Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

The Shepherd's Care

by Dave Wilkinson

Psalm 23:4-5

February 11, 2001

One of my very favorite stories is about a farmer in Nebraska. It seems that the farmer had taken another motorist to court for injuries sustained in an automobile accident. The farmer was on the witness stand and the defense attorney was cross-examining him. "Isn't it true, Mr. Klem, that you told an officer at the scene that you felt 'just fine'?!?

"Well, you see, it's like this, "replied the farmer. "Me and my cow Bessie were ridin' down the road in my pickup truck when this car comin' at us crossed the center line "

"Your Honor, I object" said the attorney. "He's avoiding the question. "Objection sustained", ruled the judge. "Please, Mr. Klem, answer the question."

So the farmer began again: "Well, you see, it's like this. Me and my cow Bessie " Again he was interrupted. "Your Honor, I object! He's not answering the question." After a few more rounds of this, the judge finally said: "Why don't we all just sit back for a moment and see what the witness has to say. Proceed with your answer, Mr. Klem."

"Well you see, me and my cow Bessie were ridin' down the road in my pickup truck when this car comin' at us crossed the center line into our lane of traffic. He hit us broadside and my truck rolled over and over. I landed in the ditch and my poor cow Bessie landed in the ditch on the other side of the road. I'd started prayin' when right quick the sheriff pulled up in his car. He walked over to Bessie, looked her over and said, "This cow's really banged up bad like. She's not going to make it." So he pulled out his gun and shot her three times in the head Bang! Bang! Bang! Then he walked over to me and asked, "And how do you feel?"

How do you feel? Especially when you know that the Lord is your Shepherd.

Look at the way He cares for us. David declares that our Shepherd is with us and is acting for our good. He says: "Your rod and your staff they comfort me."

What is it that David sees in his Shepherd's hands that brings him such peace of mind?

When the shepherd is in the high country with his sheep, he carries two special pieces of equipment. The rod is a short club with a heavy knob at the end. Among other things, it is used as a weapon against wild animals or marauders. It is the symbol of defense. The staff, a long stick curved at the end, is used to guide the sheep and to pull them back when they begin to stray. It is a tool of discipline.

David experienced the ministry of the rod and the staff -- of defense and discipline. He knows what it means to be guided, restored and disciplined by God.

After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah, her husband, murdered to cover his guilt, God came after him through the prophet Nathan. David experienced restoration growing out of discipline. In Psalm 40:1-3, he writes:

"I waited patiently for the Lord.

He inclined to me and heard my cry.

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction,

Out of the miry clay;

And He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God."

And many times, as a shepherd in battle with the wild beasts, as a youth facing the giant Goliath, as a fugitive from the jealous rage of Saul, David had experienced the protection of God.

In discipline, in restoration and in protection, David knew what the Lord's rod and staff could do.

We sometimes regret that we should need such protection. It is because we are people on the move under the leadership of God. But rather than experiencing comfort on the journey, we would sometimes like to lash the rod and staff together and build a fort for protection. We would settle for Astroturf instead of green pastures -- just as long as it's safe.

But God knows what we need. He wants us on the move. And in life, we have no choice.

We live in a time when there are numerous confused voices and strange philosophies. The paradox of our time in history us that we have taller buildings but shorter tempters, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We buy more but enjoy it less. We've learned how to make a living but not a life. We've added years to life but not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the neighbors. We've done larger things but not better things. We have higher incomes but lower morals, more food but less satisfaction. We have fancier houses but broken homes.

In such a world, there is comfort and strength in turning to the Word of God and knowing it to be our Shepherd's rod of authority. Jesus said: "My sheep know my voice and another's voice they will not follow." We hear His voice as we listen to His word.

The word of God protects us from error and pulls us back when we go off in wrong directions. It is also the rod of the Word that examines our lives and calls us to purity of life.

For the shepherd's rod was also used to examine and count the sheep. In Ezekiel 20:37, this is referred to as passing "under the rod." This meant not only coming under the owner's control and authority, but also to be subject to his most careful and intimate examination. A sheep that passed "under" had been counted and looked over with great care to make sure all was well. This is not an easy task because of the long wool where disease, wounds and defects can hide. The shepherd must take a long and careful look.

God searches us with His word. We can't "pull the wool" over His eyes. He gets below the surface and exposes things that need to be made right. This is done with concern and compassion for our welfare. As David wrote in Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."

Along with the rod is the staff. The staff identifies the shepherd as a shepherd. No one in any other profession carries a staff, for it is shaped and adapted to the needs of sheep. It is a symbol of the concern and compassion that a shepherd has for his flock. The hook can draw a sheep close to the shepherd, gently lift a newborn lamb to its mother and reach out and draw close for examination -- especially the timid ones.

I believe that our Shepherd's staff is shown to us in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who draws us together into a warm and personal fellowship with one another, and is at work to build unity and mutual love and support in our fellowship. It is also the Spirit who draws us closer to Jesus Christ. The shepherd's staff was used to guide the sheep along a new path, through a gate over a difficult route. The staff was used to rescue a greedy or stubborn sheep from going too far and getting entangled in the brambles or trapped in the water.

In the same way, Jesus told us in John 16:13 that it would be His Spirit who would be sent to guide us and lead us into all truth. This same Spirit takes God's word and makes it plain to our hearts, minds, and spiritual understanding. "This is the Way---walk in it!" It is not my role as a preacher to tell you what God's word should mean in your life. It is my role to say what the Bible says and it is the Spirit's role to fit it to your individual situation. And it is your role to listen attentively to the Word, and to let the Spirit tell you where it fits. As we do this, a sense of safety, comfort and well being envelopes us. For the Holy Spirit makes the life of Jesus, our Shepherd, real and personal and intimate to us, so that His story and our story become one story.

Jesus is with us -- as individual believers and as a congregation. Any attempt against us has to take our Shepherd into account. His rod and His staff, they comfort us.

At this point in the Psalm, David suddenly leaves the analogy of sheep and shepherd. It has served its purpose well, but now he must speak of experiences with God that would not be a part of the experience of a sheep with a shepherd.

He writes: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre, in their book "O Jerusalem", tell of the experience of an Israeli woman soldier, as Arab villagers and Jordanian soldiers overran her kibbutz near Hebron during the 1948 war.

"Eliza Feuchtwanger had thrown herself into a ditch behind the school with a half dozen others. The Arabs rushed to the trench and began to empty their sten guns at the helpless survivors inside. A piercing shriek from Eliza interrupted their slaughter just long enough to allow one of them to yank her from the trench. A knot of men surrounded her, disputing the privilege of raping her with the Arab who had pulled her from the ditch. Finally two of them dragged her away from the others and pushed her screaming through the smoking ruins of the kibbutz to a clump of wood. There they began to claw at her.

"Suddenly, two bursts of gunfire interrupted their attack. Eliza watched the two Arabs drop dead at her feet. Stunned, she looked up and found before her an Arab Legion officer, smoke still curling from the mouth of his sten gun. Lieutenant Nawaf Jeber El Hamoud took a piece of bread from his pocket.

"'Eat this', he said. When she had done so, he told her, "Now you are under my protection", and marched her through the clamoring throng to his armored car." This Jordanian officer prepared a table for Eliza in the presence of her enemies.

In the Middle East, in the time of David and in this present age, to break bread with a person creates a bond of mutual loyalty. A man pursued by enemies could gain protection from a powerful host. No one would dare violate this code of hospitality.

David is saying: "Even though my enemies surround me, I cannot be touched because of who I am with." He paints a picture of total security -- a security we share for we have broken bread with Jesus. He has made a covenant with us in His blood and we are secure.

David then speaks of a second experience that would not be shared by a sheep: "You anoint my head with oil."

A sheep's head doesn't need to be anointed with oil. It's oily enough without outside help. But David had been anointed with oil when God designated him King of Israel. He is aware that God has shown him great honor.

There is a story about a little boy at school. He was supposed to bring a copy of his birth certificate for some school records, but lost it along the way. He went to his teacher tearfully and sobbed: "I lost my excuse for being born."

God says that we don't need an excuse for being born. He honors us. He makes us joint heirs with Jesus Christ Himself.

Remember the story of the prodigal son? The son came home, prepared to offer himself to his father as a slave.

You can take God as a slave. You can buy in to all kinds of rules that some people substitute for love. You can come to church with no expectation but obedient, joyless service. "It's the thing to do, so I'll do it, but I'd rather be at the beach."

You can come to God and try to sign on as a slave. But God won't take you as a slave. Sooner or later he'll remind you that you really are a daughter or a son. He'll come running out and give you a ring, a robe and some sandals. And, He'll kill the fatted calf so everyone can celebrate.

David knows this about God. He declares in grateful awe: "My cup overflows."

Sheep don't have cups. But people do. We are not sheep. We are God's creation in His own image. We share in His creative potential and in His shepherding responsibility. Our needs are much more complex than the needs of a sheep -- to create, to give, to love we need challenge and meaning for life.

David knows all this and points to God's extravagant provision for us. This is a provision we can trust. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians quoting the prophet Isaiah: "Eye has not seen nor ear heard, and neither have they entered into the heart of man, all the good things God has in store for those who love Him."

The Lord is our Shepherd. We shall not want.