Abandonment – Psalm 23

Transcript (Auto-generated)

This transcript has been automatically generated, and therefore may not be 100% accurate.

How many people? It might be people above a certain age recognised that theme tune.

Okay, Liz, theme tunes for what? What was the theme tune? The vicar of Dibley. The vicar of Dibley? It was a comedy in the 1990s.

It makes me feel very old. Average viewing figures were 13 and a half million, which meant that millions of people in our modern world heard at least the first part of that psalm.

It's been used for thousands of years. It's probably one of the most well known and well loved passages in the Bible. Perhaps that's helped by the fact it's only six verses long, so we haven't got a lot to remember. But in those six verses there is an absolute wealth of understanding about who God is, how much he loves us and how we can have confidence in him. As I said, it's only six verses.

There's a lot in it if you really look in depth. I could speak for hours. I've had great fun looking at this. I promise I won't. I've timed it.

It should be just about twelve minutes.

But before we look at what the passage actually says, as Ben mentioned, our theme today is abandonment, or the feeling of being abandoned. And we need to think about how this might relate to the psalm. So according to the dictionary, abandonment is an act of leaving a person or thing permanently and completely. Now, it could be physical, actually leaving someone behind or forgetting them, as I once did to my four year old child. And I forgot to pick him up from nursery, not including them in something.

I'm sure that the kids have felt that when they've been at school and actually they've not been included, and they feel alone, feeling undesired, unloved, unwanted. The psychological impact can leave deep and lasting scars. And as christians, we too can sometimes feel abandoned, especially when facing life changing challenges, loss and confusion. It's not uncommon to feel abandoned by God and to ask, where is he? Does he really care?

And please don't let anybody say, you shouldn't feel that way. I actually get really cross when well meaning believers say that if you have a faith, you shouldn't feel a certain way, as if it makes you a bad christian. Actually, there are times when we all feel lost or alone. Times when sometimes we might question our face or are faced with a grief or a hurt that is overwhelming. Pretending that life is wonderful when it patently isn't, does no good.

And it can sometimes do immense harm. But what this psalm shows, and what we can share with those who may be suffering or actually hold on to ourselves, is that in spite of how we may be feeling, and those feelings are genuine, God is with us. He's with us in the good times as well as in the midst of what may be the darkest periods of our life. The shepherd will lead us through.

But before we turn to psalm 23, I want to mention the previous psalm, psalm 22. You can see it in your pure bibles. What a change in emotion. Psalm 22 starts with words that you may well recognise. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? I cry out by day, but you do not answer by night. I find no rest. This is also a psalm of David. It shows someone suffering gut wrenching anguish and distress.

It's the cry of someone who knows what it is to be bullied and attacked by his enemies, rejected by his community and believes he has been abandoned by God. And I'm sure you recognise that first phrase. It's the same phrase that Jesus cried out in Gethsemane when he too was anguished and felt abandoned. And yet the following psalm, also written by David, whom we first meet as a shepherd boy. He acknowledges that God is his shepherdess and whatever he faces, God will be there and will guide him to safety.

I don't know if you've noticed, but it starts with, the Lord is my shepherd, my shepherd. It is first person and deeply personal. I'm sure most of us have heard about, talks about the role of the shepherd in the Bible. There's lots of passages old and you. For the sheep, like Shaun, the shepherd was the protector, the one who kept them safe.

And once that shepherd had left his village, he was on his own. It was his job to care for the sheep. The shepherd would ensure that everyone was safe, was not left on its own, or if it got lost and was protected and provided for. And God provides for all we need. Same as the shepherd provides food and water for his sheep, God provides food and water to refresh the soul and bring us back the way to go if we follow him.

I read a great book while preparing for this. It's a book by Kenneth Bailey, actually. I do love his work. This is quite a big tome. It's called the good shepherd a thousand year journey.

And it looks at the whole of the role of the shepherd in both Old and New Testament. And whilst this isn't mentioned in this psalm, I hadn't realised that when a sheep gets lost and bleats until he's found one, the shepherd has to act quickly, because as he's bleating. All the predators are hearing it. But two, the sheep is often so traumatised that it literally cannot stand, and the shepherd has to carry it back to the flock over his shoulder. And I'm sure you've sometimes seen pictures of Jesus, images of Jesus with the sheep over his shoulder.

It's because the sheep cannot do it on his own. Sheep are pretty heavy, actually. It's a lot of weight to carry. The shepherd cares that much for the sheep. Our shepherd, my shepherd, cares that much for us.

And he will carry us when we cannot carry on. In the middle of this psalm, we have the key verse, the declaration that in spite of all that we may suffer or be going through, the shepherd will never leave us. He will always be there, as we've just sung. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. The King James version, and the one you probably know best, and as we said today, refers to this as the valley of death.

But according to the Hebrew, the darkest valley is a more accurate interpretation. Sheep don't understand the concept of death. They do understand, though, that going through a dark valley can be dangerous. The point of verse four is not that even when we might have reason to be afraid or scared for the future or abandoned by friends or family, yes, even when we are facing death or lost loved ones, the point is, we do not need to fear I because God is with us and he will take care of us. That's sometimes a very hard concept to hold onto when actually life is really hard.

But he is our shepherd and he knows what he's doing and he will bring us to the other side. The psalm ends with a wonderful picture of feasting. Yes, goddess. The Lord Almighty is hosting a banquet of thanksgiving. I bet it tastes wonderful.

And he anoints with oil. It's the symbol of bestowing a great honour and favour on his guests. And he offers an overflowing cup as a symbol of his generous love. And I think that is an absolutely beautiful picture, the grace and love of God.

One of the things I love about the psalm is that it is realistic. The feasting takes place in the presence of his enemies. It's not that the evil has gone or that life is suddenly easier. Not that the struggles have passed. No, David knows he can partake of the banquet in the.

In spite of the fact that life is difficult, we, each of us, face our own difficulties. Some are harder than others. And there may be some here today who are really hurting or feel lost. And alone and don't know where God is.

But imagine what a difference, knowing that whatever we face, whatever dark valley we are travelling through, we can turn to God, who will bring us to the feast and rejoice in we have a God who has promised to always be there and a saviour who knew what it was like to be tempted, hungry and thirsty, to be in pain and weary, to be hurt and abandoned by others. And yes, in Gethsemane, to feel abandoned by God. He understands us because not only was he God, he was fully human.

You and I are the focus of God's vigilant, care, dedicated concern.

As parents, many of us know that there isn't a substitute for that feeling of security that comes from knowing that you are the object of someone's care, protection and love.

So no matter how you may be feeling, God will never abandon you. And if you feel you cannot cope, he will carry you like a shepherd does. It brings to mind that famous poem, footprints, that ends with when you saw one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

The idea that God will always be there, that you are not on your own, is something, as I said, is spoken about often in the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps one of the best known and quoted by the writer to the Hebrews is deuteronomy 31 eight. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.

God has promised to always be there, to not abandon any of us, no matter how he may feel. Whether life is good right now and you're in a green and lush dell, or whether you're journeying through your darkest valley. If we believe his promises, we can be confident he is walking in front of us and leading us. We need to grasp hold of that with joy and realise that God's eternal promise is your goodness and love will follow me, or in one version, pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

So, as you think of those words, we're going to come now to the Lord's table. Another feast. A feast with Jesus. As I said, regardless of how he may be feeling, God is there and he is worthy of our praise simply because he is God. David knew this, and in spite of the grief expressed in psalm 22, he still chose to worship God.

And when you're feeling that life is awful, it can sometimes be a choice to worship God. David said, I will declare your name to my people in the assembly, I will praise you. And we're going to sing a song now. It's on the video. We have sung it before, but it was a while ago where it talks about choosing to worship God even when life can be hard.

So as you prepare for communion, let's choose to worship God together.