"Psalm 23--A life of faith"
I would like to read the 23rd Psalm from the RSV since this is one of the more familiar versions of this glorious Psalm:
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me,
Thou preparest a table before be in the presence of my enemies; thou annointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." (RSV)
This beautiful poem has to be one of the all time favorite Bible verses. Have you ever thought about the person who wrote this poem and why he wrote it? Most of the psalms have been attributed to David, but regardless of the authorship, have you wondered why it was written and when?
As you think through the words of this poem, picture in your mind the settings described, think of the situations it speaks to? Was this written by a young man beginning life, or an older man in the autumn of life, reviewing all that had happened to him? Does this man have faith and belief in this God who was like a shepherd to him? Sure he does!! This is a poem written by a man in the waning years of his life recalling his faith in a God who was like a good shepherd to him.
Picture the author by a cool mountain stream, laying in the grass, the sun shining bright, the birds chirping, the flies and bees buzzing around and he is thinking about his life, his life in the arms and strong hands of God. As he lies there, a shepherd comes with his flock and he watches the shepherd lead his flock to the cool water, he watches the shepherd clear away the poisonous weeds, he watches as the shepherd kills the snakes, he watches as the shepherd strokes the sheep, and looks for sores and hurts. Then he thinks to himself, yes, this is the way my life has been in the hands of God. He has cared for me, he has watched over me, he has given me everything I need or will ever need. He has cared for me as a shepherd cares for his flock.
So he thinks and writes,
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul."
As he watches the shepherd, he thinks of all the places he has been, all the things he has done, and he thinks about God’s hand in all of this. As he watches the shepherd lead his flock through the pasture to find rest for the night, as he thinks about the path the shepherd and flock came on, the winding path up the side of the mountain, he thinks about the path of his life. He thinks about God as his guide, his shepherd, the one who gave meaning and purpose to his life. He thinks back upon all that has happened in his life, and he concludes that God’s guiding hand has lead him along the paths of righteousness or virtue, or salvation, whatever word you want to use to describe a life which was lead by the hand of God.
He thinks about this and he settles back into the grass with a contented look and a sense of peace within. He knows and he believes God has been with him all through life. God has led, he has followed. He thinks: "I might not have seen the hand of God so clearly as a youth, and in my young adult years, it was easy to loose sight of God with all the business of life, and in my middle years, in the less busy and hectic times, I have had the freedom to reflect upon my life and to see clearly the guiding hand of God."
He thinks and writes:
"He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake."
Can you relate to this poet? Have you ever wondered about the meaning and direction of your life? Is God leading you? Can you see God’s guiding hand of salvation in your life?
Maybe we are like the man in the following:
"A man wanted to find direction and meaning to life. He was told to go and visit a hermit high in the mountains. After climbing to the home of the hermit, he was given a flask and told to go fill it in the stream and through that action his life would have a sense of direction and purpose. The man rushed to the stream, but for some reason the water would not flow into the flask. His pride kept him from going back to the hermit to seek more advise and to admit his failure.
So, he traveled around the world searching for a stream of water that would flow into his flask. He endured hardship, pain and suffering.
Finally, he had enough. He returned to the hermit. He confessed to the hermit his sin of not wanting to admit that he needed help. As he was confessing this to the hermit, a tear rolled from his eyes and fell into the flask, in a second, the flask was filled with water and the man understood what was the direction and meaning for his life. "
He saw that once he was willing to surrender his life to another, to forget selfish pride, life took on meaning.
Does your life have purpose and meaning because it is lived for God and not self?
As the poet lays he thinks about all the rough spots he had been through, all the suffering and brokenness he endured. He thought about the hand of God leading him through all of these moments. He saw God’s hand reach out to him as they climbed over the rough spots together. He remembered God fighting for him, protecting him from danger as a shepherd with his rod, a club, and his staff protecting the flock of sheep from danger.
So he thinks and writes:
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me,
In the same way this poet saw the hand of God as a shepherd leading him through the trouble spots of his life.”
I would like you "to imagine yourself looking out over a landscape of thousands and thousands of people. People who seem happy, playing, dancing, laughing and celebrating. As you focus in on their faces, they look just like you, you even see friends, neighbors, relatives and one who looks exactly like you. As you continue to watch these people, you notice that some don’t move as free as others. You see they are linked by invisible chains, to huge weights. Weights of resentment, or bitterness, or unforgiveness, or self-control, or loneliness, or deep guilt, or a broken spirit or unfaithfulness, or mistrust, or petty complaints, or worry, or gossip or wanting to be number one, or pride, or weights of knowing what is best for everyone, or self-righteousness or religious bigotry, or weights of piety or weights of illness, grief, chronic sickness, or old age, etc.
You see all these weights, some huge, some medium size, some small but everyone you see is chained to some kind of weight. Some carry their weights with ease, disguising the fact they have to carry a weight, others are struggling, it affects their lives the way they move, dance, interact with others.
You look around and you see the one who looks like you, you see the weights or weights attached, they say...........
Everyone is smiling, even the one who looks like you, but you can see their burdens, you can see their struggles, you can see how their lives, their every move is affected by the weights they carry. You long to free them, you long to find some way to release them from those weights, but at last you know you cannot, as they know they cannot free themselves.
Then you see one moving among the people who has no weight, only a key which says FREEDOM, RELEASE and he is moving about unlocking, releasing the people from their weights and chains. Releasing people and giving them the chance to move freely----releasing them to move uninhibited, but sadly some don’t let him, they move away from him, they continue to dance their own dance weighted down by their weight and this Christ moves toward you and you.........what will you let Him do with your weights?
The poet let God lead him. Will you let Christ through the cross of Calvary and the glory of the Easter resurrection unlock you from all that is making life less than God intends for it to be for you?
Once more the poet thinks about his life with God as he watches the flock of sheep settle in for the night. He thinks about the others whom he has known who were also led by God’s hand. He thinks of the times they spent together in fellowship, in prayer, in breaking of bread. He smiles, he is glad for this community of believers this time of fellowship, this time of oneness with God and others. He is delighted that in the midst of all the brokenness, the suffering, in the midst of even his enemies God has been with him and others in fellowship, in prayer, in breaking of bread, so he writes:
"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou annointest my head with oil, my cup overflows."
When you come forward this morning to eat and drink you come as a community in Christ as individuals and as brothers and sisters in Christ to meet God through the visible signs of bread and wine. A table has been prepared for you, come!!
Finally, the poet cannot help but to be overjoyed at all that has gone through his mind, heart and soul. God has indeed been with him in life, so God will now be with him in death so he sings in his heart and he writes:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."
What a faith, what a belief in the abiding presence of God in one’s life. The God of eternity was with this poet from the beginning to the end of his life and he rejoiced.
He knew who’s he was and where he was going, so he rejoiced and sang:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."
Do you know who’s you are and where you are going? Can you see the hand of God in your life?
A closing poems sums this all up for me it says:
The old man sat there looking at his gnarled, wrinkled hands......There was a young child on the ground in front of him playing in the sand......
"Hi mister," the child said, "Your hands sure do look old."....
"Yes," said the old man, "Watch these hands and behold"-----.
Slowly, the old man opened his hands....As he did, a single drop of blood fell to the sand....
The child looked into the eyes of the old man...then looked down and saw there was a hole in each hand............
The old man looked at the child and said, "Do you know who I am?"....
"No," said the child as he looked at the old man....
"I am who I am." said the old man......
The old man reached out and touched the child and was gone.....
A smile came on the child’s face, for he knew never again would he be alone.....The child turned to play and saw where the single drop of blood had hit the sand....A rose bush did stand........The young child went on playing in the sand.....Every now and then he would stop...and look at his hands....
By William J. Patton
Amen
