Sermon – Psalm 23 – When You Have Want

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Sermon – Psalm 23 – When You Have Want
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
May 3, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Every week we gather here in this sanctuary for prayer. These prayers start on Sunday mornings at 9:45 and continue until 6:30 in the evening. We are praying at each of our three worship services. The Filipino Community Presbyterian Church prays too. We are all praying for things we want. People of God have always been asking God to satisfy wants since creation. But today we have an example of prayer that does not focus on what we want. Rather it is a prayer contemplating God. And this makes this prayer very important indeed.

Please pray it with me.

Psalm 23:1-6 NRS Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

Amen.

Of course this prayer is the 23rd psalm. This psalm is the favorite of most Americans. It is said frequently at funerals. During the American Civil War pastors had so many funerals to do they had no time to prepare so that simply recited this psalm over and over again. I memorized this psalm as a child, and I am certain that many of you did as well. Once I was preaching on the 23rd psalm at a nursing home. I was told not to expect any responses from the congregation; most would not even be aware of what I was doing. But after my sermon I asked them to join with me in saying together the 23rd psalm from the King James Version, and I was thrilled when nearly everyone in the room joined in.

This beautiful prayer was written by David probably at a time when he was fleeing an enemy. As David hid in the desert he probably saw a Bedouin tent off in the distance – a huge camel hair tent where the community lived. Knowing what Bedouins were like he took refuge with them. And that night he realized how much God was like his Bedouin hosts.

Bedouins are well known, even today, for two things: how well they care for their animals, and their wonderful hospitality towards guests. Their livelihood is determined by how they care for their animals. They are always on the lookout for new pasture for them to graze and new watering holes where they could drink. But it is their great love for guests which make them well known to all who attempt to cross the desert on a camel. Anyone who is lost, or hungry, or thirsty is welcomed and provided with a joyous feast and place to spend the night.

The Bible is clear that the Bedouins are God’s people. The patriarch Abraham was a Bedouin wandering though the desert and looking for grazing pasture and water. God pointed Abraham in the direction of the Judean desert, the Promised Land. It is clear that Abraham took care of his animals very well and built up a sizable herd. It is also clear that Abraham provided hospitality to his guests, with joyous feasts, places to sleep, and provision for the journey ahead whenever strangers showed up.

Today Bedouin villages can be seen near cities in Palestine. Palestinians go to their tents to buy meat, cheese, eggs and other products. The Bedouins stock up on provisions and then move on to new watering holes with land suitable for grazing. Theirs is a nomadic lifestyle that has lasted for thousands of years.

When I visited Palestine a few years ago my church group was taken to a Bedouin village near Bethlehem. There was a large camel skin tent. Inside were hundreds of large colorful cushions. We were invited in for a great feast of roasted chicken, rice, olives and pita bread. There was much singing and dancing. We all experienced an extremely joyful evening. It was an experience I will never forget. And I believe that this was the experience David had when he wrote the 23rd Psalm.

As David began his prayer he realized that these Bedouin shepherds had provided for all of his needs. He was no longer thirsty, no longer dusty, no longer tired. His own animals and men were well cared for. So he approached God in a new way. All of his wants were satisfied. He didn’t have to pray for those wants. He could focus his entire prayer on God.

It was then that David realized that he was seeing God at work. God was working though the Bedouin shepherds to care for his needs. Then he realized something about God. God was like a Bedouin shepherd. Like a shepherd, God had provided David with everything he needed: water to drink, food to eat, and place to rest and pray.

Then David realized that if he was to claim to be a follower of this God he would have to care for the poor just as God had cared for him. And David, who has been raised as shepherd, knew that he had to care for people just as he had cared for sheep as a youth. So by claiming to be follower of Yahweh, David understood the obligation to be a shepherd for those in need. He was to protect those who were threatened with death. He was to use the authority of his kingly rod and make it a shepherd’s crook to comfort and protect the poor and needy. Despite all of the constraints of money and resources that everyone has, David was to care for the poor with extravagant gifts just as he was cared for by his Bedouin hosts. The tables of the poor were to be covered with food. The heads of the poor were to be anointed with oil. The cups of the poor were to be filled with wine.

This obligation on David to treat others just as he had been treated by the Bedouins was passed on to his descendents who sat on the throne of Jerusalem. But eventually David’s heirs forgot that all the blessings they were receiving from God had to be turned into extravagant blessings for others in need. They forgot to be good shepherds, and God removed them as shepherds of the people. As the people of God were carried into exile the prophets comforted them by telling them that God would become their new shepherd. In the absence of a king the people of God were to depend on God for all their needs.

For hundreds of years people waited for God to send a new shepherd of the sheep who would care for them just as the Bedouin shepherds had cared for David. They waited for a new shepherd who would care for them just as their ancestor Abraham cared for visitors to his tent. They waited for coming of the Good Shepherd.

Then in the first century a man came from Nazareth to proclaim good news to the poor and needy. He extravagantly cared for the poor by multiplying bread to satisfy their needs. He called himself the Good Shepherd, and laid down his own life for his sheep the people he loved. His name was Jesus.

As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to imitate him as the Good Shepherd. We are to imitate Bedouins and to care for the thirsty, the hungry, and the tired, anyone who comes our way. We have the obligation to provide for them extravagantly just as God has extravagantly blessed us. We are called by God to provide extravagant meals for poor, and help them to find a place to sleep at night. We are the good shepherds and the poor in our community are our sheep.

And this is why we have gathered today. This is the table of the Good Shepherd. The cup is full. The table is prepared. This is a great Bedouin feast. So let’s be happy and joyous as gather around the table. Everyone is invited who is a follower of Jesus. We will have three seatings around this table today. Then at 6:30 tonight we will provide an extravagant meal for the poor in our community because we are followers of the Good Shepherd. Amen.