I invite your attention to the
book of Psalms, the 23rd. The 23rd Psalm. And tonight, if God be pleased,
we will look at the subject of Jehovah is my Shepherd. actually is for me the second
message from this psalm, and then the first I dealt with the
fact that this shepherd is Jesus Christ. The psalmist says, the
Lord is my shepherd. When you see this word Lord in
your English text, in all uppercase letters, that is God's name par
excellence. It is his covenant name. It is
the name Jehovah. The psalmist says that Jehovah
is my shepherd. read in the 34th chapter of Ezekiel's
prophecy that Jehovah said, I will come and be their shepherd. And
then he said, in the very same 34th chapter, he says, I will
establish one shepherd over them, my servant, David. So therefore
the shepherd of Jehovah's sheep is Jehovah himself, and he is
from Jehovah, and there is no contradiction. Jehovah says that
the shepherd of my sheep is the man who is my companion or my
fellow in the prophecy of Zechariah, meaning that our shepherd is
the man. knows our needs, he can sympathize
with our weaknesses, he knows our infirmities, and Jehovah
says he is my fellow, my equal, meaning that as God, he can take
care of those needs, and he can heal those infirmities, and he
can strengthen our weaknesses. Jesus himself tells us that I
am the good shepherd, The word good means ideal. If you want
to know what a shepherd is, look to the Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. And we also find that he is the
great shepherd of the sheep, and he is the chief shepherd
of the sheep, and he is the shepherd and overseer of our souls. This shepherd identified in our
text as Jehovah is Jehovah Jesus. Now, that's the identity of this
shepherd. But in tonight's message, I want
us to observe the sufficiency of this shepherd. And the sufficiency
of this shepherd is indicated in this phrase, I shall not want. It means that I shall not lack
what is needed. Now I'm going to read this psalm
to you and you have the text there before you, but before
I read it to you, I want you to observe that the psalmist,
one of Jehovah's sheep, talks in two different directions in
this psalm. He begins by looking at others
around him, perhaps talking to the sheep of false shepherds,
or perhaps speaking to the devil's goats. And the sheep looking
around him at others says, Jehovah 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 leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake." Now the sheep takes his eyes off of others
around him and looks to the shepherd. And the sheep says, yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Do you see this? The sheep now
speaks to the shepherd. 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, and then
as though looking perhaps to the shepherd and to others around
him, the sheep concludes, surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of
Jehovah forever. Now, if Jesus Christ is your
shepherd, If Jehovah Jesus is your shepherd, and you are one
of his sheep, you will find that he is all-sufficient, and you
can say with this sheep, and with this sheep, I shall not
want. This is letting us know that
as physical sheep have needs, so do spiritual sheep, and the
needs are the same. We who are spiritual sheep, we
need food, water, restoration, protection, a fold in which to
abide, and other such necessities. Our shepherd is the God of this
universe, and he says, I take care of the ravens, I clothe
the lilies of the field, If he does that for ravens and flowers,
how much more does he do for his sheep? The psalmist concludes,
O fear the Lord, you his saints. There is no want or lack to those
who fear him. The young lions lack and suffer
hunger, but those who seek Jehovah shall not lack any good thing. Psalm 34 verses 9 and 10. Notice,
shall not lack any good thing. If Jehovah is your shepherd,
you shall not lack or be in want of anything that is needful for
you. And not only does he supply what
is needful for you, he goes beyond that. and gives you more than
you can imagine if he is your shepherd. The sheep will boast in verses
2 through 6 of what Jehovah does for his sheep and the needs that
he met. We who are his sheep are not
like the devil's goats who boast of what we do through our own
free will. works of righteousness, and of
what we have attained through our holier-than-thou-ness and
everything else that free will religion speaks of. We confess
we are sheep scattered Lost, in need of being found, we are
found by our shepherd. He finds us, brings us into his
fold and all our needs are met by him. All our needs. What are
our needs? Here they are. First, I shall
not lack. Habitation and rest and food. Look in verse number two. He
makes me to lie down in green pastures. Now this word pasture
has to do not only with the field, it's a Hebrew word that is much
more inclusive than a mere field. It also includes the habitation
in which the sheep are kept. It is not only a field in which
sheep are led, it is also where sheep are kept in all circumstances. It is the pasture in which they
go to graze, it is also their habitation. He makes me to lie
down in a good habitation. My shepherd's meadow and his
habitation are so lush with verdant grass that I need only to walk
inside the field and lie down. I'm not like goats foraging from
clump to clump. And you know goats, they even
try to climb trees to eat leaves? Not me. I lie down in the field
and I eat grass around me and it's more than I need. He makes
me to lie down in green pastures. I lie down in green pastures
is a phrase that speaks not only of what I eat, but it also speaks
of my rest, for I lie down, and it speaks of my habitation, and
I find it all in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is my
habitation, For his sheep confessed that, Lord, you have been our
dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90 verse 1. He is my rest
because he is my Sabbath. Colossians 2 verses 16 and 17. And he is my food for his sheep
can vouch for the fact that we have tasted and seen and known
that the Lord is good. Blessed are they that put their
trust in him. Jesus Christ, my shepherd, provides unto me habitation
and food and rest, and he is all three of those things. He's
all of it. My shepherd not only gives it
to me, but he gives himself to me to be those things that I
need. Second, I shall not lack water. Also in verse number two, he
leads me beside the still waters and these waters are elsewhere
called the water of life and living waters and they are symbols
of God's eternal love and his sovereign grace. These waters,
and note the plural, these waters are of that pure River of water
of life clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of
the Lamb in Revelation 22 verse 1 There this is that river whose
streams Words mean things now listen the river which has streams
water streams Waters, where does he lead me beside the waters? This is that river whose streams
or waters shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of
the tabernacle of the Most High. Psalm 46 verse 4. What does water
do? It cleanses me and it refreshes
me and I find it all in Christ my shepherd. He leads me. He doesn't drive me. He doesn't
have to. Sheep follow the shepherd. We
are not goats to be driven. Sheep follow the shepherd and
he leads me unto and beside these still waters. These still waters
are found in Christ my shepherd. He identifies himself as the
fountain of living waters, Jeremiah 2 verse 13. He is the fountain
of the water of life, Revelation 21 verse 6. And I am not like
the devil's goats, of whom my shepherd says, they have forsaken
me. and hewn themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2 verse 13. Think about it. The man in false
religion, the goat of the devil's religion has hewn himself cisterns. He had to do it for himself.
He does not have a shepherd to lead him to waters. He must hew
out a cistern for himself and it's broken. You see, this would
be cisterns. There's the system of free will,
the system of merit, the cistern of meritorious works, the cistern
of self-righteousness, the cistern of holier-than-thou-ness, the
cistern, they've got all kinds of them. They're all dry wells,
folks. They're cracked cisterns. They hold no water. My shepherd
leads me to the still waters, and there I am refreshed, and
there I am cleansed. Number three, I shall not lack
restoration. Verse three, he restores my soul. Now, the devil's goats want restoration,
but not the same kind we want. And you can listen to false preachers. They'll say, you know, we're
going to tell you how to get things restored. And what do
they want? If you listen to false religion,
it's all about the restoration of Health and wealth. That's
what they talk about, alright? Want to be rich? Want to be healthy?
Wealthy? And these are the things that
people in false religion are going after. How to get ahead
in this world. Restore to me what I lost, alright?
Earthly things. Not the sheep of Jehovah. We
desire the restoration of our souls. And our shepherd always
answers the pleas of his sheep when they pray. Give ear, O shepherd
of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. Restore us. Notice, he restores my soul. Restore us, O Lord God of hosts,
and cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved. And he
restores my soul in many ways, but I'll just give you three
that should be readily in your mind. First of all, he retrieves
me when I stray. The psalmist says in Psalm 119
verse 176, I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your
servant. And he does. When I stray, he
restores me by retrieving me Cross my shepherd heals me when
I backslide. Hosea 14 verse 4. He says I will
heal their backsliding and I will love them freely for my anger
has turned away from him. And then cross my shepherd revives
me when I'm afflicted. For I pray in Psalm 119 verse
107, I am afflicted very much. Revive me, O Lord, according
to your word. And these are the ways in which
my shepherd restores my soul, retrieves me when I stray, heals
me when I'm sick, and revives me when I'm afflicted.
Number four. I shall not lack guidance throughout
my life. Verse 3, latter part. He leads
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Now notice, he leads me. All
the way through this psalm, he leads me. He leads me. Why? Because sheep follow their shepherd. He leads me in paths of righteousness. And then notice that these are
paths, plural, of righteousness. These paths of righteousness
are many in number, just as Satan has many paths of unrighteousness. For example, there is the path
of Christ's righteousness, because He is Jehovah, our righteousness. There is the path of imputed
righteousness, which we have through faith in our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. We therefore do not speak of
our self-righteousness, our earned righteousness, our legal righteousness. We walk in the path of imputed
righteousness, and we walk in the path of practical righteousness. Our lives are lived in practical
righteousness, and He leads us in all these paths. When you
hear the Lord's sheep speak, they speak of Christ who is our
righteousness, they boast of His imputed righteousness, and
they live in practical righteousness, and He leads them in all those
paths. He does so for His name's sake.
for the glory of his name and the praise of his grace. When I was a wee lad, my father
pastored a church in Rainel, West Virginia. And it was just
a little coal mining town, although we did have the largest hardwood
lumber mill in the world at that time. But coal mining town and
sawmill town. It was nevertheless a small town
and everybody knew Preacher Parks and we were the only Parks family
in the whole place. Everybody knew Preacher Parks
and just about everybody knew that I was Preacher Parks' son.
I was the eldest of six. On Saturday night, my father
would come to town, go shopping, and I know that at least some
of the older of the children would be given a quarter, I think
it was a quarter, and would be taken to the G.C. Murphy store. We thought it was a big thing
back then, and later found it just a little store, but it was
a big store to a little boy. And he'd give me a quarter, and
then he'd say, okay, do whatever you want to do. Go buy what you
want to buy. And then he would say, but remember
whose son you are. Now I knew what that meant, even
as a wee lad, I knew what that meant. I knew that that meant
that everybody knew who I was and everybody knew who he was
and everything I did reflected on him. And therefore, I was
to live in order to bring no dishonor to his name. Now my
shepherd will not lead me to any place where I will bring
dishonor to his name. My father never did, but neither
will my shepherd. He leads me in paths of righteousness. The devil will lead you in the
paths of unrighteousness. My shepherd never will. He leads
me in paths of righteousness for His namesake, and I will
boast of that. I will indeed boast of that.
I will boast of His righteousness and of all His paths. I just
look at my shepherd, and if you want to be happy in righteousness,
you will have to follow Him. And He leads in paths of righteousness,
and He does it for His namesake. He gets all the glory, and He
gets all the praise, and I have earned none, and I will not take
it. He has all that honor and praise. Number five, I shall not lack
deliverance in death. Verse four, yea, though I walk
through the valley, the shadow of death, I will fear no evil
for you are with me. Now notice that death, death
is a valley. And it is a dark valley. It is
a valley because of a shadow. But note this well, that a shadow
never hurt anybody. Might scare you. A shadow never
hurt anyone. This is but a shadow for me.
For Christ, my shepherd, has already gone through this valley
and taken its stain. He suffered the sting of death
himself. I fear no sting in death. He
took the sting. And like a honeybee, death can
sting but once. He took the sting of death. I
walk through this valley. It is but a shadow. And notice
that I will walk in this valley. I'll not run through it. I'm
gonna walk through it. I'm going to walk into this valley
and I'm going to walk out because here I know that I'm going to
walk through. The psalmist said, though I walk
through, I'm going to walk all the way through. Every step of
the way. I'm going to go into it and I'm
going to step out of it. I'm going to walk out of it the
same way I walked into it. I'm going to walk into and through
and out of this valley of the shadow of death. Nothing will
prevent me from reaching my destination. And I will say throughout this
valley, I will fear no evil. Why? He's with me. My shepherd. My shepherd has come through
this valley probably millions of times already taking sheep
through. He never lost a one. He never
lost a one. I will not enter death like Satan's
goats. They fear the reality of death
because it is real to them. Wicked men fear to die. They
would give everything they own just to have another day. Their
relatives gather around the bed. Oh, please don't let him die.
Let him live. Let him live. He doesn't want
to die. He's not ready to die. I'm ready.
I'm ready, folks. I'm ready. The devil's goats,
we are told, are driven from light into darkness and chased
out of the world. Job 18 verse 18. Think about
it. Driven. Driven. Out of the world. Chased out of the world. Because
they don't want to go. They know what death is to them.
It is more than a shadow. There is a sting for them. And
it lasts for all the rest of everlasting time. Number six. I shall not lack
comfort. Verse four. Your rod and your
staff, they comfort me. Now here I am. lying in my pasture and I'm feeding
on the lush grass that grows around me and I look up on the
hill and there he stands, my shepherd. He's leaning on his
staff and he's got his rod in his hand. That staff in his hand
is the instrument of a shepherd He can use it to retrieve me
with its crook when I wander away, or when I've fallen into
the thicket, and He can use it to chase away the lion or the
bear that may come for me. I take great comfort in seeing
my Shepherd-Upper. You see that rod in His hand?
There is a rod of righteousness and a scepter of authority that
Jehovah gave to my shepherd as symbols of his lordship over
his people, and there he stands. Now, when I come to the valley
of the shadow of death, he still has that staff and he still has
that rod, and I will fear no evil. Your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. Number seven, I shall not lack
comfort even in adverse conditions. Verse five, the first part of
the verse, you prepare a table before me in the presence of
my enemies. Some of you perhaps have been
soldiers, you gentlemen perhaps have been soldiers and you know
what it is to eat rations. Perhaps you know what it is to
grab a bite in a time of warfare. Perhaps you know what it is when
you're in enemy country or you're close to it and you may be dodging
bullets and it's time to eat and so you're trying to grab
a bite and watch around you because the enemy wants to come in for
you. Well, my enemies are all around me. The enemies of the
Jehovah's sheep all around him. But he does not give us rations
and tell us to grab a bite and run. No. In the midst of my enemies, Jehovah
leads me alone. And he says, ah, here's a table. And Jehovah pulls out a table
spread or tablecloth and puts it on the table. And then he
sets his table. Now, Lord, we're in enemy country. Yes, we are. Don't you worry.
I still have my rod and I still have my staff. Don't you worry.
And he sets a table before me. He'll do this in the valley of
the shadow of death. He will set a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. And all my enemies can do is
try to approach and be run off by my shepherd with his rod and
his staff They dare not come by. They want to eat the sheep,
and the sheep are ignoring them because the Jehovah told them,
get around my table. Do not fear your enemies. I do
not fear my enemies. Tonight I believe your pastor
read from Paul when he's in prison. Did Paul speak like a scared
man? No. No, he spoke like a happy
man, even in Caesar's prison. Now how can that be? He set a
table before him. in the presence of my enemies.
Jehovah my shepherd will give me comfort even in adverse conditions. I do not grab a bite and run. I sit down to a table and let
my enemies envy the way that my shepherd takes care of me.
Number eight, I shall not lack for I shall have more than I
need. You anoint The word means make
prosperous. You anoint, you make prosperous
my head with oil, my cup runs over. He gives me a super abundance
of all good and blessed things. And here is my shepherd, and
he has set this table before me in the presence of my enemies.
He brings out his goblet, he puts it on the table, and he
says, Would you like some of my wine? Yes, I would, Lord.
And he begins to pour while telling me of all the blessings that
are still to come. And he keeps pouring. Lord, my
cup's running over. Oh, don't worry about that. I
got plenty more. He just keeps pouring. My cup runs over. I
have more than I need. He has taken care of my needs,
given me a super abundance of all these things. My shepherd
My shepherd has anointed my head with oil, the oil of gladness. I am like Aaron was on the day
when they anointed him to the priesthood, and the Scriptures
declare how good and how sweet it is for brethren to dwell together
in harmony. It is like the oil flowing down
Aaron's beard on that joyful occasion. He anoints my head. He makes my life prosperous.
I may be quite poor in the eyes of the world. They have no idea
what prosperity is anyway. I can tell you this, I have more
than I need. I'm like The man who sat down
to eat one day and all he had was a piece of bread and some
cheese, and he looked at his bread and his cheese and he said,
what, all this and Christ too? He gives me more than I need.
I have a super abundance in Jesus Christ, my shepherd. And then
number nine, I shall not lack goodness and mercy ever in this
present life. Verse six, surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And even when
I'm walking in death's dark valley and in the darkness and I say,
Lord, I heard something behind me. He says, yes, you did. Aren't
you concerned? No. Lord, somebody's behind us. And he says, yes, I know who
it is. It's goodness and mercy. They've been following you since
the day you were born. Goodness and mercy have followed
the Lord's sheep since the day they were born. God's mercy ascertained
that they never perished. God's goodness ascertained that
all their needs were met, and goodness and mercy are also Jesus
Christ. He is the goodness of Jehovah
because when Moses said, Lord, show me your glory, and Jehovah
says, I'll let you see my goodness, I will let my goodness pass before
you. And Christ passed before him.
The goodness of Jehovah passed before him because Christ is
the goodness of Jehovah. And Christ is the mercy of Jehovah. Zacharias, father of John the
Baptist, says that the Lord here in sending Messiah has fulfilled
the mercy promised to our fathers. Christ is that mercy. Mercy and
goodness follow me all the days of my life. Now I want you to
note this very carefully, that Christ as goodness and mercy
is ever behind me. Christ as my guide is ever before
me. Christ with his rod of authority
and staff of protection is ever beside me, in verse 4. Christ
as the Archangel Michael or the one who is like God is ever standing
watch over me. Daniel 12 verse 1. Christ's everlasting
arms are ever underneath me because The everlasting arms of Jehovah
are underneath me. Christ as the angel of Jehovah
encamps all around those who fear him and delivers them. Notice
that he's behind me, he's in front of me, he's beside me,
he's over me, he's under me. Furthermore, he is in me and
I am in him. And he says, he's in God. I think
I'm safe. I really do. I think I'm safe. It is with good reason that I
boast, I shall not want every day of my life because he's my
shepherd. One last thing, number 10. I
shall not lack residence in my shepherd's house, verse 6. I
will dwell in the house of Jehovah forever. I was brought to Jehovah's
house when Christ the shepherd's sultan found this lost sheep
because he brought me to his home. His home has been my home
ever since. I have lived in Jehovah's house
since that day, for this is the place of the green pastures in
which I lie down to graze. And I will never depart Jehovah's
house, for I shall dwell in it forever." There was a preacher,
aren't you going to Jehovah's house? Well, there's a way of
saying that. Yes, there is, but I'm never
going to leave it. Well, how is it that you can
go to the Father's house but never leave it? Oh, that's easy. That's easy. It's like walking
upstairs in your house. That's all I'm going to do at
the end of my life. I'm not leaving His house, but
I will go upstairs. And I will dwell in His house
forever. Forever. Why? One reason. Jehovah Jesus is my shepherd,
I shall not want. Don't walk out that door tonight
without knowing that he's yours. Don't walk out. Right now, call,
if you've never called out to this shepherd, call out to him
right now. He delivers every lost sheep
that cries. He does. He comes, no mountain
too high, no thicket too thorny. He comes, delivers, and then
you can say, Jehovah, Jesus is my shepherd. I shall not want.