Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Father, you are so faithful and good, and thank you for your words that we can come to whatever season of life that we are. And these words that Bernard have read for us are ones that have been known and loved and cherished for millennia. And I pray that as we unpack them today, would Holy Spirit, would you come and illuminate and refresh us and help pour point us to Jesus so that we can become more and more like him. And so would I pray that I would decrease and that you would increase Jesus in this time together, would you lead us and would you encounter us where we're at? In your mighty name we pray.
[00:00:46] Amen.
[00:00:49] So back when I was in grade six, I played football with Norwood Primary, did the Friday afternoon sports, and I was a pretty mid footballer. Like, I certainly wasn't a star player, but I wasn't a liability on the field either.
[00:01:11] But one magical game, it all came together for me. We were playing against Summerhill. Summerdale. Sorry. In 10 years, I still haven't quite figured out why one side wear Summerhill and why Summerdale? But anyway, we were playing against Summerdale and it was always a thing. Like, you'd have a group of subs, they'd spend a quarter off, and then they'd swap them around. Second quarter, I came on and kicked two goals in, like, the first few minutes. I was on my way to a bag. I was on fire. And then I got a free kick. Someone pushed me in the back as I was going, and I got to line up for another kick. And I'm just thinking, this gets three and a quarter and not even the quarter's done yet. I was getting really excited, so I grabbed the ball and I. I lined up, I did my routine, I grabbed some grass and threw it up and didn't know what that meant, but I was like, that's what footy that players do. And so I lined up, I kicked it, and it went straight through. And I started to get ready for the celebration. I turned around, thinking that teammates would be coming over and no one was starting to come. But I'm like, I'll go to them. That's fine. Like, I've just kicked. And then I heard point.
[00:02:23] What?
[00:02:24] I looked. And in that moment, I realized as I looked up and tilted my head that way, that I kicked it straight through the point post. Wasn't even aiming at the goal post. Like, it was kind of. It was as straight a kick as I could have done in the wrong direction, through the wrong goals.
[00:02:49] I did not get another goal for the Rest of the game, I was shattered, absolutely shattered. In that moment, it's possible, isn't it, to kind of be doing really, really well in the direction of the wrong goal.
[00:03:04] And so last week I shared that I was finishing up my time here as the pastor of Summerhill in December. And thank you to those who have reached out. I've really appreciated that.
[00:03:16] In the light of that, I went back to my preaching plan. So around about this time every year, I take some time to reflect and pray on what to preach for the following 12 months. And so I went back to what I had for the rest of the year and just kind of felt in light of that, I didn't want to be kicking at the wrong goals. And so we kind of turfed that out. And we're going to have a new direction for the next few months that we'll be together. And so this is where we'll be going through. We're going to be focusing on the character and who is the God that always stays with us, that always remains, that never leaves us or forsakes us, looking at how his faithfulness reaches from our past into our present and actually holds us for the future to come and how God uses kind of transitions in moments of his story to unfold his plans and, excuse me, his purposes. And so today we're going to be starting off by focusing on kind of the character of the God who remains. Because a couple of times this week I had a message and then a conversation with people who shared that like, that they've been a part of multiple pastors who have been at Summerhill Baptist, that up to people. We've seen five pastors kind of come through here in this time. And I think what Kevin shared last week was an incredibly important thing that it's normal in the life of a church to see come pastors come in and go out. Does that make it easy? No.
[00:04:54] Does that make like. But it's a natural thing. But in the midst of each of those pastors that comes and goes, there is a God who remains.
[00:05:06] There is a God who is the head of his church that holds us and sustains us and keeps us and leads us and guides us and will never leave us or forsake us.
[00:05:21] And so in light of that, we are going to be spending our time this morning looking at this idea that the God who stays with us is our shepherd.
[00:05:32] And we're going to be focusing on those words that Bernard read for us that I'm guessing most of us have heard at some point in time or another. And that is Psalm 23. You can rock into quorong and you will find these words on coffee mugs, on pitchers, on plaques. They are everywhere. This is a well known, well loved psalm.
[00:05:56] And I think the danger of it being such a well known, well loved psalm is that who here heard the words that Bernard was reading, went, I know this one.
[00:06:07] And automatically it could kind of put up this kind of familiarity that we're now filtering through.
[00:06:14] But these words, they are an incredibly beautiful, rich psalm that was written out by David whilst he was a shepherd.
[00:06:26] And so he knows this reality in which he is speaking of. He knows deeply and that in the midst of whatever seasons that we are in, whatever transitions that are coming, because the reality is like, change is really one of the only constants in life.
[00:06:44] Like, it's one of those things that regardless of what season, like whatever your life is going to look like, there will be changes.
[00:06:53] Now, I disagree with old mate Heraclitus when he says it's the only constant in life. I think we as followers of Jesus hold to a God that is far more constant in that and holds us through the midst of change and transition.
[00:07:09] But it's great to know that no matter what we are going through, that there is a God who holds us and keeps us and leads us and guides us.
[00:07:20] And these words that David reads starts with an incredibly profound realization that the first line, and chances are you could recite this off by memory, a lot of you. Here it is, the Lord is my shepherd.
[00:07:41] These words are profound.
[00:07:45] These words are so incredibly significant for us because what David is saying is that the shepherd on one hand is language that is used to describe the kings of the old testament, Ezekiel 34, Jeremiah 3, all speak of this reality of kings or leaders being shepherds.
[00:08:09] And whether they are shepherds who take advantage of the flock, take advantage of their sheep, or are good shepherds.
[00:08:17] That is the language that he used. But David is saying, the Lord is my shepherd, yet he is my king. There is a really personal nature to us.
[00:08:30] And so for each of us to know that the Lord is our shepherd is profoundly important thing.
[00:08:39] It was one of the things as a pastor that another word for a pastor is a shepherd.
[00:08:45] And one of the things that I have reflected on in my time here at Summerhill is this. In my best moments, and I don't think they've all been best moments, but in the best moments that I've had as a pastor, really all I'm doing is following, seeking to follow. Because any leader within Church context, who's wanting to lead? Well, really trying to follow the example of Jesus, that is, we're trying to follow. It's a very weird dynamic that if you're wanting to lead in the economy of Jesus, you must be a follower.
[00:09:26] And so as we come to this next few months, it's important to remember like one Peter, in his letter, in Peter's first letter, speaks of. He's encouraging the elders and leaders of the church, calling them shepherds.
[00:09:42] But he also says when the chief shepherd appears, that is, there is a shepherd who is over as the human leadership, the human leadership is seeking to follow, and that is Jesus, the good shepherd for us. And so David makes this extraordinary claim that the one who created the world, the heavens and the earth, the one who sustains all things, the one who gives breath, and the one who has created absolutely everything, is David's shepherd, his personal one who leads and guides and shapes.
[00:10:31] And I think as we navigate the months ahead for all of us, it's important to have that understanding that the Lord is my, our shepherd, as the church at Summerhill Baptist. And he has been and always will be the chief, the head shepherd who was at work in the years before I came, has been faithfully at work in the time that I've been here and will continue on just to have that deep entrenched understanding that he is our shepherd, he is the one who is holding us.
[00:11:08] But the skip in translation, for me, at least personally, I don't know about anyone else here. I don't own a lot of sheep.
[00:11:15] Some of you here do own sheep. I haven't spent a lot of time with literal shepherds.
[00:11:23] What does a shepherd do?
[00:11:27] Like, what does it mean for David when he makes this extraordinary claim that the Lord who created all things, Yahweh, the one who was and is and is to come, that he's my shepherd, what are the implications for that, for his life?
[00:11:44] The first thing he speaks of is the provisional nature of this shepherd in a profound statement of I shall not be in want or I lack nothing.
[00:12:00] I mean, so much of the messaging that we see in culture and advertising says that if you had this or if you had done this or had this experience, then you will be happy, then you will be fulfilled, then you will be enough.
[00:12:16] It is kind of coming from we have a lack and we need something else to fill us. And yet David says, because he is my shepherd, I'm not in want.
[00:12:30] I don't have a lack that I am provided for by this shepherd of food.
[00:12:38] Water, shelter. But I think it even goes deeper than that.
[00:12:46] Another one of The Psalms, Psalm 37, says, Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land.
[00:12:53] I love this phrase. And befriend faithfulness.
[00:12:57] Draw close to faithfulness.
[00:13:00] Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
[00:13:06] Now, I don't think that's saying that if you do the stuff that God wants, he is going to just give you all the cash, all the staff, everything that you're longing for. This is a sense as we delight in, in God that transforms us.
[00:13:24] And suddenly the things that are. That is on God's heart becomes the things that are on our heart.
[00:13:33] And that as we step into prayer, as we step into this, then it's this kind of relationship as we come to know God and he draws near to us, that it's not just those, those desires of food, water, shelter, but it's deeper desires. That every one of our deep desires can be fulfilled in the hands and the care and the providence of the shepherd, that we're told, that he makes me lie down in green pastures and leads by still waters. That this phrase is that the shepherd, David's shepherd, is actively and dynamically seeking out environments where they can rest, they can thrive.
[00:14:23] And that's really the role of a shepherd, this point, leading the sheep through to places where there is green pasture, where there is fresh water, where there's space, where they can lay down, where there's safety from predators.
[00:14:39] And David saying, the Lord is my shepherd. And as he as a shepherd is doing this for his sheep, God is leading and guiding him to places where he can rest.
[00:14:53] Places where in fact, I mean the fact that God himself is our true pasture, that he is the one, that God leads us to dwell closer to him and that he leads us by still waters.
[00:15:16] This is an image of peace, that he provides peace and soul refreshing or living water as Jesus uses it in John chapter four, that he leads his people into rest.
[00:15:30] And it's not merely physical respite, but a shepherd is seeking to lead his sheep away from the threats, away from predators, in a place where they can just be and eat and drink and have safety and refuge.
[00:15:47] That the Lord as our shepherd is kind of leading us into a peace, a peace that transcends all understanding. Paul writes in his letter to the Philippians.
[00:16:03] And what's interesting is this, this language of lead by stood. He restores me that that word restores. It's the same root word for the word repentance, that there's this relationship between, as we turn back to God, there's restoration in that. Isaiah says in repentance and rest is your salvation, is your healing, is your rescue. And it's those two words, he ties them together, that there's something about this term. Repentance is simply to return, to come back to God. And as we do that, there is rest found for our souls and there is a deep, deep restoration.
[00:16:55] And then the final descriptor that he uses is it's not just the destination, but it's also the journey that he will lead us in the paths of righteousness, that he will help us to walk in good right paths for us. And this kind of echoes the language of Joshua in chapter one.
[00:17:18] It's hard to imagine kind of what Joshua was going through in that moment, that he had followed Moses, being kind of a right hand man to him for 40 or so years. And then Moses dies outside the promised land. And it is Joshua who is going to lead the people in the sense of anxiety in that moment for him.
[00:17:43] And yet God speaks these words. Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do all that. The law that Moses, my servant, commanded you, do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. There is a path that God is speaking to Joshua. There is a way that you should follow. Don't deviate to the left, don't deviate to the right. Be as faithful as you can to the law. My servant Moses has commanded you. This is kind of the idea of Psalm 23. Or he leads us in paths of righteousness or paths that are right for us to walk in.
[00:18:30] And then he says this little phrase at the end, kind of the motivation for all of this, for his name sake.
[00:18:42] So what does that mean that he is doing this for his name's sake?
[00:18:49] There's a quote by someone who wrote on the Psalms called John Goldingay. He says this. He says Yahweh is a God. Yahweh is the Jewish name, for God is a God characterized by faithfulness, in a sense, that is the meaning of the name Yahweh.
[00:19:09] So acting in faithfulness demonstrates that the name is a true reflection of of his character.
[00:19:20] Like this is not just merely about a motivation. This is God's character coming through in how he meets and engages with his people.
[00:19:31] He is at his core faithful.
[00:19:37] And so all this that he is doing for his sheep comes out of flows and reveals the faithfulness of his character which is displayed to us in verse Four, a verse that has given so much comfort to so many people throughout history, that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
[00:20:06] Which is a profound statement, isn't it?
[00:20:11] You may have heard that there are 365 commands in the Scriptures of do not be afraid.
[00:20:18] I think any one of those commands is, do not be afraid because there is nothing to fear.
[00:20:26] Like, it's not like God has said, I've eradicated everything that you need to be afraid of. So therefore do not fear that. This David here is saying, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that I am walking through difficulties and struggles, I don't fear any evil.
[00:20:48] Why? How?
[00:20:50] Who here has ever struggled with fear?
[00:20:55] Like, how does he. How does he not fear when there is something to legitimately be afraid of?
[00:21:05] For you are with me.
[00:21:09] You're with me.
[00:21:11] Your rod and your staff, the very tools that a shepherd uses to protect the sheep, like, they comfort me. Because I know you are with me through any valley, through any difficulty that I walk through, that you are with me.
[00:21:35] This is the core of God's faithfulness to his people. He does not leave us nor forsake us.
[00:21:46] He stays. He is faithful. He is with us through every season of Life.
[00:21:55] And Psalm 23 is a voice that is crying out in the midst of chaos, in the midst of turbulence, in the midst of tumult, and asking us the question, will you trust the shepherd when you are living in bounty and you are in the by the still waters, and when you are at the green pasture, will you trust the shepherd as you walk through the valley of the shadow of death and everything looks lost around you and you need the rod and the staff. Will you trust the shepherd when you're entering into a new stage of life and whether it's one that you have willingly chosen or one that has been thrust upon you and you're freaking out and it's overwhelming you, and what on earth are you going to do?
[00:22:48] Will you trust the shepherd when you're longing for something to happen and it's just not, and you're wondering, what on earth? What more can I do?
[00:23:06] Will you trust the shepherd?
[00:23:10] This is the core question in life. Because every one of us, regardless if we follow Jesus or not, we trust in something or someone, that it doesn't matter how rational we are, it doesn't matter how much we've logically weighed up all the different options we all at our heart's level, will place our trust, our hope Our confidence in something or someone. And they can be very good things, but they're just not meant to be the thing that we place our hope, trust and confidence in.
[00:23:53] And so it's a question that I think every single one of us, no matter how long we've been following Jesus for, is to ask, what is my trust in?
[00:24:05] Where do I run to when I look for comfort?
[00:24:10] Where do I run to when I need a sense of I'm okay?
[00:24:18] What are the things that I can't say no to?
[00:24:26] We all will trust in something or Someone.
[00:24:32] And Psalm 23 is calling us to place our trust in the One who is with us, to place our trust in the Good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, the one who is for us, and the one who remains faithful. I love this little thing that Paul writes to. Timothy says, if we endure, endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us, which is a challenging thought. But if. If we are faithless, he remains faithful for why he cannot deny himself.
[00:25:26] He is faithful, the core of who he is.
[00:25:30] And so even when we, and let's be honest, all of us at some point in time, will get to the place of the dad in Mark 9 who's asking Jesus if he can cast a demon out of his son. And Jesus says, if I can, anything is possible for him who believes. And the Father's response is, I believe.
[00:25:52] Help my unbelief.
[00:25:55] I think that's an incredibly human catch cry that we've all at some point had some experience in that place.
[00:26:05] Will you trust the one who remains faithful?
[00:26:11] Notice where this rescue is taking place.
[00:26:15] In the valley of the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are with me. That this isn't like, okay, we're through it now. It's all good. It's in the midst of the struggle, it's in the midst of the difficulty that he is faithful and that he is with us. And that stretches into the next verse says, you prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.
[00:26:45] That in the midst of everything that's going on, the people that are seeking to get him, the people that are just pursuing him, he's like, you prepare a table. This is an image of abundance and relationship in the presence of the difficulty, in the presence of the enemy, that there is abundance, that his faithfulness even reaches in to the deepest, darkest moments of our life.
[00:27:18] You may. This is one of those ones that also can come up in like, quorong plaques and everything. But you may have Heard. This is Lamentations, chapter three. Says, the steadfast, steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
[00:27:31] His mercies never come to an end.
[00:27:36] They are new every morning.
[00:27:40] Great is your faithfulness. Who here has heard those words before?
[00:27:45] Who here has just been encouraged and empowered by them?
[00:27:50] Do you know where they land in the context of the book?
[00:27:55] Smack bang in the middle.
[00:27:58] And it's really the only positive ray of hope that comes in the entire book. Everything else is basically, everything's been decimated, everything's been destroyed. It feels. There's actually lines of like, I feel like I've had my teeth kicked in through going through exile. And yet I will hope.
[00:28:18] Why?
[00:28:20] Because he's faithful.
[00:28:22] That in the midst of the darkest moments that we have walked through, he holds us.
[00:28:28] I don't know if you have ever experienced that reality, that life has. The bottom has fallen out.
[00:28:35] And then in that place, you realize you're still held by the God who remains faithful.
[00:28:44] It is not a comfortable place to be in, but there's something profoundly safe in that moment.
[00:28:55] And the psalm closes with this line.
[00:28:59] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
[00:29:12] It's a lovely little button, that word follow.
[00:29:18] I don't think we get the ferocity of that word because there are many, many times throughout the Psalms that David or one of the other psalms is writing about how their enemies pursue them, chase them.
[00:29:32] They feel no sense of respite, no sense of relief, that the enemies are closing in and they're calling out to God for help, calling out for him to rescue or intervene because his enemies are following him.
[00:29:48] This is the same word, only this time it's not enemies.
[00:29:55] It's the faithfulness and the goodness and the mercy of God that pursues us.
[00:30:02] That even if we walk away, even if we run away, even if we Jonah, this bad boy, up and flee in the other direction in which God is calling us to. To go.
[00:30:13] He follows us, he chases us, he is faithful to us, and he will not rest.
[00:30:29] And that the psalmist has found his dwelling, his safety, his asylum in him.
[00:30:40] That this psalm is a profoundly beautiful and deeply powerful look at the faithfulness of God in the midst of every season of life.
[00:30:59] And that it is the call for us, I think, in this moment, of how do we navigate forward. It's, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, the one who is the good shepherd, who lays his life down for his Sheep.
[00:31:25] That has been my hope over the time that I have had to be your pastor, is that I have not wanted to kind of draw a lot of attention to myself. But it's been, let's fix our eyes on Jesus together.
[00:31:40] And that is the call for the next season for each of us, because he is faithful and he holds us through every single season.
[00:31:54] And so just some questions to reflect on. What from this psalm is comforting to you?
[00:32:03] Chances are a lot of us know this psalm. A lot of us are very familiar with it. But as we hit it afresh today, what stands out to you?
[00:32:15] What is the thing that today, as we've read through this psalm, as Bernard has read it for us, and as we've unpacked it, what is the note for you that brings comfort and a sense of encouragement today?
[00:32:31] But what does it mean for you to say, the Lord is my shepherd?
[00:32:39] That call of personal trust in the one who has created all things?
[00:32:45] And flip side, maybe you're sitting here today and going, I don't know if I'm there.
[00:32:52] What is it that gets in the way that's causing that block of you saying, the Lord is my shepherd?
[00:33:02] For the encouragement to read through Psalm 23, six verses just each day of the week coming up.
[00:33:09] What stands out to you each time?
[00:33:13] Is there a word? Is there a phrase? Is there an image as you try and imagine the passage and what it would be like to be one of the sheep that is being shepherded? What stands out to you as you read through the Scriptures each day?
[00:33:32] Thank you, Jesus, for these words that recorded so long ago, and yet they have had a resonance for people for.
[00:33:46] For years upon years upon years, that even today in 2025 in Tasmania, that the words of Psalm 23 can bring us solace and comfort. Because you are the same yesterday, today and forevermore, you are our shepherd.
[00:34:06] As we enter into the next season together, would you shepherd us?
[00:34:11] You lead us, would you guide us, Would you comfort us? Would you bring us to green pasture? Would you give us peace? And would we know with every fibre of our being that you are with us and that your faithfulness remains and it is new every morning.
[00:34:35] Encourage us, Jesus. Thank you that you are with us. In your mighty name we pray.
[00:34:40] Amen.
