Sermon series: A SUMMER IN THE PSALMS

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, 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 runs 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."

John 10:1-18
"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them. Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

Message:
The twenty-third psalm is the most beloved of the 150 psalms in the Psalter and possibly the best-loved (and best-known) chapter in the entire Bible.
The great Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon called it "the pearl of psalms." Nineteenth-century preacher and

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commentator J. J. Stewart Perowne observed that "there is no psalm in which the absence of all doubt, misgiving, fear [and] and anxiety is so remarkable." Alexander Maclaren said that "the world could spare many a large book better than this sunny little psalm. It has dried many tears and supplied the mould into which many hearts have poured their peaceful faith."
The psalm is a masterpiece throughout! But if ever a psalm could stand almost on a single line, it is this one, and the line it can stand on is the first. In fact, it can stand on only a part of a line, the part which says, "The Lord is my shepherd."
The Lord! But who is the Lord? He referred to Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel. His statement was confirmed by Jesus Christ. When He was God incarnate amongst men, He declared emphatically, "I am the good Shepherd." But who was this Christ? Our view of Him is often small—too cramped—too provincial—too human. And because it is we feel unwilling to allow Him to have authority or control—much less outright ownership of our lives. He it was who was directly responsible for the creation of all things both natural and supernatural. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Colossians 1:15-)
If we pause to reflect on the person of Christ—on His power and upon His achievements—suddenly like David we will be glad to state proudly, "The Lord--He is my Shepherd!" The word LORD that David uses in this psalm is the English translation of the great Old Testament personal name for God, first disclosed to Moses at the burning bush, as told in Exodus 3, and then repeated more than four thousand times in the pages of the Old Testament! The name literally means "I am who I am." It is an inexhaustible name, like its bearer. Chiefly, it refers to God's timelessness, on the one hand, and to His self-sufficiency, on the other. Self-sufficiency means that God needs nothing. He needs no wisdom from anyone else; He has all wisdom in Himself. He needs no power; He is all-powerful. He does not need to be worshiped or helped or served. Nor is He accountable to anyone. He answers only to Himself. Timelessness means that God is always the same in these eternal traits or attributes. He was like this yesterday; He will be like this tomorrow. He will be unchanged and unchanging forever!
The Almighty God, Creator of the universe-—Jehovah, has chosen to be our shepherd, David says. The great God of the universe has stooped to take just such care of you and me!
So when the simple—though sublime—statement is made by a man or woman that "The Lord is my Shepherd," it immediately implies a profound yet practical working relationship between a human being and his Maker! It links a lump of common clay to divine destiny—it means a mere mortal becomes the cherished object of divine diligence.

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The greater, the wider, the more majestic my concept is of Christ-—the more vital will be my relationship to Him!
[This is the reason for the MISSION STATEMENT of our church— HELPING PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE WITH Jesus.]
The staggering fact remains that Christ the Creator of such an enormous universe of overwhelming magnitude, deigns to call Himself my Shepherd and invites me to consider myself His sheep—His special object of affection and attention.
Who better could care for me? Christ demonstrated at Calvary the deep desire of His heart to have men come under His benevolent care. He Himself absorbed the penalty for their perverseness, stating clearly that "all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:6). Thus, in a very real and vital sense I truly belong to Him simply because He has bought me again at the incredible price of His own laid-down life and shed blood.
It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep. The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways.
Our mass mind (or mob instincts), our fears and timidity, our stubbornness and stupidity, our perverse habits are all parallels of profound importance. Yet, despite these advverse characteristics Christ chooses us, buys us, calls us by name, makes us His own and delights in caring for us!
Psalm 23 might well be called "David's Hymn of Praise to Divine Diligence." For the entire poem goes on to recount the manner in which the Good Shepherd spares no pains for the welfare of His sheep.
Observation! We are either a part of the flock of God or we are of the household of Satan! Either Christ is our "good Shepherd or Satan is our owner and master! It is a most serious and sobering thought which should make us search our own hearts and motives and personal relationship to Himself. Do I really belong to Him? Do I really recognize His right to me? Do I respond to His authority and acknowledge His ownership? Do I know rest and repose, besides a definite sense of exciting adventure, in belonging to Him?
WHEN HE IS OUR SHEPHERD...I SHALL NOT WANT! Based on the teachings of the Bible we can only conclude that David was not referring to material or physical, poverty when he made the statement, "I shall not want." For this very reason the Christian has to take a long, hard look at life. He has to recognize that as with many of God's choice people before him, he may be called on to experience lack of wealth or material benefits. He has to see his sojourn upon the planet as a brief interlude during which there may well be some privation in a physical sense. Yet amid such hardship he can still boast, "I shall not want...I shall not lack the expert care and management of my Master."
In the natural, the welfare of any flock is entirely dependent upon the management afforded them by their owner. Left to themselves, sheep lack everything. They are the most helpless animals. But if we belong to the One who is self-sufficient, inexhaustible, and utterly unchanged by time, we will lack nothing. He is sufficient for all things and will provide for us.
HE MAKETH ME TO LIE DOWN IN GREEN PASTURES. Mr. Keller, in his book entitled: A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23, writes: "The strange thing about sheep is that because of their very make-up it is almost impossible for them to be

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made to lie down unless four requirements are met.
(1) Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear.
(2) Because of the social behavior within a flock, sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind.
(3) If tormented by flies and parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of these pests can they relax.
(4) Sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger.
When we examine each of these four factors that affect sheep so severely, we will understand why the part the owner plays in their management is so tremendously important. It is actually he who makes it possible for them to lie down, to rest, to relax, to be content and quiet and flourishing. When one startled sheep runs in fright, a dozen others will bolt with it in blind fear, not waiting to see what frightened them. As long as there is even the slightest suspicion of danger from dogs, coyotes, cougars, bears or other enemies the sheep stand up: Ready to flee for their lives. They have little or no means of self-defense. They are helpless, timid, feeble creatures whose only recourse is to run. But when the shepherd is near and the sheep can see him, they are quiet and at rest. There is nothing like the presence of Christ to dispel fear, panic, the terror of the unknown! Generally it is the "unknown", the "unexpected," that produces the greatest panic. Often our first impulse is simply to get up and run from the situation. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound [disciplined] mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). The idea of a sound mind is that of a mind at ease—at peace—not perturbed or harassed or obsessed with fear and foreboding for the future. "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."
In the natural, the shepherd must deliver his sheep from the tension and rivalry and cruel competition within the flock. In every animal society there is established an order of dominance or status within the group. In a pen full of chickens it is referred to as the "pecking order."
With cattle it is called the "horning order." Among sheep we speak of the "butting order." And again, the presence of the shepherd puts an end to all rivalry. And it is true in the spiritual...being aware of the presence of Christ, our foolish, selfish snobbery and rivalry will end!
In the natural, to produce the conditions necessary for a sheep to lie down there must be freedom from the fear of hunger. This of course is clearly implied in the statement, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."
Jesus said: "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." (John 6)
"Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

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Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance."
Our psalm continues; HE LEADETH ME BESIDE THE STILL WATERS.
Although sheep thrive in a dry, semi-arid country, they still require water. They are not like some of the African gazelles which can survive fairly well on the modest amount of moisture found in natural forage. The body of an animal such as a sheep is composed of about 70 percent water on an average. This fluid is used to maintain normal body metabolism; it is a portion of every cell, contributing to its turgidity and normal life functions. Water determines the vitality, strength and vigor of the sheep and is essential to its health and general well-being. When sheep are thirsty they become restless and set out in search of water to satisfy their thirst. If not led to the good water supplies of clean, pure water, they will often end up drinking from the polluted pot holes where they pick up such internal parasites as nematodes, liver flukes or other disease germs.
And in precisely the same manner Christ, our Good Shepherd, made it clear that thirsty souls of men and women can only be fully satisfied when their capacity and thirst for spiritual life is fully quenched by drawing on Himself. Jesus said: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled [satisfied]." (Matt. 5:6). At the great feast in Jerusalem He declared boldly, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." The difficulty in all of this is that men and women who are "thirsty" for God (who do have a deep inner sense of searching and seeking; who are in quest of that which will completely satisfy) often are unsure of where to look or really what they are looking for. Their inner spiritual capacity for God and divine life is desiccated and in their dilemma they will drink from any dirty pool to try and satisfy their thirst for fulfillment. The ancient prophet Jeremiah put it very bluntly when he declared, "My people...they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jer. 2:13)
HE RESTORETH MY SOUL. In the natural, the shepherd must continually be on the watch for a "cast down" sheep. Mr. Keller explains: "A cast sheep is a very pathetic sight. Lying on its back, its feet in the air, it flays away frantically struggling to stand up, without success. Sometimes it will bleat a little for help, but generally it lies there lashing about in frightened frustration. If the owner does not arrive on the scene within a reasonably short time, the sheep will die. This is but another reason why it is so essential for a careful sheepman to look over his flock every day, counting them to see that all are able to be up and on their feet. If one or two are missing, often the first thought to flash into his mind is...One of my sheep is cast somewhere. I must go in search and set it on its feet. The way a sheep becomes "cast" is this...A heavy, fat, or long fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground. It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax. Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground. It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Fre-

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quently this only makes things worse. It rolls over even further. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet. As it lies there struggling, gases begin to build up in the rumen. As these expand they tend to retard and cut off blood circulation to extremities of the body, especially the legs. If the weather is very hot and sunny a cast sheep can die in a few hours.
David was acquainted with the bitterness of feeling hopeless and without strength in himself. In Psalm 42:11 he cries out, "Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God." At this it is important to point out that similarly in the Christian life there is a parallel here. Many people have the idea that when a child of God falls, when he is frustrated and helpless in a spiritual dilemma, God becomes disgusted, fed up and even furious with him in his "cast" condition. This simply is not so. One of the great revelations of the heart of God given to us by Christ is that of Himself as our Shepherd. He has the same identical sensations of anxiety, concern and compassion for cast men and women as a shepherd has for his cast sheep. This is precisely why He looked on people with such pathos and compassion. It explains His magnanimous dealing with down-and-out individuals for whom even human society had no use. It reveals why He wept over those who spurned His affection. It discloses the depth of His understanding of undone people to whom He came eagerly and quickly, ready to help, to save and to restore. It is why he left the ninety and nine and went looking for that wandering sheep!
HE LEADETH ME IN THE PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR HIS NAME'S SAKE. Sheep are notorious creatures of habit. If left to themselves they will follow the same trails until they become ruts; graze the same hills until they turn to desert wastes; pollute their own ground until it is corrupt with disease and parasites. Many of the world's finest sheep ranges have been ruined beyond repair by over-grazing, poor management and indifferent or ignorant sheep owners. A commonly held, but serious misconception about sheep is that they can just "get along anywhere." The truth is quite the reverse. No other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detailed direction, than do sheep. Because of the behavior of sheep and their preference for certain favored spots, these well-worn areas become quickly infested with parasites of all kinds. The greatest single safeguard which a shepherd has in handling his flock is to keep them on the move. In a word—there must be a pre-determined plan of action, a deliberate, planned rotation from one grazing ground to another in line with right and proper principals of sound management. This is precisely the sort of action and the idea David had in mind when he spoke of being led in paths of righteousness. Remember! God calls us sheep! Our behavior patterns and life habits are so much like that of sheep it is well nigh embarrassing!
First of all Scripture points out that most of us are stiff-necked and stubborn. We prefer to follow our own fancies and turn to our own ways. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." (Isa. 53)