Well, let us turn to the familiar
words of Psalm 23. I suppose it is the best known
of all the word of God with regards to what we might call the public
in general. And I want us to consider just
for a while tonight the words that we have here in the second
verse. I'll read the first two verses, but we're going to consider
the second verse 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 but you will observe in the margin may be
that there are alternative readings and if we read it with the marginal
readings he maketh me to lie down in pastures of tender grass
he leadeth me beside the waters of quietness." So, I think the
fact that we have alternative readings like that in the margin
indicates to us something of the fullness and the richness
of what is being said in this particular verse. Just to remark why it is that
I bring your attention to Psalm 23, having the past gone right
through the psalm, of course, but I was asked just a week ago
to take a funeral at Hedgend of a lady called Mary Paul. I don't know if the surname Paul
means anything, but a man called S.F. Paul was a deacon at Galene
many years ago. He was also one of the editors
of the Gospel Standard back in the 1950s and 60s, and he would
be the great uncle. of this lady who has died I really have had no contact
with her other than about 14 years ago her mother died a lady
called Rhoda Paul and she was the sister of a minister called
John Ralph who was a member at Forrest Falls, a very gracious
man John Ralph had little contact with him and it was through him
that I was asked to take the funeral of his sister but again
I knew nothing of that lady called Rhoda Paul but as a result of
taking that lady's funeral the son, that would be the brother
of this Mary Paul then contacted me to ask if I would take his
sister's funeral Marion Eubank had had some contact with them,
they lived, that is the mother and the daughter lived just a
few doors away from John and Marion and Marion had had some
contact with them without going into all the detail of that but
I had no real contact at all, this lady who has died I understand
was baptised about I don't know how many years ago probably,
well certainly over 50 years ago at Hawley in Surrey and it was
the chapel where the Honeysets were attending and where Marion's
father Brian was also baptised. But this lady, I think she was
17 when she was baptised, this lady as far as I'm aware has
never been to the chapel at Hedge End, I don't think she's been
anywhere for years. So it's a rather difficult funeral
that I've been asked to take and I'm due to take it a week
tomorrow. And I would value your prayers for that occasion, 11
o'clock a week. Tomorrow we have the funeral.
I don't anticipate there'll be very many people there at all. I went to see the brother only
on Monday to discuss the arrangements and he said, could I choose a
couple of hymns that we can sing on that occasion? I don't think
he goes anywhere at all. I think in the past he's had
some contact with the United Reformed Church, but he asked
me if I would choose a couple of hymns, and I thought, well,
what can I choose? I don't know very much about this woman, other
than the fact that when she was 17 she was baptized, but there's...
I don't know that she was really in a state of grace. I know that
she suffered quite badly, really, with bipolar over the years,
so she'd been on medication for many years and so forth. And
of course I thought probably the safest thing is simply to
sing the Metrical Psalm. Certainly I'll sing the Metrical
Psalm, so I thought I will sing Psalm 23. And thinking then,
you see, of Psalm 23 I come to tonight. So I've been thinking
a little bit about Psalm 23 and the content of the Psalm. And I just want to draw your
attention for a little while to what is said in this remarkable
second verse. As I say, because we have these
alternative readings in the margin, I think that's indicative of
the richness of the language that is being used, and in many
ways, maybe the inadequacy of our own language to bring out
what David is actually saying concerning the Lord. It is we
see from the title of Psalm of David, and of course we know
that that was what David did, he was the shepherd boy, he cared
for the sheep of his father Jesse. But here of course he is speaking
of the Lord as his shepherd, and David in a sense, David the
shepherd boy we might say, is very much a type of the Lord
Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd. As he says in the Gospel, I am
the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And we know from what we read
in other scriptures that oftentimes in prophecy, the Lord is spoken
of under the name of David. Those words that we have in Ezekiel
34, where the prophet, as God's mouthpiece, is rebuking the shepherds
in Israel, the failure of those men, be they the the priest,
or the prophets, the false prophets, and the ungodly kings. Those were the offices that God
had given to His ancient covenant people, but oh, those men were
so miserably failing in their responsibilities. And in Ezekiel
34, we have the reproof of the shepherds, but also the promise
of the One who will come. Verse 23, I will set up one shepherd
over them, says the Lord, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, and
I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David, a prince
among them. I, the Lord, have spoken it."
And of course the prophecy is really clearly speaking of the
one that was to come, David's greater son. And as I say, oftentimes
we see the Lord set before us by the name of David, and sometimes
he's spoken of quite clearly there in the Old Testament as
that one who is clearly the good shepherd. In Isaiah 40, you are
familiar I'm sure with the words that we have there at verse 11
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the
lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently
lead those that are with young. Something of the gracious and
tender ministry then of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, as we look
at these words here in the second verse, I want to take up the
theme really of divine rest. What a promise this is of that
rest, that divine rest that the good shepherd is able to minister
to his sheep. He maketh me to lie down, says
David, in green pastures, pastures of tender grass. He leadeth me
beside the still waters, waters of quietness. And so here we
have this imagery, these figures, lying down in green pastures,
peaceful pastures, and a peaceful posture also, made to lie down
in such pleasant spots. And also this promise of the
still waters, or waters of quietness. Now, in order, of course, to
enjoy that sort of rest, and that sort of quietness there
are a number of things that the sheep must be kept free from
and I want us to consider some of those things that the Lord
ensures that his people are preserved and kept from and they need to
be kept first of all from following and from foolishness in the words
of Isaiah 53 we read all we like sheep have gone astray We have
turned everyone to his own way. Our sheep have to be shepherded,
of course, as they're prone to wander and take themselves into
dangerous places. The folly of the silly sheep. We think of the language of the
hymn writer Robert Robinson, prone to wander. Lord, I feel
it. Or do we not have to acknowledge
that, that we are prone, prone to wonder? And Peter, Peter reminds
us of that, and the Lord's restoring mercies. There in the language
of 1 Peter 2, in verse 29, ye were a sheep, he says, going
astray, and are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop
of your souls. It's not so much that we return,
it's that the Lord is that one who comes and seeks after his
wandering sheep and establishes them again and again in that
narrow way that leads to life. We read again in Isaiah's book
of wayfaring men though fools, that they shall not err therein.
They don't err in that narrow way but they only know what it
is to be kept from the folly of wandering from the Lord as
the Lord himself is pleased to take hold of them and to lead
them in that way that ultimately will bring them to everlasting
life. The sheep then have to be preserved
from foolishness. and then also how they have to
be kept from fears. And the sheep have many fears. We know that sheep are timid
and feeble and fearful. It's interesting how in scripture
various animals are taken up and I suppose it gives us some
sort of description of what the Lord's people are like. Think
of those Konies, spoken of by the wise man. There in Proverbs
30, 26, the Konies, he says, are but a feeble folk, yet make
their houses in the rocks. How we ought to learn of the
Konies. Oh, they're so feeble, but they're
safe, do you see, because they make their houses amongst the
rocks, says the wise man. Surely there's some spiritual
lesson in what Solomon is saying there, in that 30th chapter of
Proverbs. And as conies are so feeble,
so also are the sheep. The bark of a dog might frighten
them. The presence of a little child. They'll run away from a little
child. They're so fearful. And so too when we think of the
people of God, believers. Believers are like sheep. We
like sheep in that we are prone foolishly to wander away from
the Lord, but we also like sheep because of those things that
we are afraid of. We're afraid of sin. We should
be afraid of sin. By nature, sin is such a restless
thing. But the Lord, you see, He makes
His sheep to lie down in green pastures, and He leads His sheep
beside the still waters. Or the wicked, we're told, are
like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast
up dirt and mire, and there is no rest, says my God, to the
wicked. Or by nature, sin is such a restless
thing, and this is why we We should be afraid of it. Again,
the Psalmist in Psalm 38 cries out, neither is there any rest
in my bones because of my sin. Oh, and he feels it, he feels
it in his bones, the restlessness of sins, those lusts that cleave
to our fallen nature, those sinful desires, those wicked thoughts. But the gracious words of the
Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospel, Come unto me, he says, and rest.
O ye that labour and are weary, take my yoke upon you, learn
of me, and you will find rest unto your soul, says the Lord
Jesus. We have to fear sin as such a
restless thing, and we can only find true rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ, that one who has come and answered all the demands
of that holy law that sin is the contradiction of and satisfied
all the demands of the law he has come to save the sinner from
all his sins but then also when we think of the law of God believers
might be said to be fearful of that law That's an interesting word that
we have at the end of 1 Corinthians 15, the strength of sin is the
law, it says. It's the law that makes sin such
a fearful thing. Paul confesses, I was alive without
the law once, but the commandment came and sin revived and I died. Oh, it was sin that found him
out. Oh, the Lord of God, you see, there's no comfort in the
Lord of God. As many as are of the works of the law, we're told,
are under the curse. For curse is every one that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. The law is something that we're
afraid of because it condemns us. James tells us, Whosoever
shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. Obedience is to be complete and
perfect, not one transgression. Perfect we are to be then in
not only in deed but also in words and even in thoughts. And now the Lord Jesus is that
one who has come and satisfied that holy law of God. He's the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. And
David has delivered his people from that curse, the curse of
the broken law. He is that one who was hung upon
a tree and borne the punishment that was due to the sinner. Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree, we are told in Galatians, there
in the third chapter of verse 13. And Christ is that one who
has been crucified in the room and in the stead of his people
to deliver them from all the condemnation of the law of God. And so he answers for them with
regards to their sins and their transgressions of the holy law
of God. He makes his sheep to lie down
in green pastures. He leads them besides all the
still waters. But then, thinking of this fear,
there's also the fear of Satan, the great adversary. Peter reminds
us, doesn't he, how our adversary the devil as a roaring lion is
walking about seeking whom he may devour. How he loves to trouble
the sheep. How he wants to deny the Lord's
people any rest. How he'll seek to undermine all
their faith and all their trust in the Lord. He'll come and he'll
tempt, he'll come and he'll intrude, he'll seek to inject all those
doubts and fears into the minds of the Lord's people. He'll seek
to draw them aside, he's the tempter. And then when they sin,
when they fall in with his temptation, how quickly does he turn and
accuse them, the accuser of the brethren. He wants to accuse
us day and night before God. He wants to shut our mouths so
that we feel that we cannot come and pray, we cannot make our
confessions because we seem to be confessing the same sins over
and over and over and over. Or the psalmist says my soul
is among lions. He walketh about justly as a
devouring lion seeking whom he may devour. And when we think
of David, David as the shepherd boy, David of course himself
has to deal with the lion and with the bear and when he goes
out or indicates his willingness to go out against the great champion
of the philistines and he's just a strip of a lad, and he has
to persuade King Saul that he can fight this giant. What does he say to the king? There in 1 Samuel 17, 34, David
says unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there
came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, and
I went out after him and smote him and delivered him out of
his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his
beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the
lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David
said, Moreover the Lord that delivered me out of the port
of the lion and out of the port of the bear, he will deliver
me out of the hand of this Philistine. Well, if David's that one who
in many ways is a type of Christ, Christ is the one who can overcome
all Satan's devices, as he not vanquished sin and Satan, and
triumphed over death and over the grave. And we have that word
at the end of Romans, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under
your feet shortly. Oh, there's the word of God.
The God of peace will bruise Satan. Now the believer then
has these various fears, but then of course there is that
fear that is very much the mark of the child of God. He fears
God. Oh, he fears God. That's a good thing. That's a
feeling of fear. That's the fear of a son. Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, says the preacher.
Fear God. and keep His commandments. This
is the whole duty of man. Oh, this fear of the Lord, it's
the beginning of knowledge, to know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. It's the
beginning of wisdom. This fear, it makes us wise,
wise unto salvation. So, we rightly fear sin and the terrors of that Lord
of God that exposes sin for what it is we fear Satan but if we
fear the Lord He is the one who has overcome all these things
He is the one who is able to give that divine rest to his
sheep making them to lie down in the green pastures leading
them beside the still waters but then also with regards to
what we need to be kept from We know that sheep have to be
taken and dipped because of parasites and pests. They have to be made
clean, and so too the believer. The believer is like that, he
has to be kept. Kept from many things, from false
teachers, from those who would come and peddle their heresies. Paul reminds Timothy, writing
there in 2 Timothy 2 at verse 16 and 17 and 18, he says, Shun
profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto moron
godliness, and their word will beat as doth a canker of whom
is Ammonaeus and Philetus, who concern the truth of words saying
that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith
of some. Now we need to be those then
who are kept clear, cleansed from all such heretical teachings. But there's not only false teachers
to be avoided, there's a world The wicked world, the world that
lies in the wicked one. Love not the world, says John,
nor the things of the world. All that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world. And there we have to turn our
backs on this world. We're not to conform to the ways
of the world. We're to be transformed by the
renewing of our minds. All we need is to be kept. from
all these pests and all these parasites and of course ultimately
we have to be kept from ourselves sinful self how Paul felt it
all wretched man all wretched man that I am he says who shall
deliver me from the body of this death I thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord the Lord is my shepherd says David, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Here we see his complete and
his utter dependence then upon the Lord his God and his acknowledgement
really of God's sovereignty. What does God do? He maketh me,
he says. He leadeth me. He cannot do it
himself. It's the work of God. It's the
Lord who has to enable us even to receive His words. He has
to enable us if we're going to be those who are truly believing
in His word and resting in His promises. We can't just come
and lay claim. We fear that awful sin of presumption. We want God Himself to come and
apply His word mightily. That's a great word, isn't it,
that we have in Isaiah 26, 12 and 13. The Lord says to the
prophet, Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us, for thou also hast
wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, are the lords
beside thee of abdominion over us, but by thee only will we
make mention of thy name. There is an acknowledgement,
again, of the absolute sovereignty of God. God has to ordain peace. He's the only one who can give
us this divine rest that David is speaking of. Other lords have
had their dominion. But how can we overcome? By thee
only. By thee only shall we make mention
of thy name. We can't even pray. But the Lord
has made provision. There's a mediator. There's a
blessed ministry of the Holy Spirit also to help us in all
our infirmities. Oh, how good God is. And think
of the words of the Lord Jesus concerning the sheep. A stranger
they will not follow, but will flee from strangers. They know
not the voice of strangers, these sheep, but they do know the voice
of the Good Shepherd. and that's the voice that we
want to hear they know the call of the shepherds he is the one
who has called them to himself he is the one who says I am the
door by me if any man enter in he shall be saved and go in and
out and find pasture oh he has a method the way he leads his
sheep They go in, they go out, they have a whole variety of
experiences, strange experiences. That's his way with them. The
psalmist says, speaking of the ungodly, they have no changes.
Therefore they fear not God. But how do sheep do have these
changes? They're not always in the fold. They're in and they're
out. And yet, going out is as important as coming in with regards
to finding pasture and food. How the Lord will teach his people
what real religion is. William Tiptoe says, where there
are ups and downs, ins and outs, in a mysterious way. That's where
the Lord shows his people the reality of their religion, their
complete and utter dependence upon him. We have the testimony
of the apostle, the one who is a pattern, to them who should
hereafter believe. And the words that Paul writes
there to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 7 following. He says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels. That's the
treasure of the gospel of the grace of God. We have this treasure
in earthen vessels. that the excellence of the power
may be of God and not of us. All these earthen vessels, these
bodies, we're born dead in trespasses and sins, aren't we? But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power
may be of God, says Paul, and not of us. We are troubled on
every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in
despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not
destroyed. always bearing about in the body
the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life also of Jesus might
be made manifest in our mortal body this is what it all is meant
to end in you see all these experiences is going in and out that the
life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal body the
Lord will find ways and means to to feed his people as he leads them to the green
pastures, as he brings the sheep beside the still waters. It's not only a place of rest
and comfort, it's a place of feeding and nourishing. The wise man again tells us to
the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. All those strange
experiences that we just read of, Paul speaks of there in that
fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians. bitter things, and yet there's
a sweetness in all that the Lord is doing. And ultimately, of
course, we know what the Lord does. He feeds His people, and
He feeds them with Himself. Isn't that the great promise
that the Lord is giving us there in that sixth chapter of John?
In John 6 at verse 53. Christ says, Verily, verily,
except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
hath sent me, and I live by the Father, So he that eateth myrrh,
even he shall live by myrrh. What are we to make of all of
this? What is Christ saying? Well, we have to feed on Christ. That is on the doctrine of Christ.
That's what he's speaking of. He speaks of his flesh. He speaks
of his blood. But it's not some sort of cannibalism
that he's being spoken of. It's nothing to do with the blasphemous
mass of the Church of Rome. It's feeding on the doctrine
of Christ, the person of Christ, and the work of Christ. Isn't
the Bible full of it? And that's why we come to the
Word of God. And what do we find? As the Lord is the one who is
our good shepherd. Oh, the Lord is my shepherd,
says David. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me. beside the still
waters. And so he does, he feeds us.
And he feeds us all together with himself. Father Lord, be
pleased to bless these few thoughts to us tonight and to grant to
us something of that gracious manifestation of himself. Let
us sing our second praise before we pray our last cliff to Lead
us in prayer presently, but we'll sing the hymn 1088, the tune
sorely 231. Shepherd divine, our one's relief,
in this our evil day, to all thy tempted followers give the
power to trust and pray. 1088, tune 231.