The Abundant Life Defined
Tom Shrader teaches through John 10:1-21, explaining how Jesus as both the Door and the Good Shepherd voluntarily laid down His life so that His people might have life abundantly — not freedom from hardship, but fullness of purpose, peace, and relationship with God. Drawing on Philippians 2 and Psalm 23, Shrader contrasts the self-giving love of Christ with the thief who comes to steal and destroy, and shows that the abundant life is not material comfort but the constant care of a Shepherd who knows each sheep by name. The teaching closes with a pastoral application from Psalm 23, calling believers to trust God's guidance in times of fear, grief, and uncertainty rather than relying on their own understanding.
“Jesus said, I've come that you might have real life, eternal life to be sure — but eternal life has two aspects, quantity and quality.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: John: The Essence of Life (2005)
Recorded: 2005 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 52 min
Themes: abundant life, good shepherd, grief, peace, purpose, trust, suffering, god's care, grieving a loss, facing uncertainty, widow, struggling with fear, new believer, going through hardship, parent, questioning god's plan
Scripture: John 10:1-21, John 10:7, John 10:10, John 10:11, John 10:16, John 10:17, John 9:38, John 14:6, John 8:44, Psalm 23, Philippians 2:5-8, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 1, 1 Peter 5:8, Matthew 6, Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22, Luke 17:25, Acts 2, 2 Chronicles 20
Theological Themes: soteriology, atonement, union with christ, salvation, pastoral care, divine sovereignty, incarnation, redemption
Full Transcript
A Prayer for the Braybeck Family
Larry and Kelly Braybeck from church — and you may know them from church and social things as well — Larry was killed yesterday in a car wreck. The news was covering it down at Val Vista and the freeway. Yesterday morning at 7 o'clock, just driving to work, minding his own business, someone came through a red light and t-boned him, and he was probably dead almost immediately. Be praying — not for Larry, because he's in heaven and he got the best part of the deal — but for Kelly and for the kids. That's a tough time, and they'll need your support.
Those of you who know them especially well, this would be a time to come alongside them. I can tell you from experience what will happen: there will be a great surge of support for the next couple of weeks, and then we tend to forget. So make a note of that and pray for them. I don't know anything about service plans yet, but you can call the office tomorrow or the next day and I'm sure we'll have that information.
Before we start our study today, let's pray for that whole situation together. Father, thank You that You are a great God who has absolute control in the universe, and that there is no maverick molecule that can usurp Your plan or distort or distract or break Your will. God, thank You for the way You work in our lives and that You will never leave us or forsake us. Moments like this are particularly difficult times — times when we can feel all sorts of emotions, especially if we are closely involved.
For Kelly, I pray that You let her sense not just Your presence, but the church's presence and our love and concern. I pray that as thoughts of concern and worry about the future inevitably crop up, You would give her a peace that passes all understanding. We pray for family that will travel to come, and we know that can so often be a difficult time as well. So we pray that the family would be able to rejoice in Larry's presence with You in heaven. God, there are so many things, and we just raise them up to You and praise You and worship You. In Jesus' name, amen.
Introduction: John 10 in Context
Open your Bibles, if you would, to John chapter 10. Maybe in light of what we just talked about, this is a fitting passage for us today. I had hoped last week to cover the first 21 verses, but I only got through verse 10. We will finish it up today, so I need to do just a little bit of summary to make sure we are on the same page.
In John's intent, chapter 10 is a continuation of — or a comment on — what has taken place in chapter 9. I am not suggesting for a moment that it takes place immediately following the incident with the blind man, but in John's mind the two are linked together. In chapter 9, there is a man who has been blind from birth, Jesus opens his eyes, and he can now see. That miracle starts a whole discussion as the Pharisees and the religious leaders begin to question him about how it happened.
They asked who this Jesus was, and the man said he really did not know — that He was a prophet. Ultimately this man is confronted by Jesus, and beginning in verse 38 he says, "Lord, I believe," and he worships Christ. A discussion arose among the Jews over who Jesus is. Some were saying He had a demon, and others were saying that demons do not do things like this.
The Physical Picture of a Spiritual Truth
This miracle is a physical picture of a spiritual truth. If you had had the opportunity to talk to the blind man on the day he was healed, and if you had asked him that morning what one thing he wanted more than anything else, he would have said he wanted to be able to see — to see flowers and people and faces and buildings and colors. He would have wanted to see physically. By the end of that same day, if you had asked him the same question, he would not have said he wanted to see physically. He would have said he wanted to see spiritually. It is a great picture for us.
We come along and say, "Here is what I need more than anything else — I need this deal to close, or this test to be aced, or this person to respond, or that relationship to be fixed." And Jesus says, no, not really. You have a deeper need than that. You are a sinner, and you need to be saved.
I was here for the 7:10 service last Tuesday night, and Tyler was teaching. I was watching and evaluating, making notes on my card — things to think about or consider. He was teaching along and then had an absolutely incredible moment. He said, "Imagine with me that sin is blue." I thought I had better write this down. He said, "If sin was blue, you would be a Smurf." That is really good. If sin were blue, we would all be Smurfs — and what a Smurf needs more than anything else is a Savior, just like you and me. We need a Savior.
The Shepherd and the Sheep
Jesus heals the blind man, and what we have in chapter 10 is Jesus teaching about this new relationship. He uses the picture of a shepherd and sheep. Look at verse 10: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber. He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep, to him the doorkeeper opens."
This can be a little confusing, because in verse 7 Jesus says, "I am the door," and in verse 11 He says, "I am the good shepherd." What is He doing? He is mixing pictures that His audience would have understood. Shepherds would take their flocks out to pasture during the day, and at night they would bring them back into the town or village.
The Shepherd and the Door
They would bring the sheep into the town or village and take them into a permanent structure — a pen, if you will. It would probably not have a ceiling on it, but it would be of a certain height and there would be a door. They would put the sheep in, close the door, and there would be a doorkeeper. The doorkeeper's responsibility was to make certain that the sheep stayed in, but even more importantly, to make sure that no thieves or robbers came — only the shepherds themselves. He would allow the true shepherds to come in to their flock.
That is why Jesus says in verse 3, "to him the doorkeeper opens" — to the real shepherd. The shepherd would come back in the morning, and all those sheep — remember, they would take five, six, or seven flocks and put them together without any branding or marking — would be called out by voice alone. The shepherd would merely stand at a distance and call his sheep. He calls his sheep by name, his sheep hear his voice, and they would come out.
They would then go and graze, and sometimes, because pasture land was not plentiful, they would have to travel some distance. In that case, at night they would take a temporary structure — rocks arranged in a tighter configuration — and put the sheep in, but there would be no door. The shepherd himself served as the door, laying there to keep the adversary out and the sheep in, examining the sheep as they came in at night.
That is what Jesus means in verse 7 when He says, "I am the door." The doorkeeper knows the shepherds, His sheep hear His voice, and He knows them. Verse 6 notes that this was a figure of speech they did not understand, so Jesus now expands on it.
I Am the Door
"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved." We discussed last week what that idea of saving means. In the context of this physical picture of a spiritual truth, we are saved — we are delivered — from our sin.
We come into the world, to go back to the picture used earlier, like a smurf: sin is blue and we are blue all over and thoroughly. The wage of sin is death. We are separated from God. As natural men and women coming into this world, we are separated from God. We do not understand life. We do not understand the world around us or ourselves. We lack understanding and wisdom because we look at the world only as human beings see it, and we develop our own agenda and our own values.
We need to be saved. We need to be delivered. The wage of sin — what I earn with my sin, what I deserve, the payment — is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death. Eternal separation from God. The wage of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
He came — Jesus came — to seek and to save the lost. To change not only our destination but our destiny here. To change not only where we will spend eternity, but to change the life that we have now. Jesus says, "I am the door — enter through Me." In John 14, He says, "I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." Peter declares there is salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus Christ alone. That is what Jesus is saying: I am the way, I am the deliverance, I am the Messiah.
The Thief Versus the Shepherd
He says in verse 10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly." Thieves — false teachers, Satan himself — come to steal, to kill, to destroy. In John chapter 8, verse 44, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and says, "You have your father, the devil. You want to do the desires of your father." Of Satan He says, "He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks, he speaks a lie. He speaks from his own nature. He is a liar and the father of all lies."
Peter warns us in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, "Be sober in spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to destroy." He is an adversary — the Greek word for a legal opponent in a lawsuit. He is a devil. He is a slanderer. He is out to destroy you. Whether he comes as an angel of light, a subtle serpent, or a roaring lion, he comes — as do all who serve him, all demons, all false teachers — to seek and to destroy and to kill and to murder.
Jesus says, "I have come to bring you life." They came to take life. "I have come that you might have life abundantly." They come to rob you of life.
The Deception of False Life
Here is what is interesting: they do it under the deception that this is really living. They come along and say, "Listen, this will really be living." And we fall into that trap. It is the most natural of things. We begin to think we are going to find life and meaning and purpose in the world, and we just fall right into line. If I have that, I will be happy. If I buy that, I will be happy. If I snort that, I will be happy. If I can acquire that, I will be happy. If I can touch that, I will be happy. There is life — this is really living.
Miller Beer has gone back to their old branding — Miller High Life is back again. The Corona ads say this is really living. No, it is not. They do not show you the devastating effects, do they? We want life.
John chapter 10, verse 10 holds a special meaning for me, because my mentor Larry Wright chose it as the pivotal verse in defining his...
The Abundant Life
Larry was a non-believer when he heard a testimony and heard, "This is life." When he heard that, he said, "That's what I want. I want life. I want real living. I want this life." What he meant, humanly speaking, was that he wanted to find purpose and meaning and happiness in this life. And the only way to truly find life itself, meaning and happiness, is to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him.
Jesus said, "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly." Let me remind you what that means: exceeding some number or measure or rank or need, over and above, more than is necessary, super-added, surpassing, uncommon, more remarkable, more excellent. Jesus said He came that we might have this extraordinary life — more than any measure, any number, more than any quantitative measurement we can apply.
Eternal Life: Quantity and Quality
Jesus said He came that we might have real life — eternal life, to be sure. But when we talk about eternal life, we need to understand that it has two aspects: quantity and quality. So when someone asks, "Do you have eternal life?" the answer is yes — everyone can say yes, because we are all going to live forever. The question is where: in right relationship with God in heaven, or separated from Him in a place called hell.
Jesus said He came that we might have life — not just eternal life, but life here. Meaning here. Purpose here. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control — that we might be able to demonstrate those things not just in a world filled with hurt and pain, but in the very midst of hurt and pain and anguish.
I received a call this morning. I was sitting in my office when the phone rang a little after seven. It was someone who was supposed to be at the newcomers' lunch today, calling from Colorado to say he wouldn't be there. His wife's daughter — seventeen years old — had died the day before. He asked if I would speak with her, and I said it would be an honor. She got on the phone, and my heart just ached as I listened to her speak about her daughter, what happened, and how God might use this.
God does not say, "Become a Christian and I will put a little bubble over you — you'll be bubble boy, you'll never have any problems, nothing can ever get at you, nobody will ever get close to you, you'll never hurt, you'll never cry, your kids will never rebel, you'll never have a broken relationship, all your deals will close, and you'll be happy all the days of your life." That is not what He says. He does not say He will take you out of this world. What He says to the disciples is, "I am sending you into the world" — but you do not go alone. You are not an orphan.
The Good Shepherd
The picture He uses is a powerful one — more powerful to those first hearers than perhaps to us. It is the picture of a shepherd. He says, "I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly." Then in verse 11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, beholds the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me."
Before we can talk about Jesus as a shepherd, we need to spend a moment talking about you and me as sheep. Ray Stedman writes about sheep, and here is what he says: "I don't like the analogy, frankly, because I don't like sheep. I come by my dislike honestly — I used to raise sheep. In high school I was in the 4-H club and I had a herd of sheep and goats. Now, goats I can handle, because they may be obnoxious but at least they're smart. Sheep are beyond question the most stupid animals on the face of the earth. They're dumb. They're dirty. They're timid. They're defenseless. They're helpless. Mine were always getting lost and hurt, snake-bitten. They literally do not know enough to come in out of the rain. I look back on my shepherding days with a great deal of disgust. Sheep are miserable creatures."
Now, God says you are sheep. I do not think He is particularly concerned about our intelligence, or lack of it, in this picture. What He is saying is that we are timid, defenseless, helpless — we wander, and we get lost easily. For a sheep to survive for very long, there has to be a shepherd.
The Good Shepherd Versus the Hireling
Jesus said, "I am a shepherd" — not someone who has simply been hired to do a job, not someone punching a clock. He is not a shepherd from nine to five. He is the good shepherd, and He lays down His life. A hireling would not do that.
I used to have a great office — a corner office my partner and I shared, with floor-to-ceiling glass right at the corner of the building. Every night, at exactly 5:01, the cars would stop backing up trying to get out of the parking lot. It would drive my partner absolutely crazy watching those people just punch the clock. I said, "Yeah, that's exactly right — that's what they're doing." All the owners, like us, were still there, still working. But the hourly employee goes home, has a couple of Diet Cokes and a pizza, watches everybody love Raymond, scratches his belly, and goes to sleep.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
The owner is still there worrying — it is 24/7 for the owner. That is what Jesus is saying: I am the good shepherd, I provide extraordinary care. He is not saying that the hireling is malicious. He is saying the hireling is not as dedicated, not as reliable, not as committed. He is in it for a check.
Jesus does not even say He is the owner of the sheep. He says He is the creator of the sheep. He says, "I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep. I lay down my life for my sheep."
When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, what did he say? "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." So we see Jesus as the door, we see Jesus as the good shepherd, and we see Him as the sacrificial lamb — the lamb that was sent.
The Perfect Sacrifice
For thousands of years, the Jews would make this perfect sacrifice — an unblemished lamb, meeting all the required characteristics. They knew that this atonement, in and of itself, was not the perfect sacrifice, but that one day the perfect sacrifice would come, the perfect lamb would come. And John the Baptist says, "There He is right there. Behold the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who takes away the sins of the world, who lays down His life voluntarily."
The angel told Joseph, "Mary will have a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." In Acts chapter 2, Luke tells us that as Peter spoke, he spoke about this man — speaking of Jesus — delivered up by the predetermined plan of God.
As we have read through this study in the life of Christ, we see Jesus begin now to prepare the disciples for the fact that He must sacrifice and die. Matthew chapter 16, verse 21: "From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day." Mark chapter 8, verse 31: "He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, be killed, and after three days rise again."
Luke chapter 9, verse 22: "The Son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, the scribes, be killed and raised on the third day." Luke chapter 17, verse 25: "But first," Jesus says, "before all these things are accomplished, I must suffer many things and be rejected."
He Laid Down His Life Voluntarily
Jesus went to the cross voluntarily. Here is what He says: "I lay down my life for the sheep." Look at verse 17: "For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have the authority to lay it down, I have the authority to take it up."
This is so important for us to understand — that Jesus came to this earth voluntarily and died voluntarily so that He might save His people from their sins. Those of us around a place like this might consider that a given, but a great part of the world, even many who consider themselves Christians, especially some of those in liberal denominations, have gotten away from the whole idea of Jesus dying for others.
I had a friend who was part of a denomination and felt I needed to be part of it as well. I was not very interested, but he arranged a meeting with his senior leader. It became clear that this man did not take Scripture literally and had all sorts of problems with it. I asked him, "Why did Jesus die?" He said, "Well, Jesus died because He was a political prisoner, and that is how they killed political prisoners." I pressed further. He said Jesus died to be a picture of sacrificial love — that it was beautiful. I asked what was actually accomplished in His death. He said, "Nothing."
There is a whole purpose here, a plan here — that is why Jesus came. His death was voluntary and His death was purposeful. He died in our place, He died on our behalf. Romans chapter 5, verse 6: "While we were yet sinners, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrated His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Jesus on the cross took what you deserved. He died in your place, on your behalf — He died for all who would ever believe in Him. Those of you who have taken communion and have said Jesus is your Lord and Savior — Jesus received on that cross what you deserved. He died in your place, on your behalf.
Knowing His Sheep
"My sheep know my voice and I know them." Here is what I have discovered: we are not very adept at identifying who the sheep are. We sometimes struggle with that in a couple of ways. You have some people in your midst right now who look like sheep, sound like sheep, talk like sheep, take communion like sheep — but they are not really His. And you have some who are out there who do not yet respond, but who are His.
Not long after I was saved, Larry said to me, "You have got to hear Bill McKee. Bill McKee is the greatest evangelist, the greatest speaker. You have got to hear him speak." Everywhere I went, all I heard was Bill McKee, Bill McKee, Bill McKee. But before I could get to hear him, he had left his wife, taken up with another woman, moved away, and denied his faith.
I was telling this story recently and somebody said, "Have you ever heard of him?" I said no. They said, "I have a tape of him — do you want to listen to it?" I said I would love to. I listened, and then I asked, "Where is he now?" They said he was somewhere in the Midwest, perhaps Wisconsin, and that he had denied his faith. From everyone around him, he had seemed like one of the great sheep. We are simply not very good at understanding who the sheep truly are.
The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
We are not very good at figuring out who the sheep are or aren't, and we love to play that game. I understand that some of that is necessary — we need to understand judging sin among the body and all that. But Jesus does not say the sheep know each other necessarily. He says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they know Me."
Be careful with that phrase: "I know them and they know Me." There is an intimacy here. Remember, these sheep are not being raised for food but for wool, so they would be with the shepherd for years and years. They would know each other deeply. He could stand at a distance and call them, and they would hear his voice.
I eventually went to a Bible study that some guys in my office attended, and that is what God used to save me. Afterwards, I went back to them and said, "How come you never invited me to that Bible study?" And they said, "It never occurred to us that God could save — or would save — somebody like you."
I used to work in an office with a man who would call me in and just unload about something he thought God had done wrong. One night he had been watching a great deal about the Holocaust, and he said, "Tell me why God would do that. What kind of a God is this?" I said, "I don't know. Maybe so we'd have this conversation." When he was done I said, "Can I go now?" About two weeks later, he called me in again, closed the door, and said, "Last night, I became a Christian."
We are simply not very good at figuring out who the sheep are.
One Flock, One Shepherd
Jesus continues in verse 16: "I have other sheep which are not of this fold, and I must bring them also, and they shall hear My voice, and they shall become one flock with one shepherd." What He is saying is this: I have others outside you Jews — Gentiles, people in all areas. By the way, He still does. That becomes a cornerstone for missions as we think about different parts of the world. It is our privilege to go and be part of what He uses to bring that message to those other sheep.
He then says He lays down His life voluntarily, and because He does, the Father loves Him. That is the story of the Good Shepherd, and it is all part of God's plan.
I am not just a number. He knows me intimately. As I have read about sheep, what I find is that they are so fearful they will not drink from a moving brook — they need still water. If they get onto their backs like a turtle, they will die there because they cannot right themselves. They are completely defenseless. A wolf can come into a flock and, as it takes one sheep, the others will stand around and watch rather than run. That is a picture of you and me, and of how desperately we need a shepherd — and how much the Good Shepherd was committed to providing us not just salvation, but ongoing care.
He Emptied Himself
Turn right through Acts, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians to Philippians chapter 2. We will get a picture of how important this coming and laying down of life was to Jesus. As God providentially timed it, I was listening to Alistair Begg this week, and he was speaking about this very passage.
Philippians chapter 2, verse 5: "Have this attitude in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men."
Alistair Begg's point — and it is a really good one — is this: Jesus had a greater priority than His own uninterrupted glory. He emptied Himself, not of His deity, but of His glory. Jesus never ceased to be God; He was never not God. But His highest priority was our redemption and salvation. That is the story from Genesis to Revelation.
That is why He came to earth. The triune God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — before the foundations of the earth, determined to purposefully save. The Father chose those He would save. The Son came and purchased that salvation on the cross. And the Holy Spirit, at the appointed time, applies that salvation to your life and mine.
My own thought was this: most of us do not have a greater priority than our own uninterrupted glory. Most of our lives are consumed with ourselves — what about me, what does this mean for me, my glory, what I need. That is precisely the context of the passage. "Have this mind in you which was in Christ Jesus," who before the foundations of the earth was part of the triune God that said, "We will save these people."
Alistair Begg made the further point that Jesus made Himself a bondservant not by subtraction but by addition. He took on the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of man. He did not cease to be God — He continued to be God — but He became the God-man. And He came and laid down His life.
sheep will not lie down. Only when they're free from these pests can they relax. Sheep will not lie down as long as they feel the need for finding food. They must be free from hunger. So Keller concludes, it is only the shepherd himself who can provide relief from these anxieties. It is only as the sheep see him moving among them that they will lie down in confidence and peace.
The Lord Is My Shepherd
It ties exactly into what we have been saying. He lays down His life so that you and I might have a shepherd. In a world that has lost its compass, where people have lost their compass and it seems to be getting worse day by day, we are living a picture of Romans chapter 1. Is the world lost? You bet. Does it deserve judgment? Absolutely. Does it seem to be downcycling morally? Yes, I think so. And that even more emphasizes how much we need a Savior and a shepherd.
We cannot save ourselves. We can try — that is called religion. But at the end of the day, all we will be is tired, worn out, and lost. "All you who are weary," He says, "come to Me" — weary of trying on your own, going at it again and again and coming up empty, never able to get yourself good enough. Come to Me and I will save you.
But what He is saying here is deeper than that. He is not just saying He will save you. He is saying it is more than that. He is saying, "I am your shepherd now. We are in this together. I am indwelling you. We cannot be any closer." God is in this room — not in some ethereal way, but in that He indwells the hearts of His people.
Psalm 23: A Psalm About Living
I want to take the last several minutes and speak to those of us who know Christ, to be reminded of what we have in that relationship. Turn to the Old Testament, to the book of Psalms, and to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is one of those passages of Scripture known by many people who spend hardly any time studying Scripture itself.
Larry and I would go to funerals together, and when someone would recite Psalm 23 at a funeral, it would drive him nuts. He would get so frustrated. Psalm 23 is not about dying. Psalm 23 is about living. That is what the whole thing is about.
Look at it: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." There is the all-encompassing statement. Eugene Peterson paraphrases verse 1 this way: "God my shepherd, I don't need anything." God is my shepherd — I have everything that I need.
James Boyce says this: not to want is to be content, and that state can exist only when the sheep are in the care of the good shepherd. Sheryl Crow sings, "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got." The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not lack. He will be my constant guide and protector and companion. He will provide all that I need — not necessarily all that I want, but all that I need, whether it is material, whether it is clothing, or a place to work, or something to eat, or a place to live, or relationship.
This is what Jesus taught. Don't be anxious about what you are going to eat, or what you are going to wear, or where you are going to live — Matthew chapter 6 — because He said, "That is how the Gentiles think. You are thinking like a Gentile. You are thinking like a sheep without a shepherd. But seek first My kingdom, and all these things will be added unto you." Don't be troubled. Why? Because He is the shepherd. You should not want.
Trusting the Shepherd
If that is true, and we begin to break it down, then it seems obvious that if Jesus is my shepherd, I should not want. If I am wanting, then either He is not my shepherd, or I do not understand the relationship. There is sin. There is something lacking in me. The call is to trust Him, and to obey Him, and to know. This is not an excuse to neglect planning or work or any of those things, but it is an understanding that He is the one who is responsible for the outcome. He will meet your needs.
Here is what I have discovered over time: He will give you many of the things you want, and He often does it by changing your wants altogether. You simply do not want the same things anymore. The things that seemed so important years ago are just not that important anymore. All of a sudden, there is perspective in your life.
He Restores My Soul
Verse 2: "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul." Philip Keller, in his book *A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm*, addresses what it means for the shepherd to make his sheep lie down in green pastures. He writes that sheep do not easily lie down. In fact, it is almost impossible for them to lie down unless four requirements are met.
Owing to their timidity, sheep will refuse to lie down unless they are free from all fear. Because of the social dynamics within the flock, sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind. If they are tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down — only when they are free from these pests can they relax. And sheep will not lie down as long as they feel the need to find food. They must be free from hunger.
Keller concludes that it is only the shepherd himself who can provide relief from these anxieties. It is only as the sheep see him moving among them that they will lie down in confidence and peace.
Freedom from Fear
Sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger. The Shepherd says, "I'm your shepherd. You shouldn't want. I'll make you lie down. I'm going to free you from that burden of fear. I'm going to free you from the torment of relationships, from the distraction and aggravation of flies and parasites in your life. I'm going to take care of your needs."
This was illustrated in the passage taught this week from 2 Chronicles chapter 20. The king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, is in trouble. The Moabites and the Ammonites are all around him. Here is what God says to him: "Do not fear or be dismayed because this great multitude is around you. For the battle is not yours, but God's."
It is the same thing He says to you and me. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. Dismayed means to be shattered, to be broken, to be abolished. Don't be afraid. Don't be shattered.
Why? Not because things out there aren't scary — they are very scary. It is a scary world, and you have real things that have attacked you, real things that to the normal, natural man are very frightening. But you are not normal or natural anymore. You are supernatural. The battle isn't yours to figure out. It isn't yours to fix. It is God's.
Now, that can sound a little goofy. It can sound like a word game, almost New Age. There is a story about Sue Wright, who was sick and in the hospital when one of her New Age friends came to visit her and said, "Don't worry, you're not really here." Sue said, "Then why are you visiting me? I'm not here." Those of us who are not His sheep might hear "it's not my battle" and ask, "Are you in denial?" But those of us who are sheep know exactly what He is saying — that indeed we work and strain and plan, but ultimately it is God's.
Don't Be Afraid
Don't be afraid. Not because things aren't scary. The call that Kelly got yesterday about Larry. The call received this morning from the lady who lost her 17-year-old daughter. Those things rank very high, but difficult things happen every day. It is the sitting in traffic that drives you nuts. It is the little things. Don't be afraid. Don't be worried. Don't be shattered.
There are people who are shattered over the smallest things. Listen — you are a sheep. He is a good Shepherd. You don't have to worry. But what do you do when you genuinely don't know what to do?
That same passage in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 speaks directly to this. The king is praying and says, "We are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on Thee." When you don't know what to do, you look first to Him. God, give me strength. God, give me wisdom. God, help me understand the world I am living in.
Look at Psalm 23. He leads me. He restores my soul. He guides me. That is what is needed when you don't know what to do. Not just knowledge — wisdom. Direction.
Wisdom: Knowledge Rightly Applied
Webster defines wisdom this way: the power to judge rightly, to follow the soundest course of action based on knowledge, experience, and thinking, or based on understanding. For you and me, if we want wisdom, we need to understand the mind of God. How do we get the mind of God? We read this book. But that is not enough. We have to take it and obey. We have to follow it.
A man came in for counsel and said the last 15 years of his life had been miserable — 15 years of hell. When asked what made it so bad, he said he had been married for 15 years to a woman and they agreed on nothing. Not on money, not on raising kids, not on giving. She was not a Christian.
After letting that sit for a moment, the question was posed: how long ago did God save you? He said he had been a Christian for 20 or 25 years. Think that through. He was a Christian. He married an unbeliever. His life is hell. This is entirely predictable. What he did was simple — he sinned. He said, in effect, "God, my way is better than Your way." And somehow he thought that doing something contrary to what God had said would have a happy ending, because he would be the exception to every rule God has ever made. Wisdom is not just the knowledge. You have to apply it.
Spurgeon defines wisdom this way: "Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, but they are all the greater fool for it. There is no fool so great as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."
Sound Decisions Require Both Thinking and Knowledge
We want to make sound decisions. The Shepherd says He will guide us in these well-worn paths. Someone else has written: clear thinking without knowledge does not guarantee a sound decision. A sense of knowledge without clear thinking is not any better. A sound decision is the child of a marriage between clear thinking and relevant knowledge.
In this world, decisions must be made. Guidance is needed.
Walking Through the Valley
When I don't know what to do, I seek the Lord. I study His Word. I look at my own heart and see if there is sin there. I talk to others who share my same basic values of faith, and I begin to make decisions. If God has already spoken, the decision is straightforward. For example, if you are trying to figure out whether to marry an unbeliever, that is not a very hard question — God says don't do it. You don't have to pray about it, ask your group about it, or drag a number of people through it. Just don't do it.
Now, if you are trying to figure out where to work or what kind of lifestyle to have, those are wisdom issues from which you can draw principles from Scripture. You talk to trusted friends, weigh those principles, and make a decision — one that is the product of clear thinking and relevant knowledge.
Verse 4 says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me." The rod was a club used to drive off wild animals. The staff was a slender pole — you have seen the kind with a small crook on the end — used to protect, direct, or discipline the sheep.
For the sheep, a valley was a place of great vulnerability. The psalmist is not saying you will be spared the valley. He is saying you are going to go through the valley. It is going to look difficult. But he says not to be afraid, because the Shepherd is there with a rod to ward off enemies and a staff to correct and guide.
The Shepherd's Presence and Promise
And ultimately, verse 6 promises that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The psalmist is speaking a great deal about suffering, pain, hardship, and difficulty in this life, and his message is: don't be afraid, don't be discouraged, don't be dismayed. Why? Because God will never leave you or forsake you.
He is the Good Shepherd. His sheep know His voice, and He knows them. You don't need to worry. You don't need to be afraid. You are going to have difficult times — He never promises that you will be protected from all of them. But what He does give you is peace, which is not the absence of turmoil but the presence of God.
He is the Savior. He is our Lord. But He is also our Shepherd, who nurtures us, protects us, and guides us. "The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want" — not because we are big or strong or smart, but because He is the Creator God who loves us even more than we love ourselves. That is the great practical truth that flows from the doctrine and from the theology.
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*Father, we pray that You would take this time and use it — that You would nurture us and guide us. God, I pray that those of us who are here today who would call You Lord and call You Savior would be encouraged by this reminder. God, we pray that we might have wisdom — that combination of knowledge and the application of it, to use knowledge in a way that is appropriate. God, we pray that we would be people who bring honor and glory to You. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.*