I Shall Not Want

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus as my shepherd?

The Bible portrays Jesus as our shepherd who provides, protects, and guides us for all our needs. In Psalm 23, the Lord is referred to as my shepherd. This signifies not only His care and guidance but also His ownership and authority over our lives. As our shepherd, He leads us to green pastures and still waters, symbolizing rest and peace. He makes sure that we do not lack for anything essential, which is a profound declaration of His sovereignty and compassion.

Q: How do we know that we shall not want for provision?

We know we shall not want for provision because the Lord promises to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory. The promise that we shall not want when the Lord is our shepherd is rooted in His nature as a gracious provider. Philippians 4:19 states, 'My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.' This assurance is echoed in Psalm 23 as the psalmist expresses trust in God's provision in all circumstances. He prepares a table for us even in the presence of our enemies, demonstrating His abundant and unyielding care for His people.

Q: Why is the concept of God's forgiveness important for Christians?

God's forgiveness is crucial for Christians as it restores our relationship with Him and ensures our eternal hope. Forgiveness from God is foundational to the Christian faith. It acknowledges our sinful condition and the need for redemption, as expressed in Psalm 51:1-2. The forgiveness of God restores our broken relationship with Him, providing us with hope and salvation. The psalmist states, 'He restores my soul,' emphasizing that through Christ, we can experience full reconciliation. This forgiveness, rooted in the grace of Christ's atoning work, empowers us to live in holiness and assurance of eternal life.

Turn with me today to the book of Psalms, chapter 23. I do suppose that there's not
a greater, better known, greater loved,
more precious scripture in all the Bible than Psalm 23. I feel impressed for my own comfort
and instruction, and I pray for yours to speak from this passage
of Scripture today. But Mr. Spurgeon exhorted us before reading Psalm
23 read Psalm 22. For where this Psalm is located
is significant. It follows the 22nd Psalm. And someone may say, well, naturally
Psalm 23 follows Psalm 22. And Psalm 24 follows Psalm 23. That's the way they're numbered.
Not altogether. Psalm 22 is the psalm of the
cross. Psalm 23 is the psalm of the
victory and the peace. That's right. There can be no
green pastures and still waters and banquet tables and full cups
and anointed heads if there's not a blood shed on Calvary's
cross. He bought the green pastures. and the banquet tables and the
full cups. Psalm 22 shows us judgment, bloodshedding,
and the sword against the shepherd before we can experience the
sweetness of his care. Look at Psalm 22. My God! My God! Why'st thou forsaken
me? There's no green pastures here. There's no still waters here.
My wife, you've forsaken me. Why are you so far from helping
me? My God, he said, verse 2, I cry
in the daytime and you don't hear me. I cry in the night season. I'm not silent, but you don't
hear me. You don't hear me. Look at verse 16. Dogs have compassed
me about. The assembly of the wicked have
enclosed me. They pierced my hands and feet.
Where is the green pastures and the still waters? I can tell
all my bones. They look and stare at me. They
part my garments down there among them and cast lots upon my vesture. He said they pierced my hands
and my feet. Well, Psalm 22 is the psalm of
the cross, and because He suffered, we don't suffer. Because He walked
the way of wrath, we walk the way of peace. Because He endured
the judgment and wrath of God in the troubled waters, you and
I lie down beside still waters. So because of my Lord's suffering
in Psalm 22, I can enter into Psalm 23. And it says here in
Psalm 23, the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. And
He is the Lord. Some fellow asked a friend of
mine, a preacher friend of mine, not so very long ago, said, You grace people when you refer
to Jesus, you don't call Him Jesus. You call Him the Lord Jesus,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You never use the word, the term,
you never refer to Him as Jesus. You always say the Lord Jesus.
Well, because He is Lord. He told His disciples, He said,
you call me Lord, you say, well, for so I am. He is the Lord. Jesus is His
name of humiliation, and He is no longer humiliated. Jesus is
His name of the flesh, and He is no longer on this earth in
the flesh. I shall call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And because
He became a man, and bore the wrath of God and saved His people,
the Father hath given Him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue shall
confess that He's what? Lord, Lord, Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. And the Lord is
my shepherd. He's Lord by creation. He owns
all things. All things were made by Him and
for Him, and by Him all things consist. The black preacher, S.M. Lockridge, said this in a message. He's
lowered. He's lowered. Jesus Christ is
lowered. He doesn't have to put a fence
around the meadow because it's all his. Ride down through Kentucky and
see all the pretty white fences around those farms. They build
a fence around their farms. He doesn't build any fences.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and
all they that dwell therein. He doesn't. We paint a picture
and put our signature on it. He paints the universe. He doesn't
have to sign it. We know who made it. That's right. We know who made it. He doesn't
have to put his signature on anything. His wisdom is reflected
in it. He doesn't have to brand the
cattle. All over Texas, they've got their cattle. They got them
branded, the Bar M and the Bar X and the Double R. He said the cattle on a thousand
hills are mine. I don't have to brand them. They
all answer when I call. He doesn't copyright the Song
of the Birds. I was going to put out a song
book one time. I was going to collect songs
written, great hymns of grace, collect them so we could have
a song book here with nothing but songs written by men who
knew the grace of God. We got the price on it and all
that, going to publish it. People wrote to me, the publisher,
and said, you're going to have to get permission. I said, permission? Yeah, all those songs are copyrighted. You can't use them. Oh, how evil
are the hearts of men. Write a song praising God and
put your name on it and copyright it so nobody else can use it.
And the birds sing out there. And the wind blows through the
pines, and the water ripples over the rocks, and the sounds
of the night, and the sounds of the woods as you're out hiking,
you hear the sounds, and that's his song. He doesn't have to
copyright it. He just keeps turning them out.
That's right. He doesn't secure mineral rights. He says the gold's mine too.
Silver that hadn't been mined. He doesn't have to get permission
to invade a heart or redeem a life or save a sinner. He doesn't have to get a court
order to open a grave either. A friend of mine builds highways
down in Louisiana. He builds these big... And he
said, you know the biggest problem we have going through the countryside? getting permission to go through
a cemetery. And it may not be but two bodies
there. He said a little family cemetery here on the hill, and
he said they give us all kinds of trouble going through there. They may have been buried 50
years, but I tell you, my Lord, when he gets ready to open the
graves, he'll open them. He's Lord. He doesn't need a
building permit to build a new heaven and a new earth. He's
Lord! God made Him Lord. The Father
made Him Lord. By creation, by decree, by death,
by exaltation, He's Lord. He bought the world. He died
that He might be Lord of the dead and the living. And that's
my shepherd. That's my shepherd. The Lord's
my shepherd. You know, there are three involved in this transaction. The Lord is my shepherd. Who
says so? Who says so? Three people. Who says so? Three people. The Father gave me to Him. You. We are His sheep. He said,
My Father gave them to Me. My Father gave them to Me. And
no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. The Father
made Him the Great Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Chief
Shepherd, and the Father gave Him His sheep. The Father says
they're His. Secondly, He says they're His. He said, I know my sheep. I love
them. I lay down my life for them.
He says they're mine. And I say I'm His. That's right. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
and they follow me. And another shepherd, they will
not follow. So he's my shepherd because the father said so. And
the son said so, and I say so. He's my shepherd. And looky here,
I shall not want. I want you to look at those four
words because that's my subject. That's my title of this message.
I shall not want. Because this glorious person
is my shepherd, I shall not walk. Because the Father made him my
shepherd, I shall not walk. And because he loves me, and
he went to the wilderness and found me and brought me home,
and he said he'd never leave me, therefore I shall not walk. And because he brought me to
him and watches over me, I shall not walk. I may be the weakest
sheep he's got, but I shall not walk. I may be the dumbest sheep
he's got, but I shall not walk. I may wander and stray as most
sheep do, but I shall not walk because he's my shepherd. I may
not have all I wish, but I shall not walk. I may endure pain and trouble,
and I may grow old and feeble, but I shall not want. And I may
walk the valley of death, and I may stand before the throne
of God some day, but I shall not want. He that feareth the Lord shall
not lack any good thing. I shall not want. Paul said,
My God shall supply all my needs. according to his riches and glory
through Christ Jesus. I shall not want. Well, let's
look at all these promises he talks about here. And you can
jot them down if you want to. They're just five or six that
I'm going to show to you. But verse 2, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not
want for rest. Listen, he maketh me to lie down
in green pastures. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. Come unto me, I'll give you rest.
Rest. What are these green pastures?
What would you say? Well, I'll tell you what they
are. And I see this more all the time. I saw it again this
morning as I was teaching my Bible class. These green pastures
in which we lie down are pastures of tender green grass. So what
would they be? Well, it's His Word. It's God's
Word. These are the green pastures
right here. Pastures of tender grass. What is the tender grass
to a sheep? It's what he eats. It's what
he feeds upon. He lies down. The shepherd takes
his sheep out there, and oh, he's so good to them. He seeks
out and finds pastures of tender green grass. And He brings His
sheep along and turns them into the green grass and they lie
down and they eat and they feast and they just enjoy that tender
green grass. That's the Word of God. That's
the children's bread. That's the comfort, instructions,
promises, answers to the believer. It's called
the milk of the Word of God. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word of God. It's called the meat of the Word
of God. It's called the Word of Life.
What are the tender pastures of tender grass, green grass
to the sheep? Life. What's the Word of God
to the believer? It's His life. I shall not want
for rest. He makes me lie down in green
pastures. And then look at the next line,
I shall not want for peace. He leads me beside still waters. He leads me beside still waters. You know, water is mentioned
frequently in the scriptures in reference to a believer's
salvation. We began by coming to the water
as a thirsty soul. Isaiah said, Oh, everyone that
thirsted, come to the water. Come to the water. If you're
thirsty, come to the water. Come to the water. And then we
came. And when we came to the water, He gave us wells of living
water springing up within us. Our Lord stood that last great
day of the feast and said, If any man thirst, let him come
to me, and out of his belly shall flow the rivers of living water. This he spake of the Spirit.
And then we come to the water of the Word which regenerates
us, which cleanses us, which sanctifies us. Wherewithal shall
a young man cleanse his way? Taking heed to the Word of God,
the water of the Word. And then he calms the waters
about us, It talks about troubled waters. But our Lord stood out
there on the deck of that ship one day when the waters were
dashing about the ship and the wind was blowing. And He said,
Peace be still. And the waters calmed down. I
shall not want for rest. He leads me in these green pastures
and He leads me beside still waters. Cool waters. Still waters. Refreshing water. Reviving water, wells of living
water that spring up within. All right, look at the next line.
I shall not want for forgiveness because He restores my soul. He restores my soul. You know,
you have every right to ask me or anyone else who professes
to have a hope of eternal life. You have every right to ask a
reason for this hope. We say that we have forgiveness.
We say that God has accepted us. We say that our names are
written in heaven. We say that when we die, we have
hope of eternal life. We say that we're going to be
like Christ. You have every right to ask,
give me a reason for that hope. All right, here's my answer in
four words. He restored my soul. That's my answer. I was lost
in Adam, ruined in the fall, born in trespasses and sin, born a rebel with a nature of evil,
children of wrath even as others. with the curse of the law hanging
over my head and the judgment of death awaiting my soul, and
He restored it. I was talking to my son Paul
on the phone this morning, and he said, I'm preaching today
from 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. This morning. I said, well, you
couldn't have a better subject. That's the gospel. He was made
sin for us. God the Father, He made Him to
be sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. That is the gospel.
And that's my hope. He hath made Christ to be sin
for us. Christ knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. He restored my soul. Well, how did he do it? Well,
he was commissioned of the Father to do it. He was given a body
in which to do it. He obeyed the law and imputed
a perfect righteousness. He died on the cross and made
a perfect atonement. And he went to glory where he
interceded. And he's got plenty of time in
which to do it because he's a priest forever. He restored my soul. Not I, but he. So, I have, I
shall not want for forgiveness. Now notice the next line. I shall
not want for holiness. You know, the scripture says
if our righteousness doesn't exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees, we won't enter the kingdom of heaven. Well, how
do we get a righteousness? Watch this. in the path of righteousness
for His namesake. It's a path. It's a way. It's
God's way. He made it. He walked in it before
me. It's a straight and narrow way.
It leads to the throne of God. It's the way of holiness. It's
the way of righteousness. It's the way of truth. And He
not only restored my soul, but He leads me in a path of holiness. A path of holiness. He leads
me. We see the shepherd out there
with the sheep, and the sheep, they've got to follow the shepherd
because they don't know where they are or where they're going.
It's not my nature to know the path of righteousness. And unfortunately,
it's not my desire to walk in paths of righteousness. It's
not my nature to find the path of righteousness. It's not my
nature to walk in it. So He leads me in the path of
righteousness for His namesake. Paul said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. All right, notice the next line
now. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His namesake. Now verse 4, Yea, and though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear
no evil. I kind of regret that this psalm
has been so identified with funerals that it's no longer not too often
used in messages such as I'm preaching
this morning. And to come to this verse, I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil,
for thou art with me. And some people make this application,
that's when we lie down to die. That's when the golden picture is broken,
the silver cord is loosed, and the eyes are closed in death,
and the soul leaves the body. But I don't believe it. I don't
believe it. It says, Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death. It's a walk. It's this whole
journey of life. It's this whole journey of life
through the world. This world is the valley of the
shadow of death. Everything in this world has
the touch of death. Little children, their pets die. Their little birds die. Their
little pet rabbits die. They plant a bush and it dies. And the trees die. And the grass
dies. And we're looking around us now
and it's fall and everything's got a mark of death. We know
it's coming. After a while it'll be bleak
and barren and most of it dead. And someday we'll die. This is
the valley of the shadow of death. Change and decay and all around
I see. And I'm walking through it. I'm walking through it. Now watch
this. Let me deal with each word for
a moment. We walk, walk through this valley. We're not in a hurry.
We're not in a hurry. We're not in a flurry. They that
wait on the Lord shall not make haste. We walk and we take it
day at a time. day at a time. We're not going
to live in the past with regret. We're not going to live in the
future with anxiety. We're going to walk, walk, walk,
walk, walk. Secondly, we're walking through.
This is not my home. We're passing through. We're
sojourners. We're living in tents that one
day will be folded up and put aside. We're walking through. We're walking through a valley. It's down below. Christ said,
I'm from above, you're from beneath. It's not a mountain experience,
it's a valley experience. We're walking through this valley.
And it's a valley of the shadow of death. There's shadows of
death all around us. Shadows of death. Shadows. But that word is so important.
Shadows of death. Though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. There's death all about in shadow,
but for the believer, listen, death in its substance and power
has been removed. He that believeth on the Son
shall never die. These are shadows of death. Only
the shadow remains. We live. Only the shadow remains. And
a shadow of a dog. Can't hurt you. You see it, it's frightening.
The shadow of a gun can't kill you. You see it, it's frightening. The shadow of a man can't touch
you. The man can, but he's gone. Just
the shadow remains. That's right. These are shadows. These are
shadows. And though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, the substance is gone. The Lord
Jesus has overcome the power of Satan and the power of death
and the power of evil, and it's been removed. Just a shadow. I wish we could remember that. And I fear no evil. He didn't
say there won't be any evil. He said, I won't fear it. I won't fear it. Why won't I
fear it? And why when I walk through this
valley of so much to remind me of death, why won't I fear evil?
He said, because you're with me. Because you're with me. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. So I can boldly say, the Lord's
my helper. I'm with you. I'm with you. And what's this? Thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. When we see pictures of the old-time
shepherds, they always have that rod, that shepherd's staff. It's
a tall staff with a hook on the end. But the shepherd invariably
will have that staff. Here he stands and there are
his sheep out there in the green pastures. He keeps them beside
the still waters. He doesn't take them where they'll
be frightened and the water's rolling and tumbling. He leaves
them beside the still waters. He's always with them. And he
holds that staff. Well, that staff of the shepherd
conveys a lot of ideas. David was a shepherd. That's
the reason he knows about these things. And he said, my Lord
is my shepherd, and his rod and staff comfort me. Comfort me. Well, the shepherd's rod is used
for several things. Number one, it's used to keep
the sheep in line. He's standing here holding this
shepherd's staff, and here a little old lamb or sheep starts wandering
over there towards a gully or towards a ravine or a deep place,
and he reaches out and just catches him by the legs. Little old sheep
fusses about it, but he catches him and brings him back here
where he's supposed to be. Get back in there. Back in there. Get back in there. There's danger
over there. Danger over there. That's a comfort. To know whom the Lord loveth,
He's chasing it. I had a friend that adopted a
little girl. They had children of their own.
They adopted this little girl. She came from a terribly poor
family. Oh, so poor. The family was so
terribly poor. When they brought her to the
house, they brought everything she owned in a little paper bag.
Everything she owned was in that little paper bag. And she was
about four or five years old when they adopted her. Cutest
silica thing. And of course, they had four
or five other children. I think five other children.
And she was kind of the pet. She was everybody's pet. She
was the daddy's pet and the mama's pet and all the children's pet.
And they just let her get away with murder. She kind of ruled
the roost, you know, around there. They whipped the other children
and chased the other children. But they never did scold or chase
her. They never did bust her bottom,
you know. They just, now don't do that,
honey. She kept getting worse. She acted like she was asking
for a clubbing. And one day the daddy said, I've
had enough of that. And he grabbed that little adopted
daughter up and took her up to the roof and wore her out. And
he said, now you straighten out. And she just laughed. She said,
now I'm one of you. I've been whipped. She felt like she wasn't one
of them. They didn't love her enough to care. They didn't love
her enough to chasten her. They didn't love her enough to
make her mine. The other children, they made them mine. Vanish.
They came down on her. Now I'm one of you. And I tell you, even the chastening
of the Lord ought to encourage us. Whom He loves, He chastens.
He's not going to whip somebody else's kid, because it wouldn't
do any good. But His own, He's going to keep
them in line, because He loves them. He wants the best. He doesn't
want them hurt. And then the shepherd's rod is
used to number the sheep. They tell me that when they put
the sheep in the common fold every morning, to spend the night
sometime down in Jerusalem or somewhere. Every morning, the
shepherd comes to get his sheep, and he calls them out. There's
one door, and he calls them, and they hear his voice. And
he stands there with his rod. That's about one at a time. They
pass under the rod. Passing under the rod. They come out, and he counts
them. I don't know what their names are. There's Maud, and
there's Queenie, and there's Johnny and there's he's ready.
He gets out one at a time And when they're all out shut the
door Passing on to the wrong He numbers them thy rod Comforts
me. I'm one of those call them by
name thirdly the shepherd's rod is a symbol of of rule and Sovereignty
he defends the sheep. He directs the sheep. He rules
over the sheep And the sheep takes comfort in the rod, the
scepter of the king. He can handle anybody with that
rod. Anybody. That's his rod of the stem of
Jesse. We take comfort. I gotta go a
little faster. All right, listen. Verse 5. I
shall not want for provisions. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies." Who prepares the table? He does.
He prepares the whole table, too. You don't furnish a thing. He's the bread. He's the wine. You know, when His disciples
were out fishing that morning when He appeared on the shore
in John 21, they saw Him. And they jumped in, as Peter
did, and swam ashore, and the rest of them came in, and he
had fish and bread. He had fish already on the fire
and bread. And when they came ashore and
pulled the boat in, he said, children, come and dine. Come and dine. It's all ready. He prepares a table before me.
Look, in the presence of my enemies, we have enemies, We have enemies
who would rejoice in our fall and rejoice in our failure. But we sit down and dine with
Him in the presence of our enemies. We sit down and dine with Him
as though they didn't exist. We come here and worship and
feed upon His Word, knowing that there's trouble out there, everywhere. They're enemies of the gospel.
But that's all right. We've got a feast. He prepares
for us. And we'll eat it, rejoice, and
sit down. You know, usually when you've
got a bunch of enemies surrounding you, you better keep your sword
ready and eat on the run. Or keep a shotgun handy and grab
something at the table, you know. But I'll just have a seat. Now
get this picture. Satan, demons, pestilences, diseases,
germs, pain, death, enemies of the gospel
surround us. And he says, sit down. He prepares a table before me
in the presence of my enemies. He anoints my head with oil and
my cup runs over. And I said, neat, because he'll
take care of all these things. He's my shepherd. Can you get
a hold of that? That cup running over, it was
an old custom back in those days when a person came to your house
and you served him a cup. And I don't know how they did
this, but I've read it many times. But to serve him a cup and they'd
bring the wine or whatever and pour it. And they didn't pour
that or that or that. If he was a welcome guest, they'd
run it over. That means that abundantly you're welcome. Abundantly you're provided for. My cup runs over, runs it over. Oh, at the last thing, I shall
not want for anything in this life or in the life to come.
He says, surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the
days of my life. Talking about this life here. There's the young prince over
there at play. See the young prince over there
at play? playing with his friends. There's the young prince, the
king's son, at school and working on his lessons. And there's the
young prince at home in bed asleep. And there's the young prince
out on the hillside running with his Who are those two strong
men that are always with him, whether he's at play, or at school,
or in bed, or out on the hillside? They're two strong, alert men
who are always near him. Who are those men? Those two
men are his father's trusted servants, and he's never out
of their sight. They follow him all the days
of his life. So nobody will touch him and
nobody will hurt him because he's going to sit on the throne
and they're always with him. And my father's servants, goodness
and mercy, his goodness and his mercy are always with me. I'm
going out and get in my car a little while and head for Virginia where
I'm going to push tonight. But I, the young prince, won't
be alone. Goodness and mercy will be following
me. They'll be in front of and behind
me. That's right, when you're traveling, I pray for you, but
you'll be all right. And all the rest of you. John,
you're traveling, you'll be all right. Goodness and mercy is
following you. The Father has assigned two trusted
servants to you. They're always with you and they'll
believe you. That's right. These things are real. I shall
not want, the Lord's my shepherd, I shall not want. Not for rest,
not for provisions, not for comfort, not for peace, not for protection. Goodness and mercy follows me
all the days of my life. Not just when I'm young, but
when I'm old. Not just when things are going
Well, but when they're not going well, they follow me all the
days of my life. And here, listen to what he said,
and I will, because he's my shepherd, I will dwell in the house of
my Lord. I'm going to dwell there. Dwell in his house. He's not
going to put me in a motel. I'm going to dwell in his house.
He's not going to put me out on a cabin in the corner of glory
either. I'm staying in the main house.
These folks that write these things don't know anything about
Scripture. I'm moving in the main house. The main house. Where the Father lives. I'm going
to dwell in His house. Forever. That's a blessing, isn't it?

I Shall Not Want

What does the Bible say about Jesus as my shepherd?

How do we know that we shall not want for provision?

Why is the concept of God's forgiveness important for Christians?

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About Henry Mahan

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I Shall Not Want

What does the Bible say about Jesus as my shepherd?

How do we know that we shall not want for provision?

Why is the concept of God's forgiveness important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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