Bible Studies for Life Series for January 27: Breakthrough in confidence

Posted: 1/16/08

Bible Studies for Life Series for January 27

Breakthrough in confidence

• Psalm 23:1-6

By Steve Dominy

First Baptist Church, Gatesville

Sometimes we can analyze a passage to the point that it loses the meaning it was intended to have. The intent of that analysis was good. We want to know to the fullest extent the meaning and application of the passage, and that certainly is a laudable goal.

Some will argue this is a psalm of confidence or trust, while others will argue that this is a psalm of thanksgiving. It is both a psalm of trust and confidence and a psalm of thanksgiving. If we are honest, it is both of those and more.

I know that through at least one time of difficulty it has been a prayer for God to be that Shepherd; to make the pictures of the psalm real. So maybe there is more than one approach to reading this psalm. I think it is a good thing when we can read and apply this psalm on more than one level. It deepens our understanding of God and with that our trust in him.

The Psalms were not written in isolation, they were written from, and for, real life. This certainly is true of the 23rd Psalm. We can see the reality of life from which it is written when we read it in light of the 22nd Psalm. David begins the 22nd Psalm: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from the words of my groaning?”

While we don’t know the circumstances surrounding David’s cry in this psalm, it is abundantly clear that life has crashed around him. But the same man who wrote the 22nd Psalm wrote the 23rd. He had experienced God’s faithfulness in the midst of life’s storms and had been brought safely through by God’s provision.

David is able to write of a God who is personal. David is not writing an article about an abstract God, he is writing a song of praise, thanksgiving and prayer to the God he knows. The very first line gives us insight into this personal nature of God, “The Lord is my shepherd.” David speaks from personal experience in this, he has experienced God’s provision and care, God’s work as a shepherd in his own life.

That God is a personal God is evidenced throughout both the Old and New Testaments. God is present with Adam and Eve in the Garden; at the burning bush God reveals his name to Moses; God establishes a covenant with his people; a way that they will relate to one another; the Temple is dwelling place of God among his people.

The most important component of God’s personal nature is God’s incarnation in Jesus. John affirms, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” He continues in the same chapter, “… and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That God would come to us and desires to have relationship with us shows we do not deal with an impersonal god but the God who is with us no matter the circumstances of life.

David also writes of the God who provides. Because God is the shepherd who provides, David can write, “I shall not be in want.” Another way to read that phrase is, “I shall lack for nothing.” There is an absolute confidence in God’s provision evidenced in this Psalm. Because the Lord is my shepherd I shall lack for nothing; God will provide all my needs.

When reading this passage, the focus often is shifted to the shortcomings of the sheep, their lack of eyesight, inability to swim well, and so on. But when we read the passage, all of the focus is on God’s care—God leads, guides, restores and protects. None of the focus in the first four verses is on the sheep, it is all on God.

The last two verses have the same focus, but they look forward where the first four verses focus on the present. One of the phrases that I have picked up, and I do not remember to whom to attribute is, “God will do as well in the future as he has done in the past.” In short, God is faithful. Not only is God present and does God provide for us now, this always will be the case. David has written of God’s presence and God’s provision and now turns to God’s faithfulness.

When we look at the passage we can see the joy in David’s life because of God’s faithfulness. Though there are those around him who would like to see the worst befall him, God gives him the very best. Not only does God give him the best, he gives so much of it that David no longer has any room to store it. All the frustrations of life pale in comparison to God’s faithfulness.

The 23rd Psalm is not one to be overanalyzed, it is one to be lived, celebrated, prayed and enjoyed. There is a story about a scholar and a pastor who spoke at a conference. Both men spoke on the 23rd Psalm. At the conclusion, the scholar got up and told the congregation, “I can tell you about the Psalm, he can tell you about the shepherd.”

The Psalm means little unless we are willing to let the Good Shepherd lead us in the manner he led David.