All right, go with me now, if
you would, to Psalm 23. The precious Psalm 23. Verse one says, the Lord is my shepherd. That deserves a salah. It does, doesn't it? Just pause and think about that. The Lord is my shepherd. Everything
that means. Do you ever feel alone? Do you ever feel alone? I love the story of that old preacher.
I believe his name was Hubert. I could be wrong, but I believe
his name was Hubert. He had some kind of a physical
condition. that caused him to be completely
bent over when he stood up. And he and his wife had a daughter
who had some special needs of her own, and it came to a point
where his wife could no longer take care of both of them, so
he voluntarily checked himself into a nursing home so she could
take care of their daughter. And what a selfless thing to
do. But a couple of brethren went to visit him one time and
they walked into his room and he had his back to them. He was
standing there bent over looking out the window and they said,
Brother Hubert, are you all alone? And he said, no brother, the
Lord is with me. That deserves a Selah. The Lord is with me. What a comforting
thought. He is with me where I am. One day, if he is my shepherd,
I'm going to be with him where he is. But even though at this moment
I am not currently there with him, He is right now, at this
moment, currently here with me. He's with me. He's with all of
His people. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never leave you. I can't imagine a more comforting
thought. In the dark moments, in the quiet
moments, in the lonely moments, in the devastating moments, which
can be quite a few moments throughout our life here on this earth. But at all times, a man or a woman that has been
made to be a sheep, called to be a sheep, A person who has
had it revealed to him that he is a sheep before God. At all
times, that sheep can say, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, who are God's sheep? Who
can honestly say the Lord is my shepherd? What characterizes
the Lord's sheep? How are they best described?
Turn with me over to Psalm 44. Psalm 44, the heading at the
top of my page says, the church complaineth to God of present
evils. They got themselves into trouble
and now they're complaining about it, all right? Verse nine, it
says, but thou hast cast off and put us to shame. and goest
not forth with our armies. Thou makest us to turn back from
the enemy and they which hate us spoil for themselves. Thou hast given us like sheep
appointed for meat and has scattered us among the heathen. What characterizes
God's sheep? They're weak. They are helpless. They are defenseless. They are complainers. Verse nine says they are put
to shame. Verse 10 says they are spoiled. They're ruined. Verse 11 says
they are appointed for meat. They're appointed for destruction.
Down in verse 22, it says, Yea, for thy sake are we killed all
the day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. That's all we're reckoned to
be good for, slaughter. Look with me at Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse 176. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments. Our Lord told the disciples,
you go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The lost sheep. He said, I came to seek and to
save that which was lost. Well, how did they get that way?
Did they just look up one day and realize, oh no! Prone to wander. Lord, I feel
it. Prone. It's true, isn't it? Prone. to leave the God I love. David said right there, I have
gone astray. Peter said in 1 Peter 1, you
were as sheep going astray, rebellious. Weak, defenseless, ruined, lost,
rebellious. Look with me at Psalm 49. Psalm 49 verse 14 it says, Like
sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, and
the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and
their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. That's what describes the sheep
of God, dead, dead. But that's who gets to cry. The
Lord is my shepherd. Because verse 15 right here says,
but God. But God will redeem my soul from
the power of the grave. For he shall receive me. Why
will He redeem my soul? Why will He receive me? It's
because He's my shepherd. And that's what a shepherd does. Look with me at John 10. John 10 verse 11, he said, I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Have you ever known a shepherd
to actually give his life for one of his sheep? Have you ever known one shepherd?
to actually give his life for his sheep. This one did. This one did. That word good,
he said, I'm the good shepherd. That word good means beautiful,
handsome, excellent, precious, suitable, commendable, admirable,
praiseworthy. That's who our shepherd is. and
to think He laid down His life for us. Sheep is such a glorious
term for us. The scripture says in reality
we're worms. But it says we are worms. Why did He lay down His life
for us? Why did He lay down His life
for us? It's because He loved us. How did He lay down His life
for us? He became us. Why did He? It's because He loved us. How
did He? He became us. The shepherd became the sheep. That's an amazing thought, isn't
it? The shepherd became the sheep. He made Himself to be the sheep. Look with me at Acts chapter
8. Acts 8, verse 26, And the angel of the Lord spake
unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the
way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And
he arose, and went, and behold, a man of Ethiopia, and eunuch
of great authority, under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who
had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for
to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot, read
Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip,
Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Philip ran
thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and
said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how
can I except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip
that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture
which he read was this, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter. And like a lamb dumb before his
shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his
judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the
earth.' And the eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee,
of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself or of some other
man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, the shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ, the shepherd
who made himself to be the sheep. The shepherd who traded places
with his sheep, entered into their weakness so they could
enter into his strength. Entered into their ruin so that
they could enter into his perfection. Entered into their slaughter
so they could be set free. That eunuch said, I want the
Lord to be my shepherd. And we do too, don't we? We do
too. Oh, we're so willing because
of the day of his power. So willing. I do too. Look with
me at Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13 verse 20, Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our 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 forever and ever. Amen. That great shepherd
of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our shepherd. He's our shepherd. Now let's
look at what that means for us. Go with me back to Psalm 23. Psalm 23 verse 1 says, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. Want means lack. It means do without. It means
fail. David said, I shall not fail. Why shall I not fail? It's because
he shall not fail. He is my shepherd, and if He
doesn't fail, neither will I. Verse two says, He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. Why does He do that? He does
it because He's my shepherd. He makes me to lie down. That
word means fall down in submission. But that word also means recline,
it means rest. Is there anything better than
rest? Is there anything better than rest? Rest from the turmoil,
rest from the struggles of the flesh, rest from the struggles
of sin? Verse two says, he maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. Green pastures means a tender
home. A tender abode, a pleasant place. Where is that pleasant place?
Where is that tender abode? It's in Christ. Hiding in thee,
hiding in thee, thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee,
my pleasant place of rest. There is true, true rest. before the Lord makes us lay
down in Christ. There is nothing but turmoil,
there's nothing but struggle, there's nothing but work, there's
nothing but searching. But once the Lord makes us lay
down in Christ, there's rest, there's peace, there's rest.
Verse two says, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He leadeth
me. Aren't you so glad he's not watching
us wander along? I am so glad he is not watching
me wander along. Well, look at him. He's over
there now. Look, he's over here. He leadeth me. This is what he said. He said,
I'll hold your hand. A couple walked into the service
last Sunday morning, holding hands. I watched them walk from
the parking lot, across the street, up the sidewalk, holding hands. I told both of them. I said,
it sure is a nice thing to see a husband and a wife holding
hands. It's just sweet. There's something
sweet about it. It's just loving. It says to
everybody who can see it, this is my person. This is who I love. Well, Christ, the grace, the
great husband, he said to his bride, I'll hold your hand. David
said in verse two, he leadeth me beside the still waters, waters
of quietness, waters of peace, waters of consolation. Verse
3 says, He restoreth my soul. He eternally restored our souls,
the souls of His people, with His own blood. We became ruined. We became lost. We became dead. We became all those things. And
He restored our soul eternally with His own blood. But daily,
and this is the truth, daily with His loving Word, with this
Word right here, with the touch of His Word, the voice of His
Word, with the remembrance of His mercy and His grace, getting
a hold of mercy, getting a hold of grace, with Him saying to
our sorrowful hearts, it's okay, I love you, you're mine. Every
time that He leads us to that place, He restores our soul.
He picks us back up. Verse three says, He leadeth
me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. What are
the paths of righteousness? Paths of Christ. He is all righteousness. He leads me in the path of His
work and not mine. His way and not mine. His glory
and not mine. He leads me straight to Him.
Straight to Him. Verse four says, yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death. Walk means live. Shadow means
darkness. Death means the grave, and it
means sin. Yea, though I live in the valley
of the darkness of sin, I'll fear no evil. I will not fear
that evil will overtake me, for thou art with me. You're my shepherd
and I trust you. I trust that you're gonna get
me through this, this terrible valley that all of your people
must pass through. I trust that you will lead us
all the way, all the way my Savior leads me. Verse four says, Thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The end of verse four, thy
rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I saw that line in a little
bit different light than I've ever seen it before. The scripture
talks about the rod of correction. I've never associated that line
with the rod of correction, but thinking about that, it brings
great comfort to me. Whom the Lord loves, He chastens. Those who have heard it, I don't
believe will ever get tired of hearing the story of that little
girl who was in Mexico, Walter and Betty
Groover, missionaries to Mexico. There was a little girl, Chayla,
is that her name, Chayla? Her mother couldn't afford to
take care of her. So Betty went to her mother and
asked, can she come live with us? I'll feed her and take care
of her. And her mother said yes. So in
the Groover home were four children growing up in that home. And
this little girl, Chayla, became one of them. But Brother Cody
Groover told me one time that it was clear that there was a
difference. We would all get into something we shouldn't be
doing, and Walter would come in and march his four biological
children out, and they'd all be disciplined for it. Chela
would be left there. He said every time, it was the
same, every time. We got in trouble and she got
nothing. One day, that little girl started pitching a fit in
the living room floor, just kicking and screaming and hollering,
and Walter came in and said, what are you doing? She just
kept pitching a fit and hollering and crying, and he said, stop
that. She kept crying and hollering and screaming. He said, if you
don't stop that, I'm going to spank you. So she turned it up
a notch. He said, let's go. Cody said,
we saw it. We thought, oh, you don't know
what's coming. He took her back into the back, and he spanked
that little girl. And afterwards, he said, he came out and told
his wife, Betty, he said, after I spanked her, she had these
huge crocodile tears pouring down her face, and she crawled
up into my lap, and she hugged my neck, and she whispered into
my ear, now I know you love me. Now I know you love me. David
said, your rod comforts me. Because every time you give it
to me, every time you don't leave me off to myself, every time you bring me into
the loving correction of your children, I know I'm one of them. I know I am right there. I know
you love me. Verse four says thy rod and thy
staff. Staff means support. It means
sustenance. Lord, whether you break me down
or whether you lift me up, Just the fact that you continually
remind me that you're my shepherd, I find great comfort in that.
Verse five says, thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies. Table means meal. You feed me
in spite of me. My greatest enemies all reside
right in here. All of them are right inside
here. My mind is my greatest enemy. My old stony heart is my greatest
enemy. My tongue is my greatest enemy. My eyes, my ears, my hands, my
feet, they're all my enemies. But David said in verse five,
thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies,
thou anointest my head with oil. Oil means fatness, it means richness. You prepare a table and then
you cry, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he
that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and
milk without money and without price. and let your soul delight
itself in fatness, satisfying richness. David said, oh, my
cup runneth over, and mine does too, and yours does too. Whether
we realize it, our cup runs over. If we have the Lord for a shepherd,
We're always looking at everything half empty, glass half empty.
Our cup is running over. It's running over. If we have
the Lord for a shepherd, and if He has led us to the peaceful
quietness and rest of His righteousness, and if we cannot fear death because
His blood has satisfied the grave, and if He feeds us in spite of
us, With the fatness of His word, then our cups are running over.
They're just running over. Verse six says, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a privilege it
is to be able to say the Lord is my shepherd. What a privilege.
I love this, Charles Spurgeon said concerning that verse, goodness
and mercy. He said, goodness and mercy are
God's two watchmen who follow his children everywhere they
go. Goodness is one step ahead supplying all of his need. And
mercy is one step behind blotting out all of his transgressions. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord my shepherd forever. All right, let's all
stand together.