{"id":31174,"date":"2022-09-10T15:19:53","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-truths-for-shepherding-through-difficult-times-from-psalm-23\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:19:53","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:19:53","slug":"4-truths-for-shepherding-through-difficult-times-from-psalm-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-truths-for-shepherding-through-difficult-times-from-psalm-23\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Truths for Shepherding Through Difficult Times From Psalm 23"},"content":{"rendered":"
Luke Stackpoole photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Mark Dance<\/em><\/p>\n

I cannot think of a better time to visit Psalm 23 than in 2020\u2014the year of politics, protests, and a pandemic.<\/p>\n

This familiar song may be of particular interest to pastors because it takes a shepherd to know a shepherd.<\/p>\n

The opening line is perhaps the most personal and powerful.<\/p>\n

1. \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

David wrote Psalm 23 in the present tense, which can be translated as, \u201cYahweh is<\/em> shepherding me.\u201d<\/p>\n

David wasn\u2019t just reminiscing about what God did in the good old days of defeating lions, giants, and bears, but also what his Shepherd was doing currently in his life.<\/p>\n

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Even as I write this for you, I\u2019m recalling with fondness how well I was shepherded in my hometown of Tyler, Texas.<\/p>\n

There are countless memories of being shepherded well at home as well as by pastors, deacons, and teachers at my home church of Green Acres.<\/p>\n

Jesus then continued to shepherd me through college, two seminaries, and three pastorates.<\/p>\n

Why would I be tempted to stop trusting Him now?<\/p>\n

“Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming” (Isaiah. 43:18-19).<\/p>\n

Today is a fantastic day to pastor our churches, our families, and each other. It\u2019s an honor to love, lead, and feed people during this monumental moment in history.<\/p>\n

We will pastor well in this COVID season, friends, if<\/em> we first allow the Lord to pastor us<\/em>.<\/p>\n

2. \u201cI shall not want\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I recently asked pastors on Facebook what they needed most right now, and the top two answers by far were wisdom <\/em>and rest<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In August Barna Research asked pastors, \u201cHow encouraged are you feeling today?\u201d Fifty-six percent said they were somewhat\/very encouraged, 31% are somewhat\/very discouraged, and 13% said their feelings are neutral.<\/p>\n

Seventy-eight percent of pastors say parents are overwhelmed by the current moment, which is a double dose of stress for those of you with children still at home.<\/p>\n

Does that mean pastors will start bailing out? I don\u2019t think this generation of pastors is weaker than those who have served before us in even more difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n

More importantly, I don\u2019t think God is going to bail on our pastors. He\u2019s still shepherding His shepherds well!<\/p>\n

The CSB translates this verse as, \u201cI have what I need.\u201d If you don\u2019t have what you need, perhaps it is because you haven\u2019t yet asked for it (James 1:5).<\/p>\n

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See also  The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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3. \u201cHe leads me beside still waters\u201d <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Janet and I live in metro Tulsa, and our yard connects to an urban farm with horses, ponies, llamas, and sheep.<\/p>\n

The sheep are understandably reluctant to swim in their wool coats\u2014thus their need for still waters<\/em> as opposed to swift, dangerous streams.<\/p>\n

The horses and llamas have no such fear of water and have been wading into the pond all summer.<\/p>\n

When the short, portly pony I\u2019ve named Eeyore waded in so far that only the very top of her head was not submerged, I mistakenly thought she was drowning.<\/p>\n

But my shepherding instincts were embarrassingly wrong because I know so little about farm animals.<\/p>\n

Pastors aren\u2019t called to be competent in every discipline. You have no formal training on pastoring through a pandemic, so give yourself\u2014and others\u2014an extra measure of grace. All of us are pastoring imperfectly by the same grace which saved us.<\/p>\n

Our call to salvation and to pastoral ministry are undeserved gifts from our true Shepherd, Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

4. \u201cHe restores my soul\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Living in a constant state of anxiety will rob your soul of joy and even damage your testimony. Instead of asking God to bail you out, ask Him to hold you up.<\/p>\n

My primary challenge for you is to lie down in green pastures and beside still waters every day for a few minutes and every week for a few hours so your Shepherd can restore your soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest\u201d (Matthew 11:28).<\/p>\n

MARK DANCE (@markdance)<\/strong> speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats\u2014often with his wife Janet. Mark has contributed to several books and offers weekly encouragement at MarkDance.net. He\u2019s currently serving as director of pastoral development for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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The Lord Is My Shepherd: Resting in the Peace and Power of Psalm 23<\/h2>\n

Robert J. Morgan<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke Stackpoole photo – Unsplash By Mark Dance I cannot think of a better time to visit Psalm 23 than in 2020\u2014the year of politics, protests, and a pandemic. This familiar song may be of particular interest to pastors because it takes a shepherd to know a shepherd. The opening line is perhaps the most … Continue reading “4 Truths for Shepherding Through Difficult Times From Psalm 23”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}