A reading from Psalm 23. 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 will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they
comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies, you anoint 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 forever.
The word of the Lord. Even now, Lord Jesus, even now, even now, for I ask this in your
name, Amen. Dean Timothy George, faculty, staff, my
brothers and sisters in Christ, I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to talk about the neglected God. The neglected God. The psalmist David
picked up his pen of inspiration and dipped it into the ink of illumination
and wrote the 23rd psalm. I want to convey that the
loyal, covenantal, loving, shepherding ministry of Christ, empowered by the
Spirit, propels Christians to trust the Father until the end of their days. That
the loyal, covenantal, loving, shepherding ministry of Christ, empowered
by the Spirit, propels believers to trust the Father to the end of their days.
I'm Trinitarian, I have to say it three times. I want to communicate that the
loyal, covenantal, loving, shepherding ministry of Christ, empowered by the
Spirit, propels believers to trust the Father to the end of their days. The
triune God is fully present in the 23rd psalm. He's there, for we see him in those
words: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in
green pastures." It opens up with a reference to Yahweh. Yahweh is my
shepherd. It closes with a reference to Yahweh, verse number 6, "Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house
of Yahweh forever." It bookends the 23rd psalm, the Father is there. The Son is
there. For, anticipatorily speaking, the ministry of Christ is anticipated in the
way that he will model for us as earthly
shepherds how to care for the sheep of the Lord's pasture. It's anticipated in
the words of Zechariah 13:7, for Zechariah says, "Smite the shepherd, and
the sheep will scatter." The Lord Jesus even says in John 10:11, "I am The
Good Shepherd." And the Hebrew writer says in Hebrews 13:20, "I am the one who is
promoting the Great Shepherd, the Shepherd of the sheep." And Peter says in 1 Peter 5:4, that "Christ is the Chief Shepherd." The Son is there. But
when it comes to God, the Holy Spirit, the picture is greatly diminished, and the
volume is greatly reduced. Oh yes, I know that the triune God is the one who is
feeding us. He makes us to lie down in green pastures. I know that the triune
God is the one who is leading us, he leads us beside still waters, he leads us
in the paths of righteousness, I know that the triune God is the one who is
with us. He says "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. I know that the triune God is
the God who is before us. "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies." And I know that the triune God is the God who is beyond me, "Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever." But when it comes to God the Spirit,
he has been oftentimes neglected. Philip Melancthon, an associate and a disciple
of Martin Luther, has said in his 1521 Loci communes, Commonplaces, "To fully know
Christ is to know his benefits, his workings, his appropriating. And when
we know Christ, we know when he is present based upon his attributes." But I
think the same thing can be applied to the Holy Spirit. To fully know the Holy
Spirit is to know his benefits, to know his workings, to know his
appropriating. Look at him, there he is in this 23rd psalm, "He leads me beside
still waters, he leads me in the paths of righteousness," because the Holy Spirit
leads here. What Jesus says about him in John 16:13? "When the Spirit of Truth
has come, he will lead. He will guide us into all truth." That's the word "hodēgeō." Lead. But it's the same word that's found in Acts chapter 8:31.
Here are two men and they are on the Gaza Road, one is walking and the other is
riding, and Philip recognizes that this Ethiopian eunuch on his way back to
Ethiopia or Nubia or Kush is reading Isaiah 53 verses 7 and 8, "As the lamb is
led before the slaughter and a sheep before shearers is dumb, so he opened not
his mouth. In his humiliation he has denied justice,
and what shall we say about his descendants, for he has been cut off." And
Philip asked him, "Do you understand what you're reading?" And he says, "How can I, except someone "hodēgeō" me, someone lead me. The Spirit
lead us. There he is: "He restores my soul." It is what David prays about in Psalm 51, verses 11 and 12, "Restore unto me the joy, the joy of my salvation." Not my
salvation, no I haven't lost that, but the joy of my salvation, and joy is a
fruit of the Spirit. Hear Paul say in Galatians 5:22, "The fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, gentleness, meekness, temperance,
and faith, joy." Here he is right there, he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. The ultimate ministry, as far as I'm
concerned, or the Holy Spirit, is what Jesus is talking about when he says in
that 16th chapter of John, verse 14, when the Spirit of Truth has come he's not
gonna speak about himself, he's gonna speak of me, for he has come to glorify
me. It's for his namesake that he might be exalted. There he is in that fourth verse,
Look at him, because we know his benefits, we know his workings,
we know his appropriating. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil because you are with me. The Spirit is with us, Jesus has
said to us in that 14th chapter of John verse number 17, that he will not only be
with you, he will be in you. He abides in us, and there he is in that fifth verse.
What we are told, that a tableland is being prepared for us in the presence of
our enemies, and our heads are anointed with oil, our cup runs over. Prophets,
Priests, Kings were anointed. David was anointed to be a king,
even before the position was available. It is an emblem, a symbol of the Spirit.
That's the word in Psalm 133, the oil that runs down the head, the beard of
Aaron, down over his robes, it is a symbol of the Spirit, there he is, in the latter
part of verse number 4. Not only does his rod and staff bear protection emblematically speaking, but gives us comfort. The Ministry of the Spirit is a comforting
ministry, in fact that's what Jesus says he will be. He says in John 14 and 16
that he is going to give us another comforter, one called alongside of us,
"Parakletos," one called alongside of us to help us. He comforts us, but he is not of
a different substance than Jesus. Jesus says in John 14, "I'll give you another
comforter," not a heteros comforter, a different comforter, no but an "allos"
comfortable, one of the same "ousia," one of the same substance, one of the same
nature. The only difference is this: I'll be with you, he's going to get in you. God
as father is God without skin. The Bible says in John 4:24, Jesus is speaking to
this samaritan woman and says to her, "God is Spirit." Now the Alpha is not
there, God is not God "a" spirit, not in the text. God is spirit.
God is God without skin. But God, the Son is God with skin. For Jesus inspired John
to write John 1:14: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. As Eugene
Peterson would say, that he moved into the neighborhood.
He is the human face of God, he is the parable of God, but God the Holy Spirit
is God who gets inside of our skin. He lives in us. There he is in the 23rd
psalm, and we must turn up the volume so we can hear him and we must make more
vivid the picture, so that we can see him. Jonathan Edwards, who is reputed to be
the most incredible, the greatest Protestant theologian born on American
soil has said that God is "a sweet and holy society." He is an eternal fellowship
of mutuality and reciprocity. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John
Newton has said that since there is no jealousy within the triune God, it is
impossible to overpraise the Son, or dishonor the Father and the Spirit in
the adoration of Christ. There is no such thing as Trinitarian turf wars. So
therefore we must be comfortable in knowing that whenever God does anything,
he never does anything outside of his triune self. We may not understand it, but
we're talking about tri-unity. We're talking about deity. God in three
persons, Blessed Trinity. I love the fact that we have captured and
established, if you will, a canon regarding the five solas. We've just
celebrated the 500th year of the Protestant Reformation, and we know them
very well. Solo Christo, we are saved by Christ
alone. 1 Timothy 2:5 - There's only one mediator between God and human,
the man Christ Jesus. We love the solo. Sola fide. By faith alone. Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 5:1. Sola Gratia, we're saved by grace alone: Ephesians 2:8, By
grace are we saved through faith. Sola scriptura. We're saved by scripture alone.
And Jesus says in Matthew 4:4, Man, humans shall not live by bread alone but
by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
The fifth one, Soli Deo Gloria, it is for the glory of
God alone. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, whether you eat or
drink, do it all to the glory of God. That's the quintet of the solas, 5. I
know we believe this and we talk about it, but I want to argue that there needs
to be a sextet of the "Solas." Solu Spiritu, By the spirit alone.
For Paul says in Romans 8:9 the one who does not have the Spirit of Christ
is none of his. And therefore, we sing anew, "Holy, holy,
holy, Lord God Almighty. Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. Holy,
holy, holy, merciful and mighty. God in three persons, Blessed Trinity. The Lord,
the Lord. The book ends, verse one, Yahweh is my
shepherd. Verse six, I will dwell in the house of Yahweh, to the end of my days, for if
I'll serve him and trust until I dwell in this house, and I think it it certainly
is true down here, but it infers, it implies that that house that Jesus was
talking about in John 14:2, "In my Father's house there are many mansions." The Lord is. E.V. Hill, Edward Victor Hill was riding a plane from East Coast's on
his way to go home, to go back home in LA. His church where he'd pastored for many
years, Mount Zion Baptist. He said he did something while he was riding the
plane. He was tired, didn't want to talk and didn't want to be bothered, so he did one
thing that he knew that would keep people from talking to him, he pulled out
his Bible, and he started reading Psalm 23. The Lord. He could get past the Lord,
just kept thinking about the Lord, the Lord, the Lord. And then he got on "is."
When he got finished with "is," the plane was landing. The Lord is. He could not get
beyond the "isness" of God, because when you think about who God is in your life,
where do you go from there? I mean that's really what Moses is asking the Lord, "Who
should I say sent me?" The Lord says "Tell Pharaoh I am that I am," which means "I'm
the eternal now." I am that I was, I am that I is, and I am that I will be, and I
know that's not good grammar, but it's excellent theology, because the Lord is!
Richard Lischer in his book "The End of Words" says, "You notice when the Lord says
'I am that I am' that there is a noun and a verb but there is no adjective," and he
says "When you have a good noun, you don't need an adjective." I mean how
you gonna describe him anyway? You're gonna say He's good? Well Kentucky Fried
Chicken it's finger-licking good. God is better
than good. The Lord is. The Lord is my, my shepherd. Now in all
the other Psalms where the metaphor of the shepherd is tied into deity. The
relationship is always, always one between the shepherd and the community.
But in this one psalm, out of all of the Psalms in the psalter where the
metaphor Shepherd is tied to deity, the relationship is between the Shepherd and
the individual. The Lord is my shepherd. You say "Well that's selfish," well it's
sanctified selfishness, because you got to get to the place where you talk about
"my." You gotta talk about what God means to you. You gotta hear Job saying in Job
19:25-27, I know that my Redeemer lives and at the latter day he'll stand upon
the earth, and after the skin worms have devoured my body, yet in my flesh will I
see God whom I shall see for myself. And my eyes shall not behold another. You've got to get to
the place where you can say, like the blind man in John 9 who had never seen
the rose in his crimson splendor, nor the lily in her purple purity, when
he is told by Jesus after Jesus sets up a pharmaceutical practice on the side of
the road and puts dirt and spit together and puts it on the man's eyes
and sends him to Siloam. In fact, Siloam means "Sent." So he sent him to sent. And
when the man came back, he's interrogated by the ecclesiastical, the church
bosses, "How did you see?" A man by the name of Jesus set up a pharmaceutical
practice and told me to wash off what he put on my eyes, and that's how I'm
seeing. "Well he is a sinner," and the man says
in John 9:25, "Whether he is a sinner or not I don't know. I haven't been to Besson Divinity School, so I don't have a high Christology, I don't know about that,
but I could tell you one thing, where I was blind, now I see. You've got to have a
sense of mindness about who God is. Do you not hear Paul saying in 2 Timothy chapter
1 verse 12, "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I know that
he's able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."
Mother Madi Johnson, bless her soul now, she's been with the Lord for a long time,
used to say you have to know that you know that you know that you know. You've
got to know that for yourself, it can't be
second-hand religion, it can't be borrowed. You've got to know it for
yourself. The Lord is my shepherd. we don't struggle with that, we love that.
We love God being our Jehovah Jireh, because the shepherd provides. Our struggle is the redemptive reversal. Not just "The Lord is my shepherd," the
question is, is the shepherd my Lord? Do I really want him to call the shots? Do I
really want him to order not only our steps but order our stops. The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want, I have everything I need, I lack nothing.
A little girl reportedly misquoted this Psalm, the first verse, she said "The
Lord is my shepherd, what more do I want?" That's excellent theology, because he
does supply needs. Philippians 4:19 which we generally interpret as material,
physical needs, no, spiritual needs. My God shall supply all of our spiritual
needs, look at the context, according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus.
But he also supplies all of our physical needs, and every other need that we have.
Hear him say in Matthew 6:33 that God, if we put him first and seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, all the other things will be added unto
us, and the fact that he knows the needs before we become aware of the needs. One
of the secretaries of Beeson Divinity School years ago, sister Cheryl Hallquist
who now serves at the Colonial Baptist Church with her husband Dr. Gary Hallquist
in Raleigh North Carolina coined the term -- you won't find it in the dictionary
but I like it -- the "previousity" of God, that God is previous, that God goes
before us. That's what Isaiah meant in Isaiah 65:24, before you call I will answer and while you're yet speaking I will hear.
The old black preacher used to say "He's quicker than right now, he's faster than
at once. Before you can come up with the need, God already has the answer for it."
So the word emergency is never in his vocabulary. The Lord is my shepherd, I
shall not want. He makes me to lie down, in green pastures, in shady green
pastures so rich and so sweet. God leads his dear children alone. Where the cool
waters flow bathes the weary one's feet, God leads his dear children along.
Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire
but all through the blood. Some through great sorrows, but God gives a song in
the night seasons and all the day long. He makes me to lie down in green
pastures, he leads me beside still waters.
Sheep cannot drink rapidly from rapidly flowing streams, and so Good Shepherd
will take and dam up a part of the streams with large rocks and boulders so
that the waters are still. Not stagnant, but still, so that the sheep can sip,
sip from the waters. I look at some of you because I look at myself. We live at
such a busy, fast-paced rate. Some of us are really tired, and I don't know how
God does it, but he gives us peace in the midst of the storm and he gives us
tranquility in the midst of turbulence, and we're able to sip from his goodness.
In a few weeks, some of you will graduate and you'll sit somewhere, here or there,
and you reflect on what God has done these past three and a half years. Some
of you will graduate with a sense of Summa Cum Laude, some of you would
graduate with a sense of Magna Cum Laude, some of you will graduate with a
sense of Cum Laude, but everyone will graduate with a sense of Thank You
Lordy. Because you will think about sleepless nights, you will think about
sacrifices made, spouses working when you could not work, you will think about all
of that, and most of all you think about had it not been for the Lord on our side,
we never would have made it. He makes us to lie down in green pastures, as he
leads us beside still waters he restores our souls. Sheep because of their heaviness
sometimes would fall over. They have these toothpick like legs, and when they'd
fall over on their back, were not be able to get up by themselves at times and
Shepherds would come and turn them over because the gas buildup would
eventually caused them to yield to asphyxiation and suffocation. The Shepherd
will stand the Sheep back up on his feet. He restores my soul, he restores my being.
David understood that, because when he had fallen over, he was successful in
killing the giant Goliath, but he was defeated by the giant adultery and God
restored his soul, put him back on his feet, is there anyone here aside from Robert Smith that God has had to pick you up and put you back on
your feet and give you a second chance, a third chance,
a one thousandths chance? So much so that you could say "When the pressures
of yesterday took all of my strength away you renewed my strength and now I
can journey on. You restored my soul, you lead me in the paths of righteousness, those
paths that crisscross the hills many of them." The rendering really is this, the
wagon tracks of righteousness, the grooves that have been worn in the paths,
so much so that the Shepherd who was wise knew what path led to provisions
and led away from predators to lead them to a place where there was nothing to eat,
and right into the very pathway of the predator would have spelled disaster. He
leads me in paths of righteousness. Why does they have to lead me? Because I
don't know where I'm going. I hear you Job, I understand what you're
saying, in Job 23 and following, oh I wish I could find God. If I could find God I
would go before his throne and I would order the arguments, I'd give him a piece
of my mind. I go up north, he's not there, go down
south he's not there, I go to the east, he's not there, I go to the west, I can't find
him. But in verse 10: "He knows the way I take. And after he's tried me, I'll come
forth his gold. It's not really important that I know
where he is, it's really important that he knows where I am. He leads me in the
paths of righteousness for his name's sake. The reputation of the shepherd was
staked on whether or not he could keep his sheep. If a Shepherd lost sheep his
reputation was greatly harmed. David could understand that and he said
with a great sense of pride I'm sure that when he came to fight against
Goliath he said that when a bear came against my father's sheep I killed the
bear. When a lion tried to take the life of my father's sheep, I killed the lion. And
if God can give me power to kill a lion and a bear, he can enable me to kill you,
you uncircumcised Philistine. In other words, it was important that he keep the
Sheep in his Father's sheepfold Jesse that were given to him. That's why Jesus will
say in John 6:39, the ones the father has given me I've lost none. And why you can
say in John 10:28, "That which the Father has given me, no one has been able to
snatch them out of my hand." It is the fact that the Shepherd does it for the
namesake. Does it for the renown, does it for the honor of the Father to give
glory to the Father. Well let me just take another three or
four minutes, it's too much, I've already shouted several times on this so let me
go on and just tell you the last three or four minutes, such a knowledge is too
wonderful for me anyway, even though, even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death. How do the Sheep get into the valley? I mean they've been lying down in green pastures, they've been led beside still waters, their soul has
been, they have been restored, they have been led in the paths of
righteousness for the renown of the great Shepherd, and now they leave the
lush valleys, the lush green pastures and enter into the
valley of the shadows, the shadows of death. I'm here to tell you that the same
Shepherd that led them beside the still waters will lead them into the valley.
It's no strange thing, we're not exempt because we are Christians, no we're not
exempt from the valley. As obedient as we will be, we are not exempt from
the valley. Jesus was not. Here he is in Matthew 3:17 - In the baptismal waters of
the Jordan, the Spirit in the form of a dove sits on his shoulders and the
Father amplifies this message from heaven: This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. Next verse - "and the Spirit of God thrust him out into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil." We will go through the valley, even
though I walk, you've got to have, brothers and sisters, some "even though"
religion. Life is not constant, but you got to have some "even though" religion.
What Job was after when he said in Job 13:15, Even though he slay me, yet
will I trust him. You've got to have some "even though" religion like Habakkuk, in
the back of 3:16 and 17 -- "Even though there are no cattle in the
stall, no grapes on the vine, no figs on the tree, even though there are no crops in
the field, yet will I rejoice in God my Savior, even though I walk through the
valley." Oh my God, the valley is not a permanent residence for me.
I got a walk through it. I know Isaiah says that after these exile returned he
gives three metaphors, mounting up with wings as eagles. But you can't fly through
the valley, running and not be weary, that is not the normal movement of the
Christian, but walking and not faint. This is a walk, walking through the valley of
the shadow of death. The shadows. And I'm not worried about being in the shadow,
because the El-shaddai overshadows me. I hear the psalmist saying he or she who
dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. When I'm there, he's not only the bright and morning star,
but he is the lily in the valley. I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death. You will never know, brothers and sisters, what the significance of the
resurrection is, ultimately, I don't believe in this life until you have lowered
your dearest loved one into the grave, and then you must believe the resurrection, because there's nothing else to believe. My friend, Dr. Paul R. House,
after our son had been murdered seven and a half years ago, I received an email
from him that was very short. Four words: "Yours
for the resurrection." Four words, it was telegraphic, but that's all I needed to
remind me that he is the resurrection and the life. I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for he is with me. His rod and staff, they
comfort me. Well, it's time for me to shut this down
now. It is Helmut Thielicke, on the very last page of his autobiography, "Notes from a
Wayfarer," Page 419, very last comments. Who says, "We are admittedly guests on this
beautiful planet. Wayfarers on call and with sealed orders in which the day an
hour of our departure are recorded. The day and the hour of our departure will
certainly not be easy. I would have loved have stayed longer, but the wagon's moving
on. As Christians, we are certain that the life span allotted to us is only the
advent of a greater fulfillment. The land to which we will go is the land of terra
incognita, a unknown and unconceivable land.
There will only be one voice that we will recognize there, because we're
already familiar with it here. The voice, the voice, the voice of a good shepherd.
