In this sermon, the speaker begins by reflecting on the fleeting nature of earthly beauty, comparing it to the lasting impact of the word of God. The speaker then transitions to discussing the 23rd Psalm, emphasizing that it is a well-known and beloved passage. They explore the authorship of the psalm, referencing 1 Samuel 16 and the role of Samuel in anointing David as king. The speaker highlights the beauty of the psalm lies in the fact that the blessings received by the sheep from the shepherd are also experienced by believers through the sufferings of Jesus Christ. The sermon concludes by emphasizing the importance of recognizing God's presence in our lives and the hope of eternal glory.

I really was going to continue with Hebrews, but as I was studying, I felt that the cardinal truths were brought to us already, and I would only be enlarging on these truths. What I have done this morning, and I trust that the blessing will be so rich that you will not be disappointed because of another line of study. I know that each of us have read the 23rd Psalm over and over and over again, but whether it really got into our hearts, or whether over us, will soon be made evident. We ask ourselves, first of all, what kind of person wrote this psalm? Who was he? And will you turn with me to the Old Testament, and in 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, the 16th chapter, 1 Samuel, chapter 16. We shall begin with verse 1, And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do. And thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said peaceably, I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on the lawyers, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Then Jesse called to Benedam, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by, and he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. Again Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. And it was Samuel who said unto Jesse, All here are thy children. And he said, They remaineth yet youngest. And behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, that is, he was red-headed, and with all of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah. Since the Garden of Eden, and the fall of man, and the blaming of Adam's trouble to Eve, and Eve's trouble to the serpent, there has ever since then been recrimination. Where one generation of young people blamed their parents for all their frustrations and all their hang-ups in life. Then those children become parents, and their children blamed them for all their frustration and hang-ups. And what was Watergate? Where did it start? In the Garden of Eden. They all blamed everyone else. And when about to be exposed and naked, they began to hide themselves with fig leaves. You know, David should have been, according to all the psychiatric rules, David should have been emotionally unstable. He should have been a neurotic and a misfit. But nowhere will you find David blaming anyone for anything. And we ask ourselves why, when he should have legitimately blamed everyone for the trouble he might have had, or the person that he might have become. Yet he did not do so. As far as we notice in the 16th chapter and verse 10, we notice that when the seven sons passed before Samuel, the Lord chose none of them. And if Samuel would not have interjected and put the question, are there any more sons, Jesse would never have been called. Why? His father neither discerned nor anticipated any qualification in David for greatness. He didn't discern it. He didn't believe it. And yet it was Samuel who said, are there any other sons? And the way the Hebrew conveys it, in verse 11, there remaineth yet the youngest, but of what avail? He's out there in the desert taking care of the sheep. As if to convey that's all he is good for. Now that would be enough to make me throw a hissy. I'd have a nervous breakdown. And that's exactly what I blamed my mother and my father for in my life. They were to blame. And the psychiatrist said, your mother is to blame. Your father is to blame. You are just a victim of circumstances. But do you know it's very sad when you and I grow up, and then youth is gone, and maturity comes along. And finally there is a sunset in our lives. We are still blaming our parents for what we are. I have come across such people. And they refuse to realize that they have grown up, they are individuals, they are responsible, but refuse to be responsible for themselves. So they blame their parents. Another thing, David's brothers, besides David's father, David's brothers had no use for him. And they predicated to him evil motives, wickedness. And where do we see it? We see it in the seventeenth chapter, where David was sent to take vittles, and a gift to the king, and vittles to the brethren. And as he went and was there, verse twenty-eight of chapter seventeen tells us, and Elias, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men, and Elias' anger was kindled against David. And he said, Why camest thou down here? And with whom hast thou left those few sheep? They were a few, they were many. But he tried to show the insignificance of his work, as well as putting them down as a shepherd, not being able to be faithful in taking care of a few sheep. Then he says, I know the pride and the wickedness of your heart, for thou art come down that you might see the battle. His brothers had no use for him, and they made him the scapegoat for everything. Therefore he had a menial task, for a sheep-keeper was one who kept the sheep, because he was looked upon as not being fit for anything else. But yet I want you to notice the sixteenth chapter and verse eleven. What characterized David in that verse was, he keepeth the sheep. Then I want you to notice verse nineteen. We read there, which is, with the sheep. Then I want you to notice verse fifteen of chapter seventeen. And David went and returned to feed his father's sheep. And then in verse twenty, and David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper. And we notice over and over again, in spite of his father having a low opinion of him, his brethren despising him, making him the scapegoat, in spite of the menial task that he had, he was constantly at the work of keeping the sheep. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it how? Unto the Lord, and it also says, diligently. So he kept on keeping the sheep. Will you notice, after he was anointed to be the king, the word keeps on telling us that he kept on keeping the sheep. Where is there such an individual who has been anointed and separated for a high position, who will stoop to keep on doing a menial task? And so with the Lord Jesus Christ, he knew that he came from the Father, and he knew that he was going back to the Father, in that high exalted position that he had with the Father, being co-equal with God. He took off his outer robe, he girded himself, he took a basin of water, and he began to wash the disciples' feet. Would to God, before I am taken home, that that principle and that spirit will be engendered in my own heart, that I will, in spite of the position in my heavenly home, the place of being with him, I will stoop down here to the lowest path. And we see it. He still kept on with the sheep. Will you notice something else? The word of God tells us in chapter 16 of 1 Samuel, that in verse 14, chapter 16, verse 14, but the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And in verse 18, one of the servants answered to the plight of Saul, there is a man, there is a man who can help you. Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty, valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in manners, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. Now he was a youth, but why say he's a man of war, and blow him up out of all proportion? For the reason that he wanted to appease the king, assuage his grief, and listening to that kind of ability, it would cause Saul to want him. And at the same time, if Saul was helped by David, then the one who spoke to the king about him would be honored. So he blew David out of all proportion. It is true, he eventually became such, but in the meantime, verse 19, he knew, Saul knew from this servant who told him about David, he knew where David was. It's very strange that while he was keeping the sheep, Saul was given the knowledge of it, and we read in verse 19, Isn't it wonderful, child of God? Now listen carefully. There was a man sent from God, whose name is John. Now where did he send him of all places? In the wilderness. And to all logic, it was suicide, for how could he introduce him who was to come, or come before him? When God puts a man in the wilderness, or in the desert, or to keep sheep, then that man will be sought out, no matter what. Because while John was in the wilderness, the whole city came out unto him in the wilderness. And when you are faithfully doing God's will, even though it's a desert, it's a wilderness, and a sheep, you're not liked, you're not appreciated, you should be frustrated, in spite of it all, it's right there in the wilderness that you will be sought for. Oh yes, indeed. And we see it right here. But if you please, he found favor with Saul. He played on the harp, and as the Spirit that left him heard the music, the Spirit, or the quietness, came upon Saul. And when he was finished, mind you, the character of David, when he was finished serving Saul, the word of God tells us in 1715, instead of going back to his father, instead of going back to his brothers and saying, now look, this has to stop, putting me down as you have, making me feel undesirable, trying to crush me, my personality, my ego, it's got to stop. I was in the king's palace, I was able to help the king, but instead of being so cocky, and vaunting himself before them, as soon as he was finished, we read in verse 15, And what is conveyed in the Hebrew is this, that it was a constant thing. He went to David, did what he was asked to do, David was quieted, I mean Saul was, and David went back to the sheep. He oscillated between the palace and the sheep. The palace and the sheep. Seeing all this, wouldn't you notice this blessed truth, that while David was keeping the sheep, what gave an equal poise in the life and the character of David, was that in the desert, while keeping the sheep, and instead of feeling rejected, he looked upon the sheep who were depending on him, and everything that he did for the sheep, so that they would not want, he began to see a relationship between God and himself, himself and the Lord. That's why, as he provided for the sheep so that they would not want, he said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In one of his psalms he said, and he called himself a sheep, and that he had almost gone astray. And in that twenty-third psalm, he restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. So we notice also, that while he was in that desert, taking care of the sheep, while he was there in the back side in the wilderness, so to speak, without giving him rhyme or reason for it, that is giving rhyme or reason to David, a lion came forth, a bear came forth, would take hold of the sheep, slay them, use them for food. And while there in the desert, he was made adept to be able to use a pebble and a slingshot. He did. He slew the animal, cut off the head, and there was a victory. But what he did not know was that he was being prepared right there for Goliath. And he was prepared in the desert, in that back place, regardless as to what he was thought of and the rejection manifested, God prepared him for two things. In the realization that the Lord was his shepherd. In the realization that he was able to keep the sheep and protect them. And then when the time came, in the realization that he said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and a lion and a bear came against them, and I slew them. And therefore, it was this Goliath who to David was likened unto the bear and the lion. And every experience in life is a process leading us to a great event. You have lived your life. It's coming to a sunset. And what the Lord Jesus is desiring is this, that there might be a beautiful afterglow. For when I would look at a sunset, it's gone. But the aftermath, the afterglow is beautiful. And it stays in one's mind. And so is a life that has been lived. And can that understand the various ways in the process to realize that the Lord is leading up to one event. That is why, child of God, I want to take you now to the twenty-third psalm. In the twenty-third psalm, we have here in this beautiful psalm, these words, and I will read them. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ, instead of green pastures, he was as a root out of what kind of ground? Dry ground. Dry ground. He was as a root before people, but he was as a tender plant before God. And so we notice, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Ye, 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemy. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This psalm has charmed more people into the presence of God than any other psalm that I know of. It's beautiful. But its beauty lies in the fact that all that was true of the blessing that he as a sheep received from the shepherd, it was gotten to him, or given to him, as well as to us, in the sufferings of that great shepherd of the sheep. And everything that is pleasant for the sheep because of the shepherd, and it was translated to his personal life, and the Lord being his shepherd, everything that was good and pleasant for the sheep was contrary and heartbreaking for the shepherd. That's why he was a root out of dry ground, and yet unto his father he was a pleasant plant. To go on with this, it says the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And here, child of God, we see the secret of a peaceful life. I shall not want. Then, what disturbs you and what disturbs me? And then gradually we begin to see and get God's mind on it. But there are many of the Lord's people who have grown and aged, and there is still that same frustration. What frustration? There are two dangers, two of them, which constantly beset us, from which we can only be free when we see that we've been crucified with Christ, and it is his life, not ours, that gains the victory in every phase of our pilgrimage journey. And finally, until he takes us home, these two dangers are still with us. Each individual is beset by the thought that perhaps they want too much, or fearing that they might not have enough. And that is enough to frustrate the light and disturb the peace. And the secret of it is, and in overcoming it, is found in Matthew, whole Psalm 23. Matthew, the sixth chapter, and verse nineteen. First of all, our Lord says, there is a danger of desiring too much. Therefore, the warning is in verse nineteen of Matthew six. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through. But lay up for yourselves, how can you overcome what's written in verse nineteen, by verse twenty. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. Then there are those who are afraid they might have too little. And so our Lord mentions it in verse twenty-five of the same chapter. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat and the bodies and the raiment? Does not God provide for the fowl, for the birds, for others? Does he not give an illustration of his abundant provision in nature like the lily of the field? How beautifully it is adorned, how simple and yet how beautifully. And the birds, the sparrows, they have enough. Therefore, in verse thirty-two, for after all these things do the goyim or the Gentiles see. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Therefore I shall not warn, is the secret of the peaceful life, but it's these two dangers that will frustrate that peace. That is why we notice the warning against these things of wanting much. First Timothy the sixth chapter verses nine and ten. In first Timothy the sixth chapter verses nine and ten we read this, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and the snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money, for the love of money is a root of every evil, which while some covet it after, they have urged from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Well how can I obviate this longing of wanting much, wanting too much? I find that in verse eight. And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. For godliness with contentment is great gain. Having seen this, I want you to see another verse of Psalm 23. And in Psalm 23 look at verse four. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Before that he does this, he does that, he does the other. But now it's the second person. And he says thou art with me. He has become so related to the Lord his shepherd that when thinking of his works the person became so precious to him that he holds intercourse at the most strategic time in a person's experience. 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. Here, before we have seen the secret of a peaceful life, but here we see the secret of a triumphant death. Thou art with me. And Matthew 28, 21 he says going out into all the world and preach the gospel. He knew the dangers. He said if the world hated me they will also hate you. But then in that commission he said I know I am with you even to the end of the age. Whether it be your life that is laid down or going on and in that generation he will be with them to the end, to the very end. I want you to know that in 1 Thessalonians 4, 17 it ends with so shall we walk. Ever be with the Lord thou art with me. The man of the world is characterized from going to his home to his business. If he has a happy home he will take that happiness into his business. And the child of God, that same principle should prevail in the life of the child of God. For instance, the child of God, the believer has also a home and that home is in heaven. He has been seated in the heavenly places in Christ and it has been said and I've used it and it's been a blessing. If I am seated in the heavenly places then why keep looking up? I am not to look up, I am to look down. For when I look down from the vantage point of my home in which I am dwelling according to God's purpose for I am in Christ and to which I will soon be entering. The only way I can have a true perspective of the world and all its allurements is by looking down. For as I look down I begin to realize this is not my home, I am a stranger and I am a pilgrim. But I am to have communion with him in that heavenly home and then I am to come down and go out about my father's business. The joy that I gather from him is the joy that I will emanate as I go out to the business of witnessing for him. And so we notice right there, therefore the child of God is not the king of terrors, not at all. And why not? Because he is the messenger that summons him into the presence of the king of kings. Coleridge, and I got that from a certain man who used much poetry. Coleridge said, is that a deathbed where the Christian lies? Yes it is, but it's not his, for death itself right there dies. Death has no power. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Then I want you to notice verse six. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. First Thessalonians 4, 17 tells us, forever with the Lord. Forever with the Lord. And as it tells us, forever with the Lord, in the meantime while we are here, John the tenth chapter verse nine tells us, they shall go in and out and find green pasture. What is that to do with being forever with the Lord? It will soon be made evident. When I go in, I find green pasture. For as I go in, there is heavenly communion. When I go out, I also find green pasture. For when I go out, there is an earthly testimony that brings glory to God. But the time is approaching when we shall no more go in and out. There is a difference between the garden of Eden and heaven. In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were put out, but they could not find a way in again. But with regard to home, oh, how different that is. Heaven has a way in, but you cannot find a way out. Forever with the Lord. Blessed indeed is that. Therefore, earth is not our permanent home. Heaven is. We are pilgrims moving toward the realms of endless life. That is why we are told that the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Let us set aside every way and the sin that doth so easily beset us. Then let us forget the things which are behind, the weaknesses, the waverings, the misgivings, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, who began our faith and will perfect it to the end, until we are forever with the Lord. Glorious indeed. But again, if I have mentioned this previously, it bears repeating. While I am through the pilgrimage journey, verse 2 says, he maketh me to lie down. If he makes me to lie down, it means he is over me. Then it says, he leadeth me beside still waters. If he leads me, he is before me. Then in verse 4, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is with me. Then in verse 6, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and if goodness and mercy shall follow me, he is behind me. Therefore in Psalm 139 I believe, the psalmist says, whither shall I flee from thy spirit? If I make my bed in hell, if I make it in heaven, wherever I might make it, I'm surrounded, I cannot escape the love that is in me. So here, the Lord his shepherd, the Lord our shepherd is over us, he is behind us, he is with us, he is before us, and that does not satisfy him at all. I and my Father will come and make our abode in him. The Lord God never purposed that he should be sort of separated from man. Man here and God there. The intent, the purpose of the Lord God was also to be in man, in man. And so he gave the illustration when his son came. It says God was manifested in flesh. And so this meditation of the Lord being our shepherd is very precious indeed, especially the house of the Lord, which is the secret of a glad eternity. And I cut out this poem. A little while the deserts will be o'er, the head shall ache, the heart shall grieve no more. Our golden harps before the throne shall raise our ever new eternal song of praise. In hope we lift our wistful longing eyes, waiting to see the morning star arise. How bright, how glorious will its advent be, the unclouded sun and all its majesty. How shall our eyes to see his face delight, whose love has cheered us through the darksome night? How shall our ears drink in his well-known voice, whose faintest whispers make our souls rejoice? If here on earth the thoughts of Jesus' love lift our poor hearts this weary world above, If even here the taste of heavenly things so cheers the spirit that the pilgrims sing, what will the sunshine of his glory prove? What the unmingled fullness of his love? What hallelujah will his presence raise? What but the one loud eternal burst of praise? Isn't that beautiful? Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, how we praise thee, that we are able to be thankful and praise thee. And our Father, future assurance gives present endurance. The precious of life fall by the wayside, as seeing that our future is as sure as he who sits on the throne. And we endure, we endure and we pray that in the midst of our pilgrimage journey, ere we are in thy presence, we will give forth an afterglow to the world. We ask it, our Father, in Jesus' name, and for his sake. Amen.