I sometimes want a clean house without actually having to pick anything up or put anything away.
I sometimes want a healthy body without actually watching what I eat or exercising.
I sometimes want to be smarter without actually having to read or listen to anything that informs me.
Today, we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. And there’s a lot of great things that you want, that all of the world wants, that is promised here today.
Green pastures, still waters, restoration of soul, being led in paths of righteousness.
Except, sometimes you and I, and much of human history, and all of the world who are apart from Christ, wants those things that are promised without actually wanting the One, the Good Shepherd, who actually is the One who fulfills those promises.
But, you can’t have those good things apart from the very first two Word of Psalm 23, apart from the Lord.
I’m going to speak Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd, and I’d like you to speak it with me as much as you can.
And as we’re doing this, consider all these wonderful things that everyone wants, and consider the only One that we can receive them from.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His names sake.
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
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Our sinful flesh seeks after these wonderful things apart from the One who can give them.
We want to not want, maybe. Maybe, we we’re fine always wanting more, but if we don’t want to want anymore, we’ll often get more and more things thinking we’ll finally have enough to not want anymore. We think we might be able to get enough to finally say, I don’t need anything more. We think we’ll finally have the right person or the right pleasure in our life to finally say, I’m good now.
We want our souls restored. And so, we’ll look to others approval to restore our self esteem. Or think that more rest or even more work ultimately will restore our souls. Or that more food or more exercise will finally restore our souls.
We want a path of righteousness, and so we’ll look around the worlds wisdom and see how we’re supposed to get our life in order. What rights and ultimate goodness are we supposed to be pursuing this week?
We want to not be afraid when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and so we try and make death not seem to scary. Or we just avoid thinking about death altogether and cling to health and life as tightly as we possibly can.
There is in our human nature a want, a desire, for all the good things that God would give to us, acceptance, peace, joy, rest, meaning – but sinfully, we want it apart from God.
C.S. Lewis said that “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”
You want an abundant life apart from the Good Shepherd and the Abundant Life giver? It doesn’t exist?
You want peace apart from the peace giver, the One who shows you the wounds He received on the cross, look at His hands and His says, and says “Peace be with you,” and “My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid,” it doesn’t exist?
You want your soul restored apart from returning to the One who made your soul and redeemed your soul, apart from the Shepherd and overseer of your soul, there is no such thing.
Adam and Eve’s first sin brought us all into to root of all sins:
Of wanting things apart from God.
Of wanting wisdom and order and the best that God has to give us apart from His commands and instructions.
Of wanting hope in the midst of despair, light in the midst of darkness, rest in the midst of a weary soul and world, apart from His promises.
Today, we gather under our Good Shepherd, who truly loves us.
Who gave Himself up for us, took His life back again, and is present here to say.
I’m your Shepherd.
And only because I’m Your Shepherd,
you shall not want.
You get to lie down in green pastures only because I make you. Rest in me.
You are beside the still waters only because I’m leading you.
Do not fear the valley of the shadow of death, because Christ your Lord walked through that valley willingly for you, chose to take on the darkness of your sin, the unescapable valley that is your death, and domain of darkness that is the devil, so He can lead you through and lead you out and lead you on, He is with you, His rod and His staff, they comfort you.
You have the confidence that goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life only because the Lord says I am Your Shepherd, but He says and He means it and He has accomplished all of the work to make it true.
If our sinful life is summed up in seeking others ways to peace and happiness and acceptance in some other way other than Christ,
then Christ’s perfect life is summed up in seeking us, knowing there was no other way, than the way of the cross.
If you can’t actually have a clean without picking up, then the Lord couldn’t have been your Shepherd without laying down His life.
But now He has, He had authority to, and He had authority to take it back up again, so you are accepted,
you are actually loved,
you are actually restored back to where you always should have been.
He restores your soul.
Our whole church service is all about God doing just that again – restoring your soul back to where it always belonged.
I hear His Word, He restores my soul.
I hear His commandments, the way I should be living and speaking and thinking, He restores my soul.
I hear His promises, completely not dependent upon how I am living, but instead completely dependent on how true He is, how good He is, He restores my soul.
I’m baptized, I’m fed, I’m heard.
I sing, I praise, I confess my sins, I take my anxieties to Him.
I pray daily, I read God’s Word daily, I listen to Him and talk to Him daily.
All so that He, He, He can restore my soul.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
You are with me Lord, so I won’t fear, even as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
You, Lord, prepare this table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Him, Him, Him.
You, You, You, Lord
For apart from Him, I have nothing, I am nothing, I can do nothing.
Apart from You God, I have nothing, I am nothing, I can do nothing.
But He is my Shepherd. The Lord is my Shepherd.
You Lord, are with me.
And so, we praise Him.