Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I invite you to turn with me
this morning to Psalm 23. Psalm chapter 23. We're going
to begin by reading the psalm. It says, 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 paths of righteousness for His namesake. 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. 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." Wouldn't you love to know when
David wrote that psalm? What point in his life he wrote
it? Was it when he was a young boy?
watching over his father's sheep, just a shepherd when he had time
on his hands to sit and write songs? Was it when he was running
for his life, hiding in caves, scared to death? Was it after
all his fighting and struggles were over? Were these some of
his last words? Nobody knows. Nobody knows, but
it doesn't matter. because the Lord is my shepherd
all the days of my life. He was my shepherd before I ever
even existed. Turn with me over to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 20 says,
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. The Lord has been the shepherd
of his sheep ever since God the Father made the covenant of blood
with God the Son. The only reason we're shown mercy
is because of that covenant. The Lord made a promise and he
said, I will not break my promise. He's been my shepherd ever since
that covenant. In Psalm 139, David said, you
knew all my members before they were ever even formed. He was
my shepherd before I ever even existed. He was the shepherd
of His people before they ever knew He was their shepherd. Turn
with me over to John chapter 10. John chapter 10 verse 16 says
this, And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear My voice, And there shall be one fold and one shepherd. In Isaiah 65, he said, I am found
of them that sought me not. I said, behold me, behold me. He was the shepherd of his people
before they ever knew he was their shepherd. He will always
be the shepherd of His sheep. Look right here in John chapter
10 at verse 27. He said, My sheep hear My voice,
and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. Isn't that wonderful news? Isn't
that wonderful news? Never plucked them out of my
hand. Now Psalm 23 is a very familiar psalm to most people.
If you could ask believers throughout history, what's your favorite
psalm? I'm sure the number one answer
would be Psalm 23. But sometimes familiarity is
not the best thing in the world. It causes us to think sometimes,
well, we already know that. And it makes our flesh say, let's
look for something new in it. Well, I want you to listen to
this. This is 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians 11. Verse 3 says, But I fear, lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. The simplicity! Let's stay with
the simplicity of Christ, okay? Our text in Psalm 23 verse 1
says, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Many people say, I believe in
God. I believe there's a God. Well, I'm not talking about a
God. God, just some God, somebody up there, some man upstairs,
the Lord Jehovah, the only true and living God is my shepherd. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I know who I trust in. I know
who I look to and hope in and wait on. The Lord, Jesus Christ. It says in verse one, the Lord
is. Is. It doesn't say the Lord was. It doesn't say the Lord will
be. It doesn't say the Lord wants to be. It says, the Lord is. The Lord asked Peter one time,
Peter, who do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art. Hebrews 11 says, he that cometh
to God must believe he is. It's settled. It's sure. The Lord is. Now here's the best
news of all. Verse one says, the Lord is my. My. Not a. My. My shepherd. Turn with me over
to Psalm 73. Psalm 73 verse 25 says this,
Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. I am His and He is mine. The Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. He's not my co-pilot. He's not my inspiration. He's
not somebody I have a good thing going with. He's my shepherd. I'm his sheep. Do you know what that means?
It means I'm dumb. I'm dumb. He's the shepherd. I'm the sheep. It means I'm dependent. Totally dependent on him. It
means I'm a wanderer. All we like sheep have gone astray. That's what it means. But if
I'm His sheep, then it means He owns me. And if He owns me,
then He will lovingly teach me. He'll lovingly provide for me. He'll lovingly lead me. and He'll keep me." Hebrews 13
says, He's the Great Shepherd. 1 Peter 5 says, He's the Chief
Shepherd. And John 10 says, He's the Good
Shepherd. The LORD IS MY SHEPHERD. He's the One who feeds me, And
he's the one who shears me. I'm not sheared by somebody else.
I'm sheared by my shepherd. If he humiliates me and humbles
me, he's still my shepherd. He's still my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He's the one who holds me. holds
me close, holds me tight, holds me safe. The Lord is my shepherd. Therefore, our text says, I shall
not want. That means I shall not lack. I shall not come up short. I shall not fail. There was a king in the Old Testament,
King Belshazzar, and he sinned against the Lord. And God wrote
on the wall with his finger. And the king called a man named
Daniel in to interpret it. And Daniel said, thou art weighed
in the balances and found wanting. Lacking. Short. Not us. Not if we're God's sheep. Not
if God chose us and gave us to Christ as His sheep. Colossians 1 verse 12 says, God
hath made us meat. That means able. Fit. to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. We shall not want. We shall not. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
shepherd. If we've been given to Him, the
Lord is our shepherd. And He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. I laid down my life for the sheep. There's a song that says, Jesus
Christ is made to be All I need. All I need. Christ is all I need. I shall not want. If God has
chosen you to be one of his sheep, because the Lord is your shepherd,
you shall not want, you shall not lack. Now let me show you
six things that you will not lack because the Lord is your
shepherd. If he is your shepherd, if he
is my shepherd, if he has blessed us by adopting us into his family,
pulling us near, drawing us nigh with cords of love, If we are his sheep, I want to
show you six things that we will not lack because the Lord is
our shepherd. Number one, we will not lack
rest. We will not lack rest. Verse
two, right here in Psalm 23 says, he maketh me to lie down. Lie down. There's no work to
be done. Rest. There's no work to be done. Rest. Rest. What must I do to be saved? Nothing. Christ did it already. Christ did the work. Christ finished the work of redemption. Christ paid the price. Rest. He laid down his life for the
sheep. Rest. There are no battles to
fight. There are no battles to fight.
It is finished. Lie down and rest. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Rest. God is in control. Rest. Thy God reigneth. It's already been ordered and
sure. What has already been ordered
and sure? Everything from the foundation of the world. Rest. Verse 2 says, He maketh me to
lie down in green pastures. What are these green pastures?
They are the Word of God. The Word of God. Turn with me
over to Luke chapter 5. Luke chapter 5. Verse 5 says,
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, We have toiled all
night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, at
thy word, I will let down the net. The word of this world,
the wisdom of this world, it brings so much anxiousness. Turn the TV on, turn the news
on, Anxiousness, worry, fear, trouble, the word of my own mind,
my own opinion, it brings me so much anxiousness. My thoughts,
they bring me so much anxiousness, but the word of God causes us
to rest, rest. Because the Lord is our shepherd,
we shall not lack rest. Isn't that wonderful, wonderful
news? That is the greatest news I could
possibly hear. Rest. The second thing we shall
not lack, because the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not lack
peace. Peace. Verse two back in Psalm
23 says, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth
me beside the still waters. Beside the still waters. Go over to Psalm 69. Life is deep water. It is, it
is troubled water. It's raging water, that's life. Psalm 69 verse one says, save
me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink
in deep mire where there is no standing. I am come into deep
waters where the floods overflow me. His disciples came to him
in the ship and said, master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the
wind and said unto the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased
and there was a great calm, great calm. The Lord is our shepherd. And if the Lord is our shepherd,
we shall not lack peace. Peace with God. Why? He laid down His life for the
sheep. He finished the work. Peace with each other. Peace. Just listen to Isaiah chapter
26. Verse 3 says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind
is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in
the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength."
Proverbs chapter 3 says this in Proverbs 3 verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all thine
heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy
ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Trust
in the Lord. Because the Lord is our shepherd,
we shall not lack rest, we shall not lack peace. The third thing
we shall not lack is forgiveness. forgiveness. Psalm 23 verse 3
says, He restoreth my soul. Man doesn't just have a soul.
Man is his soul. He is his soul. I'm me. This body is not me. You could
cut off my arm and I'm still me. Cut off my other arm. I'm still me. cut off both my
legs, I'm still me. I am my soul. And because the
Lord is my shepherd, he restores me. He forgives me. In Adam, I died. When Adam sinned,
I sinned. When Adam died spiritually, I
died spiritually. My shepherd has brought me back
to life. Spiritual life, eternal life. In my flesh, I'm separated from
God. I'm lost. My shepherd has brought
me back to God. In my filth, I was made to sit
on a dung heap, the scripture says. My shepherd has made me
to sit among princes. Because of my sin, I lost everything. I lost it all. Because the Lord
is my shepherd, he has restored my soul, forgiven me. How? He laid down his life for
the sheep. Because the Lord is the shepherd
of his sheep, The fourth thing they shall not lack is holiness,
goodness, rightness. You know, that seems so far to
a sinner, so foreign to a sinner. Verse 3 says, he leadeth me in
the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Righteousness. not my righteousness, God's righteousness. Romans 10 verses 1 through 4
say, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved, for I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ, Christ my Shepherd,
the Lord, is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth." Christ is my righteousness. My shepherd is
righteousness. And because the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. His people shall not lack rest,
peace, forgiveness, righteousness, holiness. The fifth thing they
shall not lack is comfort. Psalm 23, verse 4 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. He doesn't say there will be
no evil. He doesn't say that at all. He says, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? The rod is used by the shepherd
to do a few things. It's used to number the sheep,
count the sheep so that they won't lose one sheep. It's used
to quicken the pace. It's used to pat the sheep and
say, come on now, let's go. It's used to pull the sheep back. Don't go that way. That's danger.
You're going to fall off a cliff. It's used to fight off the enemy.
Thy rod and thy staff, that's Christ and His Word. They comfort me. They comfort
me. The sixth thing we shall not
lack is provision. we're going to be taken care
of. Psalm 23 verse 5 says, Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest
my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Abraham said, The Lord
will provide. David said, I have been young,
now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his
seed begging bread. The Lord himself said, I go to
prepare a place for you. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil.
Oil! That's what you pour on the head
of a king. He's made me to be a king. Not only do I not lack,
my cup has run over. It runneth over. Isaiah 40 verse
1 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. My cup runneth 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, forever, all the days of my life. And it's all because the Lord
is my shepherd. You know what that makes me?
A thankful sheep, a thankful, thankful sheep. Until next Sunday
morning, may the Lord bless his word. You have been listening
to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of Sovereign Grace, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m. Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.