March 10, 2019 NOTES
NOT EDITED
God Nots: What We Don’t Have In Christ
Psalm 23
SIS: If we stand tall on the Word of God we can
see over the trials and tribulations of this life and peer into the glories of
heaven to see what we “do not have” as faithful followers of the Lord Jesus.
Am I a fraud? This
week I have been working on a sermon titled, “God Nots—What We Don’t Have in
Christ.” Basically, it focuses on three aspects in the life of a believer as
outlined in Psalm 23. I Want Not, I Fear Not, I Fail Not. All of these “nots”
are expressions of victory described by David.
Yet, as I reflected
on the very first line of that Psalm, “The Lord is my
shepherd, I shall not want.” Like a boulder dropping on my head
the realization came to me, “But I DO want!” In fact, there are so many things
I want in my life that I do not have. The present circumstances of my life
present me with the fact that there is one thing I want in life more than
anything else. In fact, the present need in my life is almost suffocating.
So, am I a fraud. Can
I preach this text when it obviously does not reflect the present state of my
life? In fact, anybody that has a prayer list, has a “want” list. My prayer
list is long. I spend an enormous amount of time every day telling God what I
want.
Now, don’t
misunderstand. My prayer list is not like my childhood letters to Santa. I
don’t want “stuff.” My wants are more real, and even raw, than that. My wants
are for the healing of others. My wants are for the salvation of others. My
wants are for the welfare of my family. My wants are for my own life—that I
would be a genuine, fully devoted disciple of the Lord Jesus. My wants are
burdens that seem to be like the weight of the world upon my shoulders.
David declares, “The
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Was David also a fraud? Just a few
Psalms before David bemoans his situation saying, “Lord, my
God, I seek refuge in you; save me from all my pursuers and rescue me, or they
will tear me like a lion, ripping me apart with no one to rescue me!” (Psalm 7).
Sounds like David
definitely “wanted” something from God. In fact, many of the Psalms are the
cries of righteous men who wanted God to deliver them. The Bible is full of
people in God’s family that had a “want” of one kind or another. So, how in the
world could David say, “I shall not want.”
The answer is a matter of “time.” The reason so
many believers—myself included—do not live more victorious lives is because our
Bible
is “too short.” Yes, “too short!” Our perspective is too narrow.
Our outlook is “too dusty.” We were formed “out of the dust of the earth” (Gen.
2:7) and we have been “stuck in the mud ever since.”
The solutions to our
situations, the deliverance from our dilemmas, do not ultimately take place in
this world. Yes, God does indeed give us comfort, solace, even short-term
solutions to our everyday problems. But . . . and this is a key element to
understanding what David meant, behind every victory in the war of this life is
another battle. We cannot escape the pain of this life, the want of this life,
while we are in this life. We need a “taller Bible” that can see above the
obstacles and difficulties of the rough terrain of this life, and see the
glories of heaven that await us.
David says as much in
his conclusion to Psalm 23. In order to understand what it means to “want not”
in verse 1 you must read carefully verse 6: “and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever!”
With a “tall” enough
Bible, a believer can see that, no matter what circumstance he or she finds
himself or herself in this life—and they can be the most horrible situations
one can imagine—ultimately, God will overcome every need.
With a “tall” enough
Bible, one can see over the circumstances of this life and see the beauties of
heaven and see all that we do not have: “No Wants, No Fear, No Failure.” The key to real contentment in life is to
take the “long view of matters.”
When you apply the
“have not” test to a relationship with God in Christ, being a “have not” takes
on a whole new meaning. One way of
looking at the blessings we have as believers is to consider: not what we have,
but what we “have not.” I call it the
“God Nots—What we don’t Have in Christ.”
Let’s read about the God Nots together. Psalm 23:1-6
While not all of David’s psalms are “messianic” in a strict sense, we see
the foreshadowing of Christ in many of the psalms. So, when we think of this Psalm as the
Shepherd’s Song, as it is commonly referred to, we have to allow our hearts to
move from David the Shepherd King to Jesus Christ who is The Eternal Shepherd
King.
This Psalm describes the blessings of believers in terms of what we “do
NOT have” in Christ, when we live with eternity in mind. I want to examine those blessings of “What We Do Not Have in Christ,” or what I
call: “God Nots.” In this Psalm we see that as children of the
Good Shepherd we “want not, fear not, and fail not.”
1. With Christ as
Our Kingly Shepherd, we WANT Not (1-3, 5b)
A child of God who truly trusts in Him never lacks for anything. Let’s examine this Psalm again to see how we
“Want Not.”
1 The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. 2 He
lets me lie down in green pastures; He
leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; He leads me along the
right paths for His name’s sake.
Then 5Bb:
………………………………..
You anoint my head with oil; my cup
overflows.
It was customary in those days to receive a guest by
anointing him with fragrant perfume and with a cup filled with a choice wine.
In this way, the host indicated that nothing was to be considered too good for
his guest.
A major emphasis of this Psalm, and an important theme throughout the
Bible all the way up to the Banquet at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when
all of God’s children will be gathered, is the theme of God’s overabundant love
and meticulous care of His Children. We
have everything we need—we may just not have it all at once.
Verse 1 states the matter clearly: God’s children “want not.” We lack nothing—absolutely nothing. Even when circumstances seem to say
differently, God’s will always provide ALL that we need ALL the time. That does not mean all that we WANT all the
time. The picture the Psalmist paints
with his pen is of a “contented sheep so
full he lies down in the middle of grass he has gorged himself on.”
This concept is essential to correctly
understanding God providence, or we will slip into the disappointing heresy of
the “prosperity gospel”—that is, everything is great all the time for a true
believer. Not Wanting is more about
contentment, than circumstance. Paul
said (Phil. 4:11):
I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
An equivalent metaphor would be of someone at the Thanksgiving table
eating himself or herself into holiday bliss and then taking a nap without a
care in the world.
The word that comes to mind for me is: “satisfied.” Absolutely satisfied. Or, as Momma would say: “stuffed
to the gills.”
Are you satisfied? Is the needle
of your satisfaction meter pushing past full?
The key to understanding what it means to “want not” is to understand
the difference between “pleasure” and “satisfaction.”
Many people get a lot of “pleasure” out of life. I think of movie stars, sports stars, rock
stars, or even tech stars like Mark Zuckerberg. A lot of people have all the
stuff money can buy – and then some – but they are still not “satisfied.” Rock stars, movies stars, sports stars, tech
stars like Bill Gates and an assortment of other “stars” have all the pleasure
money can buy, but all the money in the world cannot buy satisfaction.
Satisfaction is one of the God Nots:
we WANT not. If you really
want to know what it means to be blessed by God, then it is to understand that
One of the things we don’t have in Christ is: want, a foreboding feeling our
needs are not going to be met.
The word can mean to “lack, be diminished, or to be inferior.” As believers we lack nothing, we will gain
everything, and we are God’s special guest, “anointed with the oil of
gladness.” We just need to “stand on a tall Bible” to see over our present circumstances.
2. In Christ there
is something else we do not have: we FEAR not (4-5a).
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff —they comfort
me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my
enemies;
When God walks with
us, we fear not.
It has long been
known that “fear” is a major weapon in any war.
This is the whole point of “terrorism.” To instill fear in the enemies of
Allah. The more gruesome the acts of
terrorism, the more value those acts are to the terrorists. This is why they
have broadcast several beheadings of those considered enemies of Allah. Using fear to gain an upper hand in conquest
is as ancient as war itself.
One of the most
feared warriors in history is Attila the
Hun. They rode across Europe in the
late 4th and 5th centuries AD. They were a fearsome people. They would destroy everything and everyone in
their path. The reputation of the Huns
almost rivals the mythical creatures like Dracula, or werewolves. The very name: Attila or Hun struck fear in the hearts of their
opponents.
One custom of this strangely feared culture custom was to strap their
children's noses flat from an early age, in order to widen their faces, as
to increase the terror their looks instilled upon their enemies.
I point out the relationship between fear and warfare because we are in a
war – a great spiritual war. The Devil
wants to paralyze God’s people with fear.
He does a pretty good job of it.
If the Devil can get us to live in fear, even if he cannot get our soul,
he can paralyze our faith. Keep this in
mind: believers last forever—problems don’t!
One of the God Nots – a major God Not – is we should “fear not.” What does the Psalmist use as the ultimate
example of why we should “fear not?” Verse
4 in the King James version is perhaps one of the most often quoted and
most familiar verses in the Bible. We
hear it all the time at funeral services:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
The words “of the shadow of death” translate one compound Hebrew word that
refers to a “darkness so deep it is like being dead.” The connection of this word with death has
gained prominence in many ancient translations.
The word is also associated with “terror.” It is just a very graphic word.
Let’s look at this darkness as indeed related to “death.” Death is a formidable enemy and man has
sought different ways to try to cheat death—none of which work of course. Death is described in the Bible as a final,
great enemy to be faced and conquered because of what Jesus Christ did on
the cross.
Jesus died and gained absolute victory over death and as long as we are
walking in His Presence, we have that same victory over death. The Word of God says of this greatest of all
enemies (1Cor. 15:55ff):
55 Death, where is
your victory? Death, where is your sting?
56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ!
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, death has been robbed
of its sting—that is, it has not lasting power.
We have complete “victory through Jesus Christ Our Lord.”
Now, here’s my
point: if the greatest enemy we will
ever face, that is the darkest valley we will every go through has been totally
conquered by Jesus Christ, then what is left to fear? Nothing.
One of the God Nots is “fear not” because “we are more than
conquerors through Christ Jesus who loves us.”
Notice in the text the word clearly says, “through” the darkest
valley. Just like death cannot stop our
life in Christ, Christ will not leaven us, or abandon us in any challenge in
life—however dark it may seem. We “fear
not” “because
God is with us through Christ.” (Rom. 8:31).
THE LAW OF THE
PENDULUM. In college a
student was asked to prepare a lesson to teach his speech class. He was to be
graded on creativity and ability to
drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of his talk was, “The
Law of the Pendulum.” He spent twenty minutes carefully teaching the physical
principle that governs a swinging pendulum. The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point
higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and
gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release
point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it
is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all
forces acting on the pendulum are equal.
The student attached a three-foot string to a child’s toy top and
secured it to the top the blackboard with a thumbtack. He pulled the top to one
side and made a mark on the blackboard where he let it go. Each time it swung
back he made a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its
swinging and come to rest. When he finished the demonstration, the markings on
the blackboard proved the law of the pendulum.
The student then asked how many people in the room believed the law of
the pendulum was true. All of his classmates raised their hands and so did the
teacher. The teacher started to walk to the front of the room thinking the
class was over. In reality it had only begun. Hanging from the steal beams in
the middle of the room was a large, crude but functional pendulum made from 250
pounds of metal weights tied to four strands of 500 pound test parachute
cord. The student invited the instructor to climb up on a table and sit in
a chair with back of his head against a cement wall. Then the student brought
the 250 pounds of metal up to the teachers’ nose. Holding the huge pendulum
just a fraction of an inch from the teacher’s face, the student once again
explained the law of the pendulum he had applauded only moments before, “If the
law of the pendulum is true, then when I release this mass of metal, it will
swing across the room and return short of the release point. Your nose will be
in no danger.”
After that final restatement of this law, the student looked his teacher
in the eye and asked, “Sir, do you believe this law is true?” There was
a long pause. Huge beads of sweat formed on his upper lip and then weakly he
nodded and whispered, “Yes.”
The student released the pendulum. It made a swishing sound as it arced
across the room. At the far end of its swing, it paused momentarily and started
back. The student later testified that he had never seen a man move so fast in
his entire life as the teacher literally dove from the table on the return
swing of the pendulum.
It was easy for this teacher to believe in the law of the pendulum when
it was all theoretical. How easy it is for us to believe in God’s
sufficiency in church on Sunday morning or in a Bible study. But in the real
world where our lives are on the line too many of us demonstrate that our
belief was only theoretical.
If you as a believer, or our church as a fellowship of faith, are going
to overcome our fears and make real progress in growing in our faith, then we
have to trust God when we face a dark valley.
God Nots include “Want Not, and Fear Not,” but
3. Another God Not
is “FAIL Not.”
(4, 6)
6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my
life, and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord as long as I live.
This God Not is closely related to FEAR not. So many people never succeed in life to the
degree God wants us to succeed because we see FAILURE as the worst thing that
can happen to us (short of death which we have already mentioned).
But, I’ve become thoroughly convinced that there is something much worse
in life that can happen to a person than “failure.” That is what we call status quo. Status quo comes into English directly
from Latin and means, “the state in
which,” Status quo describes staying perpetually in the same state which
you are in now.
Status quo keeps us from moving forward. It keeps us from ever experiencing the thrill
and exhilaration of accomplishing something new. Status
quo keeps us from “failure,” but at the expense of never making any
progress or experiencing anything new – which if you ask me, is a fate much
worse than failure.
When you read verse 6 really carefully something amazing
simply jumps off the page:
6 Only goodness and
faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
Tell me, does that sound a lot like this verse from the Apostle Paul:
Rom 8:28 We know
that all things work together for the good
of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose
Friends I want to tell you one of the most remarkable truths I think God
has ever revealed to me since becoming a believer: “a believer doesn’t have to die to experience heaven!” Our
victory is not won win WE die—it was won when JESUS died!
Because of the God Not of “FAIL Not” we can move out into a great
adventure with God and experience unimaginable stuff we cannot even experience
in our wildest dreams. God, Himself
invites us:
“Call upon me and I will
answer you and show you great and mighty things that you cannot even
imagine” (Jer.
33:3).
Oh, friends, I’ve had a little taste of heaven’s “goodness and faithful
love” and it tasted sweet. Oh how I want
more. We can reach out and experience
life in a way that is stunningly remarkable because:
“failure is NOT an
option.” For a
believer, failure is an illusion!
A few years ago, Shari and I watched a movie in which Aliens from
outer space were invading our country, and they were landing in Los
Angeles. And, when aliens invade our
shores, who do we send to drive them out – that’s right, the United States
Marines.
I don’t need to tell you how it ends because we all know how it ends when
the United States Marines arrive on the scene.
Why do we know how it ends?
Because when a Marine is given a mission there are may be many options
on how to fulfill that mission but there is one option that is never an option
and that is failure!
Failure is NOT an option for a Marine, and failure is NOT an option for a
believer.
My dearest friends and church family, we have so much in Christ. One way to understand just how much we DO
have in Christ is to consider what we do NOT have in Christ.
In Christ we “want not, fear not, and fail not.” These are God Nots. These three “nots” can be thought of as the
“k-n-o-t-s” that attach us to God through Christ.
I hope you will consider this morning to put your complete trust in
Almighty God so that you will “want not, fear not, and fail not” as you make
your way from here to eternity.
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