Well I want to look with you
this week at Psalm 23. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 says,
and it's a very very well known passage, it says that there is
a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a
time to die, a time to give, a time to take, all of these
different things that happen. A time for everything. And today
I felt was a time for spiritual comfort to God's people. And
so we're looking at Psalm 23. Word of God to his people is
full of promises of salvation and of blessing. That's what
the Scriptures are for. You know, there's so many that
teach that the Scriptures are to tell mankind in general how
to live. They're not. The Scriptures are
the promises of God to his people about the salvation that he has
accomplished and he has finished. This is why we read texts like
in the Psalms, blessed is the man whom thou choosest. and cause
us to come to thee, to approach unto thee. He's blessed, is that
one. Blessings, the blessings of God.
Now, Psalm 23 is undoubtedly the best loved and best known. Those who have no other contact
with Christianity probably know the Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. They love to sing the hymn to
the tune we sang earlier, Crimen, you know, the Lord is my shepherd,
I'll not want, he makes me down to lie in pastures green, he
leadeth me. They love to sing that. You go
to funerals and the number of people that will have that hymn
and Psalm 23 read as their comfort, it's a sentimentality that surrounds
it, but it's false comfort. It's baseless comfort, it's got
no foundation. It's empty comfort because God
only promises blessing to his people. That's all he promises
blessing to, is his people. And he only promises that blessing
in his son. How do I know this? Genesis 22
verse 18, God said to Abraham, the father of faith. We're the
children of Abraham by faith if we have faith in Christ. He
said to Abraham, in thy seed, meaning in the Messiah, in the
promised Messiah, in thy seed shall all the nations, a people
from all the nations of the earth, that multitude that no man can
number of every tribe and tongue and kindred, in thy seed, in
Christ, shall all nations, the people from all nations, be blessed. God promises blessing to his
people but only in his Son. That's what this psalm is about.
Do you like comfort food? You know we hear about comfort
food, the foodies and the chefs like to talk about comfort food.
I know you do, I do. You know when it's When it's
the height of summer, you love the comfort of the lovely summer
fruits, the raspberries and the peaches and all that sort of
thing. And when it's cold in winter, there's nothing better
than coming home from a walk to a nice, hearty, rich stew
that's full of goodness. It's comforting! Well, this is
spiritual comfort food, but only for those who can take comfort
in it. There's not comfort here for
mankind in general. There's not comfort here for
those who've lived their lives without Christ, contented without
Christ, contented not to have this man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
rule over them. There's no comfort for them in their funerals, in
this psalm, none whatsoever. But let's look at the comfort
that there is for the people of God. Psalm 23, the Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. A shepherd, what does a shepherd
do? I have some knowledge of this
because when I was about 13 or 14 years old, I used to help
out on the farms nearby where I grew up and quite a bit of
it was shepherding because it was in South Cumbria where it's
quite hilly and they kept a lot of sheep. And so, in the springtime,
we'd go out and help with lambing and delivering the lamb. Would
you believe it? I, a young teenager, you know, about Ariane's age,
I would go out and help lambs to be born in the fields, and
I would help round them up, and I would help do all the sorts
of things that the shepherds did with the sheep. I know a
little bit about caring for sheep. The shepherd cares for the sheep. They're his sheep. He cares for
them. They mark them. Each farmer put
his own mark on his sheep because they belong to him. They were
his sheep. And he protects them. And he
looks out for them. And he puts them in places where
they're going to be safe. And he leads them to the pasture
that's going to feed them. And he herds them. And he helps
them when it comes to lambing time. You know, often it's very
early, it's often cold winter, like it was this winter just
gone, where sheep died in deep snowdrifts. But the shepherd
looks out for them in those situations. In the spring, the shepherd arranges
for the coats, the wool of the sheep, to be sheared, to keep
them from getting diseases. It's good for them to be shorn
every year. He arranges for them to be dipped. They don't particularly
like it, but they go through a bath of disinfectant to kill
the ticks that would otherwise burrow into them and give them
disease. He does all these things for them. If it is, as you've
seen on the television programs about lambing these days, generally
speaking, they bring them into a nice shed where it's warm so
that they're not out there exposed. The shepherd cares for the sheep,
and the sheep are vulnerable. you might walk through a field
of cattle and be a bit disturbed as to whether any of them are
aggressive bulls. light thing, there was a man
that was killed not long ago, I remember reading the court
case where the farmer was convicted of carelessness that led to the
death of this man, this was only a year or two ago, a man and
his wife out for a walk and they walked through a field with some
cattle in and one was a bull and the bull killed the man.
But a field of sheep, you're never bothered about that are
you? You walk through a field of sheep, they're harmless. They're
weak. They're not threatening in any
way. They're vulnerable. They're gentle creatures. They're
stupid creatures. They go in silly places. They
get themselves stuck in silly places. They're like you and
me in this life. But if I'm one of God's sheep,
because God says he has some sheep, then he is the shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. How does this work? you know,
is it that God, the God who created the universe is the shepherd
of people, is that what he's saying? So this applies to anybody,
you know, some would say, some of our religious leaders so-called
in this country would say, well the Muslims have got a very valid
faith, they believe God, they're just going up a different side
of the mountain to the same God, they call God Allah, we call
Him God, we call Him Jehovah, you know, there's no difference
really, so they say Is it true then that Allah is the shepherd
to his Muslim people? Absolutely not. Not in the slightest. Not in the slightest. It's only
in Christ. It's only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. No other way. And he's only a
shepherd to his people in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is
my shepherd only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ,
the Lord is nothing other than a judge to me, a terrifying judge
to me. Ezekiel 34, that we read earlier,
said this, and I will set up one shepherd over them. God says
this, I will set up one shepherd over his sheep and he shall feed
them. Who is it going to be? Even my
servant David. He's not talking about King David,
he's already been and gone. This is the time of Ezekiel when
he was writing. He's talking about who David
represented in picture and type. The king of his people, the king
of his kingdom. He's talking about the Messiah,
our Lord Jesus Christ who would come. This is David who would
come. He shall feed them. He shall
be their shepherd. Our Lord Jesus Christ will be
the shepherd of his people, and I, the Lord, will be their guard,
and my servant David, a prince among them. He's the king of
his people, the king of his kingdom. Zechariah 13, 7 talks about the
sword, he says, Awake, O sword, against, God speaking, says,
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, my shepherd. Christ the Messiah
is God's shepherd for his people. He's my shepherd, God's shepherd.
Hebrews 13.20, Our Lord Jesus That, this is in the benediction
at the end of Hebrews, he says, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ is the great shepherd
of his sheep. 1 Peter 5 verse 4, he is the
chief shepherd, Peter says, talking about Jesus. Jesus himself, John
chapter 10 verse 11, I am the good shepherd. What man could
say this other than God himself, the Messiah himself? I am the
Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. He gives his life only for his
sheep, but completely for his sheep. The Lord, this verse reads,
the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord, Jesus, the Christ,
is my shepherd. We could say Jehovah Jesus is
my Jehovah Rahah. Jehovah Rahah, the Lord, my shepherd. In him alone I shall not want. If he is my shepherd, I shall
not want. In him alone I shall lack nothing. I shall have need of nothing.
What do I need? What do I need ultimately? I
think I need all sorts of things in life, but when it comes to
death, I need one thing. I need righteousness. I need
the righteousness of God. Otherwise I will face the condemnation
of God. How am I going to get the righteousness
of God? How am I going to get that? Colossians
chapter 2 verse 10. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul says, and you are complete in him. And you lack nothing
in Him. You lack nothing at all. Why?
Because in Him, if you're trusting in Him, if you're resting in
Him, if you're lying down in His green pastures, you have
all the righteousness of God accounted to you. For he made
him who knew no sin to be sin for us. God made him sin. There are some today, many today,
who say that anybody that preaches that Christ has made sin is preaching
heresy. I'm doing no more than what the
Scriptures say. No more. 2 Corinthians 5.21.
For he made him Christ, who knew no sin. He was sinless, he was
never a sinner, but he made him sin. He made him the sin of his
people. And he, as the sin of his people,
made that sin, suffered the wrath of God for that sin, that atonement
might be made. He poured out his lifeblood as
the penalty for that sin, that that sin might be put away. He
made him to be sin, that we might be made, that his people might
be made, the righteousness of God in him. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want, I won't want
for righteousness come the day of my death. Come the day I go
to meet him, to stand before his judgment seat, I will not
want for righteousness. I tell you, of all the things
you want, come that day you die, oh, that I might have the righteousness
of God. You have it in Christ. The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. I need forgiveness
of sin. I need the cancellation of my
sin-debt, I need the payment of my sin-debt, I need the bill
to be stamped, paid in full, and in Him I lack nothing, I
shall not want. Outside of Christ The generality
who at their funerals trust and get comfort from this psalm they
have no cause for any comfort because without faith in Christ
and outside of him he is not my shepherd. The Lord is not
my shepherd, the Lord is your judge outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Verse 2 He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Pasture and water. What does
sheep need? I can tell you from what I remember.
Sheep love luscious green grass. You might not. like the idea
of it but you can imagine how to a sheep it looks very appealing
rich thick green grass they love green grass and clean still water
and the good shepherd takes his sheep where both may be enjoyed
in safety and he causes them to lie down he maketh me to lie
down in green pastures He leadeth me beside the still waters. He
causes his sheep to lie down. That's speaking of rest, isn't
it? Rest. Rest from all of your labours. I need righteousness to be right
with God. Where am I going to get it? I
must work for it. No, by the works of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. But in the Lord, who is
my shepherd, in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the shepherd of
his people, the good shepherd who lays down his life for his
sheep, He makes us to lay down. He makes us to rest. He makes
us to give up our works of righteousness, that we might rest in His finished
work. doesn't mean we don't do anything
but we don't do anything to work righteousness for he has worked,
he has wrought all the righteousness that we need with God we rest
in the finished work of Christ we eat the good pasture, what's
that? It's his word, we feed on his
word, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God we feed on the green pasture
of his word blessed, how rich, how satisfying, to the hungry
soul, to the soul that knows Christ, how blessed is the Word
of God, what comfort it gives, what nourishment it gives. He
causes us to eat the good pasture of his Word, and to drink the
still clear waters I think this is speaking of his spirit. He
gives us his spirit. So often the spirit is spoken
of as water. He gives us the living waters
of his spirit welling up inside us as he said to the Samaritan
woman. And what is the food? What is the food? It's his word,
it's Christ himself. Jesus said in John 6 verse 35,
another one of the I am's, I am the good shepherd, he said I
am the bread of life. I am the bread that came down
from heaven. Do you remember where the bread
came down from heaven? The meat, the food from God?
In the wilderness wanderings of the children of Israel when
they came out of Egypt and they were journeying to the promised
land and there they were complaining that God was not feeding them
and he sent them manna from heaven. That wafer, that honeydew wafer
that he sent them. We don't know what it was, that's
what the name means. Manna, what is it? Because they wist not
what it was. He gave them manna from heaven
and Jesus said he is the true manna come down from heaven.
I am the bread of life. He's soul food. Whosoever feeds
on him, whosoever, he said, eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life. Whosoever eats my flesh and drinks
my blood. How do we do that? By faith.
by looking to him, because it's on the basis of his broken body
and his shed blood that we have righteousness with God, that
we have forgiveness with God, that we have acceptance with
him. This is soul food. He feeds us, he nourishes us,
he comforts us, he strengthens us. Is this not the experience
of believers in hearing Christ preached? You're feeling down. You're feeling empty. You're
feeling the burden and weight of the cares of the world. And
you hear Christ preached. You hear your Saviour preached.
You know this Saviour. And do you not feel a great sense
of comfort, and of feeding, and of nourishment, and of strengthening
within? Compare that with the poverty
that you feel. As a believer, if you go and hear somebody who
preaches ever so correctly his doctrine, who preaches ever so
correctly and academically his text, but it's Christless. It's lacking any warmth of Christ.
It's lacking. You come away from there feeling
starved, feeling empty, feeling devoid of any nourishment whatsoever. No. The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside the still
waters. Verse three. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. Healing and leading. Restoration. Do you like those programs on
television where they look at what was once a beautiful old
house but it's fallen into complete ruin and the roof's leaking and
there are weeds growing in the kitchen and it's in a complete
mess and it's called restoration. and they set about restoring
it, and it takes loads of money and hard work, and they restore
it into a beautiful house again. Well, this is what it's talking
about regarding the sinner. Restoration from the ruin of
sin. The ruin that sin has made. It's
like the healing of leprosy, you know, sin is likened in the
scriptures to the disease of leprosy. And how fatal that was,
and how terminal it was, and how obnoxious it was, and how
vile and repulsive it was. and yet there was healing of
leprosy. In a word from the Lord Jesus Christ, restoration. He
restores my soul from the ruin of sin. He cleanses from sin. He is the one that sanctifies
his people. He is the one that cleanses and
sanctifies from sin and pollution. He is the one who washes his
people in his blood. That crimson flow from the Lord
Jesus Christ is what washes whiter than snow So many hymns speak
of that. The blood washes whiter than
snow. Why? Because that blood pays the penalty
for sin. And paying the penalty for sin,
it cleanses the conscience. It cleanses away the sin. It
removes it as far as the east is from the west. The scriptures
say the soul that sins it shall die but in Christ my shepherd
my sinful soul is restored to the righteousness of God in him
because he died in the place of his people. He heals his people
but he leads them in the paths of righteousness. Leading in
the paths of righteousness Jesus said about the narrow way and
the broad way he said broad is the way that leads to destruction
and many there be that go in there at and you just look at
the world around us broad is the way that leads to destruction
it takes no effort to go helter skelter down the broad way that
leads to eternal destruction but narrow is the way that leads
to life and few there be that find it You know, this idea that
we ought to be in megachurches with thousands of people and
then it would all be right is not what the scriptures say.
Few there be that find it. It's a narrow way. Pilgrim's
Progress pictures it as a steep and rough way, hill difficulty,
a steep and rough way leading to life. Few there be. If you
walk in the fells, in Wales or the Lake District or Scotland,
and you will occasionally, a lot in fact, walk along sheep tracks,
and the sheep tracks are no more than about a foot wide at the
very most, 30 centimetres or so, and they're tough, and they
go where the sheep have walked, and these are the narrow ways
where he leads his sheep. Christ leads his sheep. David,
our Christ, leads his sheep in these paths, these narrow paths.
He leads his sheep there. He leads us in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake, for the sake of his name, and his glory,
and his gospel, and his honour. Romans 8 verse 1 says there's
no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit walking after the
spirit being led of the spirit Romans 8 14 says for as many
as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God are
you one of the sons of God? and that covers male and female
then you're led by the Spirit of God. Led by the Spirit of
God, He leads me in the paths of righteousness. He takes me
through the trials of life, and through the tears, and through
the anxieties, and the turmoils of this life, of which there
are many. You may think life is always calm, and easy, and
happy occasions. It isn't. It's full of anxiety. It's full of turmoil. It's full
of torment. But Paul writes to the Philippians,
because the Lord is my shepherd, he's able to write this, be careful
for nothing, be anxious, be a concern for nothing, but in everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding. Nobody knows peace except those
who know peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. The blessings are being led by
his Spirit. He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for his namesake. Verse 4. 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. A promised presence, verse four. I noted several weeks ago that
we're all now, don't care how old you are, we're all in our
own funeral procession right now. Time is passing. Time is
passing. Who knows who is the closest
to the grave of those of us gathered here? You might think it's obvious.
Oh no, it isn't. Oh no, it isn't. Things happen.
Events happen. There were four people flying
home from their jobs the other afternoon in a helicopter, as
they've done very, very many times. They're now in eternity. And what is their state? Nobody
knows. Nobody knows. We're all in our
own funeral procession now. Time is flying away. No it's
not, it's going ever so slowly. Oh yes it is. Wow. Oh yes it is. Flying by. How vain life without any eternal
purpose and that's how so many live it. And its ultimate end
is death and a lost eternity. But for the believer, the believer
chosen of God. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causes to approach thee. for the believer, redeemed
by Christ, paid for, ransomed, liberated by Christ, called by
the Holy Spirit of God, called, made alive, when all those around
were paying no attention, called by the Spirit of God, even in
death's valley, even in death's valley, when the moment is coming,
I will fear no evil, says the one who is one of Christ's sheep,
a sheep of the good shepherd, fear no evil. Do you remember
a few weeks ago I quoted some sayings of those worldly philosophers
who in their moment of dying were absolutely terrified of
what they were facing? you know the great philosophers
of this world and they were saying oh oh how I wish I had not published
that dreadful book that I published and oh how now I know I'm going
to a lost eternity those things fear no evil but why does the
believer fear no evil is the believer just burying his head
in the sand no no I will fear no evil why for thou art with
me God is with his people. Jehovah Jesus is with his people. Thou art with me. My Jehovah
Jesus is my Jehovah Shammah. Jehovah Shammah, the God who
is present with me. I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. We'll fear no evil. He's with
us. He's promised to be with us.
Matthew 28 and verse 20, right at the end of Matthew's gospel,
Jesus says to his disciples and to us, his people, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world. I will fear no
evil, for thou art with me. In Hebrews 13 verse 5, Paul writes
that he said, I will never leave you. God has promised, Christ
has promised his people, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
By rod and thy staff they comfort me. This is not the rod of correction,
but this is the rod of God's word. This is the staff of his
promises. This is These things, the rod
of his word, the staff of his promises, these are supports,
these are comforts, they're felt by the presence of his spirit.
Because God promised, Christ said, my father and I will come
and make our abode with the one who is my sheep, who is my person,
my people. God's children are freed from
the fear of death. Hebrews 2, do you remember it
talks about people in general who through all their lifetime,
through fear of death are subject to bondage but the children of
God are liberated, the sheep of God are liberated from that
fear of death which is such bondage Christless man is subject throughout
his life to this and at the end, death but listen what it says
in the scriptures about God's sheep 1 Corinthians 15, 55 to
57, O death Where is thy sting? Oh death,
where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. The
strength of sin is the law. That's what convicts, causes
death. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Thy rod and thy
staff, they comfort me. Verse five. thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest
my head with oil my cup runneth over a feast in safety doesn't
look like safety it's in the presence of mine enemies but
it's a feast in safety thou preparest a table before me in the presence
of mine enemies as we walk through this world where the world around
hates the things of the living God where religion hates the
things of the true gospel of Christ here we have all needful
material provision. What did Jesus promise his people?
He said seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things that you need shall be added to you. He
doesn't suffer his children to go begging bread but also it's
a table of communion Is that not where we gather? When we
gather around the bread and the wine which speak of the body
and the blood and remind us that that is the feast where we feast
on Christ and where we have peace with God. You prepare a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies and the enemies
look on. Who are the enemies? Paul says
we wrestle not with flesh and blood. It isn't the things that
we think are the enemies, it's other people. No, we wrestle
not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers,
spiritual darkness. These are the things that we
wrestle with. These enemies are looking on, Satan and the powers
of darkness, and when they see us rejoicing, discerning the
body of the Lord, at that table, remembering his broken body and
his shed blood, they look on with envy, they look on with
frustration, the enemies look on with frustration, because
why? They cannot bring any charge to God's elect. As Paul says,
who shall bring any charge against God's elect? Christ has died.
The charge sheet is removed, it's taken away. He's died, he's
risen again, who shall do anything? He was delivered up for our transgressions
and raised for our justification. They look on with envy. In the
moment they thought they were destroying him, in that very
moment he was triumphing over them. He was binding the strong
man of the house. No, no charge can be brought
against God's elect at this table. And anointing with oil, thou
anointest my head with oil, Doesn't oil speak of the Holy Spirit?
Doesn't it speak of the presence of God's Spirit? I am with you
always. How? By His Spirit He's with
us. If I go not away I will not send the Comforter to you, but
if I go away I will send Him. He is sent by the Father and
the Son to His people, that they might make their abode with Him,
with that person, and know that we live in the sight, in the
care, in the jurisdiction of the living God, who is our master,
our friend, our brother, our God. a shepherd in the Lord Jesus
Christ, anointing with oil the Holy Spirit, the Comforter's
presence, and it's such abundance, it's such abundance. You anoint
my head with oil and my cup runs over. It says elsewhere in the
Scriptures, it talks of it being a measure that is pressed down
and overflowing, no shortage, an abundance of the goodness
of God. Nobody knows this other than
the one who trusts Christ, who knows the blessings of being
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse six, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. He causes
all things to work together for good, to those who love God,
who are the called according to his purpose. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me, the sheep of Christ, the sheep of
the good shepherd, all the days of my life, and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Do you sometimes wonder when
is something going to break? You know, we're always concerned
that the car's going to break down, or the central heating's
going to break down, or the roof's going to start leaking, or something's
going to go wrong. But God's goodness and mercy
to his elect is endless. Human relationships might break
down and might turn bitter, but God's goodness and mercy to his
elect is endless. We're going to dwell in his house
now and eternally. Is that not comfort indeed? Is
that not such comfort indeed? Who knows comfort but the children
of God, the sheep of God, who know the Lord as their shepherd?