All right, let's turn back to
Psalm 23. Psalm 23. What a Psalm. Let's read it one
more time. 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 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." Isn't that about the greatest
thing you've ever heard? Wouldn't you love to know when
David wrote that psalm? Wouldn't you love to know that?
Was it when he was a boy? A young boy sitting on a hillside
watching his father's sheep, playing an instrument of ten
strings, learning how to play an instrument of ten strings.
He had time to sit and write songs. These are all songs. Was it when he was running for
his life, being chased by his enemies, hiding in caves, scared
to death? Was it after all His fighting
and struggles were over and He was resting on His throne? Were these His last words? Some
of His last words? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. But it doesn't matter. It just
doesn't matter. Because the Lord is my shepherd,
all the days of my life. All the days of my life. He was
my shepherd before I ever even existed. Turn over to Hebrews
13. Hebrews 13. Look at 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.
That great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. The Lord has been our Shepherd
ever since God the Father made a covenant of blood with God
the Son. That's when He became our Shepherd. The only reason we're shown mercy
is because of the fact that this covenant was made between God
the Father and God the Son. Psalm 139 says, David wrote,
all my members, you knew all my members before they were ever
even formed. He was my shepherd before I ever
even existed. And then I was born into this
world and I walked according to the course of this world and
He was my shepherd and He was your shepherd before you ever
knew He was your shepherd. Go with me to John 10. John 10, look at verse 16. The Lord said, 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. They don't know
it yet, but they're about to be called into this fold. He
was our shepherd before we ever knew he was our shepherd. He
said, I'm found of them that sought Me not. I said, Behold
Me. Behold Me. And He will always be the shepherd
of His sheep. He's never going to stop being
our shepherd. Never. Right here in John 10,
look 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." He's never going
to stop being our shepherd. Never. Isn't that wonderful news? That's good news. Now Psalm 23
is a very familiar psalm to us. If you could ask believers throughout
history, what is your favorite psalm? What's your favorite? The number one answer is going
to be Psalm 23. But sometimes familiarity is
not the best thing in the world. You know what I mean? It causes us to think we know
that already. Oh, I know that. I've been knowing that. It makes
our flesh say, let's look for something new in it. We've heard
what everybody has to say about it. Let's try to find something
new in it. All right. Well, listen to this.
You guys know this, but I want to quote it to you. It's second
Corinthians 11 verse three. It 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." What that means is, don't look for anything new. Let's stay with the simplicity
of Christ. So it says in verse 1, our text,
Psalm 23 verse 1 says, the Lord is my shepherd. Many people say, I believe in
God. Yeah, I believe in God. I believe there is a God. Well, I'm not talking about a
God. David's not talking about a God. Just some God. Just somebody up there. Some
man upstairs. He says, The Lord. The Lord. Jehovah. The only true and living
God is my shepherd. The God. The Lord. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I know who it is. I know whom
I trust in. I know who I look to. I know
who I hope in and who I wait on. The Lord. Jesus Christ. The Lord. It says in verse 1,
The Lord is. He 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. Is. The Lord is. Peter, who do you
say that I am? Thou art. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is. It's settled. It's sure. The Lord is. Now, here's the
best news of all. Verse 1 says, The Lord is my, my. He's not a. He's my. Turn over to Psalm 73. Psalm
73 and look at verse 25. 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."
The God is my portion forever. He's my. I am His and He is mine. Isn't that wonderful? Psalm 23 says, The Lord is my
shepherd. He's my shepherd. He is not my
copilot. That would make me the pilot.
I don't want to be the pilot. He is not my inspiration. He is not somebody I have a good
thing going with. He's my shepherd. I'm His sheep. You know what
that means? If I'm His sheep, you know what
that means? It means I'm dumb. He's the shepherd. I'm the sheep. It means I'm dependent. He's
the shepherd. I'm the sheep. It means I'm a
wanderer. I'm a sheep. But if I'm His sheep,
then it means He owns me. He owns me. I'm His sheep. I'm a sheep, but I'm His sheep. And if He owns me, then He's
going to lovingly, very lovingly teach me. He's going to lovingly
provide for me. He's going to lovingly keep me. 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. He's the good, good shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He's the one who feeds me. He's
the one who shears me. I'm not sheared by somebody else.
I'm sheared by my shepherd. If He humiliates me, if He humbles
me, the Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. He's the one
who holds me, picks me up, carries me in His arms, holds me close. Safe, safe. The Lord is my shepherd. Therefore, verse 1 says, I shall
not want. It's not going to happen. I shall
not lack. I shall not come up short. I
shall not fail. That's what that means. I shall
not want. There was a man in the Old Testament named Belshazzar. King Belshazzar. And he sinned
against the Lord. And God took his own finger and
wrote on the wall. It says he wrote in the plaster
on the wall. And Belshazzar saw the hand of
God writing on the wall and it scared him to death. So the king
called Daniel to come in and interpret what he wrote on the
wall. And Daniel read it and he told the king, Thou art weighed
in the balances and found wanting. You don't hold up. You're found lacking. Not us. Not us. Colossians 1.12 says, God hath
made us neat. That means He's made us able
and He's made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light. We're not lacking. He's made
us fit. We shall not want. We shall not
want. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
shepherd. And He said, I laid down my life
for my sheep. You shall not want. If the Lord
laid down His life, we shall not want. That little song says,
Jesus Christ is made to be all I need. All I need. He's all
I need. If I have my shepherd and my
shepherd has me, I shall not want. All right, let me show you six
things that you're not gonna lack in, okay? Six things you
will not lack because the Lord is your shepherd. Here's the
first one, number one. You will not lack rest. Verse two says, he maketh me
to lie down, whether I want to or not. He makes me do it. He makes me to lie down. There are no battles to fight.
None. No battles to fight. It is finished. Lie down. Just lie down and rest. God is in control. He's in control. Thy God reigneth. It's already been ordered. It's
already finished. Our steps are already ordered.
Rest. Just rest. Lie down and rest.
Verse 2 says, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Not brown. Green. What are these
green pastures? It's the Word of God. They're
so green. They're so green. Turn over to
Luke 5. Luke chapter 5. Look at verse 5. Simon answering said unto Him,
Master, we have toiled all the night. We have toiled. all the night. We've been struggling
all night long. He says, and have taken nothing. We're not getting anywhere. We're
spinning our wheels. Seems like I can't get ahead.
I can't catch a break. Nevertheless, at thy word, I'll
let down the net. I've toiled all night. I just
keep toiling, I just keep toiling. Nevertheless, at Thy Word, when I see it in Your Word, I rest. I just rest. The Word of this world, the wisdom
of this world, what men have to say, there's so many words
in the world. There's just so many words in
the world. And the word of this world just brings so much anxiousness. That's all it does. You just
toil over it. They're worried about everything.
They're literally worried about everything. The word of my own
mind and my own opinion and what I think is right brings me so
much anxiousness. I don't have it right. I can't
figure it out. But the Word of God causes us
to rest, doesn't it? When we enter into the Word,
and when we see the Word, and the Lord reveals it to us, and
we understand it, and it's brought to our mind, and it's brought
to our heart, we rest. We just rest. Because the Lord is our shepherd,
we will not lack rest. He'll bring us back to the green
pastures. Every time we go astray, every
time we're doing wrong, He's going to bring us back to green
pastures. And He's going to make us lie
down and rest. Alright, number two. We shall
not lack peace. We're not going to lack any peace.
Verse two in our text says, He leadeth me Beside the still waters. He leads me beside still waters. Turn over to Psalm 69. This life is deep water. That's what it is. It's deep
water. It's troubled water. It's raging
water. Look at Psalm 69 verse 1. It
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. Save me, O Lord. I'm going down. His disciples came to Him in
the ship and they said, Master, carest thou not that we perish? We're going down. The storm is
taking us down. And it says, He arose and rebuked
the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind
ceased and there was a great calm. There was a great calm. That's what I need. Not just
calm. I need a great calm. Peace. Peace. My peace I give unto you. The Lord is our shepherd and
we shall not lack peace. We're not going to lack peace
with God and we're not going to lack peace with each other.
If we're in His fold, He'll keep peace. He'll keep the peace.
Alright, just listen to this. This is Isaiah 26. Verses 3 and
4, it says, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind
is stayed on Thee. 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. I want to stay in perfect
peace. I really do. I really do. Lord, keep my mind stayed on
Thee. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed on Thee. Lord, keep me stayed upon
Jehovah. Hearts are fully blessed. Finding,
as He promised, perfect peace and rest. Alright, now listen to this.
This is Proverbs chapter 2. It says, Trust in the Lord with
all thine heart, and whatever you do, lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him,
and He shall direct your path. He will. He shall. Because the
Lord is our shepherd, we shall not lack rest, we shall not lack
peace, and number three, we shall not lack forgiveness. I need
forgiveness. That's what I need, and we're
not going to lack it. Our text, Psalm 23, verse 3 says,
He restoreth my soul. He restores my soul. You know,
man doesn't just have a soul. There's not just a soul stuck
in me. Man is his soul. I am my soul. All right, now, I am me, and
this body is not me. If you cut this off, I'm still me. And if you cut
that off, I'm still me. And if you cut that leg off,
and if you cut that leg off, I'm still me. This body is not
me. This body is flesh. Thanks be
to God, it's not me. It's not me. I am my soul. And because the Lord is my shepherd,
He restores me. He forgives me. In Adam, I died. I died. And my shepherd brought me back
to life. Me. In my flesh, I'm separated
from God. I'm lost. And my shepherd has
brought me back to God. In my filth, I was made to sit
on a dung heap. And my shepherd made me to sit
among princes. Because of my sin, I lost everything. I lost everything. And because
the Lord is my shepherd, He's restored my soul. He's forgiven me. How did He
do that? He laid down His life for the
sheep. Because the Lord is our shepherd,
the fourth thing we shall not lack is holiness. Holiness. Do you know that a
man must be holy to enter into glory? He must be pure. He must have
clean hands and a pure heart. That's the only way. We shall
not lack holiness and goodness and rightness. That seems so
foreign. to a sinner. A sinner can't fathom
that. Well, look at our text. Verse
3 says, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His
namesake. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His namesake. Not for It's not my righteousness. He doesn't lead me in my own
path of my own righteousness. He leads me in God's righteousness. Go over to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 1 says, 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 is the end
of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Christ is my righteousness. My Shepherd physically is righteousness. And because the Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want. I shall not want. We shall not
lack rest, we shall not lack peace, forgiveness, holiness,
righteousness, and the fifth thing that we shall not lack
is comfort. He will give us comfort. Look
at our text, 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 that there will
be no evil. He doesn't say that. He says,
I will fear no evil because you're with me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? If God be for us, who can be
against us? And if we are His sheep, God
is for us. He's for us. The rod is used by the shepherd
to do a few things, a few different things. Shepherds used their
rod to, number one, number the sheep. What they do is they take
their rod and hold it straight out. And when the sheep saw that,
they knew to line up and walk under the rod. And that's how
he counted the sheep. You know, they're all moving,
and he'd hold the rod out, and they'd line up, and they'd walk under the
rod. Isn't that something? And he'd count the sheep. So
he knows they're all here. I haven't lost one. That rod
counts the sheep. That rod was used when a sheep
was kind of lagging behind. Maybe veering off a little bit.
Not doing the right thing. Not going with the flow. That
rod was used to quicken the sheep. We need a little prodding every
now and then. Come on. Come on. You're lagging behind. Come on. Quicken the pace. Aren't you thankful for that
rod? Don't let me fall behind, Lord. That rod had a hook on
the end of it. And when a cliff was coming,
or a hole was coming, or something was coming, He could pull that
sheep back. When the wolves came, He could
fight off the enemy, fight off the wolves. Thy rod and thy staff,
Christ and His Word, they comfort me. They tell me I am His own. You mean I'm numbered with the
sheep? They put me back on the straight
and narrow. They keep me from going astray.
They fight off my enemies. Oh, I thank God for the rod.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Number six. The sixth thing that we shall
not lack is provision. Provision. This church has got
to be the greatest example of that I know. We were talking about that pretty
heavily right when they called me. How are they going to pay
me? How are we going to eat? What
are we going to do? I'm going to quit my job. Remember
all that? Oh, the Lord has provided. we're going to be taken care
of. Look at verse 5. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil,
and my cup runneth over. Abraham said, The Lord will provide. Jehovah-Jireh. David said, I've
been young and now I'm old and I've never seen the righteous
forsaken nor his seed begging bread. Never. The Lord Himself said, I am going
to prepare a place for you. That's exactly what I'm going
to do. Verse 5 says, Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest
my head with oil." You know, that's what you pour on the head
of a king. Oil. They went down all the brothers
and finally David came and they said, pour the oil on his head.
That's the king. You've made me to be a king.
Not only do I not lack, I'm a king. My cup runneth over. It just
runs over. Just listen to this. Isaiah 40
verses 1 and 2 say, 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. Double. My cup runneth
over. Verse 6 in our text, Psalm 23
says, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life. All the days of my life. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Now I had no idea that Bob was
going to be here tonight. But I was going to tell, and
I still am going to tell, this story that happened to me. And
you might have heard it already, Bob. But this, Bob's granddaughter,
I titled this, The Gospel According to Lucy Jean Simpson. Have you
ever heard this? Do you know how old is Lucy now?
Twelve. When Lucy was five. Five years
old. Now this is Hannah's cousin,
Carrie Simpson, Bob's daughter. We were over at their house in
Ohio and Carrie was making dinner and we all sat down at dinner
And she was putting food on the table, and people were coming
in. Well, I was the first one to sit down, naturally. And Lucy
comes, and she's going to sit right next to me. And she had
this little piece of paper in her hand, and it had a picture
on it that she had colored. And she got this in her Bible
class, her Sunday school. Now, listen to this and tell
me if the Lord didn't bless that Bible class. So she sits down,
and she's got her paper, and I said, That is a beautiful picture
you've colored." And she said, thank you. She said, do you want
me to tell you about it? And I said, I sure do. And it
had a man on it and some men behind him and there was a waterfall
there. And she held it up and she said, well this is Moses
and all these people are the children of Israel and the children of Israel started
complaining to Moses. They said, Moses, we're so thirsty. We're so thirsty. We're just
so thirsty, Moses. And they kept whining and they
kept complaining. We're just so thirsty. She said,
so do you know what Moses did? And I said, what? She said, he
struck the rock. And she said, do you know what
came out of that rock? I said, what? She said, living
water. And the people drank, and they
drank, and they were so satisfied. And she said, do you know who
that rock was? I said, who? She said, Jesus
Christ. And do you know what that rock
did? And I didn't. I said, what? She said, it followed
the Israelites wherever they went. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. And by God's mercy and
by His grace, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And it's all because the Lord
is my shepherd. I titled this message, A Thankful
Sheep. I'm a thankful sheep. Stand together
with me.