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Voddie Baucham - The Lord's Provision in Psalm 23 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: So the idea of the shepherd and the idea of
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  Speaker 1: shepherding is throughout the Bible. At the forefront, all over
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures. And here in Psalm 23, right in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of the Bible, we find this iconic psalm which
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  Speaker 1: has the most well-known presentation of the idea. Let's look
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  Speaker 1: then at Psalm number 23. If you have your Bibles
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  Speaker 1: and if you have the ESV, let's read this together
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  Speaker 1: this morning. Should we stand together as we read Psalm
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  Speaker 1: number 23? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
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  Speaker 1: He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads
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  Speaker 1: me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads
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  Speaker 1: me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even
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  Speaker 1: though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
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  Speaker 1: I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
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  Speaker 1: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: You can be seated. Again, three movements from two perspectives.
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  Speaker 1: The first from the perspective of the shepherd and the
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  Speaker 1: second from the perspective of the sheep. And I believe
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  Speaker 1: it's insightful when we look at the psalm in this way. First,
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  Speaker 1: let's look at it from the shepherd's perspective. Van Gemeren writes,
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  Speaker 1: the first word of the psalm, the Lord, Yahweh, evokes
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  Speaker 1: rich images of the provision and protection of the covenant God.
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  Speaker 1: And that's the first thing that we see. is the
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  Speaker 1: shepherd's providential care for the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd. Now,
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  Speaker 1: note that the shepherd's providential care is limited. The Lord
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  Speaker 1: is my shepherd. David is not making a universal statement
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  Speaker 1: about God's relationship with all people in Psalm 23. And
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  Speaker 1: this is one reason that we can be rather disappointed
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  Speaker 1: when we come to the psalm. This is a Psalm
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  Speaker 1: that is known not only by believers, but by unbelievers alike.
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  Speaker 1: Unbelievers like the idea of God as a shepherd. And
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  Speaker 1: they take Psalm 23 to mean that this is God's
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  Speaker 1: disposition toward all people. But David is not making a
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  Speaker 1: statement about God's disposition towards all people. In fact, David
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  Speaker 1: is not even making a statement about God's disposition toward
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  Speaker 1: all of Israel. The king is making a statement about
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  Speaker 1: God's disposition toward him. The Lord is my shepherd. Not
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  Speaker 1: everyone can say that. Not everyone in Israel could say that.
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  Speaker 1: Not everyone in this room can say that. Only those
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  Speaker 1: who understand Psalm 22 and the redemption that we have
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  Speaker 1: in Christ because of his blood shed on our behalf
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  Speaker 1: when he bought and purchased a people for himself as
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  Speaker 1: the sheep of his fold. Only those can make the statement,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is my shepherd. Only when you get Psalm 22,
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  Speaker 1: only when you understand that redemption Can you truly make
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  Speaker 1: this statement? The shepherding that the psalmist describes is not universal.
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  Speaker 1: It's based on God's unique disposition towards his people. We
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  Speaker 1: are born enemies of God, deserving of his wrath. So
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  Speaker 1: it can't be talking about us in that state. In
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  Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter two, verses one through three, and you were
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  Speaker 1: dead in your trespasses and sins in which you once walked.
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  Speaker 1: following the course of this world, following the prince of
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  Speaker 1: the power of the air, the spirit that is now
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  Speaker 1: at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we
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  Speaker 1: all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying
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  Speaker 1: out the desires of the body and of the mind,
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  Speaker 1: and were by nature children of wrath like the rest
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  Speaker 1: of mankind. All of mankind stands under the wrath and
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  Speaker 1: condemnation of God. All of mankind is being shepherded by
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  Speaker 1: the prince of the power of the air. They're being
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  Speaker 1: shepherded by the evil one. You cannot be shepherded by
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  Speaker 1: the evil one pursuing your evil desires and simultaneously claim
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  Speaker 1: the Lord is my shepherd. Jesus makes it clear that
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  Speaker 1: we must become the children of God or the sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Of his pasture. John 1. Beginning in verse 11 we read.
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  Speaker 1: He came to his own. And his own people did
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  Speaker 1: not receive him. But to all who did receive him.
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  Speaker 1: Who believed in his name. He gave the right to become.
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  Speaker 1: Children of God. Who were born not of blood. Nor
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  Speaker 1: of the will of the flesh. Nor of the will
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  Speaker 1: of man. But of God. Folks you don't need the
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  Speaker 1: right to become something. That you already are. We are
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  Speaker 1: not all God's children. Let me say it again. We
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  Speaker 1: are not all God's children. We are all his creatures.
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  Speaker 1: We are all his creation. But those who believe have
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  Speaker 1: been granted the right to become children of God. We
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  Speaker 1: enter into this sheepfold and it is only then that
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  Speaker 1: we can say, the Lord is my shepherd. John chapter 10. Again,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe.
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  Speaker 1: The works that I do in my Father's name bear
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  Speaker 1: witness about me, but you do not believe because you
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  Speaker 1: are not among my sheep. You don't have to take
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  Speaker 1: my word for it. Take Jesus Christ himself at his word.
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  Speaker 1: And he says, that there are those who do not
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  Speaker 1: believe him because they're not his sheep. Notice also that
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  Speaker 1: he doesn't say, you're not my sheep because you don't believe.
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  Speaker 1: He says you don't believe because you're not my sheep.
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  Speaker 1: It is being marked out as his. It leads us
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  Speaker 1: to belief. So you must not feel free to claim
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  Speaker 1: the blessings of Psalm 23 haphazardly. We've got to understand
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  Speaker 1: that first. Then that is what Spurgeon meant, that you
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  Speaker 1: have to put Psalm 23 in its context. So you
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  Speaker 1: can't say, I just love thinking about God this way.
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  Speaker 1: This Psalm really ministers to me. It really makes me
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  Speaker 1: feel good about God. Therefore, I will take Psalm 23
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  Speaker 1: as the way that I explain God's disposition towards me.
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  Speaker 1: You're not allowed to do that. You're not allowed to
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  Speaker 1: do that. It is only those who understand Psalm 22.
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  Speaker 1: It is only those who have been redeemed by the
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  Speaker 1: death in Psalm 22 that can make the claim in
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  Speaker 1: Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. It is only
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  Speaker 1: when you have come to him through repentance and faith
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  Speaker 1: that that you can lay claim to him being your shepherd.
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  Speaker 1: It is only, as Jesus says, when you believe him
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  Speaker 1: that you can lay claim to being one of his sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Because that is one of the marks of being one
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  Speaker 1: of his sheep, that you believe him. You cannot say simultaneously,
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  Speaker 1: I do not believe him on the one hand, and
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, I am one of his sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Do you believe to that? Do you believe that Christ
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  Speaker 1: is who he says he is? Do you believe that
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  Speaker 1: he is the son of God? Do you believe that
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  Speaker 1: he wrapped himself in flesh, satisfying the righteous requirements of
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  Speaker 1: his father so that he might impute that righteousness to
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  Speaker 1: those who believe? And do you believe that in his
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  Speaker 1: passive obedience, he died on the cross just as Psalm
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  Speaker 1: 22 said that he would? Do you believe that he
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  Speaker 1: died for sins committed by sinful men, thus satisfying the
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  Speaker 1: wrath of his Father in heaven. Do you believe that
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  Speaker 1: you needed this death on your behalf because you are
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  Speaker 1: a sinner, an enemy of God, and that the only
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  Speaker 1: way for you to access rightness with God is through
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  Speaker 1: this death that you deserved, but Christ died? Do you
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  Speaker 1: believe that he is your only hope of salvation? Beloved,
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  Speaker 1: it is only when you can answer yes to those
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  Speaker 1: questions that you can lay hold to Psalm 23. Otherwise,
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  Speaker 1: you are deceiving yourself, but not God. The Lord is
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  Speaker 1: my shepherd. The shepherd's providential care is also necessary. The
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  Speaker 1: Lord is my shepherd. I need a shepherd. The nature
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  Speaker 1: of sheep tells us that. It's amazing that throughout the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: God refers to his people as sheep. There are a
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  Speaker 1: lot of things we could have been afraid. He could
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  Speaker 1: have said, you know, we are his dogs. He could
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  Speaker 1: have said that we are his birds. Whatever. He said sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Defenseless sheep. Ignorant sheep. Needy sheep. frightened, skittish sheep, wayward,
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  Speaker 1: wandering sheep. He refers to us as sheep. Sheep need
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  Speaker 1: a shepherd. You don't find sheep out in the wild
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  Speaker 1: fending for themselves. They don't make it long. A sheep
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  Speaker 1: out in the wild fending for himself. A sheep can't
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  Speaker 1: even make it if someone doesn't cut his wool off
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  Speaker 1: for him. He can fall over and not be able
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  Speaker 1: to right himself. That's how worthless sheep are. They can
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  Speaker 1: die from falling over and not being able to right themselves.
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  Speaker 1: They can't run fast. They don't have sharp teeth to
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  Speaker 1: fend off predators. They have no claws. And they are
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  Speaker 1: not bright. And unless you have the humility to think
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  Speaker 1: of yourself like that, you don't understand the nature of sin.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know what sin does? Sin takes a sheep
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  Speaker 1: and makes him think that he's a wolf. Sin takes
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  Speaker 1: a sheep that can't survive and makes him think that
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  Speaker 1: he's a predator who's on top of the world. Who
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  Speaker 1: doesn't need a shepherd. I don't need God. I can
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  Speaker 1: make it on my own. Ha ha ha. We're in
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  Speaker 1: desperate need of shepherding. It's not a flattering picture. The
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  Speaker 1: shepherd's providential care is also comprehensive. It's physical and spiritual
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  Speaker 1: in nature. Look at the physical nature of it. And
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  Speaker 1: notice the pronouns. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
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  Speaker 1: He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.
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  Speaker 1: He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.
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  Speaker 1: Notice the pronouns there. He, he, he. The Lord is
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  Speaker 1: my shepherd. He. Why? Because I can't do this. I'm
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  Speaker 1: a sheep. I can't take care of myself. So this
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  Speaker 1: is why it's important to have this shepherd metaphor. Because
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  Speaker 1: we are incapable of caring for ourselves. There is this
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  Speaker 1: idea of him providing for our physical needs. He makes
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  Speaker 1: me lie down in green pastures. You need green pastures
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  Speaker 1: to eat. He leaves me beside still waters. Otherwise, you
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  Speaker 1: couldn't even find water to drink. But notice the parallels.
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  Speaker 1: Two lines about our physical needs and then two lines
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  Speaker 1: about our spiritual needs. He restores my soul. Does this
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  Speaker 1: not sound like Christ? Matthew 11, come to me all
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  Speaker 1: who labor and are heavy laden and I will give
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  Speaker 1: you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from
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  Speaker 1: me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and
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  Speaker 1: you will find rest for your souls. He restores my soul.
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  Speaker 1: He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.
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  Speaker 1: You are not capable of righteousness in and of yourself.
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  Speaker 1: It is the shepherd who leads you in paths of righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: So even your righteous deeds are dependent upon the shepherd.
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  Speaker 1: We offer them to him and we strive in those
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  Speaker 1: paths wherein he leads us because we desire righteousness. But
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  Speaker 1: even the desire for righteousness comes from the shepherd. We
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  Speaker 1: see this in the Lord's Prayer. In the fourth petition
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  Speaker 1: we find, Give us this day our daily bread, our
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  Speaker 1: physical needs. The fifth petition, forgive us our debts as
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  Speaker 1: we forgive our debtors, spiritual. And then the sixth petition,
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  Speaker 1: lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the
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  Speaker 1: evil one. So even when the Lord teaches us how
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  Speaker 1: to pray, he teaches us how to pray like sheep.
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  Speaker 1: This is important for us to remember because the fact
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  Speaker 1: of the matter is being led by a good shepherd
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  Speaker 1: can lead you to be overconfident. When He provides for
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  Speaker 1: you and you eat well and drink well and when
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  Speaker 1: your soul is restored and when you're walking in paths
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  Speaker 1: of righteousness, the tendency is to become puffed up and
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  Speaker 1: to forget that the Lord is my shepherd. The tendency
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  Speaker 1: is to look at other people who are not being
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  Speaker 1: shepherded as well as you are being shepherded and to
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  Speaker 1: look down upon them. There's a great line about this,
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  Speaker 1: and I won't tell you where the line comes from,
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  Speaker 1: but there's bickering between two brothers. And these two brothers
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  Speaker 1: are bickering over, you know, money in the family that
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  Speaker 1: they're inheriting and You know, one of them has done
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  Speaker 1: well for himself and the other one hasn't done well
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  Speaker 1: for himself. And the one who hasn't at his college,
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  Speaker 1: a picture of the prodigal son, if you will, in
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  Speaker 1: this particular film. And the elder brother is sitting there
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  Speaker 1: as the other brother is coming, you know, saying, I
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  Speaker 1: need this, I need that, I need the other. And
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  Speaker 1: the elder brother, just like the elder brother and the
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  Speaker 1: prodigal son, is sitting there proud of what he has
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  Speaker 1: made of himself. And the younger brother looks at the
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  Speaker 1: elder brother and says, We were both born on third base.
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  Speaker 1: Stop acting like you hit a triple. That's our tendency.
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  Speaker 1: When things are good in our lives, here we are,
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  Speaker 1: home run trot, coming toward home plate, forgetting the fact
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  Speaker 1: that we were born on third base and somebody else
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  Speaker 1: knocked us in It is Christ. It is all of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord is my shepherd.