Psalm 23, and we will read from
verse one. A Psalm of David. 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 mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. 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. Amen. May the Lord bless to us this
reading from his word. We are greatly privileged when
we can say the words of this psalm with David and know them
to be true. There are undoubtedly many people
who recite these verses thoughtlessly or sing this psalm ignorantly. It's long been a favourite certainly
here in the United Kingdom at funerals because the words are
comforting and have become familiar even to a generation in a generally
godless age with little Bible knowledge. But would that the many who say
the words knew the shepherd as David knew him and understood
what it was to have the Lord Jesus Christ as our shepherd
in this world and for the world to come. And I trust that all
who hear these words today, all who share with us today in this
fellowship and in these thoughts, will discover that David's shepherd
is our shepherd and that with him we can say of a truth, by
faith, the Lord is my shepherd. Now the person that is being
spoken of here as the shepherd in this psalm is the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is the God-man. And to know
the Lord Jesus Christ as my shepherd is to know him as our personal
saviour. And sometimes, especially with
some of the younger listeners perhaps, they think that, well
this is just all theory, it's just all doctrine from the Bible,
but let us remember that David is here speaking about a relationship
that he has with the Lord, such that the Lord cares for him as
David familiarly knew what it was to care for and protect and
preserve the sheep that were under his own charge a shepherd
boy. David knew those sheep with an
intimacy for they were his possession and he cared for them even to
the endangering of himself and his life. And this is where the
power of this sentiment comes to the fore. Because we can see
that this is a relationship that is being spoken of here. A personal,
intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That we have
by faith and by trusting in Him. We know him as a personal saviour. We know him as a gracious provider
and carer. We know him as a loving friend. and the inspired writers led
by the Holy Spirit identified this one that is being spoken
of here as the shepherd, as the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw
in our little introduction yesterday some of the verses that direct
our thoughts to the comprehensive way that the Holy Spirit has
taught us to regard the work of Christ in this providing and
caring and supplying way. How that the Lord Jesus fulfills
his shepherding role on behalf of his people, whom he calls
in Luke chapter 12, verse 32, his little flock, saying to us,
fear not little flock, It is your father's good pleasure to
give you the kingdom. That little flock is you and
me as we trust the Lord, as we have been brought into a knowledge
of salvation by him. Christ's little flock is blessed
indeed to be able, by faith, to call the Lord Jesus Christ
my shepherd. my shepherd. Faith in a believer's
heart says, I believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Lord my
shepherd substitutionally. What do I mean? The prophet Zechariah
saw this redemptive substitutionary work of our shepherd in his role
as the God-man mediator. And he writes in chapter 13,
verse 7, Awake, O sword! against my shepherd. This is God the Father speaking
and it's God in this role as the offended God, the offended
judge, the one who says in the words we were speaking earlier
about the fact that he has been robbed of men, robbed by men
of his glory and his honour because of our sin, because of our disobedience,
because of our rebellion and our disregard and by placing
ourselves in that place of preeminence and prominence and priority to
the exclusion of the glory of God. And so justice demands retribution. Who will suffer? Those who sinned. No, says the Lord. Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, saith
the Lord of hosts. smite the shepherd. God the Father
viewed the Lord Jesus Christ, his fellow, in his covenant role
as our substitute and our surety. He who was set at the front in
order to bear the judgment that we deserved. He is called God's
shepherd because the Lord Jesus Christ was set up from eternity
as our representative at the divine instigation and by the
divine will of God in order to secure God's saving purpose for
his little flock. It was always God's will to give
us the kingdom. to make us citizens in the kingdom
of his Son. And therefore it was upon Christ
that the sword of judgment for sin would fall and divine wrath
would come into the soul of the Saviour. And herein lies the
wonder and the glory and the majesty of God's plan of salvation. God himself, in the form of man,
takes our sin, assumes our guilt, bears our condemnation, and dies
in our place. And in so doing, the Lord Jesus
Christ demonstrates the grace and the love of God for his little
flock. And here's another thing that
faith says with respect to the Lord our shepherd. Faith says,
I believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be the Lord my shepherd mediatorially. He is my shepherd substitutionally
because he stood in my place and he is the shepherd as my
mediator. He comes between God and me. The writer to the Hebrews identifies
the Lord Jesus as the great shepherd. who obtained peace and reconciliation
between God and his people. The writer there says in chapter
13, verse 20, now the God of peace, the God of peace, not
the God of anger, not the God that is offended, not the God
of wrath, but the God of peace. that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. You see what faith
says? Faith says, I believe the Lord
Jesus Christ has made peace for me with God. The Lord Jesus Christ was raised
victorious from the grave and that victory over sin and death
and the devil and hell and the grave proves to us that there
is therefore now no condemnation to any of the Lord's people because
God the Father is at peace with us. God the Father has reconciled
us to himself and made peace by the blood of the cross of
Jesus Christ. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ and access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand. So that faith sees the Lord our
shepherd as our substitute and it sees the Lord our shepherd
as mediator making peace with God for us. And for us to be
able to say with David that the Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want, also finds us saying, by faith, that I believe the
Lord Jesus Christ to be the Lord my shepherd uniquely. Uniquely. There isn't another way of salvation. There isn't another way of deliverance. There is no other mediator. There is no other representative. There is no other substitute. It is either my life or Christ's. We cannot serve two masters.
We cannot follow two shepherds. We cannot give obedience to two
kings. And Ezekiel points out the lordship
of Christ in his kingly office. He is the unique and matchless
shepherd who leads and feeds his flock. our one shepherd. Having redeemed his people by
death and risen again in glory, this one shepherd now provides
for and protects his little ones day by day, week by week, year
by year. so that as we enter into this
new year, it is looking at that one shepherd, putting our eyes
upon him, fixing our gaze upon him and following in his footsteps
that will be the way of life and the experience of this relationship
that we have with our shepherd. Jehovah declares, I will set
up one shepherd over them. and he shall feed them. Ezekiel
34 verse 23. So our shepherd leads us and
feeds us by bringing us to green pastures of scriptural revelation
and by bringing us to the still waters of Holy Spirit illumination. You see, He teaches us and by
that teaching in the Gospel, He feeds our souls, He teaches
us how to live, He calls us to Himself and He bestows upon us
those things that we need, both to serve Him in spirit and in
truth, to honour Him in our worship and in our praise, and to bear
witness to the things that He has said and done to this world
around about us. This is the nourishing and refreshing
and equipping that the Lord gives by showing us in the gospel where
we will find food and drink and sustenance for our souls. That's why these occasions are
so important when we fellowship together under the sound of the
gospel and we are given to see once again that view of the Lord
Jesus Christ and all he means to us. These are the means by
which the Holy Spirit equips us and prepares us for the challenges
of our life. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
our unique shepherd. He alone can fulfil that role. And faith says something else.
Faith says, with David, I believe the Lord Jesus Christ to be my
shepherd unto glory. That's where this ends. This ends in the glory of His
people. When our life's course is run,
Christ, the Chief Shepherd, shall appear. And we're told by Peter,
the Apostle Peter, he says, and when the Chief Shepherd shall
appear, Ye shall receive a crown of glory. 1 Peter 5 verse 4. Well might the Lord's people
rejoice in the Lord always. God's shepherd who took our crown
of thorns will give us a crown of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the great shepherd who rose again, the one shepherd who supplies
all our needs, will come again with a crown of glory and receive
us unto himself. How blessed we are, brothers
and sisters, how privileged we are to know such a saviour, to
have such a shepherd, and to be able to enter into the Holy
Spirit's teaching concerning him for the comfort and joy of
our hearts. And faith says one more thing
for us today. Faith says, I believe the Lord
Jesus Christ to be the Lord my shepherd to everlasting life, for eternal life. The Lord of
glory, the Lord of glory, he who is God, who is equal with
God, who is the fullness of the glory of God, condescended to
take the lowly title of shepherd in order to identify with and
associate himself with the Lord's flock and the Lord's people. He declares in John chapter 10
verse 11, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. And he further declares because
I live ye shall live also. How blessed we are to be able
by faith to join David in naming the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. David who delighted to confess
how the Lord his shepherd had made with him an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things unsure, and says, for this is
all my salvation and all my desire. David knew the Lord his shepherd. And knowing these things to be
so, knowing these things to be true, we also can and should
meet every challenge with the confidence and every hindrance
with hope. Because, again as the psalmist
says, the Lord Our God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give
grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold. Brothers and
sisters, how blessed we are. He is our sun and He is our shield. He is the provider of warmth
and comfort and He is our shield to defend and He will give grace
and He will give glory in time and in eternity. No good thing
will He withhold from us. You know, sheep are not the brightest
of animals. They're foolish, they're willful,
they're timorous, they're vulnerable. And Isaiah says, all we like
sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And yet, says David, he restoreth
our souls. The tempted, the weary, the downcast
amongst us who struggle to go forward, they shall find their
souls restored as the Lord leads us in the paths of righteousness. And what is the leading in the
paths of righteousness but bringing those who are fallen in sin to
experience forgiveness from God? the forgiveness of our sins. You know, we don't do all this
confession stuff. We don't do the confession with
the priest and, oh, I don't know, talking through the little grill
or whatever it involves in that little booth. But we have sins that need to
be forgiven. We've been thinking about the
Ten Commandments and the broad ways in which the sins of our
hearts, the sins of our souls, the sins of our minds, the sins
of our conduct, they just multiply when we think about the true
nature of ourselves in contrast to God and his holiness. The
Lord Jesus Christ will lead us in the paths of righteousness. Forgiveness with God, making
us to have peace with God. These are not paths of our own
making. This is a highway in the wilderness
where the good shepherd walks before us and we follow in his
steps. Lord Jesus Christ, being that
Son of Righteousness, which rises with healing in His wings for
our warmth and our shield of defence and our every need supplied. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Christ has
delivered us from evil and from the fear of evil. And through
the fear of death, we were all our lifetime subject to bondage. Let's take it at face value,
brothers and sisters. We sometimes hear it said, it
isn't death we fear, but dying. Well, it's kind of clever, but
dying is the shadow of death. And the Lord Jesus Christ says
that God's rod and staff will be our constant companions in
that valley, to guide and to guard when the light grows dim
and the next step seems the most difficult. And what of our worries
and anxieties? What of our poverty? What of
our ill health? What of our family troubles?
What of the fears for our spiritual well-being and the spiritual
state of our children and our grandchildren? What does the
psalmist say? The psalmist says, Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest
my head with oil. Not only will the Lord provide,
like the good shepherd that he is, he shall prepare personally
the table of good things, knowing exactly what his people need,
what exactly his flock requires. When our eyes lose sight of Jesus,
when our souls go hungry, when our conscience pricks, when our
spirit groans, when our patience is stretched to breaking point
and the Lord seems so far away, He Himself will bring a word
of comfort, a message of hope. He will anoint our heads with
the oil of gladness above our fellows. The goodness and mercy of the
Lord comes plentifully and bountifully as the cruise that kept on giving
and the cup that runs over. The Lord will not be, never be
our debtor. He shall always give more than
we ask, better than we hope for, above what we imagined. For he is able to do exceeding
abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the
power that worketh in us. Exceeding abundantly. And with this little point, we're
going to bring our thoughts to an end. All the days of my life
is such a delightful little phrase and an interesting little phrase,
and it's something that I want us just to pause upon and dwell
upon for a moment or two as we wrap up our thoughts today. All
the days of my life. It certainly means from this
time forth and forevermore. Like the name of the Lord is
blessed from this time forth and forevermore. But it's also
another beautiful representation of the eternal covenant of God
and the everlasting nature of his goodness and mercy. Do you
realise God's tender, loving care for you was as all-encompassing
before you were saved as it has been ever after? Do you know
that the love of God was always on you? That the goodness and
the mercy and the patience and protection of God always covered
your comings and goings, even when you were walking in darkness
and glorying after the flesh. The Lord has always been our
shepherd and the Lord has always loved us. Ephesians 2 verse 4
to 6 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins. When we were dead in our sins,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, came looking for us
because he loved us. When we couldn't get back, when
we were trapped, when we were snared, when we were lost, The
Lord Jesus Christ placed us on his shoulders and he brought
us home. Even when we were dead in sins,
he's quickened us together with Christ by grace you're saved
and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Why? Because he loved us all
the days of our life. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow us all the days of our life. Surely, surely, surely. Be assured, brothers and sisters,
be convinced, be persuaded, be certain for sure, the goodness
and mercy of God shall follow you all the days of your life,
and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It has always been. It is now
and forever shall be so. In ourselves we are as guilty
now as we ever were. In ourselves there is no good
thing except what God has put there in Christ. All our salvation
is down to His goodness and to His mercy. And but for it we
would be as guilty and as culpable as any. And yet we shall dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. We shall dwell spotlessly. We shall dwell with purity, with
righteousness, as holy as He is. And whether we think about
that as our life now in the church, living in this world, We shall
never lose our salvation. It is as sure as Christ's blood
is pure. What else if we think about it
as the heavenly mansions that lie before us, that which is
just over the hill, just over the horizon. Do you realise that David saw
all of this? David saw all of this and he
sang about it in a song. That's what faith does. It teaches us about the Lord
our shepherd. Christ is my shepherd. He's God's
shepherd, that great shepherd of the sheep who uniquely satisfies
our every need. He is the chief shepherd who
is coming again and knowing him with the psalmist we declare,
I shall not want. For, says Isaiah, he shall feed
his flock like a shepherd, he shall gather the lambs in his
arm, he will carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead
those that are with young. And I close by saying this, we
don't know what a day will bring. We may not boast of a day, far
less the year that lies ahead. And we have reached 2023. Some that we knew this time last
year have since entered into eternity. Some have gone on to
glory, some to separation and damnation. And perhaps by this
time next year, some of us shall have gone on too. Maybe the Lord will have returned
for us all. But be sure of this, by grace,
all who trust shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. How those words will thrill us
when the Saviour says, well done, good and faithful servant. He makes us whole and he keeps
us holy. He makes us good and he keeps
us faithful. And then he credits us with the
praise. Well done, he says. Well done. Well might the psalmist write
in Psalm 115, verse 1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory. for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Amen.