Introduction
I know what you’re thinking, couldn’t you be a little more original than Psalm 23 at a time like this? Well, I did not choose the psalm for this Sunday, someone else did a long time ago. Someone who was moved by the Holy Spirit. If you check the lectionary you’ll find that the Psalm for the 22/03/2020 is Psalm 23.
This Psalm, along with the Lord’s Prayer, must be the most well known outside of the church. It must be one of the most memorised few verses, again along with the Lord’s prayer. I remember learning it off by heart as a child and had no church background at all. Weird when you think about it. In a recent study many questioned about their knowledge of the bible, remarked that the Psalms were important in times of worry, distress and anxiety, and a many of them said “especially Psalm 23”
As God’s children, it must have even more of a resonance to our lives then. Surely, if those outside of faith have a connection with it, there has to be more to Psalm 23 than we might first see? The answer is of course yes!
But first let’s ask ourselves and be honest here, do we see it as a Psalm just for difficult times?
Have we always looked at it or heard at certain times?
Could we now read it again and look to see it’s application for this very day, tomorrow and into the future?
A Psalm of trust
It is vital to see this Psalm for what it is. It isn’t a Psalm of lament, and there are few of those, but has elements of a cry to God for help. It isn’t a Psalm of praise but again it does resonate with the worship of God and all that He promises. Psalm 23 is a psalm of trust. Trust in the midst of life.
The midst of life is important. We can so easily forget God’s promises and presence in the everyday and especially when it gets tough. The words of the Psalm say “is my shepherd” and “makes me lie down” and they are present actions. Actions that have an impact on our lives today.
The psalmist though doesn’t see any given moment separated from the past or the future. It may well be that in the hope they speak of, for that very minute, hour, day etc, is remembered in their experience. In a sense they are saying “I remember my Lord has been my shepherd in the past so I can rely on Him being the same now”
I wonder if here you might spend another moment just remembering when God has been that support and rescue for you in the past?
As we remember, the hope for the Psalmist is that we will know God’s care for us in the present. In the everyday. I would not like to distance my everyday life from this Psalm. It is the standard hope and prayer of our everyday. From Monday to Friday at work/college/in our homes. Into the weekend with our friends and families and dare I say it for the Sunday mornings as we once more remember what God has done for us and praise Him for it.
I once heard an illustration for this Psalm that helps to describe better the real and immediate application of Psalm 23 for our daily lives.
Just as a golfer uses a putter, a chef uses a knife and a footballer their boots, and these are essential tools to what they do, so too Psalm 23 is an essential text for the daily life of faith. You can play golf without a putter, cook without a knife and play football without boots, but who in their right mind would want to. So too the life of a christian without Psalm 23 seems a strange thing to do.
Take a moment to think about that and how maybe we have neglected to appreciate God’s care for you in your daily life. That we all have not taken that promised presence with us in the form of these verses.
Fearful, in Darkness and with Enemies all around
You would be forgiven in thinking that this part starts a little morbidly, all doom and gloom. But I hope and pray I’ll dispel that for you.
The psalm offers an immense amount of hope but it comes, not with strings because that is not how God works, but an understanding that it isn’t given regardless. Let’s look at the first few verses again…
- The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
- He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, - he refreshes my soul.
The traditional translation of v1 is “I shall not want…” and I do prefer that because of the simple fact it highlights better our humility towards God and our complete need of Him. It is a call to trust in God for He will provide all that we NEED and we shall not WANT anymore. A statement that so surely hits home as we see the shelves emptying through the desperate fear so many are facing. It is a selfish reaction to chaos and uncertainty. Is it one we should give into? God gives us all we need and we will not want anymore.
There is also the gift of peace in the everyday where God offers to lay us down and refresh us as we find ourselves amongst a world spiralling into doubt. We have these as we humbly accept His care and our need of Him, God does it for us, not us working at it.. The emphasis in those verses is “He He He” (not a giggle) God is the one who offers this for us as we rest and rely on Him.
Think about it… If you are feeling a little worried, fearful even, take a minute or two and humbly ask God to calm your fears and show you His provision. To lay you down by still waters.
Fearful, in Darkness and with Enemies all around does sound a bit doom and gloom but those are the moments the Psalmist encourages us in our trust of God.
Even though I walk… “I shall fear no evil…” because “YOUR…”
Enemies all around… “YOU prepare a table…” “YOU anoint…”
God is not just working in us, in our need of His care and presence, but those external pressures that squeeze us and cause our feet to stumble, God has them too. We are able to rest in the knowledge that whatever physical and temporal hardships we face God’s presence can also be found as He rescues us.
See, not all doom and gloom and what’s more the great news does not stop there, oh no!
Prayer
Listen to Jason while you pray here.