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All right, we are coming to the end of our series on Psalm 23, and I hope that it's been

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good for your soul. Has it blessed you going through this Psalm together? Yeah. All right.

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Thank you. I appreciate that. That's not for me. I said the Psalm, so not me and my words.

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Let's understand that. But I thought this was so good to just take this Psalm that is so well

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known and so beloved to so many, and one that we hear pretty much only at funerals and take some

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time to walk through it and see all that we have to be thankful for in our good shepherd. And as

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we come to these final verses, we see a compelling and somewhat surprising picture of a feast in the

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midst of enemies. And here's the funny thing about that. I know most of us can just read over that.

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You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and then we go right on with the Psalm.

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Can we just all take a moment though and think about how difficult it is or would be to eat at

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a time like that? Can we all appreciate that? To eat when you're surrounded by enemies, because if

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you're anything like me, when I'm worried about something, when I'm stressed about something,

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when I'm concerned, I can't eat at all. I went and preached the final night of a Bible conference

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this past Wednesday. I didn't start preaching until 6 30 p.m. I got done at a certain time,

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but I didn't eat pretty much the entire day leading up to that sermon because I was so nervous about

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going to preach there. But that's how we are, right? When we're nervous or anxious, it's very

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difficult to eat. And yet, here the Bible says that God prepares a table before us in the presence

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of our enemies. And it actually reminds me a lot of the final chapters of the book of Acts. If you

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remember your Bible, those final chapters of Acts, what's happening is Paul is a prisoner and he is

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put on a ship that's headed to Rome. And so he's on this ship as a prisoner. He is surrounded by

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literal enemies. And an angel of the Lord comes to him and says, hey, this whole ship is going down.

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There's going to be a huge shipwreck. There's going to be a lot of loss, but your life will be spared

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and all the lives of everyone on board will be spared if they will just stay on board with you. And

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Paul said, okay, cool. So he goes and talks to the men and he says, so take heart, men, for I have

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faith in God that it'll be exactly as I've been told. And so Paul's not worried at all. And in fact,

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he is so much at ease. Do you know how the story goes? You know what he does next? Yes, because you

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see it on the screen, right? He begins to eat. The Bible says in Acts 27 35, when he had said these

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things, he took bread and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat.

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So here is Paul who is literally eating a meal in the midst of enemies and he's not concerned. There's

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chaos, there's disorder, there's a shipwreck coming, there's going to be great loss. These people are

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still going to put him in a Roman prison. And yet Paul's like, I'm not going to miss a meal. My

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question is, how is he able to eat at a time like that? And it's because the Lord had already

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prepared that table before Paul. The Lord had already told him, yeah, things are going to be

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bad, but your life is going to be spared. Things are going to get hard, but everybody on board,

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their lives will be spared as well. And so with the assurance of God's protection, Paul was able

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to eat in the midst of enemies. And that's the picture that we have here in the final verses of

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Psalm 23. It's the picture of a shepherd who goes before his flock to prepare this beautiful

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grazing ground in the midst of surrounding enemies who promises abundance and protection and

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provision and a cup that overflows. But I want to issue a word of caution here. Many people, when

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they read these final verses, they believe that it's speaking only of heaven. When people read

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these final verses, they believe it's speaking only of some far off future. When they think of

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the table in the midst of enemies, when they think of the overflowing cup and the bounty,

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they say this is some far off future. And while that is certainly included here, I want to let

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you know, church, that this is not just some far off future. This is a present reality. God prepares

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us a table now in the midst of our enemies. You don't have to wait till heaven for your cup to

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overflow. If you were in Christ, let me tell you something, Christian, your cup overflows now. The

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blessings of God are with you now. And they're only going to get better as we head towards heaven and

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as we head towards eternity. But this is a present reality, not some far off future. And that's good,

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right? It's good that we don't have to wait on these things to come, that God promises them now.

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So we're talking about reasons to be thankful. And this morning we see that we should give thanks

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for a shepherd who protects and provides for his sheep. We should give thanks for a shepherd who

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protects and provides for his sheep. I think everybody in here this morning would agree that

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God provides for them, that God protects them. But I don't know that we're always as aware of

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what that looks like as we should be. I mean, if your job pays you and gives you a paycheck, you

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think your job is the source of your income. But let me tell you something, God is the one who blessed

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you with that job in the first place. And so actually your income is a blessing from God. So

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we know that certain things happen. What we don't always understand is how God actually provides for

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us and protects us. So that's what I want us to consider this morning. How does God actually

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protect us and provide for us? How does God protect us and provide for us? And I want you

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to see what the Bible says here, beginning in verse 5, you prepare a table before me in the

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presence of my enemies. Now we're just gonna pause here real quick, okay? I say real quick,

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y'all know me too well for that, but let's just pause, okay? Because many people think that David

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has switched up the analogy at this point, right? For the whole Psalm, he's been talking about a

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shepherd and his flock of sheep, and that's been the analogy. And now they say he's changed the

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analogy. It's no longer a shepherd with sheep, but now it is a host hosting a banquet with some

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guests, right? But I don't think David has switched the analogy as much as we might think. For

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instance, did you know that modern Israelis and ancient Israelites alike would refer to the high

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table, the high plateaus of the green pastures as the table lands? You remember last week in our

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discussion of the valley, we said that the shepherd had to take their flock through the

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valley in order to get to those high plateaus, those green pastures that awaited them on high.

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Those green pastures were referred to as the table lands. And so I don't think the analogy has

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switched as much as we might think, but the thing is the table lands had to be prepared. And so

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before the shepherd would take his flock, he would go through the valley, he would make it to those

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high plateaus, the table lands, and he would spend a great deal of time taking out the poisonous

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plants because they were notorious for having poisonous plants that would kill the sheep if

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the sheep were to just wander over there on their own. And so the shepherd would go and he'd pick up

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all the poisonous plants, and most shepherds would take some salt and some minerals with them,

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and he would sprinkle it all around the pasture so that it would benefit the flock when they got

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there. And so when the shepherd finally led his sheep to those high plateaus, listen, the table

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lands had already been prepared before them, and they had been prepared in the presence of enemies.

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And so here's the picture. I would have drawn this for you if I could draw, but I can't draw,

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and that's actually okay for you because you don't want to see me do it. So imagine this scene,

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right? You have this high green pasture that's been prepared, and it's at the very top of these

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mountains and these ranges, and on all sides you have these cliffs. And here's what would happen,

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the table lands were inhabited by wolves, coyotes, cougars, bears, and all of these predators would

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hang out on the rocky cliffs and hide behind the high rock faces, and they would watch the flock

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constantly. They were always walking back and forth looking down at the flock just waiting for

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one sheep to venture away from the flock. And if that sheep ever did venture away, the predators

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would strike. And so what the shepherd had to do is the shepherd would keep one eye on the flock

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and one eye on the predators. He wanted to make sure his flock was staying together, and he wanted

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to make sure he could see where all of those predators were going. But this is the picture,

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as long as the sheep stayed in the flock and near to the shepherd, they could graze in peace,

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even in the presence of enemies. It doesn't matter if there's bears around, it doesn't matter if

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there's wolves around, because as long as the shepherd is there and as long as the shepherd is

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attentive, those things can't do anything to the sheep. And so here's what I want you to understand

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this morning, protection of the sheep is directly proportional to proximity to the shepherd. My

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buddy Brad would be very happy with me for all those P words, I typically don't do that one,

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that one's for him. Protection of the sheep is directly proportional to proximity to the

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shepherd. In other words, if you wander away from the flock and from the protective watch of the

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good shepherd, you're going to be easy pickings. I'm the type of person, I like to watch animal

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planet type shows. I don't know why, I don't know what that says about me, but I do, I think they're

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really interesting. And so I remember I was watching this one episode on predators, and they were

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in Africa and they were following this group of three lionesses as they were hunting. And these

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three lionesses, they were hiding out in the really tall grass and they were looking at a herd of

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water buffalo. And they were stalking them for hours, just waiting for a chance to strike and

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they weren't doing anything. And I thought, okay, well, this is a waste, right? But after some hours,

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one water buffalo, thinking he was safe, decided to just start wandering off on his own. And those

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lionesses went and did what lions do. I mean, they laid waste to that guy immediately. It was the

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second he left the protection of the herd, he was picked off just like that. I mean, I think Mary

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Sue was telling me last week about her son-in-law who has a flock of sheep. And three of them decided

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to wander away from the flock and her son-in-law found that they had been killed by dogs and

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destroyed. Those sheep, as soon as they left the protection of the flock and nearness to the

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shepherd, they didn't last long. Or another way to think about this, think about a charcoal grill.

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I don't know if you cook with protein. Give me a second, guys. Thank you. That's actually what I

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meant to say because you shouldn't be cooking anything but protein on a grill. And all God's

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people said, amen. But imagine a charcoal grill, if you would. You look inside a charcoal grill,

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and every single one of those pieces of charcoal is burning hot, right? Yes. What would happen if

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you were to take a pair of tongs, pick up one piece of charcoal, and set it on its own? Would

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it stay hot very long? No, it's going to cool off very quickly. When it's in with the other charcoal,

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they all fuel each other, and they fuel each other's fire, and they help each other burn hot. But as

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soon as you put it on its own, that fire burns out. So I want to tell you this morning, church, in the

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same way, if you distance yourself from the spiritual community, if you distance yourself

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from the watchful gaze of the good shepherd, then every bit of spiritual fire you have will

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begin to cool off. If you step away from the flock of God, you make yourself an easy target. Yes,

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God prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, but our protection is directly

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proportional to our proximity to the shepherd. And you know this is true, don't you? I mean,

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think about it, you might be on fire for the Lord for a time. And I know many people have gone

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through this phase where they're on fire for God, and they're just all about Jesus, and they're

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coming to church, and they're just fueling their fire. But then what happens? They miss one Sunday,

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and then they miss the next Sunday, and then the next Sunday, and then the next, and it just gets

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easier and easier and easier to miss the next one. Does it not, church? And every bit of spiritual

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fire you had, gone. Just like that. The second you start to distance yourself from the spiritual

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community. You see, this is why you need the church. I know there's all sorts of people today who like

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to claim that you can be a Christian and not go to church. Okay, you can also be a water buffalo

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and not be part of a herd. See how long you last then. You see, we have this bad idea about the

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church today that the church is just someplace that I have to go to, it's part of my checklist,

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it's part of my religious activities. The church is not primarily someplace you go to. The church

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is a family you belong to. Do we understand that? The church is a good gift from God. God has given

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us a body of brothers and sisters to come alongside of us, to strengthen us, to walk with us,

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to help us, to support us, to encourage us. Listen, to stir one another up to good works. The church

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is a good thing and I'm tired of many people in the world acting like it's not. I'm tired of many

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Christians acting like it's not. Like you can just dismiss the church or ignore the church. The church

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is a great gift from God. You see, notice this about this passage. Yes, the Lord prepares a table

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before us in the presence of our enemies, but notice this, this is a communal meal. He's not

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taking one sheep alone, is he? The shepherd is leading the flock up there. This meal is a communal

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meal and so part of the shepherd's protection is the fact that he has placed us among a flock and

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not on our own. It's the fact that he has given us the church as a means to protect us from

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surrounding enemies. Or think about sin and temptation for a moment. If you distance yourself

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from the Lord and aren't following him as closely as you once did, how easy is it for the enemy to

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attack you? When you aren't walking with Jesus, when you aren't spending time in daily prayer,

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daily Bible reading, how likely are you to give in to sin and temptation? You understand something,

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church. You understand it is impossible to pursue Jesus and sin at the same time, right? They go in

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two opposite directions. You can never be pursuing Jesus and sin at the same time, but when you're

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not walking with Jesus, that's when the enemy is going to pounce on you. That's when the enemy is

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going to attack you. That's when you're going to start giving in to sin and temptation. But here's

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the other side of that. Just because you are walking with Jesus, and let's say you're one of

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those good little Christian men or women and you say, I am walking with Jesus. I am praying daily.

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I am reading my Bible daily. I am gathering with the church. Listen to me. That doesn't mean the

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enemy is going to go away. Do you understand that? It's a meal in the presence of enemies. So just

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because you're doing all your Christian duties, that doesn't mean the enemy is going away. But

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what it does mean is that the enemy can't do anything to destroy your soul because you're

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protected by the Good Shepherd. I may be surrounded by enemies on all sides, but as long as I am in the

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shadow of the Good Shepherd, the enemy can do nothing to me because my shepherd will not allow

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it. And so to eat at this table in the presence of enemies, it means that I can enjoy all the

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blessings God has given me without fear of what the enemy can or will do to me. And this attitude,

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this mentality by Christians, it makes no sense to the world. When Christians are at peace in a

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crazy world, and our world is pretty crazy. Have y'all read the news this week? Pretty crazy stuff

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going on in the world. And what doesn't make sense to the world is when they come to us and they go,

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hey, have you heard that Russia is threatening nuclear attacks against anybody who would be

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allied with Ukraine? And it's going to be considered an attack from NATO if they allow Ukraine to use

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these missiles. World War Three is coming. This is what I'm hearing all throughout the week. World War

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Three is coming. Russia's got nuclear weapons. They're going to be in team with Iran or possibly

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China and North Korea, and all of this is going to happen. And America is coming down, and all this

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is in chaos. How could you possibly eat at a time like this? Because God's already prepared this

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table before me. You think anything going on in the world has taken God by surprise? You think

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God didn't know that Vladimir Putin was looking for any excuse to use nuclear warheads? Do you

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think God didn't know what 2024 would be like? Of course he did. So I'm not concerned about it,

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but what might that mean for your country? It could mean a lot of bad things. I'm not concerned

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about it because the Lord has prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Even if

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they kill us, folks, we get to go to glory. So what can the world truly do to us? I mean,

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this is why Paul says in Romans 8.31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us,

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who can be against us? Of course, many people can try to stand against us. You can tell us to be

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quiet. You can take me off Facebook and YouTube, which they've done before. You can try to ban

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books. You can say we can't gather. You can throw us in jail. You can torture us. You can kill us.

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None of it matters because my shepherd watches over me. The Lord has prepared this table before

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me in the presence of my enemies. And because I know he has gone before me and I know that this

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moment has been prepared for me, I will fear no evil. This is what it means to enjoy God's

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blessings in a world surrounded by enemies. So we have the shepherd for protection. We have the

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flock for protection. And there's another form of protection here. Look at the final part of verse

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five. He says, you anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. If you recall last week, we said that

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it was during the summer months that the shepherds would move their flocks from the lowlands to the

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high plateau table lands. Right? Y'all remember that? Because summer months, there's not a lot of

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food in the lowlands. And so they had to move their flocks through the valleys to the table lands.

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Well, this whole Psalm has a very summer feel to it because shepherds have a saying. They say

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summertime is fly time. And that's because during the summer months, flies constantly swarm around

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the sheep and pester them to death. And there's one fly in particular that causes the sheep the

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most trouble. And it's called the nose fly or the nasal fly. Anybody want to guess why it's called

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that? Because this is what this delightful fly tries to do. No, not you, Jordan. You can't. Okay.

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These flies will buzz around the head constantly, trying to get into the nose. And once they do,

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it's going to bury its way up into the head where it's going to continue to buzz and buzz and buzz.

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And then it's going to lay its eggs, which form these tiny like worm-like larva creatures, which

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will then cause infection and eventually could cause the sheep to go blind. Sounds delightful,

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does it not? I mean, that sounds absolutely horrific to me personally. I've got enough voices in my

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head. The last thing I need is something in there buzzing around constantly just driving me crazy.

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Could you imagine? Right? This is how bad it is for the sheep. The sheep trying to deal with this,

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it's often said that they will beat their heads against rocks, trees, plants. They will thrash

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around an underbrush. And in extreme cases, sheep have been known to kill themselves just to get

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some relief from this constant buzzing of the flies. But the shepherd has a safeguard against

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fly time. Do you know how ancient shepherds used to protect their flocks during fly time? They would

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apply a homemade antidote to the head, which was a mix of linseed oil, sulfur, and tar. And the

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shepherd would smear this over the sheep's nose and head as protection against the flies. And Philip

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Keller, the shepherd I've mentioned many times at this point, he writes that there was an immediate

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change this oil would bring about. He says, once the oil had been applied to the sheep's head,

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there was an immediate change in behavior. Gone was the aggravation, gone the frenzy,

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gone the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep would start to feed quietly

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again, then soon lie down in peaceful contentment. Now, I read all that and set that scene for you to

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just say, can we not all be like a bunch of sheep during fly time occasionally? Are we not constantly

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pestered by these little nuisances in our lives that drive us crazy, that make us want to beat

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our heads against posts and rocks and underbrush and everything else? Some of you, it's your kids,

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so I feel for you there, okay? But do we not have these things that come into our lives,

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they're little nuisances that just eat at us and pester us and we get focused on them and it makes

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us turn into a bunch of crazy people who act like a bunch of wild beasts. Do you know what I'm talking

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about? Yeah? I'll give you, all right, I'm gonna tell you this and I'm scared to tell you this,

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but I'm gonna do it because I love you as your pastor and I hope you love me and I'm trusting

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you, okay? We all good? Everybody say yes, yes? Okay, here we go. The worst thing anyone can say

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to me, you see why I'm trusting you, is, hey, can I talk to you about something later? My wife knows,

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yeah. The second someone says that to me, I'm like, well, there goes my whole day. So much for being

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productive today, that's just it, because what I do, that's one of my little flies. As soon as someone

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says that to me, I'm like, well, why can't you talk now? What's the problem now? What's going on? What

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did I do? What didn't I do? Was there something I should have done that I didn't do? What is it that

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he possibly wants to talk about? What if this happens after that situation, or what if it's gonna

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be this and then I have to do this and then that's gonna be five more phone calls and all this kind

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of stuff and just fly, fly, fly, fly, fly, fly. That's what it is. That's me, okay? Anybody relate

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or is that just me? Okay, we got like three other people who are crazy like me. Y'all my people,

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I love you. I'm trusting you with that one, so. But the point is just this, that we have these

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little flies that come into our lives and they will pester us to death. And so my question is,

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what is God's solution for fly time? The Bible says here it's oil, right? So how does God anoint

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us with oil? What is the oil with which he anoints us? And what's really interesting is the New

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Testament always has the word anoint in relation to the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in 2nd Corinthians

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1, 21 to 22, and it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us,

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who has also put a seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. For 1st John

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2, 20, but you have been anointed by the Holy One and you all have knowledge. Or 1st John 2, 27,

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but the anointing that you receive from him, it does what? It abides in you, just as the Holy

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Spirit abides in you. And you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing

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teaches you about everything and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in him.

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And so the New Testament talks about anointing in relation to the Holy Spirit. But we have to

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pause here again, okay? Because we have to ask a very important question. Is the Holy Spirit what

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David had in mind when he wrote the psalm? Because if the answer is no, then we can't go with our

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interpretation. Because it's something I always tell people when you're reading the Bible. The

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Bible can never mean something to you that it did not mean to the original readers. Everybody good?

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So if David didn't have the Holy Spirit in mind when he wrote this psalm, we should not read the

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Holy Spirit into the psalm. But I think he did have the Holy Spirit in mind for two reasons.

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Number one, because David was a shepherd. And so he was very familiar with fly time and rubbing

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oil on the sheep's noses. And number two, because the Bible says in 1 Samuel 16 13,

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then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him, there is David, in the midst of his brothers.

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And what happens immediately after? And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward,

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and Samuel rose and went to Ramah. And so notice this, the very first time in David's life that he

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was ever anointed with oil, what happened? The Holy Spirit comes upon him. And from that time on,

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he always connected the anointing of oil with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And you have to

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understand this is yet another way the Lord protects and provides for his sheep. Listen to me,

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church, the good shepherd anoints us with the salve of the Spirit. The good shepherd anoints

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us with the salve of the Spirit. Just as oil would protect sheep from infections and ward off flies

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and pests, so too the anointing of the Holy Spirit protects us from sinful contamination and

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relieves us from worldly irritants. But here's the thing, shepherds didn't just rub this oil on their

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sheep one time and call it a day. In order to receive maximum relief, the shepherd had to apply

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the oil very frequently. And so here's what I want to do. At this point, I'm gonna pause again,

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because I have to make a clarifying statement. The shepherd rubs oil multiple times, right? He's

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re-administering. So here's my statement. Everybody listen clearly, because I don't want to be misquoted

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or accused of being a Charismatic Pentecostal or anything like that. Okay, so listen, as Christians,

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we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit one time and never again. Everybody good? Understand? Yes. That's

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what the Bible teaches. You're indwelt by the Holy Spirit one time and never again, and there's no

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second blessing type stuff, anything like that. However, what we have to understand is the Spirit's

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work in our life is continual and ongoing. And so as Christians, we need to be praying for a fresh

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anointing of the Holy Spirit's work in our life. Does everybody, that make sense everybody? We good?

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So we're not praying to receive the Holy Spirit again. We're praying that God would anoint us

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afresh with the work of the Spirit in our lives. And I think you know this as Christians that you

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should be praying and asking for this, but I've noticed something. There's a problem with Christians.

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Christians pray like our grandmothers pass down recipes. It's just complete generalities, and

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there is no specificity to it whatsoever. Do you know what I'm talking about? Have you ever tried

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to get a recipe from your grandmother? My mom is following suit in this. Anna will go to my mom and

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say, all right, I want to learn how to make this. How do you do it? Add some flour. Well, how much

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is some? I don't know, just like this yellow cup that I had lying around in my house. Well, I don't have a

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yellow cup like that in my house. How much is that? Well, you know, like a handful. Well, how much is a

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handful? My hands are smaller than yours. Well, how long do I cook it? You know, 20 or 30 minutes.

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Well, which is it? Because there's a big difference between 20 and 30, all right? So if I'm going to

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make this thing, I don't want to burn it. I want to get it right. That's how our grandmas pass down

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recipes, right? It's just all general stuff. There's no specificity. And I've noticed that's how

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Christians pray. Lord, help me. Help you how? What are you looking for? What are you wanting? Lord,

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bless me. How? How do you want to be blessed? Lord, I'm in need. In what way? Lord, I need your

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assistance. How? We always throw out these church words that we hear. Bless me, help me, assist me.

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And yet we never go into specific details. I want to encourage you to do something this morning,

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church. I want to encourage you that when you pray and you're specifically praying for this fresh

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anointing of the work of the spirit in your life, to pray specifically and not just generally.

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The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is responsible for the renewal of our mind. You

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read about that in Romans 12.2. You read about it in Titus 3.5. So rather than simply saying,

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Lord, renew my mind. Okay, you can pray that, but how about getting specific? What if you were to

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pray, Lord, by your spirit, renew my mind today. Keep me from impure thoughts. Keep me from having

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a judgmental attitude. Keep me from having a worldly perspective. Take this worldly mind

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from me and help me to see things from your perspective. Give me a renewed outlook on life

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and on my circumstances. Renew my mind so that my thoughts will align with your thoughts. Do you see

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the difference that makes besides just Lord, renew my mind. Go into detail. Tell him how you need him

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to renew your mind. The Bible also says in Ephesians 5.18, and do not get drunk with wine,

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for that's debauchery, but be filled with the spirit. And so rather than praying a general

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prayer and saying, Lord, fill me with your spirit today. Okay, that's fine. Do that,

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but then get specific. Lord, I am currently filled with fear and anxiety, with worry,

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with doubt, with concern, with uncertainty. I'm asking you to remove these things from me today

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and replace them with your Holy Spirit. Remove from me all worldliness and sin, and instead

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fill me with your spirit so that I might walk in step with you. That's what it looks like to pray,

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a specific prayer. Or John 14 verses 16 through 17. Jesus says, and I will ask the Father and

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he will give you another helper to be with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world

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cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him, you know him for he dwells with you

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and he will be in you. What's interesting there in that verse is the word helper. It comes from

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a Greek verb that means to call to one side, which means the Holy Spirit is our comforter, our helper,

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our counselor. And so as a Christian, when you need comfort or help in times of trouble and darkness,

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you should pray, Lord, comfort me by your spirit. Send him to bear me up at this time.

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Let his strength take the place of my weakness. Give me a renewed sense of the Spirit's presence

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in my life today. The Lord, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is also our guide in John 16 13.

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When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak

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on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will declare to you the things

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that are to come. And so here's this picture. Here we are running ourselves ragged on a day-to-day

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basis, trying to figure everything out for ourselves. Here we are groping around in the

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darkness because we have no light when Jesus offers us the light and the guidance of the

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Holy Spirit. And yet most Christians ignore this resource completely. We're content to just take

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the American approach and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and white-knuckle this thing and think

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we can do it ourselves. I don't need any help. And God says, actually you do. And here's the Holy

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Spirit who will be your helper. And so when you don't know what to do, you should pray, Lord,

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I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. I don't know the right course of action in this

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situation. I'm at a loss. Give me guidance by your spirit. Have your Holy Spirit show me what I must

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do. Have him guide me through the decisions I need to make. And then this is what I like to add to my

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prayers. You can steal this from me. And Lord, because I am so hard-headed and prone to miss it,

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I need you to make it abundantly clear to me what you would have me do in this situation so that I

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will not get it wrong. That's the type of prayer we should be praying, church. God knows your heart,

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but he wants you in humility to be open with him and tell him specifically how you need his renewal.

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So why would we busy ourselves and drain ourselves swatting it flies all day long

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when God offers us the salve of his spirit? If you need wisdom, if you need guidance,

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if you need comfort or help or renewal, you need to receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit in your

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life. He's the one who protects us and provides for us. And I want you to see where all this

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Psalm has been headed. The final outcome of God's flock. Look at verse six.

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Surely goodness and mercy. Can we just pause and just think about how good this is for a moment?

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How sweet these verses are. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

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And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I want to make these verses even sweeter

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for you and tell you what they actually say in Hebrew, because that word surely it's not there

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in Hebrew. The word in Hebrew is actually only, which is again why they should have translated

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this literally, but you know, tradition is tradition. The Hebrew word surely there is the

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word only and the word follow is not the word follow. It's the word pursue.

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So think about it like that. Only goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life.

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And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So here's the picture of this song.

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It's saying that as you follow and pursue the good shepherd,

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only goodness and mercy will pursue after you like two collie dogs guiding a flock safely back home.

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And that is what God has promised us. That's what we get in this psalm about this good shepherd.

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We have this assurance that the good shepherd is going to watch over us and protect us and keep us

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safe from all enemies because he is with us. And so we need not fear him. We need not fear him.

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He is with us. And so we need not fear anything. We have this promise that as long as we keep close

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to him, he will anoint us with the salve of his spirit to protect us and provide for us.

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And then the best part of all of this, where everything has been leading to,

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when our time finally comes and the Lord calls us home, we have the absolute assurance

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that when that call comes and we meet Jesus face to face, it will not be for a moment,

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but we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And it's not because I deserve to be there.

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It's not because you deserve to be there. It's not because we worked for this or earned this.

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The only reason we are going there and the only reason we are staying there is because our good

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shepherd has led us safely there the entire way. And we get to enjoy him forever. Amen, church.

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Let's pray.