Sermon – Easter 4 – "The Lord Is MY Shepherd" – Psalm 23 – 5/3/09
May 3rd, 2009Click play to listen to the audio version of this sermon.
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The first "Lutheran" hymnal was published in Wittenberg in the summer of 1524. It was called the "Spiritual Hymn Book" and contained 38 hymns, 24 of which were written by Luther himself.
What began in Wittenberg quickly spread throughout Europe wherever the Reformation had taken hold.
Just in the years from 1524 until Luther's death in 1546, 22 years, there were over 100 hymnals published in Germany alone. In Wittenberg, the 1524 hymnal was replaced with a new one in 1526 and another in 1528. And it continued on like that for quite awhile.
For us, our "new hymnal," "The Lutheran Service Book" is not quite three years old. But before that, we used the "blue hymnal," "Lutheran Worship," published in 1982 for 24 years. And before that it was the "red hymnal," "The Lutheran Hymnal," published in 1941, which we used for 41 years. So, thankfully the pace of new hymnals has slowed considerably since the 16th century.
There is however one hymnal that the church has used for a very long time and that has no shelf life. It never goes out of date. It's the very first hymnal of the church. First published by ancient Israel and we still use it to this day. It's called "the Book of Psalms." The Psalms were the sung hymns of the Old Testament church which work just as well for the New Testament church. Living on the New Testament side of history, we simply stick a Trinitarian ending to these Old Testament hymns, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit," and make them our own saying, "as it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever."
Of the 150 hymns in the Psalmody most were written by David, some were written by Solomon, some by the sons of Asaph and at least one by Moses. Yet each of these human authors "wrote as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit." And so it's also true to say that all of the Psalms were written by the same author – the Holy Spirit.
So if you will, the Psalmody is God's hymnal. These are the hymns that God sings to us. He sings His Word into our ears and our hearts and minds. So when we turn that around and speak or sing these Psalms back to God, what we're really doing is aligning our hearts and minds with the heart and mind of God, singing and saying what is most certainly true.
As is the case with the hymns in our own hymnal, there are some we like more than others, (believe me, I hear about it when we sing the ones you don't like!). Likewise, we have our favorite Psalms. And maybe none more so than the 23rd Psalm. And that's really what we want to consider carefully together this morning.
A. The Lord is My Shepherd "The Lord is my Shepherd." Remember, this is first and foremost, God's Word to us. This is God telling us who He is and who He wants to be for you. Here again, I sometimes think that this is all so familiar to us that we've lost sight of the wonder and marvel of what we're actually saying. "The Lord is MY Shepherd." "ME!" "I am one of His sheep." The God of the universe who holds the whole world in His hands wants me to know that I am one of His sheep.
'I know my own," the Shepherd says. He knows you. Not in some generic way as human or male or female. But He knows His own with the same intimacy of knowing as "the Father knows me and I know the Father."
Remember that, the next time you think that nobody is listening or no one cares or you think that you're all alone in this world. Remember that also when you think life is all about looking out for number one because if you don't look for yourself, who will?
Jesus wonderfully describes the kind of personal and individual care and attention that the Lord our Shepherd pays to His sheep in His parable about the shepherd who has 100 sheep in his flock but notices that one is missing. He leaves the 99 in the care of His under-shepherds and goes out looking for the one lost one. And when He finds it, He lifts it onto His shoulders and carries it back to the flock and calls to all His friends to rejoice with Him because He has found you. You, who do what sheep do. You who, "like sheep have gone astray, each to His own way." (Is.53:6). You, who call the Lord, "my shepherd." Don't ever think that your absence goes unnoticed or that your life doesn't matter or that He won't put the whole world on hold to come to you right now.
B. I Shall Not Want What more could a sheep want than to have the Lord as his shepherd? Jesus makes it very clear that there are others shepherds out there. And they're not 'good shepherds' like He is the 'good shepherd.' They just want to use you and when their done with you, they're off to use someone else.
But Jesus is different because you belong to Him. He calls you "my own." He wants to be used by His sheep. He's got lots to give and He wants to give it all to you. The Lord your Shepherd says, "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly." (Jn.10:10). With the Lord as your shepherd, your cup overflows with goodness and mercy. In short, you who call the Lord your shepherd have all that you need. "You shall not want."
And so we, when we pray this Psalm and say back to God what is most true and certain, we are making a confession of faith that we believe His Word is true, and not just true in general, but true for me, for my life. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Or to put it in the positive, "I have all that I need in Jesus Christ."
And so, we need to pause right here before we go any further and ask ourselves, "Why then aren't we content with what we have?" "Why are we so often feel like we're missing something and why can't we be satisfied with what we have, which all comes from the hand of the Lord our shepherd?" Why can't we say with Paul, "For the sake of Christ, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities." (2 Cor. 12:10) We say, "I shall not want," but we do.
- He makes me lie down in green pastures – but we think the grass is greener somewhere else and we swear that life will be better as soon as we're able to jump this fence and lie down somewhere else.
- He leads me beside still waters – but who's got time to be still and drink from His fountain? We're people who are on the go. Besides, we're looking for something faster and a little dangerous because we get bored.
- He restores my soul – but we think His approach is too simple and doesn't apply to my situation and so we turn our troubled soul over to talk show hosts and best-selling authors.
- He guides me in paths of righteousness – but frankly, we don't like to be guided or told what to do. We want to choose our own direction in life and be the captain of our own ship. We're not so concerned about being righteous as we are successful.
And so, when we pray, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," are we not confessing at least our hypocrisy if not our guilt? With our lips we confess that we have all that we need in Christ, but with our lives say Christ is not enough. The Lord God Almighty, calls me His own, pledges Himself to be my Shepherd, lays down His life for me, feeds me with daily bread for my stomach and spiritual bread for my soul, clothes me with clothing for my body and His own righteousness for my justification, defends me against all danger, even against the wolf from hell. And I am not content, I still want more, I want something else."
And so, we follow other shepherds who say that they can do more for us than the Lord. We're enticed by their voice, intrigued by their word, tantalized by their offer. The fruit that they hold out to me is pleasing to my eye and they promise me that it will satisfy my every desire.
So, when we pray this Psalm, are we not condemning ourselves before God? The answer is 'yes!'
C. Sheep Listen To His Voice So, why then do we love this Psalm so much? Why do we call this our favorite Psalm? This Psalm that shows us how completely unworthy we are to be sheep of this Shepherd? This Psalm that exposes us for the ungrateful sheep that we are?
Is it not because we know Him? "I know my own and MY OWN KNOW ME." WE KNOW HIM. We know His nature and His character. He is the GOOD Shepherd. He is by "good." He is "love." He is "mercy." And His goodness never fails, never love grows cold, and His mercy never ends. "The Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep." No greater love has a man than this, that He lay down His life for His sheep. God has shown us His love for us in this, Christ laid down His life for us.
We love this 23rd Psalm even though it convicts us of our sin, because we know our shepherd's voice. "My sheep hear my voice. They know my voice." His voice is so categorically different than every other voice. His voice speaks of forgiveness and mercy and love and reconciliation. We hear His voice say, "I forgive you all of your sins" and we know that we are completely forgiven. We hear His voice say, "Lazarus, come out," and we know that we have been raised up from our grave. We hear His voice say "well done, good and faithful sheep," and we know that we have been reconciled to God by His atoning sacrifice on our behalf.
D. The True Comfort of This Psalm This why we love this Psalm as we do. It's because we have God's Word which He has given to us to speak back to Him every time we hop the fence for greener pastures. "Lord, you are my Shepherd. Be my Lord and my Shepherd and make me to lie down in the green pastures of Your gracious forgiveness and fill me Your contentment."
In the midst of our trials, troubles and tragedies when and all the easy answers fall short, we have this Word of God, given to us by God to join our heart and our mind to. "Lord, you are my Shepherd. Lead me beside those still waters and help me drink of them, that my tired and weary soul may be truly restored."
We love this Psalm because it tells us where to turn and what to pray when we go down those paths of unrighteousness. When we listen to other voices and follow them down those dead end roads. God gives us this beautiful Word of His and says, "Here, make this your prayer to Me." And we say, "Lord, You are my Shepherd. Use your Word of Law to show me my error and my sin. And then let me hear Your Word of Gospel that renews my heart – that I may repent and turn and follow You in paths of righteousness.
Isn't it especially at funerals, when death casts its dark shadow over life that we are so grateful to have this Psalm? We need not go through this darkness alone. "Lord, You are my Shepherd. Lead me through this darkness. Assure me that this is only a shadow, for you, my Good Shepherd, have overcome my sin by Your cross. You have conquered my death with Your resurrection. Now take away my fear and comfort me with Your rod and staff – Your Word and Sacraments – and bring me into the light of eternal life that I may dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
We know Him. We know the sound of His voice. And so we love to say, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."
Related Entries:
» The Lord Is My Shepherd – The 23rd Psalm» Worship Schedule
» Sermon Index – Lutheran – LCMS
» Sermon – 4th Sunday of Easter – "Who's In Control?" – Acts 4:23-33 – 5/7/06
» Sermon – Ash Wednesday – "The 40 Days of Lent" – Hebrews 3:13 – 4:6 – 2/25/09
» Sermon – Easter 3 – "The Proof Of His Presence" – Luke 24:36-49 – 4/26/09
