Transcript
I want to talk with you today about Psalm 23. The Lord is my Shepherd. That’s our appointed Psalm for today, and I hope you might look at it with me in your pew Bibles.
Let me start with a story that I heard years ago from a preacher, and I am sorry to say I do not know the name of the preacher. But the story lodged in my heart.
Story of the young preacher in the Barbershop.
I tell you that story to say that these words have power. This is more than a greeting card. To be somewhat dramatic, these words have power over life and death.
So let’s dig into this psalm. What I want to show you today is that there are two “followings” in this psalm.
- You following God.
- God following you.
In other words: How does this psalm show how to follow God? And how does this psalm show how God follows you?
You Following God
In Psalm 23 it says that the Lord leads me and guides me. There are two words for this, and sometimes they are both translated as lead. But it’s two different Hebrew words.
Verse 2. Beside the still water he leads me. This Hebrew word is nahal. It means to carry, feed, guide, lead gently on.
Isaiah 49. 10
They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
Nahal is a leading toward sustenance.
Now, keep going in Psalm 23. Verse 3. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness.
It says guides. And that’s a different Hebrew word. It’s nachah. This word means to bring, govern, guide, lead forth, put, straiten. Nachah is a firm guiding.
So. Two words for how God leads, but different meanings. The first is a gentle leading. The second is an authoritative leading. The first is more about feeding. The second is more about directing.
What’s the point? If you’re going to follow God, you need to let him lead in both of those ways. Did you get that? The gentle leading, and the strong guiding.
Different people will fall short on either side. Someone might say, “Boy I really like that gentle leading. Give me the sustenance.” In other words: “I want God to give me what I need and want, in the daily. But I don’t want his authoritative direction in the big stuff.”
Or… on the other side: Someone might say, “Yeah I really want God to tell me what to do. Give me that big strong guidance. Take the wheel, Lord. But I don’t want to ask for his daily provision. I’m too busy (or too proud) to ask God for the small stuff: daily needs, or the simple desires of my heart. of my heart.” In other words: “I want the big picture direction from God, but not the small daily sustenance.”
Here's the truth. You need both. He need both leadings. That’s how you follow God.
Example. I know people who have trained to run a marathon. I’ve never run an marathon, but I know people who have. That’s a perfect example of big picture and small picture, for success. Big picture, you need to choose what marathon you want to run. You need to register for it ahead of time. Plan travel if necessary. (Boston marathon, you actually have to run another marathon before with a qualifying time – shout out to Boston). But I digress. Big picture: choose the marathon and register. Small picture, what I am going to do every day to train? Nutrition, long runs, stretching, mileage. Daily training as you get ready for the marathon.
Following God is like that.
If you are going to follow God, you need both types of leading in Psalm 23. The gentle leading toward sustenance; and the strong authoritative direction.
Second point about following. God is following you.
This is a little more unexpected. The psalm changes a bit toward the end. Take a look at verses 5, it changes from the shepherd imagery, to the image of a banquet table and an anointing with oil. Then in verse 6, the image of a house “I will dwell in God’s house forever.” Not God’s sheepfold. God’s house. So these last two verses are not about sheep anymore.
And right in the middle of all that there is the word FOLLOW.
“Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” But did you catch the switch? It’s not you following God. It’s God’s mercy and goodness following YOU.
“Well,” you say, “that’s very sweet.” Like a little puppy dog sort of following you home one day. “Can we keep it?” Well, not so fast. The Hebrew there for follow is radaph. Surely your goodness and mercy will radaph me. That words means to pursue, to chase, to hunt. It’s used over and over again in the Old Testament usually in reference to an attacking army chasing or overtaking. Deuteronomy 1:44 Moses tells the people, “remember when the Amorites came out against you; they chases you like a swarm of bees.” That word CHASE, that’s radaph. More famously, when the Hebrews fled from Egypt and Pharoah and his chariots went after them, pursued them to the Red Sea. That word pursued, that’s radaph.
So, psalm 23, verse 6. Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me. That’s not like a little puppy tagging along behind you. It’s saying that if you give yourself to God, his goodness and mercy will hunt you down. Chase you down.
That’s doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen. They will. And it doesn’t mean you’re always going to like the way that God comes after you. You won’t.
But you will see his goodness, and his mercy.
I think about Ruth and Naomi in the Bible. Everything bad happened to them. Death. Famine. Loss of security. They went to Bethlehem with nothing.
There’s Ruth gleaning in a field. And then Boaz shows up. Well, really God shows up, and rewards the faithfulness of Ruth and Naomi.
Ruth was the great grand mother of King David. God’s goodness and mercy chased her down.
There’s a photo that I came across a few years ago. It’s from a Billy Graham Festival of Joy in Mongolia in 2022. The man in the sunglasses is Purevdawaa.
Story about Purevdawaa.
You don’t think that God can chase people down? To the ends of the earth.
Whatever obstacles you have for following Jesus. Whatever barriers you have. He has more.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me, all the days of my life. The Lord is my shepherd.
So you say, ok, Psalm 23. So, am I following Jesus? Or is Jesus following me? Yes.
Yes!
He loves you. He died for you. He rose for you. He’s coming back.
Follow him. Just as his goodness and mercy is following you.
