Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; 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; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
The Lord Jesus is my loving leader and therefore every need I have in my life will be provided as a gift of grace. He puts me in places where I am fed and watered, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He restores my energy and my life daily. He directs me on the paths that lead to life and not death. Sometimes those paths lead into very dark places and my confidence is that the Lord is with me, protecting me as we go into the darkness. On the other side of the toughest times the Lord has prepared for me again a place of abundant provision and abundant refreshment in the midst of a dangerous world. The goodness and the mercy of the Lord Jesus pursues me and chases me down every day of my life and one day I will dwell in the heavenly temple with my loving Lord for all eternity. (Norm Wise Paraphrase)
This psalm was part of my early spiritual education. My mother read this psalm every morning before she went to work. It was her psalm. She gave it to me.
When I was a little boy I thought this was a strange psalm at first. I understood the first verse to mean that the Lord was a shepherd that I did not want in my life! I wondered; “Why was I telling God that I did not want Him?”
At times maybe there is more truth to that then I would want to admit. All we like sheep have gone astray. The shepherd keeps the sheep no t the sheep the shepherd.
Now of course the real meaning is the Lord is my Shepherd and He will provide for me. God will give me food, drink, and protection as I have need of them in this life. He will be with be during the hardest times and eventually lead me to be comforted and provided for in the midst of my enemies. The psalm never denies hardship and danger, it only assures me that the good shepherd will get me through and give me glory.
Now this is one of the best known psalms in our country. Most people would still recognize Psalm 23. However, part of this is because it is normally read at funerals. It is psalm of comfort where our focus is that we imagine our loved one sitting in heaven as God’s dinner guest. Or perhaps we see ourselves walking through the dark valley of grief assured that eventually God will comfort us. The Psalm is used by God to bring comfort in all of these circumstances.

In some ways this makes sense since Psalm 23 follows Psalm 22 which is an account of God’s suffering servant. Here we have a poetic prophecy of Messiah dying for our sins and being raised from the dead. Now the risen Lord will be the shepherd of His people and eventually bring them into His kingdom. They will overcome their enemies and see God provide for them salvation.
But the psalm does not have to be understood in this light. For African and Asian believers this psalm has become a call to reject tyrannical political rulers who want to “shepherd” them and their lives. These believers quote the psalm as a clear statement that THE LORD and not the government is my ultimate shepherd that I will trust to take care of my needs. It has become their “Jesus is Lord; not Caesar” psalm and has significant political meaning to them.
The enemies of the Christian are the unbelieving world culture we live in, the rebellious and wicked fallen angels and the remaining lack of faith within our own hearts. None of these have the power to keep the Shepherd’s purpose of providing and protecting us from being achieved. The plan of the Shepherd to provide for us will be accomplished and the enemies of our soul will fail. This is God’s promise and gift to us. The Lord is our shepherd we will not fail.
This psalm also speaks to us of the Lord’s Supper. The shepherd has prepared a table for us. This is what Jesus did with the cup and the bread. How will the shepherd provide for our needs? We are very needy. The Shepherd will have to die for the sheep. He will have to suffer so they can be provided for and protected. The Shepherd will have to die to defeat the purpose of the enemies of the sheep. The table is a provision and a protection. It shows His care and His comfort. As we take of the cup and the bread that Jesus the Messiah has given to us it tells us that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever in fellowship with our KING.
The bottom line to this psalm is this. The Lord is watching over us and will win over the enemies of our soul. We do have enemies and face dark times. If we were left on our own then we would be devoured by the real dangers of this life. But we are not alone. The Lord is our Shepherd and He will provide for us care and comfort. This Shepherd is chasing us down when we stray to give to us His mercy and love. If we tell ourselves this story daily, as my mother did just before she went to work, how can we fail to not have our anxiety fall and our faith rise up in confident joy. May the Lord, grant that we will experience some of that reality this day.

The other day I was thinking about depression. As one who has struggled with depression and one who has helped people struggle with the feelings of depression, the issue is one of interest and concern for me. Depression is a serious problem.

Now there is biological depression and psychological depression. These two can interact and impact each other. There are times when we need to seek medical help to overcome biological depression. What I am focused on today is psychological depression. It can create and increase biological depression in some people. So to overcome psychological depression can be a great help.

As I was thinking about depression it came to me that it reflects a total lack of motivation. I was reading some articles on motivation and one of the key things that motivates us is the belief that our competence and character will matter in what we achieve in life. When people or cultures come to believe that their competence and character do not matter and that their destiny are governed by “chance” or “luck” then their motivation to have great competence or praise worthy character declines. Helpless people lack motivation and are depressed.

The depressed person feels that their character and competence will not save them. They feel destined to defeat in what matter to them. So why get out of bed? Why put in the energy? Where does one find energy when one feels that the effort is hopeless? Depression is for many people the logical emotion for the prophecy they have set over their lives. When we are depressed we say to ourselves ” I will lose” and therefore our motivation to run the race of life comes to an end. We stop running. Why try?

It is interesting in a race and especially a marathon that most of the runners know early on that they will not be the first one across the finish line. If the only definition of success was to finish first then all but two or three of the runners could just stop running at about the second mile. In fact most of the runners know that the odds of them winning the race by being “number one” are slight if not zero. Then why do they run? They have defined “success” as the act of running and this gives them an internal reward when they do their best. These runners run not to be the first across the finish line or to have their names in the paper. These people run because they see the value of running.

I think that to defeat depression we need to have a personal awakening in which we change the rules we live by and see the value of the journey of life. We need to see that being a person who has maximized their personal competence and character has its own intrinsic value regardless of what it produces in outward change of our circumstances. To strive for this goal to be our personal best is an on going process day by day. Winning it to try.

It does in fact matter to God that we reflect the character of Christ Jesus. He just wants us to try to follow the Messiah. God the Father will forgive us our failures and strengthen our hearts. We really are actors before an audience of one. Due to God’s great grace in dying for our sins in the death of Messiah Jesus we are not accepted and adopted by God the Father. We receive a standing ovation from the heavenly Father when we strive to walk the life of faith. Regardless of the circumstances or the criticisms of other people, our striving to maximize our competence and character to give glory to Messiah Jesus for dying for our sins is appreciated by God and gives the heavenly Father joy. We are winning when as we strive to live sane, stable, and spiritual lives.

So t0 overcome depression we have to find a new source of motivation. The story we have been telling ourselves in which we define ourselves as losers has to be silenced. We have to find a new life story. A story that makes sense of our struggles. I would recommend the story of God’s love in Jesus the Messiah. This true story above all others can heal the soul and help us in our fight against depression.