On July 16, 1914, famous explorer Ernest Shackelton lead a voyage of the Endurance Expedition that traveled to Antarctica. Shortly before the ship went underway, Queen Alexandra visited the ship and presented Shackleton with a Union flag, a replica of her own standard, and two inscribed copies of the Bible.
Later, trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea, Shackleton and his men had to abandon their stricken ship and begin desperate measures to save themselves by hauling boats and stores across the ice. Each man was allowed to keep just 2 pounds of personal gear. Setting a good example, Shackleton discarded what at other times might be judged his most valuable and precious belongings – gold coins and other valuables and the Bible. He tore some pages from the Bible before he left it, the flyleaf with the Queen’s inscription, a verse from the Book of Job and the whole 23rd Psalm. The voyage failed. Their boat was crushed, they lived on ice floats and traveled hundreds of miles in terrible sea conditions, climbed mountain peaks, and yet not one man was lost. It was said from a surviving crewmembers that Shackleton had indeed retrieved the Bible and carried it home.
Without a doubt, Psalm’s 23 is one of the most beloved, memorized and used passage of scripture throughout the Christian faith. As impactful as these six verses are, their meaning can actually be missed. St. Augustine himself stated Psalms 23 is a “Hymn of Martyrs.” Its meaning is straightforward and obvious—describing a God who leads, guides, keeps, protects, cares and even anticipates our needs. I would like you to read aloud psalm 23 with me this morning. Bottom of UMH #137.
From reading Psalm 23, I would like to focus on the very first verse when it says, KJV “I shall not want!” and NASB “there is nothing I lack.” Each are saying the same thing. When you look at the Hebrew words used here, it literally means lacking nothing. I shall not (lo) – meaning not, want (khaw-sare) – meaning to lack, need, be lacking, decrease. How can this verse possibly state that we lack absolutely nothing! What was God thinking? I don’t remember anyone in scripture let alone Psalm 23 telling us we are guaranteed permanent good health, food, shelter, friends, family, just because we have a shepherd! Just this single verse alone gives us a remarkable sense, knowing the life we live today, that there are things we do lack, yet why does the psalmist tell us “I lack nothing!”
Try to picture a person so out of touch with their true need that they can sit down at a banquet and say, “Thanks, I don’t need anything! Not hungry.” Or the student who enters the classroom and announces, “I know all I need to know. I’ll just put on my headphones and listen to music while the rest of you go on with the lesson.” Or if during the worship service, and you people get up and start to walk out of church and say “No need for me to waste my time in prayer. I don’t lack for anything, so I’ve got nothing to say to God!” Can we truly claim the words I lack nothing; I shall not want? Can this be anything more than an exaggeration, a person out of touch with their true situation? What is the psalmist saying here? When a man and women are in love, would they say to each other, “you are perfect, I got it all! I wouldn’t change a thing about you!” Honestly, this is what someone who is in love would say! They would have grace, mercy and acceptance in that person even with all their flaws, even though they lacked in certain areas, they indeed are everything they desire in that carnal relationship! The love that the psalmist is exemplifying to is what I would like for you to realize this morning friends. It’s a deep, intimate, God-fearing love in saying “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing!” It’s the true and genuine relationship between man and God. This is what it refers to. Not something the flesh desires, but the spirit! As you well know, scripture tells us we worship God in spirit, not in flesh, and the rest of psalm 23 glorifies the God who supplies all our needs by doing exactly what He promised—supplying all our needs and lacking nothing! When our spirit is filled with God love, then the whole-body lacks nothing. Psalm 23 tell us even during our trial some circumstance, lie down in green pastures beside calm waters, knowing my rod and my staff will protect and comfort you. This is not a sign of a passive or inactive God, but quite the opposite!
Listen to the Gospel of John chapter 10 again. “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 is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and 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. Where in Jesus words here are we even seeing a potential break in God’s guidance, strength, lacking anything? When Christs life was laid down for each of us, that is indeed a measure of love that nothing else can compare to! In closing, I would like you to take away three things from Psalms 23. Psalms 23 is an expression of dependence. When we call someone our shepherd, we are saying we need help. When we say the Lord is our shepherd, we are saying no one is better able to help us than God himself. We are saying we are basically foolish, and He is wise. We are quite ignorant, and He knows everything. We are weak, and He is strong. Most of all, we are saying that God is absolutely trustworthy, and we can depend on Him. Under Gods care, He has never lost one single sheep. Psalm 23 is a statement of ownership. God has a right and a desire to own us—first because he is our creator and He has paid the outrageous price by His Son, Our Lord Jesus that died for your sins and mine. We as Christians are reluctant to let others know that we're not our own because we're bought with a price. Sometimes we're embarrassed to be Christians. We shouldn't be. Actually, it is the most wonderful admission of all to acknowledge that we are owned by God, that we bear the mark, that we're able to say, "The Lord is my shepherd." Psalm 23 is an admittance of a personal relationship. Let's be sure we understand something: Reading the Bible or going to church, giving an offering, or learning a psalm, creed, or prayer, will not make a person a Christian. To be a Christian is to choose Jesus Christ as Savior and Shepherd. To be a Christian is a deliberate decision to become one of God's own sheep and have a personal relationship with him. As the man and wife become one in marriage before God, the symbol of the ring is placed on their finger. God himself is the groom, and we are the bride! The great shepherd has placed His ring onto our finger claiming, “I am yours and you are mine! I will never leave you or forsake you, because I am your shepherd.”
Let me leave you with this analogy. In 2021, animal rescuers in Australia found a sheep named Baarack that was in need of a serious sheering. The sheep was so full of wool, after it was sheered, the wool weighed over 78 pounds. He was so underweight for not being able to eat or drink, and his body temperature was near a deathly number and even the cornea of his eye was swollen shut. North Dakota State University stated in an article that if a sheep does not get regularly sheered, then they can ultimately die. Lack of food and water, set in infection and so many other complications come from it—In short, the shepherd of the sheep takes care of His sheep. For us friends, we as God’s sheep need sheered as well! All that muck and mire that weights us down and which also can kill us needs cleared off. As Paul Miller stated, “We are left obsessing over our wants in the valley of the shadow of death, paralyzed by fear in the presence of our enemies. No wonder so many are so cynical … Both the child and the cynic walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The cynic focuses on the darkness; the child focuses on the Shepherd.”
Rest assured friends, The Shepherds Love is beyond all boundaries. So I ask you this morning, is the Lord your shepherd? During our Prayer of Confession, I'd like to suggest that if you claim the Lord as your shepherd, take your hand as we pray and hold the fourth finger where the ring would go. If you have a ring already there, just think, God’s ring was there first. By this you say—for you and God alone to see—that you are making a declaration of dependence. You are admitting his ownership, and you have the confidence of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Don't do it lightly. We are talking about a life-changing and eternal decision, something to be done decisively in faith. Join me in our Prayer of Confession.