Not
Afraid
Psalm 23
A world-wide pandemic.
One of the steepest downturns in the stock market. Hoarding of basic supplies.
Schools closing and going to remote instruction. Restaurants going to take-out
only service. Restrictions of the number of people gathering together. These
are just some of the startling developments that have happened in less than a
month, many of them in the last week! It would be impossible not to feel the
stress, the loss, and even the fear of the moment in history in which we find
ourselves. So what crazy person came up with a sermon entitled “Not Afraid?”
And yet, I think there
are good reasons not to be afraid. The most important of them is our faith that
no matter what happens, God is with us, supporting us with his love and mercy
and grace. I think that’s the lesson of our Scripture reading from Psalm 23. It
presents us with the image of God as “my” shepherd. In that role, God is the
one who leads us all individually beside still waters and makes us lie down in
green pastures. God is the one who directs our paths in the right way, simply
because it pleases him to do so. God is the one who protects us with his “rod
and staff” even in the most frightening situations. God is the one who prepares
a lavish banquet and makes us the guests of honor.
All of these images
reinforce the declaration that “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” The
images come together to bring calm and peace to us as we imagine what it might
be like to lie down in green pastures, and to rest beside still waters. Or as we
imagine his constant presence protecting us even in the darkest of valleys. Or
the joy and refreshment of sitting down to a meal of all our favorite “comfort
foods,” prepared just for us.
One of the important
details of the Psalm is that the assurance it promises is based not just on
personal experience, but on what God has done in the lives of his people in the
past. This is especially true for the people of Israel. From the Exodus out of
Egypt to the Wilderness wanderings to settling the land “flowing with milk and
honey,” God continually protected and provided for his people. And so they
could say, “the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”[2]
More than that, I
believe God takes great pleasure in caring for us in this way.[3]
Some providers and protectors do so out of obligation or duty. God does so out
of grace, out of love, out of his determination to be “God-who-is-with-us” and
“God-who-is-for-us.” Of course, we see this grace and mercy of God most clearly
in Jesus, who declared himself to be our “Good Shepherd.”
All
of these images in the Psalm reinforce the promise that God is with us always,
in whatever situation we may find ourselves. The God who watches over us is the
one who constantly cares for and nurtures all creation—galaxies and nebulae we
have never even seen; the sun, moon, and stars; plants, animals, rocks and
trees; and people of every size, shape, and color. If God delights in caring
for all of that, I think we can trust that God delights in caring for us. And
so we can be “not afraid,” because “the Lord is my shepherd.”
[1]
©2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon
delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 3/22/2020 for Hickman Presbyterian Church,
Hickman, NE.
[2]
Cf. James L. Mays, Psalms, 117-19.
[3]
Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 2.1:74-75.
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