Look in this psalm with me together.
David said, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not walk. The Lord is
my shepherd. When you go through the 23rd
psalm, you certainly know why he is called the sweet psalmist
of Israel. This is a sweet, sweet psalm. Some call it the pearl
of the psalms. But I know it's a sweet song.
And David, he knows something about being a shepherd. He was
a shepherd. He was a shepherd a long time. In fact, he was
out on the hillsides tending the sheep when the Lord sent
and had him brought in from the field when he was going to anoint
a king over Israel. He said, well, everybody's seen
all my sons. He said, well, ain't you got
any more? I said, yeah, just a strapping boy out here, just a stripping
of a boy. He's out tending the sheep. Well, go get him. That's
the one I will make king. David knows what it was to be
a shepherd. He knows what it is to be someone who loves sheep,
cares for sheep, tends sheep, finds pasture for sheep, bleeds the sheep, protects the
sheep. He knows what it was to be a
shepherd. And I know this, that it follows the 22nd Psalm, which
we'll get to soon. And in the 22nd Psalm, there's
no green pastures there for our Savior. There's no still waters
there for our Savior. Christ from the cross says, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And it's only after We have
been to the cross only after we have suffered our death with
the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Only after sins have been
put away. Only after that can we say, the
Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And
the Lord, let me tell you something, the Lord, He bought the sheep,
you know, they're His. He bought them, paid for them.
And that's what He said here, the Lord is my shepherd. Who's
my shepherd? The Lord is. Jehovah. Jesus Christ,
the Lord of glory. He's the shepherd of the sheep.
Look with me in John chapter 10. Let's just look a little
bit about sheep. You know, he laid down his life for the sheep. And it's not goat, sheep. A shepherd over sheep. And a goat herder is what he's
called. He's called a goat herder. Sheep leads the sheep. A goat
herder has to drive the goats. He can't keep them under control.
But I tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's the shepherd of
the sheep. Look what He said here in verse 14. I am the good
shepherd, and I know my sheep, and them known of mine. And as
the father knoweth me, even so know I the father." And listen
to this, I lay down my life for the sheep. Lay it down for the
sheep. They led him as a lamb to the
slaughter, and he resisted not. He says, no, but he said, and
other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them also must
break, and they'll hear my voice. be one foal and one shepherd.
Therefore doeth my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have the power to lay it down.
I have the power to take it up again. This commandment have
I received of my Father." Now look down there in verse 26 for
just a minute. He says, these folks said, if
you're the shepherd, let us know. Let us know. And our Lord, He
said, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly, in verse 24. He said,
I told you and you believed not. But He said in verse 26, but
you believe not because you're not of my sheep, as I said unto
you. These people could never say the Lord is my shepherd.
That people, He said, depart from me, you workers of iniquity,
I never knew you. He said, I know my sheep. I don't
know them. There are some people who hear,
he says, they're not my sheep, and my sheep hear my voice, and
you don't hear it. You never have heard it, and
you never will hear it. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they what? They follow me. There ain't but
one shepherd, and they gonna follow that shepherd. And that's
what our Lord Jesus Christ said. He's our shepherd. He's our shepherd. He owns the sheep. He bought
the sheep. He paid for the sheep. He said,
I know my sheep. And look with me, I think it's
Psalm 100, verse 3. Let me show you this here, just
for a moment. You know, He's the Lord of glory.
That's our shepherd. Not just anybody. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's God, Jehovah God, Himself. And the Jehovah of the Old Testament
is the Jesus of the new. Look what He said in verse 3,
Psalm 100. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and listen
to this, and the sheep of His pasture. Sheep of His pasture. Oh, my. He said we're His sheep. And
you know, because I'm His sheep, that's why I've tried to preach
on Sunday morning. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. I called upon the name of the
Lord and was saved, and the Lord I called on was my shepherd.
Look what else it said here in Psalm 23, verse 1. The Lord is
my shepherd. The Lord is the shepherd. But
David said, the Lord is my shepherd. Can you say the Lord is my shepherd?
Can you say He's mine? Like we said, I am my Beloved's
and my Beloved is mine. It says here, He is my shepherd. There's no is. There's no maybes,
there's no hopes, hopes, there's no I. Maybes and perhaps, no
doubt about it. He says, the Lord is my shepherd,
my shepherd. I'll tell you what, beloved,
He owns me. He bought me. The Father gave all of us, those
of us that are sheep, the Father gave us to His blessed Son, and
it come to them grace before the world ever began. That's
what He said here, and my Father loves me because I got this commandment
from Him. When did He get the commandment?
He didn't get it when he was first born. He didn't get it
when he was 30 years old. He didn't get it when he was
33. He got the commandment from all eternity. Lay down your life
for the sheep. He said, all that the Father
gives me, they're going to come to me. And him that cometh to
me, I ain't going to cast him out. We were given to Christ
in this blessed covenant of grace, and he owns us. The shepherd
owns his people. Little one of them can say, he's
my shepherd. My shepherd. I tell you, He loves
us and bought us with His own blood, and He's got three places,
three titles as a shepherd. In Hebrews, He's called the Great
Shepherd of the Sheep, because He is brought again from the
dead through the blood of the everlasting covenant. He's called
the Chief Shepherd in 1 Peter chapter 5, when the Chief Shepherd
shall appear. And then He's called the Good
Shepherd. Because the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep.
And I tell you, beloved, he laid down his life for the sheep.
Look in Exodus. I mean, Ezekiel with me just
a moment, 34. Ezekiel 34, talking about the
shepherds and the sheep. I'm certainly glad I'm a sheep.
Daniel Parks has been preaching some messages, sent out some
messages on sheep and what sheep are like. All I know is that
sheeps need a shepherd. I know that sheeps got somebody,
somebody's got to lead them. Somebody's got to take care of
them. There's an old fella told me, he's gone now, he's passed
away here a few months, about a year or so ago. But he had
sheep, he said, sheep was, he said, they got on one side of
the barn, didn't know how to find their way back around the other
side. Somebody had to go around there and lead them back around.
And that's the way I am. I don't know how you feel, but
I feel like, you know, I got on the other side of the barn.
I couldn't find my way back. And the Lord Jesus has to go
around getting me and bring me back. That's the way I feel about
me. I don't know. I hope you're not
that kind of a sheep. But look what he said here in
Exodus, excuse me, Ezekiel 34 and verse 12. He said, I will search my sheep
and seek them out as a shepherd, seeketh out his flock in the
day that he is among his sheep that are scattered. So I seek
out my sheep and will deliver them of all places where they've
been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. Oh, who's going
to do this? God said, I will, as a shepherd.
I'll bring them out of the people and gather them from the countries,
bring them to their own land, feed them. them on the mountains,
I will feed them in the first fourteen, feed them in a good
pasture. Upon the high mountains of Israel shall their foal be,
and they shall lie in a good foal, and in a fat pasture, and
they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed them,
I will flog them, I will cause them to lay down, saith the Lord
God. I will seek that which was lost, bring again that which
was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and
will strengthen that which was sick. That's what he says. Go find us. Go seek us. Oh, that
good shepherd. That shepherd went out. He says,
if the man loose has ninety-nine sheep and they're in the fold,
the first one that goes astray, he keeps looking until he finds
it. And when he finds it, he goes
to the wilderness wherever he has to go to find that sheep.
When he finds it, he lays on his shoulder and he brings it
back and says, Rejoice with me! My sheep, which was lost, is
found. You know, there's two kinds of
sheep. Just two kinds of sheep. Pound sheep, lost sheep. But
if you're a sheep, He'll go find you. And I've just read where
He's seeking to bring you out of people, countries, lands,
wherever you've been scattered, wherever you may be. He'll go
find His sheep. That's what's so wonderful about
going someplace to preach. Then look what He says. The Lord
is the shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And
look what He says. I shall not want. I shall not
want. You say, well, I want lots of
things. Not spiritually, you don't. Not spiritually, you don't. And I tell you what, we may be
the weakest, the dumbest, the slowest, the frailest, may wander,
may stray. We may grow old and may grow
feeble. But the Lord said, I shall not
want. I don't have all that I wish,
but I shall not want. I may endure sickness, may endure
sorrow, may walk the valley of death, stand before God's awful,
awful throne, but I shall not want, because the Lord is my
shepherd. I'll not want for any good thing.
I'll not want for forgiveness. I've got it. Not want for my
sins to be put away, it's done. Not want for justice to be satisfied,
Christ did that. Won't have to face God in His
holy law, Christ fulfilled it. Won't have to stand in my place
because Christ put His Spirit in me. Christ is my hope of glory. And I tell you, I shall not want
for any good thing because He is able to say, He is able to
keep that we've committed to Him. He is able to put in us
thallness before His throne in glory. He is able to change this
foul body and change it like unto His own glorious body. I
shall not want. I shall not want. When I face
God in this office, when I stand before God, I shall not want. I'll stand there with the Lord
as my shepherd, and you will too. How about you here? The
Lord brought me here. My shepherd brought me here.
This is the final fold, and the Master brought me here. I'm here
because He shed His blood. I'm here because He laid down
His life. I'm here because He said I was
His sheep. I'm here because He called me.
I'm here because I heard His voice. I'm here because He is
my shepherd. And I'm in this building tonight,
and I'm among you, because He is my shelter." And he says,
well, look what he says here. We won't walk for rest. Look
what he says. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Do you notice what he says there? He says, and I suggest that you
folks lay down and rest here. I'd like for you all to lay down
and rest. Y'all really do need to rest." No, He said, He maketh
us to lay down. He has to. You know, He has to
make us find our rest in Christ. He brings us and makes us lie
down in green pastures. Oh, listen, He lays us down in
those green pastures. And oh, of whom shall we fear?
Not enemies. I have no reason to run. I can lie down in the repose
of the green pastures that the Lord Jesus Christ has put us
in. You know what some of the green pastures he's put us in?
He put us in the green pasture of his covenant. He said, I'll
be their God, they'll be my people. Oh, and listen, the green pastures
of His blood that cleanses us from all sin, the green pastures
of His righteousness put on our account, the green pastures of
His justification, the green pastures of His blessed Word
and person and glory, the green pastures of His Word, and the
blessed green pastures of the rest that we have in Christ Himself. Rest in Him. Repose our souls
in Him. Come unto Me, all you that are
laden and are heavy laden. Now that don't mean, beloved,
just anybody. That's me and you. People say
that's for limitation. That's for me and you. Come, all you that are heavy,
heavy laden and burdened. Come. And I'll give you rest. Come unto Me and learn of Me.
Meek and lowly of heart, and you'll find rest. And oh, when
you're burdened and heavy laden, where do you go for your rest? When you're tired and you've
carried that load, where do you go for rest? I have but one place
to go. Go to Him. And then look what
He says. He maketh me to lie down, and
I shall not want for rest, and I shall not want for peace. He
leaveth me besides the still waters. Oh my. Peaceful, quiet,
easy. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Not raging rivers. Not big rapids that you fall
off into and sweep you away. But still, quiet waters where
a sheep can go out there and walk up that cool water and bend
down there and put his head down there and give him a good fresh
drink. And He leads us besides them waters that are still and
so calm. And He makes them still and calm,
like He did that storm on the sea for those disciples of Hid,
when they said, Oh Lord, you cares not that we perished, you
got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. Just stop like that.
That's what He does for us, makes us lie down by them still waters. You know, our lives are made
up of two parts. What we think and what we do. That's the way
our lives, we think and we do. When you say that's right, two
parts to our lives. We think with our minds and we
do with our thoughts. We put our thoughts into actions.
Not all of them, which I'm very thankful for, but we have thoughts
and deeds. And our blessed Lord Jesus Christ
is our shepherd for our thoughts, in our shepherds for our deeds.
He makes us lie down, and we find our minds can rest and lay
beside those still waters. We can find that our actions,
we can rest and not have to do anything. We can rest in our
mind, rest in our souls, fed by His Word, cured by His promises,
and just lay down besides the calm waters. And you know life. Life is portrayed sometimes as
deep water. I think of Psalm 16, it says,
deep answers unto deep. Trials of life are pictured as
deep water, troubled waters, raging waves of the sea. But
our shepherd has calm, still waters to make us lie down inside.
No troubled seas, no waves. None whatsoever. Look in Psalm
46 with me just a moment. Psalm 46. Oh, we have Psalm 46. Oh, trials are for our good.
Look what he said here. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble.
I like that right there. A very present help in trouble. I need help when I'm in trouble. I won't need help tomorrow. I
need help right now when I'm in trouble. Well, I'll be there
in just a little while. No. The Lord said I'm a present
help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though
the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into
the midst of sea, though the waters thereof in roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
There is a river, and such still calm waters. The streams whereof
shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles
of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her." And that
right early. Oh, I'll not want for peace,
because He makes us lie down in green pastures. Now look back
over again in the 23rd Psalm. Let's look at this. Let's look
at a couple more things here. I'll not want for redemption. I'll not want for forgiveness.
Look what He said here in verse 3. He restores my soul. What in the world do you reckon
He's talking about? Restores our soul. Well, we were dead.
in trespasses and sin. He restored our souls to life,
for in Adam we died. And we were unclean, we were
impure. And He restored our life to purity.
We were lost sheep. He restored us and found us.
And He restored our lives to God. He restored us to God. He
reconciled us to God. He's really the entity that was
between us and God. And one of these days, bless
His name, He'll restore this body and make a new one. Huh? Make a new one. He restored that
which He took not away. And then look what He said here
again now. He restored my soul. He restores it. And I tell you
what, how many times have He restored it in this world? You
know, Bruce Craddock called and asked me how things went on Sunday.
And I said, well, Sunday morning, I said, I was sure thankful.
I said, I was needing need the Lord's presence, and the Lord
gave it to me. He restored my soul Sunday morning.
That's all it takes. I mean, just a breath from Him,
and you feel like you're a new person. Just feel regenerated. Just feel so refreshed. And then
look what He says. He goes on and restores my soul,
and He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake.
Now, do you reckon you could have found this path if he hadn't
led you to it? Do you think you would have ever
found the path of righteousness? We had our own righteousness
and we walked in it, but do you reckon we would have walked in
this path of righteousness? Do you reckon we'd even know
where it was if we could have found it? Oh, he leadeth me. It's not my nature to know the
path of righteousness. It's not surely in my nature
to find it, and it's not in my nature to recognize it, and it
sure ain't in my nature to walk in it until he led me in it. And you notice he said it's called
the path of righteousness. You know, I tell you what, I
think this path is so well worn. I think this is so well worn
because of all the saints that's walked over this path of righteousness.
And I think it's well-worn, and I think there's a multitude that
no man can number right now on this earth that Christ is leading
through the paths of righteousness. He leads me there because it's
His path. He leads me there because it's
His righteousness. He leads me there because He
made me both to love and cherish this path of righteousness. It's
a path of righteousness, not a path of darkness. It's not
a path of, I'm trying to do the best I can. It's not a path of,
I hope when I get to the end, I'll be made righteous. It's
a path where only the righteous themselves walk in it. Only the
righteous walk in this path. And Christ leads us in this path.
And why does He lead us in this path? He leads us in it for His
namesake. Look what He said in Psalm 106.
You know, He says that He's done it to the praise of the glory
of His grace. But all he does is for his namesake.
Psalm 106 and verse 6. Look at this. This is what we were. We have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity. We've done wickedly. Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. Remember not the multitude
of thy mercies, but provoked him at the Red Sea, even at the
Red Sea." Now listen to this. Nevertheless, he saved them for
his namesake, that he might make his mighty power known. Why does
he save us for his namesake? He would lose his name, lose
his power, lose everything if he did not keep us in the paths
of righteousness. For his namesake. I'm going to
get you through that. And then look what else he says
in verse 4, back over here in Psalm 23. I'll not want for companionship,
I'll not want for comfort either. He says, verse 3, Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no
evil, for thy art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death. And I'm going to tell you what
I think this means. I don't think this means that
the day that we leave this world with our physical death. I don't
think this is the time of our physical death. I believe that
this whole world and this life from the time that God saved
us is the valley of death. Oh, we've walked this valley.
How many people have we walked with through this valley and
they've parted away? And we're going through this
valley. This is the valley of a shadow of death. We walk through
it in our entire journey through this world. It's called the valley
of death because the fall of Adam stamped death on everything
in the stench of death, on everything in this world. And we're walking
through this world. It's not our home. And I don't
think it's the day that we leave this world. I think that right
now, all of us are walking in the valley of the shadow of death.
Now, you think about it. We're all walking, and the shadow
of death is over all of us, wherever we walk. And it's called the
shadow of death. And I tell you, it's called the
shadow because our Lord removed the sting of death. And He removed
what death could do to us, and only a shadow remains. Now, let
me ask you something. A shadow can't hurt you, and
a shadow can't destroy you. And we're walking through the
valley of the shadow of death. Shadows of death are everywhere.
And then there's times when death itself comes, and the substance
comes, and the shadow's gone. And I tell you, you just think
about, oh, you're walking through this valley of the shadow of
death. And people die in this valley. People are carried off to their
graves in this valley. The shadow gets a little bit
deeper, a little bit darker. It gets a little bit longer. And sometimes it gets a little
bit heavier, the shadow does. But it's just a shadow. It's
just a shadow. And then look what he said, and
that's why he said, I fear no evil. He didn't say there wasn't
any evil. But there is. He just said, I
fear no evil. He didn't say there wasn't any
evil. He said, there is. But we don't fear because, look
what he says, for thou art with me. You're the one with me. Why should
I fear? I heard Henry say one time, why
would you lay awake at night worrying when God made the slumbers
for sleep? You go ahead and sleep and let
God take care of it. I wish I could practice that. That's good preaching,
but boy, it's a hard thing to do. And that got me to slumber
or sleep. I wish I could say, Lord, I'm going to go to sleep
and you sit up and watch with me, wouldn't you? I wish I could
do that. But he said, I'll fear no evil.
We don't fear because our shepherd's with us. And where the shepherd
is, where the sheep is, the shepherd is. He said, I'll never, no,
never, no, never, no, never, no, never leave you or forsake
you. And then look what he says, thy
rod and my staff, they comfort me. Oh my, thy rod and staff. I believe this is one and the
same thing. It can be used as a rod and a staff for him to
stand on, lean on. And I'll tell you, there's several
ways to look at this. Some say it's for correction
and chastisement. That's rod is, that's staff is. And as that rod, he corrects
us with that rod, whom he loveth, That's comforting to know, that
if he lets you, he's going to chase you. And some say it's
for numbering the sheep. He takes that rod, or he takes
that staff, and the sheep walk under that, and he numbers, he
counts them as they walk under it. He knows all of his sheep
by name, and they walk under that rod, and he knows them,
and he counts their head as they walk under the rod. And some
say they're for his sovereignty. He's got that rod, he's got that
staff. That means he's got all the power. He's got the right
to do what he wants with it. And because he has this sovereignty,
he uses this rod and this staff for directions and for defense. And that's what he does. If they've
got a crook on it, if a sheep's going astray, he can tap it with
it. If he's going astray, he can take that crook on it and
get it by his leg, get it by his neck, and he can pull it
back in. And I know one thing, He can direct them with that
rod, with that staff. He can get them to wherever He
wants them to go, and whatever one it means. If it means correcting
us, if it means numbering us, if it means directing us and
defending us. And that's what He uses that
rod for, that staff, to defend us. Whatever it means. If it means all of them, it's
comforting to me. It's a comforting thing. And
then look what he says, I might want for whatever I need in the
presence of God. Look what he says, thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of my enemies. He said, I'll spread a table,
I'm going to set a table for you in the presence of your enemies.
He did that himself. You know, he said, why does your
master eat with publicans and sinners? Because he said, You
see, beloved, I'm not walked. He'll take that table, He spreads
it, and all the things He puts on His table. Grace, mercy, righteousness,
the gospel, His deity, His humanity, His sinlessness, His cross, His
blood, He's the bread, He's the water, He's the wine that fills
our heart with joy. And He sets that table for us
right in the presence of all of our enemies. What's my enemies?
Well, sin's my enemy. He sets that table right in front
of me. Says, sin can't do nothing. The flesh, the devil, the world. And He sets us a table right
in the presence of our enemies. And we sit down with our Lord
Jesus Christ and feast with Him. Then look what He says, And thou
knowest my head with oil. That means the Holy Spirit. He
pours oil on us. Makes our face glisten and shine
with the oil. And then He takes our cup and
says, Set your cup out here. I want to fill your cup up. I
want to make sure you've got enough to drink. I'm going to
make sure you've got plenty. And he takes that cup and he
starts pouring in it, and it runs over. He says, whoa, whoa,
whoa, wait, that's enough. Nope, I don't. I'm going to run it over. I'm
going to run it over. And then look what he says. I'm
not wont for anything in this life, nor in the life to come.
Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life. I started thinking about that
today, and the goodness of God, and it brought me to tears. The
goodness of God. If God's been as good to anybody
as He has to me, I don't know it. Right over here, look on
my right, and there's the goodness of God. Goodness and mercy. There's God's goodness. Right
there again. Look at it. Look at His goodness. You are God's goodness to me.
All of you. You're God's goodness to me.
How good God's been to me to let me know you and enjoy your
fellowship. Be your pastor all these years.
Be your friend all these years. Oh, that's the goodness of God.
And to give me the gospel and teach me the gospel. Oh, the
goodness of God. To give us the Word, give us
the truth. Oh, the goodness of God. Every
kind word, every sweet gesture, every gift, every prayer, that's
the goodness of God. And that goodness of God is going
to follow me and follow you all the days of our lives. And when
we get to the end, we'll be able to look back and say, God is
good to me. Oh, the goodness of God, me and
Mary can't get over how good He's been. I just can't get over
it. And then look what He says. And
mercy over here on my left hand is mercy. Mercy, mercy, mercy. Whenever I get to thinking, not
thinking enough about the goodness of God, mercy will come along.
And say, oh, remember, remember. And then look what He says. And
I'll dwell. Where are we going to end up
when it's all said and done? I'll dwell. Dwell. That means you're going to get
there and stay. We're in the house of the Lord. How long are
you going to stay there? Forever. I'm not just going to
drop by for a visit. I'm not just going to drop by
for a visit. The last two weekends we've had
people come a long, long way to visit us. A long, long way. Went to great expense. to come
see us, stay a day or two. They just stay for a day or two,
don't want to impose on you. But when we go dwell in the house
of the Lord forever, there'll be no imposition. We won't be
just dropping by for a visit. When we get there, we'll get
to stay forever. And guess whose house it is? All the sheep will be there,
and everyone will be welcome. Everyone will be welcome. Amen. Our Father, O gracious, gracious
Lord, how wonderfully good, gracious, and kind You are to us, these
dear saints of God. May Your great and gracious blessings
be upon them, May their halls be blessed. They're going out
and they're coming in. They're getting up and they're
going down. Lord, meet their needs. God bless
them abundantly. Give them the strength they need,
the grace they need, the help they need, the love they need, the comfort they need, whatever
we need. Lord, you said you are our shepherd
and we wouldn't want So give us what you know, what we want. We want you. We want your grace. We want your love shed abroad
in our hearts. We want strength. We want to love you more. We
want to obey you better and more. We want to walk upright in this
world. We want a heart of forgiveness and tenderness and generosity
and kindness. We want a voice that speaks gently
and kindly, a soft answer that turns away wrath. Oh Lord, there's
a multitude of things that we want. And Lord Jesus, you can
give it, because you are a shepherd. We bless you in Christ's name.
Amen. Amen.