Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

The Gospel for Us Grils

by Dave Wilkinson

Psalm 23:2-3a

January 21, 2001

"A few years ago I saw a marvelous piece of communication on a subway wall in New York City," writes Bruce Larsen in No Longer Strangers. "The subway walls are irresistible magnets to graffiti artists of all ages -- people who come to draw pictures and scrawl messages: some of them obscene, some sad and some funny.

"A certain advertising poster showed a very austere, proper, older gentleman recommending a product and someone -- perhaps a little boy writing the dirtiest thing he could think of -- had sketched a balloon coming out of the man's mouth containing the words: 'I like grils."

"Underneath, someone had written with a felt-tipped pen, 'It's girls, stupid. Not grils.'

"And below that, in still another handwriting style, someone else had added the plaintive question: 'But what about us grils?'

We all feel like grils sometimes -- out of step, imperfect, not quite fitting in. That is perhaps why the twenty third Psalm speaks to us so forcefully. Sheep are the grils of the animal kingdom. And it is when we most feel our grilness that we are most aware of our need for a shepherd.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

This Psalm is a believer's claim of belonging to the family of God. David was a shepherd. And from his own experience as a shepherd, David tells us the benefits of being under God's watchful care.

The first thing David tells us is: "The Lord makes me lie down in green pastures."

Those are very familiar words. But they are also packed full of significance because sheep will not lie down unless four requirements are met. David's testimony is that God meets these requirements in our lives.

First of all there must be freedom from fear. Sheep that are fearful are restless, discontented and agitated. They walk around but they won't lie down. It is the security of being with the shepherd that puts the sheep at ease. They have seen what the shepherd can do. They know they are protected.

As 2 Timothy 1:7 declares: "God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." This spirit of confidence can only come from knowing that we aren't alone against the world. Our Shepherd is with us. He gives us confidence in the face of fear. David affirms: "God is with me, God is for me -- I can relax."

The second thing David knows is that sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with the other sheep. In the flock there is a butting order. Competition exists and competitive sheep become tense, irritable and lose weight.

But this friction of sheep with sheep has no place in the flock of God. God declares in Ezekiel 34:20-22: "Behold I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and with shoulder and thrust at the weak with your horns; until you have scattered them abroad, therefore I will deliver my flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another."

Now we expect it in business. I mean, it's the way up the ladder. But sometimes even in the church, because the church is a human as well as a divine creation, people are competitive and create a "butting order". There is an unbiblical pushing for self- recognition and self-assertion. Some insist on being "top sheep". People get hurt in the process.

Now there isn't anything surprising about this. We didn't invent it in the 21st century or here at Moorpark Presbyterian. It started with Jesus' disciples. And Jesus made it clear to them and to us, that jostling and shoving for first place has no place in the Christian community. As the Apostle Paul tells us, our only competition ought to be one of "outdoing each other in showing honor." For, in the end, only one opinion counts and only one rating matters. It is the Shepherd who will judge between sheep and sheep. And the standard He will use is the standard of servanthood.

Knowing this should set me free from slavery to "looking good" and "impressing the other sheep." If I know that Jesus is the One who judges-- and if I know that Jesus has accepted me -- and if I know that Jesus can make me stand -- then I don't need to run around looking out for ol' number one. I can lie down in green pastures. I can trust Him to do what He has promised to do. Worldly rivalry will not exist in a church where the people are keeping their eyes on the Shepherd.

The third thing David knows is that a sheep will not lie down if it is being pestered by parasites or insects. In fact, it may exhibit self-destructive behavior by rubbing its head against trees or rocks. The shepherd needs to apply ointment to ward off the flies.

In the same way, when something is "bugging" me, I may a growing inability to cope. Then, if I turn to our Shepherd, He will supply the effective soothing balm of His own presence to my problem.

As Paul writes in Philippians 4: "Don't worry about anything. But pray about everything. Tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for the answers. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." That's a promise.

The fourth and final thing David knows is that a sheep will not lie down and rest if it is hungry. Ewes need green succulent grass for a heavy milk flow. If green pastures are not provided, they will be constantly on the move looking for proper food. But if they have been fed on green pastures, they will lie down quietly to rest and chew.

You see how in this one short phrase, David declares that our Shepherd provides all that we need for life and productivity. As Jesus claimed in John 10:9: "I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." Our Shepherd even knows our limitations. He knows when we need rest. Jesus said to His disciples after a long day, "Come away by yourself and rest". Notice that He cares enough to make us le down in green pastures.

A man named Wilbur Nelson writes: "When I see the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge, I remember that an engineer must take into account three loads or stresses in designing bridges. These are the dead load, the live load, and the wind load. The dead load is the weight of the bridge itself. The live load is the weight of the daily traffic it must bear. The wind load is the pressure of storms that beat against the bridge. The designer plans for bracings that will enable the bridge to bear all these loads."

"In our lives, too," observes Nelson, "we need bracings that will enable us to carry the dead load of self, the live load of daily living, and the wind load of daily emergencies. When we place our trust in Christ, He gives us the strength we need to withstand these various stresses. He gives our lives usefulness, stability and durability."

David agrees. "He makes me lie down in green pastures."

But sheep also require water. When sheep are thirsty, they become restless and set out to satisfy their thirst. And if they are not led to good water, they will end up drinking from polluted puddles.

Jesus makes it clear that the thirsty souls of men and women can only be satisfied by drawing on Himself. The difficulty is that men and women are thirsty for God, but are often unsure where to look and so end up drinking from a dirty watering hole.

St. Augustine said: "Oh, God! Thou has made us for Thyself and our souls are restless, searching to find their rest in Thee." David, when he composed this Psalm, recognized this. God alone knows where the still, quiet, deep, clean, pure water is to be found -- the water that can satisfy us and keep us fit and strong.

But the shepherd also knows that just not any clean water will do. It must be still water. Many of the water sources in Israel are narrow, swift moving streams at the bottom of steep-sided wadis. Sheep refuse to drink from these moving streams -- with good reason. If a sheep were to fall in, it's wool coat would absorb so much water that it would not be able to escape before being swept away. David knows that sheep will drink only at unmoving waters.

This is why David stresses that our Shepherd provides the still water we need. He doesn't ask us to do what we really can't do.

Next David, still speaking as a sheep in the Shepherd's care now affirms, "He restores my soul."

This is a difficult statement to understand. It is hard to see how a sheep could have its soul restored. Its wool, maybe, but not its soul.

However, the Hebrew word for soul also means life. The word restore often has a physical or a psychological sense as in Isaiah 58. And David, in the retrieving or reviving of a sheep, pictures the deeper renewal of the man or woman of who comes under God's care -- as spiritually sick or unwhole as he or she may be.

But why this statement in the present tense "He restores my soul." Surely it would be assumed that anyone in the Good Shepherd's care would never become so distressed in soul as to need restoration. Shouldn't we always be able to say, He saved me than and now I'm flying high." Shouldn't our Christian walk always be free from internal strain?

Apparently not. Even as a believer David was

sometimes dejected, tasted defeat, fell under temptation. David was well acquainted with the bitterness of feeling hopeless and without strength in himself. That's good, because sometimes I'm right there with David.

Some people seem to believe that when a child of God falls, when he or she is frustrated and helpless in a spiritual dilemma, that God becomes disgusted and fed up. Sometimes churches act this way on God's behalf.

I've used the example before but we may need to hear it again. It seems that there are two kinds of churches in the world just as there are two kinds of athletic gyms. If you've ever gone into a gym -- I walked by one once -- you know what I mean.

There are some gyms that are clearly designed for people who don't much need to be there. They aren't places where overweight, under-toned people can come and work out. (They might sweat on the machines. They might be an eyesore.) Those gyms aren't for people who obviously need to be there. They are places for people to show off how good they look in spandex.

Some churches are the same way. They aren't meant for people who look like they need a gospel of forgiveness and restoration. They are for people to put on the spiritual equivalent of spandex and parade their perfection.

One author has described these kinds of churches as "the only army that shoots its wounded." Hurting people are seen as an embarrassment.

But this should never happen in a church that is faithful to Jesus Christ. For Jesus, the head of the church has the same identical sensations of care, concern and compassion for cast down men and women as a shepherd for his sheep. David knows that the Lord is anxious to help, to save and to restore. He does this with tenderness, love and patience.

In this beautiful Psalm, David makes some great affirmations about the intelligent care God has for us. But you know; you and I know more about this Shepherd than David did. Do you realize that?

We know something that David couldn't have known. We know that the Shepherd Himself became a sheep. That is what Christmas is about. God with us -- living and knowing life from our sheepish point of view.

The loyalty and devotion of the near-eastern shepherd to his sheep is unparalleled. He would risk personal injury to ward off an attacking wolf. But would he ever become a sheep? The Lord did.

Philippians 2 declares that Jesus emptied Himself of His attributes as God to take on human form. He experienced the confusion of identity we all experience. He experienced the shrinking away from the hard path as He prayed in the Garden. He knows what it means to be human.

So we know, as David did not, that our Lord knows what it means for us to be who we are. We also know, as David did not, that our Shepherd has Himself tasted the bitterness of death.

For not only did the Shepherd become a sheep, but as a sheep, He laid down His life for the sake of and in place of the sheep. Jesus said: "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

And we also know, as David did not, that our Shepherd is the one who has experienced the fullness of the promise: "He restores my soul." Jesus laid down His life for the sheep. And, on the third day, God restored His soul -- raising Him in glory with the promise that He will also raise from death all those who belong to Him.

This same Lord Jesus is the one who leads us. "He leads us," David says, "in paths of righteousness for the sake of His name."

Do you know what that means? It's vitally important. It means that Jesus has staked His reputation on our eternal security and happiness. He has bound up His honor in fulfilling all of the promises He has made to us. The glory of Christ's own name is at stake in Him completing the good work He has begun in you and in me. He guarantees His work.

To read Psalm 23, as we should, in light of the person and work of Jesus Christ, is to read it with a joy and a certainty beyond that which David could have ever experienced. For that which David knew in trust, we know in fact. For in Jesus we discover that all that the Shepherd is, is now fully at our disposal. "The Lord is my Shepherd -- I shall not want."