He Restores
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Psalm 23:1-3
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
for his name’s sake.
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
We are beginning a short series today that seemingly may be simple. We’re focusing initially on a passage of scripture that many have memorized. It has been emblazoned on plaques and artwork to hang in homes for years. It is often read at funerals to bring comfort to grieving family members and friends.
It is so familiar, that the emphasis may actually be missed by those who need it most.
What seemingly is a familiar and perhaps easy series for us to go through, I want you to understand that what is coming today and most especially what is to come in the next few weeks will be, I know it will be, very hard for some. For a church of over one-hundred years old, I have often shared a bit of our church history as I have learned it with other church members, and especially those joining our family here.
Yet, I have always said that even in our large book of FBC Orange Park history, there are some dark chapters. There are things in our story that are ungodly. There are experiences that occurred that should never occur anywhere, especially a church. There are wounded people – some who have carried those deep wounds for decades, who limp through their lives, wondering if God is real, if he truly loves them, if he was blind back then and if he still is. There are those who have had bad experiences in every church, certainly. There are those who think the biggest issues facing the church are worship styles, color of carpet, building programs, and other such issues that for decades have topped the list of dumb things that smart Christians fight about. But there are other things. Things that make all that other stuff pale in comparison. And it is our very real enemy’s tactics that have led some sheep into slaughter, while others leave disillusioned and even deconstructing whatever faith they held.
So, yes, this is going to get pretty deep and very serious very quickly. Thank you for being here. I hope you can make it through the series with us. For church members...especially those who have been members for many years...you NEED to make sure you are here for the next few weeks. I truly believe what God is leading me to share and what he is leading us to do as a church is something that should have been done decades ago, but trusting God’s providence and his timing, this is our Esther moment – “For such a time as this.”
I am encouraged because I know the God of love, the God of hope, the God who is our Good Shepherd has brought us to this moment. And to God be the glory...we will see him and experience him and know him and love him as his church in ways that perhaps have never occurred at 1140 Kingsley Avenue before (or even at our old address on the other side of 17.)
Are you ready to get started? I am, with fear and trembling...and with great hope.
Let’s talk about sheep and shepherds.
Like you, I have heard many sermons, read numerous books, heard many illustrations where shepherds have been covered. You will see God referenced as a shepherd in numerous Scripture passages.
The psalmist David writes “The Lord is my shepherd.”
Shepherds are Leaders
Why are God’s people referred to as sheep so often? There are many other animals God could have used to describe his people and yet it is sheep that he chose. Sheep are notorious for needing leadership. Without a good leader, sheep wander off and can get injured or even killed.
Even Isaiah references this when illustrating how we all are:
Isaiah 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 2
Look at just a few of those chosen by God to lead his people who first were shepherds of four-legged wooly animals.
- Abraham - Isaac
- Jacob
- Moses
- David
Why are good shepherds great leaders?
- Shepherds have much time to think as they watch their flocks.
Deep thinking is a characteristic of good leadership.
- Shepherds have to manage large, diverse groups of living
creatures.
Look at Moses. Though a prince of Egypt and schooled in the best schools of the day as a young man, his giftedness was honed and calling confirmed not as he was in the palace living the high life, but as he was herding sheep for his father-in-law in a desolate place. Forty years as a shepherd was his training for the next forty years as a leader of people.
Shepherds Are Known
God as shepherd is a known teaching. He not only is the shepherd over his people as a whole, but over the individual.
The Lord is MY shepherd. David is clear to state that God is HIS shepherd. This is a statement of knowing. David knows God. God knows David. This is personal.
Why say such a thing? Why make it so clear that God is known and knows us?
David’s writing here reveals more than just an acknowledgment during a regular day, but a reality check during despair, a cry for hope when all else is failing. This is the desperate sheep acknowledging that he is not left on his own and the shepherd is his provider. The shepherd is his guide. The shepherd is is friend, but more than a friend. The shepherd knows his name. The shepherd is his protector.
THE Shepherd is Good!
God is the Good Shepherd. Jesus, the Son, is our Good Shepherd.
John 10:11-15
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.3
Is God good? Yes. He is so very good.
But...some don’t think so. Some have struggled with this and many still do. Some in this room want to believe he is good, but...there’s something keeping that truth from sounding like little more than a religious trope.
The good shepherd provides so the sheep do not lack for their needs. The most significant need for a sheep is the shepherd himself.
The shepherd “makes me lie down in green pastures...and leads me beside still waters.”
Peaceful places for nourishment, for rest, for feeding. A place of Sabbath.
He restores my soul.
Do you ever need your soul restored? David did. I do. Remember the old hymn that began...
“O soul are you weary and troubled, no light in the darkness you see? There’s light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free.”
Weariness is real. And life sucks the joy out of that which should bring peace and warmth and hope and healing. Some of you may be feeling that right now – the desire to have joy is there, but the joy is not. The desire to have peace is there, but the peace is not.
God, the good shepherd, knows. And he alone can restore your soul. He leads us the right way, the good way, the holy way, the safe way, the protected way, the righteous way...for his glory and our good.
God restores my soul – because my soul is empty and bleak. It needs restoring.
God does this knowing we are simply sheep. We are not the main character. We are not the point...but only God is. Yet, God, the main point, the main character, the creator, sustainer, speaker of things into existence that never existed prior, KNOWS my name. He knows his sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
I’ll make this brief and very clear. Some of you are sheep. Others are not. Those who know the shepherd and are known by the shepherd are his. You’re in his flock. The rest of you...well, the Bible uses the term goats to describe those who are not part of the flock.
GET SAVED
Yet, here’s the miracle. The God who is good, who is holy, who is all that we have said is a God who creates and does miracles. He desires to miraculously welcome you into his family, his flock, his own...today. If you would receive the gift of life offered through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son Jesus Christ. If you would repent of the sin in your life and submit to Christ as Lord, you will be saved. You will be named child. Today is that day for you. If you will.
GET RIGHT
Now, there are some here and some listening online right now who are his sheep. Perhaps you came to the realization of needing Christ when you were young. You were excited. You were joyful. You were serious and you too were changed, transformed, made new, and born again. But...something has stolen your joy. You’ve drifted. You’ve lost your first love. You’ve misplaced your joy and don’t know where it is. Your soul needs restored. And the good shepherd is doing that. Repent and receive this gift. Not the gift of salvation for you already have that, but the gift of peace and the rekindling of that flame in your heart for God, his Word, the gospel, and those he has placed near you.
GET HEALED
One other group. I’ll go more into this next Sunday, but there is a group who also came to Christ years ago. You did everything the pastor or youth minister, or teacher, or other person told you to do. You seriously
wanted to be saved. You surrendered. You were even baptized. In your innocence, you gave it all to Christ because you wanted to go to heaven, not go to hell, and really, truly loved him as those you looked up to here on earth did.
But...those who were your heroes, your role models, your spiritual guides, maybe even your pastor, youth minister, Sunday School teacher, or some other title betrayed God and you. That person who represented God to you was not a good shepherd. He was not a good undershepherd. He or she was not a good Christian. In fact, that person may have said something or even did something to you that was so ungodly and harmful it has left a wound so deep that you just let it scab over but you never really have been healed. So, your view of God is different. Your church experience is toxic. You’ve gone down different paths to self- medicate. Maybe you became a legalist and church was where you hid, but without love...only rules and anger. Or maybe you left the church and did everything you could think of to anesthetize the pain.
Or something else.
You’re hurting. And hear me please, for the first time since whatever happened, you are hearing a pastor say “I hear you. I see you. I was not here nor the one who did whatever it was, but I hurt for you and apologize for those who wore any title of leadership and marred your view of the good shepherd.” I hate that you have faced this. I wish I could fix it right now. I hope you let us try to help as we strip away all excuses, acknowledge reality, and lean headfirst into these headwaters that carry the very real good news of the gospel you have to have.
End Notes
1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Ps 23:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Is 53:6). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Jn 10:11–15). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
