Plenary Session 6 - Matthew Hoskinson
January 6, 2010 – 1:06 pmMatthew Hoskinson’s second plenary session, entitled “Our Shepherd” from Psalm 23, was moving and comforting.
I hope that this conference has been motivating for you as your eyes have been fixed on the gospel opportunities ahead. I don’t want to bring reality back to you too quickly, but the fact is that most of you will be back in college classes in a week or so. Many of you will be saying, “Why does God have me here? Am I ever going to get to the field? What am I going to be doing in five years? Why don’t I have clearer direction?” These sorts of questions and concerns reveal a fundamental need that we all have: we need a shepherd.
Psalm 23, the “Psalm of the Crook” is the second of three Christological psalms. It sits between Psalm 22 (”The Psalm of the Cross”) and Psalm 24 (”The Psalm of the Crown”). Psalm 23 teaches us that our God is our Shepherd, worthy of our trust, worthy of our pursuit.
1. Our Shepherd is the Provider for His People
“Jehovah is my Shepherd” (23:1). Jehovah identifies God as the independent, immutable, covenant-keeping God. Shepherd, in Hebrew, is not merely a noun, but a participle emphasizing God’s activity as our shepherd (i.e., “God is the one who is shepherding me”). After a few years in pastoral ministry, I came to realize that I had a flawed view of “undershepherding.” I viewed Christ as the “CEO-Shepherd” under whom I worked as a manager. In fact, Christ is the Shepherd. Any shepherding that is accomplished through my ministry is not done by me, but by Christ. The one shepherding the sheep is Jesus. Anything that I do that He uses is His work.
Notice the singular my. David doesn’t say, though it would be true, “The Lord is our shepherd,” but “The Lord is my shepherd.” He provides for me so well that “I lack nothing.” Do you feel that way? Do you feel that you lack nothing? As you assess your life, what do you think you need right now that you don’t have? Money? Time? Better health? Why do I feel like I’m in need when I, like David, have God as my shepherd. It’s because God is graciously leading me to Himself. What I really need is not money or time. What I really need is Him. If you don’t have something right now it’s because you don’t really need it. God is using your inadequate resources to show you that you really need only Him.
As our Shepherd-Provider, God provides us with rest. He Himself is our ideal resting place. By green pastures we’re taught that God leads us to places that we would want to go, places that we desire and find delightful. In those places we find rest, not just physical rest, but, more so, spiritual rest (cf. Matthew 11:28). Haven’t you felt rest in your soul as you have seen Christ freshly this week? To be at rest is to be in Christ’s presence. Notice that God sometimes causes us to lie down. Parents have to make sure that their toddlers get sleep often by repeatedly walking them back to their beds and causing them to lie down. A few years ago I learned from Michael Barrett that “in the order of God, rest always preceeds activity. Before we go to work, we must realize that the success of God’s eternal purpose does not depend on me.” We must rest in His presence.
Secondly, God provides us with revitalization. This is why it’s so critical for me to be in the presence of Christ. I must be more concerned with fellowshiping with Christ than I am with doing something for Him.
Thirdly, God provides us with guidance. In our personal guidance, God stakes His glory. As a Christian, God’s name is affixed to me. For His own glory, God promises to lead me in the right paths. Some Christians have very clear visions of what God is calling them to do. Others have very little idea, and, sometimes, envy those who have the greater clarity. (You have to listen to the mp3 to hear Matthew’s story of God’s “windy guidance” of he and his family, including how “God gave a nerdy youth pastor a nerdy youth group.”) God, our Shepherd, is leading us in the right paths for the sake of His name.
The right paths down which the Lord leads us often go “through the valley of deep darkness.” Sometimes our shepherd brings us right there, and it’s the right path for His name’s sake. God determines that the path of His sheep is often not “bright and sunny.” Consider the end of Hebrews 11: you might be like those who stopped the mouths of lions, or you might be like those who suffered flogging. And which I am is not my choice. I am not shepherding myself! When I signed up to live my life for the sake of God’s name, I surrendered my option of choosing where my path leads.
In valleys of deep darkness, David says, “I will fear no evil.” He does not say, “I will suffer no evil.” God will not remove the calamities of my life, but He graciously removes the fear. The conscious awareness that “the Lord is with me” is what removes the fear.
Lastly, God provides us with protection. The rod was a club, the staff was a crook. The one was for defense, the other for control. The one was to protect from the enemy without, the other from the enemy within. These realities comfort us in the deepest and darkest of trials. This is your God. He is the Provider for His people.
2. Our Shepherd is the Host of His People
Our Host gives us blessing and joy. “In the presence of my enemies” has the idea of “to the astonishment of my enemies.” My enemies are confounded as they look on God’s blessings on my life. Further, God anoints us with oil, an OT picture of prosperity and blessing. “My cup runs over” shows that these blessings saturate me. In all of these images, think in terms of the Giver, not the gifts. It’s not that God has given us all the good things in life; it’s that He has given us Himself.
Finally, our Host gives us love, love for a lifetime, love for eternity. God’s steadfast love is not “tagging along” behind us like an annoying little sibling. Rather, it’s hunting us down every day of our lives. Every morning I wake up, regardless of whether or not I have a conscious thought of God, God’s love is hunting me down. Lamentations 3:23, “His mercies are new every morning.”
I can’t tell you what your path is, but I can tell you, “This is your Shepherd.” And if the Lord is your Shepherd, do you really need to be concerned with what you’re going to be doing in five years? This is our Shepherd, worthy of our trust, worthy of our pursuit.
