I please God to bless us today
as we consider his word. The psalm turns to the book of
Psalms and we'll read the whole of Psalm 23. This morning we
proposed commenting on the first three verses and this evening
the last three verses. So Psalm 23, we'll read it. Headed, of course, the Psalm
of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. 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, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. by rod and thy staff they comfort
me. They'll prepare us a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. They anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever." This is a wonderful statement
that David was able to make. And surely it should be each
of our prayer that we, by God's grace, may be able to make the
same statement. What it really means is that
David's confidence was not in himself, not in his riches, not
in all that he possessed, but his confidence was in his God. And as we start this new year,
may our confidence be in our God. David commences by stating
the Lord is my shepherd. And it's a statement which is
very familiar, I'm sure, to us all. But it is a very important
statement. And it is something which all
of us need to be able to declare and to speak of. Now we read
together in the Gospel of John, that 10th chapter, And Jesus
speaks there of those who can indeed claim him to be their
shepherd. And in the third and fourth verses,
we have a very succinct, simple statement as to what that means. And the Lord said, to him the
porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice." So that's the
first statement. To be able to say, well, the
Lord is my shepherd. And to be able to say that, then
this word will be true. And the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name. There would have been that call
that personal call from God to our souls, that call which brought
us from death to life, from darkness to light. And he called his own
sheep by name, and then he leadeth them out. Again, what a wonderful
evidence of being under this shepherd, to know that he leads
us out, that he's leading us. He has led us, he is leading
us, and he will lead us. And then he tells us, and when
he put forth his own sheep, he goes before them. The Lord doesn't
just leave his sheep to wander on aimlessly in this world, he
goes before them. and how humbling that is, surely,
to realize that this great almighty God condescends to go before
us. He goes before them, and the
sheep follow him, and they know his voice. So here we have then
a number of very clear indications to those who are able to come
and say, again humbly and yet truly, the Lord is my shepherd. And we don't want to deny this
great truth if it is true. And if God has therefore caused
us to realise his faithfulness in blessing us, to acknowledge
as David did, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, a shepherd, of
course, is someone who, especially in the eastern countries, you
know, they don't just look at the sheep first thing in the
morning and then disappear. They watch over them. Watch over
them daytime, watch over them nighttime. We have the evidence,
don't we, of the, when the shepherds were, the Lord appeared, the
angel appeared to those shepherds who were watching over their
flocks by night. the angel of the Lord appeared
to them and told them the good news of the birth of the Saviour. And so it's a wonderful thing
to think that as a natural shepherd watches over the sheep, so the
heavenly shepherd also watches over us, day and night. There's not a moment when this
heavenly shepherd is not mindful of us. The heavenly shepherd
does not doze off to sleep. He is always awake. He is always
alert. He is always watching over us.
He is always concerned about us. And therefore as we commence
this new year to have that confidence that the Lord is my shepherd. And therefore he will look after
me. and therefore he will guide me, and therefore he will indeed
direct me. And the wonderful evidence will
be true if we can humbly acknowledge that we have heard his voice. Yes, the voice of our beloved. The voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that voice has been a precious
voice to us. Perhaps it's been a sweet voice
to us. Perhaps it's been an encouraging
voice to us. But it would have been a voice
which spoke to give us that encouragement and that assurance that the Lord
is mindful of us by the words that he speaks into our heart. Well, the great truth is, if
we are his sheep, we do hear that voice. It's not something
that we will be unfamiliar with. We may say, oh, well, I wish
I knew more of the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes
I think we don't always appreciate when the Lord is speaking to
us. He speaks to us through his word. Yes, through the whole word of
scriptures, the Lord speaks and as you and I perhaps read the
word, as we read the word of God, perhaps even this morning,
and there may have been just perhaps a few words which were
very attractive to us and seemed to touch our hearts perhaps,
Surely that was, indeed, the voice of Jesus, speaking to us
through the work of the Holy Spirit. And to realise, therefore,
that such words are indeed a comfort and a help and a strength to
us. God is not silent to his people. He doesn't ignore his sheep. He watches over them. And He
draws them to Himself. He causes them to seek unto Himself. And therefore, to think that,
as the Word tells us, He called it His own sheep by name. That really means that the Lord
deals with us individually. Not just as a collective company,
The Lord deals with us individually, because we all have a different
path to walk. We all have a different life
to live. By God's grace, it all ends in
glory at last. But the truth is, he led them
forth by the right way. Yes, the Lord doesn't make mistakes.
Perhaps sometimes you and I might make mistakes. The Lord never
makes a mistake. He always leads us in the right
way. And that right way leads to eternal
glory. And therefore, to realize that
the Lord graciously has come and has called us. And he calleth
his own sheep by name. to think that he takes pains,
the great God, the almighty God, to look and to call you and me
in our individual situation, not leave us to just wander away. We may have wandered away. We may have decided, I don't
want the things of God. I don't want to believe the truth
of God. Indeed, I don't believe they're
true at all. And then to know the Lord has,
as it were, taken us in hand and has not left us to continue
a path which is against God, a path which runs away from God. But the Lord calls us out of
the darkness of nature into the glorious light of the everlasting
gospel. What is it that does that? It's
the work of the Holy Spirit. It's His call as He comes and
calls us, so that we have the evidence that we're able to come
and say, the Lord is my shepherd because of what He's done for
me, because of His watchfulness over me. because of His preservation
to me. And it's good to realize that
this Good Shepherd, He does go before us. It's not a path that is unknown. The Lord knows the path. He knows
the path, He knows the way that you and I take. It's not the
wrong way. They sometimes seem to be the
wrong way. But you know, the Lord knows. And Lord leads us
in that right way. And that way to, that way which
will prove to be a blessing to our souls. The Lord is my shepherd. The sheep, you see, naturally
are dependent upon the shepherd and leading them. We don't see
it quite so much here in our country, but we do abroad. I remember when I was in Iraq,
very clearly on a Sunday, I was sat there, because as you know,
Iraq is pretty well a Muslim country, and therefore I was
by myself, and I watched this shepherd with a small flock of
sheep, and he was leading them. And they were following him. There wasn't very much grass,
there wasn't very much pasture, but he knew where it was and
he led them to it. And then when they came to a
dangerous place, he then went behind them. Perhaps they were
fearful of the way that was before them. And he went behind them. And he drove them through that
narrow path. And surely that's what we have
of this Good Shepherd. He does for us. He goes before
us. He leads us and then perhaps
there may be that situation which we just think is not possible.
And we're fearful. And then, you see, to realise
the Lord is behind us. And he's pushing us forward.
It's the right way. It's not the wrong way. We may
have thought so. But a natural shepherd knows
what's necessary. And so does the heavenly shepherd
knows what's necessary for us. To realise then that he does
call us and he does lead us. And he leads us out. David knew this. You think of
David's life. And yet, here he is, King of
Israel, able to write and say, yes, the Lord is my shepherd. He wasn't too proud to be humble
and recognize that in the eyes of Almighty God, he was just
a little sheep. a little sheep that needed a
heavenly shepherd to be with him and to direct him. And so may all of us not be too
high-minded, but may we all be of a lowly mind, to be able to
come and submit ourselves unto this heavenly shepherd, believing
that he will indeed lead us in that right way. The Lord doesn't
make any mistakes. The Lord is my shepherd. And
because of that, David was able to say with confidence, I shall
not want. How true that is. If God is our
heavenly shepherd, there is no doubt that we will not want. What that means is God will provide
for us all the things that we stand in need of, naturally and
spiritually. The Lord will not forsake us.
I shall not want, and no doubt David through his life had again
and again proved the great truth of these words. When he was running
away from Saul being chased, and when he had to find places
to lodge in, the Lord was with him. He did not want, nor provided
for his natural needs, and we know that the Lord provided also
for his spiritual needs. Because as you and I read the
Psalms of David, we find there the expressions and the confidences
that he had in his God. And he was able to come and to
pour out his heart to his God. It's good to realize the Lord
in his sovereign goodness has granted us this wonderful blessing
of the Word of God and the Psalms of David to express to us those
spiritual concerns and those spiritual deliverances and those
spiritual blessings so that we can humbly come and say, oh,
by the grace of God, yes, the Lord is my shepherd and I shall
not want. Now, this shepherd, you know,
is not just an ordinary shepherd. We read in this chapter in John's
gospel, it says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd. He's not a bad shepherd, is he?
He is a good shepherd. And I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Naturally speaking, what a tremendous
thing that would be The shepherd was so concerned about his sheep
to preserve them that he was willing to give his life, perhaps
against those who were coming, trying to take the sheep away. But we know that the good shepherd,
the Lord Jesus Christ, did indeed come and give his life for his
sheep. I realized this morning that
this great shepherd has given his life for you and me. In order
that our souls might be saved. In order that you and I might
be redeemed. The cost was the ultimate cost
of his life. Yes, this good shepherd, he giveth
his life for the sheep. And the Lord gives the different
situations. He says, but he that is in a
hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the
wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep." Well, the Lord didn't
run away, did he? Even when death faced him, even
when he knew what he had to endure, he didn't run away. No, he did
that which was his Father's will for him. What a good shepherd
we have. Not only is the Lord described
as the good shepherd, you know, but he's also described as the
chief shepherd and also described as the great shepherd. And we
read of this in the epistle of Peter where we read about him
as the chief shepherd. And in the first epistle of Peter
in the fifth chapter we read about this great and blessed
God who is the chief shepherd of his people. Well, to us this
morning I wonder, is he our chief shepherd? That means the one
that we really follow. Not a false shepherd, not a wrong
shepherd, but the true shepherd. And be found therefore following
him, this great and glorious shepherd, and then the great
shepherd. Let's never forget how great
the shepherd is. Let's have right views, high
views of him realizing that he is indeed the great shepherd
of his people. Now the God of peace, that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do his will,
working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Well, do we value this great
shepherd? Do we value this chief shepherd? Do we value this good shepherd?
He's not an ordinary shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want Because the
Lord therefore, because of his greatness, he can do all things. Nothing is impossible with our
God. Perhaps we come into situations
where we wonder, how can this be worked out? How will I see
the Lord appearing? Well, David had many difficult
situations like that, didn't he? and yet you see they were
to come and tell us, I shall not want. No, I shall not want. And what was he blessed with?
He was blessed with living faith. Faith to believe that the Lord
would indeed supply all his needs. I shall not want. No doubt. It wasn't perhaps in the way
that David expected. He was chased about, wasn't he?
From one place to another. He didn't know what would appear. He didn't know how the Lord would
appear. But the Lord did appear. And
it may be so in our lives. We may not know how the Lord
will appear. We may have a great need. We may think, how is that need
going to be supplied? Well, we have wonderful cases,
don't we? In the word of God, where the Lord did supply the
needs. And in David's own case, you
know, think in his life, when he destroyed that lion and the
bear and Goliath. Well, on all those occasions,
God was with him. He had a need. The Lord supplied
it, I shall not want, in most remarkable ways really. And then
of course in his life when he was taken from feeding the sheep,
he was a shepherd naturally, taken from the sheep and anointed
to be king over Israel. And that didn't happen, did it?
Immediately. Oh, there were many years to
pass. before that was fulfilled, that David became king of Israel. I shall not want, in all that
time, he had his confidence in his God, the Lord was with him,
the Lord didn't leave him, the Lord didn't forsake him, and
surely that's the same for us today. This good shepherd, the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Then he goes on to
tell us of the Lord's leadings and directions. He tells us, he maketh me to
lie down in green pastures, be still and know that I am God. He was made to lie down. Perhaps the Lord is making us
lie down. Perhaps we were up and trying
to rush around here and there and to find this and to find
that. The Lord makes us to lie down. It may not be for a long time,
but there will be those times when He comes and makes us lie
down. And we may not have been very
willing to, we may have been reluctant to, but we didn't realize
the benefit that we were going to receive. As David was able to tell us
here, he, the Lord, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. And we might think of those green
pastures in a spiritual light as God coming to us as we lie
down and granting us the revelation of his grace, of his mercy, of
his favour and of his goodness to us. You see here Lying down
means that we're stationary. We're not up and rushing around,
we're stationary. The Lord said to his disciples,
didn't he, come ye apart and rest a while. And it's good sometimes,
the Lord brings us, as it were, to rest a while, to lie down
and to be able to meditate upon the great and glorious truths
of the gospel. We live in a very difficult world,
don't we? In the present day, with so many
things to do and to consider, and all the materialism of time,
what a blessing if this Good Shepherd comes to us and makes
us to lie down, as it were, to leave everything else and come
and lie down. Similarly, you know, you find
again in the New Testament, what did Mary do? You know, she came
and she sat at Jesus' feet in a similar posture, wasn't it? Perhaps not physically lying
down, but she was sitting down, and what was it to her soul? Green pastures. Why was it green
pastures? Because she heard the words of
Jesus. Oh, that was refreshing to her
soul, isn't it? We can think of it naturally,
can't we? A sheep, you know, coming into green pastures and
to lie down and how refreshing it must be and how refreshing
it is to our souls when we can come and lay down and sit down
perhaps at the master's feet and he comes and reveals to us
His great and glorious work in our hearts, in our souls. It
may be sometimes that we've been rushing around and we've been
occupied with all the cares of life and we've almost forgotten
about the great blessings that the Lord brings. But then to
realize that this heavenly shepherd, this great shepherd, this good
shepherd is watching over us and comes and says now, He makes
us to lie down in green pastures and then to be able to meditate
upon what He has done. There's no greater blessing,
is there, surely, than meditating on the work of Christ, that great
and glorious finished work. Because without that work, without
that work of the heavenly shepherd, there would be no hope for you
and no hope for me. think indeed that as we read
he laid down his life that we might receive life. Oh it's worthy
of meditation, it's worthy of consideration and surely such
thoughts bring a blessing to our souls. We do indeed bless
God for it to know that he is with us there because he makes
us lie down. Don't forget it is the work of
the Holy Spirit in making us to lie down. We may perhaps have
been reluctant to do so and the Lord may have used various means
to make us to lie down. The Lord knows what is required
to make us lie down. But be assured of this, when
God has a purpose of mercy the purpose of love toward us as
he will have to all his sheep there will be these times when
he'll bring us and make us to lie down yes we have to stop
and in that condition to realize well it is the lord let him do
what seemeth him good and amazingly we find it's a time of comfort,
a time of blessing, a time to consider, a time to meditate
upon the work of the Lord and His work in our heart and His
work in our soul. And therefore this word surely
is a great blessing. He, none less than the Lord,
how humbling surely that is to think this Good Shepherd, He
takes notice of us And he's come to us and he's made us to lie
down. He's made us to stop. In Green
Pastures, you know, Martha wasn't very happy, was she? What Mary
was doing. But you know, the Lord told her,
Mary's chosen that good part. And how needful it was to meditate
and to be with the Saviour. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. This Lord who is our shepherd. He it is who is doing it. And
then He leads us beside the still waters. The still waters. Often you know it seems that
the waters are rushing by, aren't they? We don't seem to be able
to stop and see them almost, and it's almost impossible to
drink of them. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. The waters are flowing, but they're
calm. They're calm. And again, it's
a blessing when this shepherd brings us into a place of calm
repose. Yes, perhaps when we're able
to come and to rest, and to think of His loving kindness to warn
us beside the still waters. It's a very beautiful picture,
isn't it? We have here the green pastures and the still waters. And especially as we think of
our lives today, perhaps, which are very opposite from green
pastures and still waters, and yet to know that this Heavenly
Shepherd deals with us in love to our souls and causes us to
come into these situations so that it does come and it is a
time of blessing and it is a time of favour and we can indeed thank
God for His mercy and His goodness and His blessing toward us. You know this is not something
which is new today and the shepherd is described so many times really
and what he does in the Old Testament as well of course as in the New
Testament and in the prophecy of Ezekiel the Lord God instructs
us in this in the 34th chapter we read he says and he says and
as a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among
his sheep that are scattered. So will I seek out my sheep and
will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered
in the cloudy and dark day. You see the shepherd's watching
over us. He knows where we've got to. And I will bring them
out from the people and gather them from the countries and will
bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains
of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the
country. I will feed them in a good pasture
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in a good
fold and in a fat pasture So they feed upon the mountains
of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie
down, saith the Lord God." So you see what David is speaking
to us isn't isolated. No, there's confirmation that
this Good Shepherd, he still works powerfully today in the
lives of his people to bring them into these places so they
may benefit Spiritually, we read here of a green pasture, we read
here of a fat pasture, we read here that they were upon the
mountains of Israel, by the rivers, in all the inhabited places of
the country. And he goes on to say, I will
seek that which was lost, Perhaps we may have felt to be
lost, perhaps we feel to be lost today. Well, this good shepherd,
again, forget not, he knows where you are. So he comes and he says, I will
seek that which was lost. And when the Lord seeks, he finds. And bring again, that which was
driven away, and will bind up that which is broken, and will
strengthen that which was sick. But I will destroy the fat and
the strong. I will feed them with judgment.
And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God, behold, would
I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats. Well, the blessing is, and you
might read the 34th chapter of Ezekiel, there's a much good
instruction in that chapter about the sheep, about the good shepherd,
and about the reproof of those shepherds who do not look after
their sheep. Well, what a blessing it is if
this good shepherd looks after us. and doesn't deal with us
as I deserve, as we deserve, and so to be led. He leads me. See, David speaks in the singular
here, and real religion really is in the singular, isn't it?
It's between our souls and God, your soul and God, my soul and
God, so that we're able to say, yes, he maketh me. He has made
me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still
waters, and then He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for His namesake. There are those times,
I'm sure, in our spiritual life when we need to be restored. We may have wandered away, there
may have been some temptation that devil's put in our path. David knew that, didn't he? Very
sadly. And you see, we should not think
that we're above being tempted and fall, as David did. but to know that the Lord can
keep and also, thankfully, the Lord can restore. And he tells
us here then, he restoreth my soul. Again, let's just note,
he's not talking about bodily strength here. He's talking about
spiritual scenes. He restoreth my soul. What a great blessing to know
that our souls perhaps are restored by the good hand of Almighty
God. The Lord hasn't left us to ourselves,
but he's been gracious to us, and he's indeed come, and he's
blessed us. The prophet Jeremiah tells us
a little of this about restoring, and he says in the 30th chapter
and the 17th verse, for I will restore health unto thee, And
I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord, because they
call thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh
after. The Lord restores. Thus saith
the Lord, Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's
tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places. And the city
shall be built upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after
the manner thereof." The Lord, mindful of his sheep, mindful
of his people, not leaving them and not forsaking them. Now,
the prophecy of Malachi is a very short prophecy, but it's a very
true prophecy. And right at the very end of
the fourth chapter and the second verse, we read about what the
Lord will do but, and this is restoring, but unto you that
fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing
in his wings and he shall go forth and grow up as the calves
in the stall. You see, he restoreth my soul,
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. This is a restoring. What does
it do? It leads us to Christ. It leads us to Christ. That's
when our soul is restored. That's when we see this Good
Shepherd, this Lord who is our Shepherd, restoring us and leading
us in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. And the Apostle Peter gives us
a very encouraging word when he writes his epistle. He tells us in the second chapter
these words, who his own self bear our sins in his own body
on the tree that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes he were healed. Well, how humbling to think that
you and I are restored by the stripes that were placed upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, this heavenly shepherd should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes ye were healed. And then perhaps this one last
reference with regards to this restoring and in the prophecy
of Isaiah and the 53rd chapter, which of course is familiar I'm
sure to us. We read this great and glorious
verse where the prophet says, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. He restoreth my
soul. and our soul is restored as we're
led to the Saviour, to see what He suffered, what He endured,
in order that you and I might be blessed with that glorious
gift of eternal life, and to think it's all because the Lord
is my shepherd. Well, may the Lord indeed encourage
us to believe that we do have such a great and glorious shepherd
a heavenly shepherd who is the Lord Jesus Christ. And because
he is our shepherd to believe this great truth, I shall not
want. Amen.