We live in a pride saturated culture, with social media acting as its kindling. Gone are the days, or so it seems, when humility was a virtue. Now, it is more likely to be identified as a vice. Rather, the expectation today is that we remind others how good we are—how important we are—every opportunity we get. So we post pictures of our wonderful (and likely artificial) lives on Instagram. We share our every thought about everything, asked or not, on Twitter. We blog. We podcast. We write self-published books.
Technology is wonderful. Technology is terrible.
Now, lest you think I woke up especially grumpy today, I need to be quick to share that there is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things above. I am on Facebook and Twitter (pictures aren’t my thing, so Instagram isn’t for me). I blog here and on other Lifeway pages. I podcast. I write books. But I recognize how these can fuel my pride. I have wondered how many people read my posts and listen to The Hero of the Story podcast. At times not to be encouraged by how God is using them, but rather to stroke my ego. I have checked my book rankings on Amazon. I check how many likes or retweets posts and tweets get.
Our natural tendency as consumers of social media will be to allow it to draw us deeper into pride. Why? Because we are prideful—sinful—in our nature. We want to feed our egos. We want others to make much of us. And that is antithetical to the gospel. The way to the cross is a path of humility. It is recognizing our complete need of God and His matchless grace. The gospel is about making little of ourselves and much of Christ.
Through Humility…
We cannot be certain when David penned Psalm 23, but many suspect it was later in his life because of the wisdom, restraint, and confidence he shares in it. If that is the case, then David’s humility in writing this psalm is that much more impressive—the king of Israel was comparing himself to a lowly sheep. However, even if he wrote this as a young man, his humility is still evident. David had been a shepherd, so he knew all about sheep. He knew they were not the smartest animals around. He knew they don’t smell the best. Yet, he opens the psalm by immediately identifying with that animal: “The Lord is my shepherd.” Then notice what follows: The Lord provides what David needs. The Lord lets him lie down in green pastures. The Lord leads him beside quiet waters. The Lord renews his life. The Lord leads him along the right paths. The Lord is present with him always, even in times of danger. The Lord’s rod of protection and staff of correction comfort him. What did David do? Little to nothing. What did God do? Everything. How powerful this truth is, especially knowing that David may have written it as the king of Israel. Here we are reminded of our desperate need of God. Left to ourselves, we can do nothing. We are too foolish to know what is good for us. But, under God’s loving providential care, we are given abundantly more than we need. In this, we see a picture of the gospel.Comes Exaltation
We cannot miss the final two verses, though. David shifts the metaphor as he concludes the psalm. No longer is God the shepherd and David the sheep, now it is more likely that God is the King and David is the subject. God is still the one at work, though. The Lord prepares a table for David—in the presence of his enemies. This is not insignificant; it marks how God will vindicate His people. The Lord anoints David and provides more than ample provision. The Lord’s goodness and faithful love pursue David—there is no escaping them! The Lord invites David to dwell in His house forevermore. Notice that the once lowly sheep has been exalted now. He is not inconsequential. He matters. And in this, we see God’s beautiful plan for us. When we pursue our own fame, we will be brought low—God is a jealous God a consuming fire. But when we follow His ways, when we live with humility, He exalts us. We end up where we desired to be in the first place—but we end up there the right way and in the right posture. No matter how highly God might exalt us, we will recognize that He is infinitely higher. Our exaltation only drives us toward deeper humility and wanting to exalt the Lord—our Good Shepherd—all the more.Christ’s love towards us, and not our love towards Christ, is the true ground of expectation, and true foundation of hope … To look inward to our love towards Christ is painfully unsatisfying: to look outward to Christ’s love towards us is peace.” — J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)Preschool Tip: This may be your preschoolers’ first interaction with Psalm 23, so don’t rush past the psalm itself. If you can, build in time to practice saying portions of the psalm together. Getting these verses into the minds of your preschoolers is an important step of getting it into their hearts as well. Kids Tip: Psalm 23 has brought comfort to so many people, so you may want to take some time to encourage your kids to commit it to memory and show them how it can bring comfort, especially in times of adversity. If you have drawn strength from this psalm, tell your kids about that. This is a great opportunity to help our kids understand that the Bible is not just for study—as important as that is—but also a precious gift to help us through life. [1] John Charles Ryle, Practical Religion (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2018), 263.
Steve Tuck says
Brian, I have enjoyed reading your posts and I try to make sure our lead teachers are receiving them and reading them. Always good commentary insight and application. Of course, I am not saying that to “stroke your ego,” but am very thankful for the hard work and energy you put into them.
Blessings, Steve (East Cooper Baptist Church- Charleston, SC)
Brian Dembowczyk says
Thank you for that encouragement, Steve. I am grateful that these are helpful for you all!