He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:3b

INTRO: Seeing that today is Mother’s Day, let me begin with a question for you

How did your mother comfort you when hurt, afraid, or upset?

After WWII, a British psychologist worked with children (British children and Jewish orphans) who had been displaced by the war
- John Bowlby discovered that those who had been deprived of nurturing during infancy demonstrated obvious emotional and interpersonal deficits
- much of his research entailed observing the dynamics of mother-child interactions, especially during the first two years of the child’s life
- he concluded that infants needed an “attachment figure” – normally the role a mother plays
- when a child receives nurture from its mother, it forms a “secure base” for exploring life that lasts through adulthood

Example: Observing small children who were upset, he noticed the intensity of the child’s emotion determined what it would take to soothe him or her
-if the child were mildly upset: it was calmed by its mother’s acknowledgment with a look and word
- if the child were very upset: it was calmed if the mother added meaningful touch
- if the child were intensely upset: it would require prolonged cuddling to calm down

A child with a secure emotional base is equipped to form healthy relationships
- gains confidence to build a stable life
- given skills to develop close relationships as an adult
- has the ability to correctly read others – discern moods

Obviously, not having this is a big disadvantage
- there is a blank space where there should be key skills for nurturing and intimacy

Does contemplative prayer offer us any help with these issues?
- we’re going to find out

We could have guessed that this was coming
- sheep have to be led out to pasture, then back to safety again
- it was this leading and guiding Jesus especially emphasized John 10 and the point he made there is the big idea in the second line of Psalm 23:3

Jesus said, the shepherd calls his sheep by name and they know his voice
- more specifically, “I am the good shepherd and I know My own and My own know Me” (Jn. 10:14)
At the heart of metaphor is the relationship Jesus has with his followers

“He guides me,” the poet says – notice, this is personal
- we are not following a rule book – or a manual for life
- I want to make this clear: There are rules – instructions, commandments, but we cannot separate them from God
We have to hear him speaking to us through them
- we must not think the rules can bring us to God or make us right with him
• we cannot let the rules become our total concern

God guides us – we do not have to find our own way
- we don’t have to be worried about being misled

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you. (Ps. 32:8)
With Your counsel You will guide me,
And afterward receive me to glory. (Ps. 73:24)

What is righteousness? – it is whatever is “right”
- the right action to take, the right word to speak, the right attitude to have, etc.

It sounds like righteousness is a moral term, but it’s not
- at least, not exclusively – it is primarily relational
- doing what is right in relation to God, others, and the natural world

Jewish scribes and Pharisees made righteousness moral
- but while they tithed (“dues”) on garden herbs, they neglected “weightier provisions of the law” – relational: “justice and mercy and faithfulness” (Mt. 23:23-24)

There is a biblical morality
- its foundation is not an impersonal, abstract law, but the Law-Giver – it is based in God’s nature
- the terms God used when he revealed himself to Moses are relational

compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and [faithfulness]; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin . . . (Ex. 34:6-7)

Biblical morality is never tied to a free-floating, universal law
- it is specific – it is always about obeying God himself
- it is God’s voice we hear in the law (cf. Jer. 7:21-24)
Biblical morality is fundamentally relational
- that’s why the entire law can be compressed into two command.
- what are they? Both Jesus and Paul make this point — “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Ro. 13:10)

Being relationally right is no easier than being morally right
- the law is static – it doesn’t budge
- but relationships are dynamic – negotiating them is very tricky
• relationships often times fool us
• we think we know what the other person needs or likes
“No, I only pretended to enjoy football because you’ve always made such a big deal out of it”

The most difficult challenges Jesus faced were not moral, but relational
- the Pharisees typically confronted him with moral issues, “not lawful”
- he turned their attention back to relational issues

Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill? (Mk. 3:4)

So what are the “paths of righteousness”?
- perhaps we could say: out of love for God we give him what he wants (with Abraham, this was faith)
• out of love for others, we give them what we want (Mt. 7:12)
acceptance, attention, affirmation, respect, affection, assistance

“Paths” – tracks, like those made with wagon wheels
- there are specific, basic behaviors necessary to make relationships work
- God leads us along those well-worn paths (of right relationships)

Several ways we can interpret this
1.) for his reputation – he gets the credit for our successes
2.) because of his name – the same word is used in Psalm 6:4

Return, O LORD, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.

However we interpret “name’s sake,” it comes down to the same thing: if I enjoy healthy relationships, it’s not because of me, but in spite of me
- this is where following my Shepherd has taken me

Our most important achievements in life, will be those that benefit others

One way to approach the righteous paths is in our silent prayer, if we will contemplate Jesus

1. Meditate on all that he said about interaction with others: forgive, be reconciled to your friend or sibling, love your enemies, judge not, treat people as you wish to be treated
2. Meditate on how he was with others – how he treated them
   - He listened to people
   He touched people (he never withdrew from the touch of anyone, not even Judas when he approached him with a kiss of betrayal)
   He spoke words of comfort
3. Contemplate Jesus listening to you, touching you, speaking words of comfort to you
4. Imagine yourself listening to others, touching them, and speaking words of encouragement to them

God is in charge of your progress along these paths
- just be with him and follow him – you’re going to be alright
- for his name’s sake, you will find the right path
And by his grace, you’re going to get there

He restores my soul. Psalm 23:3a

INTRO: About five years ago, someone told Barbara and Ithat we needed to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

It is a foreign film with English subtitles
- Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor of Elle magazine suffered a stroke in his brain stem that left his body paralyzed
• his brain was still fully intact – inside, he was still himself — “Locked-in Syndrome”
- the only part of his body he could control was his left eyelid
• by blinking once for yes and twice for no, he would go through the alphabet to spell words
- he spent the last summer of his life writing a book through this painstaking process of communication
• reading it, you discover the vast, rich, active inner-world of his mind
• all of it hidden from others except through the fluttering eyelid

There are lots of reasons to appreciate the movie (and book)
- e.g., inspire gratitude or admire his fight when had every reason to give up, etc.
- but also because it tells us something about ourselves: we all have locked-in syndrome
• I am this invisible inner self – full of stories, ideas, memories
• there is no way to get this out where others can see it except through my body
- when we try to reveal the person within, only a trickle manages to get out

Lots of people give up
- I’ve met couples, married ten, fifteen, and twenty years who still did not know each other
- never explored mystery of their spouse’s soul and gave up trying to reveal their own

We’ve come to a line in Psalm 23 that addresses this secret part of you
- “He restores my soul”

The verb translated restore is one of most common verbs in the OT (1000+)
- the basic thought it conveys is to return or repeat
- all sorts of uses: turn back, answer, recall, etc.
In this case, God returns or brings back the soul
- its tempting to say through food, drink, and rest (“green pastures,” “quiet waters) he restores our vital energies
• but that is to interpret it in terms of our modern perspective, where there is no soul
• the human person is thought to be no more than a collection of biological and neurological functions

In scripture, soul is the life-force of a person
- the life-center of the body, the mind, and the heart
- more than once in the Psalms, the soul is threatened (of being dragged away, thrown into the pit of death, devoured)
- soul is used as a personal pronoun – another way to say “I” or “me”
• the soul reminds us that there is an inner life

The soul is more than the body, but is not separate from it
- the only disintegration of body and soul occurs at death
- otherwise, a goal of Christian spirituality is the integration of the whole person

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. (1 Th. 5:23)

- if the soul is refreshed, the body is refreshed
- wear out the body and you can eventually wear out the soul

What David is saying, “God gives me my soul back”
- he rescues my inner self, he hands me my life back

One of odd aspects of the soul is that receives no protection from its physical shell
- in fact, our bodies can create more burdens for the soul
• the soul can hide from others inside the body
• that way they’re not able to see the injury they do to it, but the body doesn’t provide a shield from those injuries

The mind doesn’t provide the soul much protection either
- habits of the mind sometimes form as echo of other voices that we have internalized
- our own thoughts turn against our soul – punish and ridicule it

We go through a normal day – some better, some worse
- our circumstances expose us to wide range of human experiences
• disappointments and lucky breaks, criticism and compliments, annoyances and encouragements, a few small pains and a few small pleasures
- we don’t realize that each one of these take a little piece of the soul
- the human soul doesn’t have an infinite supply of resources
• even the strongest people can be broken
• in fact, it’s a sad and terrible thing to watch happen

Guilt — especially excessive and unwarranted guilt– can cause the soul great harm

Illness and injury can cause the soul great harm
- this is what happened to Job
- several times he mentions the “bitterness” of his soul

And now my soul is poured out within me;
Days of affliction have seized me.
At night it pierces my bones within me,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.” (Job 30:16-17)

In skin care, doctors sometimes talk about tensile strength
- the resilience and elasticity of the skin – its ability to recover
- the soul also has a tensile strength – there’s a limit to what it can take

The soul, in our society, suffers most often from neglect
- God has provided means to enrich the soul with such experiences as beauty, the arts, travel, education, and so on
- we prefer to ignore and silence it with entertainment

Look at Psalm 121 – [Hint: the key word is “keep”]

The soul in need is driven to God (especially when desperate)
- but what it gets from God depends a lot on what it wants
- recovering from injury, illness, or stroke, most people are eager to resume life as they knew it before
• that’s also what most people want from God – “Fix me up so I can go back to living the way I was”
• true also of many Christians, even if we don’t consciously admit it

God has other plans for the souls he restores

First, it is all about bringing the soul before God
- it is shutting down all the things that exhaust the soul

For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Is. 30:15)

Second, it gives the body space to rest (and recover)

Third, it gives the mind space to rest
- when we surrender to God in prayer, there’s nothing we need do
- we are allowing him to do what needs to be done
• we are simply watching and responding
- sometimes he digs deep, and it can hurt – but his goal is to heal

A very important discovery of the last twenty years is neuroplasticity
- given the opportunity, the brain can repair or regain functions lost to damage of stroke or illness
- at the heart of the brain’s healing is meditative prayer
(see, for example, How God Changes Your Brain)

Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
My feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the LORD
In the land of the living. (Ps. 116:7-9)

He leads me beside quiet waters. Psalm 23:2b

INTRO: We are making our way through Psalm 23, noticing how it is the essence of contemplative prayer

Sometimes we come across well-meaning yet misguided Christians who criticize contemplative prayer
- some criticize it for being “Roman Catholic” – as if that in itself were a mark against contemplative prayer
• but it is and it isn’t Roman Catholic

The reformer, John Calvin, argued that Christians need a knowledge of God not as speculation that “flits in the brain” but “takes root in the heart” and “Consequently, we know the most perfect way of seeking God, and the most suitable order, is not fo us to attempt with bold curiosity to penetrate to the investigation of his essence, which we ought more to adore than meticulously to search out, but for us to contemplate him in his works whereby he renders himself near and familiar to us, and in some manner communicates himself.” Institutes of the Christian Religion

- other critics have confused contemplative prayer with new age meditation — it isn’t

Many of the critics are old school, among whom a favorite preacher is Charles H. Spurgeon (19th Century London)
- regarding our verse this morning, Psalm 23:2, Spurgeon said:

“What are these ‘still waters’ but the influences and graces of his blessed Spirit?
‘In sacred silence of the mind
My heaven, and there my God I find.’
That silence is golden indeed in which the Holy Spirit meets with the souls of his saints.”

Spurgeon saw in this verse “two elements of the Christian life, the contemplative and the active”
- this has been a classic model of the spiritual life among Christian mystics, who have taken Mary and Martha as the classic example of the contemplative and active life respectively (Cassian, Conference 1.

According to St. Augustine: “Two virtues are set before the human soul, the one active, the other contemplative; the former shows the path, the latter shows the goal; in the one we toil that so the heart may be purified for the Vision of God, in the other we repose and we see God . . .”

Contemplative spirituality attempts to fuse both “elements” — the contemplative and the active
- we can remain busy in our lives, yet carry an awareness of God within us whatever we do

Let’s take another step in that direction

Last week I pointed out that Psalm 23 visits six spaces
- the question is, what thoughts or feelings these would these spaces evoke in the first who heard this psalm?
- the “quiet waters” would evoke a state of calmness and tranquility (“quiet” is also translated “resting place”)

We need to remember that it is our Shepherd who brings us here

In Mark chapter 4, Jesus and his disciples were caught in a storm on the Galilee. When they thought they were going down, the disciples woke Jesus, crying, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” I’m not sure what they expected him to do, but they certainly did not expect him to get up and rebuke the wind and say to the sea, “Hush, be still” (vv. 38-39). When the wind died down and it became perfectly calm, the disciples were even more afraid of Jesus than the storm, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (v. 41). This was the good Shepherd, taking care of his little flock

- in contemplative prayer, it’s our internal winds and waves that our Shepherd must calm

“Quiet waters” – sometimes we look for these places in nature
- because we need their calming effect – we need the stillness
- but I’ve visited quiet places where my inner agitation becomes so great I’m on the verge of going berserk

The human nervous system was designed to be reactive
- it constantly responds to stimulus – outside the body and within
- but not everything the brain learns to do in response to stimuli is healthy
• there are specific ways of reacting that cause damage – to our bodies, our minds, our relationships, our friends and family
We can train our nervous system to react in more healthy ways
- but to do so requires stillness, because we have to become aware of and observe its reactions from a quiet place
- I was playing one time with word reactive and found that by moving one letter it became creative
• the nervous system is reactive, the soul has the option of being creative

In contemplative prayer, Jesus leads us to a place of inner stillness
- have you ever tried to get a bird to eat out of your hand?
• you have to hold still – barely breathing
• Spurgeon said, the Spirit “is a dove, not an eagle”
- as a kid, I was always drawn to puddles after a rain
• I noticed that even in mud, the water in puddle could be clear
• but if you stirred up the mud, the water became dirty clouded
- the same thing happens with our hearts and minds — stillness brings clarity to our thoughts and emotions

Because this inner quiet or stillness is not an achievement
- we don’t work our way into it
• its typical, starting out, to try to fight off distractions
• this usually backfires – fighting distractions gives them more power
- we don’t work our way into stillness, we surrender to it
- stillness and quiet are what exists prior activity and sound
• they’re the empty stage before the backdrop, props, or actors appear on it
• they’re the blank canvas waiting for paint, the pristine page before words are scribbled across it
- to be still is to stop doing – to be quiet is to stop speaking
• stillness comes when the wind stops howling the waves crashing against hull of our mind
• it is reached by working at it, but by ceasing from work
He. 4:10, “For the one who enters [God’s] rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His”

“He makes me . . . He leads me . . .” Jesus takes charge of our souls
- the whole point is that we keep our soul in one place long enough for God’s message to reach us – for God to reach us

The Hebrew word translated “lead” is nahal
- a similar word is nahag, but it has the opposite meaning of lead, nahag is  “to drive”
- we have a hard time letting Jesus lead us to quietness and stillness, because we are so driven
• sometimes we are driven for good reason – such as imminent danger
• but it is especially in those times that we need the inner stillness

King Saul had orders – but the enemy troops were growing and his troops were deserting (1 Sam. 13:5-8)
- he waited as he was told, until the last day and then he broke (1 Sam. 10:8; 13:9-14)
- he lost his kingdom because he could not follow orders
• and he could not follow orders because he was too agitated and impatient

To sit quietly and trust Jesus to lead us to stillness is not an escape into an imaginary world
- we’re not running from the realities of our circumstances
- our challenging situations, our work and responsibilities do not go away
• the stillness is for gaining perspective and getting prepared to deal with our real-life issues

1.) Is there any physical discomfort you can easily resolve?
- if sitting in an uncomfortable position, change positions, but slowly and with attention to what you’re doing
• there is no reason to interrupt your communion with God
- if you have muscle tension or soreness, can you relieve it by stretching?
• some headaches can be relieved or resolved with stretches — you can find good examples online
• again, remain in contemplative prayer as you stretch
- are there other discomforts that can be resolved by over-the-counter pain relievers?

2.) Pain that cannot be resolved — intense or chronic pain
- focus your attention on it, keeping in mind that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
• notice the sensations of your pain
- after a while, shift your attention to part of your body not in pain and notice how it feels
• after each time you exhale, silently repeat the name of Jesus, presenting your pain to him

3.) Is something disturbing your stillness that has to do with a relationship with someone?
- explore how it feels in your body and how you interpret the feeling
• do you interpret the feeling as worry? upsetting? resentment?
- present it to God
• realize, no one else is creating this disturbance in you – it’s the way your nervous system is reacting to stimulus
• if you can see your situation from a different point of view, you can change your response to it

4.) Do the same with any other concern that disturbs you — financial, work-related, etc.

5.) Simplify your life

6.) Know yourself – who you are
- let go of feeling you need to conform to the expectations and opinions of others
- ignore whatever does not pertain to you – “But that’s not me”
• it is easier to stay in stillness if you know that it is not necessary to react to every thought or feeling

When resting beside quiet waters, what do we hope will happen?

1. That the quiet waters will become living water
   - that by surrendering our distractions and trusting in God, we will find ourselves in his presence being filled with his Spirit
2. That whatever we go off and do afterward, the inner stillness remains within us, a calm center of trust in God from which we are able to make wise decisions and perform right actions
3. That in the way we live, work, treat others, and face our challenges, we are enabled to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23)

For we do not stroll beside the quiet waters alone — we share the company of our Shepherd

He makes me lie down in green pastures . . . Psalm 23:2a

INTRO: A while back, book on prayer was released that became wildly popular

The author focused on one particular prayer in scripture and from it created a formula
- the implication was, people could use the formula to get their prayers to work
- books like this feed our inner desire to use prayer to get what we want

What if prayer is not for getting what we want?
- what if it’s for getting what God wants – what he wants from us, what he wants in the world

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 Jn. 5:14)

What if  “His will” is to use prayer to transform us rather than our circumstances?

When we pray, what is primary in our minds?
- I can be concerned about myself, thinking of others, preoccupied with the world, or focused on God
In the Hebrew Scriptures, when God is central in prayer, it generally takes one of three forms:

• to praise God – for who he is and for what he has done
• to seek God – attention is focused on making a conscious connection
• to wait on God – surrender my agenda and be open and attentive — t0 “watch”

In our spiritual community, we have been learning to seek and to wait
- last week, we began looking at Psalm 23 as a description of this type of prayer
- how we experience it, the benefits we derive from it, and where it takes us

David used the metaphor of shepherd as the general theme of this poem

God does two things for us in v. 2 that produce the state in v. 3, “He restores my soul”

The soul gets weary – gets injured, neglected, and depleted
- to keep going and loving others, takes all the soul’s resources
- there comes a time when the soul has to be restored

Then what? Once the soul is restored, what comes next?
- we’re ready to continue the journey – in paths of righteousness or through the valley of the shadow of death

This is what we need to get from prayer
- an experience of God that restores our soul and prepares us for what’s next

The psalm will take us to six different places — pasture, water, path, valley, table, and house
- the question is:
• what did these spaces evoke in the imagination and feelings of those who first heard this poem?
- this is strong visual imagery
• what sort of experiences did people associate with these images?

First, “green pastures” were a rarity in David’s arid climate
- I’ve been in Israel in spring, after winter rains, and been surprised to see that grass had sprouted from Jerusalem almost all the way to the Dead Sea
- but a few days of sunshine or warm wind and it was gone
- the image of green pastures was more lush than the normal experience of a shepherd and his flock

Green – the Hebrew word means “grass,” or to spout, to grow green
- it is used poetically for life, which is fragile but can also flourish

One commentator made the observation that “Sheep do not eat lying down”
- but that’s the mistake of taking the language too literally

Robert Alter, says of the phrase makes me to lie down, that the “verb used here (hirbits) is a specialized one for making animals lie down . . .”

- we find the same expression in Song of Songs 1:7 and Ezekiel 34:11-15 (which deserves to be read at this point to reinforce the message of the psalm)
- to lie down is to settle in

The green pasture is not a permanent residence; we’re not always lying down, but we need these times of inactivity

Even if we’re not ranchers, one thing most of us know about sheep is that they’re skittish
- it is a challenge to get them to rest

We can’t lie down or rest – our wants nag at us, our fears worry us
- when we try to settle into prayer, we panic because it seems we’re being “unproductive”
- we’re going to miss out on something
We can’t rest, because we assume that we’re on our own
- no one else is watching out for us — no heavenly Shepherd will look after our needs

In scripture, not being able to rest is a punishment from God (e.g., Cain, the wandering vagrant, Ge. 4:9-14)
- the lesson of Israel not entering the land: they did not trust God
- he had everything already prepared for them, but they were not able to enter because of unbelief (He. 3:19)

For most of us, that would be a “no”
- Barb and I live near a busy street – one that people tend to drive too fast
- even if I get up early, there are distracting sounds of traffic — not very conducive for the silent stillness my soul craves

The good news – our external environment doesn’t have to be perfect

A couple of weeks ago I quoted Esther (Etty) Hillesum, a Dutch woman who was also Jewish
- prior to being shipped off to Auschwitz (where she died at twenty-nine years old) she volunteered to work in a transit center in order to provide encouragement, kindness, and compassion to other Jews on their way to the labor camps
- during that time, she wrote to a friend:

“I refresh myself from day to day at the original source, life itself, and I rest from time to time in prayer. And what those who say, ‘You live too intensely’ do not know is that one can withdraw into a prayer as into a convent cell and leave again with renewed strength and with peace regained.”
And further down,
“Life here hardly touches my deepest resources–physically, perhaps, you do decline a little, and sometimes you are infinitely said–but fundamentally you keep growing stronger.”

The green pasture is a place we have to look for within ourselves
- one of my teenage jobs was working for a landscaper
- we went into backyards that had not been tended for years and were overgrown with weeds and cluttered with broken toys and gardening tool
• we had entered a mess of chaos and confusion

We need to give more attention to the inner landscape of our souls
- do we even realize how much junk enters our minds every day?
- it adds to the clutter and confusion that’s already there
• our souls find relief when we can empty fifty, sixty, or seventy percent of that stuff

We can grow into people who go through life at peace as opposed to being high strung and uptight

To lie down I have to lay down – my cravings, fears, and resentments
- I learned something about resentment recently from Annemarie Kidder’s book, The Power of Solitude:

“It seems that the art of forgiveness is so hard because it might let someone off the hook who doesn’t deserve to be. We ‘retain the sins’ that others have committed against us as future ammunition and dividing walls. The only problem is, unless we let go and forgive, we are not going to find the peace that Jesus breathed on us.”

To lie down I have to lay down – my busy thoughts
- thoughts are like molecules – millions of them are crammed into a small space
• all of them moving, jostling, going in different directions
• the molecules move slower in an object that is cold and in something frozen they can only vibrate, but they can’t be still
- we need breaks from our constant mental activity
• we need to create a space where God is central – where he is everything

When you settle into prayer or the Bible, think of the time you spend there as your soul resting in a green pasture
- give your self permission not to worry or think of anything else
• you are taking a break from the barrage worldly messages
• you are “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5)

When we have been at this kind of prayer long enough, there is a peace and restfulness that remains with us afterward
- that, in time, encroaches into our minutes, hours, and days

In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8

The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

INTRO: In 2004, one of the largest churches in America launched a research project

Its leaders wanted to determine whether their programs were doing what they were designed to do
- that is, promote the spiritual growth of their members
- what they learned from 15,000 people interviewed, was that the answer was No

An assumption many pastors and church leaders make, is that the more a person is involved in church activities, the more they will experience spiritual growth

I met with a couple from New Zealand this week  who told me that the evangelistic strategies of the last generation were no longer working
- because people are not being inspired by churches or evangelistic organizations, Christianity is dying in their country
- furthermore, the churches they had attended failed to meet their spiritual needs

This situation is not unique to New Zealand
- the unmet spiritual needs of many Christians have sent them back to their roots
- what did believers have in previous ages that we’re missing?
• many have found that it has to do with being more aware of God–in prayer, in scripture, in relationships, and in the present moment
- if we want to give this greater awareness a name, we can call it contemplative spirituality or simply Christian spirituality or biblical spirituality – it makes no difference

The essence of Christian spirituality is to be as attentive to God as possible
- this does not mean always thinking pious thoughts or quoting scripture
- but to constantly bring our attention back to him and to the mystery of his kingdom that is hidden in every moment

How is this different from the structured programs of churches and Christian organizations?
- in lots of ways – e.g., it is more like natural human growth, which is not systematized
- but what I want to emphasize are the effects of Christian spirituality
- that is why we’re in Psalm 23 this morning
• in a nearby psalm, we read:

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD
And to meditate in His temple. (Ps. 27:4)

- this is contemplative prayer — to behold God’s beauty or to seek his face and to wait on him (Ps. 27:8, 14)
- Psalm 23 is a meditation on the benefits of doing those things

During the years of the scripture’s early formation, various people were using poetry to express their spiritual concerns
- their needs, feelings and fears, hopes and longings, praise, etc.
- eventually many of these poems and songs were collected and arranged for public worship
- this is how we came to have the book of Psalms

The Psalms are helpful in many ways
- encouragement, comfort, insight, and so on
- in them we also find examples of how to approach God, work through issues, find our way back to faith, etc.

The message of Psalm 23 is that God is the beginning and end of our spiritual journey
- we learn this message from the structure of the psalm, which begins and ends with the personal name of God, Yahweh (translated LORD–all the letters are upper case)

Halfway into the poem, there is a shift from the third person (He) to the second person (You)
- this signals a connection between the poet and God – “You are with me” (v. 4)
- poem describes the enjoyment of God’s gracious gifts
• verses 4 and 5, however, travel to two dangerous environments: the valley of the shadow of death and the presence of our enemies
• but even in these perilous situations, the poet was sheltered by God

I like to think that David began writing this poem while tending father’s sheep, that one afternoon while picking at strings of his kinnor, he saw these analogies
- then he continued to work on it, and over time, perhaps after he had become a king, it took its present form

For all its poetic beauty, poem doesn’t glamorize the shepherd
- he does these chores to keep the sheep alive
- in other words, these verses are not just nice sentiments, there is a realism to them

Before we can look at relation of poet to shepherd, we need to look at the metaphor
- how God is like a shepherd (that is what the poem is about)
- the shepherd was a constant presence among his flock
• he guided them to pasture and water, cared for them, and protected them

Metaphors have an advantage over literal expressions
- it can be difficult to get close to God thru theological language
• e.g., God is ineffable, eternal, invisible, infinite, immortal, transcendent, . . .
• these are not bridges our soul can easily cross
- but the metaphor or parable is a bridge
• it connects my everyday world to mystery
• it connects what I do understand to what is beyond my understanding
• for example, the parables of Jesus bring the kingdom of God close to us

Do you realize, this metaphor of the shepherd is itself the result of contemplation?
- when we keep our minds attentive to God, we see discover these bridges

The shepherd metaphor occurs several times in OT and is used of both humans and God
- but it always refers to a person’s role over the nation (or a segment of the population)
- here, the poet personalizes the metaphor, “my shepherd”

We study the Bible, read books, listen to teachers and learn all sorts of interesting and wonderful facts about God
- but at some point, we have to personalize all this information
- we have to approach God, sit in his presence, seek his face

To seek God’s face isn’t like looking for a familiar face in a crowd
- it is an inner exercise – a looking with the soul
- that is why stillness and silence are so important
• we want to set aside the mental clutter to focus our attention on God

Meditation and contemplation are for personalizing the truth of God

Certain Christian mystics stressed the fact that God is beyond human knowing–e.g, The Cloud of Unknowing and The Dark Night of the Soul
- they tell us that we have to abandon what we think we know about God in order to experience the true God
- open themselves to infinity – and it’s all so vague and abstract

It is true that our concepts of God are not God
- but God has revealed himself to us as person – he has shared with us his name

“. . . by his own act of bestowing a name on himself, God chooses to be described as the definable, the distinctive, the individual.” (Walther Eichrodt)

- the revelation of God’s name counters the tendency to overemphasize both intellectual or mystical ideas about him
- God is neither a theological concept nor an incomprehensible supreme being
• he made us persons and reveals himself to us as Person, thereby making relationship between us possible

In Deuteronomy 2:7, Moses reminded Israel, “you have not lacked a thing”
- he used the same word (and the same idea) that is translated want in our verse
- he promised that once they settled into land, they would “not lack anything” (De. 8:9)
• their needs would be met

It may be good to couple this situation of not lacking anything with the commandment, “You shall not covet” (Ex. 20:17)
- in English, the old meaning of “want” meant lack, but its current meaning is desire
- we can have everything we need and still be eaten up by desire

Contentment results from one of two conditions, either:
1.) having enough necessities and extras
2.) deciding we will be content with what we have (Php. 4:11-13; 1 Ti. 6:7-8)
If we pursue contentment by striving to achieve first condition, we will never get there
- you can never get enough to be content
Contentment is not an achievement, but a by-product or side-effect
- if we choose the second condition, then we will have enough

Want is what causes us to lose our focus – it produces discontent, anxiety, and emptiness
- want is often a running from something that needs to be faced
- not analyzed, necessarily, but something we need to pay attention to, to look at directly

Paul says, the problem is not money or things, but our attachment to them — what they mean to us
1 Ti. 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil …”

They complain, “But I can’t quiet my mind”
- if you have that problem, you might try the following exercise:

1. to begin with, do not judge yourself
2. notice the fact that you cannot quiet your mind
3. then notice the thoughts that are distracting you
4. present each thought to God as it enters your mind

- you have now taken the first step into contemplative prayer

When we bring our attention to the present moment, it is not to do battle with what is going on
- it is to be aware of what is going on with an openness to God
- we are creating a space in our days, hours, and minutes to allow God to enter us and open our eyes

Becoming alive to God in the present moment gives us relief from the pressure of want
- resting in his hands we realize there is nothing else we could or would ever want