Psalm 23, Part 3
Last time we continued to explore how this psalm points us to Jesus' resurrection and how it should shape our lives. In particular how the truth that the risen Jesus is our Shepherd, in whom we lack nothing, confronts us with the truth that when we face the dark valleys of life, ultimately, Jesus is all we have.
This time, we will see that, even when we are confronted with the truth that Jesus is all we have, we can know the deep soul comfort of the gospel - Jesus is all we need.
In v. 5David expresses a kind of brazenconfidence in the Lord. He paints a picture of the Lord preparing a table with an abundant feast - "my cup overflows" - and he, the honoured guest – "anoints my head with oil" – is invited to sit down, and all this happens as David's enemies simply look on in stunned disbelief.
At first it has the appearance of incredible vulnerability. I can't imagine sitting at a table for a meal while my enemies stare me down. But David is not alone, this is the Lord's table, and He is the one who goes into battle for us.
When a shepherd needs to protect his flock from ravenous wolves the sheep are not joining in the fight. The sheep would simply be watching, from at a safe distance, while the shepherd goes into battle for them – just as David fought Goliath as Israel watched from the sidelines. And what was David's training program? He was a shepherd, who foreshadowed the great Shepherd to come, Jesus. When Jesus went into battle for you and me against our great enemies – Satan, sin, and death – what were we doing? Nothing.
Like Israel on the banks of the Red Sea we need only be still and trust in the Lord as He goes into battle for us. Jesus invites you and I to sit at his eternal table while death and Satan look on in stunned disbelief, crippled by the realisation they have lost and Jesus has won.
Why do you lack nothing if the Lord is your shepherd? Why is He your shepherd in the first place? David tells us in v. 6, His "goodness and love pursues me."
Our English translations can be a little weak here as the Hebrew verb "radaf" is often translated "follow" but the verb has a stronger sense than "follow." This is the only place in the Old Testament where either of the nouns – goodness or love – appears as the subject of the verb "radaf." This verb is more often used to describe the hostile actions of enemies. In other words, God's love isn't just following us in some kind of "just going for stroll" sense, His love is chasing you down.
Jesus love for you is the fuel that led Him to go through death and come out the other side so that you can be with Him and "dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Why is it such a comfort to know that God's love pursues us?We're sheep! And what do sheep like to do? Test the fences of the paddock and wander off to where the feed seems better. Or, as Isaiah reminds us, they go astray. So, the love of the Shepherd pursues us.
When we look to other things to lead us to green pastures and still waters, we're like a child that has been adopted into the most loving home, and yet we keep wandering out the front door to live on the street and beg for food. Jesus, like the good shepherd He is, pursues us and brings us back inside.The truth of God's love is thateven when we think our sin is driving us away from God, His love is still pursuing us.
It is because the risen Jesus is our shepherd that we lack nothing. His love and goodness pursue you every moment of every day. He is the one who restores your soul. He is the one who leads you through death and out the other side. He is the one that has secured your future life together with him forever. The reality of Jesus' resurrection comforts you as it speaks to your soul that the King who conquered the grave for you is all you need.
The hope that David ends the Psalm with is the reality we now know.David speaks of his longing to dwell in the house of the Lord, for David and Israel that meant the tabernacle or temple.
The same temple that was only a foretaste of the true temple to come – Jesus. Jesus is the new temple, and we are in Him through faith. This is a source of incredible comfort.
The very fact that we are in Christ through faith means that no matter what dark valleys we may be called to go through, we do so in the sure knowledge we will come out the other side. The soul-satisfying inevitability and invincibility of being united to Jesus is that once you are in Christ there is nothing that can make you suddenly out of Christ – not a single thing – not even your own stupidity and sin.
The Bible is clear on this. In order for you to be kicked out of Christ, Christ would have to be kicked out of heaven. For you to be de-united to Jesus; Jesus would have to be de-resurrected, and that will never happen. This is why Jesus can say that "I shall lose none of all that [The Father] has given me" (John 6:39).
How could anyone united to Christ be booted out of Christ? After all, how can you un-earn something you never earned in the first place? You did nothing to be "in Christ", it wasn't your master plan for you to be with God; it was God's plan to be with you. As Paul so wonderfully proclaims to Timothy, "[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began" (2 Tim 1:8-9).
Dane Ortlund sums up our blessed assurance like this: "What is most deeply true of us is that we were secured in Christ before we had ever heard of Christ." In other words, our Shepherd's love was already pursuing us before we were born.
Our Shepherd assured us in John 10:28that we his sheep "will never perish, and no one will snatch [us] out of [his] hand." Jesus' resurrection comforts you that Jesus is all you need because in His resurrection Jesus has you by the hand as He leads you into eternal life.
Sheep don't exactly have great grip strength – they can't really take hold of anything. When they are in danger they can't reach out and take hold of the shepherd and hang on for dear life. Our comfort, our hope, our assurance is not that we have a hold of Jesus' but that our good Shepherd has a hold of us.
When I take my child into the waves at the beach, I hold his hand as the waves crash into him. He may be thinking that he is safe because he has hold of me, but the reality is that when the waves come it's not the strength of his grip on me that will keep him safe, it's the strength of my grip on him. God will lead us at times into deeper darker waters, but we need not fear, because He is with us, we are safe in his hands – are there stronger hands than God's? Jesus has hold of you and He will never let you go! What a comfort we have in Jesus.
Psalm 23 is well-worn ground for a reason. Pray it when you get up and pray it before going to bed at night, giving thanks for that your Shepherds love pursues you and will never leave you.
Whatever valley is ahead of you, if God is saying to you: "You can't go over it, you can't go under it, you have to go through it", then know, you need not fear, for Jesus your Shepherd is with you. Speak to your soul: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing, because in you Jesus I have everything."
- Kristian Hartberg
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