Thursday
Evening Bible Study
November
5, 2015
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
The English word psalm comes from a Greek word that means “a poem
sung to musical accompaniment”, or in particular, “stringed instruments”.
The Hebrew name is tehillim, which means “praises.”
The book of Psalms is the hymnbook of God’s people.
It’s also the “Him” book as well. It’s all about Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews quotes from
Psalm 40:8 when he writes,
(Hebrews 10:7 NKJV) Then I
said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the
volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ”
The author was talking about Jesus.
We’re going to see a lot of Jesus
in the Psalms.
Soul Music
Music touches the soul. It’s “soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find every kind of emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes
the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest
most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
It is my prayer that as we continue
on this journey through the Psalms, we won’t just look at these songs
academically, with our mind, but that we may also grow as worshippers.
Psalm 22 – Trust in Despair
22:1-10 Broken Trust
: To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Deer of the Dawn.” a Psalm of David.
The Deer of the Dawn
Probably the name of a tune.
This psalm is about the suffering of the Messiah and is one of the most
quoted psalms in the NT.
Keep in mind this Psalm was written by David, somewhere around 1,000 BC.
:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from
helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?
:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
forsaken – ‘azab – to leave;
to depart from, abandon, neglect
This is the line that Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross.
(Matthew 27:45–50
NKJV) —45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness
over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You
forsaken Me?”
47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said,
“This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it
with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest
said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 And Jesus
cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.
Some of the people around the cross heard Jesus speak these words, but
apparently some of them didn’t understand too clearly what He was saying.
Why was Jesus saying this?
The Worship Leader
A synagogue leader would tell the congregation which song
they were to sing by calling out the first line of the Psalm.
Jesus was telling the people around Him to check out Psalm
22.
Prophetic Fulfillment
Jesus was fulfilling the prophecies written of in Psalm
22, including this first line, being forsaken of God.
It was while on the cross that God the Father was pouring
out the sins of the world upon His on Son so that His Son could pay the price
for these sins.
(Isaiah
53:5 NKJV) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for
our iniquities; The
chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Jesus had known close intimate fellowship with God from
since eternity past (John 1:1-2)
(John 1:1–2 NKJV) —1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.
As Jesus hung on the cross and God heaped our sins upon
Jesus, Jesus experienced for the first time what it meant to be forsaken by God
as God turned His back on the Son due to our sin.
Lesson
He understands
When you sin and experience guilt – Jesus understands.
Though He never sinned, He’s experienced guilt, the guilt of the world. Not
just the guilt of one particular sin, but the heaviness of all the whole
world’s sins.
When you feel alone – Jesus understands.
For His entire life, Jesus knew what it was to have intimate fellowship
with the Father. He knew He was never alone. Yet at that moment when the Father
turned His back on Jesus, Jesus experienced complete, total loneliness. His
disciples had all fled from Him and now even the Father turned His back.
(Hebrews 4:15–16
NKJV) —15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin. 16 Let us
therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need.
:2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night
season, and am not silent.
:3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
:3 Enthroned in the praises of Israel
enthroned – yashab
– to dwell, remain, sit, abide
Lesson
Presence in Praise
It may be that this phrase “the
praises of Israel” is just a metaphor for what happened at the Tabernacle,
where Israel praised the Lord and God’s presence was manifested at the mercy
seat on the Ark of the Covenant.
But I wonder if there isn’t a
literal sense to this as well.
I think there is a sense in which God’s presence seems especially close
when we are praising Him.
Jesus said,
(John 4:23–24 NKJV) —23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to
worship Him. 24 God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is actually looking for people who are going to give
Him worship in spirit and in truth.
James wrote,
(James
4:8a NKJV) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
I think that if you are truly seeking to give God honor and praise, you
will find yourself very close to Him.
:4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.
:5 They cried to You, and were delivered; They trusted in You, and were not
ashamed.
:4 They trusted, and You delivered them
Lesson
Trust in Despair
As David writes about this difficult time, he is struggling to trust God
through it.
This is what faith is all about, trusting God even when we don’t understand
or don’t see what He is doing.
Paul wrote,
(2 Corinthians 5:7
NKJV) For we walk by faith, not by sight.
We tend to live our lives and make our decisions based on
what we see, hear, or touch. But living
by faith is different.
Walking by faith means we are going to trust God instead
of what we see, hear, or touch.
David also is looking to the past to see the examples of those who have
trusted God in times past.
They trusted God and He saved them.
I can trust God and He will save me.
The writer of Hebrews defines faith
as:
(Hebrews 11:1 NLT) Faith is
the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us
assurance about things we cannot see.
Faith is counting
on God even when you don’t see how it will all work out.
:6 But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by
the people.
:6 I am a worm, and no man
worm – towla‘– worm,
scarlet stuff, crimson; the worm "coccus
ilicis"
This towla worm is an interesting
picture of Christ.
When the female worm is getting ready to give birth, it attaches itself to
the trunk of a tree. The eggs are
deposited beneath her body. The eggs are
protected by the mother until they are hatched.
Then the mother dies, and a red fluid comes out staining her body and
the surrounding wood. Ancient red die was
made from this worm.
Jesus attached Himself to a tree.
His blood is what saves us.
When the female of the scarlet worm
species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the
trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never
leave again. The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the
larvae were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. As the mother died,
the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood. From the dead
bodies of such female scarlet worms, the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity
were extracted.
What a picture this gives of
Christ, dying on the tree, shedding his precious blood that he might “bring
many sons unto glory”! He died for us, that we might live through him! Ps 22:6
describes such a worm and gives us this picture of Christ.
(from page 73, “Biblical Basis for
Modern Science”, 1985, Baker Book House, by Henry Morris)
:7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the
head, saying,
:7 They shoot out the lip
This is a gesture of mocking,
something like sticking out the tongue.
:8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since
He delights in Him!”
:8 let Him rescue Him
The chief priests and scribes didn’t realize it at the time, but they
fulfilled this prophecy at the cross.
(Matthew 27:39–43
NKJV) —39 And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads 40 and saying,
“You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself!
If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 Likewise the
chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, 42 “He saved
others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come
down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 He trusted in God; let Him deliver
Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Some have said that Jesus only
fulfilled Old Testament prophecies because He worked hard to do so.
Yet how can you control what your
enemies will say while you are dying?
:9 But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while
on My mother’s breasts.
:10 I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother’s womb You have been
My God.
:11 Be not far from Me, For trouble is near; For there is
none to help.
:10 From My mother’s womb You have been My God
These are Jesus’ thoughts, and He felt a connection with God even while in
Mary’s womb.
Does this have implications about abortion?
The child in the womb is a real person with real thoughts.
22:11-21 Crucifixion
:12 Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have
encircled Me.
:12 Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me
Bashan is the area east of the Sea of Galilee.
It was a place known for being good
for cattle grazing, a place for fat herds.
This is referring to the strong willed people putting Jesus to death.
:13 They gape at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and
roaring lion.
While Jesus hung on the cross He
had to endure the taunts of His enemies.
:14 I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart
is like wax; It has melted within Me.
:14 all My bones are out of joint
The criminal was nailed to the cross while it was on the ground, and when it
was raised vertically, it was dropped into a hole, which often put the
shoulders out of joint.
:14 heart … It has melted within Me
Also at the crucifixion:
(John 19:34 NKJV) But one of
the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water
came out.
The soldiers did this as proof of Jesus’ death before taking Him down from
the cross.
The piercing of a person's side
with a spear was a way of certifying whether or not the person was alive or
not.
The blood and
water were proof that death had occurred.
Some people claim that Jesus never
died in the first place, but simply fainted on the cross, and was revived in
the tomb. This is called the “swoon” theory.
But take note:
The trained Roman
executioners, on their first observation thought He was dead.
The blood and
water proved He was dead.
Samuel Houghton, M.D., the great physiologist from the University of
Dublin, relates his view on the physical cause of Christ's death:
“Repeated observations and experiments made upon men and
animals have led me to the following results -
“it … would occur in a crucified person, who had died upon
the cross from rupture of the heart … There remains, therefore, no supposition
possible to explain the recorded phenomenon except the combination of the crucifixion and rupture of the heart.
From Josh McDowell's Evidence
that Demands a Verdict (pg.206-207):
He died from a broken heart.
:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My
jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.
:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd
Part of the torture of crucifixion was the thirst felt by those hanging
there exposed to the elements.
(John 19:28–29
NKJV) —28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel
full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine,
put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.
:16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has
enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;
:16 They pierced My hands and My feet
David wrote this 200 years before crucifixion was invented by the Persians.
This is such an odd thing for David
to write about in 1000 BC.
The practice of crucifixion wasn’t
developed until 800 BC by the Persians.
The Greeks learned it from the
Persians.
The Romans excelled in it.
Yet David describes it hundreds of
years before it was practiced.
Zechariah would also speak of it as
well, though a couple hundred years later than David, speaking of the time when
Christ returns…
(Zechariah 12:10 NKJV) “And I
will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit
of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes,
they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and
grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
:17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me.
:18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
:18 for My clothing they cast lots
For Roman executioners, this was one of the ways they could make a little
extra money, by taking the victims clothes and selling them.
This too was fulfilled at the cross,
(John 19:23–24 NKJV)
—23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments
and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic
was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said
therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it
shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They
divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore
the soldiers did these things.
If Jesus was trying to make sure He
fulfilled all the prophecies, how could He have contrived to make the Roman
soldiers cast lots for His tunic?
:19 But You, O Lord, do not be far from Me; O My Strength, hasten to help
Me!
:20 Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of
the dog.
:21 Save Me from the lion’s mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You
have answered Me.
:21 Save Me from the lion’s
mouth
This could be a reference to Satan
who is sometimes referred to as a roaring lion. (1Pet. 5:8)
(1 Peter 5:8 NKJV) Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
It could also simply refer to the
enemies watching Him be crucified. He
calls them lions in verse 13.
(Psalm 22:13 NKJV) They gape
at Me with their mouths, Like a raging and roaring lion.
22:22-31 Praise to God
:22 I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I
will praise You.
:22 In the midst of the assembly
I will praise You
It now seems as if the crucifixion is over.
:23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob,
glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
:24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.
:24 He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted
Even though Jesus bore our sins and for a moment experienced God’s
abandonment, it was only for a moment. The Father never stopped loving the Son.
Neither does God abhor you.
:25 My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My
vows before those who fear Him.
:26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the
Lord. Let your heart live forever!
:27 All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all
the families of the nations Shall worship before You.
:27 all the families of the nations
Jesus died for the sins of the world, not just the sins of the Jews.
Even Gentiles would someday come to know the Lord.
:28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations.
:29 All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go
down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
:29 those who go down to the dust
Even the dead will bow before God.
There is life after death.
:30 A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next
generation,
:31 They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be
born, That He has done this.
:31 to a people who will be born
Why did Jesus have to die such a horrible death?
He did it in order to pay the penalty for our sins.
He gave His life to save us.
This is how horrible our sins are – to require such a thing.
This is how great God’s love is – to do such a thing.
There will be people who will declare this event to event to future
generations.
That’s what we do when we share the gospel with others.
Psalm 23 – The Shepherd’s Song
: A Psalm of David.
Spurgeon writes,
The position of this psalm is
worthy of notice. It follows the twenty-second, which is peculiarly the Psalm
of the Cross. There are no green pastures, no still waters on the other side of
the twenty-second psalm. It is only after we have read, “My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?” that we come to “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We must by
experience know the value of blood shedding, and see the sword awakened against
the Shepherd, before we shall be able truly to know the Sweetness of the good
Shepherd’s care.
As believers, the Bible doesn’t describe us as powerful bears or dangerous
lions. Instead, we are called “sheep”
Sheep are pretty dumb creatures, they scare pretty easy, and they tend to
want to follow something.
In 2005, a
group of Turkish shepherds had left their flocks to have breakfast. While they were gone, one sheep jumped to its
death off a cliff. The other sheep
decided to follow and 1500 sheep jumped off the cliff. Only 450 of the sheep actually died because
as the pile of dead sheep got bigger and bigger, the ones jumping later landed
on a soft cushion of fluffy dead sheep.
Some people have this notion that
sheep are pretty self-sufficient. Just
put them out in a field and let them go.
But what happens on ranches run this way is total devastation. The sheep will eat the grass down to the
nubs, wear paths into gullies and ruin the place. Sheep need a shepherd.
:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
:1 I shall not want
Lesson
Contentment
When He is our shepherd, we find contentment.
Phillip Keller (1920-1997) was born in East Africa
and trained in agriculture. He worked as an agricultural development
specialist, wildlife photographer and naturalist. From his many years as both a shepherd and
sheep ranch manager, he wrote a little book called, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”. He writes about one discontented
sheep,
“She was one of the most attractive sheep that ever belonged to me. Her
body was beautifully proportioned. She had a strong constitution and an
excellent coat of wool. Her head was clean, alert, well-set with bright
eyes. She bore sturdy lambs that matured
rapidly. But despite all these attractive attributes she had one pronounced
fault. She was restless – discontented –
a fence crawler. So much so that I came to call her “Mrs. Gad-about”. This one
ewe produced more problems for me than almost all the rest of the flock
combined. No matter what field or
pasture the sheep were in, she would search all along the fences or shoreline
(we lived by the sea) looking for a loophole she could crawl through and start
to feed on the other side. It was not that she lacked pasturage. My fields were my joy and delight. No sheep
in the district had better grazing. With
“Mrs. Gad-about” it was an ingrained habit. She was simply never contented with
things as they were. Often when she had forced her way through some such spot
in a fence or found a way around the end of the wire at low tide on the
beaches, she would end up feeding on bare, brown, burned-up pasturage of a most
inferior sort. But she never learned her
lesson and continued to fence crawl time after time. Now it would have been bad enough if she was
the only one who did this. It was a sufficient problem to find her and bring
her back. But the further point was that she taught her lambs the same tricks.
They simply followed her example and soon were as skilled at escaping as their
mother. Even worse, however, was the
example she set the other sheep. In a short time, she began to lead others
through the same holes and over the same dangerous paths down by the sea. After putting up with her perverseness for a
summer I finally came to the conclusion that to save the rest of the flock from
becoming unsettled, she would have to go. I could not allow one obstinate,
discontented ewe to ruin the whole ranch operation. It was a difficult decision to make, for I
loved her in the same way I loved the rest. Her strength and beauty and
alertness were a delight to the eye. But
one morning I took the killing knife in hand and butchered her. Her career of
fence crawling was cut short. It was the
only solution to the dilemma.
Some sheep just want to be rebels…
It’s not wrong to be a black sheep as long as you continue
to follow the Shepherd. It’s when you
lead others astray that there’s a problem.
What does it take to make you content?
Paul wrote …
(Philippians 4:11
NASB95) …for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
There is a secret to being content.
It’s allowing God to be your Shepherd.
It’s letting Him lead you.
It’s learning that He is enough.
Illustration
There was a Sunday school teacher
who asked her group of children if any of them could quote the entire
twenty-third psalm. A golden-haired, four-and- a-half-year-old girl was among
those who raised their hands. A bit skeptical, the teacher asked if she could
really quote the entire psalm. The little girl came to the rostrum, faced the
class, made a perky little bow, and said: “The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all
I want.”
-I Shall Not Want, Robert Ketchum
:2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still
waters.
:2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures
Sheep tend to be found in dry, arid countries, where there isn’t a lot of
green. It’s up to the shepherd to either provide a field that has been
cultivated for their food, or to take them to a field that’s green. This is what makes for the healthiest sheep.
We too have the best of pastures to feed in. God’s Word.
:2 He leads me beside the still waters
still – m@nuwchah
– resting place, rest; quietness
Still waters are wells or springs where the sheep can drink without being
rushed.
One surprising source of good water for sheep is found in the dew each
morning. A sheep can go for months
without actually drinking water if the shepherd gets the flock up to feed early
in the morning when the grass leaves are covered with dew.
Lesson
Still waters
Early in the morning while the dew is still heavy. Meet with the Lord and feast on His Word.
Illustration
A hymn writer, C. Austin Miles, wrote,
“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses; and the
voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses.
“He speaks, and the sound of His voice is so sweet the birds hush their
singing; and the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing.
“I’d stay in the garden with Him tho the night around me be falling; but He
bids me go—thru the voice of woe, His voice to me is calling.
“And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own,
and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”
I wonder if sometimes He might even teach us to surf down by those still
waters…
Illustration
Max Lucado writes,
Time has
skyrocketed in value. The value of any commodity depends on its scarcity. And
time that once was abundant now is going to the highest bidder.
When I was ten
years old, my mother enrolled me in piano lessons. Spending thirty minutes
every afternoon tethered to a piano bench was a torture just one level away
from swallowing broken glass.
Some of the music,
though, I learned to enjoy. I hammered the staccatos. I belabored the
crescendos. But there was one instruction in the music I could never obey to my
teacher’s satisfaction. The rest. The zigzagged command to do nothing. What
sense does that make? Why sit at the piano and pause when you can pound?
“Because,” my
teacher patiently explained, music is always sweeter after a rest.”
-- Max Lucado, God's Inspirational Promise
Book, (Word, 1996), p. 103.
:3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His
name’s sake.
:3 He restores my soul
restores – shuwb – (Polel) to bring back; to restore,
refresh, repair
Lesson
Turning Over
If a sheep rolls over on its back, it has a problem. It won’t be able to get back up. The English coined a term long ago to
describe this. They call it a “cast
sheep”.
A “cast” sheep is in a dangerous position.
Helpless, it is easy prey for the predators. Even without wolves, it will die if it
doesn’t get turned upright. If the sun
is hot, it will die within a few hours.
If it’s cloudy weather, a sheep will last a few days before it dies.
Phillip Keller writes about one sheep with a problem…
A “cast” sheep is a very pathetic
sight. Lying on its back, its feet in
the air, it flays away frantically struggling to stand up, without
success. Sometimes it will bleat a
little for help, but generally it lies there lashing about in frightened
frustration. If the owner does not
arrive on the scene within a reasonably short time, the sheep will die. This is but another reason why it is so
essential for a careful sheepman to look over his flock every day, counting
them to see that all are able to be up and on their feet. If one or two are missing, often the first
thought to flash into his mind is, “One of my sheep is cast somewhere. I must go in search and set it on its feet
again.”
One particular ewe that I owned …was notorious for being a cast sheep. Every spring when she became heavy in lamb it
was not uncommon for her to become cast every second or third day. Only my diligence made it possible for her to
survive from one season to the next. One
year I had to be away from the ranch for a few days just when she was having
her problems. So I called my young son
aside and told him he would be responsible for her well-being while I was
absent. If he managed to keep her on her
feet until I came home he would be well paid for his efforts. Every evening after school he went out to the
field faithfully and set up the old ewe so she could survive. It was quite a task but she rewarded us with
a fine pair of twin lambs that spring.
How does a sheep become “cast”?
Some sheep are too fat.
They need to get more exercise.
Others need a haircut.
If the coat becomes too long, it can pull a sheep over.
One factor is weight. If a sheep becomes too fat, it becomes weak
and unable to keep upright. A shepherd
needs to change the diet of the sheep and give the flock more exercise.
Another factor is the coat. If the wool becomes too long, the weight of
the wool along with the dirt and bugs that get caught in the wool will help to
weigh down a sheep and pull it over. The
shepherd needs to shear the sheep.
This is an interesting picture of
how we too get too tangled in the things of the world and sometimes our own
“worldliness” ends up flipping us on our back.
Sometimes we need to get trimmed down to be more effective.
(Hebrews 12:1 NKJV)
Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay
aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before us,
:4 Yea, 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.
:4 though I walk through the valley
At this point, the writer changes from talking about God as “He leads me”
to “You are with me”.
At this point David is describing the journey that the shepherd takes with
his sheep as he guides them into mountain pastures where they can graze during
the summer.
It’s at this point that the
language of the Psalm changes. Instead
of talking about God in the third person (“He leads me …”), God is now being
talked to “for You art with me”.
There is a reason for this. This is the place in the Psalm that begins to
describe a shepherd’s journey with his flock to the mountain pastures.
It is a common thing for flocks to
be taken to mountains during the summer where they can feed on fresh grass and
drink from mountain springs.
During this time the shepherd
leaves his home and journeys with the flock to the highlands.
Lesson
Mountains and Valleys
As Christians we want to go “farther” with God. We want to stand on the mountaintop. Yet the way to the mountains is through the
valleys.
Though the valleys can be scary, a
shepherd knows that these are the best paths to take a flock to the
mountains. The paths are gentler and
easier on the flocks than other paths to the mountains. The valleys have better grazing and more
water than other paths.
You may be wondering why you’re going through such low times, yet perhaps
it’s because the Shepherd is taking you to the mountains.
:4 I will fear no evil; For You are with me
Chapman
University has put out a 2015 poll of what Americans fear the most. Here’s the top five:
Fear Afraid
or Very Afraid
Corruption of Government Officials 58.0%
Cyber-terrorism 44.8%
Corporate Tracking of Personal Information 44.6%
Terrorist Attacks 44.4%
Government Tracking of Personal Information 41.4%
David said he would not be afraid of evil because God was with him.
Lesson
God is in the valley
It’s the journey through the valley when we’re closest to God (You are with
me)
When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were thrown into the fiery furnace
(Dan. 3), they weren’t alone. Jesus was
with them.
(Isaiah 43:2 NKJV) When you
pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through
the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall
the flame scorch you.
You don’t have to be afraid of the valley. You don’t even have to rush
through the valley. You can walk through
it. You’re not alone.
When the Shepherd is with the
sheep, amazing things can happen.
:4 Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me
The rod or club was used to either discipline a sheep that was going
astray, or protection to beat off a predator like a wolf.
The shepherd’s staff had a curved end to help guide a sheep. Sometimes the shepherd would walk alongside
his sheep and rest his staff on a sheep’s back to remind them of his presence
and comfort them.
God knows how to work in our lives.
The shepherd protects his sheep
with his rod or club (used to fight off wild beasts), and He guides straying
sheep with his staff or crook.
Illustration
Warren Wiersbe noted that when God
permits his children to go through the furnace, he keeps his eye on the clock
and his hand on the thermostat.
:4 Your rod and Your staff, they
comfort me
As a Shepherd accompanied his
flock, he only took a few things with him.
The rod was
something of a weapon for the shepherd.
As a young boy he would find a sapling, cut it down, and fashion his own
club out of it. The rod was a shepherd’s
pride and joy. Shepherds were experts at throwing these weapons great distances
with great accuracy.
The rod was used for discipline and
correction. If a sheep was starting to
go astray, to eat something poisonous, or do something stupid, it would get a
whack with the rod to put it back in line.
The rod was also used to beat off
predators. When David said he’d fought a
lion and a bear, it would have been with his rod.
Perhaps this could be a picture of
God’s Word. It corrects us. It also protects us.
The staff was
a long stick that served as something a shepherd could lean on while traveling,
but also as a way of directing the sheep.
It usually had a curved crook at one end that the shepherd used to pull
or direct sheep. If a shepherd had a
special sheep, he would often walk with his staff resting against the sheep as
a way of making a connection with it. If
a shepherd needed to get a closer look at a sheep, he’d draw the sheep to
himself with the staff.
Perhaps the staff could be a
picture of the Holy Spirit, how He comes alongside us to bring us comfort,
guide us, and draw us closer to God. He
is called the “Comforter”.
However you want to view them, God
has His ways of disciplining, protecting, and leading us.
:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint
my head with oil; My cup runs over.
:5 You prepare a table before me
The goal of the shepherd was to get the flock to the top of the mountain,
or “mesa” or “table-top”.
A good shepherd will go ahead of his flock and prepare these mountain
meadows for his flock. He will clear out
the poisonous weeds so the flock doesn’t get sick eating the wrong stuff. He will clear out the springs so the flock
can drink.
A shepherd will also keep his eye out for the predators in these
mountaintop meadows. The predators look
for the stray sheep. The safest place
for the sheep was to be closest to the shepherd.
:5 You anoint my head with oil
There are a couple of reasons why a shepherd would put oil on the head of
his sheep.
There are bugs in the summer
that can drive sheep crazy. A shepherd
puts a mixture of oil, sulphur, and spices on the sheep to keep the bugs away.
There is a scab disease passed
from sheep to sheep through rubbing up against each other. The ointment stopped the spread of disease.
There is also the head butting. Sheep butt heads to gain position in the
flock. Smothering the heads with grease
causes the rams to slide off each other without injury.
Lesson
People problems
All of these situations remind us of how much trouble other people bring
into our lives.
Sometimes people just “bug” us.
Sometimes we catch the wrong thing by rubbing with people. Sometimes we’re just butting heads with
people.
The answer in these situations is the “anointing”, the work of the Holy
Spirit. He is the one who produces
things in our lives like:
(Galatians 5:22–23
NKJV) —22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. These are the attitudes that
resolve our problems. It requires that
we learn to die to ourselves and stop trying to butt heads with others. It requires that we come to Him and ask Him
to work in us.
:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I
will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
:6 goodness and mercy shall follow me
This may be talking about the goodness and mercy God gives us, but I wonder
if this verse might not be talking about the kinds of things that our lives produce.
When sheep are mismanaged, they can destroy a ranch. But if they are cared for by a good shepherd,
they are considered the best of all animals.
Their manure is considered the best balanced of any domestic stock. It can turn around a sickly pasture and make
it healthy again. Sheep like to eat all
kinds of plants, including weeds that can destroy a field. Ancient literature refers to sheep as having
“golden hooves” because of how they can transform a piece of land, if managed
properly.
In other words, good stuff can “follow” a flock.
Lesson
What follows my life?
When God is your shepherd, you leave good things behind you.
What kinds of things are left in your wake as you pass through life?
“Do I leave behind goodness – or garbage?”
“Do I leave behind mercy – or misery?”
:6 I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever
Two fields stand side by side. One
field is run by a fellow who steals, kills and destroys. His flock is always hungry, overrun by
insects, disease, and is a prey to wild animals.
On the other side of the fence is the field of the Good Shepherd. He’s just brought his flock back from their
summer in the mountains. Which field are you in?