Well, this evening we have a
very familiar psalm. As we work our way through all
150 psalms, it may take several years to do this, but I guess
there's no need to be in a hurry. It doesn't really matter from
which psalm that we're going to preach. Psalm 149 or Psalm
49 or Psalm 89, all the psalms tell us something about the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They all tell us something about
our glorious God and Savior, the Lord Jesus. Now in Psalm
23, the title of the message is simply what we see in verse
1, the Lord is my shepherd. Now, the Lord, sometimes I think
we get too familiar with scripture and just kind of read over it
and not really stop to think about what's being said. The
Lord, the Lord, the Lord is my shepherd. He's my Savior. He's my provider. He is my everything. He's my food. He's my shelter. He's my clothing. He's my bread. He's my resurrection. He's my
salvation. He's my righteousness. You see,
the Lord is my shepherd. I trust to you, you can say the
same thing, the Lord. The Lord is my savior. The Lord is my shepherd. Therefore,
that being the case, you can say this too. I don't want for
anything. I shall not want. If he's my
shepherd, all the bases are covered. If He's my shepherd, all things
are provided freely by His grace. The Lord is my shepherd, therefore
I shall not want." Now this psalm is probably the best known psalm
of all 150 psalms. Would you say that's probably
true? You would. It's often read by many, often
read by believers who are seeking comfort, hope, and assurance
in a time of distress and trouble. This psalm has the same message
of all the psalms and the entire Word of God. That is, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the only shepherd of the sheep. He is all and in
all in salvation. He is the one way. We read it just a moment ago
from John 10. He's not one of many doors. He is the door. He's not one of many ways. He
is the way. I like what Peter and John declared
before those who had arrested them and those who had questioned
the healing miracle on that poor cripple that's recorded in Acts
chapter 3 and 4. And they said, if you want to
know If you want to know by what means this cripple was healed,
be it known unto you that in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
this man does stand here before you whole, complete. And then he goes on to say, neither
is there salvation in any other. for there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." He is the
one way, the one way. Now, Hunter, you're going to
like this story. I'm going to tell you a story right now. A couple of weeks ago I was here,
and there's a couple that attends here. You remember Brother Dean
sits right here. Well, a couple weeks ago, or
last month, they flew out west to see their grandson, their
grandchildren out in Oregon. And he told me the week after
when he came back, standing at the door there, I was greeting
the folks as they left, he said, let me tell you an interesting
story about my grandson. I guess grandparents like to
talk about their grandchildren. I'm a grandfather myself. I have
a grandson that's eight months old. And I could tell you some
stories about him, but grandparents like to talk about their grandchildren. And here's what Brother Dean
told me. He said, when we were out there visiting our grandson,
he said that his mother had told him this story. that they were
out driving one day out in the community and noticing the traffic
and the traffic signs, and this young man, I don't know how old
he is, I think he's younger than you are, but he turned and said
to his mother, he said, Mom, look, he said, there's a sign
about salvation, and she thought for a moment, A traffic sign? I don't really see that declaring
salvation, and it was a sign that said, one way. One way. The Lord Jesus Christ,
Hunter, is the one way of salvation. Now that little boy knew something,
didn't he? He knew that salvation was one way, and that one way
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. Everything Adam
lost, he lost the way, he lost the truth, he lost life. Everything that Adam lost in
Christ, we have much more. much more. By one man's disobedience
many became sinners, so by the obedience of another shall many
be made righteous. Now it's interesting that this
psalm of comfort follows the psalm of the cross. Did you ever
notice that? The psalm of comfort, Psalm 23,
follows Psalm 22. The psalm of comfort follows
the psalm of the cross. Now, preacher, why do you mention
that? Without the cross, there can't be no comfort. Without
sin being made an atonement for, without Christ crucified, we
have no hope of salvation. Without Christ crucified, we
have no comfort. We have no hope. We have no forgiveness. Without Christ crucified, we
have no Savior. We have no salvation from sin. Have you ever noticed this in
Isaiah 40? Turn over there. Isaiah 40. Isaiah
40, look at verse 1 of Isaiah 40. Comfort ye, comfort ye my
people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double all
her sins. I tell you what, that's comfort. That's comfort. Oh, what comfort.
It gives the believer to know that God has dealt with my sin
in my shepherd. God has dealt with my sin in
my substitute and put away my sin. Our Lord said, I laid down
my life for my sheep and I'm going to take it up again. He
was delivered from our offenses and raised again. You know why
He was raised again? Because He justified us with
His blood. So the Lord is my shepherd, the
Lord is my shepherd. Now notice verse 1, the Lord
is my shepherd I shall not want. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
faithful shepherd of the sheep that was promised, promised of
God, promised in all the Old Testament scripture. Let me give
you some of the promises. Don't turn, let me just read
them to you. Ezekiel 34, 23 says, I will set
up one shepherd over them and he shall feed them. He's that
one shepherd that feeds them with the bread of life. Isaiah
40 says of him, the shepherd, God said he shall feed his flock
like a shepherd and gather the lambs with his arms and carry
them in his bosom. He's that tender, loving, caring
shepherd. He's that tender shepherd. In
Zechariah 13, it says, ìAwake, O sword, against my shepherd. Smite the shepherd who out The
New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed as a fulfillment
of that which was promised in the Old Testament. The shepherd
that was promised, the shepherd did come to save his sheep. He's called throughout the New
Testament, he is called by a descriptive title, the Good Shepherd. The
Great Shepherd was the third one. The chief shepherd, the
chief shepherd. He is a good shepherd of the
sheep. that gave his life for the sheep. He said, ìNo man takes
my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father.î What does that
tell us about the death of Christ? He dies on purpose. He dies on
Godís purpose, fulfilling those covenant arrangements that they
made way back in eternity in that covenant of grace when the
Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety for His covenant people. He is
called in Hebrews 13.20, He is called the Great Shepherd of
the sheep, who bought us with His own blood. He brought Him from the dead
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. He is the Great shepherd
of the sheep that gives unto his sheep so great salvation. And then in 1 Peter 5, 4 he's
called the chief shepherd. He's the chief. He has all preeminence
in salvation. He is the chief shepherd of the
sheep that shall appear, that shall come again and crown his
sheep. and draw His sheep to Him, and
bless them with everlasting salvation, and there shall they ever be
with the Lord. So He is, remember now, the Good
Shepherd, The Great Shepherd, He's the Chief Shepherd of the
sheep who shall appear, who shall crown us with salvation, who
shall own us. He will not be ashamed to identify
Himself with us. He is Jehovah's Shepherd, the
Good and Great and Chief Shepherd. I trust we can boldly say like
David, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's mine. He's my shepherd. He may be despised by this religious
world. I'm talking about the true shepherd.
The one that they talk about is a phony shepherd. He's not the true Christ. He's
a counterfeit Christ. of the sheep, the shepherd that
Jehovah has chosen, that Jehovah has sent. The shepherd of the
sheep is the great, good, and chief shepherd who cannot fail
to save his covenant people. who draws them and gives them
everlasting life in Christ Jesus. If you can boldly say, the Lord
is my shepherd, then you can also boldly say, by His grace,
I shall not want. I shall not want. It is because
of who He is and what He has done and what He is doing, we
can boldly say with confidence and assurance, I shall not want
now, and I shall not want forever, forever. Although I am weak and
a sinful sheep, I shall not want, for he is my shepherd. He is
able to form all that he has promised concerning the salvation
of his sheep. I'm persuaded like Abraham, aren't
you? That of all that God has promised,
He is able to perform. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. He is able to keep His sheep
from falling. Not only able to keep us, but
able to present us before God, holy, spotless, unblameable in
His sight. And He's able to raise up our
vile bodies and give us a new glorious body like unto His glorious
body. The Lord is my shepherd. Now
see, there's a lot here, isn't there? The Lord is my shepherd. Oh, I shall not want because
of who He is. He said, I'm come that they might
have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I shall not want. I shall not
want. Now, where does that leave us
with the rest of this Psalm? Verses two down through verse
six. The Lord gives us nine blessings
in Christ, or we can say, nine reasons why we shall not want
for any good thing. All things are freely given,
all things are freely supplied for us in Christ. Justified freely
by His grace, right? Through the redemption that is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. So if the Lord is my shepherd,
you can identify with these nine things. You say, well, is there
nine things here? Yeah, there is. Let's go over
them. I won't wear you down here, I
promise you. The Lord is my shepherd, that being so, I shall not want
for rest. I shall not want for rest, for
it says, he makes me to lie down in green pastures. I shall not want for rest. The believer finds his rest in
His Word, most sweet and tender, like the fresh grass would be
to a sheep. We feed upon Him in His Word,
through His Word. We have tasted that the Lord
is gracious. In the Word we find His promises
to be sweet, unfailing, everlasting, exceeding great and precious
promises that give the weary sinner rest. Our Lord said, come
unto me and I'll give you rest. The Lord is my shepherd, therefore
we rest in Him. We have a sure dwelling place. We have a refuge. We can lay
down and rest in Christ Jesus. And it's a blessed rest. It is
a peaceful rest. It is a righteous rest. It is
an eternal rest we have in Christ Jesus. In the green pastures
of His promises, the lively pastures of His promises. This is not
old, dried up hay. This is the sweetness of the
freshness of that grass, this dripping with the dew of His
grace. And we eat it up like the sheep would out on that day. chewing up that fresh grass covered
with dew, how sweet it is to the taste. And that's what he's
talking about here, I rest feeding upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, I shall not want for refreshment,
for he leadeth me beside still waters, the waters of life. I shall not want for refreshment. He leadeth me beside still waters. He is the everlasting spring
of everlasting and eternal life. Isaiah 55, 1, our God says, Oh,
everyone that's thirsty, come to me. I'll give you the drink. Oh, I tell you, he leads me beside
still waters. In Isaiah, or rather Proverbs
25, it says, As cold water is to a thirsty soul, so is good
news from a far country. Oh, He's the water of life. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the living water springing up into everlasting
life. He told that woman at the well,
oh, if you knew the gift of God and who it is, you would ask
of Him and He'd give you eternal life. And there'd be a well of
water springing up into everlasting life. Oh, He's my refreshment. He leads me beside still waters. Now I read years ago, and I suppose
this is true, I read years ago that if you're a shepherd, naturally
speaking, a shepherd out in the country where I grew up, you
would drive out in the high desert country out in southern Idaho
or the southern part of Wyoming and you would see, you could
always tell a shepherd, they would have a certain type of
camping vehicle. You could always see a shepherd's
wagon out there, and you could guarantee that somewhere he was
out there with his flock tending to his sheep. But I read one
time years ago that a herd of sheep will not drink from a fast-running
stream that makes noise. They have to have still water. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that calm water that He gives to us and we drink of Him. Now, look at verse 3. I shall
not want for rest, for refreshment, verse 3, I shall not want for
redemption or reconciliation. or resurrection. He restoreth
my soul. I shall not want for redemption. He restoreth my soul. Now why is that so important? Because of sin, because of our
fallen Adam. We were lost sheep going astray,
turning everyone to our own way of self and sin, unable and even
unwilling to restore ourselves back into the fold. We were lost
sheep, dumb sheep. They tell me when sheep get out,
out of the pinned up area, that's the dumb, they can't find their
way back in. And that's me, lost, needing restoration in Christ
Jesus, unable to do anything about putting away my sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, He
has redeemed us by His blood. The Good Shepherd came and laid
down His life to save the sheep, to redeem the sheep with His
own precious blood. He said, I am the Good Shepherd,
I lay down my life. Peter said, we are redeemed,
not with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of the Lamb. You see, here is the Shepherd.
who became a sheep to put away our sin, the Lamb of God. Behold what mercy and grace this
is, that the shepherd would become the Lamb, to shed his blood to
save the sheep. He came to restore our soul. He came and Adam all died, and
Christ shall all be made alive. He came to reconcile us unto
God by the sacrifice of Himself, and my friend, never think that
he failed to do so. He restoreth my soul. Reconciliation, redemption. I
shall not want. There's plenty. Here's the fourth
one, verse 3. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me. I shall not want for guidance. He leadeth me in paths. of righteousness
for his name's sake. In paths of righteousness for
his name's sake. Look over at Psalm 25, talking
about the paths. Psalm 25, Verse 10, all thy paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep his covenant and
his testimony. For thy name saith, O Lord, pardon
my iniquity, for it is great. Lead me in thy paths. Psalm 25,
look at verse 4. Show me thy ways, O Lord, and
teach me thy paths. I shall not want, look what it
says, he leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. I shall not want for righteousness.
Now he's not talking about morality here. God's people ought to be moral,
upright people, but that's not my righteousness. My morality
is not my righteousness, Christ is my righteousness. He leads
me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake, and that
is Christ. You see, the sheep by nature
are dirty sheep. The sheep by nature are, you've
heard that term black sheep, black sheep. The black sheep,
that's me, I'm the black sheep of the family. The sheep by nature,
We can say with Paul, all wretched man that I am. The sheep by nature
are dirty sheep, they're ungodly sheep. All we like sheep have
gone astray. There's none righteous, no, not
one. The sheep by nature have no desire for righteousness.
They love darkness, not light. The sheep by nature see no need
of righteousness. They think they're pretty good
on their own. And left to themselves, they
go about to establish a righteousness of their own, being ignorant
of the righteousness that's provided in the gospel in Christ Jesus. It is only by His sovereign grace,
only by the grace of God, and for His namesake, that the sheep
are led to see and to love Christ, who is all their righteousness
before God. You see that? He leads me in
paths of righteousness, for Christ is my righteousness. You remember
the verse from 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. But of Him are you
in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord would impute, or who imputeth righteousness without works. The sheep now, because they are
led in paths of righteousness for Christ's name's sake, no
longer are going about to establish their own, but they are resting
in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called Jehovah, said Canoe. Hmm? What does that mean? Jehovah Sid Canoe. Remember those
sevenfold name of our God, Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sid Canoe. Jehovah Jireh means the Lord
will provide. Jehovah Sid Canoe is the Lord
our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness and
He is. He leads us in paths of His righteousness. How righteous
does a sinner need to be to stand before God and be accepted and
justified? Needs to be as righteous as God.
How can that be? Only in Christ Jesus. Only in
that blessed righteousness that He worked out for His covenant
people and that blessed righteousness that He freely imputes and giveth
unto them. Now, look at verse 4. The Lord is my shepherd, and
I shall not want for fellowship, for companionship. For it says,
yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thou art with me,
I will fear no evil. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. I shall not want for fellowship
with him." You see, you know what fellowship is? It's fellows
in the same ship. We're all one in Christ Jesus. We're one in Christ Jesus. Thou
art with me. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you, so that we may boldly say, He is my shepherd. He has promised to never leave
us. He said in Matthew 28, lo, I'm with you always, even to
the end of the earth. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, not even death.
Although we walk all the days of our life in the shadow of
death, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
that's this life. Not even death. can separate
us from the love of Christ. The shadow of death we have nothing
to fear, not for the believer, for Christ has taken the sting
of death away. He has died for us and never
lives to intercede for us. Death to the believer now is
just a shadow, a shadow. No need to fear a shadow. Christ
has removed the substance of death, the sting of death, and
only a shadow remains. He says, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believes in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. I am the resurrection and the
life. Thou art with me in life, Thou
art with me in death. Death to the believer is not
punishment, death to the believer is promotion. For me to live
is Christ and to die is gain. To be absent from the body for
a believer is to be with the Lord forever, forever to be with
Him. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. I remember hearing a story, and
I can't remember who the preacher was, but he was a famous, well-known
preacher in his day, and he was on his deathbed the last moments
of his life, the last hours of his life. And one of his friends
came to see him and called him by name and says, Are you still
among the land of the living? And he said, No. He said, I'm
going to the land of the living. I'm among the land of the dying. And that's what we are in this
life. We walk in the valley of the
shadow of death. This is a land of death. We're
going to the land of the living. There'll be no more sorrow, no
more sin, and no more death. That's what he said in the Revelation,
isn't it? Now here's something else. The
sixth thing is this. In the last part of verse 4,
I shall not want for comfort. I shall not want for comfort
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. What is the rod and the staff? You think of a shepherd. You
think of that shepherd's staff, don't you? You ever seen that
shepherd's staff? It has a big long staff with
a hook on it. I guess the shepherd would take
that staff and he would grab the sheep by the neck if need
be and pull the sheep in or correct the sheep. The rod and the staff
here are symbols of the Lord's sovereign authority and power. Now you better believe that the
shepherd has all power and all authority over all things, but
especially in regard to his sheep. He owns the sheep. He bought
the sheep. He rules over the sheep. And
the Lord has the wise and righteous dominion over all things, but
especially in regards to His sovereign lordship over His sheep,
His rod, His sovereignty, and His power. It does comfort us. I want you to find Psalm 110. The rod and the staff of His
sovereign rule, His sovereign reign. Look over here. And that
also refers to the gospel of the shepherd. Psalm 110, the
Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, until I make
thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thy
people. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness, from the
womb of the morning thou hast to do of thy youth, thy rod and
thy staff." God's sovereignty and the sovereignty of our Lord
and Him being the sovereign shepherd, having mercy on whom He will,
brings comfort to the believer. knowing that all things work
together for good to them who love God, who are called according
to His purpose. Our sovereign Lord rules His
flock, guides His flock, feeds His flock, defends His flock,
which brings comfort to His sheep. Aren't you glad He is the Shepherd
who does guide us, lead us, feed us, and defend us? Now here's
the seventh one, verse 5. Because the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want for provisions. My cup runneth over. You see verse 5? Thou preparest
a table at the table of grace. Come and dine, he says. Before
me in the presence of my enemies thou anointest my head with oil,
the oil of his spirit, and therefore my cup overflows. My cup overflows
with his. Blessedness he's blessed us with
all spiritual blessing in heavenly in Christ Jesus It says in Philippians
4 verse 19. He shall supply all our need
According to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus the believer
is not without enemies in this world Our Lord said if they've
hated me, they will hate you, but he also said be of good cheer
I've overcome the world Even in the face of mine enemies,
my head still is anointed with oil, and my cup still runs over. The enemy can't diminish the
blessings of the Lord. Look what he says over here in
Psalm 27, verse 1. The Lord is my light, my salvation,
whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life, whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies,
my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and
fell. Though in host and in camp against
me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against
me, in this I'll be confident." Oh, what assurance we have in
Christ Jesus. The one thing I desire of the
Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of
the Lord, to inquire in his temple, for in the time of trouble he
shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me, and shall set me upon the rock." I shall not
want for provision. He provides all things for us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. My cup runs over. Innumerable blessings we have
in Christ Jesus. He fills us to the full, in Him
dwells all the fullness of a Godhead bodily, and in Christ Jesus we
stand complete. My cup runneth over. I shall not want for provision. Even in the face of strong opposition
to the gospel of God's grace, the good shepherd prepares the
table of grace, spreads the gospel feast for us to feed upon and
completely satisfies his people. We're doing a study at Zebulun
through the book of Song of Solomon and it says, he brought me into
his banqueting house and his banner over us. He brought me
into his table of grace, spread the gospel feast and feeds us
and we do rejoice in him. He anoints our head, enlightens
our understanding, illuminates our mind by the revelation of
the Holy Spirit to see that the Lord Jesus Christ is all God's
provision for us. He is not only Jehovah Sidcanu,
the Lord our righteousness, but He is Jehovah Jireh, the Lord
will provide. Now get a hold of this, only
that which God provides will God accept, or accept it in the
Beloved in Christ Jesus. I shall not want for provisions,
my cup runneth over. That leads us down to one more
verse, verse 6. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. I shall not want for anything
in this life, all the days of my life. Surely, surely, well
maybe, no, surely, All the promises of God are sure and in Him, and
amen, and to the glory of God. Surely goodness, goodness and
mercy. God has two sheepdogs, goodness
and mercy. Goodness and mercy, and they
follow us all the days of our life, and they do the master's
bidding. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, hedge me about, protect
me, watch over me. It's His goodness, His sovereign
grace. to us that will surely provide
all things for us. It's the goodness of God that
leads us to repentance. All the days of our lives, good
days, bad days, high days, low days, it says here, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. His mercy,
oh, His mercy. By mercy and truth, iniquity
is purged. His goodness and His mercy. It's
of the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed. Not by works of
righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy,
He saved us. I shall not want for anything
in this life. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me in my bad days, in my high days, in my low days,
in my blue days, in my happy days, all the days of my life. His goodness, His mercy is with
us. Here's the last one. This is
the ninth one. We've been through nine of them
now. I shall not want for anything in this life, nor in the life
to come, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I shall not want for any good
thing, in the life hereafter. As the old writers always say
in their commentary, on the gospel of God's grace. He gives all
grace now, and all glory forever. This is not presumption to believe
Him, but rather confidence in our great, good, and chief Shepherd,
Jehovah's Shepherd, who cannot fail. He said, all that the Father
gives me, they will come to me. And those that come to me, I
will in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven. not
to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me, and this
is the Father's will, that all he hath given to me I'll lose
nothing but raise them up to the last day. All grace now and
all glory forever." This is God's shepherd that cannot fail. He
is the good shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Now
I trust by His grace, next time you look at Psalm 23, you look
at it in a different light than you have before. And I pray God
will bless His word to your heart.