Psalm 23: Is There a Cure for the Common Life?

Living the Abundant Life

Is there a cure for the common life? It’s a good question, one that is often asked in one way or another. Believe it or not, the answer can be found in Psalm 23.

So let’s dive in, starting with a look at our own lives.

Most of us probably think that our lives are fairly common, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But let’s get personal. If we drew a scale from 1 to 10, where would you put yourself and your own life?

Maybe you think, well, right now, my life’s a zero. Some may feel it’s a 10 right now, and you’re hitting on all cylinders. If that’s you, don’t tell anyone because everybody will just throw a book at you or something. But seriously speaking, here’s the deal.

Everybody’s somewhere. Where are you?

It gets complicated because life is composed of so many different things. Work life, family life, parenting life, money life, and we could go on and on. It’s hard to hit the ball out of the park in all areas.

But here’s what I know. We are either living Fully Alive or Partially Dead.

Hang with me and I think you’ll see that.

Fully Alive

Stop for a minute and think about where you are. Where you are on the calendar, that is.

Remember the past election? That was a stressful season. And it was immediately followed by another stressful time: the Christmas shopping season. Think about it. Those are two of the most stressful events on the American calendar: elections and Christmas shopping. During times like those you might wish you had other things on your mind.

Stressful times makes us ask ourselves, “Am I in the right place at the right time?”

The Bible says in John 10:10 that the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but that Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” The NIV says, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” However you translate that word, it means more than is necessary.

It exceeds expectations.

So because there is an element of excess and fullness, I’m using the words, the two words, “fully alive.”

Fully alive.

If you were to read John 10:10 like that, Jesus said, “I came that people might live fully alive.“

Joy Stealers

Jesus wants us to get past the common life. Now in the previous chapter, in John 9, Jesus healed a blind man. After he heals the blind man, the Pharisees — the religious crowd, the legalistic leaders who promoted false religion — they threw the man out of the synagogue. That’s what people do when they’re tied to their traditions and religious backgrounds. And that’s wrong.

Here’s my point: People, among other things, can keep you from living fully alive, and people can kill and destroy the joy in your life.

Some of you may be thinking, “I know who you’re talking about.”

Everybody probably has met somebody or knows someone who just takes the life right out of you. Am I right? These people can kill the joy!

But you know what else can take your joy and destroy your ability to live a full life?

Possessions, promotions at work, power, the list goes on.

But we don’t think of those things as thieves because we go through life and we try to get more stuff. We try to get a bigger promotion at work. We love power. We have a hard time giving up power. And then eventually those things have the potential to keep us away from the One in whom we can find life and live fully alive.

It’s a simple case of good things versus bad things.

Is Fully Alive Fully Available?

And here’s the question. Is fully alive, fully available?

I don’t know if many people believe it’s possible to live fully alive. In fact, most would probably say it’s not available.

Which leads us to truth number two: Jesus seems to believe that life to the full is fully available.

But we’re going to have to decide whether we are going to live me-centric lives or God-centric lives.

You see, the me-centric life goes after all the good stuff, and the God-centric life goes after what is best.

The Abundant Life in Psalm 23

We already read in John 10:10 how Jesus came so we could be fully alive. Let’s look a little deeper and gather more great insight into what it means to live fully alive in one of the great passages of the Bible — and that is Psalm 23.

In fact a primary theme of Psalm 23 is that God is leading his sheep into the abundant life. So let’s look a little closer.

First, Psalm 23 is interesting because most people think to live fully alive means life’s pretty much trouble-free. No pain. No trouble. Right?

And the minute something negative comes around, we think, “Well, this isn’t what I expected.”

But let’s look at what was going on in the background when Psalm 23 was written. We don’t know the exact historical background, but many believe that it’s possible — and it certainly fits the psalm — that it may have been written during the time when Absalom, the son of David, basically ran his father out of town.

David was the king, but he lost the throne. Absalom assumed the throne, forcing David to leave town. It’s during that time of intense heartache and trouble that David pens this poetry. This song.

Life has the ability to bring all kinds of stress into our lives. We all know about disappointments. We all know about profound dissatisfaction.

But despite David’s problems, despite being run out of town, despite losing the throne, David states in verse 6 that he could not wait till he returned to Jerusalem and once again entered the temple. God’s house. He says at the end of the psalm that he wants to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Think back to when COVID hit and a most of us couldn’t go to church, and then we were thrilled when restrictions were lifted and we could go back and gather in church once again.

David speaks to that desire to be in God’s house. To be close to God. To feel his presence in our darkest moments.

The Psalm

This psalm is definitely one to meditate on, spend time on, and try to devour the depths that are there. Especially when we’re struggling. Especially when life gets tough. We can still live fully alive.

Why? Because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.