JEHOVAH ROHI "The Lord Is My Shepherd"

All right, man. Thank y'all so much. My name is Drew Chapman, and I get to serve as the senior pastor here at first about this Along with pastor Joe. Thank you guys to the choir for for leading us that way Did you guys notice when Addison fell Joe was worried about the microphone? You know like how like man? We don't want to hurt the microphone Joe. Don't just get it. Oh, I'm just picking on you Man, we're so glad if you're with us this morning. We are in our summer series called the names of God Just learning about that God does have a name. He reveals his name to his people throughout history And there's lots that we can learn about God's through his name He reveals his character and who he is and things that our relationship with him And he usually reveals his name in times of crisis He usually reveals his name when somebody in history has a need and God intervenes It says I have a name for that need and It's been our prayer and it's been our hope that as we've gone through this summer that at the end of this summer Come August. We are closer to our God than we were back at the very end of May Why because we've know his name now Scripture says he says close is just the whisper of his name that we can call him by name And then as we call him by name that it creates an intimacy there with our God simply by him no longer being distant And a stranger but him being close and intimate because we know his name and so this morning We're going to learn the name Jehovah Rohe high Jehovah Rohe high. It means the Lord is my shepherd And probably if you don't have any history with church or you have little history with the Bible You probably have heard this name in some capacity If not you've probably heard the Psalm that it comes from it By far the most famous if not you know if not maybe one of the famous most famous Psalms out there at Psalm 23 You've probably been to a funeral where you heard Psalm 23 read you've probably seen a movie where Psalm 23 Was being shared and the idea is with Psalm 23 is that it's not so much that God is revealing his name in a moment of crisis or in a moment of need Like that has happened in his previous names. This is a name that's being Revealed after just a year of years of David King David reflecting on his relationship with God and King David being a Shepherd before he was ever a king Understanding the role of a shepherd and understanding and this metaphor and this it is very much poetic and poetry that we're going to read this morning But in the same way David understands this in a real way after being a shepherd and he connects the dots and he says like the Lord is my Shepherd all that I am to these animals the Lord is that to me And so to understand what does it mean that the Lord is my shepherd? We got to understand what is a shepherd and David is going to give us some ideas of the characteristics of a shepherd here in Psalm 23 so if you want to follow along go ahead, but the scripture will be on the screen as well So we need to understand what shepherd means and so this morning It is my hope that as we go through Psalm 23 And as we learn about the name Jehovah Roe high that you don't think well Jehovah Roe high the Lord is my shepherd and Psalm 23 is just a Psalm and it's just the name for my worst day Right like a funeral Psalm it is my hope that at the end of our time here this morning that you know That Psalm 23 and the name Jehovah Roe high is not just the Psalm in the name for your worst day. It is a Psalm in the name for every day of And so let's learn about the characteristics of a shepherd number one the shepherd means leader And where do I get that well if you see in the Psalm it says that he Leads me besides still waters. He leads me in passive righteousness David understood this is in the east shepherds would lead their flock from the front They were the leader they were out in the front They determined the direction that their flock was going and they determined how fast or how slow that their flock was going Maybe you've seen a flock of you know being led from the back That's more of a west thing But when this is written it would have been from the front I love Timothy a thief from watermark church in Dallas He said well God is the leader as the shepherd leader means this that God is in charge of the path and the pace of our life The path in the pace so if you think about consider this even from David's own life In David's life that God was in charge of the path and the pace of even King David's life In first Samuel 16 we see where David is anointed the next king of Israel And so Samuel the prophet goes to the house of Jesse and says hey show me your son And the sun's line up and there's like man Samuel's like he's got to be one of these guys man. They're strong. They look good probably super intelligent God's like no that's not them Where is he like Samuel goes do you have another son? Well guess what His other son was David who was out in the pasture out in the field Shepherding the animal and so he comes in he says this is God's anointed This is the next king of Israel And we believe that David in that moment is about 14 15 or 16 years old. He's a teenager And what's remarkable is in that moment he doesn't take that title with the social media handle He doesn't go to the palace anything like that. He goes right back to the He goes right back to being a shepherd and scripture is clear that David does not walk in the calling of King He is King over Judah when he is 30 years old And no and then he is not King over all of a unified Israel until seven years later And so what does that mean from the time that God put put David on a path to being king 20 something years has passed Look that does not dive With our culture in this hurry up this Amazon Prime one hour delivery groceries Add free YouTube add free netflix all of those kinds of things. It just doesn't why 20 something years that David doesn't Walk in the calling that God had on his life But David understood that the Lord is his shepherd the Lord is in charge not only of the path But also the pace let's talk about the path of that what was happening in that 20 something years David is on the run from a from a jealous king current king king saw He's on the run. He's running for his life most of those years He's hiding out in caves for most of those years veering for his life You know, I think if you were if you were to be honest and I were to be honest this morning And we were say one of the times that we are frustrated with God one of the times that we are questioning or asking the more Most questions of our God we could probably if we zoomed out and we'd look at it We could probably say it has something to do with the path that he has us on right now or it has something to do with the pace that he has Right He's a lot slower than we hope I think about in school like everybody wanted to be the line leader man Just think about that like how much power you had as the line leader man. Why? Because if you were the line leader you were in charge of the path and you were in charge of the pace People had to go where you were going and they had to go at the pace that you were going And this is what David means that the Lord is my shepherd. He is our line leader He is in charge of the path and he's in charge of the pace, but he's not just the leader He is a restore notice David writes he makes me lie down in green pastures He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul He restores. He is the restore earth through rest and revival first rest cheap They don't rest easily In fact Philip Keller He was an author shepherd. He wrote a book called a shepherd look that Psalm 23. He was a shepherd himself And so for keeping his own flock he noticed four conditions that have to be present in order for sheep to actually lie Down and the rest Number one is free from fear. Number two is free from friction with other sheep Like there's actually rivalry within the flock and so they got to be free from friction with other sheep Free from formatting pests and then free from hunger Philip Keller would say in his flock if if one of these was missing It doesn't matter how green the pasture is it doesn't matter how green the grass is It doesn't matter how healthy it is how abundant it is a sheep will not lie down and rest They will still be agitated if these conditions are not met And so if you apply this to our own lives if we think about being free from fear Just think about the things that keep you up at night Think about the things you worry about the anxieties you have the fear of a diagnosis or the fear of a diagnosis that you receive Maybe it's the fear of an unstable job. I'm thinking for you upcoming freshman Just the fear of the unknown here in Tuscaloosa is the worry and it's the anxiety that we have Maybe it's not even like a confirmed threat that's out there But we still have this fear within us internally that keeps us anxious and keep us worried to keep us agitated and keep us from resting Fear from friction with other people It's about the friction that you might have right now with a in a relationship Maybe it's the spousit or a coworker or a roommate a friend or a classmate that you've got friction with That you're not resting because there is friction in this relationship Free from formatting pet You know, I get I we don't have rodents and things like that But I just think about those things that just repeatedly over and over that seem to maybe torment us Sometimes maybe it's others doings, but sometimes maybe it's just how we let those we let those things torment us Maybe maybe it's as practical as just the bills that continue to come But maybe it's also maybe that email that was sent that just keep processing over and over or that tech message that was sent if you keep processing over and over or that conversation that just tormenting it free from hunger maybe within this room I don't know if there's anybody if we're if we're actually starving physically but maybe there's a hunger for approval or hunger for value or hunger for acceptance there is that the real thing that we crave and so with these if these things if these conditions are not met like we're not resting that we cannot do this for ourselves and if they think about Philip pillars list of these four conditions they all have something in common in and of themselves the sheep cannot do this for themselves this is why David writes he makes me lie down in green hash our shepherd makes us rest he does this in our lives he frees us from all of these things so that these conditions are meant so that we can in turn rest well but it doesn't stop with rest he says and he restores my soul that's revival notice on the screen this is a cash sheep a cash sheep is one that's rolled over on its back and often sometimes we're just lying down in a small hollow or sifting its weight while it's resting right it's just it's just resting in the grass he's laying down and just shifts his weight and he rolls over and then when he rolls over he starts to flail his limbs are flailing he is struggling because he cannot get over on his own and not only is he flailing and panicking when that is happening internally gases building up circulation is cutting off and he will eventually die if he is not put back over the right way and not only that he's vulnerable to every other predator externally internally he's dying externally he could die if he stays in that state and a cash sheep cannot fix his own condition a cash sheep cannot flip itself back over a cash sheep needs the shepherd to see him or her and a cash sheep needs that shepherd to flip them back over and the shepherd does it gently flip some over right massages its legs so the circulation comes back not only so the sheep can stand but hurt so the sheep can walk again with the sheep and the same thing is true for you and me that's what a cash soul looks a stuffed soul we have stuffed souls all the time and sometimes it could be from grifting from our shepherd sometimes it could be from something that is going on in our lives where we start to drift but listen to her sometimes it could just be from being too simple as just too much comfort where we find ourselves stuck and in that moment not all are we not we're not being made to lie down we're in that moment our shepherd is restoring our soul our shepherd is the one who comes and turns us right side up and allows us to walk with him again and so shepherd means leader shepherd is restore the third characteristic of a shepherd is a guide earlier we said shepherd means leader and that's the path in the pace but now David writes this he leads me in the path of righteousness for his names hey so only our God can do this because a real a human being a human shepherd could not do this but our God can do is he is out in front he is our leader he is determining the path in the pace of our lives and where he is leading us but he is also right beside us he is our guide and he is walking with this each step of the way and on this path it is a path of righteousness that he is leading us on and as our guide he is concerned about our character and so he is helping shape our character along this path and he is also correcting when we compromise if we take King David's life again think about this that there was this moment and he is on the run from this delus King King Saul and he finds himself hiding out in a cave with his men and as they're in the cave with his men Saul walks into the cave and his men go this is it this is it like David God has delivered your enemy into your hands take them out right now why are we on the run make this thing happen like get to your throne that throne is yours you were anointed when you were a teenager take it right now by force and David doesn't do it he refuses to compromise in that moment in fact scripture tells us that David cut the corner of Saul's robe off just to show Saul like when you would see it that he could have in fact taken him out if he wanted to and scripture is clear that even that for meant to David's conscience that he did that to the Lord anointed this is what David said the Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master the Lord's anointed David knew that this path that God had him on that this path that he was directing in his life as his leader was one of righteousness it was one of character it was one of integrity it was not one of compromise and David was not going to compromise in this moment just to get to where he believed the Lord was eating Eugene Peterson wrote a book titled discipleship long obedience in the same direction and it's been mentioned in here before by the behind the pole pit about long obedience in the same direction but that is the Christian life it's a path of righteousness it is long obedience in the same direction and for the most part this sums up David's life but if you know anything else about David's life there are other moments where he did not walking character he did not stay on the path of righteousness there are other moments in David's life where he did compromise and the reality is when David compromise it cost him and it cost the people that loved him and the people that were closest to him dearly but even in those moments of compromise God was gentle and God was kind as his shepherd and he let him back to pass of righteousness he corrected him gently he corrected him back to the path of righteousness see sheep wander gradually if you notice on the green just think about a sheep just with his nose on the ground it's eaten grass and it's going to the next grass and bit by bit it gets further and further away from the flock further and further away from the shepherd this is why a shepherd staff is curved at the top the shepherd can gently pull the sheep back the shepherd can just gently nudge the sheep to come back on to the path to come back to the flock but then sometimes for a more stubborn sheep and that was going to raise their hand and admit if you're a stubborn sheep or not and if you haven't picked up or not like we are the sheep in the psalm you guys understand that like you are sheep and I am a sheep okay but there are more stubborn sheep that continue to test the boundary they continue to wander in this and continue to cross the same boundary over and over again and in those instances the staff does not work and those instances some shepherds would use what they call a leg break B-R-A-K-E not that they would break the leg but they would put a device on the sheep that was kind of weighted and it would slow the sheep down to train the sheep to stay with the flock to train the sheep to stay on the path with the shepherd and the rest of the flock sometimes correct in when we compromise looks like a gentle pull back on to the path of righteousness sometimes it feels a little bit more aggressive sometimes it feels a little bit more restrictive but in both instances correct in back to the path of righteousness for you and for me is never meant to be harmful it's never meant to hurt us in any way it is always for our good and notice why he does it think David writes for his name say so the Lord is my shepherd he leads me on passive righteousness and he does it for his name say this was never just about David's personal character or David's reputation and it's not just about ours either this path of righteousness is not just for our good although it is for our good the path of righteousness that God keeps us on and guides us down and corrects us when we go off is always for his glory it is about his reputation and this is why compromise can be so devastating not only is compromise to your character devastating to you as an individual not only is compromise devastating to you or the church that you're with but it is also devastating the reputation part is why it is a path of righteousness it is a path of character and not compromise so the Lord is my shepherd Jehovah Rohe high he is my leader he is my restore he is my guide and he is also my sustainer David right even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me so we just heard that the staff was to guide and to restore the rod was to defend off predators and to help protect the flock but I want you to see in this is that the rod and the staff I think sometimes when we say yes Lord I trust you and I want to follow you and I want to know you and I want you to know me we think even if we don't say it out loud that this Christian life or this Christian walk is going to be so easy and it's going to be so simple all right we're not going to suffer any and we're not going to hurt any but I want you to see that the rod and the staff they do protect the sheep but they do not keep the sheep out of the valley and I think too often we think we know the rod and the staff keep us on [BLANK_AUDIO] mountain pop. God says no through King David that there is a valley that we do walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but it's even in the valley of the shadow of death that the rod and the staff still bring comfort. That God doesn't protect us. Our shepherd does not protect us from the valley. Our shepherd protects us while we're in the valley. And David learns something that I think some of us probably need to learn this morning. Some of us are in a valley right now and David understood this. We don't camp out in the valley. We don't live in the valley. We walk through the valley. The valley is just a season. David had experienced all of this. David had experienced loss just like all of us have. He understood what the valley of the shadow of death was. David experienced heartache and loss just like anybody. He lost his best friend, Jonathan. We know of at least three sons that David lost. His daughter was great. His own son rebelled against him and tried to take his throne. We know that because of David's own pride and ego that he ordered a census just to try to understand how big was the kingdom that God had put him over. And when he did that, it was disobedient for what God had asked to do. And as a result, a plague came and 70,000 people died because of David's disobedient. And through all of that heartache and all of that suffering, the loss, some of it that was caused by him and some of it that was done to David. David learned this that the Lord is his shepherd and shepherd means his sustainer. He doesn't protect them from the valley, but he walked with them through the valley of the shadow of death. And he does it with his presence and he does it with his perseverance. And David learned that we don't camp. We don't live. I attended a funeral of a friend a couple weeks ago and some of you guys were there. And while we're at the funeral, her brother opened up the funeral and shared some words. And he just said, you know, right now our family is in the valley. And our family has been in the valley for a long time ever since that he was diagnosed with his cancer and walking with her through this. And so we've been in the valley. But he looked at us and he said, I want you to know something about the valley, though. There's a, and this just, I mean, it still just wrecks me because when I heard it, he said, there's a beauty in the valley that you cannot know when you're on the mountain top. There's a beauty in the valley that you can't see when you're up on the mountain top. You don't see it down in the valley, but it is there. And he said, the Lord is sustaining our family. The Lord is walking with us through this valley. We don't know when we're going to come out on the other side. We can't see the other side right now. But we are trusting that he is sustaining us and walking us through it. And there is a beauty. And there is an intimacy that we are experiencing with our Lord right now that we couldn't see when we are on the mountain top. Think about the growth that is in the valley. Think about how, think about just how like deserted the mountain top is. The growth is in the valley. David had learned this and he says, I don't live there. I don't camp there. I'm not making my home in the valley, but you're rod in your staff. They comfort me because I know that this is just the season whatever it was in David's life and whatever it is in your life or my life. It is just the season. We're not staying. We're not living there. We are walking through it for some people that means one foot in front of the up one day at a time. The Lord is my shepherd. Our sustainer doesn't remove the valley. He keeps us walking through it and he stays with us, reaches us. And then lastly, the fifth characteristic of our shepherd is this. He is our host. He is our host. David said, you prepare a table before me. In the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflow. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Shepherds would sometimes go ahead of the flock and they would actually pull out the poisonous plants and they would run off toward the pests that were there. They were literally preparing the pasture, preparing a table for the sheep to eat. And David says, this is exactly what the Lord is doing in the ancient world to be invited to somebody's table was an honor. There was dignity if you sat down and you ate with that person. That person was saying in that moment, a you are of great value that you are honored here. You are accepted here. There was dignity in that. You are safe and you are secure at my table. And so when David says that the Lord is preparing a table, he's not saying the Lord is preparing a table at the restaurant in the darkly lit corner back here that nobody can see and nobody is going to like see you sitting there. Nobody is going to talk to you or interrupt you or nothing that's way back there hidden. David says, it's way out here in the open. My table that the Lord has prepared for me is out in the open. And everybody sees it. Even my enemies see it. But David said, I'm seated at the table. I am unashamed at the table. I am at peace at the table because David understands if the Lord is forced and who could be. So he prepares a table. And he invites me to it. And he invites you to it. And he invites me to it is one of dignity. How do we know this? He's anointing with oil was a mark of honor. It was a mark of gladness to be anointed with oil was to be set apart. And then he says my cup overflows. David is not talking about scarcity from our Lord. He is talking about abundant. He is talking about more than he needs. Like he's sitting at a huge charcuterie board. And he's got everything that he needs in front of him. And he's eating whatever he wants. And he's unashamed. And he's at peace. And he's unhurried. Why? Because it's the Lord that prepares the table. And he's there with the Lord. And he knew this personally. David knew this while fleeing from his son that was trying to overtake his throne. He knew this by people that he was close to that had betrayed him. And all the while David says, surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. Like David, how can you say that? Like David, if you look back over your life and you look at everything that has happened to you, how can you say it was good? And how can you say it was God's mercy? But he does because God, because David understood it that way. He says surely is goodness. Surely it is God's mercy that has followed me. Not just followed like David bumped into it like God's goodness and mercy. It is that God's goodness and mercy was chasing after David. There was a favor on David's life because he was God's chosen that there was a favor there that chased him down. Goodness and mercy pursued David. He could say surely goodness and mercy has followed me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of my Lord. David said this was not a one-time invitation to come sit and eat with the Lord. This was forever. This invitation was for all eternity. So how is it that we sit at the table of the Lord forever? Well, we began the series saying God, God speaks to Moses and Moses is really nervous and says, God, you gotta tell me your name. He says, okay, I am. That's my name. I am. Moses, I am, I am whatever you need me to be. And we've seen throughout how God revealed Himself when they had a need that this was the name. I am whatever you need me to be. That will be that. And so in this moment, why Jesus mattered and why Jesus got so much friction with other people and why eventually Jesus was killed is because Jesus showed up and He said the same thing. I am. He said, I am God. I am the living God. And He says, that's I am before Abraham was I am. And then He made seven statements. And one of the statements that Jesus made in John 10 was this, I am the good God. Present tense. They would have known exactly Psalm 23. They would have known exactly what David said and David had written. They would have had it memorized. And Jesus says, I am everything that David described. That is me. The full weight of Psalm 23 fulfilled in Jesus. The leader who controls the path and the peace is the same one who said in John 1027, my sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me. The restore who revives the weary soul is the same one who said, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly, not just rescued, but fully brought back to life. The guide who leads with no compromises, names say it's the same one who never used his power in any way to take personal advantage. Jesus said, I can only do what the father tells me to do. He did not equate equality with God a thing to be grass, but he emptied himself. He made himself of no reputation. He was only concerned about his father's reputation. And it says that he was obedient to the point of death, even death on across past of righteousness. The sustainer who walks through the valley with us is the same one who says, I lay down my life for the sheep. Jesus did not have a rod and he did not have a staff. Jesus laid down his life on a cross. And he says, those that he gives to me, no one, no one, I give them eternal life and no one will snatch them out of my hand. And then the host who prepares a table in the presence of our enemies is the same one on the night he was betrayed. The night the betrayal was already in process, due to his enemy is sitting there the table and Jesus looked at him and says, "This is my body broken for the greatest portrayal in the history of our world and Jesus sits there at the table with the faith and eat." And here's where it all ties together. I know my own and my own no mean, Jesus says, just as the father knows me and I know the father. This is what makes Jesus a good shepherd. He knows the name. He calls his sheep by name. They hear his voice and they follow him. He doesn't just lead his sheep. He knows them personally, intimately. He died for the sheep and he rose again. And why did he do that? So you and I could say with King David, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 and Jehovah Rohe high. It is not just the Psalm and the name for your worst day. It is a Psalm and it is a name for every day. So how can we kind of live this and put this in the practice? Well, here's some next step. The first step is this. "Admit your sheep and not the shepherd." And look, this is me too. Like one of the best words for pastor in the scriptures is shepherd. But I got to remind myself, I am first and foremost and will always be a sheep to the good shepherd before I am ever your shepherd. I got to remember, I'm a sheep. I got to remember, I got to follow. I got to remember this is who I love and this is who I worship. And so admit, we got to admit that we're sheep. Number two, number this formation step. This week I will memorize Psalm 23 and all six firsts. I will be transformed by the words of the good. And then the face step is this. This week I will keep walking. And maybe this isn't you right now. Maybe right now that this is more proactive that you just took this away for that time when you are in the valley. But for those of you that are in the valley, the challenge this week is just keep walking. Remember that you don't stop there. You don't camp there and you don't live there. You keep walking through the valley. Your shepherd is in front of you. He is leading you through it. He is also right beside you guiding you and keeping you on the path of righteousness even through the valley. Just keep walking. One step in front of the other one day at a time. Well, thank you for joining us today. My name is Drew Chapman on the senior pastor here at First Baptist. And look, we would love the privilege and the honor to get to pray for you. And so you can email us any prayer request at [email protected]. And look, if you've ever considered supporting our ministry, we would love to continue to reach more people. And so you could give to the work of the ministry here at First Baptist as well. And then lastly, if you are ever in Tuscalusa or you live in Tuscalusa, we would love to have you in person with us. Join us any Sunday morning. You are invited to come worship with us here at first Baptist.