We are entering in, let me turn my mic on, that'll work. We're entering into what I like to call the
the season of abundance and it kind of starts with Thanksgiving because there's
going to be an abundance of food, right, and you're going to eat your fill and if
you're anything like me then you don't just have one Thanksgiving gathering to
go to, you've got multiple so you're going to really eat your fill over the
next few weeks to the month and then no sooner does Thanksgiving end than the
Christmas season begins and there's going to be an abundance of shopping, an
abundance of wrapping and gift-giving and receiving and guess what, there's
gonna be more food and so gym memberships are really gonna go up in
January again but we are entering into the season of abundance and it's
gonna be really easy over the next two months to get caught up in the busyness
of everything, right. I mean when you become an adult it's actually pretty
hard to even enjoy Christmas anymore because you're just so busy and so over
the next two months there's gonna be a big season of busyness and it's gonna
be really easy to get distracted and caught up in that and so I thought it
would be nice for the month of November if we would just take some time to be
thankful, to take a step back from all the hustle and the bustle and all the
busyness and just reflect on all that we have to be thankful for as Christians
and I was planning on doing a whole sermon series on reasons we had to be
thankful and I was gonna do different passages in the Bible and I wanted to
start with Psalm 23 and I was like that's be you know it's one of my favorite
Psalms I'm gonna preach a sermon on that and so I started writing the sermon and
after I got through two verses as you can see I had a sermon. We're actually
gonna do a little series on Psalm 23 just looking at a few verses each week
maybe next week only one verse but this Psalm does a great job of showing us
all that we have to be thankful for as Christians. I know that we know it as
the funeral Psalm because that's where most of us hear it and that's most of the
time where we hear it preached but this Psalm is so much more than just a
funeral Psalm. This Psalm line after line verse after verse just puts the glory in
the goodness of God on display. It shows who he is and what he does for his
people and it just shows us all that we have to be thankful for and I don't know
about you maybe you're like me but every morning that I wake up and the older I
get the more this becomes true every morning I wake up and I realize God has
given me another day of life I'm thankful. I'm more and more thankful for
God every day that he would continue to see me this wicked wretched sinner and
choose to give me another day of life to not only do that but he would say that
despite this person's sin and disobedience I still want him and I want
him to be part of my flock and I'm gonna make sure that he is I'm increasingly
thankful for God and his goodness every day and so really the whole point of
these first two verses that I want to show you is that we should give
abundant thanks for an abundant God. We have a God of abundance do we not church?
He is abundantly good abundantly gracious abundantly merciful abundantly
loving and I could keep going on for the next ten minutes but you get the point
our God is a God of abundance and so as Christians we should give abundant
thanks for an abundant God and you might be here this morning and you might be
thinking well pastor that's easy for you to say but I don't really have much to
be thankful for this morning. Life has gotten pretty hard recently. Times are
troubling an election is happening this week money's pretty tight right now
there's drama in the family work isn't going great and I'm just generally
unhappy so what do I have to be thankful for this morning and that's actually the
question that I want us to consider. How can we have a spirit of thankfulness
regardless of our circumstances? How can we do this? So how is it possible as a
Christian to maintain and have this spirit of thankfulness regardless of
the circumstances that we face in our lives and I think that this psalm is
going to address that. So let's dive in see what the word says Psalm 23 one my
hope is that by the end of this series you'll have this psalm memorized and you
can say it from memory there will be a test on that so be looking forward to it
but Psalm 23 one the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. Now as you know
throughout this psalm David is going to be using the metaphor of a shepherd and
his sheep and this was really close to David's heart because you'll remember
that long before he was a king and long before he was a warrior what was he he
is a little shepherd boy watching over his daddy's flock and so this is very
near to David's life and what's interesting is most scholars believe
that that David was an old man when he wrote this psalm they believe that he
wrote this at the very end of his life nearing the time of his death and so
just get this picture in your mind here is David as an old man he's nearing
death and as he's reflecting on his life and all that God has done for him he
sees the work of a shepherd and he sees the love of the shepherd and so he
starts by saying the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want and you need to
understand that David is not just recognizing God's goodness to him only
but he's also reflecting on God's goodness to all of his people but this
phrase I shall not want it's the same phrase used in Deuteronomy 2 7 where the
word says for the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your
hands he knows you're going through this wilderness these 40 years the Lord your
God has been with you you have lacked nothing now literally in Hebrew what
this says is these 40 years the Lord your God has been with you you have not
wanted it's the same phrase that's used here and so David is recognizing that
just as God was gracious to provide all the needs that the people of Israel had
during their time in the wilderness so too God has been gracious to bless David
and provide David with everything that he needed in his life and I want us to
recognize this attitude here as a spirit of thankfulness to say that he has no
wants David is saying that he is perfectly content and what is contentment
but thankfulness if you were truly content then you are thankful for all
that God has given you and this means that it is possible to be truly content
and thankful regardless of the circumstances you face in life Paul says
this in Philippians 4 11 through 13 not that I'm speaking of being in need for I
have learned in whatever situation I am to be content I know how to be brought
low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance I have learned the
secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance in need what's the secret I
can do all things through him who strengthens me so what is the secret of
contentment church what's the secret of being thankful in all circumstances it
is recognizing that you can do all things through the one who strengthens
you you can be thankful with little because Christ is the one who
strengthens you and sustains you even when you have very little you can be
thankful with abundance because Christ is the one who provided everything for
you in all situations in all circumstances we can be thankful because
we have a shepherd who knows what his sheep need and he provides everything
that we do need and you might think well it sounds good but it's awfully hard to
practice and I would agree with you right it's hard to practice being
thankful like this in all circumstances but let me tell you something I have
personally witnessed it I witnessed it firsthand when I was living in
Charleston I think I've told you this before but when I was living in
Charleston I became really good friends with a homeless man named Stephen
Stephen was the most thankful content joyful Christian I have ever met in my
entire life every time I would see him he would just be walking the streets
singing praises to the Lord talking about God he had a sharpie and he would
write Bible verses all over every inch of his skin so that people would ask him
and he could share the Word of God with them I mean everything he did was just
all about God and I'll never forget one day we were right outside Bubba Gump
shrimp restaurant and Stephen comes rolling down the street and I start
talking with him and I said Stephen have you eaten today do you need any food
we're right here I can go and get he said nope God's gonna provide for me I
was like I'm sure he will maybe I'm the one through whom he's providing so like
could I do this for you he said no I trust God he's gonna provide so then I
watched him walk over to a trash can and he reaches in the trash can and he pulls
out this half the in hamburger and he starts eating it and he says praise God
God has blessed me with protein today and then he found an apple he starts
eating that too and he says praise God God has blessed me with fiber today and
then what really got me because it was gross but he did it anyways is he found
a little bottle of milk that barely had anything left in it and he took that
final sip of that milk and he said praise the Lord God has blessed me with
calcium today too we're over here complaining about our lives and not the
fact that we're not making more money than we are the fact that we can't
afford our dream car or a dream house or we can't afford the new iPhone which is
the exact same as the last iPhone and the one before that the one before that
we're complaining about all these little petty things and here's a homeless man
eating out of a garbage can thanking God for providing him with discarded
nutrients you see to say that we shall not want is not to say that God has made
all of our dreams come true but it is to say that God has provided us with
everything in our lives that is essential so God's not going to make all
my wishes come true and all my dreams come true but he is going to provide me
with everything that is needed and essential for my life so how can we have
a spirit of thankfulness regardless of our circumstances thank God for what you
have and trust God for what you need that's the point I want to make here
this morning thank God for what you have and trust God for what you need my mom
is smiling because I stole that from her that's my mom saying that's not mine so
all credit to Lisa Chapman goes to her thank God for what you have trust God
for what you need that's what she used to tell me all the time growing up most
of you know me really well and you know that I never worry I never struggle with
anxiety I never overthink everything it's just not who I am by nature of
course it is that is me to the core right I worry about everything I get
really anxious and worked up and overthink everything and so I remember
there were times growing up I mean we didn't have a lot we were pretty bad off
at times and there were times where we really didn't have anything and we were
struggling and I remember there would be times when there was a bill that needed
to be paid or something that was coming due and I was like mom what are we gonna
do I mean we don't have the money to pay for these things what in the world are
we gonna do like I don't know how much plasma is going for these days but I'm
sure I could sell that off like whatever we need I've got two kidneys we could
sell one of those make a little money and I'm trying to think through all these
solutions and mom it was so pure infuriating at the time because every
single time mom would just go thank God for what you have and trust God for what
you need I'm like I get that mom I understand praise to the Lord but what
are we gonna do and she said we're gonna thank God for what we have we're gonna
trust God for what we need and every single time the Lord provided for us the
good Shepherd knew what his sheep needed and he was good to provide that's
exactly what David is saying here the Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want why
shall I not want because God is going to provide for me he's going to make sure
that I have everything that I need and everything that is essential for my life
and you might be saying well pastor I don't really have much I don't have much
this morning well the Bible says in first Timothy 6 8 but if we have food
and clothing with these we will be content let me ask you a question do you
have food at your house everybody eat breakfast this morning yeah do you have
clothes to wear now listen you don't have to answer that because I know the
answer okay clearly you do and nice clothes at that even if this is your only
outfit you have clothes to wear so you have food to eat you have clothes to
wear the Bible says with these we will be content everything else is just icing
on the cake is it not I mean how petty is it of us to complain about all these
things that we wish we had that we do not have and we rarely take the time to
remember that God owes us nothing we are entitled to nothing from God we are
sinners enemies of the Lord before Christ God doesn't owe his enemies
anything except justice you wouldn't give your enemy anything and yet God is
so good that he provides for those who even hate him he provides for those who
were going to curse him all day long and so we don't need to be complaining about
all these things that we don't have when we need to take time to realize that
everything we do have comes from the Lord and he is good because he didn't
know us anything and gave it to us anyways and I want to just remind you
this morning that everything good you have in your life comes from God the
Bible says in James 1 17 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above
coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or
shadow due to change so thank God for what you have trust God for what you
need because everything good in your life comes from the father and David
gives us even more reason to be thankful look at the first part of verse 2 with
me the Bible says here he makes me lie down in green pastures what a beautiful
sight is it not he makes me lie down in green pastures I learned something
really interesting recently because I was reading a book that I highly
recommend I recommended it to the Wednesday night crew it's a book called
a shepherd looks at Psalm 23 and it was written by a shepherd named Philip
Keller who spent a portion of his life as a shepherd and decided to write a
devotional book on Psalm 23 from the perspective of a shepherd and so he
writes on every line and it was interesting when he got to this part he
said it's interesting that the Bible says he makes me lie down in green
pastures because it's almost impossible for sheep to be made to lie down unless
four requirements are met in order for a sheep to lie down they must be free from
fear free from tension free from aggravation and free from hunger and the
most interesting part about all of that is please notice this it is only the
shepherd who can provide those things it is only the shepherd who can provide
release from these anxieties and is only the shepherd who makes it possible for
the sheep to lie down and be at rest Keller recounts that when he first
became a shepherd his flock was under constant attack and threat he said he
would wake up to find that there were some sheep dead from cougar attacks he
also discovered that rival farmers were coming by night with their dogs and
picking off the flock and so what he said is that he started sleeping outside
every single night with his rifle right beside him and at the smallest sounder
Russell he would jolt up call his collie and dash out into the night with his
rifle in his hand ready to protect his sheep and he said this he said that over
the years he found that nothing so quieted and reassured his sheep as to see
him in the field he says the presence of their master and owner and protector
would put them at ease as nothing else could do I think children are not very
different from sheep we made the mistake Anna and I of reading Judah the story of
the three little pigs when he was way too young for that apparently because
after we read that story to him he went through this long phase where he was
deathly afraid of the big bad wolf I mean it all times he thought the big bad
wolf was gonna come get him all the time especially at night and so we would be
trying to put him to bed and he didn't want to go to bed or go to sleep or be
left alone because he was worried that the big bad wolf was gonna break into
our house and come get him in the middle of the night and then we had a pack of
coyotes outside our house and then he became deathly afraid that coyotes were
somehow going to break into our house open the door go up the stairs open his
door and eat him in his sleep and so he was having a hard time lying down and
going to sleep and wanting to be not letting not wanting to be left alone and
so he's going through this fear and he's not lying down and so I just told him I
said hey buddy listen as long as your daddy is in this house you don't have to
be afraid of the thing I said as long as I am in this house there's nothing and
there is no one going to come in this house and they're certainly not going to
make it up the steps I promise you that they are not coming to get you so as
long as daddy is here you're safe and without assurance he started to lie down
and go to sleep what is it that makes David lie down like a sheep in green
pastures here what is it that frees him from fear and anxiety enough to rest it
is the presence of the Good Shepherd right next to him and the same thing is
true for us church when we are riddled with anxiety when we are fearful about
the future when we're distressed and uncertain nothing can quiet those fears
and anxieties like knowing that Jesus is with us I know that storms are coming
there's not a thing I can do to prevent that I just want to know that when I'm
going through the storm Jesus is going to be in the boat with me amen I need to
know if I'm gonna have to face it please just let me know Jesus is going to be
with me and the Bible says that he is you know I said well how do I know that
pastor well Jesus says in Matthew 28 20 and behold I am with you always to the
end of the age and again in Hebrews 13 5 the Bible says for he has said I will
never leave you nor forsake you church listen to me this promise is yours in
Christ no matter how alone you feel no matter how overwhelmed you are no matter
the circumstances you face in your life Jesus our good Shepherd has promised you
personally that he is with you and that he will never leave you he will never
forsake you and so as his sheep we are free to rest and isn't that good we are
free to rest in the presence of the good Shepherd knowing that he is with us and
watching over us and so if you want to foster this spirit of thankfulness this
morning then here's what you need to do learn to treasure the presence of the
good Shepherd more than the presence of the good Shepherd there's an intentional
play on words there so if you're listening to this later I apologize to
that it's not going to make sense to you but we need to learn to treasure the
presence of the good Shepherd more than the presence of the good Shepherd the
great Puritans and Thomas Watson said it like this he said we love we must love
God more for what he is than for what he bestows the way I would say it is that
we must never love God's blessings more than the God who blesses we have to
learn to treasure his presence in our lives more than the things he gives us
because here's my concern as Christians today we have this really bad tendency
to judge the goodness of God based upon our circumstances or the things we have
correct and so we say if we go through a hard time we're tempted to doubt the
goodness of God how can he be good if this is happening if there are things we
want in life and we fail to get them then we question the goodness of God
here's the problem the Bible says God is good period but we've added an amendment
as Christians today and we say God is good amendment as long as and then we
fill in the blank God is good as long as life is good God is good as long as he
follows my plan for my life and make sure that I can do everything I want to
do God is good as long as he gives me everything that I want in life God is
good as long as I never face trials as long as I never face setbacks or hard
times or persecution God is good as long as and here's the problem church God's
goodness is not dependent on any of those things in any way shape or form the
Bible says God is good and because he is God he is good all the time because God
never changes the Bible says in Hebrews 13 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday
today and tomorrow he's always the same God is good because he is God his
goodness does not depend on your circumstances God was good long before
you were ever even a thought in your parents mind God was good long before he
ever established the foundation of the world God has always been good he is
always good and he will always be good we don't need an amendment God is good
all the time in church all the time God is good and so we have to learn to stop
judging God's goodness and basing his goodness on our lives and our circumstances
and the things that we have and this good God tells us that regardless of what
we face in life he is always with us and just as the presence of the shepherd
allowed the sheep to rest in peace so too the presence of the good shepherd
allows us his sheep to rest in green pastures Jesus said this in Matthew 11
28 to 30 come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I'll do what church
I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle
and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy
and my burden is light so are you tired and worn out from your circumstances
this morning are you beaten down from life the Bible says come to Jesus find
your rest in him are you anxious and fearful the Bible says cast all your
cares on him because he cares for you are you under weight of the pressure
from the world from expectations are you feeling the pressure of trying to live
up to the expectations of others Jesus is inviting you to get out from under
that yoke this morning and take his yoke upon you which is easy in light you see
here's the thing I know that you want your problems and your difficulties to
go away but listen to me say this as your pastor even if that were to happen
you're gonna have peace for a moment and guess what's gonna happen next month
you're gonna have more problems and more difficulties and you're gonna lack that
peace again so listen wouldn't it be better to learn to find your peace in
Jesus so that you can have peace regardless of your circumstances it's
not so much better than what we have been doing it is for me at least and
that's what the Good Shepherd offers us he makes us lie down in green pastures
he is with us and he is watching over us there's one final reason I want you to
see this morning to be thankful look at the second half of verse 2 yes we've
only made it to the second half of verse 2 I know it feels like it's only been
five minutes he leads me beside still waters now some of your translations
might say quiet waters in Hebrew it literally says waters of resting places
and here's what's interesting about this phrase the first time a portion of this
phrase is used is all the way back in the book of Genesis and Genesis chapter
2 verse 15 the Bible says the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden
of Eden to work it and keep it now you're wondering okay pastor we see that
verse I don't see anything about waters of resting places or resting places it
looks like just work and keep so what am I missing well that phrase put him in
the garden in Hebrew it actually literally says that God caused him to
rest in the garden so this Garden of Eden this meeting place between God and
man it was a resting place where Adam and Eve were invited to rest in the
presence of God and so when David says that the Lord leads him beside waters
of resting places he is saying that the Lord satisfies his soul in a way that
allows him to experience true rest you see church it's not enough simply to be
in green pastures in order to find rest the soul must be satisfied in a way that
allows for rest to happen you see what's interesting is a sheep will not rest as
long as it is thirsty and if a shepherd is unable to lead his sheep to clean
pure drinking water Philip Keller says this he says sheep will drink water from
polluted potholes where they pick up parasites and diseases so unless a
shepherd is able to lead his sheep to clean pure drinking water they're gonna
drink out of polluted potholes and try to quench their thirst with that I want
to tell you that in the same way our souls will not enjoy true rest and true
satisfaction until they have drunk deeply from the well of Christ Jesus
said in Matthew 5 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
for they shall be what satisfy this is the satisfaction that we need but like a
bunch of sheep we are trying to satisfy our thirst by drinking out of a bunch of
polluted potholes we're like the man who stranded on a desert island and he's
slowly dying of thirst and he wants so badly for that thirst to be quenched
and to fill water on his tongue and his lips that he starts to look at the ocean
he says that's a lot of water I bet it's pretty cold too it probably
feel pretty good in the moment but we all know what would happen right if he
tries to drink that water to satisfy his thirst what's gonna happen so I'm gonna
make it worse it's gonna worsen his thirst it's gonna kill him quicker and
so too we often try to satisfy that thirst that we should have for God with
all the things that the world has to offer with fame and with fortune with
relationships with material goods or even worldly comfort and listen to me
church I want to tell you all of these things are nothing but salt water they
cannot satisfy your soul they will only worsen your thirst and they will kill
you quicker the only thing that is going to bring you true lasting eternal
satisfaction is Jesus Christ Augustine was right when he said oh God thou has
made us for thyselves and our souls are restless searching until they find their
rest in thee we find this satisfaction and rest by drinking from the waters
that the Good Shepherd leads us to listen to Revelation 22 17 the Spirit
and the bride say come and let the one who hears say come and let the one who
is thirsty come let the one who desires take the water of life without price so
Jesus has come drink deeply drink your fill it's no cost to you and when you
drink this water of life you will become a new changed person an entirely new
creation in Christ and I know you might be thinking to yourself right now pastor
that sounds nice I'm sure it's even theologically correct it is but I don't
see any water so how do I do this if I don't see any water how am I supposed to
actually drink this water that Jesus is offering here's what you need to
understand drinking is just a metaphor for taking in and for accepting and
believing in Christ when you take in the message of the gospel when you believe
in Jesus when you depend on him for life just as a person depends on water for
life then you are drinking the waters of life that Jesus offers us and the ones
he promised to the Samaritan woman at the well only then will your soul be
truly satisfied and only then will you find peace and rest and so here's what
we need to do if we want to develop this thankfulness this morning we need to
follow the shepherd to the true source of satisfaction follow the shepherd to
the true source of satisfaction if you take notes in your Bible if you
underline in circle in verse 2 circle the word leads that's an important
detail you need to notice here David said he leads me beside still waters
leads meaning David is following wherever God leads because he knows
that God is going to lead him to the good places to the quiet waters to the
waters that can satisfy my question to you this morning is what do you think it
is that you need to be truly satisfied some of you this morning think I would
be satisfied if someone would just tell me I'm doing a good job if someone would
tell me that I'm a good spouse a good parent a good grandparent a good friend
that I'm doing a good job other people think this morning that they'd be
satisfied if they just had a little more money in the bank account maybe a car
that's a few years newer maybe a house that's in a certain neighborhood let me
ask you something even if if God gave you all those things do you think you
would actually be satisfied or would you just not find something else
something new to start desiring and thinking you need I want to tell you
something this morning the Good Shepherd never leads his people to pot holes with
polluted water the world will lead you there the culture will lead you there
and they will say these are the good waters drink deeply from them and you
will be satisfied and it will only make you sick the Good Shepherd does not lead
his people to potholes with polluted water I want to tell you God wants more
for you than a life spent drinking from potholes do you believe that this morning
that is not what God wants for his sheep he wants more for you than a life spent
drinking polluted water out of potholes he is offering you eternal satisfaction
in Christ joys and pleasures forevermore in his right hand when you learn to
drink from the well of Christ and you taste true satisfaction then you will
finally stop settling for polluted potholes because that is not the life
God intended you to live remember our scripture reading Jesus said I came that
they may have life and have it abundantly that is what he wants for his
people the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he makes me lie down in green
pastures he leads me beside still waters this is what we have to be thankful for
this morning Christians that we have a God who provides for every single one of
our needs and everything that is essential in our life that we have a God
who is with us every minute of every day he is with us on every mountaintop and
I promise you he is with you in every single valley and we have a God who
satisfies our souls eternally in such a way that we would never want the
polluted waters that the world has to offer again he says come drink deeply
this is who our God is this is who the good Shepherd is and so as his people
this morning let us give abundant thanks for an abundant God amen