Scripture: Psalm 23
Sermon: Another Look at Psalm 23
Topics: Rhythm, flow, peace, trouble, sheep, shepherd, cross
Preached: January 22, 2012
Rev. Mike Abma
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
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 right paths*
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,*
I 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
my whole life long.*
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
INTRODUCTION
Apart from the endless primary election news, the other piece of news that dominated much of the last ten days involved the sinking of the Italian Cruise Liner the Costa Concordia.
We were first struck by the images of this massive multi-storied cruise ship lying helpless on its side, half sunk in water a few hundred yards from shore.
Then we wondered how such a thing could happen in our day and age, and to a 21st century ship with a satellite-guided navigational system that can guide it to within inches of where it wants to go.
And lately, our focus has turned to the Captain of this ship, Captain Francesco Schettino, and his role in this tragedy.
I was listening to an interview on NPR earlier this week. The person being interviewed was a shipping authority and an expert when it comes to maritime matters. The question was asked: how could the ship leave its plotted course? And also, how could the ship come so dangerously close to that island?
The answer was simply that the Captain must have commanded it.
What I, and perhaps many people do not realize, is how much authority a captain has over his or her ship. They apparently have total and final say over every aspect of the ship. In fact, they often are not even called Captain – they are referred to as Master and Commander of the ship. So when you are on a ship like this, your lives are literally in the hands of the captain.
But a captain must act according to certain key principles.
And the two highest are these:
Of utmost importance is the safety and care of the passengers and crew;
And next in importance, is the safety and care of the ship itself.
It is the apparent violation of both these principles that most astounded the world.
The captain of this cruise ship directed the Costa Concordia to sail so close to Giglio Island that he put the safety and care of the ship in jeopardy.
And then, when the captain left his sinking ship even while there were hundreds of passengers and crew still on board – well, that seemed to violate the other key principle, to put the safety and care of everyone on board first.
Do you mind if I ask a question: “Would any of you sign up for a cruise knowing that Francesco Schettino would be the captain?” Probably not
We do not sail on ships much anymore. But there was a time when that was the only way to travel long distances. That was a time when people knew how much they relied on the captain of the ship to guide them safely to where they were bound to go. Many hymn writers of that age used the metaphor of a ship and its captain to describe our relationship with Christ.
Take that old hymn, Jesus Savior Pilot Me.
Jesus Savior pilot me over life tempestuous sea
Unknown waves before me roll
Hiding rocks and treacherous shoal;
Chart and compass come from thee
Jesus Savior pilot me.
Jesus, our Captain, our Pilot, our Master and Commander.
ISRAEL
The Israelites were not a sea-faring people.
Read the Old Testament and you realize they feared bodies of water – the Red Sea, the Jordan River, anything involving water over their heads.
The Israelites were land lovers.
They were farmers.
And in their earliest days as a nation, they were nomadic farmers.
They wandered the desert trying to find pasture for their flocks,
and water for their herds.
In the Old Testament, there were many kinds of leaders: Prophets, Priests, Kings.
But when the Israelites searched for an image, a metaphor for their God,
a metaphor that was planted deep in their DNA,
they came upon a Shepherd.
A Shepherd.
A Shepherd included those prophetic, priestly, and kingly roles.
But it also included more – provider and protector.
Shepherding involves one certain basic principle:
The safety and well-being of the flock.
That principle is reflected in many different passages in the Bible.
The Lord is described as our Shepherd.
We are described as his sheep, the sheep of his pasture.
The language is almost always communal – it is the flock first.
But here is the great appeal of Psalm 23.
It is one of the rare places where this metaphor gets personal.
The Lord is my shepherd.
My shepherd.
That little pronoun makes a world of difference.
It conveys that the Shepherd is not only concerned about the well-being of the flock;
He is also concerned about the safety and well-being
of each sheep within that flock
each lamb within that fold.
Because the Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want,
I shall not be in want,
I shall lack nothing.
Just like the Israelites in the desert so many years ago,
With the Lord as my Shepherd, I shall not want.
PSALM 23
What is amazing to me is how this ancient prayer,
rooted in the agricultural life of the Old Testament,
Still has such a grip on our religious imagination today.
Even when we know practically nothing about shepherds and sheep,
nevertheless,
this psalm still is able to convey the abiding image
of the one who is in charge,
the master and commander
who is willing to sacrifice all for the well-being of his sheep.
who watches over his sheep so well,
we will never lack what we need.
The metaphor still resonates – it resonates deeply.
PART ONE
You know this psalm.
So there is no need for me to rehearse its lines.
But do you mind if I say some things about the three basic movements of this psalm?
Let’s start with the beginning.
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside still waters;
You may know I grew up on a pig farm.
Pigs are not altogether different from sheep.
When do pigs or sheep lie down?
When do they lie down in green pastures?
Not when they are hungry.
Only when they are content.
And do pigs or sheep like drinking from rushing waters?
No, they like quiet waters, still waters – it calms them down.
So here is a picture of contentment and calm.
At times a pig or a sheep will lie on its back and get stuck there – sort of like a turtle on its back. They simply can’t roll over and get on their feet.
They are in a rut.
We even have a term for that – a cast sheep.
Well the Shepherd restores that sheep, and puts it back on the right paths.
The picture in this first stanza of the psalm is one of assurance.
Rest assured that our well-being and safety are secure.
Even when we might get stuck in a rut for a while, we are back on our feet again.
PART TWO
But then there is stanza two – which is verse 4.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley.
The words here are intentionally vague.
The word for valley is more like crevice or gully or narrow pass.
The word for darkest is literally deepest darkness – and what darkness is deeper than the shadow of death.
Picture in your mind a narrow mountainous pass.
You can only walk single file.
You do not know what is around the corner.
It would be a perfect spot for an ambush, an attack.
The Shepherd is nowhere in sight.
It is a time you may be tempted to pray the opening words of the previous Psalm – my Shepherd my Shepherd why have you forsaken me?
We have walked these difficult, narrow, dangerous paths:
Our health has failed;
Our marriage is on the rocks;
Our faith is floundering;
Our kids blame us for their troubles;
We are sinking in debt,
And we can see no way out, no way through.
A couple of weeks ago I was visiting Fran Sanderson.
For years, Fran had suffered from a form of Pulminary Fibrosus.
Over time, her lungs were becoming more stiff, less able to hold air.
Breathing became more difficult.
In her last year, she was on oxygen 24/7.
But a couple of weeks ago it had reached a critical point.
She was in hospice care.
She could hardly get enough air.
She felt like she was drowning.
The words of Psalm 23 came to mind
which we whispered together
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…
Even though I walk through the shadow of death
I fear no evil
For you are with me
Your rod and your staff they comfort me…
PART THREE
Then there is the final section of the Psalm:
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Who are our enemies? The Devil, Despair, Disease, Death.
This psalm has echoes in other Bible passages, like Romans 8.
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Who will separate us from the love of God?
There is even sheep language there – that we suffer as sheep to be slaughtered.
But the truth remains – The Shepherd will not abandon his sheep.
Nothing can separate the sheep from his love,
Not height nor depth,
Not angels nor demons,
Nothing in all creation,
Not even death itself.
For his goodness and his mercy will follow us,
The word is actually pursue us
His goodness and mercy will pursue us
All the days of our life
So that we shall live in the house of the Lord forever.
CONCLUSION
There is a rhythm to this psalm, a flow.
It starts in the quiet contentment of green pastures and quiet waters.
It sinks down into the deepest of darkness.
It rises again to a table, a feast, a home.
Part of the reason this Psalm means so much is because we recognize this path.
We look back on it from this side of the cross
and we see how the Shepherd
became a lamb, the lamb of God,
to take away the sin of the world.
The Shepherd became a sheep,
leaving the green pastures of heaven,
to enter the dark valleys of earth,
even that darkest of gullies, a God-forsaken death.
The Shepherd became one of us,
so that no matter how lost we become,
no matter how helpless,
he will find us,
he will recover us,
he will restore us,
and even when in the darkness of death,
he will resurrect us
spreading a feast before us
anointing us,
pursuing us with his goodness and mercy,
holding us close in his love.
When in a cemetery a while back I was looking at some of these large stone monuments.
There was one large, old one that had 4 sides.
Side one had the words: The Lord is My Shepherd.
Side two had: He restores my soul
Side three had: I will fear no evil.
Side four had: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Congregation of Christ,
The Lord is your Shepherd.
He will not let you sink.
He will not abandon you.
He has all sides of your life covered, now and forevermore
Amen
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