Good hymn, Psalm 23, set to music. That's what Psalm means. Words
set to music. That's what the word Psalm means.
And while we're singing that, let's look at it. Psalm 23. Psalm
23. I'll get to Acts 16 eventually. If you read it, good! You'll be well versed in it when
we get to it. Psalm 23. I hope to make this
light and easy in its style and delivery, not in substance. And
I hope it will be God-honoring and comforting. passage two or
three times, but could well preach from it two or three hundred
times. We would do well to make this a yearly message, this song,
a yearly message. What made me think about this
and read it again was, you remember Elder Cecil Roach's outline that
I put in our bulletin a couple of weeks ago? You remember it
well, don't you? I put it in our bulletin a couple
of weeks ago. Elder Cecil Roach had a very simple outline from
Psalm 23, and I was so blessed by it, I saw it in 13th Street
Bulletin and put it in ours. Then I read it again while I
was looking at Brother Maurice Montgomery's bulletin, and I
thought, I'm just going to have to preach that, right like it
is, that same outline. So I took his outline, and we'll
will work from that. The first verse, let's look at
it together. In a blessed psalm it is, The
Lord is my shepherd. This is speaking to sheep, speaking
of sheep, and speaking to sheep. This psalm is not a mere funeral
passage. People like to It seems like
that's the only one they come to, isn't it, when there's a
funeral that comes up. But it's not a mere funeral passage,
nor is it to be used indiscriminately on anyone. This is for the sheep. The Scriptures are very clear.
Our Lord said it in Matthew, didn't he, that there are goats
and there are sheep. He said in the end that he will
gather all nations to himself and separate the goats from the
sheep. sheep on his right hand, the
goats on his left. Gather the sheep and kick out the goats,
right? So it's plain that everyone is not a sheep, so this is not
to everyone. Let's lay that down. I always
try to establish when we look at a portion of Scripture, who
is it written to? This is not to be used indiscriminately
for everyone, not for people to just merely quote when a funeral
comes along. It doesn't apply to everyone.
The man that died, the Lord may not have been his shepherd. The
Lord very well at that moment may be his judge. But to the
sheep, as the blessed psalm is written, the Lord is my shepherd. To believers, the Lord is my
shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Who is that? Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the
Lord. In every sense of the word, in
the purest sense of the word, he's creator, ruler, sovereign,
controller, sustainer, provider, protector. All things are in
his all-powerful, omnipotent hands. He's the Lord, and he's
my shepherd. And he does, he's the Lord, he
does according to his will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand. He's
Lord. He's Lord. The sheep know that. Goats don't. But the sheep know
that. He's absolute Lord over all,
especially his people. And none are going to touch his
darling, the apple of his eye, his sheep, his little tender
lamb. He is my shepherd, my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The
shepherd of the sheep is first the owner of those sheep, isn't
it? How is Christ our owner? Not only is he our creator, but
he purchased us by his own blood. He redeemed the right to be our
Lord. He redeemed his sheep. He bought
them. He chose them out of a scraggly
bunch and bought them and branded them, he says, you're mine, you're
not your own, you're mine, you're bought with a price. He's our
owner, he's our master, he's our protector, shepherd, in every
sense of the word, shepherd. Lord and shepherd, protector,
provider, leader. That's what a shepherd is, a
good shepherd. He's called the good shepherd. in that he's merciful, he's gracious,
he's tender, he's kind, he's compassionate. Everything it
takes to be a good shepherd. He's a good one. He's the best.
Well, he's called the great. The great shepherd. He's called
the good shepherd. He's called the great shepherd. He's tender
and kind and compassionate. He's all-powerful. He's omniscient. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere
at the same time. He's great. He's a great shepherd.
And not only that, is he a great shepherd, He's two-shepherd. He places his sheep under under-shepherds. That's what pastor means, an
under-shepherd. In Jeremiah, he said, I'll give
you pastors after my own heart. And some of you could enter into
that in Ezekiel 34, couldn't you? How that you were under
these fellows that fed themselves off of you. fed themselves. They got fats off of you while
you were lean. Your souls were lean. You weren't
being fed. Right? Some of you could enter
into that passage in Ezekiel 34. But he said, I'll give you
pastors after my own heart. They won't feed off of you. They'll
feed you. They'll feed you. Just what you
need. They'll feed you. He's the chief
shepherd, though. What I was saying is, he's the
chief shepherd. He puts his sheep under some
under-shepherds while he's away, but you better believe he's got
his eye on them. Ultimately, he's watching them. He may be busy with other things,
but he's got his eye on you. His peripheral vision is 360
degrees. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not want, that means
I shall not be in need of anything. In need of anything. What shall we not be in want
of or in need of? Well, Brother Roach gave us several
things and several divisions that are clearly seen from this
psalm. Number one, I shall not want
for rest. Look at verse two. It says, He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He maketh me. sheep are such dumb animals,
they don't even know when to rest, do they? Huh? They'll just wander and wander
and wander. They're so dumb. I believe they're
one of the only animals on earth that if left to themselves, they'll
just walk right over a cliff with their heads down in the
dirt looking for greener pastures, and they'll walk headlong over
a cliff. They're so dumb. But here's the point I'm trying
to make. says he maketh us to lie down
in green pastures. He has to tell us to rest. He
has to instruct us. I don't know about you, but I
have a hard time resting. Do you? I have a hard time resting,
even though he has provided for me perfect and sweet rest and
a perfect, sweet repose in Christ. I'm talking about soul rest. mind, rest, being at ease in
your mind, your heart, and your soul, at rest. What have I got to fear, want? Rest in Christ, because the Lord
is your shepherd. I shall not want. Well, he has
to make us to rest. Rest, there's rest for troubled
hearts, there's rest for toils, those who are in toils and snares,
those that are beset with problems and trials, there's rest to be
had in every situation. Rest, sweet rest, for the taking. Just merely lying down. Just
rest. Just sit down and relax a while,
okay? Rest. Stop and smell the roses. The rose of Sharon. He says he makes us to lie down
in green pastures. The scene is here of some sheep
wandering everywhere and the shepherd goes out and finds them,
gathers them together and leads them into a nice green meadow
and says, Now, y'all have been wandering a long time, now just
lie down right there. You don't even have to walk,
just lie down right where you are and just eat. Rest and eat. Rest, and that's all Noah had
to do while he was in the ark, didn't he? Rest and eat. Green pastures. What is that?
Well, that's God's word, isn't it? It's God's word. Green pastures. There's something new in it every
time you look at it. It's green. It's fresh, isn't
it? It's green. It's pastures. The green pastures
is also God's Christ, God's word which speaks of Christ. He is
our resting place, the believer's resting place where we can lie
down in sweet repose, like I said, and had freedom from fear and
freedom from want. Green pasture. Christ. The word
which speaks of Christ. And I thought about, well, the
sheep are over there lying in that green pasture. Have you ever seen a field full
of cattle or sheep where they're all lying down and just kind
of chewing the cud? They haven't got a worry in the
world. Have you ever seen that? It is not a more peaceful scene
is there, anywhere, than to see a field full, they're all lying
down at the same time, it seems like. Oh, you might see one over
there, and if he was smart he'd lie down like the rest of them.
But they're all lying down on that nice green hill and they've
been, gotten their bellies full and just kind of chewing on the
grass, you know. Well, while they're lying down you can be
sure the shepherd is not. He's watching. He's watching
over them. He's watching, and all they've
got to do is just read. Just read. He's watching over them.
And I shall not want for refreshment, Brother Rope said. Refreshment,
verse 2, he says, he leadeth me beside the still water. Leads
me beside the still water. Walking through this hot and
dusty world leaves you tired, leaves you hungry, leaves you
thirsty. I'm thirsty just thinking about it. He says he leads me beside distilled
waters. You go through this wilderness
land, there's no water to be found, nothing to satisfy you. He brings you in here in the
middle of the week to have this, have the water served up to you,
right? The water. It will satisfy a
lot more than that. I'm already thirsty again. I
just took a drink. And I already need another one.
But this one actually refreshes. This, the water of His Word,
the water of His Word, it actually refreshes, it satisfies. What
else does it do? It washes us, too, doesn't it?
We can bathe ourselves in this. You can drink it and you can
bathe with it. This well, this well. of water. It says it's still
water. He leads me beside the still water. So that I found
out about sheep and studying sheep is that they won't hardly
drink from a rushing stream. You know that? Any kind of wild
whitewater stream, they won't hardly drink from it. Sheep won't. Cattle may. I don't know. Old
dumb ox, they might do it. But sheep the nature of the beast,
they won't do it. They won't drink from a wild,
rushing stream or river. They're too timid, too easily
frightened and scared. Well, I thought about myself. I thought, you know, I don't
need any new wave or new age religion coming along. Every
wind of doctrine that comes along or every wild, rushing stream
of new religion that comes along, I want the same. I want to drink,
John, out of the same body of water that Abraham did. Don't you? The ones that are
God's Word still. Here comes a new perversion.
Let's drink from that. That won't satisfy. They've taken
all the nutrients out of it. They've taken all the glory out
of it. Here comes another one. I'm going to stay with this still. refreshed Abraham, that refreshed
Joseph, that refreshed David. I'm going to drink the very same
water, John, that David drank from, the very same well that
he drew from, I draw from. It's God's word still. It's still
his word. And it'll be there still. For
ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Settled in heaven. And I don't want to drink from
anything new. anything new. It says, I shall
not want for forgiveness. I like that. Verse 3, he restoreth
my soul. He restoreth my soul. I shall
not want, I shall not ever be wanting forgiveness at the hand
of my faithful Lord. He restoreth my soul. Scripture
says, all we like sheep have gone astray. And gone astray. And gone astray. And gone astray. And it will be said that about
us until the day we die, won't it? And gone astray. You know
what the last verse in Psalm 119 says? Lord, I've strayed.
Seek your sheep. Isn't it? All the way through
he's talking about the Lord's faithfulness in his word. All
the way through Psalm 119. How many verses? A hundred and
seventy-something? A hundred and seventy-five? Gets to the last verse. He says,
Lord, I've strayed. Seek me. He will. He will. He'll seek them. He'll restore
you too. The good shepherd comes and finds
us. Did you read that in Ezekiel
34? It says, verse 11 and 12, I, even I, will both search my
sheep and seek them out. Well, will he find them? That's
what makes him the great shepherd. Yeah, he doesn't just try. He
gets the job done. There he's sheep. He's not going
to lose one of them. He says, as a shepherd seeketh
out his flock in the day that he's among his sheep. that are
scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them
out of all places where they've been scattered, no matter where
they get, how low they go, to the uttermost. I'll go to the
guttermost, and I'll seek them again. Again and again. Look at him, he's down and dirty
again. Again. He's the great shepherd. Again,
I will bring them out from the people and gather them. You notice
how many times he said that? I will, I will, I will. Not if
you, if you will. He said, I will. That's what
makes him the great shepherd, isn't it? Huh? And he, he comes
and finds us and he speaks peaceably. He doesn't, oh, he rebukes and
he said, I hear his voice at times, don't
you? And it's not hard, you dumb sheep. It's not like that in
it. Come here to me. And oh, I grieve over myself
when I preach like that. But he doesn't. When he brings
his sheep back, he rebukes them, but firmly, you shouldn't have
done that, should you? And look what you've gotten yourself
into. You've reaped what you've sown,
haven't you? But I'll make it all right. Come on back now. I'll have to chasten you, but
it'll be all right in the end." And he speaks tenderly and kindly
and compassionately. He's the good shepherd, isn't
he? And he restores my soul forgivingly, tenderly. I shall not want forgiveness. And he leads me in paths of righteousness. sets my wandering feet back in
the path." Back in the path. We say it says paths. Well, that's
because there are many things that God has ordained, many means
that God has ordained to set us on the path. See what I mean? He has ordained prayer, he has
ordained scripture reading, he has ordained hearing of the gospel,
he has ordained fellowship with other sheep who are in the path.
Nothing like making you want to walk the path when you see
other sheep doing it. That's the nature of a sheep,
too, when he sees it. Where are you going? I'm going
down this path. I'll go, too. I don't want to
be alone. When you get out there all alone,
that's when you feel like the black sheep. But when you get
in with other black sheep, you don't feel so black. And you all go the same path.
He's ordained these paths or these means that point me to
the path, to Christ, who is the path, the way, and sets me to
walking with him again. He uses these means to set me
to walking with him again for his namesake. He does all this
for his glory, for his honor. as a testimony to his strength
and his power. That's what makes him the good
shepherd, the great shepherd, isn't it? And never lose a sheep. He's never going to lose a sheep. Do you believe, let me ask you
one more time, I'll ask you one more time from our text Sunday
morning. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of the living God? That he is the Christ, he
has the words of life. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that, Charles? Had not I chosen thee? I liked it the first time,
and I still like it. I'm still feeding on that one
verse. If you do, it's because he chose you. You're one of his
sheep. He set his love on you. He set his affection on you from
before the foundation of the world. He put your name, he engraved
your name on the palm of his hand. Christ went to the cross
with your sins, put them away, and now he ever lives to make
intercession for Charles Ross. Think about that. Who is Charles
Ross? Is he anybody? Not to the world
he's not, but he is to the Lord of glory. That's what makes him
the Great Shepherd, isn't it? He takes notice of I am poor
and weak, and let the Lord thinketh upon me." To never lose a sheep. He said,
I'll never lose one of them. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Never. Never. You ever see these
old westerns? Any of you like old westerns?
I do. Some of them. They'll go on these
cattle drives. You'll see them. They'll start
out on these cattle drives with, they'll take like a Back then,
they'd take a thousand head of cattle. I was talking to a dairy
farmer the other day, and he said he had ninety-five head
of cattle. Pfft. Pfft. Ain't nothing. Back then,
they'd take a thousand head. Two thousand. And they'd go on
a thousand-mile trail ride, taking these cattle for the winter to
wherever, you know. Take them from Where? Stan, where would they take them?
They'd take them somewhere to Montana, you know, looking for
green pastures for these cattle. And on the way, they'd lose a
hundred. They'd lose, in the course of that drive, they'd
lose to, to, to prey, to, you know, to, to wolves and, and
to sickness and, and to the fact that some of them are weak and
couldn't make it. They'd lose a hundred of them. And they felt
good if they got there with nine hundred out of a thousand. not
the great shepherd. If one of them is lost, he'll go after it, that's right.
He'll leave the ninety-nine and go find it, and he won't come
back until he finds it. And I told you, did you read
that there in Ezekiel 34? I told you the other day that
that silly little see a little poem about footprints in the
sand, you know, with two sets of footprints, and all of a sudden
there's one. And the man in that silly poem,
he says, Lord, you were walking with me for a while there, and
then I noticed there's just one set. Why did you leave me? He
said, Oh, I didn't leave you. I picked you up and carried you.
That's not what the Scripture says. It said there in Ezekiel 34, let's see, maybe
that's not the one I'm looking for. Can you find it? It says we'll carry them. It
might have been back in Isaiah where I was reading. I wish I'd
have written it down. He says he'll gather them in
his bosom. Does anybody know where that
is? I should have written it down, but it's not there, is
it? Well, at any rate, he says in
verse 13, I'll bring them out, I'll gather them, I'll feed them
upon the mountains. And he said that he'd gather
them. I wish I'd have written that down. He said he'd carry
them in his bosom. He'd pick them up and carry them
in his bosom. I'll look that up next time.
and show it to you. But the good shepherd picks his
sheep up and carries them all away from the cradle to the grave,
and he'll never lose one. He'll never lose one sheep. He's the great shepherd. His
name is at stake. Being the great shepherd, his
name, his power, his honor, his glory is at stake. And that's
what he said in Hebrews. He said that he's going to present
all of these sheep to the Father someday, and he's going to say,
and the children that you have given me. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Behold, I and the children that
thou hast given me." They are all here. Not a one of them missing. Not a one of them missing. I
have gathered them and I have brought them to you. And I shall
not want for companionship. Look at verse four. Companionship. V. 8, Though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Well, we live in a world of tribulation. He said that. He said you must,
through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of heaven. A world of tribulation, toil,
and suffering. He knows all about it. He was
here, wasn't he? He was here. He knows all about
it. He knows how tough it is. I guarantee you this. will never
have it as tough as he did. Never. Never. No trial you go
through that he didn't go through it, ten times more. Ten times more. We must, through
much tribulation, but because it's because we live in a hostile
world. It's hostile to sheep. The world
we live in is hostile to sheep. And it's called the shadow of
death. He said, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, there's danger, there's toils and snares, but there's
no need to fear a shadow. A shadow of a dog won't bite
you. A shadow of a lion won't even
bite you, no matter how big the lion is. It won't bite you. That old lion has no teeth. The great shepherd like David,
and David slew that lion and slew the bear, he pulled his
I've told you this so many times that you will enjoy it again,
I believe. The pilgrim was on his way to
the Celestial City in Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress. He said he
came to a path and a road, and up ahead on both sides of the
path were two roaring lions. And he said they were, oh, they
were fierce. And they looked like they were
right in the path there. And there was only one way to
go. He had to go that way. He couldn't go to the right hand
or the left. He had to go straight ahead. And those lines were roaring
fierce in him. He said, Well, I can't turn aside. I have to go. This is the only
way. So he walked on. And the nearer he got, the closer
he got, he finally observed that both those lines were on chains. They were chained up. They were
close to the path, and all they could do was roar, but they couldn't
get to him. He walked right through the middle
of them, untouched, unscathed. They scared him, though. They
sound rough, but they'll never touch you. They'll never touch
you. Oh, grave, death, where is thy
sting? I think it was Thomas Brooks
who said, "'Death stung itself to death when it stung Christ.'" You know when a bee stings you?
When a bee stings you, sometimes it leaves the stinger in there
and flies off somewhere. Well, that bee can't hurt anybody
from there on out, can it? The stinger is gone. That's what
Christ was saying when he said, "'O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?'
No sting to death anymore. Christ took it out. He went there,
didn't he? It's only a shadow. And death
is not the unknown. So he's gone off into the unknown.
It's not unknown to a believer. We know all about it. We know somebody that came back.
And we didn't find it in the National Enquirer either. It
wasn't in Star magazine. It was It's right here. Our Lord
came back from the grave. He said there's no need to fear.
There's no need to fear. I've been there. I've taken all
the fear out of it. Taken all the darkness out of
it. It's not like the old song. I
know it sounds good when Johnny Cash sings it. You got to walk
that lonesome path. You got to walk it by yourself.
No, you don't. He ain't never read Psalm 23,
has he? He said, You don't have to walk by yourself. He said,
Thou art with me. He's with us all the way. We're
not walking by ourselves. He's with us all the way. He's
carrying us. Find that. That's your homework, John. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 11.
Thank you, John. He did find it. He was looking
for it. Let me read it to you. Isaiah
40, verse 11. He said, He shall feed his flock like a shepherd
gathered the lambs with his arm, and carried them in his bosom."
That's it. "...shall gently lead those that are with you." Isaiah
40, verse 11. So it's just a shadow of death,
and Christ said, you needn't fear it, I've been there. Nothing
to fear, and I've prepared a place for you. It's not nothing to
fear of, it's going to be, you're not going to know anything about
it. It's not going to be some dark, traumatic time, death,
I believe. It's not going to be that way,
no. Nothing to be afraid of. It's going to be in a moment,
a twinkling of an eye. You're not going to have time
to think about it. You're going to be changed. It's
going to be like waking up in the morning. Do you fear waking
up in the morning? You look forward to it, don't
you? Well, that's what it's going to be like for the believer.
He says, I'll be with you. I'll be with you in that, in
a special way. The person says, I fear, I don't,
I fear like I don't, I fear that I don't have dying grace. The
man said, well, are you dying? He said, no, not that I know
of. He said, well, you don't need
it right now, then do you? Well, when you get there, and I've
seen believers die, haven't you? We have for. For several years
lived with him and wantonness and riotous living and all that
he was stabbed to death young man my age. When we lived together
about 19 years old stabbed to death in a drug deal. When I
went to see him at the funeral home. his body laying there,
there was the most pained expression on his face. I'll never forget
that as long as I live. It was absolutely, it was terrible. I don't know why they couldn't
remove that look. Maybe they couldn't. The most
pained expression on his face. Not the believer. Not the believer. Well, he says, Thou rod and thy
staff, they comfort me. I rod and I staff, the word again. This is what God's, this is, this is the green pastures, this
is the still waters, this is the rod, this is the staff, this
is it, this is what God, this is where we get it all, this
is what he uses to reprove. Rebuke, correct, come back here,
you've got a hook on you. You know how that staff, that
shepherd's crook, had a hook on it? When the sheep begins
to stray, he reaches out there, come on back here now. What'll
do that? Nothing'll do it but the Word.
Huh? When you come hear the Word or read it for yourself, oh,
it pricks you and it brings you back, doesn't it? Brings you
back to reality, to Him. Brings you back to Christ. His
rod and his staff, the rod and his staff, it both chastens me
and it comforts me, too. It's my protection against the
prey. It's my protection against the
enemy, right, against the enemy that would prey upon me. He uses
it to ward off my enemies, the word of God. Satan hath desired
to sift you, but I prayed for you. I pray for you, I made a
way that you may escape. What is that way that you may
escape? Right here. Every time. Every time. No other
place to find it. An escape for whatever your problem
may be. Whatever your particular problem is, no other way to escape.
But right here. All right? And I shall not want
persistence. Look at verse five. Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemy. A table. This little gathering of believers
right here is a gospel feast, isn't it? A table in the middle
of the week, in the middle of your enemies. And the world is
not your friend. Have you found it to be so, Margaret?
Are they your friends there at work? They're not your friends, they're
your enemies. And he's prepared a table right in the midst of
your enemies, that you can come and dine. You can come and find
an oasis right in the middle of that desert, can't you? An oasis, a fountain to drink
from. The feast on the body and the
blood of Christ is meat for the soul. Meat for the soul, like
Elijah was it, that you can go in the strength of that for many
days. You can go in the strength of it. It's right in the presence
of your enemies, right in the presence of the enemies of the
gospel, the presence of Satan, your chief enemy. I thought about
this. As the sheep sit over there or
lay over there and graze and stand and graze in the pastures
and all that, here's a wolf over here thinking about having Adam.
And the shepherd says, You leave them alone. They're eating. Leave them alone. Somebody said, John, you and
I were talking about this, when he was on the earth for 40 days
after he arose from the grave. Didn't say anything about him
appearing to anybody. He appeared to 400 people at
one time, but did you notice that there was no commotion,
no persecution, nothing going on while he was instructing and
leading and teaching and guiding and preparing for his final departure,
his sheep. Forty days, forty days there
was peace on earth like never before, as the Good Shepherd
instructed and took care of his sheep, gave them his parting
words until he finally left. He wards off the enemy. All right, I shall not want for
joy. He says, Thou anointest my head
with oil, my cup runs over. We have some things to be sad
over, don't we? All of us have times of sadness, times that
we grieve, trials and problems that cause us to grieve, don't
we? But there are few and far between, aren't there? Huh? So many more things to rejoice
about, aren't there? As opposed to our suffering,
aren't there, John? Sure, we're all sad and we grieve
over many things, but it's kind of like children. You know, little
children, 99.9% of the time, they have carefree and trouble-free,
you know. Whoop-zip-a-dee-doo. You ever
seen a child I was watching, who was it I was watching the
other day? One of our children, they can't walk when they go
somewhere. They skip, you know. They're
just bouncing up and down. Life's good, you know. You know
what I mean? Oh, it's just a joy, but skinned
their knee. You know, one little thing coming
off. Oh, the world's coming to an
end. Oh, I've been treated so hard. Haven't I got it rough
in life? Huh? Really. Isn't that right? Ninety-nine point nine percent
of the time, oh, carefree and trouble-free. That's us, isn't
it? We live a full life, 70, 80 years, some odd years. How much of that time is spent
in real suffering and grief? It's a very minuscule amount
of time. My cup runs over. I don't know
about you. He's anointed my head with oil of goodness. My cup
runs over. That's how much he's anointed
me. He's anointed Christ my head. That's the reason my cup runs
over, isn't it? It's that cup that ran down the
beard, it's that oil that ran down the beard of Aaron on his
garment. See, I'm his body, Aaron is my
high priest, it ran down his beard onto me, the anointing
of the Holy Spirit. That's Psalm 133, is that it?
Yeah, it is. Look that up, y'all. Well, my cup runs over. And my
family's been blessed, my life has been blessed, I don't, I
think yours, I know yours has. We have, we all have problems
and all, and we'll have problems, but for the most part, our cup's
run over. And I shall not want anything
in this life, he says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life. Somebody said that's God's faithful
sheepdogs. Goodness and mercy. Goodness!
Mercy! Follow Rick. Don't let him stray
too far now. And when he does, bring him on
back. Go get him. Just a word from the shepherd.
You ever seen those shepherds run those sheepdogs, huh? Those
sheepdogs are faithful. You know, some of them will die
running those sheep. Did you know that? Some of those
sheepdogs will literally kill themselves in search of and finding
sheep will die because they will not fail their master at the
word. They were faithful to the word
of their master. They'll drop dead from heat exhaustion or
thirst. Rounding up those sheep. These won't. These are God's
angels of mercy. and angels of goodness. Keep
Nancy's parked foot lest she dash her foot against a stone. Goodness? Mercy? Over there. God's faithful watchdog. And I shall not want anything
in the life to come. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. In the house of the Lord. Forever. David said, that's that one thing
I desire, that I'll seek after. Psalm 27.4. And the house of the Lord. This
life is like a journey. A journey through a valley. It's
a valley of tears, trouble, tribulation, under the shadow of danger and
death. For the most part, though, it's a valley of many blessings.
It's the well-watered plains. He really is. Don't let me hear
you complaining too much. So it's too much of the time.
Don't let God hear you. Don't worry about me. Don't let
God hear you complaining too much. Isn't that what he, that's
the essence of unbelief is what that is. The children of Israel,
that's what kept them out of the promised land, murmuring
and complaining, which is the essence of unbelief. God had
kept them all those days and they kept murmuring, kept complaining. For the most part, this is a
valley of well-watered plains of Sodom, but the well-watered
plains nonetheless, and we've reaped from it. But it's a valley
of shadow, danger, and death. There's no need for a believer
to fear, because the Lord is our shepherd. The Lord. Take comfort from that sheep.
Blond-headed sheep. Take comfort from that. The Lord
is your shepherd. lead him, guide him, protect
him, provide him, taking his flock to much greener pastures."
You think these pastures are green. Wait until you go over
the Sunset Mountains. Here we sing that song, over
the sunset mountain. Someday I long to go into the
arms of Jesus, the one who loves me so. Green pastures over there
with the shepherd. There's a land that is fairer
than day, And by faith we can see it afar, For the Father waits
over the way, He's prepared us a dwelling place there." By and
by, it'll be sweet. During the pastures he's taking
his little lambs home, where they'll someday be free from
toil and trouble and trial and tears and And boy, it will be
good, most of all, because he will dwell with us. He will dwell
with us. Do you notice that last verse
in Ezekiel 34? He said, You'll be men and I'll
be your God, and I'll dwell with you. The good shepherd, the great
shepherd, the cheap shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd. All
right, stand with me. Heavenly Father, our Lord and
our Shepherd, we thank you for these words. They are a sweet
balm in Gilead, a sweet, refreshing table in the midst of our enemies.
We thank you for it and ask that you would apply it not just to
our heads, but to our affections, our hearts, our understandings,
our souls, our innermost beings. May we feed upon this for days
to come. and draw from it, chew the cud
from it for many days to come until we gather again in the
name of Christ. Amen.