Psalms 23. I know that I've read
this psalm many times, but I don't think I've ever preached from
it. I can't remember. I can't remember doing so. However,
in consequence of my studies this week, looking at different
authors and different things, it seemed like everywhere I went,
somebody quoted a verse from this psalm. So I'm like, okay,
Okay, well that's where we'll go. So, and be honest with you,
with the events that are coming up this week, and in general
2020, everybody says this has been a bad year. I don't know,
I thought all things worked together for good. So in light of that,
in the light of what's going to take place next Tuesday, and
then when we wake up next Wednesday, and all these different things,
and the anxieties and all that this brings about us, I want
us to look at this psalm. This psalm is such a comforting
psalm. And let us look at what I'm going
to title, Exhortations to Live by Faith. Exhortations to Live
by Faith and Not by Fear. So we're going to, everybody
pretty well knows the Psalm, I'm just going to read, not the
whole thing, I'm going to read one verse and then we'll look at
it. So let us look at this together, the Psalms 23, and it's obviously
written by David. David was like us, he was tempted
like we were, and he had sinned, yet his Savior and our Savior
is tempted in all points, yet does not sin. So David writes
in the first verse, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Now we noted several weeks ago
Christ in God as our good shepherd. We looked at that out of John
10. several places where he's the good shepherd. It says it
a number of times in that text. He's the good shepherd. The good
shepherd gives his life for the sheep. The good shepherd knows
his sheep and they know him and another they will not follow.
So I'm not going to go all that again into the fact that he is
our shepherd, but to stake the fact that because he is our shepherd,
And because the shepherd unquestionably cares and tends for his sheep,
our shepherd is our sin bearer. He bore our sins upon his own
body on the tree. Our shepherd is our help in time
of need. This shepherd, our shepherd,
is a tender shepherd. He's a sovereign shepherd. The wolves, we just read in the
Bible class about many will come in secretly and try to spoil
the flock, as in Galatians, as in Hebrews, but He is known of
His sheep and He will take care of His sheep. He's sovereign.
He may bring us through the mire, He may bring us through the mud,
He may, as it appears to us, to be behind clouds where we
can't get a good sight of Him, but He's always there. and not
one person or thing or government or whatever can thwart his purpose,
his purpose of grace. So he is a sovereign shepherd
and he is our shepherd and he's ever seeing, ever knowing, and
ever caring for his sheep. Therefore, we shall not want. Primarily because the shepherd
lays down his life for these defenseless weak and frail creatures
Therefore we shall not want anything as to Salvation it is completely
worked out wrought and Completed and as he hung on the cross he
said it is finished the work of redemption by this good shepherd
this great shepherd this sovereign shepherd and is complete. So,
as far as we shall not want, there's nothing for us to do.
We have no need, we have no want in the area of spirituality,
the area of salvation. Because He's completed it. We
don't want. Because He's our shepherd. We do not want. Also, knowing Romans 8.28, all
things work together for good. We don't want anything in this
life. Now, it's not to say that we
may not get all that we wish for, but the Scripture says,
I shall not, we shall not want. We shall not want. We know that everything that
we need is going to be provided for. You look back at your life
and you see this time and time again. I shall not want. The New Testament, the Scriptures
say, does not He feed the ravens? Does not He cause the lilies
to grow? He will not leave His lambs to
starve. He just won't do it. Is not His
grace in all things spiritual sufficient? It is. in 2020, November 1st, 2nd, 3rd,
30th, 2020, 2021, 22, 23. We shall not want. Turn with
me to Deuteronomy, which I just recently learned to enjoy this
more and more, as we are exhorted to live by faith. Deuteronomy 33, And verse 25, the last part,
as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Well, I need strength for
tomorrow. No, you don't. You need strength
for today. I've just now thought about Don
Fortner's devotional book, Grace for Today. We don't need grace tomorrow.
We may not be here tomorrow. That's my point. We borrow so
many troubles. We borrow so many troubles. Tuesday morning is not going
to be any different than Wednesday morning, or Thursday, or Friday,
or Saturday. As our days are, so shall our
strength be. As Spurgeon and so many others
put it, if you have extra, then you have the care, concern, worry
in our case, and anxiety in our case, about the care of it. The care of it. Verse 2, back
in our text, He maketh, that's the I want to key in, He maketh
me. And in the next section, He leadeth
me. He makes me. He leads me. Sooner
or later, His will shall be done and He will get all the praise
and all the glory. For He Himself makes us to lie
down in green pastures. He Himself leads us besides the
still water. Who are we talking about? Our
Shepherd. Our sovereign, immutable, all-sufficient Shepherd. Green
pastures. This is goodly fields, this is
lush fields. He doesn't lead us into parched
fields. He leads us into green pastures. Fields of fellowship and communion
with Him and one another of like saving grace. Where one accord,
harmony and its sweet peace. Because He causes us to lie down. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. And He leads. He leads us, me,
it's personal, you, His sheep, the sheep of His fold, beside
the still waters. The still waters. Waters of quietness,
it says in the margin. This is the refreshing times
of the Holy Spirit, leading, growing in conviction and giving
us rest. Truly, says Job 34, if He gives
quietness, Who can make trouble? If he gives quietness, who can
make trouble? I thought about this years ago
on our way out to Montana. There's a place in Montana, it's
called Three Forks. It's where three rivers converge
and it makes the headwaters of Missouri. And it's wide. And the waters are moving, but
they're not white water. It's still water. It's just so
peaceful. And I thought about that, He
leads us beside still waters, refreshing. He leads us, He grows
us, He convicts us if necessary, but it's always rest. And as
I said, as He says in Job, if He gives quietness, nobody can
make trouble. Nobody can make trouble. Verse
3, let's look at this. He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His name's sake. He restores my soul. He restores this worn, torn,
and battered soul. Because with the daily interactions
with this world, our flesh, and Satan's temptations, we need
to be restored, encouraged, and fed. And this He does. When our
soul, World Writer wrote, when our soul grows sorrowful, He
revives it. When our soul is sinful, He sanctifies
it. When our soul is weak, He strengthens
it. He leads us in the paths of righteousness. Many are the ways that we must
serve our God. Yet in Christ, they are all His
paths, and therefore He will equip each and every one of us
to follow after Him for His namesake, not for our own sakes, not for
selfish reasons. He restores my soul. He leads
me in the paths, plural. There's only one gospel. But
oh, how we come many different experiences and ways, but only
through Christ, the door of righteousness for His namesake. He does what
He does for His namesake. The love of Christ constrains
us. Verse 4, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Yes, though we walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, it may be so, and even perhaps
it may be so right now. It may be through the valley
of the shadow of death. That's this world. This world
is a shadow of death. Ever since Adam fell, this world
is a shadow of death. This life upon earth is truly
described as a shadow of death. We truly have nothing to fear
now, and in a few days, or forever. Because the same yesterday, today,
and forever. If he is a good shepherd, the
good shepherd takes care of his sheep, he did today, he will
tomorrow, and the next day, and so on and so forth. We are constantly,
so to speak, fish out of water. This is only a valley. It's a
short time. It's not eternity. Look at all
the Old Testament saints. Look at the saints. Look at Abel.
He was here, then murdered by his brother. Look at Joseph. Started out highly favored, and
then sold. And then on and on, look at David
and his family, although everything that I desire be not so with
my family, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant as
a shepherd would to his sheep, ratified by the Son, sealed by
the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. On and on we could go. This place
was never to be our home, our heart's stay, or our comfort. Never. Yet He is ever with us
as our shepherd, as our tender father, our kinsman, our balm
and Gilead, our food, water, and protector. Thusly we can say in verse 4,
they comfort me. He comforts me because He is
my shepherd. Because He has shown me His gospel,
the free sovereign grace of God in the person and work of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because He has sealed unto me
by His Holy Spirit and caused me to walk in His ways of righteousness. And though I'm walking through
a valley, I'm comforted. That word comforted means to
strongly console. I like that. That word comfort,
it means to strongly console. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Who are those who need consoling?
Those who are tired, tempted, and need help. Is that you this
morning? Then there is comfort and consolation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest
my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Thou prepares a table before
me in the presence of enemies. If he does not prepare our table,
all our fleshly efforts are vain. That's religion without Christ. That's being a hearer of the
word and not a doer. But we're surrounded by our enemies,
the enemies of God, the enemies of grace, the enemies of goodness,
the enemies of salvation, God's way, not man's way. And we're set in that middle.
He's prepared a table for us, not to taunt our enemies, but
to resist and to stand firm in the faith. And as Peter says
in 1 Peter 2, to commit our souls to His keeping, to Him that judges
righteously. Christ, who did no sin, He was
mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, spit upon, but He committed Himself
to Him that judges righteously. That's what we're to do because
He's prepared His table. And if it's prepared a table
in the midst of our presence of our enemies, it must be for
our good. I'll give you an example here that Melinda and I have
been thinking about this a lot. You look at Joseph. Now according
to the writers, commentators, and the scriptures, I should
say, because you can find the start, when he was put in the
pit. Remember he was left for dead,
or put in the pit by his brothers. By the time he got out of prison,
so from exile, the pit, or in prison, it was 12 or 13 years. 12 or 13 years. Now, I can talk to Milton and
different people that have been to prison or had a prison ministry.
You can get a Bible. You can get a Bible in prison. He didn't have the written word.
Joseph didn't have the written word. We do. He had the spirit bearing witness
with his spirit. So do we. But there's something
about, and I don't know about you, but if I didn't have a Bible,
I would struggle a lot more than I do. But he had his laws in
his heart. But it's still, Still, there's
something about picking this up and looking at it for comfort
or thinking of a verse or whatever. He didn't have that. We do. He
didn't have the Spirit bearing witness with him. We do. And
he didn't get bitter over the pilferer's wife incident, or
when he told the butler his interpretation of the dream, so he stayed in
jail, I know from the Scriptures, two more years after that. Two
years. He didn't get even, he didn't
get mean-spirited, but God was with him. Is he not with us as
well? He prepared a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies. Shouldn't our cup overflow as
well? My cup runneth over. God has been so gracious to the
likes of us. The thing that hit me was that
he didn't get bitter, he didn't get mean-spirited, he didn't
get hateful, he didn't blame God. We know what happened when
he met his brethren. He said, you meant it for evil.
But God meant it for good. So he had the Word of God. The
spirit of supplications was with him. But we, in this country,
in this day and age, there's a Bible in every house. Oh, the
responsibility that is going to be laid at the feet of, ever
since this book was completed, the complete canonization of
the scriptures is before everybody. And I get aggravated if somebody
cuts me off at traffic. I get aggravated if I'm cooking
something and I burn it. I get aggravated. I get out of
bed and say, oh, I got out of the wrong side of the bed. That's
what we do. Can you imagine 12 or 13 years
thinking you're abandoned by God? But at the end of it, He
says, no, God meant it for good. We are responsible. He prepares a table before us
in the presence of His enemies. Even at that point, in this valley
of the shadow of death, He anoints our head with oil, our cup runs
over. Yet we complain about so much,
whether we have something or don't have something. We need
to see the Lord is our shepherd. We need to see what we are in
the flesh and put no confidence in the flesh. And we need to
ascribe all glory and honor to Him. He is on the throne. We
need to act like and believe what we say we believe. Here's
a man, Joseph. And I was talking to Tim about
it, and he said, well, he had his law written in his heart.
So he said, as we do. But yet, he didn't have anything
to reference. And he says, yeah, it's amazing
what a believer can be, and is, I should say, in Christ. And
we see that he saw God was good in everything. I'm sure he had
his moments. We don't know every day of every
year that he was there, but how trying that must have been. We
don't have a millionth of that trial. So may we see, may we
find comfort to exhort to live by faith and fear no evil, whether
we hear, whether we read, Watch on a television, any of these
things that just stir us up. Put it aside. Put it aside. Don't watch it. Shut it off.
Open a book, of which we have the privilege to have. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? Because he's
with us. He comforts us. He prepares a
table in the presence of our enemies. We're surrounded by
enemies. We're surrounded by churches that don't believe the
gospel. But that's okay. He anoints our head with oil.
Our cup runs over. And lastly, verse six, surely
goodness Oh, he shouldn't have said that. Truly, goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Surely, truly, it will be so. Goodness and mercy in Christ
go hand in hand. He's not good to you if He hasn't
shown mercy to you. And if He's shown mercy to you,
He's been good to us. They follow us everywhere we
go, like a shadow. Sometimes we see it, other times
we don't. But it's there. Goodness and mercy shall follow
me all. That's all. It's inclusive of
everything. The days of my life. So this year, I'm so tired of
reading, oh, 2020 has been... No. The Lord's made it, has He not?
The Lord has made this day that we honor and glorify Him. He's
going to make tomorrow. And He's going to make Tuesday.
Oh, yes, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday, and Saturday. I remember
I tell Bruce last week or whenever, Tim James, one of the things
I remember, he wrote an article. He said after 9-11, and we know
what he's talking about, the tragedy of the towers and the
Pentagon. He said after 9-11 came 9-12.
The sun still came up. The sun still shines. God was
still on the throne. He's still on the throne. But this is a promise. This verse
6 is a promise. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. But God has promised right
here in this verse, can we see it? Own it as yours under Christ's
blood bought redemption. Me shall follow me. Insert your name. If you're a
believer, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life. Yes, we undeserving wretches. Yes, we often unthankful sinners. He came to seek and to save sinners.
Are we such? Therefore, we will dwell in God's
house, God's tabernacle. Actually, we'll abide in Him
and He in us. You can't get any further in
than He abiding in us and we abiding in Him. What more can
we want? What more can we need? What more do we have? Therefore, if Christ does not
return today, I thought about that. As I was younger in the
Lord, and I had a child to raise, it's like, yeah, I think about
Him coming, but I'd kind of like to see Him married. No. No. That's putting your children
before the Lord. I mean, we do that. We do that. And if you like your job, you
kind of, no. Are we like those wise, Virgin's waiting for his
return. I hope it comes back before Tuesday.
I won't have to mess with it. You know what? But we don't think
that way. And that's a shame to us. And I was reading that
and I thought, well, I need to preach that. I thought, no, I
don't know that. The story of the talents and the story of
the oil, you know, five were wise, five were unwise. No, we're
too often tangled in this world. And we don't think about His
return, but His return is coming. They all slept, did they not?
They all slept. But then the cry came, the Lord
returneth. They came up and they were prepared. They had oil and
everything. That's what we need to be like. Peter says, you know, when the
second time comes, People are going to be buying, selling,
getting gained. They're going to be just going on like normal.
It doesn't make a difference what country. This world is going
to be turning like normal. And then it's going to come. So may we be asking for His return. Lord, Jesus, His revelations
come quickly. But if not, if not, let us, verse
4, fear not, Let us, verse 2, lie down. Let us, verse 5, feast at His
table and rest upon Him and His glorious
work for His sheep. I can't remember the last time
I asked the Lord to come back. Well, that's a shame to me. Too
much of the world. I need to have my feet washed. That's why we're here. Wash the
feet and be reminded once again that He's sovereign. We're clay. And ask Him for His return. And
if He doesn't return, whatever takes place, I don't need to
fear. I need to walk in faith. And
that's obvious by lying down, feasting at His table, and resting
in Him. Look at what He has done for
us. Look at the testimony He has left. As we saw last week,
we have a more sure word of prophecy than even they did. To God be
the glory. Bruce, would you close us?