The 23rd Psalms. Someone, and I'm not for sure
who it was, did a little outline on this
psalm, and they called it complete. And let me read it to you like
this. This is the way we'll look at
it today. Psalms chapter 23 and verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. Complete salvation. I shall not
want. Complete satisfaction. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. Complete rest. He leadeth me
besides the still waters. Complete peace. He restoreth
my soul. Complete restoration. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Complete guidance. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. complete
protection. For thou art with me, complete
companionship. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me, complete comfort. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of my enemies, complete provision. Thou anointest
my head with oil, complete consecration. My cup runneth over complete
joy. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, complete care. And I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever, a completed destiny." If the Lord Jesus is our shepherd
this morning, then Our destiny is fixed to dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. And if Jesus Christ is indeed
our shepherd this morning, then all that I've read in these verses
apply to us. It applies to you and it applies
to me. If you are one of His sheep,
then He's your Shepherd. And that means several things. We know from John 10 who this
Shepherd is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I
am the Shepherd. I'm the Good Shepherd. And if you're one of His sheep
this morning, He's your Shepherd. then you know that the Father
has given you to Him as a gift. He said Himself, the Father which
gave them to Me is greater than all. You're not a shepherd if
you don't have sheep. You may call yourself a shepherd
and not have sheep, But the Lord Jesus would never call Himself
something that He is not. He's a shepherd because He has
a flock. And He got His flock as a gift
from His Father. And He often spoke of that, didn't
He? Those that you've given to Me. And He values them. They're His sheep. You know,
you don't always value a gift for what it's worth. Sometimes
you value a gift for who gave it. How would we value one of
His sheep? We value them this way. He gave
them to the shepherd. My Father which gave them to
me is greater than all. And if the Lord Jesus truly is
your shepherd this morning, then you can know this. He has laid
down His life for you. The shepherd dies for his sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. No man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it up again. He laid down his life
for the sheep. If the Lord Jesus Christ is our
shepherd, If we can say here with David, the Lord is my shepherd,
then we can say with the Apostle Paul, he loved me and gave himself
for me. If the Lord Jesus Christ is our
shepherd, then he's called us to follow him wherever he leads
us. Listen to what the shepherd says
about his sheep. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold. them also I must bring." I must
bring them. I must bring them to repentance.
I must bring them to faith. He said, you know why you don't
believe in me? You're not one of my sheep. My
sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. They believe me. I give them
faith. And I give unto them life eternal. I must bring them, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one flock, and there shall
be one shepherd." If the Lord is your shepherd, He's called
you. You've heard His voice. When He put forth His own sheep,
He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him, for they know
His voice. And a stranger will they not
follow? Why? They know not the voice of a
stranger. They flee from strangers. The sheep follow the shepherd
because they know his voice. If Jesus Christ is our shepherd
this morning, think of this. He's put you in his hands. You're in the hand of the shepherd. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hands." What a blessing to be one of his sheep. What
a blessing to say, the Lord is my shepherd. I'm in his hands. And no man can pluck them out
of the shepherd's hand. Brother Larry was telling me
the other day that he talked with this Methodist preacher.
You overheard Brother Larry and some of the other fellows talking
about the sheep being in the Lord's hands and nobody plucking
them out. And he said, yes, but you can
pluck yourself out, can't you? And Larry said, let me ask you
one question, just one question. Are you a man? Are you a man? Yeah, I'm a man. Then read that
passage again. No man. shall pluck them out
of my hands." What a secure place to be if he's your shepherd. Here's what he said. Here's what
was said about our shepherd. He shall feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arms. He shall carry them in his bosom
and gently lead those that are with you. The shepherd of the
sheep. If you can say this morning,
the Lord is my shepherd, then you've been given to Him. He's
laid down His life for you. He's called you. You've heard
His voice. You follow Him wherever He leads
you. And you're in His hands. And
your destiny is fixed. He will lead you to the Father's
house where you will spend all eternity. The Lord is my Shepherd. Now that brings us to the second
thing here. And no wonder David said this,
I shall not want. Complete satisfaction. Complete
salvation in the Shepherd. Complete satisfaction. I shall
not want. If the Lord is your Shepherd,
You are beyond the reach of any want for time and for eternity. Everything that's necessary to
live in this present world and everything that's necessary to
live in that world to come, He's provided it. You lack nothing. You have the promise of the world
that now is, and of that world that is to come. I shall not
want. Listen to what the psalmist said.
Oh, fear the Lord, ye His saints, for there is no want to them
that fear Him. The young lions they like, and
they grow hungry. But they that seek the Lord. They shall not want any good
thing. No good thing will he withhold
from them that fear him and love him. I shall not want. And listen to this. I have learned
that in whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content. Paul said, I want nothing. I
have Christ. I have Christ. Someone told about
the preacher and a poor family had invited him home to eat dinner
with them. But when they sat down, all they
had was some cold bread. And they began to apologize for
their scampy food. But the preacher looked down
at that cold piece of bread And he said, all of this and Christ
too? All of this and Christ too? I'm
content. Why? Because the Lord is my shepherd. I shall, not won't. My God shall
supply all your needs, all your needs, according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, what more
could we ask for? All our needs according to His
riches and glory? I think the Father has a large
bank account that He can draw upon. And I've never known it
to be diminished in supplying the needs of His sheep. And here
in verses 2 through verse 6, He tells us about the many, many
needs that He supplies. In verse 2, that we won't rest,
that we won't rest for our souls, here's complete rest. Here's
glorious rest. Here's soul rest. He maketh me
to lie down. That must be real rest when you
lie down. Mr. Bonar said, I heard the voice
of Jesus say, Come unto Me and rest. Lay down your weary head. Lay down. Lay down upon My breast."
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad, and I found
in Him a resting place. And He has made me glad. And this is the rest that comes
from the shepherd. This is not a rest you find yourself.
He maketh me to lie down. He's the author of it, and He's
the cause of it. He maketh me to lie down in Gilead
Christ. And I tell you something, when
He makes you to rest, nobody can disturb you. When He gives
rest to your soul, nothing can bother you. When He makes you
to rest, And it's Him that must make you to rest. It's Him that
must give you this rest. He maketh me to lie down. And the last portion of verse
2, what else did David speak about here? What else do we want? Well, peace. He leadeth me beside
the deep waters, the quiet waters. These still waters were quiet
waters. That's complete peace, isn't
it? Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as
the world gives I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. When He gives peace, it quietens
the troubled heart, the screaming conscience. Peace, the peace
of God which passeth all knowledge. shall keep your hearts and your
mind." That's deep peace, ain't it? That's peace, brothers and
sisters, when things aren't going well in the family, when things
aren't going well in the house, when things aren't well in your
soul. He gives peace. You and I won't find any rest
in this life. Everything's a mess, and if anything,
it's getting worse, isn't it? Can't you feel it? Don't you
see it all around us? People seeking some rest. People
seeking some peace. There's but one place that we
can have peace. And it's a glorious peace. But
it's one the Shepherd has to lead us into. He leads me beside
these still waters. What a treasure I have in this
wonderful peace It's buried deep in the heart of my soul. And
it's so secure that no power can mine it away while the years
of eternity roll. My peace, my peace, I give unto
you." Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful psalms. Complete peace. And he says here in verse 3 something
else. Complete restoration. He restoreth
my soul." Do you feel like you're weak this morning? Do you ever
get weak? Oh, you get so weak in your soul.
He says, in your weakness, my strength is made perfect. Be
strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. He restoreth our soul. How often
do we fall, and yet He lifts us up. And he says, though you
fall seven times, I'll lift you up. I'll restore your soul. Are you backslidden? Oh, how
often our souls backslide. People don't see it, but it's
in the heart, isn't it? And here's what he says, I will
heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. Has something touched your soul
and brought you low? Come boldly to the throne of
grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help you and
hold you up in the time of need. How often the poor sheep are
sick and they're wounded and they're sore. And I tell you,
if they didn't have a good shepherd to nurse them along, if they
didn't have a good shepherd to pour oil in their wounds, and
to carry them and caress them that never make it, that never
make it. But we got a shepherd who restores
our soul. Complete restoration. And then
in the last portion of verse 3, he says this. This is a wonderful
thing. The shepherd, he leads me in
the paths of righteousness. for His name's sake. He leads
us. Complete guidance. He leads us
by His Word. He leads us by His Spirit. He
leads us by His providence. He leads us. Listen, He says,
I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not. And I will
lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness
light before them, and crooked places straight. These things
will I do, and never forsake them." If Jesus Christ is your
shepherd, He's leading you, and He's leading you in the paths
of righteousness. What are those paths? It's paths
of love. This commandment I give you,
that you love one another. It's paths of truth. Walk in
the truth. It's paths of honesty and integrity
and goodness and patience and meekness and long-suffering. These are the paths that the
Lord leads us in. The paths that He loves. The
paths that He tread Himself. and their paths that He's pleased
that you and I should walk in them. And why does He lead them? For His namesake. He does it for His honor. He
does it for His glory and for His praise. Peter says He does
it that we may show forth the praises of Him who called us
out of darkness into His light. He don't let us stray for His
namesake. He leads us for His sake, not
just ours. And here's complete protection.
Look in verse 4. And it's protection for the most
dreadful of enemies. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. That's complete protection. I will fear no evil. Is the Lord my helper? Who can
harm me? Is the Lord my rock? How can
I sink? Is the Lord my high tower? How
can I be overrun? Is the Lord my hiding place?
How can my enemies find me? The Lord is my life in my death,
and He's my light in my darkness. My shepherd leads me, and I follow. And I tell you, if He leads us
every step of the way, if He leads you into this valley of
the shadow of death, one thing you can know, that He's there
with you. If He's led you there, then He's
there with you. And that's why David said this,
I have complete companionship. Thou art with me. Oh, ain't that wonderful? Who
would fear if Jesus is there? I was reading Brother Donnie
Bell's bulletin this week, and he was given the history, the
traditional history of the death of all the apostles. And most
of them, almost all of them, but John and perhaps James, died
in foreign countries. Some of them was crucified. Tradition
says Peter was crucified upside down. They put John in boiling
oil, but he miraculously escaped. Some of them had their heads
cut off. All of them died violent deaths. Can you imagine the word
of comfort and how often they remembered the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ when He said, Go into all the world. Go into that
world that hates you. A world that's going to persecute
you and kill you. But go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. And then He adds this to it.
Lord, I am with you always. Oh, what comfort that must have
been. How often they thought of that when they were in terrible
persecution. I will fear no evil, for the
Lord is with me. When you go through the waters,
I'll be with you. When you go through the fire,
I'm with you. I'm your shepherd. A good shepherd
never, ever forsakes his sheep. Paul said it in my first answer.
Nobody stood with me. Everybody forsook me. I stood
alone, he said. Ah, and then he said this, notwithstanding,
the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. I've often thought of this
and I've said it, I imagine, more than once. I would rather
be in hell with Christ than in heaven without him. That's how
good a companion he is. He's a complete companion. He
appeared to Paul during the persecution there at Corinth and he said,
Paul, be not afraid. I am with thee. And nobody shall
set on you to hurt you. I walked through the valley of
the shadows. And what are these shadows? Don't you think it's probably
imaginary evils? Some of the worst evils that
you and I face are in our imagination. It's there that these evils are
exaggerated like a shadow that's cast by light, and they're twisted
and deformed. And it's often what we imagine
that makes us afraid. David could imagine all sorts
of evil, but he said, in my wildest imagination, I'm still not afraid
because the Lord, my Shepherd, is with me. I'll not fear my
imagination. And then he goes on in verse
4 and he tells us about complete comfort. I think this must have
been a comfort to King David. Because he often ruled right
in the midst of men who tried to kill him, his enemies. And
he said, you are thy rod and thy staff. They conquered me. What is this rod? We know literally what it was,
but what does it represent? Literally, it was the stick that
the shepherd carried. He used it to defend the sheep. They said a good shepherd could
kill almost any animal because he knew how to use this rod.
It was an extension of his body, his arms, and he could swing
it and kill the enemies of his sheep that was trying to take
him. This rod here represents, in the Scriptures, the authority,
the power, the reigning power of Jesus Christ the Lord. That's what this is. His rod
is His sovereignty. His reign power in this world. Listen to how David said it in
Psalms 110. The Lord said unto my Lord, set on my right hand,
till I make your enemies your footstool. And here's what he
said. The Lord shall send forth the
rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou, rule thou in the midst
of thine enemies. The rod is the strength of Jesus
Christ. It's his sovereign rule right
in the midst of his enemies. He's seated in heaven this morning.
But you know something? He not only rules there, he rules
everything in this earth. He has power over all flesh,
all flesh. All power is given to me in heaven
and in this earth. And you know something, brothers
and sisters, here's the comforting aspect of this. He rules on behalf
of his people. He's got all his enemies under
his feet. The devil is his devil. The nations
are His. The kings are His. He sent them
there. And they can do His people no
harm, except He allows it. I think we could say of all our
enemies what the Lord Jesus said to Pilate, you can have no power
at all against me, except it will give it to you from above.
We can say that about all our circumstances, can't we? Whatever
our enemies are, we can look at them this morning and say
this, my shepherd has a rod and he rules you. And he rules in
all my circumstances. He rules this nation. He rules
all things for the good and the glory of his church. When that
lion and that bear came against David's flock to steal his sheep,
What did he do? The kid, David, took the burb
of the beard and slew it and smote the lion. Would our shepherd
do any less? Would he fail to guard and protect
his sheep from all their enemy? Thy rod, thy sovereign power,
it comforts me. What is this staff? We've all
seen pictures of the shepherd's staff. It was that rod with the
big crook on the end of it. He used this for the advantage
of his sheep. When a sheep began to stray,
got out of the path, he would reach that crook and put it around
the sheep's neck and bring him back into the path. If a sheep was stuck in a branch,
or in brars or in a thorn bush, he could take that rod with a
crook, the staff on the end, and he could pull away those
thorns and reach against the sheep and pull him out of the
thicket. If he wanted to bring one of his sheep near to him
to examine him and anoint him with oil, he would take that rod and he
would pull him right up to him. The staff. Take the staff. And David said, this comforts
me. Thy sovereign rule in this world, it comforts me because
you're ruling for my good. Thy staff by which you lead me
and correct me and bring me near yourself, this comforts me. What great comfort this must
be When our confidence in our Shepherd reaches the point that
we can say with Paul, the Lord shall deliver me from every evil
work and preserve me into His heavenly kingdom. He will keep
me from going astray. And if I go astray, He will bring
me back. Oh, what comfort that is. Haven't
you found that to be comforting? Haven't you begun to go astray?
Haven't you strayed? And how often, and how often
has the Shepherd brought you back by His rod, by His staff? They comfort me. And verse 5,
Thou preparest a table before me, right before my face, in
the very presence of my enemy. Complete provision. How many
enemies do we have? I have no idea. We don't recognize
that most of them do. Flesh is our enemy. The world
is our enemy. Satan is our enemy. And the Lord Jesus Christ prepares
before us, in the midst of our enemies, a gospel feast. That's what that word table means,
feast. And he does to us so often like
he did to his apostles. After they had that long night
in which they caught no fish and they were weary and disappointed. And he says to us as he said
to them, come and dine. Come and dine, the master called. He prepares a table. Milk for
the babies. meat for the strong, honey to
sweeten their taste, and wine to make their hearts glad. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
prepares a table right in the face of your enemies, there's
nothing they can do about it but just sit and watch. Just
sit and watch you eat to your fill. He prepared the table before
me in the presence of my enemies. And I don't know much about what
the last portion of verse 5 means, but someone has suggested that
it's complete consecration. Thou anointest my head with oil. I don't really know what that
represents. If it represents the Spirit, then, oh, my request
is, Lord, anoint my head. It represents giving us the Spirit
to lead us and to comfort us, to teach us, to bear witness
to our spirit. If that's what it represents,
then here's my request. Oh Lord, anoint me again and
again and again. Whatever this anointing was,
David said this about it, it brings me complete joy. It causes my cup to run over. And then in verse 6 he says this,
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Complete
care, goodness and mercy. These are two of God's attributes
and you and I love them. Moses wanted to see them. Lord,
show me your glory." And what did the Lord do? He said, I'll
make all my goodness pass before you. I'll be merciful. I'll be merciful. And when he
showed Moses these two things, his goodness and his mercy, the
Scripture says he bowed his head and he worshipped. He made haste
and bowed his head and worshipped. Oh, there's severity in God. He cuts many off, doesn't He?
But there's goodness in God. He saves many. "...on them which
fail severity, but towards you goodness." What brought you to
repentance? The goodness of God. What saved
you? You obtained mercy. When you
and I look back on our Christian life, what do we want to see
following us? Goodness and mercy. Has your
Christian life been a mess like mine has? God knows, doesn't
He? Or some would judge us because
we judge ourselves, and we often weep. Oh, we grieve over our
Christian life, don't we? How we've fallen, how we've sinned,
how often our attitude has been wrong. How many hearts have we
broken? How many people have we disappointed?
How often have we offended our Lord Himself? How often we should
have stood strong against temptation, but we yielded and failed. Oh,
looking back over my Christian life, To be honest with you,
brothers and sisters, I've got a lot of places that I'm ashamed
of. And I've apologized to the Lord and others for it. But it
gives us great joy this morning, as it gave David, when we look
back and these two companions are bringing up the rear. Goodness
and mercy. Cleaning up our messes. Healing
the parts that we've broken. Forgiving the sins that we've
committed. Oh, don't you want goodness and
mercy to follow you? And aren't they two companions
to keep present, company with? Goodness and mercy? And I tell you, when I come down
to the river of death, these are two companions I want to
make me that. Saving goodness and saving mercy. to carry me up that hill to the
celestial city, and open the gate for me, and let me in. And I'll see my completed destiny,
and you will too, if the Lord is your shepherd. Because there you'll dwell in
the house of the Lord. How long? Forever. Forever. Completed destiny. In my Father's house are many
mansions. My Father's house. Oh, what will
it be to dwell forever in the Father's house? This is the Father's
house, if we're His. But He has another house, and
that's heaven. That's where we want to dwell.
He dwells with us now, in His house. We want to go dwell in
His house, the Father's house, forever. The Lord himself is
going to descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and the dead in Christ is going to be raised.
We which are alive and remain are going to be caught up together
to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. And that's our destiny, if the
Lord is our shepherd. We've been predestinated to that in order to enter into it and
to enjoy it with our Shepherd as our desire. Let's pray.