All right, brethren, let's turn
to 1 Samuel 17. We're going to be in Psalm 23.
I want us to start out looking at 1 Samuel 17. We're looking at this morning, Jehovah
Raya, the Lord is my shepherd, Lord is my Shepherd. This will be the final of the
names for now. This is number seven. Mankind
likes to say, well, there's seven names of the Lord because that's
perfection. Consider the names of the Lord.
What did He say? He said, His name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. In Exodus 30 it says, The Lord
is a man of war. The Lord's His name. He has many
names, don't He? We need many names to appreciate
Him as He ought to be appreciated. There in 1 Samuel, you got Judges,
Ruth, Samuel, Kings. Kings went too far. 1 Samuel.
While you're turning there, we know Psalm 23. That's the most
quoted psalm there is in the Scriptures. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. A lot of people walking up down
the street can know that, don't they? One time there was a well-trained
actor. He was receiving an award for
what a wonderful theater actor he was. He got up and quoted Psalm 23
and people oohed and aahed. Oh, look what mastery of the
English language he has. How great it was. That was nice,
wasn't it? And they clapped and cheered. One of his friends was
there in the audience. Well, that Sunday they went to
service. And a man got up and stuttered and stammered. And he tried his best
to read Psalm 23 and just fumbled through it. And people in that
audience wept. They wept. And that friend, that's
the actor, they said, what's the difference? They said, people
heard you read this so eloquently and it was just such an oratory
capacity. And they were pleased by it,
but these people wept. So what's the difference? He
said, I know the psalm and he knows the Savior. I know the
psalm, he knows the shepherd. There's a difference. But the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. That's what David wrote. David was a man, he was a king.
He wrote this, but he knew something about it. This wasn't just a
sweet little nursery rhyme, a sweet little picture of our Lord. This
wasn't something that he thought would go good with the narrative.
He knew what he was talking about. He knew what a shepherd was.
Did you know that? Look here in 1 Samuel 17. Goliath
had showed up on the scene. Those Philistines came and there
was going to be a war and they were in trouble. It says in 1
Samuel 17 verse 32, 1 Samuel 17 verse 32, And David said to
Saul, Let no man's heart fail because
of him, because of Goliath. Thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine. I'll take care of it. And Saul
said to David, the king spoke to David, this teenager. Thou
art not able to go against this Philistine, to fight with him,
for thou art but a youth. He a man of war from his youth.
What did Paul tell Timothy? Let no man despise you because
of your youth. David said unto Saul, thy servant
kept his father's sheep. I was a keeper of sheep. I'm
just a little shepherd boy. And he said, a lion came and
a bear and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after
him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth. And when
he rose against me, he went up to that bear and grabbed it by
the beard and slapped that lion. I was trying to get a bird away
from a cat the other day and it wasn't going to happen. Here
he went after a lion. That's a man that believes God
is what that is. And then after he smacked that lion or that
lamb out of its mouth, verse 35, and when he arose against
me, now he's coming after me. I caught him by his beard and
smote him and slew him. That's what happened. Here's
a teenager telling a king this. He said, I used to keep daddy's
sheep and a bear and a lion. Both of them came and took his
lamb and I killed both of them. What's that mean? What's the
significance? He's just a mountain man. That's what he is. A servant
slew both the lion and the bear. That lion's a picture of one
that goes about like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Satan. And you know what the bear is
in the Scriptures? That's the law. That's the law. And Hosea tells us that. You
know what our good sense is? We gotta run away from Satan.
He's a bad guy. We've been told nursery rhymes
since we was a little kid. What can we run to? We'll run to the
law. That'll keep us away from Satan.
You get the picture? You're leaving a line and running
to a bear and you ain't nothing but a sheep. You think that's
gonna work out good for you? You better have a shepherd. You
better have a shepherd come and save you out of the mouth of
the lion that sought to devour you, out of the mouth of that
law that you cannot keep. All it can do is kill. It'll
slay you. David knew what he was talking
about, didn't he? He knew what he was talking about. He says
in verse 36, Thy servant slew both the lion, Satan, and the
bear, the law. He fulfilled every jot and tittle,
and he's crushed the serpent's head. And this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them. seeing he hath defied the armies
of the living God. David knew what a shepherd was.
He knew a shepherd saves the sheep. He knew a shepherd feeds
the sheep. He protects the sheep, and he
lays down his life for the sheep. Can you imagine laying down your
life for an animal? I know there's some people out
there that love their animals, if they got any more sense than
that. But more so, given one of my
sons, given one of my children for a dog, for a sheep, for something
that ain't even worth anything. David willfully went out and
fought that lion and that bear because God enabled him so he
could be a picture for us of what a shepherd ought to be.
That way, when we say, the Lord is my shepherd, Stop doing what
you're doing and spend seven or eight hours just thinking
about that. Enter into that. Go read a book
about sheep or something. To pause on it. The Lord is my
shepherd. And what does he say after that?
I shall not want. I shall not want. This one that
saved me from the mouth of the lion, that saved me from the
mouth of the bear, both enemies I could not tackle by myself.
I had no hope. He come, He saved me. And because
of who He is, Jehovah-Ria, I shall not want. Because He's my shepherd,
I'm not going to want anything. It also means I shall not lack
and I shall not fail. Why? Because Jehovah-Jireh, the
Lord provides. In this psalm, we see all seven
of those names of the Lord, whether they are expressly written or
they're implied. We'll see that, I hope, today.
Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord provides. Why won't
I want? He provides. What does He provide? What does
He provide? Turn over to Matthew, chapter
6. We're going to turn a little bit in the beginning, and then
I'll keep you in the Psalms after that. Matthew, chapter 6. It says in Matthew 6, verse 25,
Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what
you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body
what you shall put on? Is not the life more than meat,
and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air.
They sow not, they don't plant a garden, neither do they reap,
nor gather their bonds, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought,
can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment,
for your clothes? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, and they toil not, neither do they spin. They
don't make their own clothes, and yet I say unto you, that
even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which
today is, and tomorrow is cast in the oven, shall not much more
clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewithal
shall we be clothed? For after these things did the
Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that you have
needed these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God."
That means seek ye first. There's an order to things, isn't
there? Isn't God a God of order? That means don't seek the kingdom
of God and then be a fatalist and lay in your recliner and
say, if the Lord wants to feed me, he'll just drop food into
my mouth. No, you seek him first in the morning, you pray to him.
Early, and then you get after it, and you go to work. Do what's
put in your hand. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
to you." He's saying worldly. You have need, the Lord's going
to give it to you. He'll give you the ability to
get it. He'll provide that, provide the job that you have, provide
the strength to do it, and the oxygen in your lungs, and the
water in your body, so sweat comes out of your brow. He'll
provide all those things. Don't you worry about that. Now,
turn over to Matthew 19. Matthew 19. He just spoke to that rich young
ruler as we read the other night. And that rich young ruler said,
that law, that bear I was against, I've kept it from my youth up.
I'm fine, that bear's mouth. Ain't gonna bother me one bit
in the world. And the Lord said to him, said,
you lack one thing. David said, Lord's my shepherd,
I shall not want, I shall not lack. And he told that rich young
ruler, said, you lack one thing, don't you? Look here in Matthew
19 verse 27. Then answered Peter and said
unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all and followed thee. What shall
we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration
when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye
shall also sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes
of Israel, and every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands,
for my name's sake. We'll say it again in a minute.
For my name's sake shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit
everlasting life." There Mark, he said, you'll receive it in
this life. We looked at that recently, didn't we? You don't cling to the religion
of your family, you cling to Christ. And if that separates
family, so be it. And the Lord said, in this earth,
in this earth, I walked away from two brothers because they
hate God. They go to church, they're plenty religious, but
they cannot stand the cross to the Bible. And look how many
brothers I got. I walked away from one sister. Look how many
sisters I got. Has he blessed me? Of course
he has. Did he say he would? Yep, he sure did. Did he do it?
Oh, he's faithful to perform, isn't he? Carnal, they'll take
care of you. Emotionally, what we need on
the inside is to not be alone, because we're sheep. He'll provide
other sheep. Isn't that precious, isn't it?
Later on here, look at Luke 22. This is just one verse, but we
ought to look at it. Luke 22. The Lord was speaking to those that
He had sent out. And He said, don't take a purse, don't take
a script, don't take shoes. You just go and preach. They
won't provide for you. Dust your feet off and go to
the next house. Luke 22, verse 35. And He saith unto them, When
I sent you without purse and without script and shoes, lacked
ye anything? He said, I've told you these
things, you that's been alive with the Lord for a little bit. Carnally,
I need my bills paid the same as you need your bills paid.
There ain't no difference. You got woes, I got woes. You
got bills, I got bills. The Lord has paid my bills. He's
kept me clothed in a suit and a tie and tires on my truck. How'd he do that? In a multitude
of ways. I mean, He gave me air and opportunity
and a desire to go out and work. And He gave me enough sense to
obey His Word and save. It's His doing. It ain't me.
He's provided physically for me. Spiritually, I need a spiritual
family. I'm a sheep. I need other sheep. Am I left
cold in the rain? Absolutely not. How many continents
can I go to right now? I don't even speak your language,
but boy, we'll huddle up. They'll feed me wherever they
got in their pantry. I know that. And as he sends us out in this
world, have we lacked anything yet? Have I ever wanted anything?
That's not just physically. Have I lacked anything spiritually
that God requires? Has my shepherd allowed this
sheep to lack anything? Paul wrote, said, but of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, a sheep that's put in our shepherd. He's
made unto us. God has made Christ unto us.
Wisdom. You need wisdom? If you know
God, you're going to have some understanding of Him. He's my
wisdom. I need to have a righteousness.
It's not just that my sins have to be put away. I have to live
a perfect life on this earth. His life was made my life because
I was made one with Him. Have I lacked anything? Have
I lacked anything? Sanctification. I have to have
a holy nature. You have to be anointed and set
apart from God for His use to be allowed in His presence. And
it's not that my sins have been blotted away. It's not that I've
just been given His holy life that He lived, that I lived in
Him. I have a holy nature that cannot sin. I cannot explain
this. I believe it. It's so He said
so. But do you like sanctification? Christ has provided it for His
sheep. Do you like righteousness? He's provided it for His sheep.
The shepherd has. Jehovah-Rea. Do you like wisdom? He's our
wisdom. And redemption. Both redeemed in His blood before
time, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Redeemed
at Calvary when He physically took it out. He physically carried
out the will of the Father. Redeemed in the heart when His
Spirit comes to us, makes us alive, quickens us. I've been
bought with a price. And in that final day, whether
He comes to us or we go to Him, that transaction's complete.
That's when you buy a car that says it's been delivered. We've
been purchased. We have an inheritance. We got
a copy of the key. We got the title. They'll be
delivered. We'll be delivered to His presence.
Now, what do you lack? Do I lack anything? Do you lack
anything? It ain't happened yet. If we
look on these things and dwell on these things, that's just
temporal things in this world. There's a judgment coming. There's
an eternity coming. When it's time for me to go home,
if I see Him, if I know that He's my shepherd and I shall
not want, I shall, shall not lack, what can I add to it? What else is needed? Nothing.
Just waiting. Lord, be with me while I wait
for You. Be with me while I wait for You. He's there. We'll see it in a minute. The
Lord's there. How did Jehovah Raya, the Lord my shepherd, give
us such things? He was made like his people.
He was made like his people. He had to be. This great shepherd
can't be ignorant of what a sheep is. He has to be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities. Just like David. David knew what
he was talking about being a shepherd. This shepherd knows what it is.
He's the only shepherd that knows what it is to be a sheep. He
said, I'm going to give you this. I stole this from Mike Walker.
I'm going to preach from him one day too. Psalm 22, 23, and
24. I'm the good shepherd. He's the
good shepherd. He said in John 10, I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
That's what the good shepherd does. Turn over to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. I don't know where Mark stole that
from, but I'll give him credit for it. He's the good shepherd. Look here in Hebrews 13. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the one that raised our
Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. He's the good shepherd
that laid down His life. He's the great shepherd because
He shed His blood and He's risen. 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. This good shepherd
that came and laid down his life is the great shepherd that ascended
on high and intercedes for his people right now." Well, what
a shepherd we have. But there's something else. Turn
over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter 5. He's the chief shepherd, the
good shepherd, the great shepherd. He's the chief shepherd, the
chief shepherd. That's a frightening term. The
office of a pastor is considered an under shepherd, an under shepherd,
and that's frightening. Who's sufficient for these things?
The only thing I can do is say, look at him. Call to him. Here's what he says. But he gives
instruction here. Peter says in 1 Peter 5 verse
1, The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an
elder. An elder is a man that preaches.
The Lord's enabled to preach His Word. And Peter says, I'm
an elder too. He preached, didn't he? He's
an apostle, but he's also an elder. Who am also an elder and
a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of
the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you. That's His charge He's given.
Take the oversight thereof. You take accountability. You're
the head of that house. That's what we saw earlier, wasn't
it? Now you man up, gird yourself like a man, and you do what God's
put in your hand. This ain't for slack. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, not
because you just have to. Well, this is what God put in
my life. I got to do it. But willingly. Not for filthy
lucre, but of a ready mind. Not for your personal benefit
and gain. That is prevalent. Prevalent, and it's an old nature
that desires it. Filthy lucre. Filthy. But a ready mind. Neither as
being lords over God's heritage. That's his sheep. But being examples
to the flock. And when, you're another shepherd,
and when the chief shepherd shall appear. Who's that chief shepherd?
It's a good shepherd that came and laid down his life. What
else is he? He's the great shepherd that
rose. He ascended. He's on high interceding for
us, and now he's the chief shepherd. The chief shepherd. Shall appear,
ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. David knew
something about a shepherd, didn't he? That's simple terms. You know, we don't have an agrarian
society where we grow our own food and have our own crops,
and those things are prevalent in our day. But you can look that
stuff up, can't you? Like, that's a sheep. That's
what they look like. They got wool, they get dirty.
That's a shepherd. He's got a rod and a staff and
a hook, And he keeps the sheep. I get that. He goes to fishermen
and says, here's a hook and there's a fish. I'm gonna make you fishers
of men. You get that? Farmers. Here's a seed. A seed. Incorruptible. It's gonna have
to go on the ground. It's gonna have to die and it's gonna bring forth much
fruit. You get that? That's what corn does. That's what wheat
does. You get that? That's what our Lord says. He gives us this
picture of a shepherd. We can turn back to Isaiah 53.
I said I was gonna turn you a little. I'm turning you more now. planned
on, but that's all right. We've read these things a lot,
but it's good to see them. It's good to see it often. Isaiah 53. Philip was sent by
God to the Ethiopian eunuch as an under shepherd to tell him
of the shepherd, the good shepherd, the great shepherd, the chief
shepherd. And that Ethiopian eunuch was reading Isaiah 53.
He knew exactly what that was talking about, but he didn't
know what it meant. He understood the words. But Philip said, you
know what you're reading there? He said, how can I know unless
a man tell me? That's the same it was with Hagar,
wasn't it? Didn't a man have to come to her and preach the
gospel to her? God sent Philip this eunuch. Here's what he's
reading, Isaiah 53 verse 6. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. It's like Hagar. It's like everybody,
right? Every one of us. We've went astray.
Well, I've never went astray. Well, the Lord said, His sheep
went astray. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
upon him, upon our chief shepherd, the iniquity of us all. He was
oppressed and was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth.
He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before
his shearers is done, so he opened not his mouth." When you take
a sheep, you stand it up on its hindquarters, and they shear
them, and them sheep don't move. It's like they have an off button
on their hind. They just freeze. The Lord designed them that way.
Why? Because that's where they're
supposed to be. Why did our Lord go to that cross and suffer those
charges and that guilt and that shame? And He didn't open His
mouth because it was right for Him to do so. He was there in
His people's place. That shepherd was there for His
sheep because of us. We were responsible and He was
accountable. Boy, how many pieces of paper
is it? That's a person. That happened. That ain't a theological
standpoint, that's a Savior's, what that is, that's a difference.
That's the Lord our shepherd. Verse eight, said, he was taken
from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
God has a people. And he made his grave with the
wicked, and with the rich, and his death, because he had done
no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed. We've been looking at Abraham.
Whenever our great shepherd was offered up, what did the father
see? He saw his seed, Christ and his
people. He saw his sheep in him. He shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see the travail of the soul and shall be satisfied.
That sacrifice is accepted. He satisfied, by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. Therefore, because this great
shepherd, therefore will I divide him a portion with the great
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he had
poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the
transgressors and he bear the sin of many and made intercession
for the transgressors. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. I haven't wanted. Physically
in this world, I ain't gonna want. Spiritually in this world,
while I'm here, I won't want. I think I am. I think I'm starving
to death, and I just need a crumb from His table. Crumbs are sufficient. And when that final judgment
comes, when this world is over, it's wrapped up and done, I won't
want. His people won't want. Those that He's died for, those
that He did this for, they shall not lack. You're gonna lack one
thing, you ain't gonna lack anything if you're His, because you're
in Him. You're in Him. Now back in our text. We could
stop there, but I'll try to go quick. Wouldn't that be wonderful? That's all we got. The Lord's
my shepherd, I shall not want. I think that'll get me till Wednesday.
I'll try to go quick. Verse two. He maketh me. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He maketh me to lie down. Why
does the Lord make his sheep lie down in green pastures? Because
you won't. Because you won't. Because we're
prone to wander. We're like sheep. We try to get
out. We try to go away. And he makes
us lie down in green pastures. What is it to lie down there?
That means to crouch. And it also means to recline.
That's a twofold made-to-lie-down. The little translations. It's
submission. The Lord's going to make His people submit. We're
going to bow to Christ, period. And His people will do it in
this lifetime. Every knee shall bow, but we'll do it in this
lifetime. That's submission, and it's reclining. It's rest.
He makes us rest. Aren't you thankful? What? In
green pastures, sheep eat grass. This is the Word. This is what
we feed on. Before he become a good keeper
of sheep, I heard a man say it one time, he said, you need to
be a good keeper of grass. I said, how do you keep them
sheep so pretty? He said, I grow good grass. Sheep eat the grass. They feed
on the Word. That's what John told us. In
the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. We feed on Christ. We feed on His Word, don't we?
Jehovah Shalom. He's our rest. The shepherd makes
us rest. He's the Lord of our of being
our shepherd, and he's the Lord of our rest. Verse 3 says, He
restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. He restores my soul. Jehovah
Rapha, the Lord that healeth thee. The Lord our shepherd leads
his sheep in paths of righteousness. We're healed, we're given a new
spirit, and he leads us in paths of righteousness. Jehovah Sikhenu,
the Lord our righteousness. Why does he do such things? It
says there, for his namesake. For his namesake. I looked that
up. In the Scriptures, 30 times namesake is mentioned. I was my grandfather's namesake.
I'm named after him. That's why I always rung a bell
with me from an early age. But from 1 Samuel to Ezekiel,
19 times the Lord mentions in the Old Testament about his namesake.
And it's promising what he will do for his people. For His name's
sake, this is what I'm going to do. Because of my name, for
my name's sake, here's what I'm going to do. He promised what
He was going to do the whole Old Testament. Nineteen times
He's told us that. And from Matthew to Revelation, nine times the
Lord speaks and says, for my name's sake. God Almighty in
human flesh came and said, for my name's sake, giving instruction
to His people, telling them what was going to happen. What God
promised of old, He brought to pass in the incarnation of His
Son. All those promises for his namesake was fulfilled when his
namesake showed up. He was born of a virgin on this
earth. And therefore, because of what he came to accomplish,
he promised 19 times it was fulfilled in Christ and mankind knows it
and that's why they get mad. That's why they fight it. The
goat's butt as hard as they can. Because he came and did, his
sheep are going to be hated. He said, for my namesake, you'll
be hated. For my namesake, you'll be killed. For my namesake, you'll
be persecuted. For my name's sake, they're going
to lay hands on you. For my name's sake, you're going
to be made to suffer. All for his name's sake. Why?
Because he fulfilled his promise and those outside of Christ can't
stand it. They'd kill the church if they was able to. Twice John
refers to his name's sake. In 1 John 2 and 3 John, verse
17. Here's the two things. With what
God promised 19 times in the Old Testament, the nine times
our Lord said, I've done everything and they're going to hate you
for it, because you're one with me, because they hate me. Twice
John tells us our sins are forgiven because of His namesake. And
he says it's our reasonable service to the church of God, to one
another, because of His namesake. that persecution will feel, whatever
it takes for us to serve one another. What can I do for you?
Can I help? Can I be there for you? He said,
because of his namesake, that's reasonable. That's reasonable.
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. The sheep are at peace in
the valley of the shadow of death. That's this world. That's this
body. this valley of death. Yeah, it's what's out there,
but it's this old man too. We can fear not because our shepherd
is with us. Jehovah Shema, the Lord's present. The Lord's present. His rod and
his staff, they comfort me. That's our protection. What he
uses to keep that wolf, the bear away and the lion away. That
rod, he gets rid of. And that staff, he gets after
us with. Our brother Groover, They took
in a girl that they couldn't, her mom and dad couldn't feed
her down in Mexico years ago, and they kind of adopted her. They said, we'll keep her till
you're all back on your feet. But Walter would get after his children,
his four. They'd do something, he'd line
them out as he ought to have. He was accountable in his house.
And that little girl would do something, and she didn't really
catch it like the other ones did. And Cody and all them was
always jealous of her. She ain't gonna get nothing done
to her. So finally one day she got on the floor and just started
pitching a fit, I mean screaming and kicking. And Walter said,
you knock it off, I'm gonna whip you. And she turned it up a notch,
went harder, kicking and screaming. And he said, I'm serious. She
went to 11, squalling. And he snatched her up and took
her in the back room and Cody and him was like, you don't know
what's coming, you don't wanna go in that back room. He went
back there and spanked her, whipped her hard and good as he ought
to have. And as soon as she's done, she walked in tears away,
hugged his neck, and she said, now I know you love me. Whenever I'm taking a rod and
a staff, strike on, Lord. I know you love me. Those that
don't have soul pain, those that don't weep over their sin, they're
not shut up to sin, God help you. God help you. because He hasn't dealt with
you. You ain't a child yet. His sheep, His rod and His staff,
that comforts me. That comforts me. What about Jehovah Nissi? We've hit all the other ones,
haven't we? The Lord, our banner. Look here in verse 5. Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of my enemies. In the presence
of my enemies. They can see that table. And
thou anointest my head with oil, and my cup runneth over. What
about that table? That's what the Lord's laid out
in front of us. If he's with us, he spreads his
table here three times a week. And what if we only get a crumb?
Well, if it's a crumb from his table, it's sufficient. It's
sufficient. What a table set before the sheep
of Christ. That's what we're going to look
at this morning. We're going to remember him, his broken body,
that unleavened bread. That's the table spread before
us. And this cup is the New Testament and my blood, he said, which
is shed for you. My body, that's what's laid in
these elements, broken for you. My blood shed for you. That's
not to symbolically show his death to the world. It is. It's a symbolism of that. But
that's our remembrance. How do we have the right to enter
his table? We have to know him. We have to be brought to remember
one more time that shepherd that laid down his life for the sheep.
His body broken for me, for a worthless sheep, a smelly, dumb sheep. His blood shed. It wasn't just
a beating he took. His life was laid down. Blood
came out. That table's prepared for us. That's our daily bread that we
look for. Christ, give us our daily bread. And our heads are
anointed with oil. The Lord our shepherd has done this. Thou
anointest my head with oil. Thou anointest. When the Lord
was telling Moses how to make that anointing oil and what to
put it on, whatever it went on was sanctified. And the Lord
declared it holy, and it was for his use. That was the Lord's
command, and that was his doing. And he gave them a strong warning.
He said, whoever compoundeth it like it any, If you mix something
else with this oil that I've told you, or whoever puts it
on a stranger, something that I told you not to put it on,
it shall even be cut off from his people. What's anointed on
our heads? How are our heads anointed with
oil? We consider things above. For the first time ever, we're
called into remembrance of someone we know, and we think on him. That's not common. That's not
common. It's not just to symbolize, it
puts us in remembrance of Him. And that's on our minds. We go
to buy clothes. What am I going to wear in public?
I'm bought with a price, I'm not my own. I need to remember
those things. If I'm going to get me a big
flashy car, I'm bought with a price, I'm not my own. I don't want
to bring reproach on the gospel, on you. Whatever it is, our heads
are anointed with oil. We think on these things. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over." What's
coming out of his cup? Living waters. That's what come
out of David's cup. Living waters. Christ, the waters
of life. He's filled me up. I want to
tell somebody about it. What's got into you? It's who?
Let me tell you about it. Something's changed. A believer
wrote, suffer a sinner whose heart overflows. loving His Savior
to tell what He knows. Once more to tell it would I
embrace. I'm only a sinner saved by grace." That's what comes
out. I'm a sheep. He's a shepherd. I'm saved by
Him. Knowing the Lord my shepherd. The Lord's my shepherd. He's
not just the shepherd. He's not just a shepherd. He's
my shepherd because He's mine and He fulfills all of His names.
He's all and in all. And when a sheep sees that, first
of all, they're going to run as hard as they can to the shepherd.
That's my provider, my protector. He's everything. I see him, I'm
going to run as hard as I can to him. And that's where all
the other sheep go. Well, they're going to converge.
They're going to bump into each other along the way. Be herded
up because of him, because he's my shepherd. Knowing him, verse
six says, surely, surely. in that valley of death, in that
valley of the shadow of death, when it's so low. This world's
rough. People's got woes. The world's
hard. The body's hard. The families
are hard. Everything's hard, isn't it?
But that's where the Lord grows His people. Don't wish away a
trial. You're throwing away a blessing.
Hear me when I tell you. Don't despise my youth. I know
what I'm talking about. Everybody wants mountaintop moments,
don't they? You ever been on top of a high mountain? You've
been up there, over them 10,000 footers. What grows up there?
Nothing. Nothing grows up there. You get
down in a valley where sun comes up at 9 a.m. and sets at 3 p.m.,
what grows down there? Everything. Whatever you put
in the ground grows. You think about growing corn,
corn pops up. Those low places are good. Knowing
that, knowing Him, and thankful for those rivers of water down
by the green pastures where He is, where He's present. Verse
6 says, Surely, surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life. In this earth, the Lord has kept
me, He's keeping me, and He shall keep me. I know it surely. Goodness
and mercy is going to follow me. And I'll dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. When this life's over, that shepherd's
going to bring me home. Goodness and mercy. Brother Spurgeon
said, goodness and mercy are the child of God's bodyguards.
He said, goodness rides in front, providing all things according
to the will of our Father. Goodness goes before us, and
mercy rides close behind, blotting out all our sin. And that's hedged
about it. What's in front, what's behind.
What about left and right? He's there too. East and west,
we're covered. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord. The Lord, my shepherd, the Lord,
my provider, the Lord, my my banner, my healer. I'll dwell
in his house forever. Amen. Father, thank you for this day.
Well, it's not to despise the day of small things. Lord, allow
us to. Chase the crumbs from your table.
What a bounty you've set before us. Christ and him crucified. Allow us to see him again today.
His body that was broken for us. His blood that was shed for
us. Where he is now. Lord, allow us to beg for your
will on this earth and your kingdom to come. Our chief shepherd to
be present with us. How our hearts long, Lord. Thank
you. for our brethren in this world,
the sheep that you've called by your name. Lord, allow us
to know them and pray for them. When they're in the trials that
you've sent, give us a word that points them to our Savior once
more. Forgive us for what we are, Lord. It's in Christ's name
that we ask it. Amen. Brother Mike Cass, if y'all would.