Psalm 23. This is a favorite
psalm of the sheep, isn't it? Because it's all about the shepherd.
No greater comfort can be found than this psalm. Once again,
I've been reading through the psalms. No sooner finished than
I start again. And every psalm is wonderful,
but I came to this and it spoke to my heart, so I hope it speaks
to yours tonight. This is for sheep. Only sheep
need a shepherd. Only sheep need a shepherd. You
know, his name has their name in it. Shepherd. They're one. Sheep and a shepherd. Sheepherder. Sheep. You've got
to be a sheep. They love this psalm, they love
to need a shepherd. Sheep, as you know, many times
we've considered, they're fearful, very fearful creatures because
they have so many enemies. They're needy, totally needy
and dependent creatures. They're one of the most helpless
creatures on earth, the sheep. They're easy prey, easy prey. Every predator goes after them.
And they're dirty, they may look white, but they're dirty. They need washed constantly.
They're susceptible to many things, many problems. They're always
hungry and thirsty, it seems like all they do is eat. Invested
are the hungry and thirsty. And they eat one thing, grass. They congregate, they flock together,
they have to. There are no lone sheep out there.
They have to have one another. They follow the shepherd. They follow the shepherd. Sheep
are owned. Goats can be wild, cats out there
on their own. They don't eat anybody. They
don't eat anything. Goats. But sheep, they're domestic
creatures. They're owned by somebody. We
are the Lord's sheep. Our Lord said that, didn't He,
in John 10? My sheep. My sheep. Are you a sheep? Did
I describe you? And you, like David, may say,
the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I picture,
every time I think of this psalm, I picture David, who was a shepherd. From a boy, he was a shepherd. He was a good shepherd. He never
lost sheep. Such a picture of Christ he is.
I picture him out on the hillside as an older man, and I picture
him sitting out on a grassy knoll, looking out over the flock of
sheep. Maybe someone else is watching
them, but he's thinking back how the Lord, what all the Lord
has done for him on his life. Our Lord said that to David,
didn't he? I took you from following the sheepfold and made you king
of Christ. Look what all I've done for you. So he wrote this
psalm and he says, the Lord is my shepherd. Jehovah, the Lord
God, Jehovah is my shepherd. Now, let's read it this way,
okay? You can read this several ways.
You remember Isaac, Abraham saying to Isaac, my son, God will provide
himself a lamb for Barnabas. My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for Barnabas. My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for Barnabas. My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for Barnabas. The Lord, Thee, is all He wants. The Lord is my shepherd. The
Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jehovah is our God. The Lord is my shepherd. He's my shepherd. He watches
over me. He provides for me. The Lord is my shepherd. Can you say that? Can you say
that? The Lord is my shepherd. Who
is the Lord? Who is the Lord? Well, He's the
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of Israel. The Lord Jesus
Christ is Jehovah. Lots of people refute that, but
He is. God the Father is Jehovah, God
the Son is Jehovah, and God the Holy Spirit is Jehovah. These
three are one in essence and power and person and purpose
and all that. The Lord Jesus Christ is God,
is Jehovah, the eternally existent one, the Lord Jesus Christ. He
said this, I am the Good Shepherd. If we read that, I will seek
my sheep. Christ said that of himself,
so there's no doubt that he is Jehovah, the Lord. And this God, this Lord is my
God and I am his. Didn't you love that last part
of that, John? You're my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You're
just men and I'm your God. Didn't you love that? The Lord
is my shepherd. I belong to him and he's mine. He's mine. He owns me. We own Him as our Lord and He
owns us. We've been bought. We've been
given to Him by the Father and He's bought us with a price.
So we belong to Him. Shepherd. Shepherd is the owner
of the flock. Ruler over the flock. Shepherd
is the provider over the flock, for the flock. The shepherd is
the protector of the flock. He's the companion of the flock. He will never leave the sheep,
a good sheep. He's the friend of the flock. He's the Savior of the flock
of the sheep. And we shall see in this what
a great and good and chief shepherd we have. So he says, the Lord
is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd and I
shall not want I shall not lack, I shall not need ever, ever need
anything, anything. There is no want to them that
fear Him, Psalm 34. They that seek the Lord shall
not want any good. He said the young lions may lack
and suffer, but my sheep, my people will never lack for anything. Why? because he's the Lord that
provides. Jehovah-Ra, the Lord our Shepherd,
is Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord that provides. His name, Brother David
Pledger first pointed this out in a message when we were down
there. He preached from this, and Mindy and I were there years
ago. He pointed out how all these names of Jehovah are found in
this song. Jehovah Ra, the Lord our shepherd. Jehovah Rafa, the Lord our healer,
verse 3, he restores my soul. Jehovah Sidkenu, Verse 3, in
paths of righteousness, the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah Shalom,
Lord our peace. Verse 4, peace. I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. I fear no evil. He's with me,
gives me peace. The Lord is present. Verse 4,
He's with me always. So all of His name are found
here. David says, I shall not want,
and neither shall we. Look at verse 2. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He maketh me to lie down. Animals of prey, like sheep or
horses, they're born to run. The Lord has given them a defense
mechanism. They're up on their feet and
they have so many enemies that they have to be able to walk
and run quickly after they're born. And they're prone to run,
aren't they? They have so many enemies. And
they will not lie down. These prey animals will not lie
down to sleep unless they're real comfortable. Isn't that
right, Kelly? They've got to be real comfortable. to lie down. A lot of horses
sleep standing up, don't they? Same with sheep. If they've got
a good master and a good shepherd, they just lie right down and
fall asleep. Nothing to worry about. No enemies. He maketh me to lie down. You're looking at a former Wild
Ass' coat. I was swift to run to mischief. I was running wild, but God made
me lie down. Like that Gadarene demoniac.
Clothed me and sat me down in my right mind at His feet. Stopped
my wild career. Made me. Aren't you glad the
Lord makes us do things? Most people don't want to be
made to do anything. I do. Makes me to lie down. Isn't that
what you have to do, you dog, is lie down? Sit. Heal. If you don't, they'll run
off and get killed. So, He makes us to lie down. Be still and know that I'm God. If you know He's God, you'll
lie down. You'll sit. You'll rest in Him. You'll trust Him. He makes me
to lie down in green pastures. Green pastures. The margin says,
pastures of tender grass. Oh, the blessed, tender pastures
of God's Word. Don't you love it? Them. Don't
you love it? I know many, if not most of you,
have done this. A beautiful early summer day,
if you're out in a field somewhere of green grass, if you ever do
that, just lie down in that green grass and put your hands behind
your back and look up at that blue sky. Isn't that wonderful? What do you do? Fall asleep. You rest. Nothing like it. Do
you ever find yourself reposing and resting in God's Word? Looking at the Son of Righteousness
with healing in His way. Just basking in His light. What do you do? You rest. Oh, He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures. Green pastures. Green means fresh. Green means new. Green means
healthy. Children, eat your greens. My
parents used to make me eat my greens. Abby, I didn't like greens
when I was a kid. You know what? It's my favorite
food now. It's my favorite food. This is my favorite food. I don't
read much anything anymore. I used to read a lot of different
books. Not anymore. I get real tired
of it. I myself just, I don't need that. Boy, I need this thing. Green
pastures, the greens. Love them. Love God's Word. It's these pastures of tender
grass. My favorite thing on earth is
to sit Read, hear, read, and preach God's Word. He leadeth me. Verse 2, He leadeth
me. Oh, blessed thought. Oh, words
with heavenly comfort. You want to be led? You need
to be led. You're a sheep, you are. I need
to be made to do things, and I need to be led. I need a halter
on me. I want a halter on me at all
times. And a short lead rope. Don't you get me? I need it. You know, our Lord, He leads
us. He gathers us. He draws us with
the cords of man. That wild ass's coat, remember
when he sent some men to go in and get that coat? He said, loose
him. Well, they didn't take his altar or his robe off of him.
But he said, bring him to me. So he became the Lord's. He belonged
to the Lord now, didn't he? He's not his own. He belongs
to the Lord. And the Lord made him willing.
And the Lord rode him. And that's the way we are. We're
not free to do as we please. We're His. We're not our own. We're bought with a price. I
want to be led. I want to be led. Beside the
still water. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Waters of quietness. His Word
alone can still our soul. His Word speaks of Him, doesn't
it? He is the green pasture. He is
the still water. Our Lord is the water of life.
He said, Be still and know that I'm the Lord. Christ is the Word.
Christ is the water of life. He's the one that satisfies our
thirst. He's the one that stills our soul. Perhaps the next thing
that is as soothing as lying in a green pasture is lying by
a body of water in it. You ever done that? Lying by
a creek or a brook or a river or whatever? Just the sound of
water. Any of you go to sleep, the sound
of water running? One time it woke me up. It had
a leak. Water has a soothing effect on
you, doesn't it? If you lie by a river or a stream
or an ocean, if you're laying on the beach on a nice day and
those waves lap in again, that's soothing. All your troubles just
go away. That's God's Word. Still water, soul still in water,
God's Word. And all of that restores our
soul. God's Word, Christ crucified,
he restores, restoreth my soul. Notice all of this is in the
present tense. He maketh, he leadeth, he restoreth,
he leadeth, he prepareth. Notice that? It's all in the
present tense. Not he did, but he doth and ever
shall. He restoreth my soul. He maketh, He leadeth, He restoreth
my soul. Our Lord restored my soul. When? On Calvary's tree. Before I was ever born, He paid
the price of my redemption. He bought me with a price. I
was His before I was born. It was as good as done. It was done.
It was finished on Calvary's tree. I had to be born and had
to be born again, but that's when He bought me and paid the
price for my soul. He restored and He restoreth. He restoreth my soul. I need
constant restoration, don't you? I need constant restoring. Brother
Barnard used to say, and that man had some wisdom, And he said
this, you only need two books, a Bible and a dictionary. And
it's true. Listen to the dictionary definition
of restore. Listen very carefully. The word
restore means to return something to its former condition. Man was created upright. Man
was created sinless. Man was holy and righteous, wasn't
he? Well, we lost that. Image of
God, we lost that. He restoreth my soul. Restore means to bring back to
health and good spirits. He restoreth my soul. When he
found me, my whole head was sick, my heart was faint, from the
sole of my feet to the top of my head, no sound to send me,
no wounds and bruises, purified soul. But the good Samaritan
came back. He restores my soul. Restore
means to return to its owner. Return to its owner, its rightful
owner. Restore him to the one who owns
him. He restored my soul, brought
me back to God who owns me. How? By the gospel. By the gospel, it says, the green
pastures and the water of His Word. He leadeth me, verse 3,
in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. He leadeth me
in paths of righteousness. As I said, I want to be made
to lie down. I need to be led. And he leads
me in paths of righteousness, for his name's sake. This black
sheep was going astray. This black sheep was going his
own way. But God sent the shepherd to
find me and lead me in paths of righteousness. This prodigal
was in the hog pen. But He sent the Holy Spirit to
make me know, to bring me to see myself and bring me back
to the Father. Restore me to my Father. And He turned me and brought
me and He leads me in paths of righteousness. That's Christ,
isn't it? Christ is our righteousness. He set my feet in paths of righteousness. Psalm 25, right across the page,
verse 4. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach
me thy paths. Verse 5. Lead me in thy truth. Teach me. Thou art my God, the
God of my salvation. Verse 10. All the paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth. Keep his covenant. Believe his
gospel and his testimony. All the paths of the Lord lead
to Jesus Christ. I look back. Do you look back
on your life and see how everything God did led you to this point? A man down at a church in Crossville
came up and was talking to me. And like so many of us, he was
here and he was there. And now he's there under the
Gospel and loving every minute of it. And he said, All my life,
the Lord has led me all my life to this point. Right here. And he did it for his name's
sake. For his name's sake, he is the Lord. He is the Lord our
righteousness, so he leads us in paths of righteousness. He
is the Lord our peace, so he made peace by the blood of his
cross. He is the Lord our provider, so he provided himself a lamb.
He is the Lord our healer, so he healed our sin sick soul.
He is the Lord our Savior, and that's what he did. He is the
Lord our shepherd, So He keeps us. That's His name, you see. He couldn't wear the name if
that's not what He did. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from sin. If He didn't save every one of
them, then He doesn't wear the name well. He's Savior. Verse 4 says, Yay. Every time I see that, it
means yes. It means amen. Yes, that's the
way it is. That's who He is. I think of
a cheer, don't you? Yay. The Lord, yay. Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I fear no evil. Though I walk through
the valley, this valley, this vale of tears, death casts a
shadow over it all. Most everyone has this fear of
death, this bondage, this fear of death. It casts a shadow over
everything. But we don't need to fear shadows,
do we? When I was a child, I feared
shadows. Didn't you? Fear the darkness? Do you fear
the darkness now? Well, don't answer that. You shouldn't. The point is,
you shouldn't be afraid of shadows. It's just a shadow. It's not
the substance, he said. It's like the shadows, types
and shadows of the Old Testament are not Christ. They represent
Christ. We don't worship those things. We don't use these things as
objects of worship. We worship Him. But death casts
a shadow. Death is a mystery to most, but
Christ removed the mystery of death. Christ lived and Christ
died. Christ went into the tomb, went
into the darkness of that tomb, and they rolled a stone over
that door. We're going to look at Lazarus
on Sunday, where the Lord said, roll away that stone. He was
in darkness. And our Lord went into the darkness
of that tomb, didn't He? Well, three days later, I was
done with it. He'd come walking out. And every
time He appeared to His disciples after that, three different times,
He said, Peace be unto thee. Fear not. You don't need to fear
death. He removed the mystery of it.
The darkness of it. The mystery of it. Scripture
says He abolished death. And He brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel, through the gospel. So we walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, but it's just a shadow. We're not dying.
Christ said, he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Do you believe that? He says, I'll fear no evil. David did get afraid. But then
he would write that time, when I'm afraid, I'll trust in thee. Psalm 27, whom shall I fear?
What shall I be afraid? I fear no evil. Though evil is
all around us, we shouldn't fear any evil. Why? Verse 4, because
thou art with me. The Good Shepherd, the Lord,
our Shepherd, is with us. Listen to Psalm 16. This is Psalm
of Christ, Psalm 16, verse 8. Listen to this. It says, I've
set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. Peter quoted this in Pentecost.
Therefore, my heart is glad, my glory rejoices, my flesh also
shall rest in hope. Thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell, neither wilt thou suffer, Thou holy one, to see corruption.
Thou wilt show me the path of life. Thou art with me. Listen to this, Psalm 90, and
we should read this all the time. Psalm 90, Psalm 91. It says in
Psalm 91, surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
and from the noisome pestilence he shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wing shalt thou trust, his truth shall
be thy shield. And thy buckler, thou shalt not
be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the error that flyeth
by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor
the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall
fall at thy side, ten thousand at thy right hand, it shall not
come nigh thee." Why? He gives his angels charge over
there, to keep thee in all their way, because the Lord is with them. That's why. Be not
afraid. It is I, he said to them in the
midst of that storm. It is I. Thou art with me. Verse four. Thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me. Thy rod and thy staff. Now this
is one and the same thing. Shepherd's staff. Shepherd's
staff. That's a rod. This is, you've
seen this many times. Pretty much a poor representation
of it. But a shepherd's crook, or staff,
much longer than this. About that tall. And they have a bent end on it
like that to keep from injuring the sheep when they put it around
the neck. It's pretty good. But the rod
is this part. This whole thing's a staff to
lean on. Now rod, though, come from that.
The rod of a shepherd was used for several things. Number one
was to beat off the folk. The wolves come. Now rod, Christ
uses the rod. The rod was used to chase sheep. Did your dad ever take a rod
to you? Spare the rod, spoil the child. Whom the Lord loves,
He chases. And the staff, the shepherd's
staff, is what we lean upon. The Word of God is what we lean
upon. The rod also was used to number the sheep. Two, three,
four. There's John. There's Mary. There's Sarah. That's right. He knows his sheep. He numbers
them. And the staff, the shepherd's
staff, had a crook on it. And it wasn't short, like I said.
He wasn't too short. He's able to reach out in his
wandering sheep and pull it to himself. That's the staff, the
rod and the staff. Doesn't that comfort you? Our
Lord, you may run from Him, but His
arm's not short. He's going to bring you back.
Draw you back. His rod and His staff, that's
the Word of God. That's Christ. That's Christ. He'll bring you
back to himself. He'll lay hold of you, turn you,
and bring you back. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table
before me, the presence of my enemies. Gospel table. It's a
bountiful table. It's a smorgasbord. One of the
writers said, a veritable plethora of goods. I kind of like that. Plethora. That means it's just
full. of good things. The gospel is
full of mercy, love, and grace, and comfort, and pardon, and
peace. And He gives us this gospel table. He prepares this table in the
midst of our enemies, in the presence of our enemies. Our
Lord said, Marvel not, brethren, as the world hates you. There
are enemies everywhere, a lot of unseen enemies. There are
enemies without, there are enemies within. So He brings us into
this his house and prepares his table for us in the midst of
our enemies. And it's like lying beside the
still waters. It restores our soul. We sit and we eat and we nourish
our souls and we get strength for the battle out there. I've told you that I love to
read these seafaring books, used to, got a whole bunch of them.
But one particular old sea captain I love to read of, he was so
calm and so confident and such an example to his men that they
would be under fire and the enemy's guns would be aimed at them and
they'd be firing these guns at them and the captain knew they
were out of range and he had the ship out of range. And they'd
be firing these guns, and the men would be shaking and be afraid,
and the captain acted like he wasn't the least bit afraid.
And he'd have his men sit down and eat a meal. Sit down, he'd
serve wine, and he'd be smiling and looking at them in the midst
of his enemies. And what that did was it gave
them comfort. It gave them trust and confidence
in their captain. They said, he's not worried.
He knows. Those guns can't reach us. And
then they'd eat a big meal and prepare for battle. They'd go
out to the battle. So He prepares us a table in
the midst of the presence of our enemy. Our Lord did just
that right before He went to the cross, didn't He? He fed his disciples. He broke bread and fed them bread
and gave them wine right before he faced our foe. I believe he
was smiling and enjoying himself. He said that. He said, with desire
have I desired to eat this Passover with you. Right in the midst
of his enemy and our. Thou anointest my head with oil.
Now anoint this my head with oil. One of my favorite passages
is Psalm 133, which you know well. How good and pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the prescient
ointment, oil, upon the head, oil of gladness, upon the head
that ran down. See, this all comes from Christ,
doesn't it? Come down from God through Christ,
upon our head, Christ our head. Ran down upon the beard, upon
Aaron's beard, that's a high prayer. And went down to the
skirts of his garment. It's like a dew of Hermon, the
dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. That's where the Lord
commanded to bless him. This is where the Lord commanded
to bless him. This is where he said, Now comfort
you, anoint your head with oil. The Holy Spirit is present. And
he goes on to say, the blessing is life forevermore. Life forevermore. My cup runneth over. How about
you? My cup runneth over. Because Christ emptied himself. of His fullness have I already
received." Grace for grace. Because Christ drained the cup
of God's wrath dry. There is no wrath for me. But
my cup runneth over with mercy and love and grace and goodness. He said one time, he said, give
and it shall be given to you, pressed down, shaken together,
running over. That's exactly what he gave. And it's just pressed
down, shaken together, running over. My cup runneth over. Surely. Listen to how this ends. Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Surely. You sure about that? Surely.
Why? That's His name, isn't it? The
surety. Surely, surely, goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. All the days. Surely. That's His name. Amen is His name. Surely. Whatever
happens, goodness is going to follow. Whatever happens, goodness
will follow. Whatever it is, it is mercy.
Because the Lord is good, because the Lord is merciful, full of
mercy. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. All things work together
for good. Always, all days, all things. Because Christ is all. Surely,
goodness and mercy. You've heard this illustration,
but I, you know, shepherds often use sheepdogs to help in
rounding up their sheep, and to guard them, and
defend them, and bring them into the fold. A sheepdog. Maybe that's
the name of the Lord's sheepdog. Goodness and mercy. Maybe you
read this recently. This is true. It just happened
recently. A man in Decatur, Georgia had a sheep farm, had a flock
of sheep, and he had a great white Pyrenees dog. That's the
dog of choice for shepherds now. And this great white Pyrenees
dog, a pack of eleven wolves, coyotes, eleven coyotes attacked
the sheep. One dog. Eleven coyotes. That dog killed eight of those
coyotes. And the other three ran away.
And that dog was injured bad. That dog bled bad. And he went
away. He went away. But he came back. Alive. Sheep were unharmed. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of our lives. He's not going to let
anything bad happen to you. Do you understand that? Why?
Because that's his name, Shepherd. And he has his faithful ones
that watch over his angels, give his angels charge of him. And
he says this, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. How can you be sure, David? Well,
because he said so. He said so, didn't He? Didn't
He, John? Didn't He say, our Lord, right before He went to
the cross, didn't He say, I go to prepare a place for you? Didn't
He? Who? Who's He talking to? Simon
Peter. Simon ran off. Simon denied Him. Our Lord can't deny Himself.
He won't deny us. Simon was ashamed of him. Our
Lord is not ashamed of us. And he said, I go to prepare
a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, you may be also. He didn't get to be in the big
house. David said, one thing have I desired. Is this your
desire? One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that's what
I'll seek after. Okay? What is it, David? I may dwell
in the house of the Lord. All the days of my life, behold
the beauty of the Lord. So our Lord said, okay, okay. You will dwell with me in the
house of the Lord forever. Amen. All right, stand with me.