All right, that's what we're
going to deal with tonight. What that was taken from. Psalm 23. Psalm 23. Psalm 23. in a couple of years since we've
looked at this, I hope you'll be enjoyable to see. Psalm 23,
verse 1, David is writing, he says, The Lord is my shepherd. Jehovah-Rabbah is the name there. Jehovah-Rabbah, the Lord is my
shepherd. Now, this is most Preachers,
so-called, use this Psalm 23 merely at funerals. It's kind
of a habit that they do this. I don't know why, but they do.
This is not a psalm to be read at funerals, though that would
be okay. This is a psalm to live in this life by. I've got it. It's a psalm, a psalm not for
the dead or those that have gone on. This is a psalm for us right
now, who live still as sheep here on this earth. The Lord
is my shepherd, David said. Now, a shepherd, it's very simple,
is someone who takes care of sheep. Someone who takes care
of sheep. A shepherd is someone who owns
sheep. Shepherd owns the sheep. There
are many ways in which a shepherd can own sheep and what he can
inherit from it. He can inherit a large ranch, a sheep ranch, which his
father owned and passed it down to him. That is, the father gave
the sheep to his son. Isn't that exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ said in John 10? All that the Father has given
me, the sheep God gave me. A shepherd owns sheep by purchasing
them, by buying them. And that's what Christ said.
He purchased or redeemed them, bought them with his own precious
blood. A shepherd owns sheep by giving
birth to them. That is, breeding the sheep and
producing little lambs. Well, there again, Christ says,
a new birth. A new birth. He gives birth to
his people. All right. Shepherd owns the
sheep. There he is. They belong to him.
A shepherd feeds sheep. A shepherd leads sheep. This is the job of a shepherd.
A shepherd doctors sheep. He's everything. He's a nurse. He's a doctor. He's a leader. He protects sheep. In other words,
a shepherd does everything for sheep. Sheep don't do anything
for sheep. They can't. They can't. They're helpless creatures. Now
David is the writer here, King David. And David knew something
about sheep. You remember the story, don't
you? You know where God found David. David was a young boy
and a shepherd from his youth. And he was out tending sheep.
on the hillside, when Samuel the prophet sent for him, and
they brought him in and anointed him a bearer, the king of Israel.
Well, David was a shepherd from a boy, and he knows something
about what it means to be a shepherd, and what it means to be a good
shepherd. David was a good shepherd. There's no record of David losing
one sheep. Matter of fact, there's stories
of a bear, of David killing a bear, that she's blind, killing a lion. He never lost one sheep. David
is a picture of power. But David says, the Lord is my
shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. David was a good shepherd. But the Lord is the great shepherd. Scripture calls him the good
shepherd, the great shepherd, the chief shepherd. That is,
there's no higher, no greater. The Lord is my shepherd, David
said. David was a shepherd when he
said the Lord is my shepherd. I keep sheep, the Lord keeps
me. He said, I shall not want. Look at verse one. I shall not
want. The word want there is an old English word meaning I
shall not lack. I shall not want for anything.
That doesn't mean there's nothing I desire. It means there's nothing
I need. I shall not want for anything. I shall not lack for anything.
The Lord is my shepherd. He will protide. What was that
name? The Lord will provide. Jehovah something. Jireh. That's right. Jehovah Jireh.
The Lord provides my every need. Scripture says, you know, we're
like sheep. We're dumb preachers. We have
no wisdom. A man, Scripture says, can receive
nothing except to be given in full abundance. Scripture says
every good and perfect gift comes from down on the top. And He provides us with wisdom.
Righteousness, sanctification, redemption, everything that we
need. All of our provisions, all the
provisions of this life and for the life hereafter. I shall not
lack or need anything since Jesus Christ is my Lord. Now, I've told you sheep are
about the most helpless animal there is. Sheep are one of the
most helpless animals there is. And I met a man in Tazeville
County who had about 900 head of sheep. And he told me several
things about sheep that I was amazed by. And also I've been
reading a book recently that I read years ago in preparation
for this message. I've been reading it again and
I was amazed by everything that could happen to sheep. They're
subject to They're praying for every sort of benefit. Anything
can take a sheep down. Anything can steal a little money. They're not like a horse or something
that in just a few hours they're able to take off running fast.
No, they're very helpful sheep. Much like human beings. Takes
them a while. And sheep are subject to all
manner of maladies. This man down in Pasadena told
me that if they get a certain fungus on their back, that it
will literally eat through their skin and kill them. If they fall
down and are too heavily laden with wool, they can't get up.
So my answer to that question is, On and on it goes. They're helpless creatures. They
get foot blight that will just, will literally render them helpless
until they die. On and on. Keep naming things. They're very helpless. They're
very dependent creatures. They're prey for every manner
of prey. They're dumb. They're dumb creatures. Just, sheep will just graze and
graze and graze until it falls off a cliff. Won't look up, rest
on. It doesn't recognize man-eaters,
it needs the shepherd. A true sheep needs a shepherd,
or he'll die without one. That's us. That's us. A sheep is a gregarious animal. Gregarious, meaning flocked together. When the Lord, you remember Noah's
ark, he put on the ark seven clean animals, or two unclean,
seven clean animals. If you'll note, all unclean animals,
a parakeet, right, male and female. But what God called clean animals,
which are types of His people, are, they flock together. In other words, they have to
have areas. They flock together. They need,
the more the better. They flock together, they feed
together. Sheep, they don't feed solitary. They don't wander far from one
another, they feed together. When they're frightened, When
sheep are frightened, what they do is they flock that much closer
together. They don't run off on their own.
They flock that much closer together. They huddle together in the water.
They huddle together in driving stalls. Get the picture. God calls His church as wife.
He calls His people sheep. And that's a picture of His church. Sheep must have sheep. Sheep
do have sheep. There is no such thing as a sheep
without sheep. There's no such thing as a wife
without sheep. Goats, on the other hand. You ever see a goat
tied up by himself on the hillside? Well, he just has his... his
goat. It doesn't matter if he has much
grass, he'll eat dirt. If he has to throw in a tin can,
he's happy with it. Right? They're not so helpless. As a matter of fact, they're
pretty arm-wrent. That's how they survive. Ghosts can live
alone, not sheep. I need a shepherd, and I need
a sheep. Does that describe you? Maybe you're a sheep. And Christ
said, I'm your shepherd. David said, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not walk. David, in Psalm 37, David said,
I've been young, and I am now old. He was an old man when he
wrote that. He said, I've been young. And the Lord provided for me
everything all my days. And when David was 70 some years
old, he said, and I'm now old and I've never sinned. God's
people are suffering. They're having to beg and pray.
It's not my time to care. Because if the Lord's your
shepherd, you shall not mourn. You shall not mourn. He makes
me, verse 2, He makes me to lie down in the green pasture. We've
noted this before, the first thing you teach an animal when
you domesticate one person is what? Lie down. Lie down. Be still. Be still. And that's one of the
first things the Lord teaches His people, who are like wild
asses caught running around. and will eventually destroy themselves
unless he lays hold of them and tames them, makes them lie down
at his feet, and listen and hear, and says,
he makes me lie down in green pastures, green pastures. There's
three things that A shepherd goes to the dog. He feeds the
sheep. He leads the sheep. And he protects the sheep. And
these three things is what they deal with here. He feeds the
sheep. Sheep eat one thing. One thing. Green grass. They don't need you there. Now,
if times are bad, the harvester will throw them some hay. But
if he's a good farmer, he'll provide for them during harvest.
He'll line the pasture. He'll fertilize it. He'll have
the pasture with plenty of water. If he's a good shepherd, he'll
make those allowances. The Lord is like that. He makes
me lie down, green pasture. A green, green grass. What is
that? It's God's Word. God's Word. Now, sheep need only green grass
and water to live by. Every domestic animal does. That's
all they need. Horses. Even an elephant. Look how big they get. Huh? But sheep need only green
grass and water. A young male. It doesn't matter
if it's a young male or an old ewe. Ewe being you. E-W-E. Female. Sheep. You. That's you. You need green grass. Ewes need
green grass. Little lambs need green grass.
You get the picture. God's people need one thing,
God's Word. They don't need to be entertained,
they don't need to have fun, per se. They need the Word of
Christians. The Word talks to them. This
is how faith comes. This is how they grow. I've got a horse, a young horse,
three years old. He weighs, what do you say he
weighs? Fourteen, fifteen, I don't know. Kevin's trying to get him
down to about three or four hundred pounds. He's trying to make him
lose about three hundred. You know where he got all that?
Grass. They can get huge on grass alone. Huge. Well, God's people, he
says, they get fat. The spirits get fat on green
grass alone. Green grass. What's green grass? Well, my
horses, that grass can grow up and turn into hay seed, you know,
but they won't touch that. They go up to that tinder. What's
green grass? Milk. Brand milk. What's the gospel called? The
good news. Green grass. God's people need
the gospel. That's what they love to hear.
Green grass. And he says, the Lord makes me lie down in the
green pasture. Makes me lie down and stay right
there. Lie down. And look at this, verse 2. He
leads me beside the still waters. This is another characteristic
of sheep. Sheep do not like rushing water. Even horses don't like
rushing water. Sheep don't like rushing water.
I'll tell you a couple of reasons why. Number one, they can't hear
predators coming. The sound of that water, they
can't hear the presence, they might see it. Number two, if it's rushing
and burbling and gurgling, they might be a carpenter out in there.
They don't know what's causing this disturbance. They think
something's in there. But it's nice, still water. Peaceful. Quiet. They can eat and throw
it, it's safe. No fear. And it's still as them,
it's smooth as them. Get the picture. And again, God's
people don't need something new. Don't need all this wildfire
that you see in places today. Looks like Superbowl is going
on, you know. Don't need all that. Need one
thing. Sit quietly, look at your book, and hear what God has to
say. And it will steal your soul. He'll give that. He sure will.
Don't like rushing water. It's too loud. One old preacher
said, I can't hear the message from the mast. You know, it's
frightening. It's dangerous lurking in all
that wildfire. But a good shepherd provides
good water, fresh water. Water is essential to life. You know that water is essential
to life. It really is. Modern man is finally... Modern
nutritionists are finally agreeing with God, at least somewhat,
that we must drink water, and water is one of the best things
for us. It took 6,000 years to learn
that. God calls it the water of life
once again, and everything lives by it. Dumb sheep realize that. Dumb horses drink 12 gallons
a day. Oh, there you go. Ride, push, take. Good water. Water and water does
work. That's what it says in Ephesians
5. Water is work. Water, I told my wife this the
other day when we were outside working, it was hot. I had to park. And I've had many
different beverages I like, lemonade, whatever. But there's really
only one thing that will really quench your thirst. You know?
Only one thing will adequately quench your thirst. Well water. Water. Water. But well water's the best
kind, isn't it? Water. Only thing to the quench
your thirst. Christ said, this is why the
Lord Jesus Christ called himself by this name. He said, I am the
water of life. That's what Christ said. He was talking
about that woman who had been married several times and she
was Still looking and still having trouble. And he said, the water
of this world will leave you thirsty. He said, if you find
another husband, he might leave you high and dry. You think you're
going to find peace and happiness and contentment and joy and all
the things that this world promises but can't fulfill. Christ said,
it will leave you thirsty again. The more you drink of it, the
more you have to have. And he said, I'm the water of
life. Verse 3 he says he restored my
soul. That's what these green pastures
and still waters of his word do. They restore the soul. They
restored the stove. Our Lord told the story over
in Matthew, chapter 15, a good shepherd leading the ninety and
nine and going after the one lost sheep in the wilderness.
Remember that story? He went after that one lost sheep
in the wilderness and wandered off. Sheep are prone to do that. Yes, they are. They need and
love to flock together, but they are prone to not watch what they're
doing and mismanaging their own business. And they go on before
they realize that they're in trouble. They're out there by
themselves. And they wish they were back
in the flock. They wish they were back in the flock. Our Lord
told the story of the good shepherd. And there's no way a lost sheep
can find its way back. They do not have those options.
And the shepherd I told you about down in the pastoral, he said,
the shepherd always has to go after the sheep. If they're up
on the hillside, they're not going to come to him. He's got
to go get them, or send his flock of sheep down. We'll get back
to them. But the good shepherd went after
that lost sheep, and he found it in the willows, wandering,
roaming. If it stays out there long enough,
it will either get eaten, or it will die on its own. But the
good shepherd, the really good shepherd, won't quit until he
finds that sheep. And that's what Christ said.
He said, All that the Father gave me shall come to me. I haven't lost one. Christ said,
None of them is lost. It's just a good shepherd, finds
that ball sheet, another great start, cold. And he puts it on
his shoulder and takes it all the way home. He doesn't make
him walk. He carries it all the way home. That's what Christ
does to all of his lost sheep. He finds them. I've kept them.
None lost. He restores them back to the
fold. He restores them to himself.
The sheep wanders off. The shepherds, they belong to
the shepherd. He restores them to himself.
Man was made, created by God for God. Right? That's what God said. He said
He created them for His glory. Man was created by God for God. And man was created to know God,
walk with God, talk with God, enjoy God, be spoken to by Him,
speak to Him. company with God, in communion
with God. Man lost that when he raised
his fist in the face of God and said, I want to be my own man. He lost that communion with God. And the only way that can be
restored It's by the shepherd himself bringing us back to himself. By Christ himself coming to get
his lost sheep and restoring them. Restoring their mind. They lost their mind. You get
out lost, I told you the story of Walter Gruber out hunting
in Mexico. In about 110 degree heat. They kept telling him,
don't go out, don't do anything by yourself. Don't go out there
by yourself. That dumb gringo that he is. Now I'm American. He did it. He went, I can do
it. I can make it. He got lost. It all looked the same. It was
all flat. And he got disoriented. And Heath
got started getting to him. He said he was literally going
down the branch. Totally disoriented. Out of his mind. Heath will render
you senseless. You'll be out of your mind. What's
the hope of somebody who's really lost? Walker says, I was lost. He said, you don't know what
lost is until you're lost. Lost means you can't find your
way back. Lost means you're going down. You're going to die, alas. And he said, here comes a couple
of the next thing we're talking through, y'all. They found him. They found him. Somebody's got
to find them. And Christ, the Good Shepherd,
He said, I've got to find them. I'm going to shoot everyone.
I'm going to restore them back. Bring them back to God. Bring
them back to their right mind, what they were created to do.
Understand their Creator. Know Him. And look at this, verse
3. He says, He leads me in the paths
of righteousness for His name's sake. You know, scripture says
the way of the transgressor is hard. I know a little bit about
that. It's tough to kill your little
buddy. If you don't kill yourself, somebody
else will. I lost a couple of buddies. But
I did, lost a couple of buddies. One was a staffer. Yeah, he's
gone. He's gone, gone, gone. The staffer's gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone, And this is what the Good Shepherd does. He leads us in paths of righteousness,
which his name is of. Now, that doesn't mean, paths
of righteousness doesn't mean, well, like most so-called Christians
think today, you know, a goody two shoes. I guess that's where
they got that. Where did that come from? A goody
two shoes. Everybody's got two shoes. I
don't know where that came from. Anyway, maybe it has something
to do with that goody-two-shoes. I don't know where that came
from. But it's not like they say, you
know. Our Lord was holiness personified. Our Lord was God in human flesh.
The Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect man. He thought no evil,
no sin in Him. He drank wine. He ate with common people. Ate
anything. And they called him a glutton
and a wind-up. They called him a gluttonous
man and a wind-up. They said he had a devil. They
said he had a devil. So both of this must be something
different than what religious people think it is. Walking in
Madison, Rochester, I tell you, as righteous as I am, just walking
like Christ. Walking to Him, walking like
Him. And Christ wasn't holier than thou, though He was, yet
He wasn't. You know what I'm saying? It
says the common people heard Him laughing. It says everyday
people who are just old sinners, The pharisees, those self-righteous
pharisees, you know, liquor never cuts their dick. And they've
been to church all their life. They've come to a place where
the Lord was eating with Cusatians, pharisees. All they could complain
about was how serious, look at who he's eating with. Harlots,
sinners. But this man, they said this
in derision of him, this man must be a sinner that eats with
them. Yeah, he sure does. He showed that. Aren't you glad?
So holiness is part of righteousness. It's something different than
religious folk make it out to be. But that leads us to Him and to be
like Him. And that's to be like Him is
not to be self-righteous, but to be compassionate, kind, and
a friend of sinners. He says he does all this for
his name's sake, Jehovah. He's a good shepherd. The reason he never loses sheep
is because he never loses sheep. When the angels announced his
birth, they said, call his name Jesus. He shall save his people
from their sin. Well, his name is no good if
he loses sheep. I told you David never lost a
sheep, David's just a man. Well, this is the God name. And
Christ said that to the Father. None of them was lost, I kept
them all. My name is the Son. He said, the Father which gave
them me is greater than all. No man but the Father. His name
is the Son. His power, His wisdom, His glory,
His honor. Sheep can't keep themselves. She's a good shepherd to me.
A good shepherd can't have it. The Lord is my shepherd, that's
it. For his name's sake, read on, I'm not going to hurt her.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. For thou art with me. Thou art with me. You know there's
one thing which all human beings Threat and fear and worry over.
Something that no human being can get over. Something which
looms over and hangs over the head of every human being. Something which everyone has
in the back of their mind and can't get past it. And no, it
cannot get by it. Those who say they don't fear
it are lying. What is it? Death. That happens to everybody. At one time, that's not going
to happen. That's going to happen. But,
now, the sheep, David says, it's just a shadow. Though a shadow
might be a fearful thing. And sheep, once again, sheep
are fearful of shadows. They're fighting those things,
but Here you know how good the chef is, and how strong he is,
and how much he's able to light everything. This is the valley of death,
this world we live in. Everything in it dies. That's
why it's called the valley of death. And everything, everyone
in here is going to die. Many have already left this here,
and we are on this as well. Death is a mysterious thing.
None of us have been there. It's still a mystery. It's a
shadowy thing. Something we really can't enter
into but know we can. Scripture says, He leads us to
death. A good shepherd always goes out in front. A good shepherd
always leads. I taught my dog to lead and teach
a horse to lead. That doesn't mean it leads. You've
got to teach it over again, don't you? Because it's ahead of you.
It's the pathology right there. I taught my dog, the first thing
I taught it was to heal. That means he stays right by
my side. And there's a purpose to that.
It's the safety of the dog. The dog may not know and not
be on the same as the traffic that's coming through the doorway.
There may be something dangerous on the other side. And whenever
we have a dog go in front of it, And a good shepherd and a
good master leads and goes first to see that there's nothing to
fear, to face the danger first, to go through whatever they're
going to go through first. Well, our Lord went through the
grave. Jesus Christ went into the grave. He died. We read over
there where it said, no man faced my wrath. He said, I lay it down. I have this power. This is who
I am. I lay it down and said, I'll
just take it up again. The Lord went in. Nobody killed
him. He just died. Scripture says he gave up the
ghost and was taken from him. When he hung on that cross, it
says he bowed his head. He gave up the ghost and he died. Three days later, the scripture
says he walked out of the grave. And now he says to his people,
you don't need to fear death. I've been there. There's nothing
to fear. It's just a shadow. I know you
can't see what's through there, but I've been there. It's just
a shadow. A shadow can't hurt you. Though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou
art with me." Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they come
with me, and they're with me. Thy rod and thy staff, it's one
and the same thing. Some of you woke up and were
asleep, good. Not rod and not spade. That's helpful. It's the same
thing. Rod and spade. There's two, there's
a couple of two things. The rod, which is used for two
or three things to ward off predators. Watch out. to ward off predators. That's what the rod also. A sheath,
if it's a little bit wayward, you know, a plack, plack it on
the rear end. Spare the rod, old sheath, old
cap, rod, and spade, shepherd's spade, always has his crook on. What's that for? What's this
for? A wandering sheep. A wandering mate. You can't pull
it back. One that's fell into the ditch.
A lad. And I rise and I stand. What's that? It's a strategy. And I rise. This is what corrects
these people. This is what wards off the enemy. What wards off the enemy. There's
only one thing that'll keep you from falling prey to Jehovah's
Witnesses, to David Koresh, or all these cults that come down
here. Only one thing. That's the only thing. All right. Do
you remember when the Lord was tempted by Satan himself for
our sake? Remember that? How did the Lord
resist that as a man? And this is the reason this whole
world is falling for everything that comes down the pipe. This
is the reason everybody is falling for all of these sharp things
that come along. Anybody and everything can come along and
do the wildest sort of thing, you know, and people will fall
for it and send all their money. How do they do that? How do they
falsify it? The shepherd had me drunk and killed me in the
winter. He stabbed me. The shepherd stabbed
me. I arrived and I stabbed a couple
of men. God's Word is what brings you back when you go astray. It's God's Word that's broken.
It's not nobody and nothing, no bad circumstances going to
prick your conscience, only God's Word. It's not bringing you back. Read on. Thou preparest a table
for me before me in the presence of my enemy. A table spread in
the presence of my enemy. A table. That's what we're doing
right now. I'm sitting at the table. This is the food. This
is everything. This is everything. We gather right now in the midst
of a world who Scoffs at what we're doing and hates what we're
doing, in the midst of the truth. And it's getting more so all
the time. Well, he said in verse 5, Thou
anointest my head with oil. Thou anointest my head with oil. Again, that's what this is. Well,
God's Word. You know, if you get in a sheep
need, also it's a carrier. And so do we. We get in fainting fits, we start
burning with fever of whatever it may be. You ever get consumed
with something? In fact, you're burning with
the fever of whatever it may be, something you want, something
you want to do, somewhere you want to go, whatever it may be.
Burning with the fever of getting out of your head with grief or
self-pity or whatever it may be. The head is the first thing
to leave. You lose your good sense. And
all we've got to worry about is soon that head. You can't
anoint your head with oil. It will soothe you or bring you
back to your senses. My cup runs over. My cup run
up over. I never watered my dog and said
I didn't fit the bucket that run over. You just say, well,
they're thirsty. Well, I'll get low on water.
I should give them just enough. You do that with your children
then when they're hungry. You say, well, We don't have much
this month, so you'd go hungry before they do. You'd give them
your food before they do. I don't know. I don't know. Ask some more time. I fill up
every bucket. It's just overflowing. As a matter of fact, I run them
over most of the time. Not meaning to run out of water. My judgment, though, how about
you? I've never liked bread. I've
always been an abundance for many things needful. I haven't
had everything I wanted. It's impossible. My big mother, she had all the
bread she wanted. She died. She used to have it. She used
everything. And so do we. We found her in this world. We
found her in this world. We got everything for her. She
could kill us. She died. But we've had everything
we need ever to overcome, to overflow. And look at this, in
closing. He says, Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. The shepherd
leads. The shepherd guides. But there's an old Scottish saying
that says, every good shepherd always has a good sheep though,
or two. It says there's no good, here's
the saying, it says there's no good flock without a good shepherd.
Sheep are worthless without a good shepherd. They're a good sheep,
they've got a good shepherd. You understand? It's a good animal
who has a good master. There's no such thing as a good
dog on its own, a good sheep on its own, a good horse on its
own. It must have a good master. It must have a good trainer.
It must have a good keeper. You understand? There's no such
thing as a good human being. That's what the scripture says.
None good. None. None. One. And our goodness that we have
in him is only because we've got this shepherd who keeps us
from doing whatever, and constrains us to do what he tells us to
do. We don't always do it, but he's
a good shepherd. And goodness and mercy are the
Lord's faithful sheepdogs. The Lord's faithful sheepdog.
I wish I had time to tell you some of the of sheep. But only if they've got a good
handler and a good shepherd to teach them. And these dogs, what
they do is they watch over the herd. They watch over the herd. They protect the herd from wolves,
from predators. They're all the time wrong. Sheep
don't know wolves. Sometimes wolves... Well, didn't
our Lord say that these wolves disguise themselves in sheep's
clothing? Did you say that? Sheep are dumb,
remember? They might think he's a sheep,
but he's a wolf with a scythe. You can't pull a sheep out. It
smells like rubbish. You'll smell it in a long time
before it sees you. Dogs are nearsighted, you know
that? They're nearsighted. Your own dog can see you a hundred
yards off and not know it's you. If the wind's blowing off, until
he hears your voice or catches your smell. And he smelled you
a long time before he sees you. And sheepdogs smell wolves a
long time before they see them. Sheep don't have that sense of
smell. Sheepdogs do. They watch over the herd. They
protect the herd. They bring them to the shepherd.
They bring them to the shepherd. The shepherd says, go get my
sheep. Bring them to me. Bring them to me. Who are these
sheepdogs? As you can see, that's what they
do. Now, sometimes these sheepdogs,
and I won't quit, I promise, sometimes these sheepdogs get
out of line, and they bite the sheep. You know what they do
to them? They take the rod to the sheepdog,
and use the same thing on the sheepdog, As he does it, I didn't
say it's about the sheep. So just watch over them. Don't
get mad at them. Just bring them to me. Bring them to me. Lead them forth
and get to the green pasture. Goodness and mercy. It's the
goodness of God. Scripture says when he ascended
upon high, he gave me a son. The mercy of God. The mercy of
God. Not to leave you to yourself.
Leave me to myself. Leave me to pray. But not to
leave me to pray to every wolf that comes down to bite. That's
the mercy of God. And send in me a faithful shepherd. I'm a shepherd. Sheepdog. And
he says here, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. My old dog,
now you may be getting tired of hearing of him, but I'm not.
I don't get tired of that dog. If you've got an animal, you
can talk about it too. Don't say you don't. My mother's
got a parakeet. She loved that thing. I don't
know if she can tell you a lot of stories about it. But they're
cute little things. No, really. My grandparents had
them, and I love them so much. They're cute little things. But
my dog, my old dog Abner, he said, we determined when we first
got him, we're not going to bring him in the house. Somebody said,
if you've got a dog in the house, what you live in is a dog house. Anyway, you hear that, son? Anyway,
we turned and when we first got in here, we were not going to
bring him in his house. Oh, it was tough. People make
it tough. He really wasn't. He was a little
cute puppy, and oh, we wanted to put him out in the bed with
us. You know how it is. Anybody get the dominant male?
Don't. Anyway, we stuck our guns in
him. We left him outside. It's tough. Well, he took the, he got, he
used to, got a nice barn, got water, got everything. He doesn't
need to be in the house. He's a dog. There's a mom in
the house, you know. That's our house. That's your
house. Well, you know, every now and then, we just, you know,
get soft. and we're gonna bring him in.
But, I usually give him a bath first. The other day I gave him
a bath from head to toe. Oh, he loves it. Only dog, I
know it does, but he loves it. Why? He knows it's good for the
house. I gave him a bath all over. And
I cleaned him up and brought him in. It was about, I guess,
10 o'clock in the morning. And I forgot that. And went out
to do some work. I came back, I don't know, I
came back in the house about 6 o'clock. I said, hey, where
is he? Went downstairs, he was on a
couch, you know, just crawling out. He'd stay there the rest
of his life. You know that, that's him. And
you know what? We're not clean enough. He and
God's presence aren't enough. We've got to clean us up. Sunday,
we're going to live in the big house. All the days of our life. David said, I'll be satisfied
when I awake and die in the light of the Lord. That's where I want
to go. Don't you? I'm not going anywhere.
I want to go live in the house. That's what David said. We'll
live in the house of the Lord. And that's what I was thinking
of. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord. And I was tempted
to visit. I sat down on the couch and the
lady did all that and we just sat there and we didn't know
what to do. All right, let's stand with it. Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Everything, your work, your care,
your love, non-perjury reality. I asked you before, I asked that
you would continue to be a teacher to us. I ask you for being our
shepherd, right now. Lead us as you may. Thank you very much. No, I don't think so. I don't
think so. I don't think so. How can they think of that? I'm not going to do it. I'm not
going to do it. I want to thank you guys for
being nice to me. You guys are so nice to me. I love you. I love you. Now, I'm going to tell you a
story, and I'm going to tell you a story, and I'm going to I'm not going to leave you. I'll
stay with you. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to leave you. Thank you. you.