Full sermon follows the handout version. Dealing With Your Deepest Needs
GOD GUIDES ME
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Psalm 23
I. It can be a challenge to find your direction.
A. We can't rely on what worked in the past.
B. The inner GPS of many people is challenged.
C. Is there something outside ourselves that can show us the way?
II. You need to know where you are.
A. GPS is pretty good at that.
B. Where do you stand with God?
C. You can know where you stand.
III. You need to know where you are headed.
A. Everyone needs goals.
B. There are varying viewpoints on the purpose of life.
C. The Bible's view of life's purpose.
IV. You need someone to show you the way.
A. David recognized God as his shepherd.
B. God gives us moral and spiritual boundaries.
V. God can guide us even when the way is hard.
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Rev. David Holwick B Dealing With Your Deepest Needs
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 9, 2011
Psalm 23
GOD GUIDES ME
I. It can be a challenge to find your direction.
A. We can't rely on what worked in the past.
1) Compasses aren't what they used to be.
Magnetic north is moving toward Siberia.
It is enough of a change that some airports have had to shut
down.
Airports paint their runways with the degree of their compass
reading as a form of ID so pilots know where to land.
Tampa airport had to shut down and update the numbers
because they had changed so much.
Some say they shouldn't rely on something so archaic as a
compass and should convert to a GPS reading.
But even GPS has issues.
2) All it takes is for the Sun to burp.
Last summer a massive sunspot on the sun flared up and
produced a massive coronal ejection (solar flare).
Some said it was the equivalent of a "solar tsunami."
You probably never noticed it.
But a solar flare back in 1859 knocked out all the telegraph
lines in America.
It would do much worse damage today.
All that ionized material creates electromagnetic surges
that can knock out power plants and communication grids.
And satellites.
All of our GPS units operate by means of satellites in
geostationary orbits.
They are so high up they are unprotected by the earth's
magnetic field.
One good flare could take them all out. [1]
B. The inner GPS of many people is challenged.
1) What we believe, and how we live, is in flux.
a) Many are switching religions.
1> A survey by the Pew Forum on Religion found that
more than half of all Americans have switched
religions at least once. #35858
2> Sixteen percent have dropped out of religion
altogether.
b) Many are changing their views on morality.
1> A recent poll showed that 4 out of 10 Americans
think the institution of marriage is becoming
obsolete.
#62930
C. Is there something outside ourselves that can show us the way?
1) The Bible says you can have confidence in what you believe.
2) You can know where you are going.
3) You can have a Guide to show you the way.
II. You need to know where you are.
A. GPS is pretty good at that.
1) It is accurate to a few feet which is usually good enough.
a) But if you enter the wrong data, no one knows where you
will end up.
2) Metaphorically, we need to know where we are as people.
a) What kind of a person are you?
1> Is this an honest assessment?
2> Would people who know you well agree with it?
b) We tend to overestimate our goodness.
1> When asked to rate their attractiveness, or
intelligence, the majority of Americans say
they are above average.
A> Someone is fooling themselves!
2> The Apostle Paul said he was confident of his
motives - he had a clear conscience - but he
knew that wasn't good enough.
He had to add - "But it is the Lord who judges me."
1 Cor 4:4
B. Where do you stand with God?
1) Most Americans are pretty confident of this as well.
a) Perhaps we should not be.
2) Jesus says that many people will claim to know him when they
stand before God, but they will be rejected.
a) Their claims of faith did not cut it.
b) Jesus says their evil actions showed their true
character.
C. You can know where you stand.
1) King David had as many weaknesses as any other human.
a) Just like politician John Edwards, David messed around
even though he was a married man.
b) And the world found out about it.
c) David repented, and he suffered consequences, but
he renewed his relationship with God.
2) Recognize your sin nature and confess your need for God.
III. You need to know where you are headed.
A. Everyone needs goals.
1) High school and college students are wondering about this.
a) They are following the expected path for education,
but what will they do with it?
1> Celeste is getting a college degree online.
2> This will expand her opportunities as a nurse.
b) All of us should continue to strive, to improve.
1> But this only makes sense if you know what you
are striving for.
B. There are varying viewpoints on the purpose of life.
1) Hedonistic.
a) Pile up the money and possessions.
b) The two recent Powerball winners will be tempted by this.
2) Mechanistic, science-only.
a) There really is no goal or purpose.
b) Life just "is".
c) It is like what Solomon says in the book of Ecclesiastes:
"Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless."
C. The Bible's view of life's purpose.
1) Reconciling with God is the first step of the journey.
2) Becoming more Christ-like is the ultimate goal.
a) Do unto others as you want them to do to you.
1> Be good even to those who don't like you.
b) Be forgiving.
c) Be positive and loving.
IV. You need someone to show you the way.
A. David recognized God as his shepherd.
1) He calls him LORD, but also "my" shepherd, a personal
attachment.
2) All of Psalm 23 speaks of his confidence in God.
B. God gives us moral and spiritual boundaries.
1) David calls this the "paths of righteousness."
2) The staff in verse 4 is used to control sheep, and,
by implication, us.
a) How to live.
b) What to believe.
c) The entire Bible is concerned with these issues.
V. God can guide us even when the way is hard.
A. Perhaps the psalm's most memorable line is verse 4.
1) The valley of the shadow of death gets our attention.
2) This is when many people, even the non-religious, call
on God.
B. Death is difficult to contemplate, but we all think about it.
1) Some fear the pain that often precedes death.
2) We also fear that we are leaving our lives unfinished.
3) Will you leave a mark?
Rabbi Harold Kushner once wrote:
It is not really death we are afraid of.
It is not the idea that we are going to die one day that
scares us.
It is the anticipation, the sense that our time is limited.
It is the shadow that falls over our lives because we have the
knowledge that no other living creature has, the knowledge
that one day we will no longer be here.
The British writer Chesterton once wrote a wonderful line.
He said, "There are people who pray for eternal life and don't
know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday."
We don't want to live forever.
We want to live just long enough to have made a difference to
the world.
What we fear is not mortality, not death.
We are afraid that we will come to the end of our lives without
having had that impact on the world we once dreamed of.
#20643
C. Have you lived well?
1) Time is flying by.
2) Live for God.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] “Solar Flares - Vulnerability of GPS,” by Richard_Hawkesford &
Richard N. Williams, ezine@rticles, August 10, 2010,
<http://ezinearticles.com/?Solar-Flares---Vulnerability-of-GPS&id
=4825433>
#20643 [Kerux sermon] “Through the Valley of the Shadow,” by
Rabbi Harold S. Kushner, “30 Good Minutes” (Chicago Sunday
Evening Club), November 29, 1993.
#35858 “Most Americans Switch Denominations At Least Once,” Preaching Now,
www.preaching.com, May 4, 2009; adapted from a USA Today report
dated April 27, 2009.
#62930 “Marriage Is In Trouble,” by Chuck Colson, BreakPoint Commentary,
December 9, 2010.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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