Lord, we have enjoyed meditating upon the truth
of your Word, upon this wonderful relationship
that we have with you, and that you are our shepherd.
And now as we focus our attention upon your Word
in Psalm 23, and as we hear it proclaimed to
us, may our spirits be opened and may the Holy
Spirit's voice be clear to our hearts. so that
we may know what you are saying and respond to
your work in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.
God employs many different pictures to illustrate
the relationship between himself and his people.
He says that we are children in his family. He
calls us members of the body. We are said to
be living stones in the Holy Temple. And we are
called branches of the true vine. But one of
the most blessed pictures is that of the sheep.
We are sheep in God's flock. Now, it's not that
this picture of us is completely flattering either.
Because, as a matter of fact, sheep are easily
frightened. They're not very smart. They tend
to be rather dirty, they are lost easily, and
they are easy prey for their enemies. But on
the other hand, sheep are trusting creatures,
and they learn who their shepherd is, and they
learn to follow him. And it is that particular
truth that is in view when we are called the
sheep of the Lord. That is what Jesus had in
mind when he said, I am the good shepherd and
called us his sheep for whom he laid down his
life. When a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus
Christ, he becomes a sheep in God's fold. Before
that, the Bible tells us that we are like goats,
which in the biblical sense were wild creatures.
untamed, not domesticated at all. Goats ran on
the mountain sides. And in the biblical sense,
goats represent unsaved people. We see this,
for example, in Matthew chapter 25, with the
judgment of the sheep and the goats that Jesus
talks about. We don't have time to go into that,
but you can see that representation there with
the goats. But sheep are those that are tamed.
They are brought into the care. the watching
over of a shepherd. And so when we become children
of God by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we no longer are identified as goats, but rather
as sheep. The Christian is shepherded through
life by the Lord and is secure in the Lord's
care. We see that in Psalm 23 by three statements
that are made by David. Statements of faith and
confidence. He says in verse 1, I shall not want.
In verse 4, I will fear no evil. And again in
verse 6, I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Three statements of assurance made by
David in light of the Lord's shepherding care
in his life. I'd like for us to look at those
this morning and to look at the entire psalm,
for each one of them tells us about our shepherd's
care too. We notice in the first place that the
Lord delivers his sheep from deficiency, verses
one through three. I shall not want, or I shall
not have need, I shall not lack, says David.
Of course, in saving us, our Lord in the first
place met all of our eternal deficiencies. We
were deficient of life, deficient of understanding,
deficient of light, deficient of righteousness.
And the Lord who is our shepherd provided all
of that for us, life and light and understanding
and righteousness. He has provided that for us
because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
But as David writes this psalm, he seems to have
in mind, rather than the eternal deficiencies
the Lord met, the temporal ones. The ones that
he faced every day in his walk with the shepherd.
So let's think of it in that sense. A present
experience application of the fact that the Lord
delivers us, his sheep, from deficiency. In the
first place, notice that he provides rest. from
our weariness. Yes, the Lord's sheep can become
weary. We are involved in a hectic pace of life,
aren't we? And we become exhausted in that. We
have feverish routines and schedules that keep
us worn out, not only in body, but in mind and
in spirit. Our tendency is to put other priorities
before God because we tend to live for the urgent
and not for the important. We beat ourselves
practically to death trying to live the Christian
life. We think that being a Christian or living
the Christian life involves doing this and doing
that and being there and being here and Being
involved in this activity or that activity, we
have to be a part of this and a part of that.
And the end result of it is that we just beat
ourselves half to death trying to live what we
think is the Christian life. We become weary,
not only in the schedule of our daily routine,
but in the actual process of attempting to be
the Lord's people. And that is why David says,
he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads
me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul,
he says. You and I at times have to be made to
lie down. And God arranges some convenient way
by which we are laid aside for a period of time.
And we think of that as an unpleasant thing and
yet the Lord looks at it as green pastures and
we ought to open our eyes and see the green pastures
there too. We need to learn to lie down in those
green pastures and to rest and to follow his
leading to what he calls the quiet waters. Sheep
do not enjoy drinking from fast flowing streams.
The rushing water, the splashing of it over rocks
frightens them and so they prefer the quiet pools
to drink from. Thus a shepherd, because he loved
his sheep, would take rocks and would build a
dam in the stream to provide at least an area
of quietness so the water would flow and fill
that area and be still. And there he would bring
his sheep so that they might drink from the waters
which they needed. And so our Lord does the same
for us, providing for us quiet and still waters.
Beloved, that is our need. The secret to living
the Christian life, the secret to facing the
hectic schedules that confront all of us every
day and every week that we live, the secret is
learning to rest. To rest upon who Jesus is and
what he has done for us. To realize that we don't
have to perform to do something more to make
us acceptable to him. For by his grace he has
already made us accepted in the beloved. Yes,
we want to be well pleasing to the Lord. Yes,
Paul says that we ought to labor therefore to
be well pleasing to the Lord knowing that one
day we shall stand before him at the judgment
seat. But on the other hand let us remember that
as believers in the Lord Jesus we can rest and
be quiet and we need to be. The Lord is our shepherd
and he delivers us from our deficiencies. One
of the deficiencies that all of us faces is that
of weariness and the Lord provides us rest if
we will avail ourselves of it. I'm talking to
some weary sheep this morning. There are some
of you that have beat yourself to death trying
to be what you think is a good Christian. Or
your schedule at work or at home has caused you
to meet yourself going and coming. Our good shepherd
today would take you by the hand and lead you
to green pastures and to the quiet waters and
would ask you to learn to rest in him. And though
that may not slow down the number of appointments
you have in the day or the responsibilities that
you have, it nonetheless will encase you in a
spirit of quietness as you pass through the busyness
of the day. The quietness our Lord gives us is
an inner quietness, not necessarily the outward
quietness of schedule. But is that sense that
we are right with him and that he is in control
of our circumstances and we can be at peace about
that? Then I noticed that the psalmist says that
the Lord provides restoration for our waste a
Hectic life not only leads to weariness, but
it brings waste also The more hectic and upset
We become the less profitable and beneficial
we are to the Lord as well as to other people.
What we need is restoration inwardly. For the
frazzled edges of our lives to be brought back
and sewn together, the Lord restores our souls.
He provides for us new strength. How does he
do that? Well, it is when we get to that quiet
place that we receive from him that spiritual
nourishment for the inner man. that enables us
to be restored. We first have to get to the quiet
place, and once we are there in communion with
him, then the Lord is able to restore our souls.
Are you restored today? Or are the edges of your
life frayed because of that hectic schedule you've
been trying to keep? or those sincere but fleshly
workings of your life to try to live the life
for God that he wants you to live. Draw apart
from that, beloved. As the Lord's sheep come
to the quiet waters, to the green pastures and
lie down, and there allow him to restore you
in the inner man. As the songwriter said, speak,
Lord. in the stillness, while I wait on thee,
hushed my heart, to listen in expectancy. Have
you been listening to the Lord this week with
expectancy and in a quiet place, where he might
reach down into that soul of yours and bring
it back to order from his confusion and chaos?
Where he might heal you from the hurts and the
cares where He might restore you. The Lord provides
for all of our deficiencies. He delivers us from
them. He provides rest for our weariness, restoration
for our waste. And I notice also He provides
redirection for our waywardness. It does not
take a Christian very long to understand that
even though he trusts the Lord Jesus as Savior,
it is forgiven of his sin. There remains within
him a tendency to wonder away from the Lord.
There is a certain self -indulgence that we still
struggle with. There is yet within the child
of God fleshliness, where sin operates as a principle
seeking to cause us to wonder from our paths
of walking with him. The Lord, our shepherd,
provides redirection for our waywardness. He
guides me, says David, in the path of righteousness
for His namesake. Isn't the Lord good to come
after us when we have wandered? When we have
gone wayward, we hear His footsteps behind us,
and we may continue wayward for a while. But
as we do, we hear those footsteps catching up
with us until finally we feel the hand of the
Lord in our lives. And we're brought to repentance
and we return and come back to the paths of righteousness
or to the right path. Why does the Lord do that?
For His name's sake. Because you see, you are
His sheep. You're His. and his name is identified
with you and for the sake of his own reputation
in your life the Lord persistently comes after
you when you've gone astray songwriter says I've
wondered far away from God now I'm coming home
the paths of sin no more to trod Lord I'm coming
home How wonderful it is when as children of
God we come to that place in our waywardness
where we say Lord I have strayed and I see that
and I repent of it before you and he redirects
us and brings us back to the paths of righteousness
for the sake of his name Maybe that's where you
are today As you honestly stop and evaluate where
you've been walking recently you see that it's
not been the paths of righteousness but other
paths that have brought you to the edge of disaster
perhaps or to the point of shame. And now our
Lord comes to you faithfully as your shepherd
and he says let me redirect your life. Will you
let him do it today? The Lord our shepherd provides
for all of our deficiencies. He's wonderful.
We're kept secure because of that. But I want
you to notice that also the Lord delivers his
sheep from danger, verses 4 and 5. I will fear
no evil, is David's statement of assurance. Oh,
what confidence rings in that statement. No evil
will I fear, none. There are two evils that seem
to be in mind as he says that. One is the evil
of the valley of the shadow of death, and the
other is the presence of his enemies. The valley
of the shadow of death is another way of saying
the valley of the deep shadow, which is probably
the better rendering of this. We use this psalm
and this verse in particular at funerals and
there's nothing inappropriate about that because
it's true at that occasion of death. But the
idea is broader than that. It's the valley of
where the shadows are dark. It's a valley of
uncertainty. where we are tempted to anxiety
because of the evil that may lurk there. As a
young boy I remember an occasion when I had played
at our neighbor's place with their children rather
late in the evening and it had become dark. We
lived a quarter of a mile away from our neighbors
and on the farm there are no street lights. The
only light you have is the stars and the moon.
And that's all that was there that night. And
it wasn't too bad along the gravel road, but
just as I was leaving to walk home, the neighbor
said to me, now watch out for the boogie man.
What a sorry rascal to do that to a boy nine
or ten years old. Now I knew that road. I had
walked it many times. I knew the trees and the
bushes, but suddenly, They took on new forms.
And lurking behind them was the specter of the
boogeyman. I read recently where that phrase
comes from. Back in World War II it seems that
the Japanese landed on a certain part of Indonesia.
They took the villagers and the women and children
They killed, and then they took the men to a
cave, and there they beheaded them. And as the
Japanese soldiers were walking away from the
cave, they looked around, and here were these
headless bodies coming out of the caves after
them. You say, what's that got to do with the
name? Well, that's what they did. They boogied.
No, actually, the truth is, The truth is that
that happened supposedly on an area of Indonesia
called Boogie. And so that that specter of a
headless body coming after you was the boogeyman,
at least in the lore of that story. The valley
of the deep shadow. What is the deep shadow that's
in your path today? What is the valley that causes
you to fear? What is the boogeyman in your life?
As you look out over the next week or the next
months, as far as you can see down the road,
David says, I will fear no evil. Now the implication
in the psalm is that the shepherd led him there.
Notice in verse 3, he guides me, verse 4, even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow.
And so as he goes through that experience, it
is that the shepherd has led him there. That
idea that when we walk with Jesus we never go
through a valley is a false idea. For our Lord
takes us into the valley just as the shepherd
took his sheep into the valley when that was
necessary. We need to remember though that the
valley is not the destination, the valley is
but a passage. That valley of the deep shadow
that is before you is part of the journey but
it's not where the journey leads to ultimately.
David said, I fear no evil, and the reason was
the personal presence of the shepherd. Thou art
with me, he says. Isn't it wonderful that when
we walk through the mountain heights or through
the deep valleys, the Lord is with us. We never
walk alone. That's why we can say the Lord is
our helper. We need not fear. Because He is the
one who has said. I will never leave you, nor
will I ever forsake you." The Lord who is always
with us has a provision for us that we need.
It's called a rod and a staff. These two implements
were symbolic of his power and his strength,
his care over his sheep. Haddon Robinson describes
the rod as a two -foot piece of oak. that usually
had a knot at the end of it. And into that knot
were pounded sharp pieces of metal so that the
rod became a very sturdy and heavy, fierce weapon.
It was the kind of weapon that could smash the
head of a predator that was close or which could
be thrown at a distance like it was a missile,
the shepherd's rod. But then the staff was that
other longer piece that we often think of and
identify with the shepherd. It was bent at the
end so that there was a hook. That longer piece
was used to hold back the branches, to clear
the path for the sheep. It was used to gently
reach up and tap the sheep, perhaps to redirect
him. It was used with the hook to reach down
and pull up a sheep that was caught in a pit
or on a ledge. So it was a very useful tool to
the shepherd. David says the Lord's rod and staff,
they're with me. I need not fear in this deep,
dark valley that I'm in. And you don't have to
fear either. Because the Lord delivers you from
danger. He will lead you through deep valleys
of darkness. But He is there with you and His
provision is for your sake. And He will never
leave you there. He will lead you out. But David
had a second danger in mind. It was the presence
of enemies. These enemies are not identified
personally. But he says, Thou dost prepare a
table before me in the presence. of my enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows."
Notice that the presence of the enemies does
not cause the blessings of God to stop. There
is still the table of fellowship with him. The
picture in the mind here is that of a lavish
oriental feast. David seems to leave beside himself
at the moment the picture of the shepherd and
he goes to the picture of a host. The Lord is
his host. And he sees himself at a table that
is lavishly spread with all sorts of fruits and
nuts and vegetables and meat that had been prepared,
an oriental banquet. And he sees himself reclining
there in comfort upon the pillows, delighting
in the presence of the host who has invited him.
He says, the enemies may stand around and watch,
but the Lord and I Well, we in the midst of that
sit down and we have fellowship together at a
table that is lavishly spread. He further says,
he gives me in the midst of my enemies anointing
with oil. That was a custom of a host in that
day, to anoint the head of the guest who had
traveled a distance with oil, to refresh him.
And so we have here the picture of the anointing
of refreshment. The Lord gives us that, folks,
in the midst of our enemies, whatever, whoever
they may be. They cannot rob you of the blessings
of the Lord. You can still fellowship with him.
Indeed, persecution from your enemies makes Christ
all the sweeter to you in fellowship. You still
have the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that oil
of God as it were. in your life. No enemy can
rob you of that. If you are placed in the solitary
confinement in some deep prison somewhere for
the sake of Christ, the Holy Spirit is still
there as your comforter, your teacher, your sealer.
He is there. And he says, my cup runs over also.
The cup of abundance. The picture here is of
his lot in life. He says, it is a lot that is
filled with abundant blessing. In Christ Jesus
we have received every spiritual blessing and
no enemy can rob us of that. We can still pray
to a God who is able to do exceeding abundantly
beyond all that we ask or can imagine according
to the power that works within us. No enemy can
steal that from us. And so in the midst of our
enemies, the Lord delivers us from danger. He
does. Because He is a faithful shepherd. We are
kept secure. And then finally, the Lord delivers
His sheep from doubt. Verse 6. How do we know
that we'll be kept secure? Through life and then
after life. Well, because again, of the shepherd's
protection. Notice that he says, 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. We have the shepherd's protection
for life. God promises us his goodness and his
loving kindness, that is his covenant faithfulness.
God is faithful to us because we have a covenant
established between us. that is sealed in Jesus'
blood. God's goodness and his covenant faithfulness,
he says, follow me all the days of my life. Notice
he says, they follow me. The shepherd is out
in front, leading the way, guiding us in the
paths of righteousness, but behind us in our
journey through life come God's caretakers, his
goodness, his faithfulness. that keep us moving
with the shepherd. And these caretakers are ours
for all the days of our lives. That is, for the
whole of them and for each of them. There's not
a day that God's goodness and God's faithfulness
does not minister to you and to me. The Lord
delivers us from doubt. Do not doubt Him in your
life. Remember that He is out in front leading
you. You may not understand how He is leading
at this point. He's leading you. He's leading
you in the right path for His name's sake. And
He brings up behind you His goodness and His
faithfulness so that you will eventually arrive
where He wants you to. How wonderful to have
the shepherd and no longer to be a wayward sheep
who's lost and without a shepherd. We have the
shepherd's protection for life, but we also have
the shepherd's protection forever, for afterlife.
For he promises us a dwelling place, and David's
mind in the house of the Lord was perhaps the
tabernacle, that place where God dwelt over the
mercy seat. To David, there was no greater thought
than to be with the Lord. To be with the Lord
in His house, is there a greater thought for
you? Can you think of any joy more sublime, any
delight that is more full than to be in the Lord's
house? And that is where we're headed. I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever, he says.
Beyond that earthly tabernacle, we see heaven.
that place that Jesus called My Father's House,
in which He said, our many dwelling places, I
go to prepare a place for you. Our Lord delivers
us from doubt. We need not doubt Him in this
life, nor doubt Him in eternity to come, because
He's already in eternity and He's prepared the
place for us. The place that is our Father's
House. But there's a dwelling place for each
of us who knows Him, who can call Him our shepherd.
The Lord delivers His sheep. He delivers us from
deficiencies. He delivers us from danger. He
delivers us from doubt. Let me close with just
three final considerations. Number one, are you
living out of your deficiency or in your shepherd's
sufficiency, which is it? I mean, are you living
today in weariness or in rest in Him? Are you
living in your own waste or are you experiencing
His restoration? Are you living in your waywardness
or are you knowing His redirection constantly
to the right path? Are you living out of your
deficiency? or out of His sufficiency? Which
is it? Which would you rather it be? What will
you do to begin to enter into the shepherd's
sufficiency? What do you need to do today in
terms of attitude and response to Him? A second
consideration is this. Are you living in fear
of some evil? or in the security of God's protection?
There is nothing that robs us so much of our
joy of salvation as worry over something that
may happen to us. Are you living today in the
fear of some uncertain evil, or are you living
in the security of God's protection in your life?
My friend, if you're living in worry and anxiety,
today lay aside. No longer allow that to be a
drain upon you, but trust the Lord's security,
His care, His protection. A third consideration,
are you living in doubt of your salvation or
in the assurance of it? Jesus said, my sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow
me and I give unto them eternal life and they
shall never by any means perish. Are you living
today in the doubt of your salvation or in the
assurance of it? God wants you to know you're
saved. If you're doubting your salvation, then
it's possible that you've never been saved. He
that has the Son has life. He that has not the
Son of God has not life. It's one or the other.
These things I write unto you, says John, that
you may know that you have eternal life. Do you
know that you have eternal life? Do you know
that goodness and mercy are with you now in this
world and that should you die today, you would
go to the house of the Lord forever? Do you know
that? You can. God wants you to know that. He's
provided for you to know that. You can know it
by trusting in the Lord Jesus today as your Savior
and returning to Him who is the shepherd of your
soul. It's possible that one can trust the Savior
and still doubt His salvation, however, particularly
when He's not following the shepherd obediently.
Because the assurance that we have in our hearts
that we are His comes from the fact that we walk
with Him. That gives us the assurance that we
really are God's sheep when we hear his voice
and we go in the direction that he tells us to
go. Maybe you're a child of God, surely enough,
but you've not been listening closely to the
shepherd's voice and today that's even began
to eat away at the assurance of your salvation.
Will you today respond to the shepherd? Give
them yourself anew. Give yourself in repentance
and newness of faith. So that you can say with
David, the Lord is my shepherd and I lack nothing.
Let's pray. With our heads bowed and our eyes
closed, I wonder just in the closing seconds
of this part of our service, how you need to
address the Lord. Maybe it's with gratitude that
He has led you and that He's kept you and that
you followed obediently. Not as a work of your
own effort, but by His grace. But perhaps there's
some deficiency. You've wandered. There's waste.
There's waywardness. Today you need to be redirected
back to the right path. Will you come back? Out
of my darkness, out of my blindness, out of my
disobedience, would you say, Lord Jesus, I come
to you? What about you my friend without the
Savior? Would you trust Him in this moment? Would
you understand your need of a Savior? Do you
understand that you're a sinner under the judgment
of God? Righteous judgment that you deserve.
But do you understand also that He loves you
nonetheless and has provided for you to escape
that judgment? Through the sacrifice of Jesus
on the cross. He's made that provision for you
And if you will bow the knee and receive him
today, he will save you and save you now Will
you let him do it? Right where you're seated
just tell them so Father I pray that our hearts
will be completely open and honest with you Knowing
that we cannot hide anything from you nor should
we want to May we not allow these seconds to
pass without responding in some way as the Spirit
would direct us. And may this be a new beginning
for many of us today. May we walk with the shepherd
and know the joy and the blessing that comes
from that daily experience. In Jesus' name, amen.