That's paraphrased or written
from Psalm 23. Go there now with me, Psalm 23. Make it singable. And the thought
has always occurred to me, what an amazing harp player, guitar player,
singer, David must have been. These are difficult for us to
sing, aren't they? Difficult to play, put to music. 150 songs, David wrote most of
them. And he sang them. And he played
them. And maybe the Hebrew language is a little more poetic than
our English language. Maybe it rhymed better. But hard
for us to sing, I think. But it's good. Have you ever thought about that?
He must have been the best. Wesley? Best guitar player ever. I'm just certain. Singer, would
you have loved to have heard him sing? Best singer ever until
the Lord came. They said no man spake like this
man. Oh, how he must have sung. Oh, he sung from his heart. And
I bet he sang out loud, didn't he? Psalm 23, this is a very
familiar, very familiar psalm to most. One time somebody went
to hear a fellow preach, a well-known preacher, and a comment afterward
was, boy, he sure knows that psalm. And then later they heard
an old man quote it from the heart, and they said, now he
knows the shepherd. There's a difference. Very familiar
psalm. I hope it'll be brand new to
us. Maybe more needful now, more precious than ever. David is
a writer. All of these messages today hope
for God's glory. But secondly, I hope they build
us up on this faith. Faith means to trust the Lord.
Trust the Lord. And the Lord, more than anything
else, said to His people, Fear not. More than anything, He kept
saying that. Fear not. He didn't fear. Did you hear the first message?
I hope you did. Our Lord didn't fear. He knew that when His hour
was come, nothing, no one could stop it. And that's why He came.
And He set His face like a flame. It's the same with us people.
It's the same with us. Our hour, when it's come, you
can't stop it. And who brings it? The Lord does,
just like He did His Son. Well, David's whole life was
surrounded with danger. His whole life. From a young
boy, he's faced with danger, and he faced danger. He went
out to face danger, didn't he? We think, Tom, he's only about
16 or 18 years old when he went out against Goliath. He's class
8 and a half feet tall. A hardened soldier. He killed
no telling how many people he killed, single-handed, with his
bare hands. David's a shepherd. What'd he do? Give us more Davids,
huh? Make us like David. They were
surrounded by danger, death. This whole psalm is written to
increase our faith and relieve our fears. The last verse, as
I said, if we had a text and a title, it would be, Surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord. We're not going to
dwell here for long. We're going to dwell here exactly
the amount of time the Lord has us dwell here. No more, no less. The earthly house of our tabernacle
will be dissolved. We have a house made in heaven
by the Lord. And who determines that? He does. And so he says, surely, and I'm
getting way ahead of myself, but I can't wait. Goodness and
mercy. Didn't he say all things work
together from what? Then he cannot lie. Why don't we believe him? Surely
it follows us. I am getting ahead, but I can't
help it. We go through things, they look
evil, they look dangerous, they look this, they look that. Oh
my, we're worried about it. He said, just wait, you'll see
what's following. This looks evil. This looks bad. It looks hopeless. Hold on. Mercy
is following this. Goodness is up right on the heels
of this. You'll see. Wait. Remember, David's
the one that said that. I'd have fainted unless I'd believed
to see the goodness of the Lord in the house of living. I mean,
he'd gone through all these troubles, all these trials, all this danger.
He said, I'm going to wait. I'm going to live my life trusting
the Lord. Do what He told me to do without
fear, without worry. And I'm going to wait, and I'm
going to see the Lord's true goodness. It's been good. I'm going to see. It's all going
to follow. It's going to show me it's been good. Hasn't it
been good? Oh, mercy. Oh, mercy. All right, that's the last verse. David was a shepherd from a boy,
and he was given sheep by his father. What a picture David
is of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was a shepherd from the beginning. And even before he was king,
his brothers despised him and rejected him. He came to see
about them. The father sent David to see
about his brothers. Remember? Bring them something
to eat. And his older brothers that resented him and despised
him and rejected him. What a picture that is of Christ.
Came of his own. They received him. And they said,
where have you been, boy? Remember when they said to Christ,
You're not fifty years old. Are you going to teach us? He's so meek and lovely. He didn't
describe it, I'll show you. But those brothers of David said,
Where you been? He said, I've been keeping the sheep all this
time. And he came to save them that
didn't want him to come. If he hadn't have come, they
would have perished. The ones that despised him. That's not my story. And yet
it is. The Lord is our shepherd. The
Lord Jesus Christ. David was a shepherd. He was
given sheep by the father, Jesse. He was a good shepherd. He loved
those sheep. He watched over those sheep.
He led those sheep. He fed those sheep. He protected
those sheep. He defended those sheep. One
time. One time. A lion and a bear came and got
one little lamb. How many sheep did he have? I
bet he had a lot. Hundreds? Thousands? How could
he watch over that? He can't. They came and got one
little lamb. What's one lamb? What did he
do? You know what he did, Catherine?
He went after that one. He left all those sheep and went
after that one lamb. A line of bears. Slew them both. Young boy. Young boy. Slew them both. To get one little lamb. Isn't
that a picture of Christ? He protected them. He defended
them. Later on, he's a grown man. When he wrote this, he's
a grown man. King of Israel. Is he sitting
back on the hillside? Is he watching some sheep again?
Maybe, probably. And he's thinking back over his
life, and he says, the Lord is my shepherd. David was a good shepherd, sister.
He's a good shepherd, wasn't he? Great shepherd. He never
lost one sheep, one little lamb he went after. It doesn't matter
who the foal was, they're not taking his little lamb. What
a shepherd. David said, the Lord's my shepherd. The Lord Jesus Christ. Do you
understand? Do you understand? Do I understand? You have nothing to worry about. Do you understand that? Why? Not because we live in the United
States, the most powerful nation in the world. Not because we
have all the technology. Because the Lord is our shepherd. Do
you understand that? That truck cannot crash, Brother
Joseph. It cannot. Unless he decides
it. Because he's your shepherd. David
didn't lose one. Didn't our Lord say in John 17,
All that thou gavest me I have kept. None of them is lost. Didn't
He say that? He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. Isn't He? None of them. Until
it's time. The Lord is my shepherd. Can
you say that? Oh, I hope you can. David said,
in saying, the Lord is my shepherd, David is saying, I'm a sheep.
I'm a poor. Ignorance? Anybody been around
sheep? They're poor. They're ignorant.
They're not smart animals. They're not smart at all. They're
dumb. They need a shepherd. They can't
do nothing without a shepherd. They are totally helpless without
a shepherd. There's not a more frail, not
a more ignorant, not a more helpless, not a more dependent animal on
the earth. That's why the Lord chose sheep
as an emblem of us. Our Lord said one time, without
me, you can do nothing. But with Christ, all things. Wow, the Lord is my ship. The
Lord is my ship. Thank God. David says, thank
God, because I'm so weak, I'm so helpless, I'm so dumb, I'm
so ignorant. Thank God the Lord is my shepherd. He says, now I shall not want,
shall not want, shall not lack. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want, shall not lack for anything, I shall not need anything. You know what the psalm before
this is? The psalm of the cross. Psalm
23 is the psalm of the shepherd. Right after the psalm of the
cross is the psalm of the shepherd. Okay? The psalm of the cross
is all that Christ endured for his sheep. Everything that Christ
endured for his sheep. Look, the very first verse is
what he cried from the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? And then on and on to talk about
Christ on the cross. Someone said they believe he
quoted that whole psalm on the cross. Maybe. So David says, after that psalm,
David says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Listen to Romans
8, 31. What shall we say then of these
things? If God be for us, if the Lord is my shepherd, who
can be against us? What? He despaired not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with
Him also freely give us all things, all needs? God gave his son to
come down here to die for his people, and we're worried about
food or a house payment? Come on. He gave that such an
unspeakable gift. How shall he not with that freely
give us all thanks? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. And he goes on in this psalm
to talk about provisions, protection, guidance, righteousness, comfort,
correction, communion or companionship. You reckon David, I think about
this, you reckon David got real close to those sheep? I think
he did. Katharine, I believe he loved
those sheep. But that sheep he loved down
there, I believe he did. I'm quite sure he did. You reckon
he took some of those lambs in his arms and pet them? I know
he did. They don't need petting, they're
just service animals. I need petting. Don't you? I need him to take me in his
arms and I'm a whole lot worse than those animals. Oh, I'm just
certain of it. I'm just certain that he penned
them. Think he spoke to them? Think about it. You think he
spoke to those dumb animals? I can't. I don't understand you.
No, he spoke to them. That's a good picture, isn't
it? Sure he did. And he listened
with sympathy. He listened with sympathy as
they're bleeding. They're buying, they're crying. Even the smallest
little lamb, didn't he? He listened carefully. The groanings
that could not be uttered. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, shall not lack,
shall not need anything. He maketh me, verse 2, he maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Back then, back in these days, there were no fences. Mostly,
no fences. Wide open spaces. You had to
be a good shepherd. There were no, you know, there'd
be a fold at night time often, they'd bring them all in to.
But for the most part, the pastures were not fenced in. David is
king. He's not going to fence his way. He's going to fence him. It's
all his. So his cattle are free. And this
is what our Lord said. They go in and out, in and out.
They're free. They're not bound. They're free.
They're out there. But he's watching over them,
OK? And they're everywhere. There's nothing David likes more
than to feed those sheep and water them. You know what I mean? He would lead them to the best
pasture. He would lead those sheep into
the greenest pasture and find still water. Somebody said this,
I don't know if it's true, but somebody said sheep don't like
to drink from rapidly flowing water. They like still water.
So he'd lead them to a calm, quiet little, you know, still
waters run deep. He'd lead them to green pastures
and still waters and where they would eat to their so content
that they would just lie down. I used to love, we had horses,
and I used to love nothing more, I didn't like to ride, but I
liked to feed them. I loved to feed them. I got great
joy in just feeding them. Brother Charles used to love
to just sit there and listen to them. And I loved getting that pasture
Man, we had tempeh, and orchard, and bluegrass. It was that thing. It was hot. And I'd just collect. I didn't worry about that. Forget
that. Nothing. And I'd just eat, and
eat, and eat. And I loved to fill up those
water troughs. I'd fill it until it was running
over. Fresh water. Drink, eat. And old Molly, the biggest of
the buds, she would. She'd eat, and then she'd just
fall down on her side, and she'd even try to eat some more. Then
she fell asleep, rested. Now, horses are prey animals. They're animals of prey. This
is why the Lord equips them to take off running as soon as they're
born. Why? There's so many predators after
them. You've got everything else. Wolves. All right? A horse won't
lie down unless it feels safe. And my horses, they all lie down. You understand the picture? Now, we're here. You're not here
by accident. The Lord made you come here against
all your fears. to lie down in these great pastures
and still your soul by these sins. Rest. The Lord says, I
am your shepherd. Do you understand that? Do you? It's all good. I saw Isaiah 30 where he says,
their strength is to sit still. In returning and rest. Where? Returning where? To whom coming?
To Christ. Coming into His home. Coming where His Word is preached.
Where His people gather. They all gather strength. They
all eat to their fullest. And they all drink the water
of life. And they all just rest free from
fear. Free from worry. Why? Because the Lord's our shepherd. Where would we be without this,
these grandparents? Huh? Stardom. Where would we
be without this soul-stealing, watered-down, where would we
be? Fretful, fearful, worried, out there, scared to death. Oh
Lord, make me, make me, make me lie down. Huh? Lie down. Be still. Know that I've got
Verse 3, He restoreth my soul. This is what restores our soul.
We lost everything in Adam. We lost everything in Adam. Adam
didn't have any fear. Adam didn't have any sin. Adam
didn't have any need. Adam didn't have any worry. Adam
didn't need anybody. He had God. God, he had it all,
nailed it. What'd he do? Sin against God. So what'd he do? He lost all
that. He lost his mind. He lost his heart. He lost his
understanding. He lost communion with God. Now
he feels like he's alone. He lost his strength. He lost his courage. Now he's
scared to death. What's he scared of? What's he
scared of? Adam lost it all. He's worried. Our Lord Jesus Christ came walking
in the cool of the day. Adam, where are you? Look at
you. I was afraid. Why are you afraid? Sin. Sin. That's why we fear. Sin.
You know, that's why we fear. That's why we fear everything.
Sin. We fear death. Why? Sin. Even believers think,
my sin is going to be my undoing. God's going to judge me because
of my sin when I die. You fear dying because I don't
know if I'm one of the lords or not. I don't know if I'll
go to heaven or not. Maybe he'll cast me out. Why?
Sin. He leadeth me in pans of righteousness. What does his name say? You know how few people know
what righteousness is or even care? You know how few preachers
talk about righteousness? Five hundred times in the Scriptures.
Five hundred times. You know how few people ever
bring it up? You know, a few people ever ask
what it is and why we have it and must need it and all that?
No. We know. We know. We know. Righteousness. We need a righteousness. I know
you hear it a lot and preachers dwell on it a lot, but brethren,
God, the righteous Lord, loveth righteousness. The wicked, his soul hated. Said,
say unto the righteous, it will be well with them. Say unto the
wicked, it shall be ill with them. We're either righteous
or wicked. God's going to destroy the wicked.
Death, hell, judgment, wrath. But the righteous, no death,
no judgment, no wrath, unspeakable happiness and glory, heaven. It's all good for the righteous. All right, who's righteous? Do you understand? We just don't know how blessed
we are to understand that Jesus Christ is made unto us righteousness. We just don't. He said, You lead
me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. What's His
name? Jeremiah 23. Jehovah Sikiner. You know that
name, don't you? Mellie, you know that name, don't
you? Wesley, you know that name, don't you? Helen, what's your
name? The Lord Our Righteousness. I told that to some Jehovah Witnesses
one time. They came to see me. Talk about
Jehovah. I said, do you know his name,
Jehovah Sidkenu? No. No, I don't know. You don't? I do. I said, I'm
a Jehovah. I must be a Jehovah Witness.
You're sure not. to the Lord our righteousness.
We must have a righteousness. Surely, Isaiah said, shall one
say, and the Lord have our righteousness and strength. What's that? It's
who? It's Christ. He's our righteousness. And He
leads His sheep in this path, in this way of righteousness
for His name. That's His name. He shows them.
He reveals the covenant, the way. Just turn over one page.
It's Psalm 25. Look at this. It says in Psalm
25 verse 10, All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,
and to such as keep his covenant. Well, Psalm 85 says, Mercy and
truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where? At Calvary. Christ was turned over. Well,
I've got to go on. But in Psalm 37, He says, the
meek will he show his way. His way. And the steps of a good
man are ordered, and he delighteth in his way. Christ the way, the
truth, the life, our righteousness. That's his name. Verse 4. And
Mindy is the one that, she read this to me a few mornings ago.
And the next couple of verses, spoke to her like verse 6 spoke
to me. But it made me want to deal with
it. He says, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Now, Ron and I stand for comfort
there. Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. Do you fear shadows? When you were a kid, you probably
did. You didn't want to go and fear
the dark, did you? I think it was Bruce. He's such
an honest man. He said to his people, he said,
I have a confession to make. I'm ashamed of it. He said, sometimes
I'm afraid of the dark. I like a man who's not afraid
to, you know, reveal his fears. But why would we be afraid of
a shadow? A shadow. A shadow can hurt you.
There's a reason why I said the shadow of death. Right? Death, as it were, casts a long,
dark shadow over this whole world. Everywhere we look, people cannot
see the forest with trees. I've told you before, but since
I've been here this morning, thousands of people have died
from something. Not a virus. Something else.
The death is everywhere. It's all around us. Shadow. It's
like a dark, cast a long, dark shadow over this whole land.
It's everywhere. Everywhere. People dropping like
flies. Two million people a year in
the United States alone die. Every year. That's something. Death is everywhere. The shadow,
but the Lord calls it to His people, a shadow. You shouldn't
be afraid of a shadow. Fearful saints. Fresh curries
take. The clouds do so much dread.
are filled with goodness and shall break with blessings on
your head. There is no dark shadow hanging
over God's people. Death is not something hanging
over our head. It's something to look forward
to. It's not death at all. It's rest. It's life. It's peace.
It's joy. It's happiness. It's not death. Christ changed it from death
to sleep. Did you hear the first message?
Departure. He said we're departing. This land of death, go in the land of light, no more
death, no more darkness, all light. You know what it says
about our Lord? You know what James said about
our Lord, our Father? All things come down from Him,
our Father in heaven, which there's no variableness or what? Shadow. No darkness. We don't have to
worry. God is light. Everything he says
is perfect. He's light. You can't lie. It's
all right there. Come in the light. But my deeds
will be manifested. That's why we've done it. That's
what Christ said. No darkness. Are you with me?
No shadow. Why fear a shadow? We walk through the valley of
the shadow of death. And I hate that old song, I've
got to walk this lonesome path, I've got to walk it all by myself.
No you don't. No you don't. What David said,
I fear no evil for thou art with me. Thou art with me. Now when our Lord hung on the
cross, the song before this, God forsook him. Why? Because that's what he must do
to the sinner but God, in Christ. Since Christ was forsaken, Christ
said, my sheep will never be forsaken. You say, why? Because of him. Thou art with me. You know what?
Some of our Lord's last words as he was leaving, as he was
departing the earth, you know what some of his last words to
his disciples were? They watched him go. I'm with
you, always, even to the ends of the earth." And they saw Him there. And they
took courage. And they went out, all of them,
and faced every fear. Why? He's with them. Fear no evil. He said, I'll never
leave you. Didn't he? He can't lie. But I can't see him. He sees
you. He sees you. We see through a
glass darkly though, dimly. But he sees us. The disciples
one time were in a boat. And they were fishermen. They
were hardened mariners. And this was the storm in Nostorm
Dam. They all thought we were going down. And they were rowing
hard. And they were scared to death. Simon Peter had very little
fear, but he was scared to death. He thought, we're going down.
We're going down. Where's the Lord? Where's the Lord? We're going down. Remember, he
went to a mountain to pray, and he sent them off. Where is He?
Oh, if He's only with us. Here He came. Here He came walking. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. What
do you mean? It's the Lord. You're asking for him, aren't
you? Here he is. He got in the boat. You know
what he said? Where's your dad? I said, I'll never leave you. What's wrong with that? I'm glad
he knows I'm praying. But we're just making ourselves
miserable. You want to listen to the next message. Because,
you know, at porn, which message to preach when? I think, well,
this is the better message. No, not necessarily. The first
one I thought, who do I preach with? It doesn't matter. It's
all the same. It's all the same one. Our same hope, same peace,
same help. Thou art with me, and I fear
no evil. Thy rod and thy staff. They comfort
me. Thy rod and thy staff. Oh, I
have so much to say about this rod and this staff. You know
how the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt with a rod? Moses' rod. Remember that? He sent Moses
a picture of Christ. He said, what's that in your
hand? He said, a shepherd's staff. What was Moses? A shepherd. He's
going to deliver two million sheep. With what? A rod. No way. You just wait. And see, in that rod, you know,
he threw it down. It's powerful and everything.
With that rod, he parted the Red Sea. With that rod, he gave
orders. With that rod, what's the rod
of God? What's the rod of God? It's Christ. The rod of Jesse. Stem of Jesse. The rod of Jesse. The ruler. Scepter of righteousness shall
be the scepter of this kingdom. This is the greatest thing you've
ever heard. It's like I've never preached
on this before. Brothers and sisters, God reigns
and rules. Christ reigns and rules. He's
the rod of God. He upholds all things by the
word of his power. He purposed all things. He said,
I've spoken it. I'll do it. I'll purpose it.
It'll come to pass. Every single thing that happens,
God purposed it. Nothing can stop it. And Christ
has it under his absolute That rod was in Moses' hand. So is
this word. So is this world. So are you in his hand. Rest. Talk myself. Fear no evil. A rod and a staff. I should have brought it up here.
You saw it. I've got a shepherd's crook. Rod, staff, shepherd's
staff. The rod was to do many things. to beat off foes, you know, to
smack a sheep and eat it. No, you aren't supposed to whip
a sheep. Yeah, you are. It's a spare the
rod, it's a bowl of sheep. And then that crook, what's that
crook for? Because a sheep is prone to wander. They all will
wander. They all will wander off, aren't
they? That's what sheep do, because they're so ignorant. They just
stay close to the shepherd and everything will be fine. Oh,
it's greener grass. So what does he do? Pulls them back. Pulls them back. And that rod of correction, whom
the Lord loveth, he chastened them. Is any of this chastening
you for your lack of faith? It is me. They comfort me. This comforts
me. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of my enemy. Now, if you knew the
enemy was approaching, if you knew that an army is headed
to this building right now to destroy us all, would you sit
down and have a dinner? Would you? That's exactly what
the Lord did. That's exactly what He said.
You go into Jerusalem. Lord, they're going to kill you.
No man taketh my life from me. No man taketh your life from
me. Nothing and no one taketh your life from you. I do, the
Lord said. Now, you go into Jerusalem. There's
going to be a room waiting. A man with a pitcher of water.
I'm the man. And here's the water. Okay? An
upper room. A large upper room. Furnished.
Come. It's all ready. And you go in
there and you sit down. And I'm coming, and we're going
to feast. We're going to have a dinner
together. We're just going to rejoice with each other. We're
going to eat. We're going to drink. We're going
to be happy. We've got something to look forward
to. But the enemy's coming. I'm sending them. Sit down. Rest. That's exactly what he did. Prepares
us a table, right here we're sitting at the table, in the
presence of our enemies. We've got enemies everywhere.
We're not of this world, like him. He said, you'll be hated
of all men. We're not of this world. But
he prepares us this wonderful table right in the middle of
our enemies. I love to read the old, where
am I? Time-wise, I don't know, who cares? I love to read those
old seafaring books, Dan. There's one particular captain
I like to read about, and he had his fears, but he didn't
let the men know it. And he'd see the enemy approaching. They'd be on this ship, you know.
He'd see the enemy approaching, he'd tell them, he'd ring the
bell for dinner. And you have them all sit down
to dinner with their finest on, and all of them sit down. And
the men are trembling. They can hear the enemy approaching,
the guns firing. And the captain's just sitting there, he's drinking
real quiet. Telling jokes. Aren't you scared? No. I'm your captain. But Christ is the captain of
our salvation. Set his face like a plant toward
Jerusalem. I'm going to go ahead and tell
this. You'll hear it in the next hour. I've got to tell it. You've
got to hear it. You want to hear it. There's this ship, this ocean
liner years and years ago, a true story. ocean liner, and it was
in some really rough seas. I mean, it was bad. Real rough
sea. There was a young boy on that
ship. And everybody on that ship was
scared to death. All these landlubbers, you know,
they were just scared to death. And this little boy, he had little
toys, playing with it, just whistling, and just looking over the rail,
the ship, and just carrying on and all that. And people just
shrugged. They said, young man, boy, what? Aren't you afraid? He said, well,
no. My dad's a captain. He wouldn't
let anything happen to him. The Lord is my shepherd. He prepares
the table for me to stand. To show His absolute control
over all things. He anoints my head with oil.
Anoints my head with oil. Isn't that Psalm 133? Oh, yes
it is. The anointing of the Lord. Let me read it to you, not misquote
it. It says in Psalm 133, How good
and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity is
like precious hauntment upon the head." That's Christ. "...ran
down upon the beard," he's Aaron's beard, that is our high priest,
"...went down to the skirts of the garment, the dew of Hermon,
the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. There the
Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." He's
commanded that we have life. And this is this oil, the Spirit
of God, taking the things of Christ, anointed Christ, the
anointed, our head, our captain, our Lord, our shepherd, and it's
flowing down to us right now, hopefully, and just soothing
our aching, worried head. Is it? My cup. Run it over. Hasn't yours? Hasn't it? I'm looking at you. All of you. It's not a lean one to bunch.
Your cups have run over, that's for sure. Can you not look back
and say, like me feeding those horses and putting that water
in that? Can you not say it's giving more and more and more
in abundance? All that I could ever ask or
even think. Oh, but, but, but, but. What's wrong with us? Oh, but, but, but, but what? Forgetting past mercy, my cup
runneth over, and it will continue to do so. All right, the last
verse. Surely. Do you understand that
since the Lord is our shepherd, surely. But, but, surely. Are you unsure
about this? You need to be sure that surely
goodness and mercy are following right behind us. No matter what
it is we face, our greatest fears, our greatest worry, like death. Do we worry about death? You're talking about goodness
following. You're talking about mercy following. You're going
to shout to the top of your lungs I'm so glad I died. Oh, so glad. All my life, I dreaded,
I chundered, I worried about it. All my life I worried about
the best thing that ever happened to me. What's wrong with me?
If we could kick ourselves, we would. Surely, goodness, why,
God's too good to do evil. All things work together for
what? Good. Is that just a verse we quote?
That's who God is. That's our peace, our comfort,
goodness and mercy that's kind enough. It's of the Lord's mercies
we're not consumed. Follow me all the days of my
life, whatever I go through, everything in my life, what follows
is goodness and mercy. Just wait, you'll see. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever." David, how can you be so sure? How can you
say that you're going to be in heaven from now on? How can you
say that with such certainty? You say, surely, David, how can
you say that? Because the Lord is my surety. Because the Lord is my shepherd. Because the Lord is my righteousness. And he wouldn't have shown me
these things if it was not so. Like Manoah's wife. He wouldn't
have told us he sang. He wouldn't have accepted the
sacrifice. He wouldn't have shown us he sang. He wouldn't have
given me joy over it. He wouldn't have caused me to
trust him if I didn't belong to him. So, I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. Amen. Thank you very much.