Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to Psalm 23, 23rd Psalm. We've quoted this passage of
scripture so many times, read from it, preached from it. I'd like for us to look at it
again this morning, and I pray the Lord bless it. to our hearts
and teach us from it. It says below the Psalm 23, a
Psalm of David. David knew something about being
a shepherd. He knew the needs of the sheep. He knew the patience that a shepherd
must have for such ignorant animals. He knew the skill and dedication
that a shepherd must provide to protect and to guide the sheep. He knew the love that is required
for a shepherd that is entrusted with the care of the flock. He
knew something about being a shepherd. The faithfulness that must be
found in a shepherd. God put him in that vocation
as a youth, and he taught him something. The Lord takes our
lives, the lives of his people, and he teaches us by experience. That's the only way you really
know anything, by experience. Like I said, I've had people
say things to me, and they said, well, I know how you feel. And
I said, well, if you hadn't gone through it, you don't. You have
to walk in that person's shoes. David knew something. Now, I
want us to look at Psalm 23 for just a few minutes. And may the
Spirit of God again, bless us. I don't want to just, you just
back quoted. I'm sure you can. But I don't
want us to just quote. I want the Spirit of God to teach
us through this word. See, I know, I know that God
Almighty has a shepherd, an appointed shepherd. I know He does. Zechariah
13, 7 says, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man
that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts. Smite the shepherd,
and the sheep shall be scattered. I will turn mine hand upon the
little ones. I'll turn my hand of compassion
upon them. I'm going to smite the shepherd.
I'm going to protect them. I know that The Lord Jesus is
the only shepherd of God's flock. Ezekiel 34, 23 says, I will set
up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David, the one of whom David was a type. He shall feed them. He shall be their shepherd. And I know that God's shepherd
is the head of the church. I know the shepherd is the head
of the church. The scripture says in 1 Peter
5 verse 4, And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall
receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. That promised
crown of glory of being found with Him. I know people talk
about all the crowns He's the shepherd, and the crowns
are going to be thrown at His feet. Everything that we have
possessed, we're going to say, Lord, You're deserving of all
the honor, all the glory, all the praise. And the Lord Himself
declared Himself to be the suffering shepherd. I know that. John 10,
11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. but the preciousness of Him being
the Shepherd of God. Let me tell you when it's precious
to me, when He is my Shepherd, my Shepherd. This is what David
said, verse 1, The Lord, the capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D, Jehovah, The never-changing, self-existent, I am. Father, Son, Spirit. The Lord is my shepherd. You know, whenever someone admits
that the Lord is my shepherd, you know what they're really
saying? I am a dumb sheep. I'm a dumb sheep, and I don't
know what I need. I don't know where I'm going.
I don't know how to get there. I'm just going to walk right
into the middle of something if it's left up to me, and I'm
going to be knee deep in trouble. I need a shepherd. I need somebody
to guide me. I need Him. The Lord is my shepherd. Then he said, I shall not want. I shall not lack. I'm not going
to lack for anything that I need because the Lord is my shepherd. Now in the next five verses,
the Spirit of God has been pleased to move upon David to pin What
the sheep need. This is what we need. The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. I'm not going
to lack. I'm not going to lack for anything
that I need. Philippians 4.19, But my God
shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. You know, we got a lot of desires,
but we have some need, and that's what He's gonna supply for His
people. Now let me tell you what God's people need, and they know
they need this. I need for the Lord to save me. That's what I need. Now that's
a real need right there. I need for God to save me. Because by nature what I'm going
to be doing is I'm going to be running all over the place listening
to this guy and listening to this guy and listening to this
guy and none of these guys are saying the same thing. And somebody's
wrong. Somebody's wrong. Now if I need
for God to do something for me. I need from Him to settle me
down and save me. Verse 2, He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures. Having been regenerated by the
grace of God, I now going to eat like one of God's sheep eats. Before, I'm going to eat whatever
somebody tells me, spiritually speaking. I'm going to eat of
whatever somebody tells me I'm supposed to be doing. That's
what I'm going to feast on. What do sheep eat? Well, naturally
they eat grass. And so here's the beautiful picture
of what God's people eat. They eat what the shepherd provides. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures according to the shepherd's direction. God's people feast
upon that which they must have to eat. A sheep got to have grass. You can give him something else
to eat, but sheep eat grass. And God's sheep eat the bread
of heaven. They eat of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the heavenly manna. They eat of Him, they feast upon
Him. They feast upon Him who is ever
fresh, lush, rich, never exhausted. They feast upon Him as He is
declared in the fullness of the Scriptures, in the gospel of
God. True food for the soul. He maketh me to lie down. and rest. That's what a sheep
does. That's what God's people do.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Margin says pastures
of tender grass. Good food. Healthy food. Sheep food. Sheep food. That's what they do. And I'll
tell you another thing I need. I need for Him to direct me.
He leadeth me beside the still waters. You know, the trials
of this life are grievous. We tried within, tried without,
and the waters of this life seem, at times, are gonna sink us. Hold your place right there and
turn over to Matthew 8, Matthew chapter 8. Verse 23, Matthew
8, 23. The Lord is with His disciples. They are out in a boat. Matthew
8, 23. And when He was entered into
a ship, His disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose
a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
waves. But He was asleep. And His disciples came to Him
and awoke Him, saying, Lord, save us. We perish. And he saith
unto them, why are you fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he
arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great
calm. But the men marveled, saying,
what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey
him? I need to be led by the waters
of this life that have been stilled. And if the Lord providentially
leads me through in my heart, I'm at peace. These waters are
not going to overflow me. They're not. Why? Because the
Lord's here. The Lord was in the boat. They
woke him up. He spoke. Perfect. That's what I need. I need God
to save me. I need Him to direct me, assure
me that He's here. I'll tell you what else I need.
I need His long-suffering. I need Him to be patient with
me. Why? Because I'm weak. I'm weak. I need His long-suffering. Lord, be patient with me. Verse
3, He restoreth my soul. when I'm made to see my frailty
and my weakness. He then shows me that he's all
my strength. You know, can you imagine David
out there with those sheep and they're just all over the place,
you know, like a bunch of rowdy kids. You know how they are,
trying to round them up and stuff like this. Can you imagine the
patience it takes to be a shepherd? When they, you know, all these
sheep, they just, you know, this one's just wandering off over
there somewhere. Get him back, you know? Oh, He
restores my soul when I'm heavy laden, burdened down. I need,
I know, I know I deviate. I know I wander, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave
the God I love. Somebody says, well, I'd never
do that. A believer will. They know it. They know. They
know the deviation. I need my soul restored. He regenerates
his people one time. But I'm telling you, he has to
wash their feet every day. They pick that old defilement
of this world. I need him to revive me and invigorate
me. Lord, restore my soul. Point me in the right direction. Scripture says, He leadeth me
in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. A believer wants to be obedient. I want that. I want to be obedient
to this Word. I want to be obedient concerning
His providence. I want that. If you leave it
to me, the way that I choose is going to be the way that feeds
me, my flesh. I'm going to take the direction
of least resistance. That's the way I'm going. I'm
going to be like water that's on a roof that's leaking and
you can't find it. It starts on this side of the
building and you're standing there looking at it and you see
it, but it's coming over here and it's coming out on the other
end because it's meandering all over the place. I need for him
to just direct me in the way that I ought to go, not the way
of my choosing or my most convenient, the way that would feed me, my
flesh. I would never trust him. How
many of you here, think back over your life, how many of you
would have chosen the way that God's directed you? I can tell
you this, there's some things that I've gone through, I'd have
never picked that if I'd had a list of things to pick. I'd
have never picked that. Bunches of them. You have too.
But the scripture says, David declared, he leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness. on the way that's most honoring
to Him, and it's for my best. This is the right way. This is
the best way. This is the way of righteousness,
and He does it for His namesake. He does it for His honor and
His glory. Therefore, the way that He providentially
leads, is the way that's right. That's the path of righteousness.
That's the way it's going to go. This is how we're going to
most honor Him. This way He's going to be exalted. I need, I need that direction. I need that God in hand. I'll
tell you another thing I need. I need His presence. I need His
correction. I need his preserving hand. 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. We're walking through a world
that's not our home. Now the Lord told us that. The
Lord, in praying his high priestly prayer, he prayed and he said,
Father, I pray for those that you've given me. I don't pray
for the world. I pray for those that you've
given me out of the world. They're in this world, but they're
not of this world. We're walking through a world
that is not our home, that soon we're going to be leaving. A
world that's revealed to be a valley of the shadow of death. We're
walking through it as children of light. But we're walking. We're not in a hurry. The Lord
is going to providentially direct us according to His good pleasure,
knowing that the end of our walk is going to be with Him. But
we're walking through this valley of the shadow of death, And we
know that the Lord is going to deliver us into the light of
His glorious presence. So we walk. We walk as children
of light. And we walk trusting Him. Wherever
He leads, He's going to meet our needs. I know that. So we
walk. And as we walk, We fear no evil. Now, evil's there. Evil is there. And we struggle with it. But
there's a new man that, though the old man is fearful and anxious
always, that new man that sinneth not trusts God. I don't know what tomorrow's
going to be. I don't know what today's going to hold. I don't know what's
going to hold before I finish this message. But I can tell
you this, I fear no evil. A believer doesn't fear death. To him it's a shadow. It's just
a shadow of death. It's like a shadow of a dog.
It won't bite you. Shadow of a gun, it won't shoot
you. Just a shadow. It's a shadow of death. Why?
Because the Lord has died for His people. And we're not going
to die. We're not going to die. Now this
body is going to pass away, but absent from this body, present
with the Lord. I don't even know if we ever
lose consciousness, Neil. I don't know. I don't know. The
way it's written, we probably don't. Immediately see Him, and
immediately say, half of it wasn't even told me. I never knew that. Eye has not seen, ear heard,
neither has it entered into the heart of man. That which God
has prepared for those who love Him. But we walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, and I fear no evil. Death has no sting for the believer. The grave has no victory over
us. Why? Because thou art with me. You know, whenever you're in
trouble and there's somebody that you know that knows how
to fix what you're doing, you feel comfortable when that person's
there. You know? I don't know what to do. I don't
know what to do. I'm not an electrician. I'm not
a plumber. I don't know how to fix cars. I don't know any of
that stuff, but I know some people that do. And when they're there,
I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what path I'm going
to take. I don't know what evil is going
to confront me. But according to His Word, He's
going to be there. He said, I'm not going to leave
you. I'm not going to forsake you. I will never leave you,
I'll never, that's what we're just saying, that I'll never,
no never, nor never forsake you. I'll never do it. And a believer
says that's comforting to me. 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. The rod of his correction, Leviticus
27.32 said also the rod was used for counting the sheep. They'd
pass under the rod, the rod counting, but mostly for correction, I
believe, here. You know what? I used to always
say this. Kids, believe it or not, kids
want correction. They want it. They need it. They need it. They need to know
where the lines are. They need it. They really don't
want to be independent. They really don't. It's not safe. I tell you what would always
relieve me when I was smaller. One of the boys, I'd be down
there in Louisiana. Probably, you know, try to see
if we can swim across the bayou knowing good and well you don't
go in the bayous. Don't get in those waters down
there. There's stuff in it that'll get you. You know, hey, let's
go out there. Let's swim across. No, I can't.
Why? My mama said I couldn't. My mama
said I couldn't. Boy, it just relieved me. It
took all the pressure off of me. You know, I just thought,
oh, man, if I didn't, if she hadn't have told me that, Man,
I'd have had all kinds of pressure. I just, you know, I need correction. I need to know whether thy rod,
thy staff, that staff that rescues, the hook, directs, guides. No, no, no, no, no, no. Uh-uh.
This way. Back up. I need that. Thy rod and thy
staff. I need His correction. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. I need
correction. Every child needs correction. I need that protection, deliverance. I need to be continuously fed
and freshly made aware of his anointing. Scripture says in
verse 5, thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
my enemies. You know, I was thinking, thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You
know, you take soldiers that are on
the field of battle that were the enemy, the enemies out there.
Now, they're going to get hungry just like everybody else. But
you know what? They're going to take their rations, and they're going
to get down, and they're going to try to eat them as quickly
as possible. My dad used to do that. We'd be out working. I'd
be with my dad. His idea of a meal, of a lunch,
was a can of Vienna sausage and some crackers while we were riding
to the job. I mean, you know, it would be,
you know, boy, They like burning. We ain't got time for this. You
eat that right there, it's good enough. You'll be fine. We take
about a six minute lunch hour. David said, thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies. I looked at
what he was talking about. It means The whole table was
set with all the plates and the silverware. It was completely
furnished with everything needed to feast in the very presence
of my enemies. God's people are not there. Again,
like we just said a while ago, we're not in a rush. We feast
with our heads anointed with the oil, the oil of gladness
that God's Spirit has imparted living daily with the knowledge
that there's no condemnation. We're going to feast right here.
Are there enemies around? Yeah! The world hates us. You
know, Satan as a roaring lion is seeking whom he may devour.
You know, my heart condemns me, but if my heart condemns me,
God's greater than my heart, my conscience. Yeah, there's
enemies there, but what does David say? He just prepares a
table before me. I'm going to just sit down and
I'm going to take my time. And I'm going to eat. I'm going
to eat. I'm going to feast. And I'm not
going to be in a rush. They're not, God's people are
feasting, waiting, And David says, and my cup runneth over. I thought about this scripture,
and I wrapped this up. Hold your place there and turn
to Genesis 33. Genesis 33, my cup runneth over. You remember when Jacob and Esau,
they were going to meet. And Jacob, of course, you remember
the story, how Jacob had gotten the birthright. the blessing. Esau was mad. Esau said, I'm
going to kill him. As soon as daddy died, I'm going
to kill him. Jacob knew that. Jacob fled. Well, providentially
in time, it's coming, and they're going to meet. Jacob's little
lancet, Genesis 33, they're approaching each other. And here's Jacob. He's kind of split the band up.
In case Esau comes after one of them, at least part of our
family's going to make it. I know Esau's mad at me. Here comes
Jacob. And they meet. They meet. Genesis
33a. And Esau says to Jacob. Jacob's got all these gifts,
all kind of appeasing Esau. And Esau says, what meanest thou
by all this drove which I met? And Jacob says, he said, these
are to find grace in the sight of my Lord. And Esau said, I
have enough, my brother. What he said was, I have abundant.
I've done well. I have enough, my brother. Keep
that thou hast unto thyself. Jacob said, nay, I pray thee,
if now I've found grace in thy sight, then receive my present
at my hand. But therefore, I have seen thy
face as though I'd seen the face of God, and thou was pleased
with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing
that is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously with
me, because I have enough." But now, Jacob's word's a different
word than what Esau said. Esau said, I've got abundant.
Jacob said, I've got all. I've got all. I have him. And
he urged him. And he took it. A believer, his
cup runneth over. I have everything. The Lord saved
me. Bore my guilt. Regenerated me
by His grace. Rode me in His righteousness.
He leads me. He guides me. Protects me. Corrects
me. He's anointed me with the oil
of gladness. He's given me the earnest of
His Spirit. He promised He's not going to leave me, not going
to forsake me. I have all. I've got everything.
What else? All this stuff right here, all
this is going to perish. My bank account is going to dry
up. My cars are going to fall apart faster than they already
are. All of that. But I have all.
I have all. For all eternity. And then the
Spirit of God moved him upon David to put in this last verse,
verse six. He says, surely, only, only is
that word. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Surely, only, Goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life. Now, you know, all
the days of our lives, as we talked about just a minute ago,
has found themselves with grievous trials, tribulations, but as
I've said before, Romans 8.28, and we know. that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. We know that. Therefore, He who
worketh all things, Ephesians 1.11, He who worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will, He orders all things, He
rules in heaven and earth, and everything that He has sent to
every one of his people. You know what it is? Goodness
and mercy. All of it. All of it. All of
it. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. If He causes me to go through
the valley of the shadow of death, He's there. He's there. I'm not
going to fear. He's there. I'll guide you. I'll quiet the storm
when it's ready. You just trust me. And listen
to this. And I'll dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. You know, having been sustained
and delivered, He's promised those that He's given a heart
to cast themselves upon Him, to believe Him. I'm not going
to cast you out. I'm not going to cast you out.
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I'm so thankful
that I'm here to be with God's people. But there's a promise
that He's given to those that He's promised to keep. And this
is what I know. I know if He don't keep me, I'm
gone. I know that. Man, I've known a lot of people
over the years that I've known the Lord that have left. They've
left. People that I had all kinds of
confidence in, I thought they would never leave. I'm thinking,
you know what? What's the difference in them
and me? But for the grace of God, nothing. Nothing. And if He doesn't keep me, I'm
leaving. But David said, I'm going to dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. I believe God saved me, kept me. I'm going
to trust Him. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for His glory and our good. Amen.