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PSALM 23
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT.
Pastor: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Cong: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In
the name + of Jesus.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1) What David confessed, Jesus elaborated
on. I
am the good shepherd. (John 10:11)
Jesus is the Lord, and he is the shepherd. He is not one of many shepherds. We believe in one holy Christian and apostolic
church, and so we believe that Jesus is the one shepherd and Savior of that
Church. There is no other Savior, and
there is no other shepherd. And as long
as you have Jesus, you shall not want.
You will not lack anything that you truly need.
But, if Jesus is your shepherd, that means that you are his sheep. This is not really a compliment. The point is not that you are cute. When you tell stories that corrupt the
details so that you come out looking noble and the other person is presented as
heartless or stupid, you are not cute.
When you click onto immoral websites or fantasize over obscene images,
you are not cute. When you pray for or giggle
at the misfortunes of a colleague because you don’t like her, you are not cute.
You are a sheep, but it is not because you are cute. It is because you are weak and
defenseless. Sheep do not have fangs or
claws to fight back against their enemies.
They do not have speed to outrun predators, nor are they camouflaged to
hide from them. For that matter, sheep
are not very aware of their vulnerability.
They are devoted to quietly grazing in the fields. Sheep are easy pickin’s for the predators who
would devour them. This is you; for you
are sinners.
Sin, death, and the devil stalk you. Quite often, you are unaware or unconcerned
about these enemies, but even if you are, you are still defenseless against
them. Have you stopped sinning? No, you still do. Will you escape death? No, no one does. Does the devil leave you alone? No. Your adversary the devil prowls around like
a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) He cannot snatch you out of the kingdom of God
And you have a shepherd. In fact,
you have the good one. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1) Jesus declared: “I am
the good shepherd.” (John 10:11)
With Jesus, you lack nothing that you truly need for this world, and
especially for the world to come. But that
does not mean life is going to be easy. It
means that you need, and will always need, the Good Shepherd to speak to
you, to guard and protect you, and to nourish and nurture you.
King David wrote about the reality of life in this word: Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4) The valley of the
shadow of death is not a place that sounds exciting or inviting. Yet, we will all walk there. You cannot escape death no matter how devout
of a Christian you are. We have all been
stained with sin, and so we all have a death to face.
But even in the
valley of the shadow of death, the Lord is my shepherd and I will not want for
anything. The choice of words David used
is significant. Even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
(Psalm 23:4) Although you cannot escape going to the
grave, that does not mean you have no hope.
Jesus Christ remains your shepherd.
Not even death separates you from him.
That is because your good shepherd has gone into death already for
you.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. Everything your good shepherd
does is for the good of his flock, for you.
He takes his stand between you and your enemies. Though sin should condemn you, Jesus has
saved you from this enemy. He stood in
your place. He took the blows of God’s
wrath for you. He laid down his life for
the sheep. It seemed as though death had
claimed Jesus, but in fact, Jesus has claimed death! The Good Shepherd has taken his life up
again. So, although death comes for you,
Jesus saved you from this enemy. He went
into death for you in order to destroy the power of the grave by his
resurrection. And that is why you will
pass through the valley of the shadow of death!
Your Good Shepherd shall raise you up to eternal life.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. With Jesus Christ, you lack nothing. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. (Psalm 23:3) Everything Jesus
does is for his name’s sake. That means
Jesus does everything for us based on his perfect love and infinite
wisdom. No matter what you endure, it is
for your good. Once again, that does not mean he
makes life easy for us. Sometimes the
path of righteousness can be pretty difficult to walk on. Sometimes, it is downright painful. Consider King David. For several years of his life, he was on the
run because King Saul wanted to kill him.
David knew he was the Lord’s anointed, and yet the Lord subjected him to
persecution by his enemy. The Lord did
not hate David or even neglect him. The
Lord had David walk this difficult and painful path because—believe it or
not—it was good for him. The Lord, in
his wisdom, decided that David needed to endure this. But David did not endure it alone. The Good Shepherd was always with him. Though it was not a fun lesson, David learned
that his life was in God’s hands. His
strength was in God’s promises. His
security came only by God’s protection.
Even though he would be king, David was reminded that he was weak and
helpless. He needed his Good Shepherd. And though David’s life was filled with
uncertainty and stress and fear, he did not want. With the Good Shepherd, he had everything he
needed.
Now, David’s
lesson is no different than yours. Chances
are, no one is trying to hunt you down to kill you. Nevertheless, your life is also full of
uncertainty and stress and fear. It is a
constant reminder that you need your Good Shepherd. He does not promise to make life easy. He promises to defend you against the enemies
who would do you real, everlasting harm.
If you truly
want peace and rest in the midst of a sinful world, then stay close to your
shepherd and pay attention to his voice.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. No, you lack nothing with Jesus. His rod and staff, that is—his word and his
sacraments, always defend you and comfort you, even with the enemies
surrounding you. King David wrote: You prepare a table before me in the presence of
my enemies. (Psalm 24:5) The enemies will always be there. Sin, death, and the devil will always be
around you. But they cannot harm you—not
when your Good
Shepherd is
with you and not when you are with him.
In fact, Jesus sets out the table so that you can celebrate and feast in
the midst of these enemies. Sin wants to
have you? Ha! We feast here for the forgiveness of
sins. Death wants to claim you? Ha! We
have the body and blood of our risen and ever-living Lord to give us eternal
life. Satan still accuses you? Ha!
Jesus overrules him. Your Good
Shepherd lives to intercede for you and to console you with words of comfort
and salvation. That is why the sheep
listen to their shepherd: He has the words of eternal life.
Because the LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. I lack no good thing for this world and for
the world to come. Therefore, each of us
rejoices to confess with King David: I
shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:6)
In the name of the Father and of the Son +
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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