https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/SongOfFaith.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tText: Psalm 23<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. The most famous psalm is a song about faith.<\/p>\n A. It weaves in a few brief words the clear message of a special relationship between\nman and God\n
B. It speaks of trust and security in good times and bad.<\/p>\n
II. Faith in Times of Quiet – Psalm 23:1-3<\/p>\n
A. The Lord is my Shepherd<\/p>\n 1. David declares that God is his ruler, yet one who cares for and is mindful\nof his lowly creatures – Psalm 138:6\n 2. David grew up as a shepherd and knew the care a shepherd gives to his\nflock.\n
3. But telling to is that David said “my” shepherd.<\/p>\n
a. He saw that he belonged to the Lord<\/p>\n
b. The was an abiding companionship between David and God<\/p>\n
4. Today we realize that Jesus is our Lord and Shepherd – John 10:14-16<\/p>\n
B. I shall not want<\/p>\n
1. David was fully confident in the Shepherd ability to care for him.<\/p>\n
2. He had no concerns about the present or the future.<\/p>\n
3. This was not a trust in his situation as those at Laodicea – Revelation 3:17<\/p>\n
4. This was a reliance on the Eternal God – Philippians 4:19<\/p>\n
5. Confidence in access to help if the need arises – Hebrews 4:16<\/p>\n C. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters; He\nrestores my soul\n
1. God gives repose and rest to the weary pilgrim in life – Isaiah 40:11<\/p>\n 2. There is work to be done and difficulties to face, yet there are moments of\nquiet to recover – Psalm 138:7\n
3. To fountains of living water – Revelation 7:17<\/p>\n
4. And we are revived and restored – Psalm 51:10<\/p>\n
D. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake<\/p>\n 1. We are not left to wander but set on righteous paths – Psalm 143:8-10;\nProverbs 8:20\n
2. God will make the way easier – Isaiah 42:16<\/p>\n
3. This God does for His name’s sake<\/p>\n
a. He does not do this because we are so wonderful<\/p>\n
b. He does it because He is wonderful – Psalm 79:9<\/p>\n
c. And this He continues to do – Ephesians 1:5-9<\/p>\n
III. Faith in Times of Trouble – Psalm 23:4<\/p>\n
A. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,<\/p>\n 1. People fear the unknown more than the known because the possibilities are\nendless with the unknown. And death is the ultimate unknown.\n 2. Job used the phrase “shadow of death” to refer to terrors of the night – Job\n24:17\n 3. Job also used the phrase “shadow of death” to allude to deep gloom and\ndespair – Job 3:3-5; 10:21-22\n
4. For the Israelites, it recalled the wilderness journeys – Jeremiah 2:5-6<\/p>\n 5. Thus walking through the valley of the shadow of death refers to low\npoints in our lives when troubles, fears, gloom, and despair seem to pile\nupon us from every side.\n
B. I will fear no evil for You are with me;<\/p>\n 1. But despite the environment, David said he would not fear. As Zacharias\nrecognized when he saw the Christ – Luke 1:78-79\n
2. Pure confidence in the Shepherd – Psalm 27:1-4; 46:1-3<\/p>\n
3. It is the words we must remember from Jesus – Matthew 28:19-20<\/p>\n
C. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.<\/p>\n 1. A rod is a switch used to keep the sheep from straying and going where\nthey need to go.\n 2. A staff is a walking stick, it is used to extend the reach of a shepherd to\nguide a sheep, but it can also be used as a weapon against something\nattacking the sheep.\n
3. Thus David finds comfort in the fact that God corrects him and guides him.<\/p>\n
4. God’s chastening<\/p>\n a. Chastening means God cares enough to want us to improve –\nHebrews 12:5-14\n
b. It is to keep us out of danger – I Corinthians 11:32<\/p>\n
c. God inflicts for our good – Psalm 119:75<\/p>\n
d. Happy is the person whom God chastens – Psalm 94:12<\/p>\n
e. Jesus states – Revelation 3:19<\/p>\n
5. God’s guidance<\/p>\n
a. God’s laws are desirable – Psalm 19:7-11<\/p>\n
b. God’s commands will watch over you – Proverbs 6:22-23<\/p>\n
D. Thus the Hebrew writer spoke – Hebrews 13:5-6<\/p>\n
IV. Faith in God’s Grace and Mercy – Psalm 23:5-6<\/p>\n
A. Here the imagery shifts to being a guest in God’s house<\/p>\n B. Grace is giving to another what they do not deserve. Mercy is not giving to\nanother what they do deserve.\n
1. David expresses his awe at God’s generosity<\/p>\n
C. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;<\/p>\n
1. God shows His goodness where others can see – Psalm 31:19<\/p>\n 2. But it also indicates that God gives and enemies are unable to hinder Him –\nRomans 5:8-10\n
3. Who can interfere with God’s gifts – Romans 8:31-39<\/p>\n
D. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.<\/p>\n
1. Rich gifts are given, more than abundantly than expected – Ephesians 3:20<\/p>\n
E. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life<\/p>\n
1. God’s grace and mercy will be experienced throughout life<\/p>\n
2. It was David’s one desire – Psalm 27:4<\/p>\n
F. And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever<\/p>\n 1. For Israel, the house of the Lord referred foremost to the temple – Psalm\n65:4\n
2. But it was also God’s household, His children, His people – Hebrews 3:5-6<\/p>\n
3. Today that household is the church – I Timothy 3:15<\/p>\n
4. But the ultimate joy is to dwell in God’s eternal home – Revelation 21:1-4<\/p>\n
V. The ultimate goal for God’s sheep – Hebrews 13:20-21<\/p>\n
A. Will you enter His pastures and become one of His sheep?<\/p>\n
B. Will you follow the Shepherd’s voice and trust in His care?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Text: Psalm 23 I. The most famous psalm is a song about faith. A. It weaves in a few brief words the clear message of a special relationship between man and God B. It speaks of trust and security in good times and bad. II. Faith in Times of Quiet – Psalm 23:1-3 A. The Lord is my Shepherd…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[106,49,48,518,519,516,517,188],"class_list":["post-2280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-discipline","tag-faith","tag-grace","tag-guidance","tag-mercy","tag-psalms","tag-shepherd","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-valley-of-the-shadow-of-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":2280,"position":0},"title":"The Valley of the Shadow of Death","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Earl Kimbrough Via\u00a0Guardian of Truth XXXII: 17, pp. 534-535, September 1, 1988 The beautiful twenty-third Psalm is a song of faith. It abounds with an assurance of God's guidance and protection. There is mention of the danger of enemies, both past and present, but it is muted by David's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85776,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/implications-of-the-23rd-psalm\/","url_meta":{"origin":2280,"position":1},"title":"Implications of the 23rd Psalm","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson We cannot make it without the Shepherd. Sheep need their shepherd. So do we (Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23). What a Palestinian shepherd did for his flock, Jesus does for His sheep: He leads, provides, and protects (Isaiah 40:11). Self-reliance is folly. It takes humility to admit we can't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54857,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/o-for-a-faith-such-as-this\/","url_meta":{"origin":2280,"position":2},"title":"O for a Faith Such as This!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 56 \u00a0I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Read the song \u201cO for a Faith That Will Not Shrink\u201d by W. H. Bathhurst (#462) II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A faith without fear \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Most of our fears of our own imagination - Psalm 53:5 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When our dreads are elusive, we make things up, and what we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86059,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs\/","url_meta":{"origin":2280,"position":3},"title":"Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wayne S. Walker via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 1, January 2015 We know from the New Testament and can infer from later writings of church leaders that Christians of the first century did sing in their worship, but we do not know precisely what songs they sang or exactly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/our-need-for-guidance\/","url_meta":{"origin":2280,"position":4},"title":"Our Need for Guidance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John 10:1-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A disturbing trend has been commented upon time and again \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Children going astray, Christians leaving the church. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It appears that the second law of thermodynamics applies to Christians as well. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Instead of a trend toward increasing entropy (randomness and disorder) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a trend toward increasing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40908,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/psalms-119\/","url_meta":{"origin":2280,"position":5},"title":"Psalms 119","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverb 4:10-17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do you learn? What do you need to learn? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The evil decay, but a child of God must learn - II Timothy 3:13-17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is important for all aspects of life - II Peter 1:3 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Your parents have invested a lot\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}