TITLE: HOW TO BE TRULY SATISFIED!

TEXT: Psalm 23:1

THEME: THE LORD IS OUR SHEPHERD

INTRODUCTION:
 Psalms 23 is one, if not the most, popular passage is the O.T. Yet this will my first time to preach on a
Sunday from this passage. I’ve shared a devotion from this, exhorted from this on a Bible Study, but
never preached a sermon from this.
 There are two possible reason why we now seldom here this passage on a Sunday sermon. One, this
commonly used on a funeral service! Second, perhaps because it has been so common (book and several
hundreds of messages and articles are already readily available in the library, bookstore and now
online).
 For Charles Allen, author of God’s psychiatry, if there is a passage that we have to keep on reading,
memorizing, reflecting, hearing a message on, that is this Passage. There are four passages he highly
recommended, that according to him could really bring a very personal healing upon your soul if you
fully understood that passage and becomes a part of your belief system. The Ten Commandments, The
Lord’s Prayer, The Beatitudes, and Psalms 23 that came on top from his suggestions.
 And this morning, it is my prayer that as we review, study and start a series on Psalms 23, I pray that
this will bring healing upon our soul. This morning I will start on verse 1. But before that… Let’s
Pray…

 Psalm 23 contains a short yet beautiful portrait of our relationship with God. It promises comfort and
protection to those who remain close to the Shepherd and demonstrates how our spiritual needs are met
in the Lord.
 The Psalm was written by the would-be king of Israel, David the son of Jesse, who spent much of his
early life tending to the sheep of his father.
 Interestingly, it is written not from the perspective of David as the shepherd, but from the perspective of
a sheep and his relationship with the shepherd.

The idea of the sheep and shepherd relationship is taught in the Word of God to describe the relationship
between believers and their heavenly Father.
 Psalm 95:7 “For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if
ye will hear his voice,”

But just to remind us what sheep are like – SSS – my favorite easy-to-remember descriptions.

 First, sheep are stubborn - Sheep can get easily lost because they tend to go their own way. Like sheep,
believers have a tendency to go their own direction rather than follow the divine Shepherds plan. (Psalm
119:176)
 Second, sheep are smelly - Sheep do nothing to cleanse themselves. They do not bathe, roll, scrape, or
lick. They remain filthy until the shepherd finds a way to clean them. The same is true with Christians;
we cannot cleanse ourselves without the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Psalms 119:9)
 Third, sheep are stupid - Sheep need the guidance of the shepherd for food and protection from harmful
and poisonous weeds. They will eat anything. Similarly, believers have a propensity for eating up the
latest trends and Christian “cures”, when what we really need is to find our guidance for life in the
Word of God. ( Psalm 119:105)
 In the first verse of Psalm 23 we learn that it is possible to live free from wants. Most people in our society
are consumed with the idea of getting more and bigger stuff. People strap themselves with huge loans,
heavy car payments, high credit card bills and still they are constantly looking for more.
 You will never find true satisfaction until you learn to accept what God wants you to have and you become
content with Him!

THEREFORE, WE MUST FIND OUR SATISFACTION IN THE LORD

HOW?

I. BY TRUSTING THE SHEPHERD’S PERSON V. 1

 Notice the phrase, “The Lord…”

 This Psalm begins and ends with, “the Lord” (Vs. 6). This establishes the importance of the relationship
of the sheep to the shepherd.
 F.B. Meyer wrote, “All other life, from the aphid on the rose leaf to the archangel before the throne, is
dependent and derived. All others waste and grow old; He only is unchangeably the same. All others are
fires which he supplies with fuel; he alone is self-sustained. This mighty being is our Shepherd!”
 There are several names for God not used in this Psalm. It does not say, “God (Elohim) is my
shepherd,” for that speaks of Him as the great and mighty Creator who is separate from the world.
Neither does it say, “The Master (Adonai) is my shepherd.” That speaks of a servant slave relationship.
Rather, it says “The Lord (YHWH) is my shepherd.” This is a term of personal relationship, which
means that you can get close to Him.
 Why is this important? Yahweh is God’s name! (Exodus 3:4).
 The real problem with those who are not satisfied is that they have not come to the place where they
completely trust or are willing to give their lives to the Lord and let Him have complete control. It is an
issue of surrender.
 So the first thing we see, from verse 1, WE CAN TRULY BE SATISFIED, BY TRUSTING THE
SHEPHERD’S PERSON!
 The condition of any sheep is totally dependent on the care of the shepherd. If the shepherd is slack, the
sheep will be sickly. Conversely, if the shepherd is diligent, the sheep will be healthy.
 God as our Shepherd is deserving of control and is capable of managing our lives because of Who He
is.
 Who is He?
A. First, He is our Creator -. Psalm 100:3 “Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made
us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” The wonderful truth of
the Word of God is that the Creator of the universe is big enough to rule it all and yet is personal
enough to reside in my heart and have complete control of my life. The only paradox that applies to
our God: “He is Big yet could be so small. So far, yet so near!”
B. Second, He is our Savior - Isaiah 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to
our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
 We are privileged to have a relationship with God. A personal relationship that is based on His
unconditional love for us and my trust in the Person of His Son – Jesus Christ!
 John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.”

We can never be truly satisfied apart from complete trust in Christ’s Person!

II. BY TRUSTING THE SHEPHERD’S POSITION V. 1

  The next part and phrase in our verse, says, “Is my shepherd…” And therefore the next thing we see in
our verse, if we truly want to be satisfied in life is, BY TRUSTING THE SHEPHERDS POSITION.
 He is our Shepherd – that ought to be His position in our life!
 Grammatically speaking, there are two key words in this part of the verse.

A. First, the present tense verb – “is”

 What does the word “is” imply?

 Some could testify about their past experiences with God and say,“The Lord was my Shepherd.”
 Others only plan to get close to the Lord-Shepherd in the future, i.e., “The Lord will be my Shepherd.”
 Yet, David plainly stated that “the Lord is my Shepherd” – present tense!
 This means two things. Right now – the Lord will care for you and protect you today! Right here – you
don’t have to go some place else to get into the Shepherd’s care! He will care for you and protect you
right where you are!
 Yes, right now! While it is also true that sometimes we best appreciate God as our creator when we go
to places that are naturally beautiful (mountains, beaches, other sceneries). But now that we are in
pandemic and our mobility has been restricted, we can now only watch on youtube and wish we are
there. But wherever we maybe right now, right where you are. Just like David, you can say, “God is! My
Sphepherd.”
 Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the
children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”
 ILL: A poem by Helen Mallicoat
I was regretting the past 
And fearing the future. 
Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

“My name is I Am.” He paused. 

I waited. He continued,
When you live in the past 
With its mistakes and regrets, 
It is hard. I am not there, 
My name is not I WAS”.

When you live in the future 

With its problems and fears, 
It is hard. I am not there. 
My name is not I WILL BE.

When you live in this moment, 

It is not hard. I am here. 
My name is I AM. 
 Just like this Poem, David had complete assurance that he belonged to God. There was no “if”, “but”, or
“I hope so” in David’s mind.

B. Second, the personal pronoun – “my”

 Notice that David did not say, “The Lord is a shepherd,” for that makes Him one among many!
 Who or what serves as our shepherd? Your Job? Family? Bank account? Retirement fund? Insurance
Policies?
 Also, he did not say, “The Lord is the shepherd,” for that makes the Shepherd important, but
impersonal.
  He did not say, “The Lord is our shepherd,” for that makes Him relate to me in a crowd. “I’m only one
among many!”
 Rather, David knew that he belonged to the Lord and that the Lord belonged to him.
 Song of Solomon 2:16 “My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.”
 Only when you fully understand that you belong to the Shepherd will you find true satisfaction and
peace.
 The same is true with us. God has forever connected us to Himself through the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ and the wounds that he suffered for us. However, the Lord also put His mark or seal upon us.
 Ephesians 1:13-14 “ 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of
truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the
promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing of our inheritance until the redemption of
those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory...”
 1 Corinthian 6:19-20 “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
 You see, a shepherd may be the owner of the sheep, but more than this, he is always the manager of the
sheep! He guides them everywhere they go and literally makes their decisions for them!
 The greatest decision that you will ever make as a believer is that you are no longer in charge of your
life and decisions. Rather, you completely surrender to Him and put your trust in His position as your
shepherd!

III. BY TRUSTING THE SHEPHERDS PROVISION V. 1

 The last part of our verse gives away our last point as well. We can be truly SATISFIED BY
TRUSTING THE SHEPHERD’S PROVISION!
A. Notice the phrase, “I shall not want.”
 This means that He has completely satisfied me. As Dr. David Davis in the title of his book said, “The
Lord is my Shepherd, He is all I want.”
 One of the greatest problems in our society today is that of materialism. We have been brainwashed into
believing that we must have more and more all of the time!
 Someone has said, “We have defeated the evil of communism, but we cannot defeat the evil of
materialism.”

6. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world,
and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those
who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge
people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager
for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief.

B. Notice what the Shepherd has provided for us.

1. First, He has provided eternal life

9. John 10:27-29 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given
them to me, is greater than all[c]; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are
one.”
 2. Second, He has provided abundant life

 John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might
have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
 The happiest people you will ever know are those who have a strong trust in the Lord’s provision. They
understand that the Christ-life is full of true joy, unfathomable peace, spiritual strength, and everlasting
satisfaction.
 Why? Because of God’s blessing to His children.
 We lack nothing with the Lord as our shepherd.

“I shall not want rest… “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” I shall not want refreshment… “He
leadeth me beside the still waters.” I shall not want restoration… “He restoreth my soul.” I shall not want
guidance… “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” I shall not want
companionship in the hours of trial… “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil: for thou art with me.” I shall not want comfort… “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” I
shall not want provision… “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” I shall not
want power… “Thou anointest my head with oil.” I shall not want satisfaction… “My cup runneth over.” I
shall not want joy… “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” I shall not want a
home… “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

We can only know true satisfaction through trusting in the Shepherd’s provision for us.

CONCLUSION:
1. The things of this world will never satisfy you. Rather, they have a tendency to produce in us an insatiable
desire for more. This desire can never be quenched.
2. True satisfaction in life comes only through our trusting in the care of our Shepherd.
3. Only when we can truly say that, “the Lord is my shepherd,” will we ever be able to say, “I shall not want.”