Playlist For | Week 2

The big idea

Worship is trusting the Shepherd, not just thanking the Savior.

Real worship goes deeper than singing songs of thanks for what God has done — it means surrendering to His voice as our Shepherd. Through Psalm 23, Pastor Bill shows that trusting God with our needs, in our valleys, and for our future turns a relationship that is merely informational into one that is truly intimate.

Point 1 of 5

Pastor Bill opens with a childhood story of his father catching him after he fell from a cliff — he was thankful to be saved but kept wandering right back to the edge. He says believers do the same with God: we love that He saves us but resist letting Him shepherd us.

Point 2 of 5

Working through verses one through three, Pastor Bill explains that David, a former shepherd, knew sheep are fearful and stubborn, needing to be made to lie down and led beside stilled waters. He connects this to our own worry and rumination, citing a Penn State study that ninety percent of what chronic worriers fear never happens, and tells a personal story about frantically worrying through a tight layover in Brussels that turned out fine — arguing that worry never actually works and that God cares for us because of who He is, not because of who we are.

Point 3 of 5

Turning to verse four, Pastor Bill notes the shift from talking about God to talking to God once David enters the dark valley — a real, dangerous place David shepherded through. He explains the shepherd's rod (which protects from outside danger) and staff (which pulls the sheep back from its own bad choices), and argues that pain is not abandonment; valleys are where an informational relationship with God becomes an intimate one.

Point 4 of 5

Moving to verses five and six, Pastor Bill unpacks the imagery of the overflowing cup and the anointed head as signs of being welcomed as an honored guest at God's table, even in the presence of enemies. He explains that the Hebrew word for goodness means beautifully beneficial, not merely comfortable, and that God's unfailing love aggressively pursues us all our days whether or not it feels good in the moment.

Point 5 of 5

Pastor Bill tells an extended story of coaching his son's underprepared middle school baseball team, who lost nearly every game under an improvised extreme mercy rule but stayed together shouting hoorah, and finally pulled off one shocking win in their last game. He ties this to Jesus, who suffered what looked like the ultimate loss on the cross before rising three days later in the greatest hoorah of all, showing that trusting the Shepherd through the losing seasons leads to real victory.

Take it into your week

Pastor Bill frames the charge as learning to trust the Shepherd, not just thank the Savior, in three areas of life.