You ever have one of those moments when something you have heard your entire life breaks through in a new light? That happened to me this morning on my run. Reflections on a familiar Psalm, one I can recall from memory, led me to a new light. A light I truly need to hear. It was gift from a Shepherd.
I guess the time I hear and use this Psalm the most is at funerals. I feel about the use of Psalm 23 at a funeral as I do 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings. I am not sure either event is the correct application of the passage. But we do it and God gets glory.
I was thinking about Psalm 23 and wonder if relegating this passage to the funeral sermon notes hasn’t robbed us of its true meaning and power. We tend to focus on verse 4.
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. (NIV)
Maybe this passage isn’t about how we are to see death; maybe it is about how we are to live! Verse 4 is just one of 6 verses. And the focus of these six verses is not death and dying. I would suggest the focus is a lifestyle. David presents a way for us to do life, not death. To get the intention of the Psalm, we have to start at the beginning and here is the context for everything that follows. So here are some thoughts on the first two verses of Psalm 23. This is a way to do life.
Psalm 23:1 “The Lord is my shepherd”
We have an option when it comes to this life and how we live it. In one way of life I am cared for, I am protected. I am not alone. I have a Shepherd. I follow the Shepherd. I trust the Shepherd to care for me. He is my guide. My protector. My caregiver. I am shepherded.
But the other option we know so well. Proverbs mentions this option, not once, but twice.
Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
In this other way of life, I am the one caring for, protecting, accompanying. I am the shepherd. In this option life is about hurry, worry and fear. Life is about achievement, avoiding failure at all costs, perfection and performance. This way leads to distress and anxiety, to fear and tightness of the mind. This is the way of a person who chooses to live under the myth that they have control. I say a myth because the day will come when this person discovers they were never in control. Despite vain attempts at controlling health, finances, relationships and the future, eventually reality teaches we all have a Shepherd.
And we all have a choice. Live with a shepherd or pretend to be one. So in the way I live my life, which is my choice? Do I have a Shepherd or do I choose to live as if I am the shepherd?
Second lifestyle choice: “I shall not want.”
Now there is a stunning piece of scripture. Who lives today and does not want? According to David, there is a way to live where we no longer want. We are content. We have what we need and do not stress over what we lack. This is a way of life that is available to me.
But you know as well as I do the bombardment of marketing messages trying to convince us we do not have what we want. We need more. Consumerism is based on someone’s ability to convince us we need more than we have. So there is a way to do life never satisfied. Always looking for the quick, easy way to get more. But this way of life is based on an illusion, like the one to control mentioned above. This illusion says, “If I have more, I will have rest, contentment.” And yet we all know this doesn’t work. The more breaks. The more gets updated. The more goes out of style. The more no longer satisfies. Jesus said it this way,
Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV) 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Those who are cared for by a shepherd do not want. They trust. The Shepherd provides all they need. They are not the ones providing; they are the ones receiving what has been provided. They are content because of the Shepherd, not because of the quality of the pasture. They do not want because they have his presence, not because they have purchased more presents.
There is a way of life that is open to me. I have a Shepherd. I am not the Shepherd. I am content in his presence or I am in pursuit of more.
And one more quick observation found in the next verse.
Psalm 23:2-3 (NIV) 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul.
The Psalmist seems to indicate the Shepherd leads to places of calmness and rejuvenation. Green pastures. Quiet waters. Apparently this is a way of life that is open to me. I can rest in the places the shepherd leads. I can relax. I can unwind. I can release, but only as I follow the Shepherd.
I know the other way of life. I can toil. I can wind up. I can latch on. I can carry heavy loads. I can stop my body and yet not stop my mind. I can fret. We know this way well, and none of us embrace it. In fact who would say this is the way one should live? Who would say, this way of unrest has benefited them greatly and all should follow them? Who would wish this on their children as a way to live?
I heard a saying but do not know the author. At first it struck me as corny until I realized I struggle with living this way.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, this is why they call it the present.
There is way to live that notices the present more than worries of the future. There is a way to live that embraces the moment instead of living in the past. There is a way to live that notices, celebrates and worships the one who gave the present and all the gifts it holds: from the beauty of nature, to the smiles of a friend; from the kind words just uttered, to the song on the radio; from the smells of home made bread to the unique smell of a tomato plant.
There is so much more in this passage on how to live. This is only the introduction. But there is a lifestyle there I want. I need. So let me summarize by editing that Proverbs verse.
There is way to live that is right, according to the Shepherd. And in the end it leads to true life!
