All right, that's fine. Yes,
sir. Make yourself at home. Let's open our Bible
again to Psalms chapter 23. I know some may say, well, he
was there last time. I think too many times we, in
our human nature, we become so familiar with scriptures. We
know the meaning of the words in our head, but do we know them
in our hearts? I suppose everybody in here could
probably quote this chapter. They said years ago they was
an old missionary who came back from the mission field. He said
he stood up and just recited Psalm chapter 23, and they said
they weren't a dry eye in the place. People just touched, just
like God spoke to them. I mean, just quoting these verses,
and there was somebody there, and they looked over to somebody
else, and they said, I've heard you read that I don't know how
many times. And he said, what makes the difference? He said, I can tell you exactly.
I know the psalm. He knows the shepherd. That's
the difference. It's not just reading these words
as empty words, it's knowing the one it talks about. What
made those girls sing so well, it's not their voices, it's not
their human talent, it's the one they were singing about.
That's what makes the difference. That's what's made the difference
this weekend. It's Him. We're going to talk about Him. We're going to talk about Him
again. Let's read this chapter, at least
six verses. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies. Thou knowest my head withal,
my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever." To a believer, this is comfort.
He says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. There's one thing
we need, and that's comfort. Comfort. And he's the only one
that can comfort your heart and comfort my heart. And David,
writing this Psalm, Spent a lot of time saying, well, when did
David write this psalm? Is it when he was a young man?
Was it when he was running from Saul? Was it after all that when
he was on the throne? Or was it in his later life?
I don't know that it really matters. I do know, like I said last night,
it came out for Psalm 22. You have to know what happened
on the cross to appreciate this psalm. That the Lord, as you
said, that Lord, that Shepherd gave His life for the sheep. You just say the Lord. That Lord,
the Lord Jehovah, The Lord that provided, when Isaac was going
up on the mountain with Abraham, and they turned and he said,
we're going to go worship God. And he said, we've got the fire,
and we've got the knife, and we've got all these things. But
Isaac looked up at his daddy and said, we don't have the most
important thing. We don't have a sacrifice. Abraham said, God
will provide. That's who he's talking about.
The Lord is my shepherd. He provided the shepherd. He
provided. He's my shepherd. He's your shepherd. The Lord,
the sovereign God of this universe, is my shepherd. Now, that's comfort. This sheep needs a shepherd.
My shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. He's not my co-pilot. He's my
shepherd. You know what a shepherd does
or what he is? He owns sheep. The sheep and
the shepherd never change places. He owns them. That means he controls
them. He's sovereign Lord over all
things. He gives eternal life to as many
as he will. He's in total, complete control.
He never ceases to be in control. Never. He's the shepherd. We get a piece of ground and
we put a fence around it. We put a sign up and say, no
trespassing. God puts no fences up. He owns
it all. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. He owns it all. He owns the cattle
on a thousand hills and He owns the hills. He owns it all. Who
does? The Lord does. The Lord is my
shepherd. You mean the one that controls
everything. In this world, in this universe,
he's shepherd? Yeah, he's my shepherd. He's
my shepherd. I'm telling you, when you go
through a trial, that's comforting. People say, well, I believe in
God, that God's sovereign. Do you really? Just wait a while. Wait till something really just
hits you up blindsided. Then you'll find out for sure.
Then you'll find out where you can say, whatever my lot, He
hath told me to say. It is well. It is well. It's my soul. The Lord is my
shepherd. He's my shepherd. If He feed
me or slay me, He's my shepherd. If He humble me or honor me,
He's my shepherd. He's my shepherd. responsibility,
you'll never lose one, he's the shepherd. Then it says, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want, because he's my shepherd. Psalms 34 9, O fear the Lord,
ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. In
essence, this means I shall not want, I shall not fail, or I
shall not ever come up short. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. What's he saying? I shall not
want. I shall never come up short. This is the very same thing that
you were talking about with the balance. You remember in the
book of Daniel, when Belshazzar, he says, oh, they were having
their party, and he says, go get the vessels that we brought
back from Jerusalem. They said, let's just drink,
let's have us a good time. How did these vessels, these
vessels were holy vessels. God declared them to be holy.
Oh, in a few minutes, he's seen the part of a man's hand begin
to write on the wall. Oh, he began to tremble and to
shake, and he said, can anybody interpret to me what he's saying,
what that handwriting is? And nobody could, and he said,
well, let's call for Daniel. And Daniel interpreted, and here's
what he says. Daniel 5, verse 27. Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. And found wanting. You know what I'm saying? You're
coming up short. Like you just said, on this side
of the balance is the perfect, holy, righteous justice of Almighty
God. And here you stand, and you're
coming up short. What's he saying to the Lord?
My shepherd, I shall never come up short. Never come up short. That's good. That's what He's saying. The
Lord is my shepherd. I shall never, never want. It's never going to change. Ever since God the Father looked
to God the Son, He's never looked to me for anything. Never. Never. It's not me trying to
make up the difference. I shall never want. That's satisfaction,
and that's comfort. Sometimes I feel like I come
so short, and I do. In my flesh, I come short. My
best deeds are filthy rags, but I never want. He says I'm justified. Abraham
believed God, and it was a talent done to him for righteousness.
Whether I feel like it or not, He says, I'm righteous. He says,
I'm accepted. I shall never want. I shall never want. We have days of trouble. We have
days of trials. And we live in a world of difficult
times. And I shall never want. I shall
never want for anything temporal. Here's what David said, Psalms
37, 25, I've been young and now I'm old. I've not seen the righteous
forsaken nor his seed begging bread. You may not know where
the next meal is coming from. He does. I think about old lives
out there laying by the brook. Days of famine in the land, days
of drought, but God feeds them. God sent them on dirty ravens. to feed God's preacher. You want to say, I've never seen
one of God's sheep begging for bread. It ain't going to happen. It's a preacher, you don't know
what I'm going through. It doesn't matter. If the Lord's your shepherd,
you shall never want for nothing. Nothing. Temporal or spiritual. Listen to me. One day we will all stand before
the very throne of Almighty God, and in that day I shall not want. I won't come up short. And I may wander astray, but
I shall not want. I have a perfect, perfect, perfect
holiness. Listen to me, this is hard to
grasp. Only when you grasp this is by God's Spirit, with His
holy garments on, I'm as holy as His Son. How good do you have
to be to go to heaven? As good as God. Surely it can't
be that strong, that narrow. Exactly that way. God's law was
unbending. It wasn't even bent for His Son. I can only read 2 Corinthians 5.21
that He was made sin. Explain that. I can't. But when He took my sin, they
become His. And what was his become mine. He that was rich became poor.
That I might be rich, I ain't never gonna want. You said you sound pretty confident.
I don't sound this way all the time. You know exactly what I'm
talking about. You might get back to the motel
room one morning and you say, where was that at? It's not upon
feelings. It's in right here. This is my
foundations. Feelings come and feelings go,
and feelings are deceiving. They are. But God's Word never changes. He never changes. I am complete in Him. What does complete mean? It means
complete. There's nothing lacking. It's never going to come up. It's finished. It's done. It's
complete. And you are complete in Him. Not that I will be. I am complete.
Complete. What more could I want? The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. Then he says,
verse 2, Well, so all these things, he said, this is what he does. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. This is contentment. They say
the only two times, the only two things a sheep will lay down
for is green pastures and to know that the shepherd is around.
You know why sheep lay down? How many of you have ever seen
a cow chew its cud? Most people younger than me know exactly
what that even calls for. A cow may pick for hours, and
then she'll go over and lay in the shade somewhere. And you
know what she's doing? She's regurgitating what she
ate. And boy, she's just a chewer. Isn't that right? And it tastes
so sweet. He maketh me. to lie down in
green pasture. You know what green is? That's
life in the grass. He's the life in the Word. You
take out the Christ and you have no life? You just have another
history book. This book is about Him. From
beginning to end, it's about Him. He says He makes you lay
down. And this ain't He beats them
over the head with a whip. As I think about this, I think about
where He makes me willing in the day of His power. There's
the same word. He makes me. For when I get hungry,
and I get so thirsty, and I want Him, I get to looking in His
Word. Every time I read this book,
I may read it and not get anything, It's like that cow, she eats
grass and it seems so dry. I tell you this, some of the
best times I have in my life is when me and that girl right
there sit down in my study. You know what we begin to do?
We just begin to chew on it. I'm just lying down. I'm resting. I'm taking God's Word and I'm
chewing on it. This book is not a book that
you just read through. It takes time. You say, how did
he take that passage of Scripture that you just preached from?
How did he see that? He chewed on it? And it becomes sweet? You know
what I'm talking about? He makes me lay down. Just rest
it. If I reject the Lord as my shepherd,
I shall not. But what does that mean? What
is he saying? He makes me lie down. David said
in Psalms 1, 2, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and
in his law does he meditate day and night. We must meditate on
what we've read. We must feed on it. We must receive
it as the sincere milk of the Word. that we may grow thereby. Psalm 77, 12, I will meditate
also of thy works and talk of thy doings. After a meeting, let's not just talk idle talk.
Let's talk about what we just heard. Let's talk about His doing. Just like you said you remember
the messages that He preached last year. Why doesn't he remember?
He's still thinking about it. He's still chewing on it. And
when he chews on it, what does he do? He just lays down. You know what I'm saying? You've
been there. You know exactly what I'm saying. If he has ever
made you lay down in green pastures, just relax. You say, that cattle,
that old sheep, they just lay there. It's resting. It's resting. It's resting. Listen to me. Meditate means
to resolve, revolve. Think about them frequently in
thy mind. Consider deeply their nature
and their importance. In thoughts, he makes me to be
at peace. In my thoughts, I can be at peace.
I can have rest. Your thoughts can just drive
you crazy. He said, don't take no anxious
thought. I know some of you may be sitting
here worrying about what's going to happen after the meeting.
What's going to happen next week? Just lie down. Lie down. The battle's over. Maybe you're coming to some place
you've got to make some decision. Is this God's will? What am I
to do? Lie down and find rest. and peace. Meditate on his promises. He
said, I'll never forsake thee. We get weary. We're not at war. The battle's
over. He's my shepherd. It's all right. It's all right. Now listen, you may say, well,
preacher, you have more time than I do. Do you have more time
to read and meditate? We all have the same amount of
time. I heard Brother Henry say one day on the tape, people always
say, I don't have time. I don't have time to read. I
don't have time to pray. He can fix it. Well, you do have
time. If you're his, he will. Want
him? Yes, he will. At the part of verse two, he
leadeth me beside the still waters. Notice that gentle word, leadeth.
All these words have, I'm not an English major, all I know
is what little bit I've read. I think that word T.H. means
it has continual action. That means he keeps on leading.
He leadeth me, keeps leading me beside the still waters. He
doesn't drive His sheep. He doesn't beat them with the
law, like you were saying. I was exactly like that man right
there. Got a hold of a few doctrines,
and I thought I'd beat everybody over the head with them and make
them believe this truth. There is a difference between
believing a doctrine and enlisting in a person. That's exactly right. You can talk about the doctrines
of grace till you're blue in the face. Let's talk about the
God of grace. There's a big difference. A big
difference. A big difference. He doesn't
leave, lead. I mean, he doesn't drive his
sheep by the law. He leads them. He goes before
them. Genesis 33, 13. And he said unto
him, My Lord, knoweth that the children are tender, and the
flocks and the herds with the young ones are with me. If men
should overdrive them one day, all the flock would die. You don't drive sheep, you lead
them. He leads me beside the still
water. Still waters run deep. You ever
been by a brook, and before you ever get to the brook, you hear
it. You know why you hear it? It's very shallow, or if it's not,
the rocks are very close to the surface. Makes all kinds of noise. Sheep don't want to hear noise.
They want still water. And you know what he does? He
stills the water. I can't find the still water. I can't make
the water still, but he can. I remember one day he was on
a ship with his disciples and a great storm came up. He was
laying down in the ship asleep. They go down and wake him up
and said, do you not care that we perish? Do you think they're
going to perish with him on the boat? And you know what he does? He walks out on the bow of that
ship and he says, peace, be still. I don't care what you're going
through. He's able to calm the waters. And He'll lead you beside
the still waters. He leads. Leads. Trials are deep waters, but He
leads them. Can you imagine, most of you
have read that story about the man who wrote, It is well with
my soul. Can you imagine those troubled waters? Losing a child. Losing a spouse. Losing somebody
so dear to me. And walking out on the bow of
that ship, writing that song, It is well. It is well with my
soul. Whatever my lot, He hath taught
me to say. You have to be taught it. It
is well with my soul. How can He do that? He led him
beside still waters. He led him. He leads us. He didn't just lead me yesterday
and today. He's going to lead me tomorrow.
He didn't lead me today and say, well now, Michael, just do the
best you can. If you want to find water, you go find it. If
it was up to me, I'd still never find it. When things happen that we don't
like, first thing we want to do is try to change it. Let's
just be honest. We won't try to make it better.
We won't try to relieve the pressure just a little bit. The pressures
are for a reason. You know why? So you'll appreciate
the water. So you'll appreciate the water. Sheep block calm. Still water. David said, as the heart paneth
after the water brook, so my soul paneth after thee. Long for him. And then in verse
three, he restoreth my soul. How often has he come to us when
we could not and would not come to him. He restores my soul,
it literally means He causes my life to return. He quickens
me, or causes me to live. I know when He regenerated, He
gave me life, but I still need to be revived. I know religion
has corrupted that song, and I think sometimes we try to stay
away from good songs. There's nothing wrong with us
singing, revive us again. Fill each heart with a new, may
our souls be rekindled with fire from above. In what He's doing,
He's restoring my soul. He restoreth my soul. He causes
it to live. Smoking flax, He won't quench.
If there's smoke, there's fire. And you know what He does? He
fans it. You know what He's doing? He's restoring it. It refers to the spirit when
it's been exhausted, weary, or sad. And the meaning is that
God quickens or revives the spirit when it's thus exhausted. The
reference is not to the soul as wandering or backsliding from
God, but to the life of the spirit as exhausted, wearied, troubled,
anxious, worn down, and with terror toiled the heart. Thus
exhausted, He brings it back to vigor. I remember David one time when
he came back to Ziklag. Some of y'all may remember the
story. He came back and the people that came in, they just carried
everybody off, his family and his children. And he said, I'm
the one to blame. It's my fault. So let's just
sit down and feel sorry for ourselves. And when he did, he said he encouraged
himself in the Lord. And he went back and David recovered
all. God restored him. Listen, you know what it says
in Galatians? It says, if any man be overtaken in a fault,
you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Well, who's that spiritual person?
Is anybody spiritual? Some will say, well, that's just
a mature Christian. That's talking about somebody
that's been where that person's been. This is what the word restore
means. This is talking about the setting
of bones that are broken. Have you ever had a broke bone? I have. Most people would never
know this, I'm going to tell you. I broke that arm when I
was 13 years old and I cannot straighten it to this day. I've
had one broke. I know what it's like. And when
I see somebody that's walking on crutches or has a broke bone,
I can have compassion on them. I tell you, if I've got a bone
that's broke, I want somebody to set it. I don't want them
to just come up and just jerk it. I want somebody with some
compassion to set that broke bone. That's what he's saying. I'm glad I know somebody, my
shepherd, who can set the broke bone. Hebrews 2.18, for in that
he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to suffer
them that are tempted. Hebrews 4.15, for we have not
a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin. Have you ever been tempted? He was. Have you ever been alone?
He was alone. Have you ever been forsaken?
He was forsaken. He can set my broke bone. He
can revive and restore my spirit. David was cast down. David said,
why aren't thou cast down, O my soul? And David, you know David. Oh, everybody knows what David
did. God recorded it. How would you
have liked to have had a woman's husband killed? How would you
like to deal with that? How would you like to carry that
on your conscience? And I don't know how long that
David went before God sent a preacher to him and pointed it out. And
when he pointed it out, he said, well, David got mad. He said,
that man ought to die that would do such a thing. That would take
a man's only lamb and take that lamb and kill it. And that man
said, you're the man, David. But then we come to Psalms 51.
And David said, make me to hear joy and gladness. that the bones
which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and
blow out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Catch me not away
from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation. Don't you know David talked before
first he left? He'll never come back to me.
I've just done too much. And then he says, verse 13, Restoring
to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit,
then shall I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be
converted unto thee." I don't think David was as hard after
that. You know why people enjoy the
Psalms? God restored his soul. He restoreth
my soul. David upon his being received
and pardoned would teach others like himself how graciously God
had dealt with him I said I had a broken bone. There's
not a person in this place who has not had a broken bone. Spiritually. Spiritually. He restores broken
bones. Now I have reminders of who I
am. Jacob limped all the rest of his life. And God lets us be reminded of
who we are. Yeah, I'm righteous, but I'm
still a sinner that need mercy. Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation. He restores to me everything that I lost
in Adam. He restoreth my soul. You can't
do it. Say, boy, I'm going to get in
the Bible and I'm going to read and I'm going to pray and I'm
going to do what I need to do. It ain't going to work. But He'll speak to you and show
grace and kindness and mercy to you and He'll restore your
soul. Thank God He restores souls.
Let me tell you this, I get a new start every day. Can that really be true? Yes,
it's really that true. What about David's sin? It's
gone. It's gone. Gone. God put it away. Next, He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for His namesake. He leads us. He doesn't drive
us. He leads by example. He leads us by His Spirit. He
leads us by His Word. What are these paths of righteousness?
Psalms 85.13, Righteousness shall go before him, and he shall set
us in the ways of his steps. Psalms 25.4, Show me thy ways,
O Lord, and teach me thy paths. Psalms 25.10, All the paths of
the Lord are mercy and truth, and to such it keep his commandments
and his testimonies. Isaiah 42.16, I will bring the
blind by the way that they know not. I will lead them in paths
that they have not known." The world says there is the way,
walk in it. I don't know where it's at. I
don't know how to find it, but he leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. Someone says in Jeremiah 6.16,
Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask
for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and
ye shall find rest for your souls." You know what a path is. It's
something that somebody's walked a whole lot. It's a path. A well-worn path. I don't care
how worn it is, you can't find it. But He leads me in paths
of righteousness. for his name's sake. He is righteousness. He is righteousness. As for the old paths of righteousness
and holiness, which Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and
others have walked there, they all walk this path. What path? The just shall live by faith.
Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness.
He leads us in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. For his namesake. For whose honor? His honor. His
glory. And one says, these are my sheep.
These are my sheep. And you know what? They walk
in his righteousness. And the paths. And the paths of righteousness. Verse 4. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me." If Christ leads me in the paths of righteousness
for his namesake, I can be assured that I will walk through the
valley of the shadow of death. They put this passage of scripture
on every one of those little folders that you see it appear
on. They think that's just talking about a physical death, and I
know to some what it is. But while I walk in this earth,
I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And those
paths, that's where they lead. As He leads me in the paths of
righteousness for His namesake, He leads me right through the
valley of the shadow of death. That's where it goes. That's
where He leads me. In this valley. Every day we must walk through
Tribulation and trials in this world. You'll have tribulations. Walk is a continual journey.
But we're walking through it. And it says they shadows. Can
a shadow hurt you? A shadow of a knife can't cut
you. A shadow of a gun can't hurt you. And the shadow of death
can't hurt you. It's just a shadow. We see shadows
in here, we turn the lights off and there won't be any shadows.
There has to be a light source. And it's just shadows. We're
all afraid of shadows. I remember when I was a little
kid, mom would tell me to go do something outside and when
I'd go run, boy, I couldn't wait to get what she went after, what
she wanted. I was headed back to the house.
Scared to death of shadows. You don't have to be afraid of
a shadow. It's just the valley of the shadow
of death. This world is death. There's
death in us, around us, but He's going to take us through the
valley of the shadow of death. And He says, I will fear no evil.
He didn't say there wouldn't be any evil. He said, I won't
fear the evil. Why? Why can't I fear the evil? Because He's with me. He's leading me. Fear no evil through this valley. It may look scary, but he's with
us. Here's what he says in Isaiah
41.10. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, and I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Don't be afraid. David said,
What time am I afraid? I will question the Lord. Have
you ever been afraid? Have you ever been afraid? Afraid. What's going to happen? Something's
going to get me. Yea, though I walk through the
valley. I can't think of a more scarier place. Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me." You know what his rod and his staff was? It was this thing
he carried, had the crook on the end. His word is the rod
of his strength. His promises are the staff of
his consolation. By these we are sustained and
comforted in the midst of our trials. They comfort me. Comfort me. The shepherd's rod has many uses. It can be used to retrieve straying
sheep. We all stray. Prone to wonder,
Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. He says, come on, little sheep. It's used to direct the sheep.
We don't know which way to go. Have no idea. We're just dumb
sheep. It's also used to protect the
sheep. We don't know how close we've
come that many times to eternity. And God has protected us. Let me tell you this. I am immortal
till he's done with me. And his rod and his staff, they
comfort me. Protect me. And it's used for
numbering the sheep. Like I said last night, when
they come into the fold, that represents conversion. When God
quickens them and makes them alive, and when He numbers them,
when they come into glory, Thou, Lord, and Thy staff, they comfort
me. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies. Somebody asks,
can He furnish a table in the wilderness? He sure can. This
is a prepared table for a prepared people. We have enemies. We wouldn't be like our Lord
if we didn't have enemies. Who is our enemy? His enemies
are our enemies. He prepares a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. He sets a table, no hurry, no
confusion. We sit down and feast in peace
and assurance. And all this confusion were at
his table, in the presence of our enemies. You know what that's
saying? They ain't a thing they can do about it. I just probably picture him leading
the sheep, and he takes them out there, and they could be
wolves and bears and everything else around them, and he prepares
them a table, and he said, you don't have to worry about a thing. They ain't nothing they can do
about it. We sit right here tonight. And God has prepared a table
for us. And all around us are enemies
within and without. Prepares a table before me in
the presence of my enemies. They look on. There's nothing
they can do about it. You remember the rich man in
Lazarus? While the rich man lived on the
earth, he had all, everything he could ever want. And in Lazarus,
the dogs licked his sores. But then they both died. And
in hell the rich man lifted up his eyes, and you know what he
saw? Lazarus in Abraham's bosom, eaten
at his table, in the presence of his enemies. That's what our shepherd does.
I shall not want. He anoints my head with oil,
my cup runneth over. You saw this, Lachlan, our Lord,
I think it was Larry Criss read that story about the woman. Remember,
she came in and the Pharisee wasn't even kissing our Lord,
wasn't giving Him any greetings, wasn't anointing Him or nothing.
Remember, the woman came in and she anointed Him. He said, you
didn't even show me common courtesy. It says here, He anointeth my
head with oil. You know what that means? He
met me and kissed me right on the mouth, as you said. He had received me. He had launched
my head with oil, and my cup just runs over. And this old body, I just can't
hardly contain it. You know why it runs over? So somebody else will receive
part of it. Remember the woman, she came
in, she anointed our Lord, and Judas said, what a waste. What
a waste. He said, she comes to anoint
my body for the burial. It said when she opened that box and
poured it up, the whole house was filled with that fragrance.
He anoints my head with oil. I'm just picturing as we walk
through this world and we get discouraged and we get down,
He anoints my mind, refreshes me. It's more than I can take. I'm telling you. My cup runs over. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. His goodness pursues me. And
His goodness follows me. Does it? His mercy pursues me. And His mercy follows me. Does
it? One thing I learned after God
began to teach me the gospel was when God saves a person,
He makes them gracious. He makes them kind. He makes
them merciful. Goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life. You know what it says in Revelations
14, 13? And I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me, Right blessed are the dead which die, and the
Lord from henceforth say, Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may
rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. And we didn't even know when
we did them. We've heard a couple of people
mention Scott Richardson. I didn't know him that well,
but I know a lot of people did. And they still talk about what
he did. You know what he's doing? His works do follow him. You
know exactly what I'm talking about. To sheep, goodness and mercy
does follow him. Kind, gracious, merciful. I thought about Todd Niber sitting
there this morning. Saved and called under Brother Henry Mahan's
ministry. When that man's dead and gone,
his works are still following him. You see what I'm saying?
And he says this, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life, all the days of my life, and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.