Go with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 79. Let me open the message with
this statement. If we don't have Christ, we don't
have anything. And if we lose Christ over something
that's not Christ, we are giving up everything for nothing. Now I wanna repeat that to you,
and this is not just a clever statement here, this is, This
is, this ought to be the burden of our soul. This ought to be
the burden. You know, we see people all the
time who just take this lightly. Oh yeah, whatever. We're gonna
find this to be so real soon. If we don't have Christ, we don't
have anything. We don't have anything. And if
we lose Christ, and we know that if we belong to Him, we can't
lose Him. But we don't belong to Him if there's a willingness
in our heart to lose Him for something that's not Him. And if we do that, we're gonna
lose everything for nothing in return. Now, with that statement being
said, verse nine right here in Psalm 79, it says, help us, O
God of our salvation. for the glory of thy name and
deliver us and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. Help us, oh God, of our salvation. Deliver us and purge away our
sins. Would you do that for thy name's
sake, for the glory of thy name? Verse 13, down at the end of
the Psalm, it says, if you do, we thy people and sheep of thy
pasture will give thee thanks forever. If you do that, we will
give, this is what we can, this is all we can offer to you. If
you do that for us, we will thank you forever. We will show forth thy praise
to all generations. We'll tell everybody about it.
We'll tell everybody. The title of this message is
Sheep of Thy Pasture. I want us to just enjoy the thought
of being sheep of His pasture. Now, we just read this Psalm
and you heard that this entire Psalm is a condemnation against
the heathen world and their sin against God and their sin against
God's people. But in the midst of all this
condemnation, the writer of this Psalm, it says under Psalm 79,
a Psalm of Asaph, if you have that under your title, but the
word of translates for, a Psalm for Asaph. So either Asaph wrote
this or it was written for him, either way. In the midst of all
this condemnation of the heathen world. And that means those who
don't belong to God. That's what it means. You know,
Ephesians two says all of us were heathen. We were all outcasts
in the world without God, but God, that's what that means. Somebody who was without God.
in the midst of condemning all those who are without God of
their sin. The writer said right here, God's
people shouldn't kid themselves either. While all this condemnation is
taking place, God's people are not without sin either. We are
not without sin either. You know, we read this and he's
saying, look at what they're doing. Look at what they're,
do you see what they're doing? God forbid the thought, do you
see what we're doing? We're not without sin either.
And in verse eight, he said, right in the middle of all that
condemnation of them, he said in verse eight, oh, remember
not against us, former iniquities. Let that tender mercy speedily
prevent us for we are brought very low, help us, oh God of
our salvation. for the glory of thy name and
deliver us and purge away our sins for thy name's sake. Now,
let's read this Psalm so we can understand what's being said
here. And then let's beg God for Christ and beg God to let
us be sheep of his pasture. The heading at the top of my
page says, that this is the desolation of Jerusalem. And this is when
it was destroyed. There was a time whenever Jerusalem
was destroyed. And it also says the miseries
of the church. That's what it says at the heading
of my page. The prayer, the cry of the miseries
of the church because of the sin that destroyed everything,
desolated everything. And it will. Sin will destroy everything. Sin will creep in and destroy
everything. Thank God Christ overcame sin. Thank God Christ destroyed the
sin of His people, for His people. Sin will destroy everything.
Thank God Christ destroyed sin for His people. Verse one says,
oh God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance. Thy holy
temple have they defiled. They have laid Jerusalem on heaps. Man will do everything that he
can do to destroy God's kingdom and destroy God's worship and
destroy God's people. And every child of God has to
say, that's me by nature. That's me in my flesh by nature.
Verse two says the dead bodies of thy servants have they given
to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy
saints and to the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they
shed like water round about Jerusalem and there was none to bury them.
We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision
to them that are round about us. How long, Lord, wilt thou
be angry forever? Shall thy jealousy burn like
fire? Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen
that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not
called upon thy name, for they have devoured Jacob and laid
waste his dwelling place. You know, mankind thinks that
just because God has not dealt judgment to him speedily, man
thinks it's not gonna come. Just because man sins against
God and God does not deal with man immediately, man thinks it's
not gonna come. But it's coming. In His perfect
time, all judgment against sin is going to be executed. But
we see things happen, and we say the same thing that the writer
of this Psalm said. How long, Lord, will you allow
all this to go on? Verse 10 says, wherefore should
the heathen say, where is their God? Where's your God? Let him be known among the heathen
in our sight. Let us see you do something.
By the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed,
let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee according to
the greatness of thy power. Preserve thou those that are
appointed to die and render unto our neighbors sevenfold into
their bosom their reproach. Wherewith they have reproached
thee, O Lord, so we thy people in sheep of thy pasture. We'll
give thee thanks forever. We will show forth thy praise
to all generations. Now it is true, there is a wicked
world out there, full of wicked sin against God, against God's
people. And it grieves and it brings
misery to the church of God. It vexes God's people. But the true church of God, the
true people of God know that the sin that is out there in
the world, that sin out there is the least of their miseries. It is all out there. There's
plenty of it out there. But for the true child of God,
his greatest concern is what is right inside here. For the
true child of God, There's so much of it out there. There is
so much sin out there. But for the true child of God,
He becomes just taken with and consumed with what's going on
right inside here. all the sin that is right inside
here. While we condemn the sin that's out there in the world,
our greatest cry is, verse eight, oh, remember not against us,
former iniquities. Let thy tender mercy speedily
prevent us, for we are brought very low. Remember not against
us former iniquities. That means, that actually translates,
remember not against us the sins of our ancestors, those who were
before us. That's one meaning of it. Don't
let their sin be laid on us. And we say the same thing for
our children. Lord, don't let our sin ruin them. You know,
sin passed along to the third and fourth generation. Lord,
please don't, don't let us bring condemnation. They'll bring enough
on themselves, but it's there. Man drinks iniquity like water. And that's the other meaning
of this right here. Every sin that I have committed up to this
point in my life, Lord, verse eight says, remember not against
us former iniquities. Let thy tender mercies speedily
prevent us. Now, see if this is a blessing
to you. The word prevent means go before. That's what it means. He said,
let thy tender mercies speedily go before us. Let them get in
front of us. We're headed to meet God. It's
a rare group of people that really knows that. We're headed to meet
God. Every step we take, every day
that goes by, but every step we take, we have a given number
of steps. We were born with a given number
of steps. Every one we take is one less. We're going to meet
God. We're headed to meet God. And
this is what the writer of the Psalm said, Lord, would you let
your tender mercy hurry out in front of me? Would you let it
get in front of us? Before we go to the judgment
throne for all of our sin, would you let mercy get in front of
us? For we are brought very low. We are a low and sinful people
ourselves. We are a people who need mercy
just as much as anybody does. What is mercy? When we say that
we need mercy, what does that mean? What is mercy? What does
it do? Where does it come from? How
does it come to us? There's a song that says, an
old song, I love it so much. It says, as poor wretched sinners,
no God and no hope. It seemed there was no one to
help, but God in his mercy, salvation supplied, emptied heaven and
came down himself. And a ransom was found. That
means a payment. Yes, a ransom was found. Love paid the price. What is
love? Scripture says, God is love. God paid the price. As I say
this sometimes, it's so amazing to me. that God would empty heaven
and come down himself. Those who are in great authority
send somebody to do their bidding for them. God came down himself. And who paid the price? God did. The scripture says, all the love
of God is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Christ paid the price. So the song says, a ransom was
found. Yes, a ransom was found. Love
himself paid the price on Calvary's mount. Judgment was met for all
that sin that God's people had committed against him. And the
law satisfied, the law was satisfied. that justice had been served
and righteousness had been fulfilled. That's what people are trying
to do in all of their good deeds and all of their good religion.
They're trying to satisfy the law. That's what they're trying
to do. Well, when a ransom was found,
judgment was met and the law was satisfied. And the song goes
on to say, mercy was born right there. That's where it came from. That's where it began. It began
when a ransom was found. When Christ died, paying the
price for the sin of His people, mercy was born. That's when it
came to His people. The blood that He shed pleads
mercy on their behalf. That blood has gone before them. Our Lord went into the veil.
that veil that no man could go into. He went in that veil, bringing
His own blood. He went in, not without blood.
He brought His own blood, and that blood pleads mercy for God's
people. Mercy for a lifetime of sin.
Mercy for a lifetime of ruin. Mercy for a lifetime of being
me. It's not good to be me. But it's good to be me in him.
Every time I look at me, I see something that's not too good.
But every time I see me in him, I see mercy and I see goodness. I see salvation. So verse eight says, oh, remember
not against us former iniquities. Let thy tender mercy speedily
prevent us. Let them get between us and the
throne of God, for we are brought very low. Verse nine says, help
us, oh God, of our salvation for the glory of thy name. What did he say his glory was?
What did he himself say his glory was? People talk about the glory
of God. What did he say his glory was? He said, it's that I will
have mercy. You want to see something glorious?
It's that the holy, just, sovereign God would actually have mercy
by giving his own blood and paying the price of a wretched sinner
like you. You see that? You've seen glory. He said, I will save my people
by hiding them in me while all their judgment comes down on
them. I'll take their punishment for them. Call my name Savior
because that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna remember not their
iniquities. I'm gonna speedily put my mercy
in front of them. I'm gonna help them. I'm gonna
deliver them. and I'm gonna purge away their
sins. And I'm gonna do it, he said, for my name's sake. That's what I'm gonna do for
them. Now, doesn't hearing that make you say, verse 13, we thy
people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever. We will show forth thy praise
to all generations. Doesn't that make you say, that
sounds so wonderful to me. That just sounds so, that sounds
too good to be true. Had God not said it, I don't
know if I could believe that. It's just too free and too full
and too complete. But it is true. God did say it. and it just sounds so wonderful.
It's just so restful. It is just so, so restful, so
peaceful. If that sounds wonderful to you,
there are some people that, you know, hearing this is a savor
of life unto life. Some, it's a savor of death unto
death. It doesn't do anything for them. To some, they look
at themselves and they say, I'm really not a sinner, so I don't
really need mercy. But if you are, and if hearing
this is music to your ears, if His
mercy is music to your ears, every time you hear that His
mercy starts over brand new every single morning, you ever wake
up some mornings and think, man, I messed yesterday up? Brand
new every morning. If that is the hope you've been
looking for, If your sin is overshadowing every good deed you're trying
to do, if you're trying to do good deeds and right your wrongs
and sin keeps messing all of them up. I think about what that
preacher said that one time, he said, I can't preach, but
I sin. I can't pray, but I sin. Do you ever sin when you pray? You ever start to pray and then
your mind goes, who knows where, thinking about who knows what,
and you think, what am I doing? If everything you're trying to
do is bringing nothing but misery and desolation to you, and if
mercy in His blood has been revealed to you as total
redemption, if God has revealed that to you, total redemption,
and if hearing that makes you really glad, then you're one
of His sheep. We are His sheep. His sheep hear
His voice and they follow Him. They know Him. They love Him.
They desire Him. They need Him. And they follow
Him. And if we are His sheep, that
is a wonderful thing to be. That is such a wonderful thing
to be. Doesn't it sound so nice to just be a sheep of His pasture? Doesn't that sound so nice? One
of the lambs in His fold, having a shepherd who will lead you
and feed you and defend you and deliver you and provide everything
you need for you. Doesn't that sound wonderful? Look with me at Psalm 80 verse
one. It says, give ear, O shepherd
of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that
dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth before Ephraim and
Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up thy strength and come and save
us. Turn us again, O God, and cause
thy face to shine and we shall be saved. O shepherd of Israel. Look at Psalm 78, the heading
at the top of the page. For mine, it says, on this particular
one, it says, the story of God's wrath against the disobedient. Verse 50, it says, he made a
way to his anger. He spared not their soul from
death, but gave their life over to the pestilence, and smote
all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the
tabernacles of Ham, but made his own people to go forth like
sheep. and guided them in the wilderness
like a flock, and He led them on safely, so that they feared
not, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. That's what He
did for His sheep. Turn with me to Psalm 100. Verse 1 says, Make a joyful noise
unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord,
He is God. It is He that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep
of His pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and
his truth endureth to all generations. Go to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 verse one says, the
Lord is my shepherd. John 10 says, he's the good shepherd. Hebrews 13 says, he's the great
shepherd. First Peter five says, he's the
chief shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not lack. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. You ever get all stirred up and you just need to settle down. Let's just settle down. He makes
me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear
no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou 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. We have a dog and a cat in our
house. And at least the dog will greet
you when you come home and, you know, wants to interact to some
degree and all that. But the cat, you talk about worthless. That cat is worthless. Honestly, some cats are not,
this one is. That cat does not do anything.
He does not do anything. That cat does not provide anything,
not to me. But I made a covenant to take
ownership of that cat. And I did that for my beloved's
sake. Honestly, and for my beloved's
sake, I'll keep my covenant. I will. I will keep my covenant.
But oftentimes, I come in, and this is not just a cute story. I'm being serious. Oftentimes,
I will come in from a difficult day, and I will look at that
cat and think, oh, to be that cat. If I could just be that
cat. That cat doesn't have a worry
in the world. That cat is living in somebody
else's house. You know, when I grew up, I wanted
to move out, get out of dad's house. Now all I want to do is
go back in. You take care of things. I'm done. That cat is
living in somebody else's house. It's his house, meaning it's
his home, but his name is not on it. That cat is eating somebody else's
food. It's his, it's all for him, but
he didn't buy it. We give it to him. He is totally,
he's at the mercy of us to feed him and to keep him. That cat lays there basking. That cat is so happy he'll lay
here for a while and there for a while, find a window with sun.
That cat is basking in somebody else's warmth. And I do, I think, oh, to just
be that cat. Pretty much every time I think
that, I realize and I say to myself, I am that cat. I really am that cat. That cat
could worry all it wanted to about whether or not it's going
to get fed its next meal, but it wouldn't change a thing. And as a sheep of my shepherd, I
am just like that cat. I can run rampant all I want
to, but that cat never leaves our home. Never goes outside.
Kept by the power of our home. I'm worthless in my flesh. I know I am. I can't do anything
to provide for myself. I can't offer my master anything. to anything of any value or any
worth. But my master has made a covenant
to take ownership of me, ownership of us. He made a covenant to
do that. And he has reserved a place in
his home for us. And for his beloved's sake, for
Christ's sake, he'll keep us. And He'll feed us with the food
that He provides. And He will let us bask in His
warmth. And He'll see to it that we don't
have a care in His world. Because He shouldered all of
our burden for us. And He will shoulder all of our
burden for us. All of our care can be rolled
over to Him. All of our care. Doesn't that
sound so nice? For Christ's sake, we have been
made to be the sheep of His pasture. And as His sheep, we can rest
in Him. And we can give thanks to Him.
And we can show forth His praise to all generations. because He
remembered not against us our former iniquities. He let His
tender mercy speedily get in front of us. He helped us, He
delivered us, He purged away our sins, and He did all that
for the glory of His namesake. If we don't have Christ, we don't
have anything. We don't have Christ. We don't
have anything. But if we have Christ, we have it all. And we
have it all. Like Isaiah put it, he said sheep
in a fat pasture. That's what he called it. Oh, the blessing of being a sheep
of the shepherd. We're gonna close with this song,
but just listen to these words. Savior, and pray this in your
heart. Savior, like a shepherd, lead
us. Much we need thy tender care.
In thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use thy folds prepare. That means it's your grass, but
would you let us eat it? Would you prepare a place for
us? Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou has bought us, thine we
are. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
thou has bought us, thine we are. We are thine, do thou befriend
us, be the guardian of our way. Keep thy flock. From sin defend
us, seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
hear, oh hear us when we pray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
hear, oh hear us when we pray. Thou hast promised to receive
us, poor and sinful though we be. Thou hast mercy to relieve
us, grace to cleanse, and power to free. Blessed Jesus, blessed
Jesus, early let us turn to Thee. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
early let us turn to Thee. And then the last verse says,
early let us seek Thy favor. Early, let us do thy will. Blessed
Lord and only Savior, with thy love our bosoms fill, our hearts,
our innermost being. Blessed Jesus, thou hast loved
us, love us still. Please love us still. What a
blessing to be a sheep of the shepherd. What a blessing. Because
of his grace, we'll give him thanks forever. We'll sing forth
his praise to all generations. Amen.