Psalm 23. Psalm 23. This is probably one of the most well-known
of all the Psalms. It's quoted, I know, often. And it deals with the shepherd
of the sheep. And it's amazing how the Lord,
God's Spirit, placed this Scripture immediately following chapter
22 where it was setting forth the substitute of the sheep. The substitute of God's sheep.
is the shepherd of God's sheep. And it's a blessing that a man
or a woman be brought to see themselves truly as one of God's
sheep. A foolish, helpless creature
of the dust that needs a guide and a protector needs a Savior,
readily admits, I don't know what to do. I don't
know where to go. I need a guide. My prayer today
is that as we look at this psalm again, I pray that the Spirit
of God will bless this psalm to our hearts. I don't want to
go through the motions. I know that we have heard preaching
for years and years and years. I don't want this to be just
ritual. I truly want to hear from the
Lord. The psalmist begins in verse
1. He says, The Lord is my shepherd. Now I want you to, we've done
this before, but look again at how the word Lord is spelled
there. Jehovah. When you see that all
caps, remember, that's Jehovah. Father, Son, Spirit. Jehovah. All in the person of
the glorious Son of God incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ. He who
is the fullness of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit in human flesh. He who right now sits upon the
throne of His glory. There's a man in glory. That man is our shepherd. The shepherd of the sheep is,
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father that chose
those sheep. The shepherd is the Son who redeemed
those sheep. And the shepherd is the Holy
Spirit that regenerates those sheep and gives them faith and
teaches and guides and keeps them until the day of redemption. The Lord, Jehovah, is my shepherd. But especially,
this is the heart of every believer. The Lord is my shepherd. Now I know, I know, I've read
some of these scriptures. The scriptures reveal that in
John 10, 11, I know that he's the good shepherd. I know that
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. That's what
he said. He's the shepherd that is the substitute He's the shepherd
that pays the debt for His people by His blood. I know Hebrews
13.20 says He's the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. He's the shepherd that died according
to God's purpose. 1 Peter 2.25 says he's the shepherd
and bishop of the souls of his people. He's the guiding shepherd. I know that. 1 Peter 5.4 says
that the chief shepherd shall appear. I know he's the shepherd
that's coming back. I know that he's going to stand
on this earth again. Every eye is going to see him.
I know this. I know that he is the good shepherd,
the great shepherd, the shepherd and bishop of the souls of his
people. But he is the only comfort that
I have that is my shepherd. Mine. I have an interest in his blood. and died and rose from the grave
for me. He ever liveth as my great high
priest. I trust Him as my only hope. I've called upon Him from my
heart for mercy. I've been taught to have no confidence
in my flesh." He said, those are strong statements. That's the only hope I've got.
The Lord is my shepherd. That's what David said. Under
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, He's my shepherd. Since the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. I shall not lack. And when the Lord is my shepherd, if I believe that He's the one
that sovereignly chose to show mercy to me, if I truly believe
from the heart, I believe that when He laid down His life, I
believe that He died with me on his mind. That's a precious thought. When
he died, that he wasn't just dying, just out there just dying,
and had nothing on his heart but his physical suffering. No. We looked last week or so when
he was speaking to that dying thief that was asking for mercy. Would you remember me? He remembered
him, he remembered me. I believe that he's the one that
redeemed me by blood and powerfully regenerated me. The one that
rules and reigns in heaven and earth. If he is my shepherd,
if the shepherd of the sheep is my shepherd, And He worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. And by Him,
everything consists, held together, held in order. I was listening the other day
to television, and this guy was talking about this earth, and
the atmosphere, and the temperatures, and he said, He said, boy, we
better enjoy these times right here, because the earth appears
as though to be in a perfect order, perfect orbit, and it's
just the right distance from the sun, and it's just the right
distance from the moon, and it's just tilted. Only a believer believes. The earth is the Lord's. And
the fullness thereof. He put it there. He kept it.
You know why? For the good of His sheep. For
His people. He loves the order of man. The
Lord is my shepherd and I shall not lack. I'm not going to lack. I'm not going to want. A believer
has some assurance They have assurance. I'm not ashamed, Paul
said, for I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded that
he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against
that day. The believer shall not lack. He's not going to lack. Concerning the Lord's presence
now, An eternal presence. Look at Job 19.25. Let's turn
back a few pages. Job 19.25. I love this scripture. It's just so encouraging. Job 19.25-27. Job says, For I
know that my Redeemer liveth. and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. For I shall see for myself, and
mine eyes shall behold, and not another, not a stranger, though
my reins be consumed within me. I know this. Job said, my Redeemer,
my Shepherd, my Lord, my God, He's alive. He's alive. Sitting on the throne of glory,
here in the very presence of His people, residing in the very
hearts of His beloved, His elect, Christ in you. The Lord, my Shepherd, I shall
not want. Now let me tell you what we're
not going to want for. We're not going to lack. We're
not going to lack, first of all, for nourishment. He maketh me,
verse 2, to lie down in green pastures. That margin there may
say the tender grass. The pastures of tender grass.
Do you know what a sheep is concerned with? Eating. Eating. Eating. Tender grass. The best grass. And the sheep
of God Almighty, that's what they're concerned about too.
Eating. They're only satisfied with eating
by faith the tender grass of the bread of heaven. The heavenly
manner of God's provision. Christ and Christ alone. Tell me one more time, if today
is my last day, if this is the last time I ever
preach, Lord willing, after the services
today, I'm going to go to Cottageville. I may never make it. But if this
is the last time that I ever preach or hear the gospel again,
tell me how I will not ever lack to lie down in green pastures,
to feast upon the riches of His grace. Tell me one more time
how God's people will not lack to rest, to lie down where He
has been pleased to raise up the glorious message of His Son. Tell me one more time how the
Lord will send a pastor that will preach Christ. Feed the
sheep with knowledge and understanding. I'm not going to lack. for something
to eat. I know this, I'm not going to
lack for peace. A settled heart. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. The waters
of quietness. That's what the margin says.
That's what it is. A believer wants to hear and
know that he's at peace with God. Tell me how the Lord Jesus
Christ has made peace by the blood of His cross. Tell me one
more time how He put away my guilt, how He put away the iniquity,
the dead of it. Tell me one more time how God
will not impute sin to me because I know what I see within. Tell me one more time that it's
finished. Tell me one more time how there's
nothing else for me to do. Tell me one more time how salvation
is all of grace, salvations of the Lord. Tell me one more time how being
found in Him all is well, Tell me one more time, Romans
8.1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them, because
I'm going to need those words to die with. Psalm 4.8, Scripture says, I
will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only,
makest me dwell in safety. Tell me one more time, there
is no lack of peace before God. Tell me how the Lord God of heaven
is pleased with me and His Son. The believer shall not lack for
restoration. Look at verse 3. He restoreth
my soul. When a shepherd has got a flock
of sheep, and one of those sheep kind of wanders over a little
bit, getting a little bit too far. He's just eating. He's just
not paying attention to what he's doing. And he's just wandering
over there. You know, that shepherd doesn't
cast him off. You know what the shepherd does?
He goes over and gets him and says, No, no, no, no, no. Come right back here. You stay
where I can see you. I want to keep all you guys together. When the Lord saves His people,
He gives them life that's never going to be lost. Now you know
that. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. But that generated sinner, regenerated
by God's grace, he still struggles with indwelling sin. is dead to God's regenerated
people as to its penalty, but it's not dead as to its presence
and its effects that it has upon God's people. It opposes the
life of peace and comfort of that new heart. Romans chapter
7. Paul, we've read this many times,
but let's listen to the Apostle Paul. Romans 7 21-24 says this,
I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with
me, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity
of the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? When
I see that law of sin within, and I see the struggles and feel
the struggles of an old man, I need restoration. I grieve. I grieve seeing myself. I grieve over my prayer. I just say, I need to be restored. The Scripture says, He restoreth
my soul. Psalm 147.6 says this, The Lord
lifteth up the meek. The same mighty hand that rescues
the sheep from ruin keeps them from that continual wandering.
God's going to keep His peace. They're not going to leave. We see it. We see it. He restoreth
my soul. I'm not going to lack. I need
some comfort. Lord, comfort me again as I eat
of the bread of heaven. The sheep's not going to want
for guidance. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His namesake. The Scripture says in Proverbs
8.20, I lead in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of
judgment. What paths of righteousness?
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Well, the shepherd
is going to lead in the path of the truth of himself. The
gospel of himself. That's where God's people are
led. They're led away from. any possession of righteousness
in themselves. The Lord directs according to
his word as he has set forth in his glorious gospel, and he
does it for his namesake. Unto him is due all the honor
and glory. The one that has purposed to
bring his own unto himself He does so according to righteousness. And the sheep know as they are
led in the paths of righteousness for His namesake, He does this
for my good and His glory. The paths of righteousness that
God Almighty leads His people in always reminds us we are needy
sinners. Saved by the grace of God is
the path of righteousness. He alone has established my righteousness,
that He clothes me. The path of righteousness is
that He has charged me with His obedience and God Almighty accepts
me in the Beloved. That's the path of righteousness.
God's righteousness. I know this. Without Him, I can
do nothing. The sheep shall not want for
comfort. Isaiah the prophet was commanded,
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. What comfort
is it to a frail, dying creature to know that the light of the
Lord Jesus Christ shines within when all else on the outside
is darkness. How peaceful we may be even when
death is faced. The scripture says, Yea, verse
4, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, There's no need to panic. I know that this body was created
to live forever. And I know that there's an unknown
there. But the believer walks through
the valley of this life. This valley, this life is the
valley of the shadow of death. But I know this. I know this
according to His Word. Death, its penalty, its power
has been conquered by the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know, according to His
Word, that this veil of tears, this life that we're walking
through, is a shadow of death. And I know that a shadow can't
harm me. I know it can't. Shadow of a
gun can't shoot me. Shadow of a dog can't bite me.
I know that. And the shadow of death can't
kill me eternally. The believer has no reason to
fear evil. Now, I know we struggle. But we have no reason. It's not
that evil is not present. But we fear no evil. We see a
growing failure in our bodies and minds. We're getting older.
And we feel the aches and pains. We're forgetful. We see ourselves
going down physically, and we know we are. Man, I'm telling
you, everybody and their brother on TV is trying to sell us some
kind of a potion or some kind of a new exercise program that's
going to just add, I mean, just years, years. to your life and
stuff like that. No, it's not. No, it's not. It's appointed unto man once
to die. I know that. We may be called upon to suffer
long days and nights, pain and struggles, but here's the comfort. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou art with me. I need
that. I need that. William Mason wrote this little
four line poem. I thought this was so good, I
wrote this down. He said, just in the last distressing
hour, the Lord displays delivering power. The mount of danger is
the place when we shall see amazing grace. Just when we need it. I've had people talk about dying
grace. That's an amazing, amazing thing. I would think to myself as I
watched a believer die, I thought, what comfort, what peace. Oh, that I might be like that.
That I might die like that. But you know what? Somebody asked
Mr. Spurgeon what I told him. He
said, I don't think I have dying grace. He said, do you think
you're dying? They said, no. He said, you don't need it. I thought,
you know, that's so true. Lord, I need to hear as I'm walking
through this valley of the shadow of death that I fear no evil. What shall man do unto me? If the Lord is my shepherd, if
the Lord has promised that I'm not going to want, I'm not going
to want to eat, I'm not going to want for His presence, for
His comfort to be, what am I going to fear? The Scripture says, Matthew 28,
20, lo, I am with thee always. even until the end of the world. I will never leave thee. I will
never forsake thee. When thou passest through the
waters, when it comes to whatever God's lot is for me, whatever
it is, I will be with thee. I will be with thee, and through
the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee." Lord, I shall not want for your fellowship. The sheep's not going to want
for His protection. I rod and I staff, they comfort
me. I read a little bit about this. I don't know a whole lot about
Shepherd. But David obviously humanly did. Thy rod and thy
staff. The shepherds had this rod. Part of it was a straighten and
it had a crook on it. And that rod, I read, was a weapon
of defense for the sheep. And the staff, the crook part
of it, was the instrument of retrieving the sheep from danger
if they fell into a slew and had to be rescued and pulled
and kept. Whether that rod right there
was used to correct them, kind of getting over here a little
bit and pushed me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. How many times has the Lord,
unbeknownst to me, He guided, protected, kept. I was driving,
I was coming to the church the other day in a big old dump truck. And I mean, buddy was going this
way and I was coming from the Katie Mart. And as he was coming
down, he was a little bit over, too far on my side, trying to
make that curb, you know, right there. And boy, it just, you
know, he got over. But I mean, it went through my
mind. Man, where would I go? What would happen? How many times has the Lord kept
me? Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. The sheep's not going to lack
for provision. Look at verse 5. Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Psalm 78, 19
says, they spake against God. That's when they had come out
of Egypt. And they said, can God furnish
a table in the wilderness? Can God send bread from heaven? Can God send ravens to feed His
people? Give them something to drink
when it hadn't rained? Can God take care of His own
in an economy like this? Can God supply for us in this
world? Psalm 37-25, I've been young
and now I'm old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed beckoned bread. You know, I ate this morning. I got something to eat this morning.
I thank God that I had something to eat. And I fully expect, by
the Lord's good pleasure, I'm going to eat dinner in just a
few minutes. But I'm telling you, for God's sheep spiritually,
They're not going to be begging bread. The Lord will provide. Thou anointest my head with oil. Whenever David was anointed king,
Saul anointed king, they would pour oil. It was a symbol of
God's anointing. Sanctified. Set apart. This is the Lord's. This is the
Lord's. You're mine. A believer will
never lack thou anointest. Anointest. Anointest. Continually reminding you're
the Lord's. You're mine. I chose you. I bought you. I called you. I kept you. The oil of God's
gracious presence. Lord, tell me that again. Tell
me how I'm yours and you're mine. Tell me how we've been made kings
and priests unto God through the precious blood of our Savior. And though I see the presence
of sin, the stench of that old man, Oh, the perfumed oil of
His mercy. Tell me one more time, that sweet
gospel of free grace. Tell me again, Lord, how I am
Yours afresh today. Set apart, my cup runneth over. Psalm 16.5, the Lord is the portion
of mine inheritance, my cup. Thou maintainest my lot, my cup
runneth over." When we say we're not going to
lack, I shall not want, I shall not lack, the believer is an
heir of God. A joint heir with Christ. I have
no want. What do I need? He supplied.
What do I need beside Him? The believer shall not want for
companionship and a permanent residence. Surely, verse 6, the
goodness of God, the mercy of God, shall follow me all the
days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, as the Lord is my shepherd. as
I shall not want. As he shall surely keep his own,
and no good things shall he withhold from them that walk uprightly,
nothing else can follow all the days of my life." All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. Surely, goodness and mercy... You say, yeah, but
you don't know what I've got to go through. You don't know
what I'm going through right now. I'm telling you that according
to God's Word, according to God's purpose, it is the goodness and
mercy of God. If we saw the end from the beginning
as He does, we would look back. I think about just a few little
things that to me, at the moment, they were great, but I think
I wouldn't trade anything for what He taught me. Taught me
concerning trusting Him and resting in Him. Oh, it's not a pleasant
thing. You know that many of you here
know this. It's not a pleasant thing to hear a doctor say, you
know, well, you have cancer. Believe me, it's not a pleasant
thing. But I'm telling you, I think,
Lord, what you've taught me through that, the goodness and mercy
of God, how Almighty God surely, surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. In this world, being His child,
we're at home with Him right now. We're sojourners and pilgrims,
for where He is, is the house of the Lord. Whenever Moses came
to that, there was a burning bush. And the Lord spoke to him
out of that burning bush, and He said, take off your shoes.
Place where you stand, that's holy ground. where Almighty God
has been pleased to raise up His gospel. That's a holy place
because of God's presence. When we leave this world, we
may change our environment, but we shall never change our company.
Surely goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life. I'm
going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Lord is
my shepherd. I'm not going to lack. Lord,
teach us these things for Christ's sake. Amen.