Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest
questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search
and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Meador, lead
pastor of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth
for the life we're searching for. Well, let's take our Bibles this morning, if you have
them, and turn to the book of Psalms, right there in the middle of your whole book, just
open it up, the book of Psalms, the 23rd Psalm today. How many of you know this 23rd Psalm
by memory? You think you know it by memory, would you raise your hand? I thought I'd get
most of the hands in this room because that is one of the favorite Psalms of all time.
Today, we're going to look at Psalm 23 from the perspective of leading well, a deeper
view of leading. By the way, this is the last message in our Out of the Shell series that
really focused on relationships, and we begin next week in John 14, 15, and 16, where we'll
start a ministry called the Holy Spirit, talking about what Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit
to be in our lives and how the activity of the Holy Spirit is still relevant and powerful
today. So look ahead to next week in that. Please stand with me as we read Psalm 23 together
and as we look at what the Bible says about a deeper view of leading. Psalm 23, beginning
in verse 1, I'm using the New American Standard Version, which is also under some of your
seat box, your seat holders for the Bibles, and here's what it says in Psalms 23. The
Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads
me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear
no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My cup
overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's got that amazing, familiar feel, doesn't
it? It's got a comforting kind of tone to it as you read the 23rd Psalm. I can't tell
you the number of times I've heard this Psalm read. Sometimes it's in church services,
sometimes at funerals. I've heard it read in football locker rooms. I mean, just about
everywhere the 23rd Psalm is something that speaks to us and resonates with us, and I
want us to look at today from the perspective of leadership. Let's pray together. Father,
in Jesus' name, show us all we need to know today from the 23rd Psalm. Show us what we
need to know about you, our Father, our great Shepherd. Lord, I am so grateful that you
are who you say you are. I'm so grateful that the words of Psalm 23 bring great comfort,
great encouragement, even in the darkest times of life. You're our great Shepherd leading
us through. Father, thank you for affirming that to us. Thank you for being you. We ask
this in Jesus' name, and everybody said amen. Please be seated if you would.
Well, our series on relationships has been six weeks long. We've looked at different
things. Last week it was about serving one another, and I made the statement last week
that good leadership, being a servant, is practically synonymous. When we talk about
serving and leading, we ought to be talking about it in the same sentence, because every
good leader is a good servant, and everyone that serves well understands leadership really
well. It's important for us to have that picture in front of us. You know, over the
years I have been a fan of reading books on leadership. I remember going to seminary way
back when, almost 40 years ago now, and coming out with a pretty good understanding of what
the Bible said, but when it came to pastoring a church or leading people, I didn't feel
like I had all the instruction I needed. I thought there were some things I really needed
to learn, and so I bought book after book after book on leadership. I have whole sets
of leadership volumes from John Maxwell and other leaders of various eras. I've read
church leadership, I've read corporate leadership, business leadership, family leadership, just
about every kind of leadership book that you can imagine I have read at some point, or
summarized at some point, or tried to put in my life in some way. But at the end of
it all, there is no perfect model for leadership. There is no perfect plan for how to lead,
but there is a perfect person who exemplifies what leadership is all about, and that is
the Lord in Psalms 23, and later on Jesus, the Good Shepherd.
So I want us to look at Psalm 23 today, not just as a comforting Psalm for each of us
who count the Lord as our shepherd, and it will be comforting to you, but at the same
time I want us to look at that from the perspective of how can we be like the Lord in how we interact
with other people around us. Psalm 23 is a picture of perfect leadership in the sense
of the Lord Himself is perfect, He's divine. And in every way He meets our needs in ways
that we don't even know sometimes. Psalm 23 is a reminder, and one of the reasons we love
Psalm 23 is because it reminds us that we really need a shepherd. We really need someone
to help us with the things in life. And we need somebody that's not distant, we need
somebody that's not insensitive to what we're going through in life, we need someone that's
with us and is aware of everything we're going through. We need a shepherd, and we have the
Great Shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd is how this begins.
And by the way, if you aspire to lead, and we all ought to aspire to lead well, whether
it's leading as a mom or a dad, a brother or a sister, whether it's leading in the church
environment, the kingdom environment, the business place, whatever organization you're
a part of, we ought to aspire to lead after the pattern of the very best leader ever,
and that is the Lord Himself. So I'm going to give you some things out of Psalm 23 today
that I hope will be helpful for you. Three very clear, simple points, because Psalm 23
is simple, just a few verses, and yet profound in how it can impact us. First of all, I want
you to notice the perfect example. It begins in verse one, giving us the perfect example,
David is authoring the Psalm. David was a shepherd later to become a king, and he says
this, he says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Now David begins this by stating
the same thing two different ways. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. There's
two ways of saying the same thing. He is perfect in his leadership. He leads so well, there's
nothing I could possibly want. There's nothing missing from how he leads me. The Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want. Now let me just say this statement because I think it's
important. Great leaders ought to hold great examples of leadership in front of them. They
ought to hold great examples of leadership in front of them. All of us aspire to be great
leaders. None of us should claim that we're great leaders. All of us should have the picture
of the perfect leader in front of us, and that would be the Lord. Now last week we were
in Mark chapter 10 where Jesus was talking to his disciples about leadership. Remember
what James and John said to Jesus, Lord, let us be on the right hand and left hand of you
when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said, well, you have the wrong pattern of
leadership in front of you, the wrong example of leadership in front of you. And he said
this in Mark 10, 42 and 43. He said, you know that those who are recognized as rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them and their great men exercise authority over them, but it is
not this way among you. In other words, don't have the wrong pattern or model of leader
in front of you or you'll move in a different direction than you should be. Instead of that,
keep the best leader in front of you, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why
Jesus later on in John chapter 10 said to these disciples, I am the good shepherd and
the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Can you agree with me today that Jesus
is the perfect leader? Say amen if you agree with that. He's the perfect leader. There
is no way that there could be a person possibly improve on the leadership of Jesus Christ.
The book of Hebrews calls Jesus the great shepherd of the sheep. And also the Bible,
the picture, the very vivid imagery of a shepherd and sheep are brought to us to help us understand
something about this great shepherd and his leading of us. You know, when it comes to
shepherd and sheep, there's all kinds of analogies that help us, all kinds of stories and pictures
that will help us understand how it works, but the truth is that sometimes thinking about
leadership as being a shepherd of sheep seems out of touch with modern technology, out of
touch with current leadership principles or leadership examples, but the reason that this
great model of leadership modeled by the perfect example of Jesus Christ is so relevant is
because it touches on human nature that does not change. Ultimately, leadership is about
leading people. Leadership is about helping people and serving people. And of course,
Jesus was the master of that. The Lord is my shepherd talks about God himself. Jesus
says I am the good shepherd. So this is a powerful picture of what we need to be aware
of. By the way, Jesus frequently talked about people as being like sheep. Now, just for
those of you that are not too aware of what sheep are, that is not really a compliment
that he calls a sheep, right? We're aware that when he calls a sheep, he's talking
about animals that everyone knew were prone to really need a shepherd. For example, the
parable of the lost sheep, the one running away, hiding, being lost, and the shepherd
leaving the 99 to go after the one says that that one was missing it somehow and the good
shepherd had to go get him. It's pretty humbling to be called sheep by Jesus. It says we need
help. That's what it says. So how many of you were ever raised around sheep? Would you
raise your hand if you were raised around sheep? Nobody in the room was raised around sheep
or you were sheepish in letting me know that you were raised around sheep in some way.
Let me tell you about shepherds and sheep. Sheep are helpless and cannot survive without
a good shepherd. They don't have good eyesight and they don't hear well. They're heavy
creatures and they move at a painstakingly slow pace. No one ever says they're as fast
as sheep. They're easily frightened and confused. They're dumb. They follow one another into
dangerous spots and have been known to follow other sheep off of cliffs. No one ever says
they're as smart as sheep. They have no weapons. They have no sharp teeth. They have no camouflage.
They have no claws. No sharp hooves. They can't make a tempering sound. Never scared
a wolf off. Not once. No sounds that would scare anything off. Now the reason we have
this simple picture of sheep and shepherds is that sheep need shepherds. They need someone
watching them. Jesus is making this point about us as human being. He's making the
point about people. People need shepherds. Now remember David is the psalmist that wrote
this and David was an incredible shepherd of sheep. That's how he was working and
serving when God selected him to be king of Israel. So he learned the lessons about shepherding
and then took them on to become king of all Israel. The New Testament holds out for us
a pattern of leadership based on sheep and shepherds. It says this in 1 Peter chapter
5. It says shepherd the flock of God among you and one day the chief shepherd will appear
with your reward. So let's just get this in our mind. The perfect model for leadership
is the model of Jesus the good shepherd. Keep that in front of you if you will. Everything
that we do today needs to be based on how Jesus led. And it's helpful to know that
even though we all aspire, we ought to want to be great leaders, we'll never take the
place of Jesus Christ. He is irreplaceable. Earthly leaders are simply people who follow
his example and if we do it well we point people to Jesus and we take care of them in
many many ways. However imperfectly we lead, he's got to be our example. So let me just
say this. Everybody in the room has the opportunity to follow this great leader, this great example,
Jesus Christ. And the way you father your children, the way you are a mother to your
kids, the way you interact with brothers and sisters, not only in your immediate biological
family but in the body of Christ. And the way you interact with people if you're a
church leader, if you lead a small group, if you lead a class of some kind. Or whether
you're in the corporate world and you pay attention to the needs of those that are in
your employ. Whatever it is, however it is, when you have this example of Jesus Christ
in front of you, you are in touch with human nature and are able to meet those needs in
an amazing way after the example of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So we have a perfect
example in front of us. No matter how many books you read, make sure you read the Bible
enough to know, alright, in all these other examples of leadership, here is one that rises
above them all. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Secondly, I want you to notice
the caring heart. The caring heart. Psalm 23 immediately goes to how caring and how
loving and how sensitive this particular shepherd is who is the Lord. You know, most leaders
have certain principles of leadership that they kind of prioritize. I mean, I'm sure
many in this room will have what I have, vows, maybe summaries of books you've read or points
that you've taken that says, you know, here's what I need to do to be a good leader or here's
what I need to do to be a good parent. Here's how I can lead my little league sports team
or whatever it is we might be doing. We have these certain principles. But when you look
at the way of Jesus' life and model that he gives us, then care and kindness are always
present. Always present. No matter what he was dealing with, no matter how difficult
the circumstance was, care and kindness were a big part of what Jesus did. It was what
he felt, what he said, what he expressed and how he interacted with him. And that picture
is what I want to hold before you today. Psalm 23 highlights the big rocks of leadership.
Let me name the four of them. Feeding, leading, restoring, protecting. Feeding, leading, restoring,
protecting. Now already there are probably people in the congregation today that say,
well these are kind of out of touch with modern corporate world. And the reality is modern
corporate world is out of touch with real principles of leading. Jesus knew the human
heart. He knew what helped people and what inspired people, what helped them get to the
next level of their life. And these things were part of that feeding, leading, restoring,
and protecting. This is really a big picture look at that perfect leader, Jesus Christ.
Now let's look at these lines one at a time because these lines really need to mean something
to us when it comes to this caring model that we have, this caring heart. First of all he
says, he makes me lie down in green pastures. Now I love this picture and I think most of
us have seen the picture of sheep on a hillside and they're lying down. And you see the beautiful
green pastoral setting and these sheep are at peace. Normally in such a picture there
should be a shepherd standing nearby because his presence is what these sheep need in order
to be comfortable, to be full, and to be safe. So that's an important thing. Sheep don't
lay down until they're full. So when they're not standing and leaning over and eating the
grass they've already eaten, they're already full and the picture is that this great shepherd
has fed his flock and now they're lying down, they're full, and they're satisfied. The
shepherd feeds the flock. It's a picture of contentment, a picture of safety. You can
lie down now because I'm in the field with you and you are full, the shepherd says. Now
in that analogy the sheep have been physically fed. In human leadership people are taken
care of. In family, in church they've been brought to feed on spiritual food. They have
all the spiritual nourishment they need. They have all the instruction they need from the
Word of God. They have all the security they need to be able to be at peace, to be able
to lie down in the so-called field of our lives. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
It's about feeding and nourishing those that you lead. Next it says, he leads me beside
still water. Now I didn't know this but in my study of sheep and shepherding I learned
that sheep will not drink out of water that's rushing. They won't step into a stream that's
moving at any speed at all. They'll panic, they'll be afraid, they'll worry about what
they're trying to do and so it's really important to lead them beside the still water. So get
this picture. These sheep have been physically fed and now this leader is leading them to
the place where they are beside still water and he's leading them to that place. He's
not driving them that way. The emphasis here is on him leading them to the place where
the waters are quiet, where they can drink and be fully nourished in that water as well.
Sometimes that meant that the shepherd had to dam up a stream on both sides. On one side
to keep it from rushing in, the other side to keep it in and that still water he created
through his hard labor meant that they could actually get that still water right there
where it was at one point a rushing stream. Other time the shepherd had just to go as
far as he needed to go to find the quiet water and then lead them to that quiet water. And
again the emphasis is the shepherd leads. He must go ahead. Jesus in John chapter 10
talked about himself being the great shepherd. In that John 10 passage he talks about how
he led them. In verses 3, 4, and 5 the Bible says, And the sheep hear his voice, and he
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all of his own, he
goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they
simply will not follow, but will flee from him because they do not know the voice of
strangers. Recently someone sent me a great video of a shepherd over in the hills of Great
Britain somewhere. I think it might have been Ireland or Scotland, one of those places.
He was actually the shepherd giving a tour of several people who were wanting to see
the sheep that he owned on the hillside that they were grazing on. Apparently he allowed
each of them to cry out in order to call those sheep, try to get their attention, try to
get them to come. Two or three of them gave it an effort. They would get up at the fence
side and they would call out to the sheep. They would do various kinds of calls or whistles
or sing-song kind of approach to get those sheep to look. But not one of those sheep
raised its head and looked at them. Much less did any of them move their way. They were
probably a hundred yards away or more. Finally after this demonstration, the shepherd himself
got up to the fence and he called to them in this little sing-song kind of voice, and
they recognized him. One at a time raised their head and before long one of them began
to slowly walk his way. Then another, then another, before long all of them were kind
of trotting the way of the shepherd. A perfect illustration of what Jesus says here. Then
John chapter 10, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. It's a picture of knowing
the shepherd well enough and the shepherd knowing the sheep well enough. That they're
confident that they will listen to him and respond to him. In further reading I learned
that sheep and shepherds have this unique relationship. For example, the sheep can all
be asleep at night lying on a field and the shepherd can actually walk through the sheep
and not frighten them because they know his gate. He does it enough where they are confident.
But let one strange person walk among them and they become panicky. They become alert
and frightened because they don't recognize that gate. I also read that when sheep come
together at a common watering hole, as many as four or five flocks of sheep can gather
together, hundreds of sheep there, and never become confused because when one shepherd
is ready to lead them in the direction they need to go, he just goes that way and turns
back and calls them. And the only sheep that will follow him are his sheep and none of
them will stay for the voice of another shepherd. Look at all that pictures that human nature
give us about this great leadership that Jesus Christ gives us that the Lord God being our
shepherd gives us. It says, He knows his sheep and his sheep know them. Enough to be trusted.
As fast as I looked at several resources for what it means to be good leaders like Jesus
led, one book summarized Jesus' leadership in the four different principles and I love
these four principles because they are all connected with this idea of being present
with the sheep as the shepherd is. There's four things that Jesus did in interacting
with everyone that followed him. First of all, he saw potential in them. He saw potential
in them. He didn't see that they were perfect. He didn't care that they were perfect. He
saw potential in them because he knew them well. Secondly, he forgave them. Jesus forgave
those that did not follow him well, even those that met him to the cross. He forgave them.
Forgiveness is a big issue. He served them well. And by serving them, they began to be
confident in him. And the last part is he gave grace in every situation. He gave grace.
He saw potential. He forgave. He served. He gave grace. And I think about what environment
can you do all those things? It's in the environment where you are actually with the
sheep and the sheep are with you, where they know you, where they are aware of you and
you are aware of them. So leadership is about being present, being fully in tune as much
as possible with those that you lead. It's not from a distance. It's not while you're
multitasking a number of other things, but it's really being focused on the flock itself.
Look at the next line. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness
for his name sake. The word restore has to do with turning back and getting back on the
right path. The shepherd will always be concerned about that. And the parable of a lost sheep
is so memorable because one of these sheep got so far away from the flock that the shepherd
had to leave in 99 in order to get to all the others. And it's also memorable because
it's so easy for us to wander. There's no song we used to sing a lot, prone to wander,
Lord. I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. And we might as well say, prone to leave
the shepherd I love. But aren't you glad the shepherd comes after you when you wander?
Anybody ever had the shepherd come after you when you wandered? Aren't you glad that he
cares enough to convict you, somehow reach out to you, somehow bring you back? He restores
my soul. Good leadership means we do everything we can to restore the relationships, to restore
the souls of people around us. And sometimes that's a gentle restoration. And sometimes
we have to do it over and over again. Now again, I'm not a guy that was raised around
sheep but there's a lot of great videos out there. YouTube is one of my favorite channels,
folks. And I saw one channel on YouTube where a shepherd was going after one particular
sheep that fell into a large crevice in the ground. In fact, he had fallen so far into
that crevice about the only thing you could see is that sheep's ears, so to speak, and
his head. And so this shepherd walked over to that crevice, got everything he could to
get that sheep out, put him over on the side so he was safe again, turned for just a moment
and when he turned the sheep jumped back into the crevice. That's all that and I thought,
man, that's just like me sometimes. God pulls me out of danger and I jump right back in.
Man, that's why I need a shepherd so bad. I don't know why you need one but I need a
shepherd really badly. I also over the years saw a picture, an artist's rendition of a
shepherd who might be portrayed as Jesus or Jesus the shepherd is what the artist is depicting.
And he had a lamb around his shoulders and he was holding the back legs with his hand,
the front legs with his hand and there was some sort of a little wrapping around the
back leg of the sheep and showed a picture of the shepherd that loved the sheep so much
that if the sheep was so rebellious he would break the leg of the sheep actually and then
carry him until it was healed just to teach the sheep to stick close to the shepherd.
And I at times have felt like that sheep as well where the Lord had to kind of break my
leg and slow me down and then walk with me more carefully. Now what does that say to
you if it doesn't say that he loves you so much that he restores your soul? He restores
your soul, restores back to fellowship with him, back to fellowship with other people.
Now obviously when it comes to human leadership it's not quite as simple as sheep and shepherds
but the action of a shepherd is what we always keep in mind. No matter how complicated life
is, how complicated family is, how complicated organizations are, it's so important for
us to have the heart of a shepherd, the heart of care. We will never replace the great shepherd
but we can emulate the great shepherd in all that we do. Jesus cared for the flock so much.
I continue to care for the flock that he equips us to be good shepherds of one another in
the body of Christ and we are all called to mimic Jesus in this idea of being a good shepherd.
Can you rise to that call? Can you look around and care and love people around you enough
to say I want to mimic the good shepherd Jesus Christ? Now here's the third thing that Psalm
chapter 23 brings me and that is the enduring dedication. I love this part of Psalm 23.
You know when you read verses 1 through 3 everything's pastoral, it's green, it's
watery, it's wonderful, the sheep are lying down, it's just really really calming but
when you read verses 4, 5, and 6 the rest of it is pretty gritty. You've got words
like death, evil, enemies. I mean it moves from being a really easy Saturday afternoon
to a really really rough Saturday night. It moves from being a time of tranquility to
a time of difficulty. And when you read the last three verses, verses 4, 5, and 6 of Psalm
chapter 23 you have to come to the conclusion that not only is He there for us during good
times, He's there to help protect us during difficult times because life is difficult,
right? Is your life ever difficult? Do you ever need the good shepherd not just to be
one that comforts you but one that actually rescues you and helps you in ways you can't
even imagine until that kind of thing happens to you? The Lord is there for us, David says.
Look at the lines. Verse 4 says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death and that emphasis there is so big, the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.
Why? For you are with me. I hate to break this to you but I think most of you know by
now it's not a secret. You're not going to have an easy life all the time. Does that
surprise anybody in the room? I didn't think it did. You're not going to have an easy life
365. It's just not like that. Life's not like that. And you live in a world, that world won't
let it be like that, right? There are all kinds of people that look to prey on you just like
a wolf seeks to prey on a sheep. That's just the way it is. By the cause of that reality,
we desperately need a shepherd who has an enduring dedication to us in good times and
bad times. The valley of the shadow of death is an alarming picture of danger. David was
a warrior king. First he was a shepherd, then anointed to be king, but then a warrior king.
Always at battle. It's not hard for a guy that's at war all the time to use the phrase
the valley of the shadow of death. It doesn't mean he's died but what it does mean is he
sees death all around him. And day after day David saw death all around him. And yet he
said in the midst of all that, I won't be afraid though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death I'll fear no evil. Why? Because you are with me. My shepherd is there
with me every step of the way. And I love this part of Psalm because basically the good
shepherd promises that he won't leave us during the difficult times. And all through the New
Testament Jesus is saying this, he's reminding us of this all the time, I'm with you even
to the end of the age. He says in Matthew chapter 28 as he sends his disciples out.
He says in Romans chapter 15, I'm not leaving you as orphans. He said that in John 14 as
well, I'm leaving the Holy Spirit with you. I'm going to be your father, I'm going to
be there. He says I'm going to be with you and even that, beyond that I'm going to be
in you in the form of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 13, 5 is one of those great verses where it
says five times, I will never, never, never, never, never forsake you ever. All through
the Bible he promises us that even though you walk through the valley of the shadow
of death you don't have anything to be afraid of because your great shepherd is there with
you at every step of the way. I love the encouragement of this. I love it. I'm glad I don't have
to go through that alone. The leader that follows that example is there and not absent
during tough times in the lives of those around him. There's another line here, you prepare
a table before me in the presence of my enemies. And I also love that because it gives me the
reminder that even when surrounded by enemies the good shepherd feeds us and nourishes us
even in the hardest of times. Even when we can't even think about taking care of ourselves,
he's taking care of us because he's bringing us through those tough times and not leaving
us in those tough times. Remember when the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness
and God prepared a table for them every day by letting manna fall down from heaven. He
fed them in the middle of the wilderness surrounded by enemies. He gave them water to drink out
of a rock in the middle of their wilderness wanderings. It's just amazing how God has
provided for us in every way no matter how difficult the moments. And this is the equivalent
of saying my God shall apply every need that you have according to his riches and glory
in Christ Jesus. No matter what's going on your shepherd sees and knows and will take
care of you. When I read the psalm I was reminded of some of the times when I felt closest to
the Lord. Where I felt his presence with me maybe more than at easy times or normal times.
And then there in those times when I felt like I was in the presence of my enemies.
When I felt like I was at the tip of the spear and felt like things were going badly. And
when I look back at those times I realize man God was at work. He was calming me. He
was reassuring me. He was leading me. And then as I look back on all those times I realize
he was acting on my behalf in ways I did not see at that moment. Let me just impress upon
you. The work of the Good Shepherd means that he doesn't always tell you what he's doing
to protect you but he's always protecting you. He doesn't always hold the wolf up so
you can see the wolf because that might frighten you even more but when he holds the wolf up
it means he's taking care of the wolf and you don't have to deal with it. Now that's
why David was able to say, back in his life, even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death I won't be afraid because he is with me and even in the presence of
my enemies he has prepared a table before me. He's going to take care of me in good
times and bad times. He won't leave me. He won't run from me. I'll never be alone with
this Shepherd. He will take care of me. I think we ought to pause long enough at least
just to think. A thought of gratitude for the God that really lifts us out of near life.
These are not just poetic words. These are accurate descriptions of the God who loves
us. The God who is there. The God who will never ever leave us and will never forsake
us. Look at what else it says in verse 6. It says,
But surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. David is saying
this, ride him up to the place of eternity, his goodness of character, his mercy that
he's shown me, he'll continue to show me because it's who he is. I love those lines
because those lines remind me that God's character is always good. His mercy is always turned
on. He's always going to show mercy, always going to show me his goodness of character.
He's always going to live out his character in my life. He's not unpredictable. He's
not one that we can't trust, I can't know. He shows us who he is and says, follow me,
I'm with you the whole way. How's God going to respond to me 10 years from now? With his
goodness and mercy. How's he going to respond to me after I fall in some way, sin in some
way? With his goodness and mercy. How's he going to respond when enemies come against
me when I'm stabbed with a spear of some kind? With his goodness and mercy because that's
who God is. His goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell
on the house of the Lord forever. That's how this ends. I love the fact that this comes
all the way to eternity. So David, who should have known a lot less about eternity than
we know today because we have had Christ tell us about eternity, we have the New Testament
with all the revelations of fall and eternity and the book of Revelation and all the things
in the end. We know so much, but here's David way back in that day saying, and I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. David as a human being was saying, I will live forever
with this God because this God is going to take care of me in eternity. Now David can
have that kind of confidence. And if that confidence helped him through the tough times
of his life, why does the promise of eternity not help us during the tough times of our
lives? I mean, if you're a believer in Jesus, you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever
as well, won't you? So here's this amazing promise about eternity that this great shepherd
not only takes care of us in good times and bad times, meal times and other times, but
we'll see his goodness all the days of our lives and will dwell with him in the house
of the Lord forever. If you go back to John 10 towards the end of John 10 where Jesus
has said, I'm the good shepherd, he talks about eternity and in verse 27 to 29 he says
this about eternity, some of the best verses in the scripture about eternal life and some
of the most reassuring doctrinal verses about eternal life as well. Here's what it says,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give eternal life to
them and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hands. My Father
who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my
Father's hands. Man I absolutely love that text because that text tells me that my shepherd
once I answer his call holds me and helps me all the way to the end and through the
end to the other side and no one can take me away from this good shepherd. No wolf,
no false teacher, no failure on the part of myself as a sheep will never remove me from
the hands of this good shepherd. Man if that doesn't reassure you I don't know what will.
If that doesn't help you know that God is for you and has plans for you then I don't
know what I can say to help you know your life is secured by the hands and the heart
of this good shepherd exemplified in the Lord Jesus Christ mimicked and mirrored by human
beings who want to lead like him and we should mimic and follow his example but all we're
doing is pointing to the great great leader who loves you with a whole heart as your great
shepherd. I don't know how many of you today have answered the call of that good shepherd
but I want to end this message today by encouraging you to answer the call of this great shepherd.
Before I give that invitation I just want to make a kind of a statement, a remark. You
know I can get all the way to the bottom of this message and say you know you didn't
really talk much pastor about all the different things a person can do to be a leader and
no you're not going to walk away with ten leadership principles today and I hope you
don't but I hope you walk away with one outstanding example of what a leader really looks like
and that is your leader the Lord is my shepherd. Have you answered the call that the shepherd
gives you? The call to eternal life? The call that says come to me and I'll give you forgiveness
of sin and I'll give you the gift of eternal life and I will be your good shepherd? If
you've never made that decision I need you to know today you don't become a sheep in
the flock of the great shepherd until you answer his call. My sheep hear my voice and
they follow me. Have you heard his voice? Do you want to follow him? Are you listening
to what he says? I want to give you three invitations today. The first one is at the
end of our service, just a moment after prayer, there are two decision stations that are at
the back. They're very conveniently located. Those standing behind the tables there would
love to answer any questions about what it means to hear the voice of the shepherd and
follow him. They want to help you make that decision to put your trust, your life, your
faith in Jesus Christ. I want to encourage you to make that decision today. The second
decision is I want to invite you to come to our guest reception room or out to see the
center exit doors and right across the hallway there's a glass room there. I would love to
meet with you and talk to you about what it means to be a part of Cross City Church to
give you some details about that. Third invitation is come back next week as we kick off the
series called The Holy Spirit. And if you want to do a little homework before then,
read John 14, 15, and 16 where Jesus is preparing his disciples with the most important teaching
about understanding the work of the Holy Spirit. Hope to see you next week. Let's stand together
as we pray. Father, my prayer today is that we will walk out of here knowing that we are
well shepherded by you, the chief shepherd. Father, I want to thank you so much for that
picture, that image. Because Lord, when I am inadequate, insufficient, I know that you
are able and that's true of all of us. Father, I pray today that there will be those that
hear the call of the shepherd on their lives and respond to you. Father, I pray today that
you will use this imagery in our minds all week long, this psalm resonating in our spirit.
Lord, restore our soul. Help us know you're there. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
God bless. Have a wonderful Lord's Day.