Good morning. Would you turn
to 1st Samuel chapter 17? Verse 15, 1st Samuel chapter
17. But David went and returned from
Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. And the word Bethlehem
means the house of bread. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name. And Lord, we ask that our great
shepherd might feed us. We ask for nothing else, but
that we might be fed by your grace. Forgive us of our sins
for Christ's sake and be with all your people wherever they
meet together. In Christ's name we pray, amen. I look back in
chapter 16 for just a moment in verse 18. We have this beautiful
description of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then answered one of
the servants and said, behold, I've seen the son of Jesse, the
Bethlehemite. This is talking about David.
that is cunning and playing, and a mighty, valiant man, and
a man of war, and prudent in matters or words, and a comely
person, and the Lord is with him." Now that is used to describe
David, and it's used to describe the greater David, the Lord Jesus
Christ. But you know what else David
was besides all these things? He was a shepherd. As a matter
of fact, that's what he was first. He was a shepherd. Look in chapter
16, verse 11. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are
here all thy children? And he said, Whether remaineth
yet the youngest? And behold, he keepeth the sheep. Look in chapter 17, verses 14
and 15. And David was the youngest and
the three eldest followed Saul, but David went and returned from
Saul to feed his father's sheep. Look in verse 20. And David rose
up early in the morning and left the sheep with the keeper and
took and went as Jesse had commanded him. He was still taking care
of the sheep. Look in verse 28. And Eliab the eldest brother
heard when he spake unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled
against David, and said, Why camest thou down hither? And
with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? Look in verse 34. And David said
unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came
a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flocks. And I went
out after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth.
And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and
smote him and slew him." He was protecting the sheep. And even
when he's going with Goliath, he wouldn't take human armor.
He rejected Saul's armor and he put some stones in his shepherd's
bag. David was preeminently Now, the concept of a shepherd
is meaningless if we don't talk just a little bit about sheep.
Sheep. What do you think of when you
think of sheep? Well, there are three descriptions
that I think would be the most accurate of sheep, and I think
it's very interesting that the Lord uses sheep to depict us. Sheep are dumb. Sheep are directionless, and
sheep are defenseless. Those three words accurately
portray what a sheep is. Dumb, directionless, and defenseless. Got that on Google. They're dumb. Dogs are loyal,
aren't they? Cats are smart. Horses are strong. Sheep are dumb. They have poor vision. They can't do tricks. They can't
be trained to do anything. This happened in 2006. One sheep
went off a cliff and 400 went right behind him and they all
fell to their death. Sheep just follow sheep. They
don't have any direction. And they're defenseless. They have no way of defending
themselves. Dogs will bite or they'll bark. Cats will hiss. Different kinds
of animals have different ways of trying to protect themselves,
but not a sheep. A sheep is easy prey to anyone. He's dumb. He's directionless. He so easily goes astray. He so easily goes in the wrong
direction. It's the nature of a sheep to
go astray. And once they get out, they cannot
find their way back. I remember when I was a kid,
we had this record called The Incredible Journey. And it was
about this dog and cat who got hundreds of miles away from their
home, and somehow they found their way back home. I mean,
animals can do that, but sheep can't. Once they go astray, they
are in trouble. They're dumb, they're directionless,
and they're defenseless. Does that sound like anybody
you know? Well, I need a shepherd. I need a shepherd. You know,
when David said, the Lord is my shepherd, he knew something
about what he was talking about when he said, the Lord is my
shepherd. This is the animal that God uses
to depict his people, sheep. It's kind of funny, isn't it?
And you know it's so. Now all the world is divided
into two classes, sheep and goats. Turn with me for a moment to
Matthew chapter 25. Verse 31, when the Son of Man,
and I love the majesty of this language, when the Son of Man
shall come in His glory. and all the holy angels with
him. Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divided the sheep from the goats. And
he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on
his left." All the world is divided into sheep and goats. A sheep
will never become a goat. and a goat will never become
a sheep. Turn with me to John chapter
10 for just a moment. You see, not everybody is a sheep.
You're familiar with this passage of scripture. Verse 24, then came the Jews
round about him and said unto him, how long dost thou make
us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered
them, I told you and you believe not. The works that I do in my
Father's name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because
you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. Now how clear can language
be? He said, the reason you don't
believe is because you're not one of my sheep. Now, let's look
at a few things in John chapter 10. Verse one, verily, verily, I
say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
the place where the sheep stay at night, but climb up some other
way, the same as a thief and a robber, but he that entereth
in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep, to him the porter
openeth, and the sheep hear his voice. Now here's one thing sheep
can do. They can hear. They hear the
voice of the shepherd, and they can distinguish the difference.
Let's go on reading. Verse 4. And when he put forth
his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him,
for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him. for they know not the voice of
strangers. They hear the gospel and they
know when they're not hearing the gospel and they flee. Look
in verse 26 again of this same chapter, but you believe not
because you're not of my sheep as I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. I and my father are one. Now, isn't that a beautiful
description of what a sheep is? And I love the way the Lord uses
a sheep to describe his people. Dumb, directionless, defenseless,
can't protect themselves, in need of a shepherd. Now, let
me assure you, if you're a sheep, if I'm a sheep, we need a shepherd. You know, some people try to
pastor themselves and you never make a very good pastor yourself,
I can assure you that. I say that to all people. Sheep
need a shepherd. And Christ is called in the scriptures,
the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He's
called by Peter, the chief shepherd. And he's called by the writer
to the Hebrews, that great shepherd of the sheep. Now, the first
thing I would notice about David, go back to 1 Samuel 17, is David's
care of the sheep. This was what was most important
to him. I think it's interesting, while
his six brothers were lining up to be anointed king, David
was keeping the sheep. That was his great concern. That's
what was important to him. Those other fellows, they wanted
to be God's anointed. They thought, surely it'll be
me. David didn't even suspect it was him. But he stayed back
with his father's sheep. David was keeping the sheep,
and when he left Saul, he went back to the sheep. When his father
sent him to his brothers, he made sure there was a keeper
of the sheep. He would not leave those sheep alone. He was ridiculed
and criticized by his eldest brother because he was a keeper
of just a few sheep, insignificant to Eliab, but very important
to David. I think one of the most amazing
parts of this passage of scripture is there in verse 34. Now you
think of David being a shepherd. If I was a shepherd and Eliab
got hold of one of the sheep, I don't think I would try to
face that lion. And if a bear came, I wouldn't face the bear. I mean, the one sheep can be
sacrificed, but look at David's love and care for the sheep.
Verse 34, and David said unto Saul, thy servant kept his father's
sheep, and there came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out
of the flock. And I went out after him and
smote him and delivered him out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew
him. What a shepherd. What a shepherd who could protect
sheep like this. Now, David exercised great care
of the sheep, which speaks of our great shepherd who lays down
his life for the sheep. Don't you love our Lord Jesus
Christ? Who laid, he laid down, not only
does he care for the sheep, he laid down his life for the sheep. The Lord says of the hireling
that he leaves the sheep because he doesn't care for them, but
oh, how the Lord cares for his sheep. Casting all your care
upon him, for he careth for you. The Great Shepherd, now I want
you to think about that statement. You and I, I'm this dumb, easily
led astray, defenseless, directionless sheep. He cares for me. He careth for you. There's nothing
about you that's insignificant to your Great Shepherd. There are basically four things
that a shepherd does. First of all, he leads the flock.
He leads, they look to him. He feeds the flock. He protects the flock. And maybe the most endearing
thing, I want to say this carefully, but perhaps the most endearing
thing about our shepherd is he always goes after the straying
sheep. And he goes and gets it and brings
it back. He leaves the ninety and nine
and goes after that one straying sheep. Now let's consider our
shepherd in these four aspects. First of all, he leads the flock. They follow him. Now, how do
they follow him? By looking to him. That's the
only way you can describe. But how do you follow somebody?
The only way you follow somebody is by keeping your eyes on them. You know, when we were in Mexico
last week or whenever it was, you know, Cody would take the
men downtown and it's a, It's a, it's third world. You know,
it's dirty, it's smelly, it's, you know, the meat market, it's,
and Cody is very gracious to take, everybody, a lot of people
experience it when they go down there, and Cody's very gracious
to take people down there. But man, you can't keep up with
him. If you don't keep your eyes on him, he's gone. And then we're
in this place where nobody can speak the language, and we're
nervous and scared. The only way I can stay up with Cody is
if I keep my eyes on him. Walter was even worse. It was
very difficult keeping up with these guys. And the only way
you could do it, they didn't like being there. They were gracious.
They go downtown all the time. And this downtown is not like
any downtown me and you know anything about. I mean, it's
third world downtown. And you'd be, man, if I was left
here, I'd be scared to death. And what do I do? I keep an eye
on Cody. And I'm thinking about, I hope
these other guys do too, but I'm not going to get lost if
they do. I'm keeping my eye on Cody. Now, when you look to Christ,
the only thing to do is to look to Him. You look at His life
as your only righteousness before God. You look at His death as
your sin payment. You look at His resurrection
as your justification. You look at Him right now as
He's seated at the right hand of the Father, and you know He
is your salvation, looking unto Jesus. Don't you love the simplicity
of that statement? Looking. You can look. Might not be able to do anything
else. I don't have any doubt if an
Israelite was blind, if he would have taken his blind eye sockets
and looked toward that brazen serpent, he'd live. Didn't say see, says look. And
if you look, you'll see. Looking unto Jesus. So the first,
what the Lord is, he is our guide. We follow him. He's our savior. And the next thing a shepherd
does is he feeds the sheep. Now, the Lord said, my flesh
is meat indeed. My blood is drink indeed. He is the bread of life. Now, eating his flesh and drinking
his blood, I know that people have made so much error regarding
that, the doctrine of transubstantiation, where you eat the body of Christ
and it literally becomes, or you eat the bread and it literally
becomes the body of Christ, and when you drink the wine it literally
becomes the blood of Christ, and somehow that puts away sin.
You all know that's ridiculous. I mean, there's no truth to that.
But here's what it is. The only thing that satisfies
my hunger The only thing that makes me full, the only thing
that strengthens me, the only thing that is anything to me
is Christ crucified. I mean, right now, the only hope
that I have is that Christ lived for me, He died for me, and He
was raised for me. The only drink that satisfies
my thirst is knowing His precious blood At all times, when I first
believe, in the middle of my life as a believer, right before
I die, His precious blood is the only hope that I have. That's
what it is to eat His flesh and drink His blood. You're living
upon Him, who He is. And what He did is everything
in salvation. That is the only meal I want.
That's my breakfast. That's my lunch. That's my dinner.
That's my snack. That's everything. That's everything.
The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. At no time do I get any
satisfaction from any other food but the gospel. But what satisfaction
there is in being justified by Him. of being accepted in the
beloved. We never grow beyond that, do
we? That's the same meal that we, you know, I eat, Lynn makes
fun of me, I eat a ham and Swiss sandwich every day for lunch.
I just love ham and Swiss sandwiches, but you know, sometimes I do
get tired of them though. Every now and then I'll break
the thing, but you're gonna get tired of everything but this.
the gospel of Christ. What a meal that you're always
satisfied with. And then our shepherd protects
us. Isn't it wonderful to be protected
by Christ? And I need protected. I need protected. I need saved.
I need protected. You know who I need protected
from first? Right here. Me. He saves me from myself. How many times in a day do I
cry out, Lord, save me. Save me. You know, that prayer
is not a one-time prayer. It's not a once-a-day prayer.
Lord, save me. Save me from myself. Deliver
me from myself. Deliver me from my sins. Deliver
me from my enemies. Deliver me from all the things
that would bring me away from you. Save me. Give me your righteousness. Save me by your sovereign will. Save me by your grace. Save me
by your purpose. Save me by your love. We're calling
on the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That's what I want. Save me. I need my shepherd to protect
me from myself and from my sin. Oh, be my shepherd. Lord, be
my shepherd. Don't let me be without a shepherd. I need you to protect me. Oh,
isn't it wonderful to think that the Lord's your shepherd? David
said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me
to lie down in green pastures. He makes me rest. He leads me
beside the still waters. Peace. He leads me in paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. I have righteousness. He
restores my soul. Oh, how often has he restored
your soul? And what does our shepherd do?
He goes after the straying sheep. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
18 for a moment. Now, what is, I guess, the biggest
characteristic of a sheep that we're familiar with is a sheep
goes astray. He goes astray so easily, and
once he goes astray, there's no getting back. He's not like
these cats and dogs that can find their way back home amazingly.
No, once they're gone astray, there's no coming back, and their
only hope is for the shepherd to come after them and to bring
them in. Verse 11, Matthew chapter 18. For the son of man is come to
save that which was lost. How thank ye. If a man have a
hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, Doth he not leave
the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh
that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it,
verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep than of the
ninety and nine which went on astray. Even so, it's not the
will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little
ones should perish. Turn to Luke chapter 15. Luke 15 all goes together, the
parable of the lost coin, the parable of the lost sheep, and
the prodigal son. But let's just see what he says
about this lost sheep. Verse 15, then drew near unto
him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. I can't express
how glorious that is, that with the Lord Jesus Christ, no one
ever felt threatened and judged. He's the only one like this.
Nobody else is like this. You go around to anybody else,
they'll judge you. They're as bad as you are, but
they'll judge you. I guarantee you I'll judge you. I see you
doing something, I think, all the different things that I'll
think. And you'll think the same thing. The only one that's like
this is the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinners could draw near to Him
to hear Him, and they didn't feel threatened, they didn't
feel judged, they didn't feel condemned. How glorious He is. And the Pharisees and scribes,
verse two, murmured, saying, this man receive his sinners
and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them,
saying, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lose one
of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and
go after that which is lost until he find it? He won't stop until
he finds it. And when he found it, he lays
it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls
together his friends and neighbors saying to them, rejoice with
me, for I found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you that
likewise, Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,
more than over the 99 just persons which need no repentance. I love
to think of joy being in heaven right now, don't you? When one
sinner repents, when his mind is changed, there's joy in heaven. Who's in heaven? The Lord Jesus. He goes after the sheep that
was straying. Now, turn with me to Psalm 119.
And this is David. David knows something about being
a shepherd. Last verse of Psalm 119. David, who knew something about
being a shepherd. says to the Lord, I have gone
astray like a lost sheep. And I can't get back. I can't
find my way back. Here I am. I've gone astray out
in the wilderness like a lost sheep. He says, seek thy servant. Come look for me and find me.
Seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. Now,
what a prayer. May the Lord put that in our
hearts. Now, what a shepherd. What a
shepherd. He leads the flock. He feeds
the flock with himself. He protects the flock. And he
goes after the straying sheep. Thank the Lord for our great
shepherd. Amen.