Care in 2022 - (Psalm 23:1-4)

2022 has arrived and if we are honest with ourselves we are not that excited about it, because Covid-19 and its devastating effects are still around. 

As we find ourselves in the fourth wave with a new variant, the chances of harder restrictions, loss of income and jobs, no contact with friends and family, getting infected and/or re-infected are high. Therefore, we are not very enthusiastic about this year. I remember previous years; there was a real joy, buzz and excitement to enter into the New Year, but not so much for 2022.

There is so much uncertainty which hinders our planning for the year. And we are a culture that loves planning and having everything in order. Am I going to study on campus or online? Should we start new ministries at church or shouldn’t we? Should I start a new business venture or should we put it on ice? Can I host or attend social events or not? And this leaves us undecided and somewhat frustrated. Therefore, we are not looking forward to 2022. 

Yes, there are some things that you can look forward to. One major thing being the slow death of Covid 19, another is the booster shots, but it is uncertain as to when it will happen and if it makes a difference. Therefore, it is not enough to make us excited about the year ahead. This can further fill us with feelings of hopelessness, discouragement, joylessness and to a certain degree, depression and fear.

However, if you are a Christian there is one thing that we can look forward to. This one thing is certain, concrete, firm and everlasting. It is God’s tender loving care. For David says in Psalm 23: 1, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” 

 Just like how sheep have a personal caregiver - the shepherd, David has a personal caregiver - the Lord God almighty and so do you, Christian. The Lord is your personal carer, he is your shepherd, and therefore you shall lack nothing because he will provide everything.

He will satisfy you, he will provide rest, he will restore you, and he will guide you and finally comfort you. This is the type of care we can look forward to in 2022. Let us look at them in turn.

First, he will satisfy you.

V2, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”

David puts himself in the place of a sheep. This would have been easy to do since he was a shepherd before he became a King. So he observed how sheep behave. 

The one thing he may have noticed were sheep lying down in green pastures. This, I am told, is significant. It is huge in the husbandry world, in the world of sheep farming. It means the sheep is free from hunger which is surprising and somewhat unusual, because sheep consume a lot of grass. If you leave it in a field, it will devour all the grass and bleat for more. So it is ultra-surprising for a sheep to lie down in green pastures, unless it is satisfied and content.

This is exactly the picture David wants us to see regarding God’s care for us. He will satisfy you. He will make you content. He will make you happy. Therefore, in 2022, this truth is what we should look forward to.

But for some of us, and when I say us, I mean Christians are holding onto another truth. A truth that says, if only things would go back to normal, then I would be happy and content. If only we could go back to how things were when we were making money and profit. If only we could gather together like in the old days, prior to Covid 19, I would be more satisfied and joyful.

Yes, these things do bring about joy and happiness, but would it be true and long lasting? If we pin our satisfaction on money which is here today and gone tomorrow, how much satisfaction can it give you? If you pin your happiness and contentment on relationships which are volatile, erratic, and unstable at times, thoughtless, unloving, and temperamental, how much happiness can it really give you? I would say not much.

So, as Christians, the truth that we should hold onto and look forward to in 2022 is God will satisfy us. He will make us happy. He will make us content as opposed to a return to normal.

Second, we should look forward to rest.

V2b, “he leads me beside quiet waters.”

 God will provide rest. This is not the rest we get from sitting on our couch or lying in bed watching Youtube clips or our favourite movie. It is not freedom from activities. Instead, it is the rest we get from knowing that everything is going to be ok, because God is going to take care of us. It is freedom from all our burdens, concerns, anxieties, worries, and weaknesses. We could all do with this especially when we look back at 2020, 2021 and look forward to 2022. 

And I’m here to tell you, Christian; we have this and will always have it. For Jesus said, “28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Come 2022 with all its uncertainties, concerns and burdens, if you are in Jesus Christ, you will be led to rest, stillness, quietness and calmness.

When you are restless, and you will be, God will lead you to rest.

Third, we can look forward to restoration

V3, “He restores my soul.”

If you watch restoration shows like flip or flop or renovate my home, you would have seen that these guys are able to do remarkable things to broken down homes. They go in and with their hands they take battered and damaged things and make them new and fresh.

Some of these houses are so badly damaged.

The roof is broken.

The taps and plugs don’t work.

Very often there iss mould in the house.

It's inhabitable.

Yet they restore it.

Likewise, God will take your bruised soul, your broken soul, your despondent soul, your down and out soul, and with his hands reach in and make it fresh and new.

He restores our distressed soul. Not man, the government, your closest friend and/or relative. If anything they may be the source of your distressed soul, but God is the one who restores it.

So in 2022, this is what we can look forward to.

Fourth, we can look forward to guidance.

V3b, “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.”

The Lord will show us what is right. 

We need this because left to ourselves we will do wrong things and lead ourselves astray. For the bible, God's word declares that we are totally depraved, meaning we are sinners. We are unrighteous; we are bad even from birth. There’s no one who does good, not even one.

We are literally like sheep. I came across a true story about 1500 sheep that jumped off a cliff somewhere in Istanbul (Turkey). They did this because they were left unattended. The shepherds were having breakfast and so one sheep decided to jump to its death and the others followed suit. If sheep are left by themselves, they will lead themselves astray.

Likewise, if we are left to lead ourselves, we would almost always choose the wrong path, the path of sin and rebellion, the path that causes us to jump off a cliff so to speak. We do not want this and I am yet to meet a Christian who does. 

But thankfully the Lord will lead us to do the right things, in 2022.

Sometimes he gets us there by taking us through tough experiences, which I found to be true during the lockdown. 

I have two kids and let me tell you, it was extremely stressful and hard to care for them during that time, for they needed constant attention. They needed to be stimulated otherwise the TV, the couch and all the electronics would be no more. Being under lockdown with two kids was a tough experience.

And during this time I found that I was impatient, unkind, insensitive, and selfish. God put me in a difficult place and what came out, revelation of my sin. And for this I am extremely grateful.

For I was on the wrong path and he used the lockdown to show me this, but also led me onto the right path where I needed to show more compassion, patience, and other-person centeredness.

Sometimes God allows us to go through tough experiences in order to lead us to paths of righteousness.

But most of the time, it is through his words. Everything we need to know about what is right and wrong, God’s ways and what pleases him is found in his word (the Bible). So commit to reading it, studying it and listening to it whether it's live in person at the church or at home. 

But why does he do this?

So that he may have a good reputation.

He does not lead us to righteousness so that you may look good.

No! It’s so that he may look good.

What can we look forward to in 2022? God’s guidance! He will lead us to do the right things so that he may be seen as a caring shepherd.

Fifth, we can look forward to comfort.

V4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” This for me is a picture of a life-threatening situation, a deadly and dangerous occasion, a dark and evil period. Since we are human beings, our natural response is to fear such times.

Notice David says, even though I walk through these times, which tells me that God’s people, Christians are not veiled or shielded from times of discomfort, as some would have you believe. In other words, Christians are not exempt from going through rough and tough patches in their lives. We will face it. It will come upon us.

So we ought not to expect an invisible bubble to enclose us as we enter into 2022, as we walk into a year where our lives and livelihoods are threatened. Instead, we should expect God to be there alleviating our distress and pain. 

So let us not fear 2022, instead, look forward to God’s comfort.

So God cares for us by providing contentment, rest, restoration, guidance and comfort. This is what we should look forward to in 2022.

But do you believe this?

I asked myself this question as I was preparing. Is it just lip service? Yes, the Lord cares for me. Is it just head knowledge? Have you just memorised the Psalm? As you were listening, were you thinking, is this really true? If this describes you, the reason you don not believe.

The reason why these truths are lip service and a memory verse to you is because you do not know God intimately.nOne of the most striking things in this Psalm is David's relationship with God.

Notice in v2 - 3, David uses the personal pronoun ‘he’ to refer to God: 

“He makes me lie down.”

“He leads me.” 

“He restores my soul.”

“He leads me.”

Then switches and refers to God as ‘you’ in v4 - 5:

“You are with me.”

“Your rod, your staff.”

“You prepare.”

“ You anoint.”

One moment he is talking about God the next he is talking to him. He is having a conversation with him. He knows God intimately. Therefore, he can confidently say without a shadow of doubt, He will lack nothing (V1). He will be well cared for.

So if you don’t believe Psalm 23, if it is all head knowledge, then you do not have a personal relationship with God.

What a tragedy.

However tragic the effects of Covid-19 may be for you personally, it cannot compare to the tragedy of not knowing God personally. Because you are missing out on this comforting truth: the Lord cares for his people. What a tragedy. 

So, my brother, my sister, make 2022 and beyond a year where you get to know God personally by reading, studying and listening to his word, and speaking to him so that you may not fall into unbelief which in turn breeds hopelessness and fear. 

To my non-Christian friends, I want to say that you too can have this care. The care found in Psalm 23. And if you are really honest with yourself, you want this care, you need this care, you long for it, and I mean who wouldn’t. 

So how do you obtain it? The first step dear friend is to ask Jesus to be the only Shepherd of your life.

Why him? He says, “11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” 

Why Jesus? He is The Good Shepherd. He is the one who cared enough to die for your sins. And he wants you to be part of his fold. He wants to be your Shepherd. And when you are under his care; in his fold you can be certain of tender loving care as promised in Psalm 23.

He will satisfy you, he will give you rest, he will restore your distressed soul, he will guide you to paths of righteousness and he will give you comfort in dark times.

So dear friend, why don’t you ask Jesus to be your Shepherd right now?