Peter Barnes: The Lord is my Shepherd – Psalm 23 (NO AUDIO)
(9 December 2018)
SERMON NOTES : THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD (Psalm 23)
Look at all the personal pronouns: The Lord is my shepherd … He leads me, He restores my soul, He guides me. Jesus, the Messiah-Shepherd, speaks the same language – John 10:3, 11, 14-15.
1. The Shepherd cares for His flock.
– 23:1-3a; see Gen.48:15 (not NKJV).
– Phillip Keller says that sheep will roll over on their backs, and become stuck, and lie with their feet in the air. The shepherd would have to restore them, or they would die. ‘All we like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way’ (Isa.53:6). Isa.40:11.
2. The Shepherd guides His flock.
– 23:3b. Sheep follow one another anywhere and everywhere. Sinful human beings are no better.
– He does that by His Word and by His Spirit who uses that Word. Proverbs 3:5-6.
3. The Shepherd protects His flock.
– 23:4. John Howard – the Christian prison reformer from eighteenth century England – used to cite ‘I fear no evil’ when he visited the wretched prisons of his day. The shepherd has a rod and a staff to defend the defenceless sheep.
– 23:5. Think of David on the run from Saul. Notice how varied is David’s environment, in vv.2, 4, 5. Rom.8:31-39.
4. The Shepherd saves His flock.
– 23:5b-6; John 14:1-4. The new temple is being built up.