Psalm 23:1-6; The Lord is My Shepherd Part II

Jason Sterling May 18, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to the
book of Psalms this morning.
So go to the center of yourBible, open it, turn to Psalm 23
.
And I would encourage you thismorning, if you do have a copy
of God's Word, keep that open.
I will be referring to somefootnotes that I think draw out
the richness of this passage.
And so keep your Bible open, ifyou've got one this morning.

(00:23):
Last week we started our summerseries through the book of
Psalms, or selected Psalms thissummer that we'll be looking at
and I mentioned that we have anoptional project for everyone.
Notice, I said optional.
It's not required to get in thedoor or anything like that, not

(00:47):
required to get in the door oranything like that.
But we put one of these cardsin your bulletin this morning so
you can find that and you'llsee, on one side is Psalm 23.
And we're going to memorizethat together as a church body
this summer and we will reciteit much like we did a couple of
years ago, a couple summers ago,with Psalm 121.
So you can keep this handy inyour car on your kitchen table.

(01:10):
Do this as a family.
We want to do that together.
We'll recite that during one ofour services at the end of the
summer and then on the otherside of that card you'll see a
reading plan.
If you're interested in readingthrough the whole book of
Psalms this summer, you can seeon the other side of the card a
12-week reading plan, mondaythrough Friday.

(01:33):
So please take advantage ofthose ways of hiding God's Word
in our heart and getting intothe Scriptures this summer.
Last week we looked at Psalm 23and we looked at the first half.
We're going to look at thesecond half this morning and I
will read the entire Psalm forcontext.
So follow along with me.

(01:53):
This is God's Word, psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths ofrighteousness.
For his name's sake, eventhough I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I willfear no evil, for you are with

(02:17):
me, your rod and your staff.
They comfort me.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head.
This is God's Word.
Let's pray together and let'sask the Holy Spirit to come and

(02:44):
be with us as we hear the Word,but also as the Word's preached.
Let's pray.
Father, do come, and may thewords of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be goodand pleasing to you.
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer, I pray that you would speak
powerfully through this psalm,that you would show us and that

(03:04):
we would encounter Jesus, andthat you would remind us it's no
accident that we're here thismorning, that you've brought us
here.
Give us a word.
We are listening In Jesus' name, amen.
I mentioned this last week.
I want to mention it again, buta big help to me in the last
couple of weeks on this psalmhas been a book called the Lord

(03:27):
is my Shepherd by David Gibson.
I read that at the end of 2024,and it was water to my soul,
and it has had a huge impact onme in the last few months, but
also in the way that I havelooked at this psalm.
It's helped me to see Psalm 23in new and fresh ways, and so it

(03:49):
has been a great assistance tome in preparing this morning for
this sermon.
This psalm, as we talked aboutlast week.
It's a popular psalm.
Maybe you've memorized this, asa kid even, but you often hear
this psalm at funerals.
You hear it recited ondeathbeds.
It's often clung to in momentsof very deep darkness.

(04:12):
However, again last week, wesaid and learned that this is
actually not as much about griefand sorrow and suffering and
death.
It's much more, this psalm,about security in life.
Only one verse verse 4, speaksabout death.

(04:33):
This psalm is meant to help usas we journey through all of
life and the anchor and thecomfort comes from really the
first couple of words of thepsalm the Lord is my shepherd.
Anchor and the comfort comesfrom really the first couple of
words of the psalm the Lord ismy shepherd.
Everything else in the psalmflows out of those few words.

(04:55):
Everything else flows from thatphrase and last week we did a
lot of focusing on who it isthat's doing the shepherding.
It is the Lord.
This morning, our focus is goingto be on how the Lord shepherds
us and we're going to see thatin this psalm, that the Lord
shepherds us through, number one, his presence.

(05:15):
Number two, his protection andthen, lastly, his promises.
So, his presence, hisprotection, his promises.
Let's look at those in turnthis morning, starting with our
first heading his presence.
Look at verse 4.
We're going to do a lot of justwalking through the second part
of the psalm, phrase by phrase,up until this point of Psalm

(05:44):
23,.
It has been passive.
The sheep have been made to liedown, they have been restored,
they are being led, but now thesheep are going somewhere.
Where are they going?
They're walking through thevalley of the shadow of death.
A couple of comments.
Notice again follow thefootnote.

(06:05):
As you read and study yourBibles, always follow the
footnote.
And if you follow the footnote,you'll see that shadow of death
can actually be translated deepdarkness.
And we don't know exactly whatDavid had in mind here by deep
darkness, and I think that'sintentional, obviously, and I

(06:26):
think it's very helpful thatit's left open.
In David's day, it mostcertainly meant predators and
animals who were waiting in theshadows to attack the vulnerable
sheep.
In our day, however, deepdarkness can mean a lot of
things, can't it?
It can most certainly meandanger, it means illness, it

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means loss and grief anddepression and anxiety and
suffering and difficultcircumstances that come into our
lives and, of course, it meansapproaching death.
And don't miss the connectionbetween the path of
righteousness look at verse 3,and the valley of the shadow of

(07:09):
death in verse 4.
Do you see the connection?
The good shepherd's path ofrighteousness sometimes includes
the valley of the shadow ofdeath.
Valley of the shadow of death.
Sometimes it includes leadingus into deep darkness.

(07:31):
In other words, if you are in avalley this morning and you are
in deep darkness, it is becausethe Lord, your shepherd, has
led you there.
And I know that's very strong.
But our temptation is to thinkwhen we're in the valley of deep
darkness, it's because Goddoesn't love us or because we're

(07:51):
getting what we deserved orwe've done something to deserve
this.
We tend to think God's onlyloving and caring when we're not
in the valley, when things aregoing really well for us and
we're getting everything we want, when things are going really
well for us and we're gettingeverything we want.
However, we see that it is thegood shepherd that sometimes

(08:11):
leads us into the valley of theshadow of death, into deep
darkness.
And yes, it's very painful, butit's what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that allthings, all things, come to us
not by chance, but by God'sfatherly.
That's important God's fatherlyhand.

(08:33):
Elizabeth Elliot has this storyabout a time when she was
visiting North Wales and shewatches a shepherd who is
tending to his sheep.
And this shepherd would takethe sheep and dip them into this
pool of disinfectant in orderto kill the insects and the
parasites and the other diseases.

(08:54):
And she said she would watchthis.
And she said the sheepabsolutely hated it and they
would struggle and they wouldmake all sorts of noises and
horrible sounds.
But the shepherd would takethem and shove them all the way
under the disinfectant and theywould struggle to get back up.
And she was like, just when youthought it was over, the

(09:15):
shepherd would take them oncemore and put them under the
disinfectant.
And then then she says but thething is, it is the very best
thing that could be done for thesheep, because it's actually
saving the sheep's life.
And then she says this quote Iwonder what it feels like to

(09:40):
think that your shepherd istrying to kill you.
You ever been there?
Maybe you feel like you'rethere now.
You ever felt like the goodshepherd was trying to kill you?
But you see, rather thanthinking that the Good Shepherd,

(10:04):
the Lord, is trying to kill us,is it not possible that the
Lord Yahweh all caps in thisverse, in this passage all
knowing, all wisdom, all love,all power.

(10:25):
Is it not possible that heleads us through the valley in
order to teach us and to give usthings that we couldn't have
gotten any other way?
Notice here that it says we'repassing through the valley,
you're not in the valley.
In other words, whatever yourvalley is in the moment, it's

(10:50):
not a permanent dwelling.
You are not staying there.
You are passing through to afurther, greater destination,
when you will dwell in the houseof the Lord forever.
So why don't we fear in thevalley?
Well, it tells us in the text,because you, david says, are

(11:16):
with me.
And notice here, you replaceshe at this point in the psalm,
and I think that's significant.
Before it was.
He makes me lie down, herestores, he leads me now.
Notice how personal andintimate it is.
The intimacy and personalnature of this takes center

(11:36):
stage.
David is saying this is betweenme and you, god.
The comfort, david says, is thatyou are with me.
Who is the you?
Again, spent a whole point lastweek on it.
I won't do it again, but it'sso significant.
Everything flows out of thefact that this is the Lord.

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We walk through these valleysof deep darkness and the comfort
is not that God's going to takeall the evil away from us, or
darkness, or suffering.
The comfort is in the fact thathe, the Lord, is with us in the
valley.
I don't know all the stories inthis room this morning, but I

(12:21):
know in a room this size thereare lots and lots of valleys
that people are in dark valleys,deep darkness, and I say this
because it is true.
But every single week in thisroom, someone is in the middle
of the worst week of their life,of their life Marriage,

(12:52):
struggles, addictions, sickness,sadness, grief, loss, cancer, a
sudden diagnosis, a loss of achild, people who are facing
death.
I don't know why those thingsare happening to you and I don't
know what it is that's going on.
But I do know this that eventhough you do not feel this and

(13:12):
even though it seems like youcannot see your way out, I do
know that God is with you, thathe promises to be with you, and
that is why we walk by faith asChristians.
Even when we don't feel it, welock on and we anchor down in

(13:32):
the fact that God is with us.
In deep darkness, the Lord, ourshepherd, is with us and he will
never leave us nor forsake us.
Now, does that make everythingsuddenly go away and pull you
out of the valley.
Forsake us Now.
Does that make everythingsuddenly go away and pull you
out of the valley?
I wish no, it does not.
But you know what it does do itreframes it.
You're not alone.

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Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil.
Why?
Because you, lord, are with me.
Secondly, his protection.
Look at verse 4.
We don't fear in deep darknessbecause the Lord is with us, but
we also don't fear because ofwhat our shepherd is holding.

(14:17):
He is holding a rod and a staff.
Let's look at each of thosethis morning.
The rod and a staff.
Let's look at each of thosethis morning.
The rod it is a weapon ofprotection against protecting
the flock from enemies, wildanimals and human thieves.
It was this.
The rod was a huge club-likeweapon that was a symbol and

(14:39):
represented for the shepherdpower and authority and
protection.
But the rod also was used forkeeping count of the sheep.
At the end of the day, theshepherd would hold it over the
sheep pen as the sheep wouldenter and he would count off the
sheep one by one, making sureevery single one of them were

(15:01):
accounted for.
It was his way of personallychecking that everyone was
present.
All the sheep were present andaccounted for.
So the rod protection a club onthe one hand, but also it was
used as a symbol of possession.
It was counting the sheep andthe one walking through the

(15:24):
darkness that is with you is notsome weak well-wisher, a
powerful shepherd with a clubwho is guarding you every step
of the way and making sure thatyou are accounted for.
Think about that with me.
Is there anything morefrightening than feeling lost

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and feeling like no one islooking for you, that you're not
accounted for?
Is there anything morefrightening than someone not
knowing where you are?
Friends, jesus, the GoodShepherd, holds a rod and it
means when you're in that valleyand some of you, you're there

(16:14):
now and you feel lost and youfeel like there's no way I need
to be seen.
Jesus sees you, you areaccounted for, he's got his eye
on you at all times and he knowsyou by name and that means that
even when you discover that itis his hand that brought you

(16:37):
into the valley, you can findcomfort because you know he is
with you and he's protecting you.
But he's also looking out foryou in that valley of deep
darkness.
So the shepherd, the Lord, holdsin his hand a rod, but he also
holds something else and this isa little tougher he holds a

(17:00):
staff, and the staff is not usedfor defending, the staff is
used for carrying.
So we think this is the way wetend to think of a shepherd the
long staff with the hook on theend.
That's what this is, that'swhat the staff is.
And so when the sheep would getgoing down a path, they would

(17:21):
start to wander off, maybe to acliff or to danger or to a thorn
.
Bush and the shepherd wouldtake his shepherd's staff and he
would pull them back onto theright path.
You notice the comprehensivenature of the care.
The rod defends, the staff,disciplines and corrects, and

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both are needed, are they not?
And we tend to think and love,the shepherd's got a club part
and he's accounting for me andyes, lord, we're all in.
But we tend to not like thestaff, the fact that God is

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caring for us and protecting usfrom ourselves and from sin.
My greatest enemy this morning,and your greatest enemy this
morning, is not outside thesewalls.
It's actually beating insideyour chest.
Your greatest enemy and mygreatest enemy is our sinful

(18:36):
hearts, and our hearts do allsorts of crazy things, don't
they?
Sorts of crazy things, don'tthey?
And they deceive us to thinkinglife is found in following
after sin and starting down thatpath.
And we start to believe thatand we start to travel down that

(18:58):
path and we even, at times, getcomfortable in that path.
And the shepherd comes alongand he takes his staff and he
begins to pull us back.
What does that look like for youwhen it's actually played out?
Well, it looks a lot ofdifferent ways.
Here are a few.
The shepherd's staff might looklike conviction, the Holy

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Spirit convicting you duringpreaching or during a kingdom
community lesson or during yourpersonal Bible study, or
whatever.
It might look likeconfrontation from a friend or
from your spouse who's trying totell you something.
Or it might look like hardcircumstances, or it might look

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like rock bottom or the wheelscompletely coming off in your
life.
And in that moment, the staffit feels painful and it hurts
and it feels horrible.
It feels like the shepherd isintentionally trying to punish
you or shame you.
But what if those things areactually the shepherd's staff,

(20:16):
the Lord, pulling you back in,trying to save your life.
What if that is God actuallyloving you and caring for you in
that moment?
What if it is God trying torescue you through that hard
conversation with your spouse oryour friend, or through getting
caught or getting exposed?

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Friends, those things are notGod trying to be mean to you.
Those are God's grace to you,and sometimes grace has teeth.
Those things are God's severemercy and it's God trying to get

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your attention in order tobring you back in, in order to
save your life.
Have you wandered this morningfrom the shepherd's path of
righteousness?
Maybe this morning you are in,or you're thinking about getting
in, a relationship that youknow is wrong and you know is

(21:20):
unhealthy.
Maybe God is trying to tell yousomething through the word or
through a friend or through asituation, and you are refusing
to listen.
You are keeping yourself justbeyond the shepherd's hook.
It's not an accident thatyou're hearing this this morning

(21:44):
.
It's the shepherd trying tobring you back in.
And remember he's not trying tohurt you.
God loves you and is trying tosave your soul and protect you.
The rod and the staff are toolsin the shepherd's hand to

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protect you, but also to careand to correct you.
Lastly, his promises.
We see a shift here from greenpastures and waters and rods and
staffs to oil on the head andcup overflowing, and the picture
here is a lavished hosttreating a special guest.

(22:30):
That's the picture.
Look at verse 5.
Again, you, lord, prepare atable for me.
Think about if you've been at anice event or a nice function.
You most likely don't meet thehost.
They don't come and greet you.
You don't know them or speak tothem.

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They are perhaps way too busyand too important.
That's not the way it is.
When you're at God's table andhe is the host, it's like you're
the only person at the tableand you're the only person in
the room because God is hostingus personally.

(23:13):
And in the ancient Near East,the master of the house, they
would provide the food and theywould pay for the food, but they
would not prepare the food.
And so how amazing is it thatthe Lord, the shepherd, prepares
the meal for you as a lavishedhost?
He provides us a feast.

(23:36):
And then look at the phrase youanoint my head with oil, my cup
overflows.
In our culture, when somebodycomes to your home or whatever,
you greet them.
You might shake their hand, youmight take their coat, you
might offer them an appetizer ora drink of water or whatever it
is.
And in this culture, in Psalm23, when someone come, it was

(23:58):
customary that you would washfeet and if they were really
special you would bring out theoil and you would pour it on
their head because they weresuch an honorable guest.
You see that, see how honorablea guest we are at the Lord's
table.
And then, likewise, you knowwhen a good host, never let

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someone glass their glass getempty.
When God's the host, your cupis always full to overflowing.
Here's the point.
God is not a cheapskate.
God is generous.
He's not tight-fisted andstingy.

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He is a God of abundance, ofabundant kindness, love and
generosity.
Is that what your God is likethis morning?
Is your God stingy andbeautiful?
Is your God stingy andbeautiful, or is your God
tight-fisted and a burden to youthis morning?

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Do you have a view of God towhere you are walking on
eggshells, like he's alwayswaiting for you to make a
mistake so that he can write itdown in His book Friends?
God is a God that longs to begenerous and kind.
He is a God of abundantkindness.
I love David.
Gibson says yes, god has a rodand a staff in his hands, but he

(25:27):
also has perfume oil and wine.
Verse 6, goodness and mercyshall follow me all the days of
my life.
Listen to this, commentators.
This last section here was thepart that put me on the floor

(25:49):
this week.
Goodness and mercy shall followme all the days of my life.
Commentators, get this pointout.
That follow is way too weak arendering that instead the
meaning is pursue, and sogoodness and mercy shall not
merely follow, but pursue youall the days of your life.

(26:14):
In Exodus 34, 6 and 7, the Lordall caps is merciful, gracious
and abounding in steadfast loveand faithfulness.
In other words, mercy andgoodness are words that describe
God, and so the point is thatmercy and goodness, it's as if

(26:36):
the Lord himself is pursuing youwith mercy and goodness and
grace.
Then notice verse 1.
And at the end of verse 6, youhave the Lord, verse 1.
The Lord again, all caps.
Verse 6.
This is a psalm of life whoencompasses your entire life.
The Lord does Verses 1 through3, look at this.

(26:58):
The Lord does Verses 1 through3, look at this.
The shepherd leads, so he goesahead of you.
Verse 4, the shepherd is withyou, beside you.
And then look at verse 6.
Who's behind you, pursuing youwith mercy and goodness?
The Lord.

(27:19):
I love this illustration in thebook.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
Think about a police escort ofa very important person.
You have police ahead, policeon both sides, police behind.
Is there any safer way totravel?
There is not a safer way totravel through your life than

(27:40):
having the Lord go ahead of you,the Lord beside you and the
Lord pursuing you from behind.
Complete security, perfectprotection, full provision,
ahead, besides and behind.

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And then look, this might be thegreatest part of the whole
thing Verse 6, surely follow thefootnote.
What do you see at the footnote?
It can be translated.
Only, is that not the mostunbelievable thing in the world?

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Only, only Goodness and mercywill pursue me all the days of
my life.
Please don't miss this.
Please don't miss this.
Every single time you lookbehind you, mercy and goodness
are pursuing you.

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You blow it, you fall, you failMore times than you care to
count.
You look back and you thinkthere's no way.
God is there.
He's there, pursuing you withmercy and goodness all the days
of your life, and you think howin the world is that possible?
That seems too good to be true,because that's who God is.

(29:08):
David, he didn't have a clue howgood God really was and how
kind and generous God was.
Because centuries later, godwould take on flesh in the
person of Jesus Christ and hewould come down into this world
John 3.16,.
For God so loved the world thathe gave.

(29:30):
God is a giver and he gives ofHimself so that you can have
eternal life.
And if you believe in him youwill not perish.
You will have everlasting life.
And on the cross, jesus walkedheadfirst, not into the shadow
of death, but into death itself,and God poured out his wrath on

(29:56):
His Son.
You know why?
So that you and I would onlyget mercy and we would only get
goodness all the days of ourlife, and so that we could dwell
in the house of the Lordforever.
That's Psalm 23.

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Now, do you see why Psalm 23 isreally about life?
It's a psalm that begins theLord is my shepherd and it ends
with our destination in thehouse of the Lord forever.
And everything in between inthis psalm is the human
experience.
Is it not?
Green pastures, moment of peace, times of dark valleys, still

(30:43):
waters and enemies, and paths ofrighteousness and shadows of
death and through all of life.
Who is right there with you,ahead of you, beside you and
behind you?
The Lord, your shepherd.
He has his rod, he has hisstaff to care for you.

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He gives in abundance, hepursues you with mercy and
goodness and he is waiting foryou to come home to dwell in His
house forever and ever.
Amen, let's pray.
Lord, thank you for being ourshepherd.

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This is such a wonderful psalm.
Thank you for your presencewith us in the dark valleys.
Thank you for your rod and yourstaff, that comfort and also
correct.
Thank you for pursuing us withgood things, kindness and mercy.
Holy Spirit, I pray that youwould make this psalm come alive

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, all of these truths, make themcome alive to our hearts.
This morning, we pray this inthe name of Jesus, the Good
Shepherd.
Amen.