. The Lord is working so fast in so many ways that you just can't keep up and people can run. his lives until they turn into the valley of the shadow of death and then they start walking down the road—it's like, oh, so fast, you know, slow down and walk down the valley of the shadow of death, he said I will still fear. There is no harm to you, you are with me. You have heard that beautiful little story about the footprints. When a person arrived in heaven, the Lord allowed him to look back on his life at the footprints of his life and the experiences he went through and he noticed that there were double footprints that leave in all those great and glorious times, but their work in those places on the path of life where there were only a couple of footprints those difficult times those extremely dangerous signs there were only a couple of footprints footprints and they said Lord, how come You were walking with me through all the good, happy, successful times, but when things really got bad, it seems like you abandoned me because there is only one set of footprints and the Lord answered that there was only one set of footprints? a pair of footprints because they are mine and in those difficult places through which I took you when we reached the valley of the shadow of death.

I think that's one of those places in life, when you look back you'll only see a couple of footprints. footprints as the Lord lifts us up to carry us through. I believe that the presence of the Lord is felt more at the moment of death than at any other time in the life of the child of God who has been walking with the Lord in the proximity of his presence my grandmother who in recent years suffered from cancer and she was praying for the lord to take her home while she was there in the hospital she was just saying oh lord please take me home.

I finished my work, my children are raised now I want to be with you please come and take me home with you and while she was praying this suddenly she said old man thank you Jesus take care of my babies and she was with himLord, that awareness of your presence while I am in the valley of the shadow of death. Another interesting thing is that it says shadow of death, it does not say death. The interesting thing about a shadow is that it has no substance. A shadow has no substance. That is for the son. of God there is no real substance in death, secondly, you cannot have a shadow unless you have a light on the other side, that light on the other side is essential to a shadow and therefore in my way A shadow will fall, the shadow of death, but the shadow is cast by the light that is on the other side and so I walk through the valley of the shadow of death towards the glorious light of the eternal Kingdom of God he guides me even to the valley of shadow of death the psalmist said your rod and your staff comfort me the rod was the stick that the shepherd had with him to hit the sheep on the flanks when sometimes the sheep can be very stubborn they have in mind where they want to go the Shepherd knows what It's the best thing but Sheep tend to go astray and when that sheep is stubborn and determined to go its own way, the Shepherd comes over and takes his staff and hits its flank, you know, and goes back to the flock and everything but David He said Lord your rod is a comfort to me sometimes it is necessary for God to give us a blow to keep us in line the Bible tells us do not despise the discipline of the Lord whom the Lord loves he punishes as you do not persecute strangers or children you only persecute in your own children David said your rod comforts me Lord if you have managed to get through evil if you haven't been caught if you have been able to and you can't do this, these evil things and you can do it without getting caught, you better worry because You're not a child of God, you see, if you're a child of God, he won't let you get away with this, everyone else can be.

You will be able to get ahead, but they will surely catch you because Lord Chasen is every son he receives and he will not let you get away with evil. His rod will be there to hit you and keep you at bay, but you know it's comforting. comforting it comforts me to the extent that I know I am his son he doesn't let me deal with those things what a comfort that he cares about me enough to use the cane when necessary the cane was that cane with a kind of a hook end where I would pull the sheet back pull it out of danger comfort for me in the final stanza of the psalm David sees the Lord as his own the glorious ways by which God cares for his children he prepares the table before me in the presence of my enemies now David had many enemies there is a price for leadership and that is that there are people who are either polarized and they love you or they hate you and in leadership there are those who simply do not like it because they can see you and they simply do not like what they see and David had many enemies, in fact, there are enemies that we are always harassing David in the third psalm II he said that they continually told me there is no help because you know in God that God will not help you man and they were making fun of David and David says everything Lord, you prepare a table before me at the present, you do these good things for me in the presence of my enemies so that they can see that you love me and that your hand is on me and and this disposition of God you anoint my head with oil with the Sheep Summer is called flight time because there are several different types of flies that really bother the Sheep.

There is one fly in particular that seeks to lay its eggs in the moisture of the sheep's nostrils and that is why the Sheep constantly moves its head trying to hide. under the bushes a scraping of this fly if the fly manages to lay its eggs there in the nostrils as the eggs turn into these little larvae that crawl for the worms, they start to climb up the nostrils and then become tremendously irritating to the sheep and you will see that they continue to hit their heads against the tree and have even been known to beat themselves to death. so irritated by these larvae and that is why the Shepherd, if he is a good Shepherd and a careful shepherd, watches over the sheep and when he sees that they are bothered by their flight, he makes this ointment of oil and sulfur and spreads it on the sheep.

They have nostrils and it repels the flies. Also sheep have a parasite that usually attacks their heads and forms a scab and sheep have a tendency to just bump their heads together and in doing so spread it. this parasite among the flock and this parasite can be very harmful to the flock and that is why the Shepherd uses the same concoction of sulfur spices and oil to kill the parasite, you anoint my head, you know there are many small irritations in life, small things that bother you. and if they are not taken care of, they can reach significant proportions, becoming tremendously irritating.

The Lord anoints my head with oil. He is a faithful shepherd. He watches, sees irritating things. He anoints my head with oil. What a kind host he is because my cup is dripping. Furthermore, it is interesting to me that the Lord is not interested in just filling your cup, the Lord wants your life to be an overflowing cup. I do not know any phrase that is really more discreet than the true Christian experience, so my cup overflows. It is interesting to me that Christian experience must be expressed in superlatives, not in comparison with superlatives, the Bible speaks of joy, not just joy, joy that is indescribable and full of glory unites us beyond all description, superlative joy, not only speaks of the Peace of Christ but the peace of Christ that surpasses human understanding superlative my cup overflows I used to sing of course here is my cup Lord fill it Lord come and fill this trembling soul from my bed of heaven look at me until I want no more and we think Lord full my cup, oh how wonderful, no, no, the Lord overflows your cup, he keeps pouring because you see that the Lord not only wants to bless your life, but he wants your life to be a blessing to those around you.

He wants to use your life as the instrument to bless those around you, so pour out until the cup is full and then continue to pour out as it overflows to those around you, then become the beneficiaries of that overflow, the blessings from God that are overflowing into his life, then he began to minister to others and touch others. you and that is what God is interested in. My cup overflows and thus concludes David for the Lord is my shepherd as my guide and as my host certainly goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life I mean here they are like a couple of kennel dogs on my heels goodness and mercy everywhere I go the goodness of God the mercy of God following me all the days of my life but what about when the days of my life have come to an end when God says he is finished what then I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever God becomes my eternal host I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever What is death for the child of God?

What is death to that person who has come to know the Lord as his shepherd, as his guide and as his host, just a shadow that crosses your path as you walk towards your father's house where you will dwell forever in glorious light? of his presence, it is no wonder that Psalm 23 has become the most popular passage of Scripture in the Bible. comfort, strength and hope for so many millions of people because it is so wonderful to know God as a shepherd, as a guide and as my eternal host, if you do not know God in that capacity, I feel for you, I can understand why you are hitting your head. head against the wall.

I can understand why you're high. I can understand why you can't cope because you don't have anyone to take care of you, love you, take care of you, take care of your needs, but the truth is. this wants to be your shepherd he wants to be your guide he loves you let's pray father we thank you today that just as David was able to say the Lord is my shepherd I will not be lacking so Lord we can say the Lord is my shepherd I will not be lacking thank you Lord for taking care of our means watch over us protect guide provide thank you Lord for correcting thank you Lord for guiding us to that eternal Kingdom so that we may dwell with you in your kingdom forever in the name of Jesus Amen if you can Do not say that the Lord is my shepherd, then I encourage you to You go back to the prayer room and just ask Him to be your Shepherd, how glorious it is to be, as David said, the Sheep of His meadow and God wants to take care of your life.

If you simply give it to yourself, may the Lord be with you and bless you. May His hand be upon you to guide you this week. May you experience the provisions, the tensions, the refreshment, the health, the laws of our loving Shepherd Jesus Christ.