September 23, 2015
1. Years I spent in vanity and pride,
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.
Caring not my Lord was crucified,
Knowing not it was for me He died
On Calvary.
o Refrain:
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.
Mercy there was great, and grace was free;
Pardon there was multiplied to me;
There my burdened soul found liberty
At Calvary.
2. By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.
Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,
Till my guilty soul imploring turned
To Calvary.
3. Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary!
Now I gladly own Him as my King,
Now my raptured soul can only sing
Of Calvary!
4. Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!
Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
At Calvary!
Witness: “Years I spent in vanity and pride, caring not my Lord was crucified”. So begins an old familiar favorite hymn. The years I spent were until 8th grade, when a 5th grader neighbor who accompanied me on my paper route shared the gospel – the Good News - and in the “upper room” of his bedroom, I knelt and gave my heart and life to Christ. Hitherto, I had not known what the Good News was, so it was not that I cared not that He was crucified for me. It was that the church I was brought up in did not preach the Good News nor believe in the Bible. Furthermore, my priest believed that all religions led to God. Yesterday, I spoke of rancid (I speak euphemistically) waters. Many are led (misled) to these waters by well-meaning ministers who “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.”(2 Tim. 3:5) It goes on to warn us to: “Avoid such people.” Why, because they are false shepherds, wolves in sheep’s clothing:
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matt. 7:15
They certainly are not restoring souls or leading us in paths of righteousness. Take heed to the exhortation: “Avoid such people!”
WORD:
Psalm 23:2-4
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. KJV |
Psalm 23:2-4
2He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,a
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. NIV
|
Green Pastures, Still waters – sounds wonderful. And it is! But you say, “it doesn’t describe what I am experiencing at the moment. So what gives here? Is there something wrong with my walk? Is there something wrong with the Shepherd? May it never be!
First, we must remember that when we come to Scripture, we must look at the whole and not just the parts. We must see the big picture. We know from the beginning when Adam sinned, that life wasn’t going to be easy. The Lord’s people have always faced hard times. David himself is often seen crying out to the Lord in distress. Our Lord said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33), but he also said immediately afterward as our Lord and great Shepherd, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He spoke of great turmoil in the days ahead before He returns.
So why the seeming incongruity between this Psalm and the rest of Scripture, and even our own experience in life? If that’s a question you are asking, then let me say this. Perhaps you have failed to see the underlying theme running through this Psalm. Another problem may be that we don’t understand the life a Shepherd and his sheep in Biblical times. Unger describes it this way:
The office of the Eastern shepherd, as described in the Bible, involved much hardship and even danger. He was exposed to extremes of heat and cold (Gen 31:40); his food frequently consisted of the precarious supplies afforded by nature, such as the "sycamore fig" or Egyptian fig (Amos 7:14), the "pods" of the carob tree (Luke 15:16), and perhaps the locusts and wild honey that supported John the Baptist (Matt 3:4); he had to encounter attacks of wild beasts, occasionally of the larger species, such as lions, wolves, leopards, and bears (1 Sam 17:34; Isa 31:4; Jer 5:6; Amos 3:12); nor was he free from the risk of robbers or predatory hordes (Gen 31:39). To meet these various foes, the shepherd's equipment consisted of the following articles: a robe, made probably of sheepskin, with the fleece on, which he turned inside out in cold weather, as implied in the comparison in Jer 43:12 (cf. Juv. 14. 187); a pouch, containing a small amount of food (1 Sam 17:40); a sling, which is still the favorite weapon of the Bedouin shepherd (17:40); and, last, a staff, which served the double purpose of a weapon against foes and a crook for the management of the flock (1 Sam 17:40; Ps 23:4; Zech 11:7).
(From The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary says of sheep:
By nature, sheep are helpless creatures. They depend on shepherds to lead them to water and pasture, to fight off wild beasts, and to anoint their faces with oil when a snake nips them from the grass.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright © 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
With these things in mind, we see that this little seeming “sunny psalm”, as someone described it, is really full of the grittiness and weariness of life. Why do we need to be made to lie down in green pastures? Why do we need the quiet or still waters? Just to be nourished, rested, and hydrated? The first clue comes in the first part of verse three. “He restores my soul”. Why does one need restoration if this psalm is just painting a rosy picture of a believer’s life? No, life is hard. Sheep have to trek through many dry and/or dark places before they get to the green pastures and quiet waters to be refreshed and restored. Barnes says:
[He restoreth my soul] literally, "He causes my life to return." DeWette, "He quickens me," or causes me to live. The word soul" here means life, or spirit, and not the soul in the strict sense in which the term is now used. It refers to the spirit when exhausted, weary, or sad; and the meaning is, that God quickens or vivifies the spirit when thus exhausted. The reference is not to the soul as wandering or backsliding from God, but to the life or spirit as exhausted, wearied, troubled, anxious, worn down with care and toil. the heart, thus exhausted, He re-animates. He brings back its vigor. He encourages it; excites it to new effort; fills it with new joy.
(from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
I agree mostly with what Barnes says here, however, I must disagree when he says the “reference is not to the soul as wandering or backsliding from God”. We know that sheep can stray along the way to the green pastures and quiet waters, so I would add the other side which Benson takes:
He restoreth my soul — Hebrew, נפשׁי ישׁובב, naphshi jeshobeb, my soul he bringeth, or, will bring back, namely, from its errors or wanderings. No creature is more ready to go astray than a sheep, or more at a loss to find its way back. And all we like sheep have gone astray, and are still too prone so to do; to leave the right way of truth and duty, and to turn aside into by-paths. But when God shows us our errors, gives us repentance, and brings us back to our duty again, he restores our souls; and if he did not do so, we would wander endlessly and be undone.
I believe both to be true. Do you need restoration? Do you need refreshing? Come to the quiet waters and drink deeply.
JohnGill says:
“he leadeth me beside the still waters, or "waters of rest and quietness" (u); not to rapid torrents, which by reason of the noise they make, and the swiftness of their motion, the sheep are frightened, and not able to drink of them; but to still waters, pure and clear, and motionless, or that go softly, like the waters of Shiloah, Isaiah 8:6; and the "leading" to them is in a gentle way, easily, as they are able to bear it; so Jacob led his flock, Genesis 33:14; and Christ leads his, Isaiah 40:11; by these "still waters" may be designed the everlasting love of God, which is like a river, the streams whereof make glad the hearts of his people; these are the waters of the sanctuary, which rise to the ankles, knees, and loins, and are as a broad river to swim in; the pure river of water of life Christ leads his sheep to, and gives them to drink freely of: also communion with God, which the saints pant after, as the hart pants after the water brooks, and Christ gives access unto; moreover he himself is the fountain of gardens, and well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon; and the graces of his Spirit are also as rivers of living water, all which he makes his people partakers of; to which may be added, that the Scriptures, and the truths of the Gospel, are like still, quiet, and refreshing waters to them, and are the waters to which those that are athirst are invited to come, Isaiah 55:1; and in the immortal state Christ will still be a shepherd, and will feed his people, and lead them to fountains of living water, where they shall solace themselves for ever, and shall know no more sorrow and sighing, Revelation 7:17.”
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