Almost every statement in this
blessed psalm is full of instruction and precious truth for our hearts. We were in this psalm last Lord's
Day and came down to the first statement of verse three and
emphasized this thought, He restored my soul. What an inexhaustive subject. He restoreth my soul. He might not be pleased to restore
your health if it's time for you to leave this world. He might not be pleased to restore
relationships if you're better off without this person or that
person. He might not be pleased to restore
your pocketbook if you're better off without
it. But the psalmist didn't say any of that. He said, he restores
my soul. That is when I'm down in the
dumps, when I, when I just feel like I'll not make it another
mile, I'll never be able to lift my head again. He restored my
soul. This morning, I want to come
on down to the end of verse three and concentrate on this. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for his namesake. Notice the paths are plural. The shepherd's leading is not
a single path. But for reasons known only to
Him, He is pleased to change our direction, our setting from time to time. Every path you're given to walk
in life, whether painful or pleasant, is a necessity. And He says it's for the honor
of His name. You say, well, I could have done
without such and such. And sometimes something will
happen and we'll say, that's the last thing I needed. Is that
so? Obviously not. It did a work. It brought a change. It brought you a distance you
could not have come to without it. This is what he's doing. And this is so much bigger than
us. We can't grasp it. John Flavel, a great preacher
of the 1600s, he wrote, when we are finally arrived in our
Lord's presence, we shall no doubt be more beholden to our
struggles than to our comforts for having brought us hither. So the paths are plural. Then
we read in this statement that they're paths of righteousness.
Here meaning simply paths that are right. The righteous shepherd, the Lord,
couldn't lead any other way than in paths of righteousness. And
the last four words of verse three is the reason he does it
all. And this is our emphasis this
morning, for His namesake. For His namesake. It's all for
our good, yes. But the Lord has done nothing
in the way of spiritual blessing for our namesake. We don't deserve
that. Our namesake must not come into
the picture, but it's for his namesake. The most deceived people I know
are religious folks who do not realize
that whatever their condition, they're having it better than
they deserve. A lot of people don't think like that, but it's
so. People are quick to say concerning
trouble, well, I did nothing to deserve this. That's not the
issue. God does not bless us on the
basis of any superiority in character, morality, or conduct over other
people. No. Every good gift is just that. It's a gift. and it's from above, and it's
for His namesake. God does everything to ultimately
bring glory to Himself and honor to His name. It's for His namesake. He leadeth me in paths that are
right for His namesake. It's the shepherd's name that's
on the line. Sheep cannot care for themselves.
They're not supposed to. That's the shepherd's responsibility. So it's his credibility, it's
his reputation that's on the line. I want to give us this morning three thoughts.
The shepherd's name is magnified by three titles found in the
New Testament. And all are concerning the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Lord, our shepherd. One is past, one is present,
and one is future. Concerning the past in John chapter
10 and verse 11, Christ says, I am the good shepherd. Now, what is the past tense?
What is it the good shepherd has done? That verse tells us
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He laid down his life for the
sheep. Now, what about the present? Hebrews chapter 13 verses 20
and 21. He is that great shepherd of the sheep. Presently, working in you, that
which is well-pleasing in his sight, that's present tense. And concerning the future, he
is called in 1 Peter 5, verse 4, the chief shepherd. And when
the chief shepherd shall appear. referring to His coming again. So our Shepherd, the Lord, our
Shepherd has done something. He is doing something and He
shall do something. As the Good Shepherd, He has
given His life for the sheep. The little word for means in
the stead of. Because the shepherd laid down
his life, the sheep live. Now that thought on the human
level is unreasonable. If the shepherd was fighting
the wolves to protect his flock, and the wolves killed the shepherd,
they would then turn on the flock and kill them also. But with Christ, the Good Shepherd,
in laying down His life, He slew all the wolves. In death, He slew death. He bruised a serpent's head,
a fatal blow. Yielding Himself to death, He
conquered death. Yielding Himself to the grave,
He conquered the grave. Being made sin for us, He conquered
sin. I read once that in Bible times,
when the shepherds would return home after several months in
the field during the grazing season, they would have a big
celebration, a festival. and some would be honored. If
a shepherd had made it through the entire grazing season without
losing a single sheep, he was honored and given the
title a good shepherd. Everybody in Palestine knew that
custom. So in John 10, When Jesus said,
I am the Good Shepherd, not a, but the, the only one. He was saying, of all that the
Father hath given me, I've lost none. Not a single sheep. Prophesied before, Isaiah 53,
11. He shall see of the travail of
his soul. and shall be satisfied." Didn't
say Christ would see all that he would go through and all that
he would accomplish and say, I'll be satisfied with some of
it. No, no, no. He shall be satisfied. He'll
not lose a one. When Christ spake from the cross
and said, it is finished, every single one of God's elect We're
as safe that moment as we'll ever be. So the Good Shepherd has done
His work. Past tense. He laid down His
life for, in the stead of, His sheep. He never failed. Not one for whom Christ died
shall perish. I cannot grasp This doctrine
of a failing Jesus that paid for the sins of millions
in hell and they had to go to hell anyway. That's not what
this Bible teaches. Christ came here on a mission.
He was 100% successful. Of all that the Father giveth
me, I give unto them eternal life. I'll not lose a one. He
never failed. Not one for whom he died shall
perish. He's the Good Shepherd. He hadn't
lost any. That's his past work, the Good
Shepherd. Now, the Great Shepherd is doing
his work now. Present tense. In Hebrews chapter
13 and verse 20, we read this, Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus. That's talking about the
resurrection. And then he calls him that great
shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. He's the good shepherd in that
he died for us. He's the great shepherd in that
He rose again and lives and ministers in our behalf. He's our great
High Priest presently. In the Old Testament system,
Israel had God-appointed men of the Levites, priests to represent
the whole of the nation to God to offer sacrifices, blood offerings,
animal sacrifices, and represent the people to God. But, in the
New Testament, the New Covenant, since our Lord has come and died
and risen, He is our Great High Priest. And it is by virtue of
His own blood that we have access. We don't
need any human priest. And I'm not here to fight denominations.
But to talk to God, I don't have to go to any man with his collar
backwards. Well, nowadays they've got women
too. But hey, Hebrews says that He hath opened up the way. That
we can have boldness to enter into the holiest, the very presence
of God. through the blood of Jesus. This was accomplished, one of
the things made known in the four Gospels. When Christ died,
the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the
bottom. And some say that huge veil was
as much as a foot thick. Ten teams of mules couldn't tear
it. But when Christ died, it was torn. It was rent in twain
from top to bottom. It was a heavenly act, not an
earthly. And opened up the way. Before
that time, no one could go behind that curtain except the high
priest in the Old Testament. And that only once a year. But
now the way is opened up. We have access into the holiest
by the blood of Jesus. So our Great Shepherd, the Lord
Jesus Christ, represents us in heaven. Hebrews 4, listen to
this, 15 and 16. We have not in high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. But we have one who is touched. We have one who was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore, on the
basis of that, Come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may
obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now he didn't say when you're
hurting, when you've got trouble, jump on the telephone and dial
everybody you know. No, no. Let us come boldly to
the throne of grace. Our Lord Jesus cares, cares. As one of God's sheep, you are
represented in heaven this morning by one who's felt every pain
you've ever felt. Every loss, every sorrow, every
rejection. He's compassionate toward us.
He's our Great High Priest. He's our Great Shepherd. And
He never fails. He never takes a day off. He
never slumbers nor sleeps. The watchful eye of the Great
Shepherd is always upon the sheep. Whether you feel good or feel
bad, whether you're having a good day or a bad day, whether you're
sad or glad, Whether you understand what's happening or not, the great shepherd is ever faithful.
Working in you, it said, that which is well pleasing in his
sight. He don't give us pain because
he's becoming like us. He gives us pain because we're
becoming like Him. He's doing something. He's headed
somewhere. And He's promised that it's all
necessary. It's all for our good and His
glory. And the text said it's all for
His name's sake. We don't argue with the good
shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. And we ought not
argue with the great shepherd who knows exactly what he's doing
with every one of us, every moment of every day. And then there's
the future. First Peter 5, 4, and when the
chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away. The chief shepherd. In Palestine, a wealthy sheep
farmer may employ numerous shepherds to care for his various flocks. He loathes hirelings. He despises
hirelings that would run and leave the flock when there's
trouble. He needs shepherds. He needs numerous shepherds.
And as the owner, he has the right to go out into the field
any time, day or night, and call all the shepherds and all the
sheep unto himself. He is referred to as the chief
shepherd. It's in this capacity that Christ
will return. He owns all the sheep. And Paul
teaches us in 1 Thessalonians that the dead in Christ shall
rise first. And we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Did you hear the two shalls in
that verse, 1 Peter 5, 4? The chief shepherd shall appear. Christ is coming. Peter warned in the first epistle
of Peter that there would be some that would say, hey, we
don't see anything. We don't see any evidence. Where
is the promise of the coming? Looks to us like everything's
just like it was always been. Peter said, don't be deceived
by that. All the evidence we need that the Lord's coming is
that he said it. He said it. The chief shepherd
shall appear. That's a certainty. And then
he said, you shall receive a crown. Notice it's not a crown of gold for being the faithful Christian
you've been. Oh, no. It's not a crown of gold,
it's a crown of glory. We'll be crowned in that hour
with the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Romans 8, 18, Paul said,
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed
in us. Not to us, but in us. What is
it? We'll be like Christ. That's
what it is. It's not an earned glory. It's
certainly not a deserved glory on our part. It's a bestowed
glory in Jesus Christ. We'll be like Him. It's by virtue
of who he is, not us. It's for his namesake. So with
these three thoughts, as the hireling would flee, the good
shepherd fought and won for his namesake. As the great shepherd got up
out of the grave and ascended yonder, to represent His sheep
before the throne, and He does so continually. He ever liveth
to make intercession for us. He does it all for His namesake. While we live this morning, there
is yet to come a time when He shall appear. We know not the day nor the hour,
be therefore ready. It's a time of God's appointing,
but it's called the glorious appearing of the chief shepherd. And it's all for his namesake.
He's coming together to himself, all for whom he died and is provided
for and is protected through the generation. So David says,
he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. David didn't
have a New Testament. But he knew that what God would
do about his sins is what would make the difference, not what
he did. The thrust of religion is the
point fingers and to beat you over the head about what you
can do about your condition. No, no, no, no. The gospel of
Jesus Christ is to tell you what he did about it. See, David knew the great shepherd's
protection is what sustained him, not his own strength. When he told Goliath, not Goliath,
when he told old Saul, I slew a lion, I slew a bear. He didn't say, this is me, I
did that. No, you know, in the name of
the Lord, in the name of the Lord. And when he went out there
and faced that giant of the Philistines, he didn't say, hey, I can handle
you. He said, you come to me with
your weapons in your name. I said, I come to you in the
name of the Lord. He sustains me. David knew this. And he knew that the goal, when
the chief shepherd shall appear, was to dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. Meaning in the presence of the
Lord forever. meaning in the one sheepfold
of the Lord forever. He knew the Good Shepherd who
died for Him was also the risen Great Shepherd that sustained
Him, and was also the Chief Shepherd that would come again. And so
do we know all these things, and it's all for His namesake. We need to junk all the religion
that's not for His namesake. We need to junk all the religious
thinking and all the religious practice that's not for His namesake. Coming to church to be somebody,
to make a name for ourself. No, you're just well to get you
an opossum dog and go opossum hunting. This is for His namesake. People look at this little congregation,
say, well, you're sure not making much of a show, are you? No,
no, no. We're here to brag about the
show He made. He went to a cross. He died. He shed His blood. They buried
Him. He rose again. You say, but men
just don't do that. He did. He rose again, walked
the earth for 40 days and ascended and promised he's coming back. This is all for his namesake.
He's caring for his flock. Jude had it right. Let me give
you this and I'm through. This is my last scripture. I'm not going to be like the
old black preacher that said about 10 times he was closing
while he was preaching. He said, in closing, he'd go
around in closing. And finally he said, in closing,
and this is my last close. Well, I'm telling you, this is
my last close. Jude said this, closing out the epistle, now
unto him that is able to keep you from falling. He didn't say, now unto you,
buddy, you make sure you don't fall. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Fall is our middle name. Now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless. Boy, I got a lot of faults. Not
in Christ you don't. He's able to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. He's tickled
about it. He's the Good Shepherd, the Great
Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, bringing His flock home. He's
thrilled with it. Exceeding joy. Jude says to the
only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and
power. Both now and forever. Amen. It's for His namesake. His namesake.