“THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD” (PS. 23)
1. A gospel preacher went to visit a sister in Christ who was hospitalized.
2. As the preacher prepared to conclude his visit, this sister made a request.
3. She said, “Would you please say the 23rd Psalm before you leave?”
4. The preacher didn’t have a Bible with him;
5. He knew that he didn’t have this portion of scripture memorized;
6. So he decided to “wing it.” The evangelist didn’t do too well.
7. Parts of this Psalm were reversed; he forgot some of it; it was a sloppy recital
8. Once he finished the sister said, “That’s shorter than I remember it.”
9. This true story makes a good point.
10. Some Bible material may seem to be very familiar to us, but it really isn’t
11. Beginning tonight I want to study with you the 23rd Psalm.
12. My plan is to make a lesson out of each major expression.
1. THE FIRST MAJOR EXPRESSION OF PS. 23 IS IN VERSE 1- “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.”
A. In this statement, David places himself on the same level as sheep.
B. As sheep have a shepherd, so David had a shepherd.
C.
As David had a shepherd, so all of us have a
shepherd—Jn.
D. In Ps. 23, later verses show how <<good shepherds>> dealt with their flocks.
E. Tonight I want to establish how shepherds looked at their sheep.
F. One shepherd stated the matter in this way:
1) “I recall quite clearly how in my first venture with sheep, the question of paying a price for my ewes was so terribly important. They belonged to me only by virtue of the fact that I had paid hard cash for them. It was money earned by the blood and sweat and tears drawn from my own body during the desperate grinding years of the depression. And when I bought that first small flock I WAS BUYING THEM LITERALLY WITH MY OWN BODY WHICH HAD BEEN LAID DOWN WITH THIS DAY IN MIND.” (KELLER, P. 20).
2) Good shepherds often sacrificed themselves for their sheep.
3) Thus, it may be said that shepherds loved their sheep.
4) Shepherds are willing to give blood, sweat, & tears for sheep.
G. With this information in mind, think again about Jn. 10:11.
H. The Lord’s statement was right on target.
I. Christ has given His blood for the church (sheep).
J. This fact is made known in Acts 20:28.
1) Acts 20:28 is an interesting passage.
2) It is interesting because it tells us the church is bought by blood.
3) It is also interesting because the church is called a FLOCK.
4) In fact, elders were told to feed this flock.
K. If you have found the verse, let’s look at it together.
L. QUOTE/READ .
M. Christ shed His blood for the flock.
N. What about sweat?
O. Good shepherds are willing to perspire for the sake of their sheep.
P. Did Christ ever sweat for His flock? Yes.
Q. In the gospels we read that the Lord perspired.
R. This information is in Lk. 22.
S.
Lk. 22 describes what happened in the
T. Christ was praying; an angel came to strengthen the Lord.
U. After this angelic visit, the events of v. 44 occurred.
V. READ.
W. Following the angel’s visit, Christ began to pray more earnestly.
X. The Lord was praying so hard that he sweated.
1) Jesus bled and he perspired all for our benefit.
2) We have looked at 2 of the 3 things that good shepherds experience.
3) What about the third thing- crying?
Y. Did Christ shed some tears for people? Yes.
Z. The Bible says that God wants all people to be saved; 2 Pet. 3:9
A. The point that Peter made is illustrated in Lk. 19.
B.
Luke describes for us the Lord’s triumphant entry into
city of
C. Jesus knew how the Jews had rejected Him, and the punishment that would follow.
D. As
Christ considered the future fate of
E. He cried. This information is in v. 41. READ.
II. WHEN WE SAY OR HEAR THE WORDS “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD”, WE NEED TO REMEMBER THE KIND OF SHEPHERD WE HAVE.
A. Our shepherd loves us with a love that is immeasurable.
B. He has literally offered for us His blood, sweat, and tears.
C. Our shepherd was even willing to trade His life for ours.
D. Paul said in 2 Cor. 5:21, an offering for sin had to be made.
E. Realizing what the shepherd has done for us should thrill our souls.
F. This information should also tell us that we belong to someone else.
G. When shepherds bought sheep, they marked them.
H. In fact, let me recite a conversation that 2 shepherds had.
I. It began like this:
1) “Well, Phillip, they’re yours. Now you’ll have to put your mark on them.”
2) Phillip the shepherd knew what his friend was saying.
3) Each shepherd uses a distinctive earmark for his sheep.
4) This mark is actually cut into the ear of every sheep.
5) This is done with a razor sharp knife & a wooden block.
6) Cutting this sign into a sheep’s ear is not fun or easy.
7) It is a practice that indicates ownership.
J. Jesus does the same thing. The good shepherd marks his people.
K. This mark is not visible; we have no physical marks.
L. This mark is also not supernatural or miraculous.
M. The mark is spiritual in nature.
N. Passages which indicate that Christians are marked include:
1)
1 Cor. 6:19-20; Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9; Acts
2) Matt. 16:24; 1 Cor. 6:11; Matt. 11:29.
3) 1 Cor. 6:19-20 says, “Or know ye not that your body…”
4)
Tit.
5) 1 Pet. 2:9 states the matter this way, “But ye are…”
6)
Acts
7) Since Christ bought us and saved us, we wear His name.
8)
Acts
9) Matt. 16:24- We are marked by bearing a cross.
10) 1
Cor.
11) Matt. 11:29- “take my yoke…”
III. TWO THINGS ARE VERY CLEAR ABOUT JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD. FIRST, WE KNOW THAT HE REALLY IS A GOOD SHEPHERD. SECONDLY, WE KNOW THAT WE ARE HIS; HE HAS BOUGHT US AND WE BEAR HIS MARK.
A. Now it’s time to think about the significance of these things.
B. There are several ways to apply these two facts; I will offer 3.
C. The first involves pride.
1) If we are truly owned by another; and
2) If Christ has in essence “marked us”;
3) How much room is there for us to boast and brag?
4) How much room is there for arrogance and snobbery?
5) There isn’t any room.
6) This is the only conclusion that can be reached.
7) A study of the NT shows that this is the conclusion that 1st century people reach.
8) Faithful brethren worked at crucifying pride.
9) In the NT there is a word which means slave.
10) Most of the time it is translated servant.
11) Out of curiosity, I looked up this word.
12) Here is what I found:
a). Excluding the gospels, 7 NT books have this word in 1st
b). These books are:
(i). Romans; Galatians; Philippians; Titus;
(ii). James; 2 Peter; Jude; and Revelation.
c). You have probably read what I am talking about 100’s of.
D. Three of Paul’s letters begin with the expression “servant of God” (JC)
E. These writers recognized that someone owned them.
F. They understood that they were slaves to Christ. (Like sheep with shepherd)
G. This understanding promoted humility.
H. Ownership by the Lord also promoted a different set of values.
I. This point of application is drawn from Phil. 1:21.
J. This text tells us about Paul’s life after he became a Christian.
K. QUOTE/READ.
L. I had to think about this verse for several yrs before appreciating it.
M. Paul seems to have been saying that his goal in life is to serve.
N. Paul’s reason for living was to help the good shepherd.
O. The apostle’s worldly goals and hopes were shelved.
P. Paul did recognize that Christians must keep up with responsibilities.
Q. He said in 1 Tim. 5:8 concerning widows- QUOTE.
R. Christians with families have family responsibilities.
S. These responsibilities are to be balanced with the idea in Phil. 1.
T. Our own interests and desires need to be secondary to shepherds.
U. This is something that Christians in the past have done.
1) Recently I encountered some info about 157-century commitment.
2) This info really caught my attention.
3) One source talked about evangelism among 1st century slaves.
4) It is hard to preach to slaves since owners wanted them to work on Sunday.
5) To preach to slaves, some brethren (who were free men) sold themselves into slavery so they could be around slaves.
6) Free men went into bondage to fulfill the great commission.
7) In this case,
V. The shepherd’s interests were put above worldly interests (freed)
W. Another statement I recently read about early Christians was this:
X. “We share everything but our wives”.
Y. This is the kind of outlook that Paul had concerning Christianity.
Z.
Phil.
A. I have not reached the spiritual level that Paul was at.
B.
I don’t know anyone in the
C. I do know that we can work on putting the Lord’s interests ahead of our own.
D. This is right and this is required. As time passes, we should get better and better at it.
E. The third point of application involves gratitude.
F. This point is based on what Paul said in Rom. 6:16.
G. The context of v. 16 is a contrast.
H. Paul argues that accountable people are in 1 of two places.
I. They are in the devil’s kingdom and therefore servants of sin.
J.
Or,
people are in the
K. There is no third choice.
L.
READ
Rom.
M. There are only two paths we can take in life:
N. One path leads to destruction; the other leads to life.
O. Whether we like it or not, we must serve right- or sin.
P. Serving sin is a bad choice according to Rom. 6:23A. QUOTE.
Q. Serving righteousness is a good deal; Rom. 6:23B. QUOTE.
R. Christians can & should be thankful that this option is available.
S. We do not have to serve sin; we can escape the way of destruction.
T. If we choose this way, we have a shepherd who is good and kind.
U. We have a shepherd who invites us to come & unload our problems.
V. We have a shepherd who has prepared a resting place for us.
W. Let’s be thankful to God and grateful for the good shepherd.
CONCLUSION:
1. If you are not a Christian, you surely want to become one.
2. Then you can say this evening, “The Lord is my shepherd.”
3. If He is not, tonight is a good time to be marked as belonging to Him.
Extra material that may be useful:
Perfect
Salvation
Perfect
Satisfaction
Perfect
Rest
Perfect
Refreshment
Perfect
Restoration
Perfect
Guidance
Perfect
Protection
Perfect
Company
Perfect
Comfort
Perfect
Provision
Perfect
Consecration
Perfect
Joy
Perfect
Care
Perfect
Destiny