Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6
This is the concluding sermon in the God Has More in 2024 sermon series. Part 1 of the series, “New Mercies For A New Year: God Has More Mercy,” addressed the challenges were faced in 2023.
Regardless of them, we are still here. We are still here only because of the unfailing compassion of God towards us and the mercy of God for us, which is new every morning. God has more mercy than life has challenges.
Part 2 of the series, “More Grace,” addressed the junk that clutters life. Junk mail, junk food, and junk yards are all part of life. Grace is God’s answer to the junk of life and God has more grace than life has junk.
This sermon addresses our need for more resources in life. No matter what we have, we all could use a little more. No matter how great or small the need may be, God has more resources than we have need. There can be no greater advocate for making this case than David in this familiar passage of the 23rd Psalm.
Related Stories:
https://lasentinel.net/words-of-the-week-more-in-2024-part-2-more-grace.html
https://lasentinel.net/words-of-the-week-more-in-2024-new-mercies-for-a-new-year.html
In this metaphorical poem of faith, David characterizes his relationship with God in language familiar to the people of the ancient Near East. The Lord is my shepherd is a manifestation of the character of God described in the name of God as Jehovah- Rophi (v.1a). Because God is our Jehovah Rophi, we have everything we need.
David says he shall not want (v.1b). In God and with God there is nothing for us to want for because it is the primary responsibility of the shepherd to provide for his sheep. The Lord as Jehovah Rophi is the one and only one David entrusts for support, guidance, and protection.
Not only is God David’s shepherd, but God is also his provider. God is his Jehovah- Jireh (Genesis 22:1-14). That’s what Abraham called God in Genesis 22:14 after he had taken his son Issac up the mountain to sacrifice him as he was being tested by God. When he had taken the knife back to sacrifice him on the altar, an angel of the Lord called him from heaven, and told him not to lay a hand on his son, and that now he knew that Abraham truly feared God by not withholding his son from God.
And when Abraham looked and saw a ram caught by his horns in the thicket, he called the name of that place, Jehovah-Jireh which means, the Lord will provide (Genesis 22:14). And even to this day, somebody needs to know that the Lord will provide.
Then David says in verse 2 that God makes him to lay down in green pastures because God is his comforter and God is his peace. God is Jehovah Shalom (Judges 6:24). That’s what Gideon called the Lord in Judges 6:24 after he built an altar there.
The Midianites had encamped against Israel and destroyed the increase of the earth till there was no sustenance left for them, their sheep, their ox, or their donkeys and Israel verse 6 of Judges 6 was greatly impoverished. As the children of Israel cried to the unto the Lord, an angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and told him that the Lord was with him, and the Lord would smite the Midianites, and save Israel through him.
God, David says in verse 3, restores his soul. God leads him in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake. For David, God is his salvation and God is his Jehovah-Tsidkenu [tsid-kay-noo] (Jeremiah 23:6).
That’s how the prophet Jeremiah characterized God in the 23rd Chapter, verse 1 of his prophesy. The Lord will set up shepherds over Judah and Israel and they will feed them, and there will be no more fear, no more dismay, or no more lack because the Lord will raise unto David a righteous branch. And his name shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6). God has more resources than we have physical and our spiritual needs.
While it may be a far-fetched notion for the post pandemic church, David’s words are reminiscent of a prayer (ban) meeting at a testifying service in the 19th and 20th century Black Church. His words are his testimony of what the Lord has done for him.
David goes on to testify that God is his present help. And even though he walks through the valley of the shadow of death, he will fear no evil because God is with him. Shadows are always larger than the objects they reflect.
David fears no evil because God is larger than any shadow he may face, even the shadow of death. God’s rod and His staff comforts David because God is his Jehovah-Shammad. God is ever present with him.
That’s what Ezekiel told his ancient believers in the 48th Chapter and the 35th Verse of his prophesy as the land was being allotted to them. God is there with them (Ezekiel 48:35). God is there help in time of trouble. If you had any trouble in 2023, I’ve got some good news for you, God has more help than life has trouble.
If that wasn’t enough, David says that God prepares a table before him in the present of his enemies. I like the way one of my colleagues put it sometime ago, he said that if you get hungry, don’t call your friends rather, call your enemies. Call your enemies because David said that the Lord prepared a table for him in the present of his enemies and not his friends.
David says that God anoints his head with so much oil, that his cup ran over (v.5). What David is really saying is that God is his healer and God is his Jehovah-Rapha (Exodus 15:26). God is still in the healing business. You might have received a bad prognosis from the doctor in 2023, but God is still a healer. God is still our Jehovah Rapha. God is still given out saucer blessing; filling our cup until they run over into our saucers. God has more healing than life his sickness and disease.
David concludes his testimony, in this poem of faith, during this prayer service, by surely saying goodness and mercy shall follow him all the days of his life. It his firm belief, to the fullest degree, with a clear and certain revelation that what he is saying is true. He has the utmost confidence that the goodness and mercy of the Lord, will follow him all the days of his life because God is his banner (Exodus 15:26). In other words what David is saying is that God is his Jehovah-Nissi. God is his banner. The Lord is covering, and the Lord is his refuge.
I’m as sure about it, as David is sure about it. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Surely, He is my banner. Surely, He is my covering. Surely, He is my refuge.
God has more resources in 2024. The cattle on a thousand hills are His. every beast in the forest is His, Every bird of the mountain is His (Psalm 50:10-12). The silver and the gold is all His (Haggai 2:8). He’s got more medicine in the hem of His garment than life has diseases (Matthew 9:21).
I’m sure about that today. Surely, He is real. Surely, He is my banner. Surely, He is my covering. Surely, He is my refuge. Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
