Anytime you see in God's Word,
the word LORD, capitalized L, capital O, capital R, capital
D, that is the name Jehovah. Jehovah, the eternal God, the
self-existent one. I'm here to tell you that Jesus
Christ is Jehovah. Contrary to what many say, those
that go door to door and call themselves Jehovah's Witness,
they do not believe that. But He is. He is very God of
very God. Isaiah 9 says, child is born,
the son is given, call his name Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father. Scripture says, Great is the
mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus
Christ himself said, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He himself said, I and the Father
are one. But someone argues, how can there
be a God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
yet be one person? Well, it is a great mystery,
and yet it is true. And we believe it. God's people
believe it. Jesus Christ is Jehovah. One
time I had a little farm, and I was out shoveling some straw
or manure or something, and these people that call themselves Jehovah
witnesses. They came to see me, and I asked
them if they knew Jehovah Sidkenu. No, they said, we've never heard
that. Well, I said, do you know Jehovah Jireh? They said, no,
we haven't heard that name. I said, well, do you know Jehovah
Shammah? No, haven't heard it. Jehovah
Rah? No, never heard that name. Well,
these are names in all of the Old Testament given to Jehovah. and these names apply to the
Lord Jesus Christ, Jehovah-Jireh. He is the Lord that provides.
When our Lord was with His disciples after three years, He said, did
you lack anything? No, they said, because He's the
Lord that provides. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that
healeth thee. Scripture says of Jesus Christ,
He healed all who had need of healing. He was the great healer
and still is. He is Jehovah. Jehovah Nissi,
the Lord our banner. that is the one, the flag that
the army flies of whom all follow, and they all followed the Lord
Jesus Christ while he was here, the Lord our banner, Jehovah
Nisi, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. Ephesians 2.14 says
of Christ, He is our peace. Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Romans 10 verse 4 says, Jesus
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believe it. 1 Corinthians 1.30 says, He has
made unto us wisdom righteousness. Jehovah Sidkenu. Jehovah Shammah,
the Lord is present. Jesus Christ said, where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst, always present. Jehovah Shammah. And then the
Lord our Shepherd, Jehovah Raha. John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus
Christ said, I am the Good Shepherd, the Lord our Shepherd. Now, Psalm
23 is my text for today. The Psalm of the Shepherd. The
Lord is my shepherd. Many quote this, but you must
be a sheep to quote this, not a goat. The Lord said there are
sheep and goats. In Matthew 25 He said, When the
Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels
with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory, and
before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he'll say to his sheep, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. So there are sheep and there
are goats, and they belong to him. Well, here are descriptions
of sheep. In order for the Lord to be your
shepherd, you must be a sheep. Number one, a sheep is owned
by someone. Christ said in John 10 that the
Father had given him these sheep. They belong to Him. Sheep are
owned by someone. They're not their own. They're
bought with a price. And so are God's people. Sheep
are dependent, totally dependent upon another, provided for. They're
not independent. They're not free. And they're
helpless. Oh, they're helpless to any and
all predators. They must have a shepherd. Sheep
are not pretty little clean animals, as one would think. No, sheep
are filthy. And sheep are dumb, ignorant
animals. They need a shepherd. Is that
you? The Lord is the shepherd of His
sheep. Christ came into the world to
save His sheep. Scripture says He left the ninety
and nine for the one sheep in the wilderness and says He came
when He found it. When He found it, not if, but
when He found it. He finds all of His lost sheep
and He lays them on His shoulder and He brings them home. And
they know who found them. The Lord is the shepherd of His
sheep. He came for His elect sheep.
He came to give them life. And He saves every one of them.
None of them is lost, Christ said. All that the Father giveth
Me shall come to Me. And all the sheep know it. They
know that salvation is of the Lord. They know the Lord is their
shepherd. So Psalm 23. Many quote this
psalm, usually when tragedy strikes. But when the tragedy is over,
they quickly forget it. But this is for the sheep. This
is a blessed psalm. A blessed psalm of the great
shepherd and his care for the sheep. The Lord is my shepherd,
verse 1 says. I shall not want. I shall not
lack. I will have need of nothing as
long as the Lord is my shepherd. He is the good, great, and chief
shepherd and he provides all of these things for his people.
First of all, They shall not want or lack for rest. Verse
2 says, He maketh me to lie down in green pasture. That's the
Word of God. He brings His people to hear
the Word and causes them to lie down and be still. He maketh
them to lie down in green pastures. That's what sheep eat. They eat
green pastures. They eat the Word of God. Goats
will eat anything. fall for anything but not the
sheep. They must have God's Word. They must have the truth. And
He gives it to them. And He leads them beside the
still waters they shall not want for peace. Life still in waters
of the Word, the Word of Truth, the Gospel, stills the troubled
souls of His sheep. When He says, stand still and
see the salvation of the Lord, Their souls are still, the still
waters of the world. They shall not want for forgiveness.
Verse 3 says, He restoreth my soul. Shall not want for forgiveness. The wandering sheep will always
be restored, always be found, and always be restored back into
the fold. Yea, the prodigal son is always
the son. And when he comes back by the
Sovereign mercy and grace of God by the Spirit of God leading
Him back to the Father. The Father always falls on His
neck and kisses Him. He shall not want for forgiveness. The sheep shall not want for
holiness. It says in verse 3, He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake. That's His name, the Lord our
righteousness. Surely shall one say, and the
Lord have our righteousness and strength." Oh, the Lord Jesus
Christ leads all of His sheep to know Him, to follow Him, to
be found in Him, the Lord, their righteousness. They'll never
want for holiness before God because He, Christ, is their
righteousness. Verse 4 says that they will not
want for protection, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death. This world is a dangerous place full of death and destruction
all around, but not God's people. They shall not want for protection.
It says, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I fear
no evil, for thou art with me. They shall not want for fellowship,
because Christ said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Thou art with me. They shall not want for comfort
and correction. Verse 4 says, Thy rod and thy
staff may comfort me. The shepherd's rod is made up
of two things, a rod and then the staff or a crook on the end
of it. And that staff wards off the
enemies of the sheep and it is for the back of the sheep when
that sheep gets out of line. We need correction. as children
often do, we need correction. And His staff, the Word, reproves,
rebukes, and corrects us. God's people need it so like
children need correction. And comfort, that guidance, that
hook, that crook on the end of that shepherd's rod will always
bring that wandering sheep back. Reaching is never short. His
arm is not short. We'll bring them back. And he
goes on to say that we will not want for provisions. He says
in verse 5, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
my enemy, a table, food, his word, the gospel in a time of
famine. Amos said there shall be a time
of famine in the last days, not of bread, but of hearing the
word of God. But his people shall not want
for food because he prepares them a table, a gospel table.
Verse 5 says, I shall not want for refreshment. He said, Thou
anointest my head with oil, soothing oil. The Holy Spirit pours the
oil of gladness over the head of His people, the gospel that
makes them glad, makes glad the heart of man, the wine of his
blood. And he says, my cup runneth over,
the cup of mercy and grace and all the provisions of God in
Christ runneth over as full, because in him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead body, bodily. And they shall not want
for anything that they need. Verse 6, Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, like two faithful
sheepdogs that follow and make sure the sheep are in the fold
always and guard their backside. And they shall not want for eternal
life. Verse 6 says, I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is the Shepherd of His sheep. He is the Good Shepherd, the
Chief Shepherd, the Great Shepherd. David was a shepherd of sheep
before the Lord made him king. David, who was a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. One time a bear and a lion came
and got one of his little lambs. And David, by his own strength
and power went out after that bear and the lion and slew them
both and rescued that one little lamb out of the mouth of the
lion, out of the grasp of the bear. And that's a picture of
how the Lord Jesus Christ himself is the salvation of every single
one of His sheep, every one of His little lambs. Though the
Lion of this world, the God of this world is after them, He
can't have them because the Lord is the Shepherd of His sheep,
and He came to rescue them from the mouth of the Lion. Is the
Lord your Shepherd? If the Lord Jesus Christ is your
Shepherd, you shall not want for rest. for peace, for forgiveness,
for holiness, for protection, for fellowship, for comfort,
provisions, correction, refreshment, anything you need now, and for
eternal life. I pray the Lord is indeed your
Shepherd. Amen.