“For God is With Us” – Psalm 23 – July 16, 2006

One night at a circus the tent was packed with thousands of people. It was time for the tiger trainer to come out and perform. He bowed to the audience then went inside the cage. A hush drifted over the audience as the door was locked behind him. The trainer skillfully put the tigers through their paces. Suddenly there was a huge pop, followed by a complete blackout of power. For several long minutes the trainer was trapped in the cage with the tigers in total darkness. The trainer knew the tigers could see him with their powerful vision, but he could not see them. All he had was a whip and small chair as a means of protection.

Finally, the lights came back on, and the trainer finished his performance. Everyone was amazed that he wasn’t attacked and feared for him in the darkness. After his performance the trainer was interviewed by a local television reporter. He admitted how scared he was. But during the blackout he realized that the tigers did not know that he could not see them. He just kept cracking his whip and talked to them until the lights came back on.

There are times when all of us are confronted with tigers in the dark. We don’t trust the oil companies because of escalating gas prices. It is getting more difficult to trust government officials because of all the perks and golf trips congressmen receive from lobbyists. Some don’t trust the Church. But trust is also a problem in relationships. Some don’t trust their spouses. Others don’t trust their children.

Like the trainer in the cage with no power, we live in a the darkness, afraid that we will be attacked, hurt, rejected, abused or taken advantage of. Just as the trainer had to trust that he could survive the darkness while encaged with the tigers, God wants us to trust Him, when we are overcome with darkness and fear.

Trust does not mean we are passive and let others walk all over us. Even the trainer had to keep cracking his whip, letting the tigers know he was still the trainer. The trainer managed to keep his tigers at bay because he kept an upper hand. He had established a relationship with them that required discipline and faith.

Psalm 23 was used by the Hebrew community as a prayer of thanksgiving in the temple. It was used as a discipline to keep the believer in close contact with God. The words, “I will stay in the house of the Lord,” are significant. It means I will maintain my faith and trust in God by worshipping on a regular basis and being an active participant in the Church.

Psalm 23 is a psalm about trust. God is portrayed as a shepherd who takes care of us. God promises to supply all of our needs, not just our wants. “The words, “I shall not want,” are crucial. They mean that we will trust in God to provide for us. Since we live in a culture that teaches us to “want everything and lack nothing,” we are conditioned to live by greed instead of sacrifice. Rather than trust in God we have learned to trust in our possessions and resources. Consequently, we have put our trust and faith in material things that give us a false sense of security instead of a God who can provide all we need.

A Sunday school teacher asked her children if any of them could quote the 23rd psalm. A little 4 year-year-old girl was among those who raised her hand. The teacher was a bit skeptical but invited her to stand up and recite the psalm to the rest of the class. The little girl stood up and said, “The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I want.” She may have skipped over a few verses but she had captured the meaning of Psalm 23.

Our culture teaches us to be self-reliant, rugged individualists, who can take care of themselves. God wants us to depend on Him, to be reassured that God will be with us in whatever we face.

Psalm 23 was not a road map to glory. Nor, was it a set of by-laws to maintain order and peace like the ten commandments. Psalm 23 was an act of worship which was read by the community of faith as a prayer of gratitude to a God who promised His people, hope, love and assurance.

A few weeks ago I was on a sailboat, heading into St. Michael’s, Maryland. The man at the helm could not see the bouys that marked the opening to the channel. I asked him if he could see the steeple on St. Michael’s Church. He said, “I can.” I then told him to use the Church as his course and he would guide us safely through the channel.

The 23rd Psalm is an “insider” story that belongs to the community of faith. To those outside the church it is just a nice poem with little substance. It is story about a shepherd who leads his sheep through narrow passages, around cliffs, ravines and treacherous paths. They were called, “glens of gloom,” or “valleys of the death-shadow.” The sheep had to trust in the shepherd to protect them, feed them, nourish them and make them feel secure.

It’s easy to trust God when the sky is blue and everything is going well. But when the skies turn dark and the winds stir, we get anxious. Life is filled with dangers and uncertainty. We can try to be in control, but we live in a world that is filled with the unexpected. We can take all kinds of preventative measures to make our lives secure. Ultimately, however we have to trust that God, the great shepherd, is watching over us. This past week our Vacation Bible School children learned that Jesus is their friend. Jesus referred to himself as “a shepherd who watches over his sheep.” They trust him because they “know his voice.” The children learned that Jesus encourages them to ‘follow him,” to yield to his leadership.

The psalmist also said, “He leads me beside the still waters,” and “He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.” The author of Psalm 23 was speaking to a people who were in exile. They were wandering, unsure of their course and destination. What they needed was hope and reassurance, but they had to yield to God to lead them.

I believe we live in a society that is constantly misleading us. You are told you must be successful to survive. You are told that you need gadgets, material goods, and stuff to withstand the storms of life. To keep us off track we are constantly being warned of the evil things in life that could destroy us. There are a myriad of voices demanding our attention, time and soul.

Sheep are not dumb, they are just those who are willing to be led. Although the 23rd Psalm is normally said at the time of death, it is a psalm that is for everyday living. When the psalmist said, “He restores my soul,” the correct Hebrew interpretation is, “God keeps me alive.”

God leads us by giving us the “Word.” God leads when we remain in the community of faith, the Church, the voice of hope and assurance. God leads us through the love of Christ, the one who is our friend and invites us to “follow.”

The psalm reminds us that we need not fear anything that is evil. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for God is with me.” For me, the psalm assures us that no matter what we face, we are never alone.

As human beings our greatest fear is being alone. We fear being alone more than pain or lacking the things we need. David Elkind, is a famous child psychologist. In his book, The Hurried Child, he tells a story about his role as a parent. One time he was visiting his son’s nursery school class at the request of his teacher. She told him she wanted him to observe a problem child in her class so he could give her some advice.

At one point Elkind was observing a group of boys, including his son. One child said, “My daddy is a doctor, and he makes a lot of money and we have a swimming pool.” Another child said, “My daddy is a lawyer and he flies to Washington and gets to talk with the president.” A third child said, “My daddy owns his own company and has his own airplane.” Then Elkind’s son said, “My daddy is here.”

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for God is with me.”

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio