If you'll allow me for just a moment to make a couple of comments on that passage of scripture that Scott read. Scott, thank you for reading that. Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13. These two verses tie together the first message on the new covenant with the message I want to try to preach now.

If we're to have peace with God, God must make that peace. He is the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep. And he did that through the blood of the everlasting covenant. That's that new covenant. We call it the new covenant. but it's the infinitely eternally old covenant. It's the covenant David was referring to when he said, although my house be not so with God. Although I can't find anything in my life to give me any hope or comfort for my salvation, that's what David was saying.

Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. A covenant that goes back before my life. A covenant that goes back before Abraham. A covenant that goes back before Adam. A covenant that goes back before time. An everlasting covenant. And in that everlasting covenant, he ordered it in all things. And he made it sure in the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ made that covenant sure. when God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit agreed in the covenant of grace to save a people, and how those people would be saved.

And I realize we're trying to put time on eternity when we say when God did it. There wasn't a when God did it. It was always that way. We can't comprehend existence before time, but it is. It is. That's who our God is. He's the glorious, self-existent I am. He ordered all things and he made it sure. Before the fall, the covenant was already established. He made it all things and sure.

David said, this is all my salvation. All the hope of my salvation is not in covenant promises that I've made to God, but it's in the promise that God made to God. This is all my salvation. And this is all my desire. It's the desire of my heart that he has put in my heart to know him according to his grace and what he has promised. And notice the next verse, Scott just read.

Make you perfect in every good work. Now, there's a part of us that thinks about good works as, you know, I've got to make a perfect good work. And that just takes us back to the covenant of works, doesn't it? What is the best work that a believer can do? The best good work that you can perform, what is it?

I'll tell you what it is, it's what you're doing right now. It's what we're hoping to do right now. It's worship. It's worship. And what makes us perfect in worship? When we offer to our God all the praise and all the glory and all the honor for having done all the work, that's what makes our worship perfect. Oh, we come here, we want to worship. Our minds wander and our worship is so frail and so inconsistent. But we long for that day when we'll worship him as we ought.

And as he gives us glimpses of his glory, we are, by his grace, engaged in that perfect work. make you perfect in every good work to do His will. What is His will? It's to glorify Him. It's the will of God. To glorify Him. To follow Him. To believe on Him. To look to Him. This is well-pleasing in His sight. through Jesus Christ, to whom be all the glory and all the honor and all the praise.

The eternal covenant of grace. Now, if you'll open your Bibles with me to Psalm 23, I want to try to make a transition from that to David's words in Psalm 23. I hope this is an encouragement to you. It's been an encouragement to me in trying to prepare this message and thinking about the Lord Jesus as the faithful, good shepherd of his sheep. Peter calls him the great shepherd, the shepherd who knows his sheep by name. And he calls them out and they hear his voice and they follow him. What a faithful shepherd he is. He said, I'll not lose one. I know who they are. I know where they are.

I'm going to manifest my grace and my glory by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel, through the instrument of my word, to their hearts. I'll write my law upon their hearts. And what we read in Jeremiah 31? We'll change their hearts.

As goes the heart, goes the whole man. God gives you a new heart. This gospel is not a religious persuasion. People change their lives all the time when they get religion, don't they? Turn over a new leaf, make new commitments. This is a change of the heart.

David, a man after God's own heart, A man who was created in the likeness of the heart of God. That's what the scripture says. We have the mind of Christ. He gives us the heart of Christ. You say, well, my heart seems so wicked and evil. Yeah, because that's that old man.

But there's a new man in the believer that cannot sin. There's a new man that is perfect, created in Christ Jesus. and the likeness of his glory, partakers of his nature, the scripture says. That's the new man. Can I have the new man without the old?

Not as long as we're in this life. We're gonna have to walk around with that dead flesh on our body, but here's our hope. Here's our hope. Though the natural eye is prone to look to the to the old man. The eye of faith believes God and looks to that with the natural. I cannot see that which is seen is temporal. It's temporary. That which is not seen is eternal and spiritual. God gives us eyes.

David had a David's called a man after God's own heart. Not only was he created, like all believers are, in the likeness of the heart of Christ, but he was a man that pursued the heart of Christ. A man after God's own heart. I want to know him. That's what Paul said, oh, that I might know him. I'm not yet apprehended that which has apprehended me. I just want to know Christ. I want to know him better, more fully. He was a man after God's own heart. And in Psalm 23, he reveals a confession of his faith, inspired by the Holy Spirit, obviously.

But I hope this morning that we can find some hope of our salvation in being able to identify with the things that David says here about the Lord Jesus being his shepherd. I fear that too often we spend too much effort in asking the wrong questions to try to get assurance of our salvation. Am I saved? Am I one of God's elect? Did Christ die for me?

The problem with those questions is not only are they not productive, but they are counterproductive. Because those kinds of questions only turn my attention back on me and try to find something in my experience, try to find something in what I've done or what I haven't done or something in my knowledge or something in my feelings that will give me some hope of my salvation. And if I'm a believer, All I've done is turn my attention upon that which can be seen. And that which can be seen is of the flesh. And not only do I not get assurance of my salvation if I ask those kind of questions, I lose assurance of my salvation. If I'm able to ask those kind of questions and look back at my life and find something that comforts me, I would have something to be very concerned about.

That would not be evidence that I'm saved. I remember back in works religion. somebody would begin to doubt their salvation, and we would take them back to when they had that initial experience, or when they were baptized, or when they prayed the prayer, or look at the way they've lived and what they've done, and we tell them, nail it down now, look back on that, and they would often come out of that experience by feeling good about themselves. Yeah, well, that must be saved. That must be saved. Those things wouldn't have happened if I wasn't saved. I wouldn't have stopped doing that if I hadn't been saved. So now I have assurance. What a false assurance that is. What a fearful thing it is to have that kind of assurance, to be looking to yourself and to your experience and to your feelings and find comfort. The question that we need to ask is the question the Lord Jesus asked when he asked those Pharisees, What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? What is your confession of him? If the hopes of my salvation are based completely on his merit and on his person and on his finished work, then not only will I have rest, but have all I need.

I had a man listen to me preach for many years. He eventually left the church, and when trying to talk to him, he threw his hands up, was standing in his living room, he threw his hands up to the ceiling, looked up to the sky, looked up to the can lights in the ceiling. You keep telling me to look to Christ. I'm looking, I don't see anything.

It's not surprising to me that that man is in a charismatic movement now. What does that have to do with it? Well, the charismatic movement is all about feelings. It's all about experiences. It's all about what you can see and what you feel. And now he's got something he can look to. He couldn't look to that which cannot be seen with the natural eye. He had to have something he could see, something he could handle, something he could feel.

I fear that man's experience represents a lot of people. If I ask if I'm saved and I start looking for evidences of my salvation, I'm gonna be in trouble. Either way, I'm gonna be in trouble. I'm either gonna be very discouraged if I'm a believer, or I'm gonna be falsely encouraged if I'm not. Is this my confession?

Psalm 23, the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. I'm just a dumb, dependent sheep. I've got to have the Lord to be my shepherd. And with him as my shepherd, I shall not be in want of anything that I need in this life or in the life to come.

With the Lord Jesus Christ as my shepherd, I will not be in need of righteousness. I will not be in need of justification. I will not be in need of holiness. I will not be in need of sanctification. I will not be in need of standing right before God because he's my shepherd.

And with him as my shepherd, I will not really have any needs in this life as well. Not, oh, I may have some wants. But I know that if I want something and the Lord doesn't give it to me, it's because I don't need it. It's because I don't need it. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not.

Paul, what a blessing contentment is. To be content with Christ as all of our salvation to just be able to rest in Christ and to know that we have a Savior that has satisfied everything that God requires for me to be saved. I can rest there. There's no rest. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter four.

Verse one, let us therefore fear, fear God. This isn't a slavish cringing fear like Adam had in the garden when he hid from God out of shame and then tried to cover his nakedness with the works of his own hands. No, this is a worshipful fear. This is that fear is the good work that God enables us to do when we come and bow before him as our shepherd. Let us fear. Lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them. Talking about that old covenant, the Old Testament church, Israel, the same gospel was preached to us that was preached to them. It was not a different gospel. They weren't saved by the law and were saved by grace. For unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith with them that heard it. They didn't believe God.

For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. There's the eternal covenant, the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. The work of salvation was finished before the world ever began. That's where we rest.

That's what David's saying. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I'm content with what he did. I don't want to add to or take away from anything that the Lord Jesus has done, lest I put my hand to it and ruin it. If God's dependent upon me to do anything, if he's dependent upon me to make any contribution to my salvation. I know this for sure. I'll mess it up. I'll ruin it. He's got to do it all. I shall not want.

And that hope, that hope, brethren, will give us contentment in this world also. Paul said, I have learned. I have learned. whether abased or abounded, whether I have much or little, therewith to be content. And then he says, for I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Nobody likes to be abased. Nobody likes to be in want. Nobody likes to be in trouble. But what was Paul saying? The Lord is my shepherd. I can flee to him.

And whether I'm abounding or whether I'm abased, and let me say this, in my own experience, abounding sometime is a greater curse than being abased. Being abased is oftentimes a greater blessing than abounding. Just like sickness sometimes is a greater blessing. Good health, I want good health.

I was sick one day this past week, I thought I was gonna die. I hated it. I'm glad it was short-lived. I was also crying out to God. Sometimes good health is a blessing, but sometimes sickness is even a greater blessing, isn't it? When I'm weak, then I'm strong, for his strength is made perfect in my weakness. Paul's confession was the same as David's, and it's the same as every believer. The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not be in want of anything that I need. Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 says, my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches. How rich is he? Is he short of anything? My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory. How much riches in glory does he have? In Christ Jesus. in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is my shepherd. I shall not be in want of anything I need. I can do all things. You see that on t-shirts. People use that verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Athletes will use it, believing that I can win this game. because Christ is gonna strengthen me to win. Maybe you'll lose. Does that mean that he didn't strengthen you? That mean you lacked faith? Does that mean that he lacked ability? That's taking a verse out of context.

I can rest in knowing that my good shepherd is providing all my needs in whatever place he has me. That is the way in which I can do all things through Christ. He's the one who strengthens me. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Now the green pasture is where we are right now. is the church. It's the Lord Jesus calling out his sheep and putting in their hearts a need and a desire to gather together for worship and to be fed and to rest. That's where the pasture is a place of resting and feeding. And God has under shepherds who are responsible to him. to feed the sheep. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

Why are you here? Perhaps you coming to church this morning saw some of your neighbors hooking up the boat or loading up the golf clubs or jogging in the neighborhood like I saw. Perhaps you have other neighbors that are very religious, that are going to a false church. Lots of different things you could be doing today. Why are you here? Why did you come to this green pasture? And by the way, I looked this up.

Goats have a system. digestive system that can handle very toxic weeds that sheep can't eat. Matter of fact, they'll take a herd of goats and put them on a field that's full of weeds, that toxic weeds, noxious weeds, and have them clean that field. They'll eat every bit of it and they'll be happy about it. You put a sheep in there to eat that same weed and it's gonna make them very sick or maybe kill them. Why is it that you can't go eat weeds? Why is it that you can't just not want to worship the Lord with his people and be fed by his word and by his spirit and by his under shepherd? Why is it?

One reason, he maketh thee. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures If he didn't make me, I wouldn't do it. So did he drag you here, kicking and screaming? No, he made me by giving me a heart, by making me want to be here, by creating a need in me. That's how he made me. He changed my heart. He gave me a desire and a need that I never would have had.

Other people, what maketh thee to differ? What do you have that you did not receive? My people, Psalm 110 verse three, my people shall be made willing in the day of his power. If the Lord didn't make me, you know, some of you work six days a week, this is your one day off. Lots of things you could be doing today. But if the Lord's your shepherd, The reason you're here is because there's nothing better you want to do than to be here. And had he not made you want that, you wouldn't want it. You'd be off doing what everybody else is doing. Or you'd be off with the goats, eating those noxious weeds, and being fat and happy about it.

He makes us to love what we once hated. He makes us desire what we once had no interest in. He turns rebels into willing servants. Paul said that his conversion was a pattern. Just like David's confession here in Psalm 23 is every believer's confession. Paul said, my conversion on the road to Damascus, you remember? breathing out threatenings against the church.

He hates God. He thinks he loves, he thinks he's doing service to God. He hates Christ. He hates the gospel. He's in his own righteousness and the Lord arrest him. And the Lord knocks him off his high horse and puts him in the dirt. And the Lord turns the greatest persecutor of the church. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Into the greatest church planter perhaps the church has ever known.

180 degrees. I mean, he goes from one extreme to the other. Lord, what would you have me to do? Paul, you're gonna suffer for my name's sake, but you're gonna do it willingly. Gladly, that's grace. He maketh thee to lie down in green pastures. How do I know I'm in a green pasture? Because my soul's being fed and I'm being led to rest. I'm not being pointed to find something in me to improve or something in me to look to, to try to get encouragement or get assurance of my salvation. The preacher is not pointing me to myself. He's pointing me to Christ and I can rest there. God makes me to lie down in green. Pastures, he caused me to rest.

Brethren, these green pastures are few and they are far between. How one could forsake the assembling of themselves with the people of God as the manner of some is, is a very fearful thing. It's a very fearful thing. We see it all the time. Oh, I believe that. And then they go off and feed on weeds. I need to rest.

That dove that Noah sent out from the ark could not find rest. This is what the Bible says, could not find rest for its feet, for its foot. Why? Because all the earth was full. of rotting corpses as a result of the flood. Had to come back to the ark.

He went out looking for rest somewhere else, just like you and I do. We're gonna leave this place today. And there'll be plenty of times this week we'll try to find comfort and encouragement and satisfaction in some sort of rotting flesh that this world has to offer. And next Lord's Day, Wednesday night, The Lord's gonna make you like that dove.

I can't find rest from my soul. I gotta come back to the ark. He made me come back. Is this your confession? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want of anything I need in this life nor in the life to come. He maketh me to lie down in cream pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters.

Now sheep are intimidated by fast-moving rivers. It's too much water. They can't swim real good, especially if they have a lot of wool on them. If they get slip and they get caught up in the currents, they could drown. And so the shepherd will take a shovel and he'll dig a ditch from the river and create a pool of water off that river. and the sheep will gladly come and they'll drink from that pool.

That's the still water. Proverbs chapter 25, verse 16. And this is a lesson I've had to learn over and over again. And you'll know if you've had to endure my preaching that I'm bad about this. Hast thou found honey? Eat so much as sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled and vomit. Don't try to drink from the river. Don't try to take in the full revelation of the gospel. Don't try to gorge yourself with too much. You may get caught up in the current You're likely drowning that or you'll vomit it out on someone else. You've had that experience from me. I know that. I know that about myself. I'm sorry. Sometime I just feel like, well, I gotta go here, I gotta go there.

This life is full of demands and responsibilities, brethren. Relief here and jobs and family and things, good things, take up a lot of our time. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. My encouragement to you will be Be still at the beginning of your day and know that he is God. Take a verse, a thought, a little bit on him and let that carry you on. Don't try to figure it all out. Don't try to gorge yourself with too much. Just take a little bit of manna. The Lord will give you sufficient bread for the day, the bread from heaven.

And just, scripture talks about meditating on the scriptures. And that word meditate comes from the word that cattle do, it means to ruminate. And what does a cattle do when it ruminates? It chews its cud and then it swallows it and then it regurgitates and chews it again and regurgitates. It gets all the nourishment out of that, out of that little bit of grass.

Let the scriptures be that way to you. Drink from the still waters. The Lord will, will feed your soul little by little, little by little. Weeds grow fast. Trees grow real slow. The Bible calls us the trees of righteousness, which are the plantings of the Lord. A little bit of sunlight, a little bit of water, a little bit of scripture.

Is this what you found to be your experience? I've tried taking in too much, it overwhelms me. Just give me a little bit. Give me one thought. And how often times I've read a book or listened to a message and I've left it with just one thought. You get one thought, that's good. And about all the things that we say here this morning, if you leave here with one thought, That'll be a thought that you should keep in your heart.

Verse three, he restoreth my soul. I looked up the word restore here. It's most oftentimes translated return, return. How prone we are to wonder. How prone we are to go look for something here and there, either out of curiosity. Sheep are curious animals, but they're also stupid animals. Maybe out of curiosity, maybe out of stupidity, we've wandered away. And what does the Lord say? What does David say? He makes me to return. Turn with me to Psalm 116. Psalm 116. Look at verse six. Psalm 116, verse six. The Lord preserveth the simple, the simple. I was brought low and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

Return, come back. How faithful he is to lead the ninety and nine to go out in the wilderness and find everyone that has gone astray. Scott and I were looking at our landscape out here around the building. wondering if it was going to come back after that hard freeze we had. And Scott got here before me this morning, took some pictures, and sent them to me.

He said, there's life. A little bit of green coming out. And I thought about what Job said. When Job was talking to his friends, he said, why do you persecute me so? For the root of the matter is in me. Is in me. How oftentimes, because of our own wandering, we find ourselves in the deep freeze of unbelief, and the fruits are frozen. If the root of the matter is in you, if Christ is in you, there will be a return. Life will come again. but it'll come from the root. And it's of God's mercy that he would allow that foliage to freeze when it was placed in an environment where it shouldn't have been.

He restored my soul, my soul. When God made Adam from the dust of the earth, the scripture says that he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Now, I've wondered, why'd God breathe into Adam's nostrils? Why didn't he breathe in his mouth? Well, the only thing the nostril can do is breathe and smell. The mouth can say a lot of things that shouldn't be said.

God breathed into his nostrils. the breath of life, and he became a living soul. The soul, that part of us that doesn't die when the body dies, that part of us that animates the feelings, the emotions, the affections, everything about us, the desires, the heart. It's the breath of God that gives that. And hear David saying, he returns my soul back to the breath of God, back to the wind of the spirit. And he breathes back into my life. You know, people say, well, I'm so thankful David didn't say he, he restored, you know, the way I was, what I was doing. Well, that'll come. That'll come, but that's the byproduct. What I need restored is my soul.

Horatio Spafford lost all of his children in a shipwreck. And going to meet his wife, who was with his children but survived the shipwreck, He was in the North Atlantic on another ship in the area where his children had perished. And he wrote the words to that hymn. When peace like a river attendeth my way, and sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Whatever my lot, he has taught me to say. He has taught me to say, it is well. It is well with my soul. Was it well with his mind? Was it well with his heart? Was it well with his emotions? Was it, oh, he's greeting father. He says, well with my soul.

He's breathed life into my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. He makes me to hunger and thirst after righteousness. He causes me to look to Christ for his name's sake. He does it for his mercy's sake. He doesn't do it because I've done something to deserve it. He does it for his name's sake. I put my name on you. My reputation's on the line. You sign a document, a covenant, your name's on it. I co-signed one time for a young person to buy an automobile.

And I told him, I said, well, I'm gonna do this. But if you can't make a payment, you call me the day it's due. They never did, they made every payment on time. You call me the day it's due, because every payment I made, it's made on the day it's due. And my name's on that contract. You know, that's the way it ought to be, huh? Your name's on the line. God's name's on the line. He said, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Is that a reference to when we depart from this world? I'm sure. And we're gonna walk through the valley of the shadow of death sooner than later, sooner than we think. But it's also a reference to this world.

The shadows of evil cast doubt on the hope of our grace everywhere we walk in this world. I remind you, a shadow has no substance. A shadow has no weight. A shadow has no power. It is but a shadow. read a story about a little boy walking home in the setting sun on a lonely country road.

And he looked behind him and he saw this long, dark figure following him. And he tried to outrun it. The faster he ran, the faster it ran. He got home and ran into his mother and he grabbed her and he said, there's something following me. There's something after me. The mother took him back out into the yard, stood him before the facing sun, told him to look back, and proved to him that it was just his shadow. It was just his shadow.

Nothing to be afraid of. Fear not. I am with thee. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. No evil shall come upon thee. I'm your God. I have nothing but good for you. I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of good and not of evil.

For the child of God, there's hard things and there's easy days. There's hard days and easy days. There's hard experiences and But there's never such thing. The world says, oh, it's all good. They're just whistling through the graveyard. You know that. When an unbeliever says it's all good, they're trying to make lemonade out of lemons. They're trying to put a silver lining around a cloud. They're trying to convince themselves that everything's good. Self-deceit. The child of God can say on the authority of God's word, it's all good. It's all good. Why can I be encouraged by this? Because thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The rod was a weapon to defend the sheep against the enemy, and the staff was that thing the shepherd would use to bring the sheep back in.

It's a picture of the rod of God's justice. Remember when the rock was following the children of Israel through the wilderness and Moses took the rod and he struck the rock and the water came out? And the Lord tells us in his word, that rock was Christ. And that rod was the law. And that's what happened at the cross. The rod of God's justice struck Christ and the water of life flows from that rock by rod.

That's my comfort. My comfort is that there's no wrath left in God for me because the Lord Jesus suffered all the wrath of God. And my comfort is that my good shepherd will always be faithful to bring me back to himself. Thou prepares the table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Oh, he feeds me. with that bread that comes down from heaven. It's called angel's food. It's called the corn of heaven. It's called manna. It's the bread of life. It's Christ. He's the only one that feeds my soul. Everything else I try to feed on doesn't satisfy. Christ satisfies. I can rest. I can rest in him.

He anointed my head with oil. It's the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows. He came as the anointed one, the Christ, the Messiah, in the full anointing of the Spirit of God. And he said, it's good for you that I go away. If I don't go away, the Comforter won't come. You need the anointing of the Spirit of God. He will convict you of your sin. He will show you that all your righteousness is in Christ. And he will prove to you that what I did at Calvary's cross put away your sin once and for all.

And your cup will run over. I've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. I can rest there. I can rest there. Surely, surely, surely, surely the goodness of God and the mercy of God Oh, he delights in showing mercy, and I'm a mercy beggar.

I need mercy. Sinners are in need of mercy. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I need this every day. It's not something I can just feed on every once in a while. And I shall. This is the hope that I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, because this is my confession. This is my hope. This is my shepherd in whom I trust. Tom, 41 in the spiral hymn. Now, let's stand together. Number 41. We haven't sung this hymn in a while. It's Hispanic.