(On July 2, 2021, I preach for the funeral of my 103-year-old grandma, Elizabeth Dale. As sad as it is to lose a dear loved one, God’s amazing promises give us comfort and hope: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). It was great for me to be reminded that the Lord is our Shepherd in life and in death.)
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:1-6)
There’s a man who’s been making a very bold claim. Have you ever heard of Dave Asprey? He’s a successful entrepreneur who’s boldly claiming he’s going to live to be 180 years old. He’s sure it’s possible. Want to know some of his secrets? Here you go: Put two tablespoons of butter in your coffee every morning, but eat no grains or cereal. Take as cold of showers as possible. Up for that? Oh, and spend over $1 million just on your personal health and take 100 supplements every day. And live in Canada, of course. Got it? Dave’s committed to doing everything possible to make it to 180. He’s well on his way: He just turned 45. Already a quarter of the way there!
I hope he makes it. But even if he does, I’m afraid he’s going to be disappointed. Know why? 180 years still won’t seem long enough. Just like 103 years doesn’t seem long enough either, does it? If it did, we wouldn’t be sad today. No matter when it happens, death always leaves us wanting more. The Bible says, “God has set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Deep down, we don’t want to live to be 100. We want to live forever. Have you ever been to a funeral of a loved one and said, “I am so glad they’re gone. They lived way too long.” I don’t think so. Not today either. Death always comes too soon. We want to live forever, but we don’t.
Because death isn’t a result of too many carbohydrates or warm showers. It’s a result of sin. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.” We’ve all sinned, so we all die. Even Grandma. In fact, I think Grandma would say that living a long life isn’t that great either. Her goal was never to get as old as possible. If you talked to her over the past ten years, you know that she was ready to die at any moment. Sin doesn’t just make people die, it makes life hard. It makes growing old stink. That’s a powerful reminder for us younger people here. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the things we’re going to accomplish. And…? So…? If we’re living just for this life, even if we make it to 103, Grandma would tell us it’s empty. There’s got to be something more!
There is. The secret to “life” isn’t a matter of the newest fad diet. Our times are in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15). All of our days were written in God’s book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). Our family has seen that so clearly. Grandpa died suddenly in his 60s. Grandma lived to 103. I guess Elizabeth must have been way more righteous than Clifford… No way! They are both still living with Jesus. Because the secret for life isn’t a secret. It’s Jesus! Grandma believed that. That’s why she loved the words of Psalm 23. Today let’s find comfort where Grandma did.
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” The Bible tells us that Psalm 23 was written by David—King David. David understood what he was talking about when he called God a “Shepherd.” Know why? Can you remember what David’s job was before he became king? A shepherd! As David had watched his sheep day after day, he noticed, “Those sheep are kind of like people. Vulnerable. Wandering. Helpless… Sheep.” But it didn’t stop there. David couldn’t help but notice that God is kind of like a shepherd. Always there. Sacrificing. Protecting. Guiding. Saving. I wonder if one day it just hit him: “The Lord is a Shepherd—kind of like me!”
But David added one little word—“my.” The Lord isn’t just a Shepherd. He’s my Shepherd. That one little word—“my”—makes all the difference. David didn’t just realize that people are like sheep. He was a sheep. David wandered. David sinned. David was helpless and vulnerable and weak. So God wasn’t just a Shepherd for some people over there. “The Lord is my Shepherd.” That makes me think of Grandma’s confirmation verse 89 years ago: “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:20). I bet Grandma learned what that meant in confirmation class too: “He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.” That’s why Grandma could say, “The Lord is my Shepherd!” Because of Jesus!
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” If the Lord is my Shepherd, there is nothing else that I need. I can’t help but think about Grandma’s life. She lived in Conger. Now, I know that Conger is “the biggest little town in Minnesota,” but Conger isn’t a place where you say, “I shall not be in want.” There isn’t even a gas station. Or a school. I shall not want? Yes! Grandma lived a simple life, right? Lately, all of her possessions could fit in one little room. But she had all that she needed, because she had Jesus. There’s a little equation that’s really helped me in life: Jesus + Nothing = Everything. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”
Because God’s got it all under his control. “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” As I grow older, I realize how naïve I was as a kid. It never occurred to me that Grandma was missing her husband. Grandmas are supposed to be alone, aren’t they? No! For 48 years. That must have been hard. How did she make it? She wasn’t alone. “He leadeth me. He leadeth me.” I wonder how many times Grandma said those words to herself. God was leading her. She loved her daily devotions. She loved going to church. God kept working in her heart. She wasn’t alone. She had a Shepherd leading her to quiet waters.
And God doesn’t just lead us here and there through our lives on earth. “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The greatest guidance that God gives his people is to show us the path of salvation through faith in Jesus. What’s the way to live forever? We heard it: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Faith in Jesus. That’s the path! “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27).
That means you don’t have to be afraid of death. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Dave Astrey is so afraid of death that he puts butter in his coffee, takes cold showers, and eats 100 pills a day. Poor guy! But Grandma? There might be tears in our eyes today, but Grandma wasn’t concerned about dying. She longed to be in heaven with Jesus! Sure, she did want to beat her sister Marie, but after that, she was ready to go. Jesus took her fear away.
And he did so much more! “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” If God is with you in the valley of the shadow of death, if you don’t have to be afraid of dying, what do you need to fear? Nothing! David faced lions and Goliath and King Saul. And God was him. Grandma faced pandemics and depressions and world wars, and God was with her. People ask if the cup is half empty or half full. Give me a break! “My cup overflows.” God is so good! He pours out blessing after blessing after blessing.
“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” This is what I would tell Grandma. “Every day that you are alive is a good thing, because Jesus’ goodness and love will be with you every day. And the day that you die will be a good thing, because you will live in God’s house forever.” They are both good things! It’s a blessing from God to be 100 years old. It is a blessing from God to be taken out of this world of tears to Jesus’ side in heaven. Whether we live or die, “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” Can you say that with me? “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”
Do you know how we can be sure? 1000 years after David, one of David’s descendants talked about shepherds too. Except, instead of saying, “the Lord is my Shepherd,” this man said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Who was that? Jesus. Jesus is the good Shepherd who lay down his life for us—for Grandma, for you, for me—the sheep. To forgive us. To save us. To give us eternal life. That’s where Grandma is right now: In heaven! What was her secret? Not pills. Not money. Not cold showers. Faith in Jesus.
That makes me think of a story I heard about a real sheep. Have you heard of Shrek the sheep? Shrek the sheep lived in the mountains of New Zealand. Years ago, Shrek wandered off from his flock and lived by himself. Finally, after six years, his shepherd found him again. Can you guess what Shrek looked like? A humungous ball of wool! His shepherd gently sheered him. Do you know how much wool that sheep was carrying around? 60 pounds of wool. Can you imagine that? Walking around every day with sixty pounds of wool hanging on you… What a burden! Six years of burdens were sheered off in just 28 minutes. I bet Shrek was one happy sheep!
But why are we talking about Shrek the sheep at Grandma’s funeral? Because that’s how you look today. Don’t get me wrong, you look great! There’s no problem with your hair. But we’re carrying a heavy burden on our hearts. It’s not 60 pounds of wool. It’s worse. Death is a burden. I bet you’ve walked around a little slower this week. I bet you’ve been crying a little more. I bet you’ve smiled a little less. Do you know what your Shepherd says? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus is looking for you. He’s calling us home. To carry our burdens and forgive our sins and wrap us in his arms.
I know that’s what Grandma wants for you and me, more than anything else in the world. For us to find rest in Jesus. Like she did. She would sit in her chair and go down her list of children and grandchildren and the great-grandchildren, and she would pray for us. Because Grandma knew that Jesus isn’t just for old ladies. When she was one-year old and the Spanish flu was raging, the Lord was her Shepherd. When she was a little girl living through the Great Depression, the Lord was her Shepherd. When she was a young woman running the family business when all the men were off at war, the Lord was her Shepherd. When she was a mother raising these four trouble-makers, the Lord was her Shepherd. When she lost her husband, the Lord was her Shepherd. When she sat alone through COVID at 103 years old, the Lord was her Shepherd. Yes he is!
“He restores my soul.” In the days ahead, “He restores my soul.” When nostalgia wells up inside, “He restores my soul.” Grandma’s Shepherd—Jesus—is your Shepherd and my Shepherd. And that means that “surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Because, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”
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