grantataberfoyle

Don’t commit adultery

In this seventh commandment the Lord tells us how important marriage is to him, and what he wants us to do to protect it. ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

He means that if someone is married, they shouldn’t have a sexual relationship with anyone else. Sex is not a way of having a casual relationship, or excitement, or doing whatever you feel like. It’s for marriage.

Does this sound as though God is only interested in restricting our freedom? This opinion is commonly held, so, it’s important to remember the events from which these commands arise.

The Lord has saved Israel from slavery. He’s leading them to a land of their own. He calls them his ‘special possession’. By favouring them, he is revealing himself to many others as well. There’s already been 19 chapters of Exodus to tell this story before we get to the commands in chapter 20.

If you don’t have this narrative—and then the fascinating story that follows, right up until God’s Son comes to earth—these commands may be hard to understand.

Commands work properly when they are part of a story of how everything fits together. In fact, if you don’t want’ God’s story. you need to write another narrative to fit the way you want to live.

For example, these other narratives may say that our being alive is simply a matter of chance, that commands are the way we become victims of power plays, or that we must decide for ourselves who we are and what is right for us to do. A lot of work goes in to building up these story lines.

Then, these narratives lead to commands—just as certainly as the Lord’s story does. Just listen to the daily news! We have to make sure other people conform to our story line so that our freedom is secured and we can arrive at the land we have imagined.

However, if these narratives have not researched what God has said to the world, and what he has promised and what he has done, they are not based on all the available information. On the other hand, if we believe our Creator is kind and generous and that he has sent his Son to live among us, we can follow through what his command about marriage means. So, that’s what I’ll do!

There’s nothing new about a man and a woman meeting and marrying. It’s been with us from the beginning (see Genesis 2:18-25). God makes a man, and says it’s not good for him to be alone. So, he makes a woman—a creature like him but opposite to him. He brings her to the man. Only then can they take up their responsibility to look after the creation.

In this creation story, there’s a line of explanation about all subsequent marriages: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24). That is, before they express their love physically, they need to leave one family to create another one, and be faithful to the one who is like but different. Then, they become one flesh by sexual union (1 Cor. 6:16).

The dynamics of people sharing a sexual relationship is so profound that the only place it ought to happen is when a man and a woman say to each other, “I’m going to belong to you and care for you as long as we both live.’ That is what sex is expressing. And marriage is what enables sex to be a power for good rather than a power to pollute and destroy.

And this is what the Lord is now protecting by his command.

It’s not surprising that God makes so much of this. He is creating a community to be close to him, and to be cared for by him. Jesus Christ comes to take this church as his bride (Eph. 5: 25-31).

Marriage between a man and a woman is a covenant like God’s covenant with us. It represents this God-relationship in a human-to-human relationship. And because children are born into this union, they can grow up in an environment of faithful love. This is how they learn to be human beings.

You may say this is all idealistic. Not really. An ideal is an idea we turn into a doctrine—something we create. But marriage is something God creates. It’s not an idea. It’s how things are.

If you are married, there’s something you share with that person that you can’t share with anyone else—sexual union, and all the intimacy that goes with that.

Sex is not OK if you are steady with your girlfriend or boyfriend. It’s not OK if you feel deeply about each other. Your body’s not your own to do what you like with. It needs to be kept for the person you may marry one day. This is the way it is spelled out for young people in the book of Proverbs (Prov. 5:15-21).

Clearly, sexual interest is strong when we are young. God made us this way. However, the fact that our community makes so much of sex doesn’t encourage restraint, so we need to be prepared to be different. And waiting won’t do us any damage—even though it may feel like it sometimes! In fact, it will give us character, and purity to give to the one we want to spend our life with.

Outside of marriage, sex makes increasing demands. Because it’s not ‘the real thing’—that is, an expression of married love—it needs increasing doses, like a drug (Mark 7:20-23). It leads to other kinds of dissipation as well (Galatians 5:19-21)—even community violence.

For generations, our culture has encouraged free sexual expression. But it hasn’t encouraged the best in our humanity. It hasn’t led to happiness. Just look at the number of court cases going on at present over this issue. It hasn’t led to greater creativity and energy. Rather, it leads to dissipation. There’s a dynamic or energy in sex that needs marriage for it to be a power for good rather than a power for evil.

The way Jesus spells this out makes the matter even clearer (Matt. 5:27-28; 19:8-9). He says, ‘You have heard that it was said, “Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart’ (Matthew 5:28). He goes on to show the lengths we should go to if we are going to avoid sinning with our eyes or our hands.

Paul spells out how careful we need to be with our morality at this point (Ephesians 5:3-7). Effectively, he says, you can’t be a Christian and mess around with your sexual life.

What happens if you’ve been living without this perspective? What if, very deeply, your life is now shaped and soiled by breaking God’s command? Here’s where the difference between God’s story and the story we write for ourselves matters a lot. The stories we write can’t invent a redeemer. But God sends one.

This is why we love Christ so much. He takes to himself all the pollution we gather about ourselves by breaking his commands. He bears God’s judgement on it. And he rises from the dead and says to you and me, ‘You are clean again!’ Whatever has happened in the past, you can be live as someone who is clean, and ready for real marriage. This leaves many current issues unaddressed—things like gender fluidity and homosexuality. But if we understand how God made us, the command he has given us, and the redemption he has accomplished, we will know that sex is for marriage between a man and a woman, and not for anything else. All the other things we discuss need to take this as their starting point.

Don’t steal

We all know the sinking feeling we get when something is missing. And it’s worse if we think if it has been stolen. But this commandment is not about what might happen to us. It’s about what I may do myself.

God is a giver, and he wants us to be like him. Taking what doesn’t belong to us is no part of his economy! Let’s look at some of the ways this taking and giving happens.

The most obvious stealing is taking someone else’s property—by violence or stealth. Some are clever enough to do it legally. There are many kinds of property, including intellectual property. A thief puts his own interest above that of others and above the well-being of the whole community.

Then there’s stealing by withholding what we owe someone else. This doesn’t attract the same attention as direct stealth, but it is just as damaging. For example, if someone employs you, you owe them your good service. And if someone provides a service to you, they need your prompt payment. Failure here breeds distrust and broken relationships. It’s stealing.

On a more personal level, Paul says, ‘Owe no man anything except to love one another’ (Romans 13:8). In other words, pay your bills, but you’ll never finish paying the debt of love to those around you. God’s love has filled you up so full that you have the resources to help others. If you close up your heart, you’re not paying your bill!

Love is powerful. It builds and heals and provides and creates hope. Withholding of love is also powerful. It breaks and bruises and steals and creates despair.

Paul tells thieves who’ve become Christians not to steal anymore. Rather, they should work at something so they have enough to look after themselves and to give to those in need (Ephesians 4:28). God has designed us to look after things, and each other.

God is not running his creation legally—as though we only have to do a minimum to keep ourselves out of trouble. He wants everyone contributing what they can, and as they have opportunity. John tells us that if we have resources and see someone in need and do nothing, God’s love doesn’t live I us (1 John 3:17). That’s serious!

By telling us not to steal from one another, the Lord has raised the matter of property. This is clear from the fact that we are not to take what belongs to someone else.

But is owning certain things a right? We talk about it all the time in the community. But the value of property is greater than a right. It’s a gift. James tells us, ‘Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father…’ (James 1:17).

This means that if I steal from someone else, whether property, or service or opportunity, I am not merely offending the victim, I am messing with God’s generosity.

We may think that if we work consistently and well, we deserve to have what we have earned. But God sees us doing our job as his gift (Psalm 104:23-24). He’s given us a planet with its seasons and systems that enable things to work. He ensures the success of our work—or otherwise. And he’s given us the joy of participating in making everything function well. And then he gives us the fruits of our own work.

The Lord who gives us these commands is leading Israel to their own country. They are going to have their own plot of land—and it will be protected, productive and pleasurable (Deuteronomy 26:8-10).

And this is true for all of us. The Lord gives freely to all the peoples of the earth so that everyone can eat heartily and enjoy their life (Acts 13:15-18; 17:24-26).

So, the Lord is telling us not to get in the road of his generosity to all his creatures! We’ve been made to reflect his kindness, not obscure it.

People who steal don’t understand what it means to be a human being. They are trying to get something for nothing. This denies our need to contribute, to grow and to love.

Thieves may want to be rich, or fulfill an ambition, or get out of trouble, or impress someone, and take the shortest route to get there. But they are saying ‘No’ to hard work, to difficulty, to saving, to waiting. They are also saying ‘No’ to caring for others, to development of character and to love.

God gives to Israel some interesting laws that show how important it is to be concerned about the property of other people. You can check them out at Exodus 22:26-27, Leviticus 19:9-11, and Deuteronomy 15:12-18.

Perhaps we’ve been taking something that’s not our own, or of not providing something we should have given. Our situation is more serious than civil courts can deal with. Our hearts are being exposed for what they are (Mark 7:21; Romans 7:14-24). The love of God is not there! We are not in a good place. If thieves go on stealing, they won’t be part of God’s future (1 Corinthians 6:10).

But if you feel exposed, that’s what this law was meant to do. And it is meant to take you back to the Saviour who saves you. The wretchedness we may feel does not come down from God so much as up from our own hearts. We know this is no way to respond to God’s kindness!

So, we turn from feeling proud of ourselves to being what we are—sinners saved by grace. And we resolve, not to try harder, but to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit who is showing us who we are, what we have received, and how we may serve our neighbour.

Don’t bear false witness

Being misrepresented by someone is painful. But here, the Lord is speaking to us and forbids lying that harms a neighbour. This may happen in lots of ways—like giving false evidence in a court, or expressing opinions in conversations or in tweets on social media.

Everyone’s reputation is important to the Lord. He has told us not to take his name in vain, but now he says everyone’s name is valuable to him. No-one should be smeared with lies or tainted by suggestions. Neither should anyone be misled by flattery.

Because of our tendency to fabricate facts to suit ourselves, Israel is told that two or more witnesses must concur in their stories before condemning anyone (Deuteronomy 19:15).

Being honest may not be as simple as it sounds. Think about David lying about his affair with Bathsheba. Think about Peter not wanting to be linked with Jesus. Think about our explanations of what happened when a window is broken. I can remember mine when I was in early primary school: ‘I threw a stone in the air and the wind blew it into the window.’ We’ll try anything!

Lies of all descriptions create cynicism and leave us distant from one another. They certainly don’t make a strong community.

But it’s not easy to simply report what is true—without bias that favours ourselves. Why do we find it so hard?

We need to go back a long way to answer this, but it gets to the heart of the problem.

We go back to Adam and Eve. Satan suggests to them that God is not good. Much later, Jesus calls him ‘the father of lies’ (John 8:44). In other words, our lying come from this daddy of all liars.

Once God’s goodness is questioned, other lies start to appear. Adam and Eve run with Satan’s lie, and immediately, know they’re in trouble. They begin massaging the facts to suit their now vulnerable situation (Genesis 3:11-13).

When we deny the truth about God, we are guilty, even if we don’t call it that, and need to reframe the facts to make it appear that someone else is the problem and not us.

We need to find a way to be confident. This should come from God, but if it doesn’t, we have to find something else to be proud of. We take credit for things we don’t cause. Ambition drives us to ‘boast and be false to the truth’ (James 3:14). It becomes natural, even expected. We seek out communities that allow us to live this way.

Because of this, truth ceases to be considered important, both in private and public affairs, and people who try to be honest get defrauded. The Lord is not happy (Isaiah 59:14-15)!

But nothing we do changes the fact that we should be true—inwardly (Psalm 51:6). This is what David knows when he is caught trying to lie his way out of sexual abuse—and worse. He lies to his subjects, and deceives himself. Then a true witness comes to confront him with the truth. And he is devastated. He knows he will have to be washed clean.

If we give false testimony, we’ve tangled with God, and he is going to have to undo the mess we’ve got ourselves into. Falsehood dies hard!

If you read the story of Jesus you find a very different human being from ourselves. He is the truth—of who God is (John 14:6). He’s also the truth of what a human being should be. We could say, he’s real! There’s nothing phoney about him anywhere.

A group of officers are sent to arrest Jesus. They return with no prisoner and say, ‘No one ever spoke like this man’ (John 7:46). Other enemies approach him with flattering words, hoping to hear something they can use against him. They leave—rebuked and humbled (Matthew 22:15-22).

Jesus exposes who we are. That’s not comfortable! But then, Jesus has come ‘full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14; 14:6)—not just cold, forbidding truth, but truth that has come to heal. This is this truth that sets us free (John 8:32).

Only Jesus can release us from the crippling need to defend or exult ourselves—and he does this by acknowledging the truth about us before the Father, and dying in our place. And he rises from the dead to announce a new truth about everyone who trusts him. We are exposed, and forgiven.

Jesus has unmasked the lie Satan told. God is good. And he has undone the terrible web of untruth we spin.

Jesus has created a new life we can share. We can live the truth, in love (Ephesians 4:15, 21, 25). This is not just refraining from lies but actively revealing the truth in love, that is, in such a way as will do most good. Paul says plainly, ‘…each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body’ (Ephesians 4:25).

God has renewed a right spirit within us, as he did for David, so, we can speak the truth, in love. And the fruit of this will be a community that works, and trusts and grows.

Don’t Covet

The last of the ten commandments is not just about actions. It says, ‘Don’t desire to have something that belongs to another person.’ That is, don’t covet it. It may be someone else’s wife, or their servant (or the services they can access) or their property.

Sometimes, we ask ‘What made me do that?’ We have not been aware of our motive until something brings it to light. So, am I jealous of someone, or for something?

Are we envious of people with many friends? Do we wish we had their abilities or opportunities, their strength, connections, health or money? Envy can be a motive for many things we do. We become restless and driven rather than happily engaged in life.

Coveting can also lead to not doing things we should do. It shows up as resentment over not having something we want, and then, withdrawal from giving the help we could.

So, envy is included with adultery, murder and theft in the damage we can do to other people (Romans 13:8-10). Anyone not loving their neighbour is effectively doing them harm.

Envy doesn’t stay hidden. Finally, it needs to come out and assert itself.

Think of the Jewish leaders who oppose Jesus. They come up with reasons for their complaint, but Pilate can see they want Jesus dead because of envy (Mark 15:10). Jesus can command large crowds and the leaders are losing influence. Coveting the position held by Jesus leads them to murder him.

When God tells us not to covet, he is giving us the chance to see what our problem really is. Something has become more important to us than him. In other words, covetousness is idolatry’ (Colossians 3:5). We are saying, ‘I don’t need God. I need this’—whatever this is. It becomes our passion and nothing else matters except getting what we want.

Jesus shows how coveting works and what we need to do about it.

Two of Jesus’ disciples ask him for top spots in the coming kingdom (Mark 10:35-45). When the rest hear about this, they get angry. Clearly, chasing something that isn’t given to us leads to all kinds of hostility. Jesus tells the disciples to get on with following him and leave the matter of honours to their Father in heaven. What is given to someone else is none of our business. This is what Jesus tells Peter later on (John 21:20-22).

On another occasion, Jesus is asked to intervene in a family dispute over an inheritance. He points out that this is not his job, but also tells them to be ‘on your guard against all kinds of greed [covetousness]; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions’ (Luke 12:15).

The world says that our life does consist in what we are able to possess. So, it breaks the tenth commandment. It becomes preoccupied with having things, and status and power.

You may have noticed that the more we get our hands on, the more our appetite grows—that is, if we don’t have God as our Father. It’s happening to our whole culture. Governments can’t keep up with the insatiable desire for more and more protections and provisions.

So, God calls us to live without envy. This is another way of saying that he wants us to live with him as our God, and with what he is giving to us.

There’s an African saying, ‘God is good. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.’ I’ve listened to this being said, often, by people who had little of this world’s goods and many problems to deal with. This is the way to deal with coveting!

Coveting seems to play a role in Paul coming to faith. He says, ‘I would not have known what coveting really is if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet’ (Romans 7:7). He may be referring to his own experience.

We know that he is present when Stephen is stoned to death because of his effective preaching about Jesus (Acts 8:1-3). Perhaps he sees Stephen as a rival in being zealous for God—and he becomes ‘as angry as hell’.

But then, Jesus speaks to Paul. He says, ‘It’s hard for you to kick against me’ (Acts 26:14). Coveting is hard work!

But now Paul comes to know that the crucified Messiah is alive and is Lord. His God is being kind to him, saving him from his sins.

All the covetousness drains away and he is, forever, a servant of others. He learns, whatever his situation, to be content (Philippians 4:11).

Our life does not consist in what we may accumulate for ourselves but in knowing God. In finding God, we find that he gives to us all that he has—his Son—so that we may belong to him. We are content then to trust him with all the other needs and circumstances of our life.

Something holy, at Christmas

When God is about to send his Son into the world, an angel comes to Mary to tell her she will be the child’s mother (Luke 1:26-38). She is told a number of amazing things. A son from her womb will be Israel’s Messiah. This child will be called ‘Son of the Most High’. And he will reign forever.

But the thing she asks about, understandably, is how she can have any baby without a father.

The answer is, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God’ (Luke 1:35).

This is not going to be an event for which any human being can take the credit. God has promised it, is now announcing it and will physically make it happen.

I want to speak about one word that applies to all of the things that are happening here—the word ‘holy’. The child will be holy because the Holy Spirit will ‘come upon’ Mary. God is holy and only he can cause anything else to be holy.

We tend to think that ‘holy’ refers to behaviour but it is more than that. It indicates that something comes from God, belongs to God and is to be used for his purposes. This leads to a certain kind of behaviour but it is a ‘belonging’ word.

For example, God tells Israel, ‘I am the Lord, who made you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord’ (Leviticus 22:32-33). And on the basis of this he tells them to keep his commands. It is because we belong that we behave.

The opposite of holy is profane. If we use something holy, like the name of Jesus, for a swear word, we utter a profanity.

The same is true for lots of other things. If I take my own humanity and use it for me instead of for God, I am turning something meant to be holy into something profane. I commit profanity. If I go to church and sing songs but am only interested in the form of the service and not its purpose, I turn something holy into something profane. (There’s an example in Ezekiel 22:26.)

Think for a moment about what the world would be like if it was holy. If we reverenced God, his nature would be reflected in all our behaviour and the resulting society. There would be no greed, rivalry or hatred, only generosity, mutuality and love. We would have a great vision of life, not mere ‘me’ goals. There would be no harming, cruelty, sickness or death. We would simply live in and look after the world God has made for us.

But think about a world that is profane. It is very self-righteous. We are constantly being told about what we should and shouldn’t do. But can we produce a loving community? We don’t just need a law to keep. We need a God behind it who says, ‘This is my law. It matters if you break it.’

If we are going to have faithful marriages, ethical business and if we are going to care for the planet, we are going to need a God who says, ‘This is my world. It matters how you live in it.’ A profane world can’t produce what it legislates.

And now, God’s holy Child is coming into this profane world. This is astonishing. It is very difficult to approach people who have no regard for us, but this is what God is doing. We disregard the fact that he made the world and sustains all its operations—and he sends us his own Son to be our Saviour.

An angel has told Joseph to call this son Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. We need healing for our profanity. We need something that only God can do. We have not been able to live without God interrupting our ease and presumption.

So, Mary’s life is all rearranged. She will have a son. There is nothing normal or safe here. God will hover over Mary, just as his Holy Spirit overshadowed the first creation to bring it to life (Genesis 1:2). Here is the beginning of a new creation. Nothing less will change us or our profane world.

These words of the angel are reflected later on when Jesus says to Nicodemus. ‘…no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again’ (John 3:3). And Nicodemus says almost the same as Mary. ‘How can someone be born when they are old?’ He is accustomed to the natural world, not to the world God owns and manages. Even though he is religious, he is profaning God’s world and his revelation. He needs a life that is from above—a holy life.

But now, see what Mary says. ‘I am the Lord’s servant. … May your word to me be fulfilled’ (Luke 1:38). And she becomes pregnant. The holy Child who will save his people from their sins, has entered our world. And his reign will never end. Holiness has arrived.

So easily can a profane world become a holy one. If with Mary, we say ‘let it be so to me according to your word’, God is our God, our sins are forgiven, love is born, eternity is in our souls, God’s will is done and the world can see its God reflected in the lives of his people.

The rest is over to God. We can only be holy by hearing his word, and letting him do in us what only he can do.

(If you would like to hear these things spelt out more fully, you can listen to a 25 minute talk at https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=122020610274335 )

God is my Shepherd! I won’t lack anything

Does God really look after people—like a shepherd used to look after sheep? David writes his song, what we know as Psalm 23, to say that this is so. He knows what shepherds do because he used to be one. And he writes because he wants to put on record just how amazing it is that God looks after people like him. David says, ‘I shall not want for anything.’

The whole song is full of calmness, assurance and hope—particularly about the future. This is probably why it is still so popular. But how does someone come to be completely at peace, and full of confidence?

It’s not as if David expects everything to go well. He tells us that his soul—that is, his inner life—needs to be ‘restored’. Something must have worn him down and he needs fixing. Then, he anticipates he will go through deep dark valleys—perhaps be threatened with death. And then he looks forward to a banquet—but enemies are looking on.

Life’s like that. All sorts of things happen that make us feel we are not being looked after by anyone. But David knows God. He knows his God is trustworthy. He is sure God’s goodness and steadfast love will be with him all the days of his life. And he’s happy to be led by this God. And the result is that he is completely at rest—whatever happens.

Being contented is not easy to come by. How will I get employment, funds, friends, health, opportunity or vindication? The list is endless. David is not saying he doesn’t want anything but that he is confident he will be looked after.

Everything here depends on the Lord being present and active. ‘He will make me lie down… he will lead me… he will restore my life’. And when life is dark, ‘You are with me’. He feels this very personally… ‘Your rod and staff will comfort me’. And then, ‘You will treat me to a banquet.’ This is his confession of faith, finishing with certainty that he will spend forever in the Lord’s house. There’s nothing else that is making him contented—just the Lord.

We tend to work from what we can see to guarantee a good future. If you are not a Christian, this is all you have—what you can see and what you or someone else may be able to make happen. But this is never enough to give us assurance.

You may be a Christian but have let the world become your prop, your security, your hope. Then things go wrong. This is not because you have been abandoned but so the Lord can bring it home to you more powerfully that he is your shepherd—and that only he is your Shepherd. This is why David doesn’t mention his accomplishments, or troops, or popularity, but attributes his restfulness to what the Lord is going to do.

David calls God ‘the Lord’, the God who has chosen Israel and vowed to be kind to them (Exodus 3:15-17; Deuteronomy 7:6-11). His confidence isn’t self-generated. It has been created by what this Lord has already done in their history and the promises he has made for their future. He is saying, ‘I belong to God. He has chosen me for a special purpose and is looking after me.’

In our case, Jesus has been sent by God to be ‘the good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep’ (John 10:7-18). God has revealed himself to the whole world through him. He so loves this world that he has given us his only Son—so we can have eternal life. As Jesus says, he came so we may have life and have it abundantly. You can’t have anything abundantly while you are fretting and anxious. We need Christ’s shepherding because this is how God is looking after us.

Jesus says the true Shepherd knows his sheep and they know his voice. It’s that personal. He says there are others who claim to be able to look after us but who are more interested in their own success. In fact, he says false shepherds seek to kill and destroy the sheep—or leave them to their fate when trouble comes. We all expect someone or some agency to look after us, so finding the true Shepherd is important.

Jesus goes to the root of our distrust. He knows that we’d rather not have to depend on the Lord. He knows how much this has twisted our affections and destroyed our confidence to live. This is why he says he will lay down his life. He needs to make himself an offering for our sin. Until he does this, nothing will persuade us that the Father is a caring God.

We need to let this truth seep into every thought. Perhaps you are going through troubled times and hunger for some peace and confidence. Reading this Psalm would be a good place to start. But then, you need to let the Lord be your shepherd.

Getting reassurance from this or that person won’t do. Accumulating more resources won’t do. Surrounding yourself with amusements won’t do. Being religious won’t do. It has to be the Lord. It has to be Christ doing what only he can do. And we need to understand that he is calling us to follow him.

If you have trusted Christ for forgiveness, Paul says, ‘If God did not spare his Son but freely gave him up for us all, how will he not also freely give us all things’ (Romans 8:31-39). We won’t lack anything needful. Everything will be working together for a good purpose—that we may be conformed to the image of his Son. Something good is happening—always! The Lord is our Shepherd!

I feel ‘sheepish’ saying these things because there’s nothing I can do to persuade you this is true. But then, I’m happy to be a ‘sheep’. And if you belong to God and he’s shepherding you, God will show you the truth of what Christ is and has done.

Putting all our hope in this won’t leave us disappointed. Again, it is Paul who tells us that the love of God will be poured out into our hearts (Romans 5:3-5). Finally, it’s love that makes us sure and steady.

Next time, I’d like to show what having God as your shepherd may look like, using the descriptions David uses in his song.

A Heart at Peace

David tells us he is wholly at rest because the Lord is looking after him. As a proverb tells us, ‘A heart at peace gives life to the body…’ (Proverbs 14:30). How will we find this restfulness that spreads through our whole being? David explains his confidence with pictures from his shepherd days.

Lying down in green pastures, for sheep, must mean they’ve eaten all they can and now it’s time to sleep—and still there’s plenty around to eat. It’s sounds idyllic. And being led alongside of restful waters sounds wonderful. Is David saying, ‘My life is a breeze. Trusting the Lord is like a perpetual holiday’?

This is hardly David’s experience. He is well acquainted with intrigue and war, disputes and family discontent. He’s also acquainted with public personal failure and facing God’s discipline. But he anticipates the future with quiet assurance of God’s leading and restoration—restoration of his soul—that is, deep and personal.

Clearly, it is not his circumstances or performance that secures him. Rather, it is the Lord being his Shepherd that makes the difference.

The world is making an industry out of offering tranquility, happiness and confidence, and the market is huge. It can become a means of controlling us. It’s important to go to the right place. So, what does David tell us?

A shepherd knows where to find good feed and leads his flock there. That’s what David knows the Lord has done for him. His food is what God says and what God has done for him. In one of his songs he tells us, ‘Lord, you have assigned me my portion…you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance’ (Psalm 16:5-6).

He’s basing his confidence on things God has already done for Israel—like leading them to ‘holy pasture’ (Exodus 15:11-13), and seeking a resting place for them (Numbers 10:33). He remembers the promises made to him (2 Samuel 7:10-16). He doesn’t know how this may work out but he knows the Lord is going to take him on paths where everything will be looked after.

And if his personal life is shattered and his mind in disarray and his prayers all over the place, he knows the Lord will restore his soul to its proper state again—at peace before his Maker.

The renewal and refreshment we sorely need can only come by the Lord speaking to us, telling us we are forgiven and that we belong to him, that he is involving us in his purposes and taking us to his goal.

Life makes many demands on us. We talk about being ‘dry’ or ‘worn out’. And the Lord comes to David and ‘restores his soul’. David is not just a body, or an ambition. Nor is he just an intellect that can be satisfied by pleasant ideas. He is a creature made in God’s image who only God can satisfy. David says this revelation, and the providences fulfilling these promises, restore his soul. He’s ‘up and running’ again.

Having real peace of mind has everything to do with hearing what God is saying to us. It can’t be guaranteed by happy circumstances. This world changes so quickly. God’s word is eternal, and sure. And this is what we really need.

This is how Jesus goes about being the good Shepherd (John 10:11). On one occasion he sees a large crowd and has compassion on them, ‘because they were like sheep without a shepherd’. So, he begins to teach them (Mark 6:34). After that, he does feed them—miraculously—but that is not the refreshment he has come to give. He tells the crowds to work for ‘food that endures for eternal life’ (John 6:27).

He also tells the crowd that the food he has to give them is his body (John 6:54-58). Until we know Jesus offers himself up for us, we will always be restless.

We may be looking in the wrong place for tranquility, or peace, or assurance, or confidence. We think we will be alright when certain things change, or people treat us differently or the government provides for us. David isn’t thinking of that. Neither is Jesus.

Shepherding, or looking after people involves a lot of things, but basic to it all is letting them know what God is saying to them. Jesus says Peter must ‘feed my lambs’, ‘take care of my sheep’ and ‘feed my sheep’ (John 20:15-19). He must tell the great things God has done in Jesus Christ.

And we need to do the same now. Everyone needs to hear Jesus say, ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…your will find rest for your souls’ (Matthew 11:28-30). What we really need is the Lord as our Shepherd.

All of us Christians need to bathe ourselves in God’s revelation—his Bible. There are treasures here to be known, received, enjoyed, shared and trusted. It works!

Many of us have spent weeks, or longer, waiting for some circumstance to change. And then, we hear God speak to us, and everything is changed. We are sure our life is being attended, cared for, given purpose and a future. And strangely, we are deeply contented. We begin to move forward with purpose and joy.

Soak yourself in the gospel that God has given us in Jesus Christ, and your soul will be refreshed. Only the truth of Jesus Christ is sufficient to restore your soul.

The Lord leads me

David has written a remarkable Psalm (23) about his confidence in what the Lord is going to do for him. He’s got his ‘sails’ up in higher winds than his circumstances. And it’s invigorating to see how life can be when he, and we, trust the Lord.

Continuing with the Psalm, David tells us he will be led in ‘paths of righteousness’. He’s talking about us doing what we are created for—righteousness (Ecclesiastes 7:29). And David says the Lord is up to the job.

Our life is about more than just being comfortable. It’s about belonging to God and being about his purpose.

Part of the Lord leading us in righteousness is what he has already put in his word, the Bible. For example, one prophet says, ‘…what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8).

And Paul says, ‘Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Romans 13:10). In most cases, it’s not really hard to know what God wants us to do.

But how does the Lord lead us in these paths? And why does he do it for his name’s sake? David is talking about what God is going to do, and what he will do for the sake of his own reputation.

‘Paths of righteousness’ is not just about how to behave. It encompasses the whole pathway God has prepared for us to travel on.

This is the way God has led Israel up to this point. Moses says, ‘In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling’ (Exodus 15:13).

If God is going to have people doing his will, he needs to set up a way where it becomes possible. He shows them his love. He saves them. He guides them with his strength. He doesn’t just give directions.

So, David asks God to ‘Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me’ (Psalm 43:3). He’s not just looking for orders. He needs to know God. He needs to know the certainty of God’s presence.

If the Lord—and in our case, the Lord Jesus—is going to lead us in paths of righteousness, this is how it works. He doesn’t start with us! That’s a lost cause. He starts with his own faithful love, his own light and truth—just as he did with Israel.

Jesus creates a ‘Christian life’ with his own life, death and resurrection. Our sins are all answered for. Christ is our peace with God. And then he says, ‘Walk in that!’

Have a look at some places (in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians) where Christians are told how to live.

We are God’s workmanship, ‘created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do’ (2:8-10). We are to put off our old corrupted life and to get dressed in the new life God has created for us (4:22-24). We are to imitate the one who is loving us—our Father (5:1).

We shouldn’t just read the Bible to find out what to do. Read it to see how God has set you up to live differently—and then, live differently!

In addition to this, the Lord is a lot more practical than us when it comes to being righteous. He knows our weak spots. Just ask David. He thanked God for the intervention of a sensible woman when he was about to attack some people who had peeved him (2 Samuel 25:32-34).

God regulates our temptations so that we never get something too hard for us to handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). As Paul says, ‘the Lord is faithful’. He is our Shepherd.

This is what it is like to be led in paths of righteousness. And this is why—when we let our ‘light shine’ before others—that they give glory to our Father (Matthew 5:16). It’s not just us who know that our good deeds are coming from above. Other people can see it.

If you want to walk in ‘paths of righteousness’, Christ is going to have to be your Shepherd—all the way.

The Lord is with me

David is telling us what it is like when ‘the Lord is my Shepherd’. And now, he tells us about the valleys with deep shadows we may be led through.

Like sheep, we are content and carefree when in green pastures. But then, we are liable to jump and lurch when led towards unfamiliar and threatening circumstances. Here again is where our ‘sails’ need to go higher.

What will happen if a foreign power starts to make things difficult for the economy? …or our whole planet begins to run down? …or if no one wants to employ me? …or if friends think my views are strange or dangerous? …or if a doctor says I have a serious illness?

David says he’s still OK. ‘I will fear no evil’. Things may go wrong but he won’t need to fear because of who is with him. And now, because we are the Lord’s flock, we can look at what is happening and ask, ‘Why should I fear?’

Well may we be scared of certain things that happen in this life. The creation wasn’t made to be terrifying. It was formed as our home and as God’s garden so we would have a place to live, to relate, to be provided for and to work. A place to walk with God and live forever (Genesis 3:22-24).

But this same creation, for the moment, has been given over to futility (Romans 8:20). Things do go wrong—wars, pandemics, accidents, death and lots besides.

The only reason David gives for not being afraid is, ‘For you are with me…’. Notice, he doesn’t say ‘the Lord…’. He changes to ‘You…’. He’s talking directly to the Lord, not about him. And it needs to be personal. We don’t get comfort from an idea. We get comfort from the presence and love and power and purpose of the Shepherd.

And this Shepherd is not helpless. He’s got a club to deal with intruding beasts, and a staff to rescue or guide or save the sheep. David is not making out to be a hero. He’s learning to be a sheep and to be comforted by the presence and power of the Shepherd.

So, this is what we need to do. As I said, our sails need to be hoisted higher to catch the winds of God’s kindness to us. We need to learn more about the Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to see how well equipped he is to lead us through our difficulties. We need to be comforted by the sight of him and his equipment to deal with all that happens.

And this is what Paul goes on to tell us in Romans 8. The world is not only given up to futility, it is ‘groaning’ (v. 22). It’s as though the world is waiting to give birth to a child and the labour is difficult. There’s a new world coming, but, right now, the present one is hurting us. And sometimes it’s scary.

But Paul goes to the same place David does. We don’t need to fear what happens. Jesus has already given his life up so that we may belong to him as his sheep. He is for us, so who can be against us (v. 33)?

Things still happen that cause us grief, but there’s no sting in them—nothing to accuse us, nothing to say we deserve this, nothing to indicate that we are not deeply loved by God and powerfully defended by Christ. And because of this, we ‘fear no evil’. The Lord is being our Shepherd and directing everything towards a good end (vv. 28-29). He is preparing us to share in the new heaven and earth.

So, even though we may walk through a deep, dark valley, there’s no evil that can touch us. Nothing will separate us from the love of God which has been revealed in Jesus Christ. The Lord will never cease being our Shepherd.

A feast among enemies

Psalm 23 is telling us how to live by faith. So now, David says the Lord spreads a feast for him, in the presence of his enemies. We know the Lord is with him in dark valleys. What about when enemies are near?

David still speaks to the Lord personally, ‘You prepare a table for me.’ He needs what the Lord can do when it comes to enemies. He knows how to fight and has done very well, but that’s not what he wants to talk about. He wants to tell us how the Lord looks after him.

Earlier on, Israel doubted that God could look after them. ‘Can God spread a table in the desert?’ they asked (Psalm 78:19). They didn’t like the way God was leading them. And then, the Lord gave them food—regularly (Exodus 16:4). But now, David refuses to complain. He says, ‘God provides a feast—right where I am being threatened by enemies!’

But why a feast when there’s enemies around? Battle rations would be more appropriate—something to eat while you keep your eyes open for threats. No. This is a feast, with all the usual extras.

The host has anointed his guest with oil—a courtesy expected in those days. And when it comes to the wine, his cup is brimming over. The host is eager to say that there is no lack when it comes to wine. There’s nothing going wrong at this banquet!

But what about the enemies? People who get angry with us want to be the centre of our attention. ‘Look at me’ they are saying. ‘I am a threat to your well-being!’ If they succeed in getting the core of our attention, the Lord has been pushed to the edges. Our situation has become compromised. We have become embattled—meaning that the battle has become our core issue.

David says ‘No’ to this. The gracious provision of the Lord—the green pastures, the restful waters, the restored soul, the guidance in right paths, are all still happening. The shouting from the edges doesn’t change what is going on between him and the Lord.

The Lord can keep our hearts full—as at a feast—while we are still in the presence of enemies. And this is just what we need. When critics say our faith in God is superstition, and our obedience to Christ is repression, and our hope of heaven is a fantasy, we need a mouthwatering enjoyment of God, and his goodness, and his power. Enemies only have the power God grants to them (John 19:11).

And when our enemy, Satan, taunts about our personal failures, we need to know that our Shepherd has got them all covered—totally. The reason we are feasting in the presence of enemies is because Christ has won the major battle against our accuser. There is no valid reason for him to accuse us because Christ has borne our sins, and the accusations we deserve.

To help us sense what this is like, think of Peter. He is surrounded with enemies accusing him of being a follower of Jesus. He fails badly. But the Lord had already told him this will happen. And he has followed this up with, ‘Let not your heart be troubled.’ And, ‘I go to prepare a place for you’ (John 13:38—14:2). We need to know the Lord is always ready to spread a feast for humbled sinners (Revelation 3:20).

In another time of trouble, Nehemiah told people in Jerusalem, ‘the joy of the Lord is your strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10). He also told his hearers to go home and have a feast! They needed to know that this was not a bad day but a good one!

Enjoying the Lord is vital. We need time out from the battle to taste the goodness of God, to drink in his word, to talk in a relaxed way to our Shepherd.

So, there’s a feast to have. Keep your eye on the opposition but focus on what God has given, and is giving, and will give. Relish him, and our enemies are already at a disadvantage.