Is the Lord your Shepherd?

Is the Lord Your Shepherd?

Good Morning Friends,

Psalm 23 is undoubtedly one of the best-known passages in all the Bible. Lots of people use it at funerals and memorial services. So I guess it is an appropriate passage for All Saints Day. Most of us learned it as children and it continues to be a comfort to those who are dying, or those who have lost loved ones. Maybe it’s so well-loved because it is so personal and individual. In it the shepherd becomes a sheep.

It applies to me and you in a way we can feel, not just now but in our imagining of a flock being gathered in heaven as well. So now in a time when Halloween has become secularized and much of the focus is on candy…something we want but do not need, I think it is a good time to ask each other, Is The Lord Your Shepherd?

Scripture: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23 (KJV)

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’  ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'”

Revelation 7:9-17 (NIV)

And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19
(NRSV)
Message: I believe that much of the focus of All Saints Day has been redirected to Presidents Day and Veterans Day. That is kind of a shame because we miss out on the message of the Christian Holiday. Maybe it would help if our image of Halloween was more like the image of a flock of lambs following a shepherd. Really it is not all that hard to picture. But it is also not all that hard to imagine little dumb lambs following a dark lord on that dark night. Perhaps it would be good for us to keep our focus on a brighter future. Friends, someday it is my hope that we will gather as a flock of saints at the river of God that flows by the throne of God. What this means is a bit of a mystery for we do not understand the fullness of the images presented. We get confused by all the candy. And to make matters worse when we think of Kings we think of Elvis or Frank Sinatra. We miss so much. It is understandable for we live in a society where tending sheep is not an ordinary occupation and here although we have our idols we do not have the firsthand experience of a real King. Few of you have been blessed to know a shepherd or a king, much less are familiar with what their life is really like. And so I think we have a tendency to lose a little bit of the meaning that David intended when he wrote Psalm 23. Phillip Keller has written extensively on this subject and he explains that David knew from experience that the life of any sheep depends on the type of man who owns it. Under one man, sheep might struggle, starve and suffer. But under another shepherd, they might flourish. He explains that for the cup to overflow someone has to be working very hard to keep filling it. So today it might be helpful for us to know, following Halloween that sheep are very easily frightened, but that a good shepherd provides for their every need not want….that a good shepherd loves them.

Pray the Lord is our Shepherd and He is all that we want. Pray as we think of the names and faces of the ones that we love – those who have gone home to the Lord that we picture them along the shore of the beautiful wonderful river that flows from the Throne of God. Pray we imagine their joy and their peace. Pray we imagine a reunion at the river of the living saints who then here gather with the saints of all time. Pray we realize that Psalm 23 is not just about a shepherd but the Shepherd King, Jesus…leading us to victory. Pray the fathers and mothers leading the little children on the next Halloween.

Blessings,

John Lawson