Take a trip in the Wayback Machine. We've been
in Psalm 106 going through it, but we're going
to go all the way back tonight to Psalm 23. Some
of you may have heard this psalm before. Psalm
23. If you have not ever heard it, then you should
read it. You should listen to it. It's a good
one for us to revisit from time to time, so we're
just going to revisit it tonight, even if we...
Most of us don't need to read it. Yeah, yeah,
that's right. I suspect... Different translation,
maybe. Yeah, I suspect a lot of you probably
memorized this when you were a kid. I know when
I was in third grade, we did. And if you did
memorize it, you probably memorized it in the
King James Version. That's the version we'll
be looking at tonight, just because that's the
familiar version for this verse for most of us.
Psalm 23 is where we will start. Let's pray and
then we'll jump in. God, we come to you. We thank
you for your good word and we thank you for just
the beauty of this passage that maybe we've read
it a bunch of times or maybe for some tonight
listening online or even in here, it's the first
time they've ever heard it. I pray, God, that
whether it's the first time or the tenth time
or the hundredth time, God, that your word will
speak to us tonight and we'd grow from it. I
pray that your Holy Spirit would just be with
us and give us a good... A few minutes together
in your word. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.
Alright, Psalm 23. This is a Psalm of David.
Now David was a shepherd, so this language that
he uses describing the Lord as our shepherd and
kind of that relationship and what that looks
like between a shepherd and a sheep is one that
David would have understood. And it's one that
we can understand too, even if we're not shepherds
or sheep herders, we can understand the beauty
of what David is talking about here in relation
to the Lord. Now, David certainly was a man after
God's own heart. We see that in Scripture, but
we also see that David... He did plenty of things
that were not right, that were not what God really
desired. And we need to learn from David's life
because there are plenty of times that we've
done things that are just, that are not right,
sinful things. But even still, David knew the
importance of calling out to the Lord, of praying
to God, of praising God. And that's the type
of language that we see so often in these Psalms
of David. And he says in verse one, the Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want, or there's
nothing I lack. I have everything I need. The
Lord provides for me everything I need. And when
you think about a sheep, it's really dependent
on that shepherd. A sheep is probably not going
to make it very long on its own. Now, a lot of
times people will say sheep are dumb, but sheep
are not that dumb. Sheep are actually pretty
smart. They have pretty good eyesight. They're
pretty fast. Sheep are pretty good animals, but
nevertheless, They really need a shepherd. Sheep
are an animal that's going to follow whoever
is leading them. And David uses that as an illustration
that the Lord is our shepherd, that we are to
follow the Lord, that the Lord's going to take
care of us. What does the shepherd do? leads
the the sheep where they need to go for safety
for security for provision and that's what we
see in the rest of the verse he maketh me to
lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside
the still waters beautiful imagery there he's
not he's not taking the sheep to a raging river
farm to drink out of he's not taking them to
the middle of the desert he's taking them to
a place that that is that is of abundance where
there's Plenty of green grass where there's still
water for them to lave aside and for them to
drink from. And the shepherd, it's his job to
find these places for the sheep, to say, I know
where the good places are. I know where my sheep
need to go. I know where there's provision. I
know where there's safety. I know where there's
abundance. And God, as our shepherd, leads us
to the places that we need to go. He leads us.
on the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. He guides us along the right way so that
we can get to those green pastures and those
still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. What a beautiful first half of that verse.
He restores my soul. Now there are times in life
that our souls need to be restored. Sometimes
it may be because of our sinfulness. It may be
that we've been living in a way that is not,
what God desires. We've been doing things and
saying things and acting in a way of disobedience
and in sinfulness that we just feel the burden
of that in our soul. And praise the Lord, God
will restore our souls. David understood that.
He knew what it was like to call out to the Lord
when he had sinned greatly. And so David understands
these are powerful words when he acknowledges
that God will restore our soul. Maybe our soul
needs restoring, not because of sin that we have
committed, but just because life is tough. And
sometimes it just wears you down. Maybe you're
doing the best you can and just work gets you
down or life gets you down. Whatever it may be,
there are things in life that sometimes we feel
the burden of that and our soul just needs to
be restored. And David says, hey, look, God is
our shepherd and he is the one who restores our
soul. He leadeth me in the past. of righteousness.
Okay, so a good shepherd is going to lead his
sheep down a good path. Now, we know who the
good shepherd is. We read the New Testament and
we see that Jesus is the good shepherd. He cares
for the sheep and the sheep hear his voice and
the sheep follow him. Now, same example here.
Jesus is symbolically our shepherd and we are
symbolically sheep. That Jesus is the one who's
going to provide for us and prepare for us and
lead the way for us to follow him. And where
does he lead us? He leads us down paths of righteousness.
He leads us down good paths. Now in life, we
certainly have choices to make. We come to these
forks in the road sometimes in life where we
have, am I going to go down this path or am I
going to go down that path? And here's the thing
about the paths of the world. It's oftentimes
the paths of the world, they look better at first
glance. You look and you see a path going up
a hill and you say, man, that path looks easy.
It looks good. It looks smooth. It looks like
it has everything that I ever want. And a lot
of times the paths that God leads us down, they
may not look so good. They may not seem like
the best path in the moment. something that God's
calling us to or leading us to, we may say, man,
that don't seem like that's going to be very
much fun, or that doesn't seem like that's going
to be easy, or I don't see how any good could
come from that. And sometimes the path that the
Lord wants to lead us on, it may not look like
the best path. But we have to be careful because
if our good shepherd is leading us down a path,
it is the good path. Even if another path looks
better, we find out quickly when we... when we
stray from following the shepherd, that when
we get over the hill of that path that looks
good, it's downhill from there. And we find that
maybe it's not the best path, as good as we thought
it was. But we need to remember that Jesus is
a good shepherd. So wherever Jesus leads us,
it may not always be easy. It may not always
make sense. We may say, man, I don't know why
God's leading me here, but if God is good, Jesus
is good. He's going to lead us on the path of
righteousness, not the path of destruction. Verse
4. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Now that's a beautiful language because sometimes
we are in dark valleys in our life. Again, sometimes
it's our own doing. Sometimes we are living in
sinfulness and we are in a dark place because
of the way we've been living and our heart's
gotten dark. And sometimes we find ourselves
in dark valleys in our life. Sometimes it's not
necessarily of our doing. Sometimes it's just
life and our life path. We go through life and
things are tough and it just seems so dark and
hopeless and like there's no light at the end
of the tunnel and it's not fun. Whatever gets
us into that valley of the shadow of death, it's
not fun to be in a dark place. It's not fun to
think, man, I feel like I am so dark and I am
so depressed and I am so burdened that I don't
think I'm going to make it through it. It's just
going to kill me this place is so dark. But what
does David say? Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil
for thou art with me. So whatever may... may
get us into our dark valleys in the future or
whatever maybe has gotten us into a dark valley
today, we need to remember that the Lord is with
us, that it's just for a moment, that we may
be in the valley today, but if we would seek
God, that he can bring us to the mountaintop
tomorrow. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. So the shepherd has a rod, has a staff, and
certainly the shepherd protects the flock. Maybe
he uses that staff to fight off a wolf or to
fight off some other danger. Maybe he uses that
staff to correct the sheep, to pull the sheep
back into the fold. The Scripture says the Lord
disciplines those that he loves, and perhaps
there are times that the shepherd has to make
sure that the sheep does what he says. Maybe
that rod of correction or that little hook on
his staff is able to pull that sheep back into
the fold, even if he wants to. He wants to go
off on his own. Maybe the Lord has to do that
for us sometimes. Verse 5, Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou
anointest my head with oil, and my cup runneth
over. Again, this idea of blessing that David
is saying, God has prepared a table before me,
a feast before me. God has anointed me with oil.
I am blessed. It's obvious to all of my enemies.
The Lord is with me and I have won because the
Lord has brought me victory. Now sometimes in
our life we may have enemies that come against
us and it may seem as though our enemies are
winning. We may look at the world and we may
see a lot of evil taking place and it may seem
as though the enemy is winning. But ultimately
those who trust in the Lord will have victory.
They will be the ones who are sitting at the
feast, that the table prepared before them. The
enemies of God's people will look at God's people
and say, man, we thought we had them, but God's
people will always be victorious. And David acknowledges
that truth, that God has prepared that table
before him. Verse 6. Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Isn't that a beautiful thing to desire, goodness
and mercy? Surely goodness and mercy will follow
me all the days of my life. Now, without the
goodness of God, we're in a bad shape because
there is only good in God. There's no other source
of good in this world. And David acknowledged
that, hey, when I'm in the presence of God and
His goodness, then I'm in good shape. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me. Praise the
Lord for God's mercy. We need God's mercy because
we sin and we do things that are deserving of
great punishment, of death. But God is merciful.
He does not give us what we deserve. And David
rejoices in that. He acknowledges that. Surely,
he says, goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. I will dwell in the
Lord's presence forever. And that's a good place
to be. It's a good place for us to be is in the
presence of the Lord. Now, ultimately, we trust
in Jesus Christ. When we leave this earth, we
will certainly be in the presence of the Lord
for all of eternity. But even in this life, when
we pause and pray, when we meditate on the Lord
and His Word, we are in the presence of the Lord.
And it's a beautiful thing when we take time
to intentionally seek out God. And David acknowledges
that there. He's giving us some good words here,
words of encouragement. That we need to be led.
We need a shepherd. We need somebody to lead
us because life is tough. And we sin and we go
through dark valleys and we wonder how we're
going to make it. Where's our provision going
to come from? Where's our safety going to come
from? Our security? How are we going to overcome
our enemies? How are we going to overcome our
temptations? How are we going to have our souls
restored in the midst of our seasons of just
burden on our soul? Well, David says it's going
to be through the Lord. So Jesus Christ is our
good shepherd. Are we following him tonight?
He will only lead us to good places. So we need
to follow him and trust him and know that he
will provide for us and take care of us. Let's
pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for these
good words. I pray that we would think about
them, that we would reflect on them, that they
would come to our mind, dear Lord. Maybe there's
a time in our life that things are going to be
tough, and I pray that you just would recall
your word, that we can draw strength from this,
dear Lord, Grace, dear Lord, and just live in
your mercy and know what your goodness feels
like, God. I thank you for your word. I pray
that it will just resonate in our life and our
daily life. In Jesus' name I pray it. Amen.