Jesus Providing for His Sheep (Psalm 23:5)
Sermon preached on 13th September 2009 as part of a communion season in congregation.
We have enjoyed the communion season that concludes with this service. It has been like an oasis at which travellers through a desert are refreshed before continuing on their journey. The world through which we are travelling is often like a spiritual desert and we need oases where we receive spiritual encouragement. In a sense, every Sunday should be a spiritual oasis where we meet with God and receive from him. A communion season is like an enlarged oasis because we receive so much from God during it.
There are many biblical passages which speak of spiritual refreshment and go on to give guidance as to how we can profit from it. One of the best known passages is Psalm 23. Although the psalm is known as the Shepherd Psalm, it is possible that there are three separate images used in it: the sheep and the heavenly Shepherd (vv. 1-2); the traveller and his heavenly Companion (vv. 3-4); the guest and his heavenly Host (vv. 5-6). Others divide the psalm in two halves: the first half describes the Lord in the third person and the second half uses the second person to address God. These suggestions are interesting, although it is the case that the first image, that of a sheep and its Shepherd, can be seen in the whole psalm.
Where does the Shepherd provide the meal?
We are given two details regarding this table. First, the Shepherd provides it for those who are travelling through the valley of the shadow of death. The illustration alludes to the journey taken by sheep from the winter pastures to the summer pastures on higher ground, which in itself is a picture of the Christian life, for we are journeying to the summer ground of heaven, the place, as Samuel Rutherford put it, of four summers in a year. On this journey, the flock faced dangers from wild animals or from falling rocks. The image is a vivid picture of the Christian life. We are travelling through a world over which lies the shadow of death, which means that eternal death is near, for it casts its shadow over all that takes place here. This is an important perspective for us to retain about our modern world.
Second, the Shepherd provides it for his flock in the presence of their enemies. The enemies of the sheep were wild animals, but our enemies are fiercer still, and they are the world, the flesh and the devil. Just as the enemies of a sheep would attack differently, so do our enemies, though each has the common aim of our total destruction. So whenever we are under spiritual attack we should turn to the Lord expecting him to lead us to a place of provision.
The provision of the Shepherd
David pictures the Lord providing a table for his hungry sheep. Literally, a shepherd would need to find a safe place with food for his sheep. Sometimes, the shepherd, before the sheep began the journey, would walk the route in order to identify suitable places and there he would store food for the sheep to use when it reached the spot. Jesus as our Shepherd has assured us that as our days so will our strength be. He knows the path he has set out for us and along the way he has stored spiritual food for our sustenance.
We see in the illustration something of the care with which Jesus provides for his people. He does not provide for them in an indifferent manner, rather he gives to them what they need depending on how the journey has affected them. Some will be weak, others will be progressing well. Both kinds need his care, and both receive it from him.
What is the food he provides? Primarily, it is himself because he is the bread of life and the water of life. Tasting of Jesus is what we need at all times. We may need forgiveness for our sins, it is there in Christ. We may need reminders of our standing with God, it is there in Christ as our righteousness. We may need assurance of protection because we can see the footprints of our enemies and the noise of their attack, and we are safe in Christ.
It is worth noting that what is given to each of us is a whole or entire Christ. When we get Christ in one aspect we get him in all aspects. In the food the sheep received, there would be a variety of vegetables, with each one designed for his good. When I get a meal, it contains many good ingredients, each of which is good for me. One or two of them may be obvious to my taste at a particular time. It is the same with feeding on Christ; we may focus on one or two aspects of him, depending on our needs at that occasion, but we receive a whole Christ.
It is also worth pointing out that as far as this food is concerned, there is no need to worry about a diet. We can eat and drink as much as we like, and if we find it becoming too much for us, then we can ask him to expand our capabilities to continue feasting on him. Said Thomas Watson of the Lord’s Supper, ‘There is no danger of excess at this supper. Other feasts often cause gluttony; it is not so here. The more we take of the Bread of life, the more healthful we are and the more we come to our spiritual complexion. Fullness here does not increase humours, but comforts. In spiritual things there is no extreme.’
Another feature of this feeding is that Jesus loves to feed his people in a corporate manner. We see this illustrated in the question asked by the bride in the Song of Solomon, ‘Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who veils herself beside the flocks of your companions?’ (1:7). When a large crowd gathers for an earthly meal, it is inevitable that the larger the number the less each will have. It is very different in the kingdom of grace. Large numbers do not become a cause of smaller feasting by individual souls.
The preparation of the Shepherd
Although he has provided the meal for his sheep, the shepherd also had to prepare the sheep for the meal. This he did by anointing it with oil. There were at least two reasons for this practice. First, the sheep would be tired after journeying through the heat of the day. Second, the sheep’s eyes were often affected by parasites which made it difficult for the sheep to see.
Anointing with oil is a common picture of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. What we can see in this verse is the need of the Holy Spirit to refresh God’s people who are weary with their journey and whose spiritual vision has been affected by spiritual parasites or sins. Many things can make us weary: failures in our lives, difficult providences, disappointments, divine chastisement, unanswered prayer. But the shepherd, whose eyes are never of the sheep as they walk along the path from this world to heaven, is fully aware of the weariness of their souls.
We can also lose our spiritual vision. Peter describes Christians who have developed a bad memory and have become short-sighted (2 Pet. 1:9). Jesus knows about our needs here as well. Think of his wonderful promises to the church in Laodecia: ‘I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see’ (Rev. 3:18).
The life-giving and fruit-producing Spirit is the answer to our weariness and spiritual dullness. Jesus has promised that all who ask for the Holy Spirit will receive him. He will strengthen us so that we can know the love of Jesus. At our communion season, our spiritual vision has been restored and we can now look back to Calvary and ahead to Heaven with clearer greater ability.
The experience of the sheep
The psalmist refers to his situation as one in which he receives so much from the heavenly Shepherd that he cannot contain what he receives. Grace overflows in his experience, and believers experience this at spiritual oases. As the Saviour reminded us at this communion season that we are forgiven, that we are accepted in God’s sight, that our sins cannot separate us from God, that all the promises in the Bible are ours, our hearts were filled with wonder, peace and joy. Christ does not give niggardly. What we get in this life is only a foretaste of the heavenly experience, but even a foretaste results in overflowing.
We receive grace to be a means of blessing to other Christians, so that we can convey something of the Saviour’s presence to them. When they see our overflowing experience, they will seek these blessings too. Much grace is given to us in order to show to others the goodness of the Lord.
Not only do they receive from the Lord a present experience, but they also receive assurance for the future. The meal gave the sheep strength to continue the journey. So with the psalmist: his wonderful experience of the Lord’s provision assured him that goodness and mercy would be his throughout his life and that he would dwell in heaven for ever. When the Lord gives blessings to his people, he has his eye on their future needs as well as their present weakness.
As our communion season comes to an end, what kind of Christians should we be? First, we should leave with learned hearts, because we have been instructed in the things of Christ. We know more in an intellectual way, but we should also know more in an experiential manner.
Second, we should leave with longing hearts. Whatever we may have received during this past weekend, and this can be added to all that we have received previously in the past, we know that we can have more next time. So we should be already anticipating the next communion period.
We should leave with lowly hearts. The emptier the bucket, the more it can hold. ‘So the more the soul is emptied of itself, and the lower it is let down by humility, the more it fetches out of the well of salvation’ (Thomas Watson). If we leave in a humble manner, we will retain the gracious blessings received at our communion. It can give us spiritual strength for the days ahead.