Speaker 1: Hello, everybody. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren.
Speaker 1: I'm really glad you're here.
Speaker 2: Today.
Speaker 1: We're continuing our series from Psalm twenty three called Living
Speaker 1: in the Goodness of God. It's all about how God's
Speaker 1: goodness meets you right where you are and brings hope
Speaker 1: even in difficult seasons. Now here's part one of a
Speaker 1: message called how Jesus treats his Sheep.
Speaker 2: Today we're going to continue in our study of the
Speaker 2: most famous chapter in the Bible, Psalm twenty three.
Speaker 3: It is the.
Speaker 2: Most compact explanation of the goodness of God. And we're
Speaker 2: in a series called Living in the Goodness of God.
Speaker 2: It only has six verses, but there are ten benefits
Speaker 2: or ten ways that God's goodness wants to show up.
Speaker 3: In your life.
Speaker 2: We've looked at about half of these, and now we're
Speaker 2: starting the second half of the series, and I want
Speaker 2: us to begin by actually reading Psalm twenty three aloud together.
Speaker 2: So let's read it together. Very familiar passage. The Lord
Speaker 2: is my shepherd. I have everything I need. He makes
Speaker 2: me lie down in green pastures, He leaves me beside
Speaker 2: still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in
Speaker 2: the right path for his name's sake. And even when
Speaker 2: I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
Speaker 2: I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
Speaker 2: Your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a
Speaker 2: banquet for me in front of my enemies, and you
Speaker 2: anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows. Surely,
Speaker 2: goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of
Speaker 2: my life, and I will dwell in the house of
Speaker 2: the Lord forever. Thank you. Now, there are a lot
Speaker 2: of metaphors in this passage. David is a shepherd, and
Speaker 2: he's using the shepherd motif talking about all the ways
Speaker 2: that God wants to bless your life. And today I
Speaker 2: want us to focus on the meaning of verse four,
Speaker 2: which is this phrase, your rod and your staff they
Speaker 2: comfort me. Now, what in the world does that mean?
Speaker 2: Your rod and your staff these are clearly two kinds
Speaker 2: of sticks. How in the world can they bring comfort
Speaker 2: to your life? How does that bring comfort to you
Speaker 2: at all?
Speaker 3: What in the world does this mean?
Speaker 2: It raises all kinds of questions, and of all the
Speaker 2: verses in Psalm twenty three, this little phrase, your rod
Speaker 2: and your staff comfort me requires the most explanation. I mean,
Speaker 2: what is a rod and what is a staff? And
Speaker 2: what do they symbolize and what benefits do they represent?
Speaker 2: And how in the world can these two tools that
Speaker 2: a shepherd uses a sheepherder and you know, shepherding sheep,
Speaker 2: how in the world can they bring comfort to our
Speaker 2: lives about you know, several thousand years later. Well, I
Speaker 2: need to give you a little bit of background. So Tom,
Speaker 2: would you give bring me my rod and my staff
Speaker 2: because I want you to see these. I actually have them.
Speaker 2: You know, the word pastor is the same word for shepherd.
Speaker 2: So I'm a shepherd and here is my rod and
Speaker 2: my staff. Let's think the great attendant.
Speaker 3: Here, thank you.
Speaker 2: That's what I'm This is a rod and this is
Speaker 2: a staff. These two tools are ancient tools that have
Speaker 2: been used by shepherds for thousands and thousands of years.
Speaker 2: This is the defensive tool that you use against predators,
Speaker 2: you use against wolves and anybody who's trying to.
Speaker 3: Attack your sheep fold.
Speaker 2: It was actually given me by a shepherd. And I'm
Speaker 2: not sure what country has my name, Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: So if you're bad, I'm getting on you right now, okay,
Speaker 2: And you can actually use the rod two ways. You
Speaker 2: can hold on this in and this you know, you're
Speaker 2: shoeing away coyotes and people aren't much of a threat
Speaker 2: to you, and you can use it for things like that.
Speaker 2: Usually about a foot and a half long, maybe two
Speaker 2: foot long. If you've got a serious predator like a
Speaker 2: mountain lion, you've got something to really work with. But
Speaker 2: this is a defensive weapon. This this so the rod
Speaker 2: you use on enemies of sheep, the staff you use
Speaker 2: on sheep. Now, I want to explain to you how
Speaker 2: they were used literally physically and just for a second,
Speaker 2: and then how they are actually symbols of two ways
Speaker 2: that God wants to work in your life. So let's
Speaker 2: first talk about what they actually are used. For. A rod,
Speaker 2: you might write this down, is used for guarding the sheep,
Speaker 2: for guarding and protecting guardian protecting the sheep. Sheep are
Speaker 2: essentially defenseless animals. They have no teeth, they don't have
Speaker 2: any you know, claws, they don't they don't run fast,
Speaker 2: you know, their teeth are not very sharp because they
Speaker 2: eat grass. So they're pretty defenseless. They're slow, and they're
Speaker 2: really pretty dumb, and so without a shepherd they are
Speaker 2: prey to any kind of predator, wolves or anything else
Speaker 2: I like that, and so somebody's got to protect them.
Speaker 2: And the rod is a defensive tool to fight against
Speaker 2: predators or enemies or adversaries and things like that. Now,
Speaker 2: a staff, while a rod is for guarding and protecting,
Speaker 2: a staff is for guiding, okay, guiding and directing. Guarding
Speaker 2: and guiding, protecting and directing. That's what these two different
Speaker 2: tools are used for. Sheep have a tendency to wander,
Speaker 2: and so a shepherd's staff has a little crook in
Speaker 2: it and you can pull them with a crook or
Speaker 2: you can poke them with a staff. So it's by
Speaker 2: hook or by crook you're controlling them, and you are actually,
Speaker 2: you know, saying get along, little doggies, only not little doggies,
Speaker 2: and you can direct them. Sheep have an ability to
Speaker 2: graze on extremely difficult terrain. They can stand on a hillside,
Speaker 2: you know, at almost you know, fifty to sixty seventy
Speaker 2: degree angle. Cows could never graze on what sheep can
Speaker 2: graze on. But while they can be on mountains, and
Speaker 2: they can be on cliffs, and they can be near edges,
Speaker 2: they often fall off and they often get out of balance.
Speaker 2: And so this end of the staff, the crooked part,
Speaker 2: the shepherd's crook, you would use either around a sheep's
Speaker 2: foot or their neck. And so for instance, if they're
Speaker 2: about to fall off, you can grab them by the
Speaker 2: neck and you can pull them back by you're not
Speaker 2: getting near the edge of the cliff. Or if a
Speaker 2: sheep goes into a bramble bush with a bunch of
Speaker 2: you know, thorns and things that would be really painful.
Speaker 2: As a shepherd, you don't want to go in there,
Speaker 2: So you would reach in there with your shepherd's staff
Speaker 2: and you grab them by leg and you'd pull them out.
Speaker 2: This is a tool of rec it's a tool for
Speaker 2: for your protection. It's a tool to get you out
Speaker 2: of a tight jam. And now universally the shepherd's staff
Speaker 2: is a symbol of that. So that's what they're used for,
Speaker 2: and they've been used that way for literally centuries after century.
Speaker 2: What's the meaning of these two tools. What's the symbolism
Speaker 2: behind these metaphors? Well, I want you to write this down. Uh,
Speaker 2: the rod represents power and authority. Power and authority because
Speaker 2: it says I'm in charge here and I've got more
Speaker 2: power than you, and I'm in control. The shepherd's staff
Speaker 2: and the rod are both found in as far back
Speaker 2: as Egyptian hieroglyphs. Look up here on the screen you
Speaker 2: can see a picture. Here's here's an Egyptian king holding
Speaker 2: a shepherd's staff. All of the pharoes. When you see
Speaker 2: pictures of the pharaohs, they they're they're like this, and
Speaker 2: they've got a rod in one hand and the in
Speaker 2: the other. Sometimes they're called a flailing or some other term,
Speaker 2: but it is a rod and the staff. Let me
Speaker 2: show you. Here's King tut high Tuddy, and notice he's
Speaker 2: got the shepherd's staff in one hand and he's got
Speaker 2: the rod or flail in the other. Same thing. It's
Speaker 2: one is used to fight off enemies and the others.
Speaker 2: He's saying with this, I am both the protector of
Speaker 2: my nation and I am in charge. I'm the authority
Speaker 2: of my nation. I both care about my nation, and
Speaker 2: I can be tough. I am an authority. And you
Speaker 2: find this all throughout history and a lot of different
Speaker 2: different cultures. So write this down. The rod represents power
Speaker 2: and authority, which, by the way, in Christian history for
Speaker 2: the last two thousand year of the church. Of course,
Speaker 2: Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd, and he had the
Speaker 2: shepherd's staff. And so today if you'll often see a
Speaker 2: bishop in a lot of different denominations of Catholic and Lutheran,
Speaker 2: lots of denominations will have a bishop's staff. It's called
Speaker 2: the crows, and you'll see the bishop walking like this,
Speaker 2: which basically says, I care for the flock of God,
Speaker 2: but I'm also the one in authority. I have the
Speaker 2: authority over the flock of God. In this area, it's
Speaker 2: called the crozier. And they can be very elaborate or
Speaker 2: they can be very very simple like this. So the
Speaker 2: staff represents care and compassion. You might write this down.
Speaker 2: The rod represents power and authority, and the staff represents
Speaker 2: care and compassion.
Speaker 3: Now what does that mean for you?
Speaker 2: And what does it mean when he says you're rod
Speaker 2: and your staff they comfort me. How do I get
Speaker 2: comfort out of that? Well, let's look first at what
Speaker 2: Jesus says and what it says about him in the Bible.
Speaker 2: Hebrews chapter thirteen, verse twenty says this Jesus is the
Speaker 2: great shepherd of the sheep circle that on your notes
Speaker 2: great shepherd of the sheep. He's called the great shepherd,
Speaker 2: he's called the chief shepherd. Word, he's called the good Shepherd.
Speaker 2: In the next verse, John chapter ten, verses ten and eleven.
Speaker 2: That whole chapter is about the good shepherd, and Jesus
Speaker 2: talks about his ministry in caring for the sheep. Throughout
Speaker 2: the Bible, sheep are a symbol for God's people. The
Speaker 2: church is called the flock of God, and the Bible
Speaker 2: says we are his sheep. Okay, we are his flock,
Speaker 2: and we are the sheep of his pastors. It says
Speaker 2: that in Psalms, and in John ten ten and eleven
Speaker 2: it says this, I came so that my sheep will
Speaker 2: have life. This is Jesus talking. I came that my
Speaker 2: sheep will have life and everything they need. I am
Speaker 2: the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life
Speaker 2: for his sheep. That's the good God's word translation. The
Speaker 2: good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Now Jesus
Speaker 2: is the good shepherd. We need to figure out what
Speaker 2: that means. How does Jesus treat his sheep If we're
Speaker 2: supposed to be the flock of God and he's the
Speaker 2: good Shepherd. What does that mean? As we look at
Speaker 2: the goodness of God? And in Psalm twenty three, we're
Speaker 2: listing ten different things that the good shepherd does in
Speaker 2: your life. The Lord is my shepherd. And so how
Speaker 2: does the Lord respond to you? What just as a
Speaker 2: physical shepherd use the physical tools of the rod and
Speaker 2: the staff for direction and protection, for guidance, okay, and
Speaker 2: for guarding. God wants to do both of these things
Speaker 2: in your life. He wants to guide you and guard you.
Speaker 2: He wants to protect you, and he wants to direct you.
Speaker 2: I want us today to look at the actual words
Speaker 2: of Jesus in these areas, and we're going to look
Speaker 2: at five ways Jesus wants to treat you if you'll
Speaker 2: trust him. So let's write these down. Number one. The
Speaker 2: first thing we learn about the good Shepherd is that
Speaker 2: if I bring him my hurts, Jesus shows me compassion.
Speaker 2: If I bring him my hurts, Jesus shows me compassion.
Speaker 2: When I come to God, I say, God, i've got
Speaker 2: a problem in my finances. So I've got a problem
Speaker 2: in my emotions. I've got a problem in my relationships. God.
Speaker 2: I'm really hurting here I'm weak, or I'm depressed, or
Speaker 2: I'm anxious, or I'm angry, or I've been hurt, I've
Speaker 2: been betrayed, somebody's been unfaithful to me. When I bring
Speaker 2: in my hurts, Jesus responds, how well, he doesn't scold you.
Speaker 3: He serves you.
Speaker 2: He doesn't put you down, He lifts you up. He
Speaker 2: doesn't hassle you. He heals you. Matthew, Chapter nine, verse
Speaker 2: thirty six. It says this, when Jesus saw the crowds,
Speaker 2: his heart was filled with compassion for them because they
Speaker 2: were hurting and they didn't know where to get help.
Speaker 2: They were like sheep without a shepherd. How you look
Speaker 2: at people determines a lot and tells us a lot
Speaker 2: about what's in your heart. When I look at the crowd,
Speaker 2: I often find I think of irritation, I think a
Speaker 2: loss of privacy. I think of a lot of things.
Speaker 2: But the Bible says when Jesus looked at the crowd,
Speaker 2: he was moved with compassion because they were hurting, they
Speaker 2: were helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd. And
Speaker 2: that's the way God looks at your problems, and he
Speaker 2: looks at your your hurts. He's compassionate. Now what does
Speaker 2: that mean. Well, there's them between empathy, sympathy and compassion.
Speaker 2: Sympathy means I'm sorry you hurt. You can send a
Speaker 2: sympathy card. I'm sorry you hurt. A little bit deeper
Speaker 2: commitment is empathy. Empathy means I hurt with you. When
Speaker 2: I empathize, it's more than I'm sorry you hurt. It's
Speaker 2: I'm hurting with you. But compassion means I will do
Speaker 2: anything I can to stop your hurt. And the Bible
Speaker 2: repeatedly says that when Jesus looked at people who were
Speaker 2: in pain, he was moved with compassion. I will do
Speaker 2: anything it takes to stop your hurt, even if it
Speaker 2: means dying on the cross, even if it means having
Speaker 2: nails nailed through my hands and feet. That's compassion. I
Speaker 2: will do whatever it takes. I will do any and
Speaker 2: it takes to stop your pain. In Matthew twenty verse
Speaker 2: twenty eight, Jesus said, this is why I came. I
Speaker 2: came here not to be served, but to serve others,
Speaker 2: and to give my life as a ransom for many.
Speaker 2: He came to show compassion. He says, you know, I
Speaker 2: came to serve and to give. And if you circle
Speaker 2: those two words, that is what it means to follow
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. That is what it means to be a
Speaker 2: true Christian. Giving and serving define a Christian life. If
Speaker 2: you don't give, if you don't serve, how in the
Speaker 2: world can you follow Jesus Because he said, that's my
Speaker 2: whole purpose. You know, it's interesting. The paradox of this
Speaker 2: verse is that when it comes to your relationship, God
Speaker 2: says it's not about you. Life is not about you,
Speaker 2: that you only find your meeting and giving your life away.
Speaker 2: And he says, for you, it's not about you. It's
Speaker 2: really all about God and other people. The first sentence
Speaker 2: and purpose of life is it's not about you. But
Speaker 2: when it comes to God, it's the exact opposite. With Jesus,
Speaker 2: it's all about you. He came to earth for you,
Speaker 2: he died for you, he suffered for you, he sacrificed
Speaker 2: for you. It's all about you. From God's point of view.
Speaker 2: God is unselfish, and God wants you to be like him.
Speaker 2: He wants you to be Christ like Christ was not
Speaker 2: thinking of himself, He was thinking of others. And the
Speaker 2: same thing is true with you. God wants you to
Speaker 2: not think of yourself. It's not about you, It's about
Speaker 2: God and it's about others. But I bring him my hurts,
Speaker 2: I know that Jesus is not gonna ras me or
Speaker 2: put me down, or scold me or intimidate me. He's
Speaker 2: going to show compassion because he did that throughout his ministry.
Speaker 2: Number two, Not only if I bringing my hurts, Jesus
Speaker 2: shows me compassion, but number two, if I choose to
Speaker 2: follow him, Jesus leads me in the right direction. He's
Speaker 2: not going to lead you in the wrong direction, but
Speaker 2: he's going to lead you in the right direction. If
Speaker 2: you say God, I'm going to follow your son Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: he becomes your guide through life. I don't know if
Speaker 2: you've ever gone to a city like London or Tokyo
Speaker 2: or some Paris and taken a guided tour, But if
Speaker 2: you've ever done that, you know you learn a whole
Speaker 2: lot more about a city if you have a guide
Speaker 2: that if you just walk through Paris, you don't know,
Speaker 2: you're going to miss all kinds of important things because
Speaker 2: you don't know what they are. It helps to have
Speaker 2: a guide. You learn more, you see more you experience
Speaker 2: more if you have a guide taking you through a city.
Speaker 2: The same is true with your life. You need a
Speaker 2: guide through your life. If you're just walking through your
Speaker 2: life on your own, you're missing a whole lot. If
Speaker 2: you're just going through your life without a guide, without
Speaker 2: a shepherd, without somebody showing you the ropes, without somebody
Speaker 2: who's more experienced in life than you are, you're missing
Speaker 2: a whole lot in your life, stuffs passing by you
Speaker 2: that you would have caught if you had had a
Speaker 2: guide with you. And so Jesus says, if you're going
Speaker 2: to choose to follow me, I will be your guide.
Speaker 2: I will be your shepherd, and I will lead you
Speaker 2: in the right direction now as a shepherd. A shepherd
Speaker 2: always knows more than the sheep does always, and Jesus
Speaker 2: is always going to know more about your life than
Speaker 2: you do because he created you, he made you. He
Speaker 2: knows your purpose even when you don't know your purpose.
Speaker 2: So what do I do in this situation? Well, Psalm
Speaker 2: twenty three, verse three says this, he Jesus leads me
Speaker 2: in the right path, the right path for.
Speaker 3: His name's sake.
Speaker 2: As I said, He's never going to lead you in
Speaker 2: the wrong way. And in John ten, verse four, Jesus says,
Speaker 2: the good shepherd walks ahead of the sheep, and they
Speaker 2: follow him, for they recognize his voice. Now I want
Speaker 2: you to notice something circle the word or the phrase
Speaker 2: walks ahead. The good shepherd walks ahead of the sheep.
Speaker 2: They follow him, and they recognize his voice. In shepherding,
Speaker 2: the shepherd always goes first. Why he's the model, he's mentoring,
Speaker 2: he's leading by example. This is very different than being
Speaker 2: a cowboy. A cowboy and a shepherd are two different things.
Speaker 2: You drive cattle, but you lead sheep, big difference. You
Speaker 2: drive cattle from the back, you push them forward. And
Speaker 2: if you've ever watched a TV Western, you know on
Speaker 2: a cattle drive they're pushing the cattle from the back.
Speaker 2: So you drive cattle from the back, but you lead sheep.
Speaker 2: You get out front and they follow you. Now here's
Speaker 2: a point. Jesus is not going to push you through
Speaker 2: your life. He's not going to push you into doing
Speaker 2: things you don't want to do, you're not interested in doing.
Speaker 2: He's never going to force you to do something you
Speaker 2: don't want to do. But as a shepherd, he's going
Speaker 2: to lead the way, and he's going to say, watch
Speaker 2: how I do it, look where I go. And if
Speaker 2: you follow his lead, oh man, your life's going to
Speaker 2: be a whole lot easier, a lot fewer problems, a
Speaker 2: lot less stress if you'll follow the lead of your shepherd.
Speaker 2: If I bring him my hurts, he shows me compassion.
Speaker 2: But if I choose to follow him, he says, I
Speaker 2: will lead you in the right direction. Now, how do
Speaker 2: I know he wants to lead me in the right direction? Well,
Speaker 2: he says it, and the Bible says, and so I'm
Speaker 2: twenty six verse three. Your constant love, Lord is my guide,
Speaker 2: and your faithfulness always leads me. Now David wrote that
Speaker 2: same guy who wrote the Lord as my shepherd, And
Speaker 2: he says, Lord, when you lead me, you lead me
Speaker 2: with your love. This is very important. Jesus always leads
Speaker 2: you with love, not with laws. Let me explain this.
Speaker 2: The reason why a lot of people are afraid of God,
Speaker 2: the reason why a lot of people fear God. The
Speaker 2: reason a lot of people don't want to follow God
Speaker 2: is because they think He's just going to give them
Speaker 2: a set of rules. Do this, this, this, this, this, this,
Speaker 2: this and this, and don't do this this this, this, this,
Speaker 2: and this, and yet the Bible says, God says, I
Speaker 2: will lead you with my love, not with my laws.
Speaker 3: I lead you out of love. Wow.
Speaker 1: Some powerful words from Pastor Rick today. And now this
Speaker 1: is really one of my favorite parts of the broadcast.
Speaker 1: This is letters from our listeners and now here's Rick Hi.
Speaker 2: Today, I want to share a very powerful letter from
Speaker 2: a listener named Michael. Michael experienced terrible trauma as a child,
Speaker 2: but he says that Daily Hope is helping him overcome
Speaker 2: his past and now he's looking to the future with
Speaker 2: his kids. Let me read you just a little bit
Speaker 2: of Michael's story. Dear Pastor Rick, you and Daily Hope
Speaker 2: have brought God into my life and it has saved me.
Speaker 2: I am a twenty nine year old father of five children,
Speaker 2: and I try my hardest to teach my children to
Speaker 2: know God and to love Jesus and how to pray.
Speaker 2: And I do my best to be a good example
Speaker 2: and be worthy of all the good gifts that God
Speaker 2: has given to me. But you know, because of my
Speaker 2: childhood and the insecurities and abandonment issues that were created
Speaker 2: in my life from years of mental abuse, physical abuse,
Speaker 2: verbal abuse, and yes, even sexual abuse. I've always had
Speaker 2: a hard time trusting God. I woke up every day
Speaker 2: feeling unworthy, and I suffered from feelings of anxiety, and
Speaker 2: I felt like God couldn't possibly love me because no
Speaker 2: one else had ever loved me. And I carried that
Speaker 2: pain inside of me for so long, craving for a close,
Speaker 2: better intimate relationship with God. Now listening to Daily Hope
Speaker 2: has helped me achieve that and more. I'm not only better,
Speaker 2: but I'm now better for everybody else around me. Spreading
Speaker 2: all that I've learned and the good news of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: I know God better than ever, and I now have
Speaker 2: more faith than I ever knew possible because I feel
Speaker 2: His love. Thank you so much. Daily Hope does such
Speaker 2: a great work in the name of Jesus, and I
Speaker 2: will forever be in your debt for bringing the fire
Speaker 2: of faith into my heart and helping me know God.
Speaker 2: I love you, and I hope you continue to bring
Speaker 2: change in the world through the message of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: You know, Michael, I absolutely love how you're teaching your
Speaker 2: five kids to know Jesus. That is a real man,
Speaker 2: a real dad, a real father. It's so important to
Speaker 2: pass it on to the next generation, and I'm encouraged.
Speaker 2: The Daily Hope is helping you with the trauma of
Speaker 2: all your past and helping you work through those issues
Speaker 2: and keeping you growing in the love of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: You know, stories like the one you wrote to me
Speaker 2: are what keep me going. It's why we do this
Speaker 2: change lives. Now. I want to pray for you. I
Speaker 2: want to pray, Dear Lord, pour out your love on Michael.
Speaker 2: Help him to sense your love so that he never
Speaker 2: doubts it. Pour out your blessing and your peace on
Speaker 2: his family. I pray that they will continue to grow
Speaker 2: in their faith and that they will experience the peace
Speaker 2: that passes understanding as they follow you God. I want
Speaker 2: to thank you for his faithfulness in Jesus name, I
Speaker 2: pray Amen. You know if God is blessing you through
Speaker 2: Daily Hope, would you share your story with me? Write
Speaker 2: me rickatpastorik dot com.
Speaker 1: Be sure to join us next time as we look
Speaker 1: into God's word for our daily hope. This program is
Speaker 1: sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.