The Lord Is My Shepherd - Part 2

The last time I started a series, Lord willing, when I have opportunity to share a series going through Psalm 23, a psalm that is containing David testifying about the Lord. And he uses at least two metaphors that describe our relationship to the Lord and how He treats us. Right? The first is the Lord is our Shepherd. And we are one of His sheep. And he uses that metaphor. And the second is the Lord is a gracious host. And we are one of His guests. And these are incredible privileges to have as Christians. And my hope is as we meditate on these realities of who the Lord is, it's going to make you all the more grateful that the power of God, as we heard about in the first hour, forever came into your life, and make you think well and biblically about who the Lord is. Because one of the battles we have as believers is maintaining a correct perspective on who the Lord is. Right? Satan is often on an attack to get us to have a distorted view of who our Lord is. And so previously, we considered kind of an overview of the psalm and the first part of verse 1, the Lord is my Shepherd. And today, I want to go and focus on that next phrase, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Let's go ahead and read the psalm and then we'll pray. The psalm of David. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let's pray. Lord, we do thank You for giving us such a glorious psalm that is full of so many glorious truths. And Lord, I pray that You would help me to feed these sheep through this very psalm that speaks about You, Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Lord, You love this flock. You love this church. You love these believers. And so, Lord, I appeal to You, even this morning, that You would feed these brethren through Your words. Lord, despite all of my utter weakness as a speaker, Lord, I'm looking to You to provide in people's hearts deep and rich food, Lord, that I can't give them in my own power and strength. And so, Lord, I ask for Your help in this time. In Christ's precious name, Amen. Psalm 23 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. There was a young child once, they read this passage, and due to their poor reading comprehension at the time, they thought the text was saying, the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want that. I don't want Him to be my Shepherd. They thought that's what David was saying. That David didn't want the Lord as his Shepherd. And indeed, the text says, I shall not want. I shall not want. But that means not that one does not want the Shepherd. But that if the Shepherd is theirs, if He's yours, they will have their needs taken care of and have no wants. No needs. Now that sounds very controversial because many of us have needs. And Paul even says, uses that word in Philippians 4. So we're going to need to define what this is and what this is not. But David is really emphasizing, as I mentioned last time, he's confident in the Lord's provision for his life as he is this helpless sheep who is being led by this good Shepherd who is overseeing all of his needs. And children, you should want to be a sheep in this Shepherd's flock. It shouldn't be the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. But the Lord is my Shepherd, I want that. I want to be in His flock. You know, one thing I thought about is I've rarely met a young child who could say, I shall not want. Rarely met that. They rarely will say, I am totally content with everything that has been provided for me on my birthday or any other occasion. And the ones that I have met are full of such contentment. What would be the first and obvious reason? Why are they full of such contentment? Because they've been saved. Right? Christ is now their Shepherd and they can say these words. If you don't have the Lord as your Shepherd, you're going to have a life full of wants, full of emptiness. A second reason, though, maybe a child could appear to be content, is they just have general kindness of God upon their life and they're a pleasant child. Or here, a third thing is, many children seem content, but it's really a disguise. And for years and years, they conceal the true desires of their heart being known. They don't want to be portrayed as someone who wants something out there that they yet cannot obtain. And they're just waiting for that opportunity to have that pathway to dart after what they covet and think will satisfy their soul. And children, you might be one of those children waiting year upon year for that opportunity. But I can guarantee you this, if that door ever comes, you're not going to find satisfaction in whatever it is you think is going to bring you that joy and peace in your heart. Rightly understood, you could say that this psalm is a stunning five-star testimonial from David of why you should follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And David is completely biased. He totally shows partiality towards the Lord. And you and I should too. Because the Lord Jesus says, I am the way. There's no other way. We should have a bias towards Christ. We should be completely convinced about Him that there's no other option. Another young child said of this verse, their mother walked near their door and they were cleaning up, and they heard the child quote the verse incorrectly, but in a way, it gave an interesting insight into the passage. The child said this as they're cleaning up, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not whine. I shall not whine. I shall not cry. Now that's more accurate. If you're trusting in Him to provide for you, then to whine would be to complain about the Lord's care. But if you believe He's the perfect manager, then who are you and I to whine? He promises to bring you into green pastures to eat. If instead you find yourself in a dark valley, is He not there with you also? Depending upon what season you're in, David is convinced the Lord is always with him. And friends, if you read the life of David, if you read every psalm David wrote, you're going to see David went through many different tests and trials. But here he is expressing his confidence that the Lord was always with him. He went through many difficult situations. So believer, as a sheep of the Lord Jesus' flock, I asked you this last time, could you write Psalm 23? Could you go home or even as I'm speaking, write out these words and make it personal? Would there be anything about this passage that you would hesitate to write as being true in your own life? If that happens, then you have to examine your heart to see is there some characteristic about the Lord my Shepherd that I am doubting and not fully embracing and believing is true? This is what Satan wants us to have happen. So how would you describe his oversight? David here shows us how he filled out his pastoral survey questionnaire that he got. This is how he filled it out in Psalm 23. He's confident in this Good Shepherd over his life. And David had the question on the survey, how often does your Shepherd visit you? What was his answer? How often does your Shepherd visit you? What did David say? He said on that, well, He doesn't visit me. I live with Him. He's always there. Even when I sleep, even in the darkest of valleys, He's always there. You see, that's how good our Good Shepherd is. This isn't a matter of Him visiting you. You're in His flock. He's always aware. Wherever you and I am, He is completely aware of our situation and our circumstances, whether the valley or the green pasture. You know, maybe the picture David paints in this psalm makes you upset. I mean, a sheep peacefully resting without any want of fear or danger? I don't like that. That's not what I'm experiencing in my own life. I don't like this picture that David is painting. But remember here, David who wrote Psalm 23 is also the one who wrote Psalm 22. Look at Psalm 22, v. 2. I realize much here is pointing to even as Craig talked about in the Lord's Supper, these words of Christ. Christ applying these to Himself. But look at v. 2. Oh my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer by night, but I find no rest. Okay, how can Psalm 23 be true, and yet David is saying something in Psalm 22 that by night, I find no rest? Oh my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer by night, I find no rest. I mean, doesn't it sound like a sheep who had no rest? I don't think you should read into that reality that Psalm 23 is not true, just because David expressed that at that point in his life. He felt like he had no rest. Maybe it was in the valley, but look what he ends that... Sorry, not that Psalm. But throughout here, he's wrestling with the Lord and believing the Lord. V. 10, on You I was cast from birth and from my mother's womb. You have been my God. Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is none to help. David is crying out. The David who believes Psalm 23 is crying out when he's in the midst of a situation like a Psalm 22. And that's what we have to do. We have to remember Psalm 23 when we're in the midst of a dark and trying trial. We go to Psalm 28. Look at Psalm 28, verse 1. To You, O Lord, I call to my rock. Be not deaf to me, lest if You be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Be not deaf. Hear my voices of pleas for mercy when I cry for help. Look at verse 9. How does he end this psalm? O, save Your people and bless Your heritage. Be their shepherd and carry them forever. You see, David in the midst of this test in these trials, it's a time to remember who this Good Shepherd is and to remember who the Lord is, to remember His characteristics, and that He is with you even in the midst of this trial where it might not appear like He is. And so many of these psalms in a way are vivid examples of him being in a valley and the enemy no doubt wanting him to doubt God, but we see David exercise faith by praying and appealing to God and wrestling with the Lord in the midst of the trial. You see, that's got to be the same thing with you and I. We're facing a valley. This isn't just some given that the Lord is there and we just sit back and all is easy. The Lord wants us going to Him by faith and believing His promises and wrestling with Him. Years ago, Mike Morrow, who has since passed and gone to glory, preached a message at a conference called this, Don't doubt in the darkness what God has promised you in the light. We see that in David. He's wrestling in different psalms with doubting what he knew in the light. That's exactly what could happen to you and I. Our lives are not full of always being able to state Psalm 23 with some utmost confidence and no doubt. Sometimes we're like David and crying out, Lord, where are You? But David is persistently going to the Shepherd looking for His help, trusting that He will carry him forever. So, Psalm 23. The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want. The Lord is my Shepherd. I'm not going to lack provision. I'm going to be content. There's going to be full supply from this incredible overseer who is watching over every single facet of my life. Is David speaking about the present, the future, the past? What is he talking about here? Or as Jeff says, is it yes? Is it all three of them? Now if you look at the grammar, shall not want, the verb is in a future tense. He's thinking about future provision. He's confidently looking to the future. But what's he also thinking about as he writes this? He's looking on his past experience with the Lord as his Good Shepherd, and he's seeing this path that he's gotten to this point whenever he wrote this psalm. Whether it is at the end of his life as many believe, we can't certainly verify that, but David can look in the past, he can look in the present, and he can confidently go into the future looking to this Good Shepherd that he will not lack provision. He's so confident. How does he end this psalm? Verse 6, Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me, shall pursue me all the days of my life. Does that sound pretty confident to you? Surely and only, goodness and mercy will pursue me, will follow me all the days of my life. This is the same David who wrote some of those other things in other psalms. Yet David doesn't look at that and see any contradiction. Because you know what happened in the trial when he called upon the Lord? Goodness and mercy did come. He was delivered from the valley. But when he wrote that in the midst of the trial, it might not all appear rosy and happy. So often, that's how it is with us. We've got to believe what Jesus said. And behold, I am with you to the end of the age. We've got to remember this. We've got to believe this. We've got to trust this. We've got to believe that last verse. All the days of my life. That's the confidence he has now. And he needs that in the midst of the valley. Satan wants you to doubt that God is not with you. So, brethren, all that to say, again, this psalm and David's perspective on the Lord, it's not inconsistent with other things he says in other psalms. And this is a reminder for you and I to ask ourselves, what is our own perspective on the Lord? Do I have a right perspective that is consistent with the Bible when I'm in the midst of my trials of who the Lord is? If I were to write a poem commemorating my shepherd's care, what would I say? What would you say? Would it have a lot of doubts? Questioning? Would you express that He's watched over you every moment of your life and you can see His magnificent hand at work? What would you say the Lord means to you? Where would you express you want to dwell forever? Would there be a total confidence in the Lord's management and provision? What would you say? Do you ever try that? Do you try to write a letter expressing your love to the Lord? So often we do that in prayer, right? We're praising God in our prayers. Maybe get out a pen and be a ready writer to write something declaring your praises to your God. That's one of the beauties about journaling. You're able to remember all your way the Savior has led you. So you and I's perspective of the Lord is vital. This psalm is a call to look to the Lord for all of your needs. And you could say, I know that, James. I'm already seeking to do that. Brethren, I think so often we don't know this. We're not looking to the Lord. Though He uses means, we end up shifting with too much of an emphasis on the means and less of a focus on the Lord, our Good Shepherd. He's looking to the Lord for safety, food, guidance, everything. Everything ever provided for you and I, no matter the means, realize this, it had Christ our Good Shepherd involved in you obtaining whatever it was you obtained. He's involved in everything. Bringing the means into your life by which you were helped. That was Christ caring for you. It says in Luke 2:8 that the shepherds were with their sheep by night. The Lord's always with you. Because you and I are helpless sheep as we looked at last time some of those practical examples of how helpless sheep are. And the Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. And then what does He go on to say right there? He makes me lie down. If you remember, we looked last time at how difficult it is to get a sheep to lie down. And since that last message in the last two weeks, I've read multiple other books where there's people who are pastors who were once a shepherd, and they all seem to bring up these same four things. So I guess it was pretty consistent. Who remembers what those four things were that the sheep need in order to lie down and rest? Yeah, well-fed. Yeah, no tension between them and the other sheep. They can't rest if they've got a problem with the brother back there. Yeah, a sense of safety. Not sitting there in some fear that a wolf's going to come out and get them. One of you even gave me a very deep commentary to study as I go through this psalm. It's a children's book, Sammy and His Shepherd. It's a good children's book. I read it to my kids. I recommend it. They do take the entire psalm as just talking about the shepherd. They don't look at it as two metaphors. Just to make that brief comment. It's a good book. He makes me lie down. Again, the text says the Lord is my shepherd. And because the Lord is our shepherd, that's the basis, the ground for I will not want. All is going to be provided. And then he goes on and he describes different provisions. He makes me. He leads me. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. And that verse 2, he makes me lie down. Lie down and rest. We can so easily take it for granted how impossible that is. Even you think, brethren, you and I will lay down sometimes and we have good sleep with no fears. All is provided for. And we can just take that for granted. I don't know about you, but when I was lost, I did not have a whole lot of good nights sleeping. I had different fears, anxieties. There wasn't peace. There wasn't peace in my life. So the sheep need to be well-fed, free from bugs irritating them, free from internal bickering from each other, and free from fear. But remember, if I search each of those out in the Bible, does it really correspond in such a way? That was a question I put forward. Or are we pressing the metaphor too far? But for now, I want you to turn and look at Psalm 3. And we'll look at the Bible does clearly express this reality of something that the sheep needs in this area of being free from want and not fearing. Psalm 3. David, the superscript before v. 1, says, "...the psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son." I mean, imagine that. Your son is taking over your kingdom and he's trying to kill you. Are you going to have a good night's sleep? Are you going to be able to rest? If the Lord's your shepherd, I hope so. I hope so. What does he say? He's got many foes, many rising against him, many are sane. Look at v. 2, many are sane in my soul. There's no salvation for him in God. See, don't believe God. V. 3, "...but You, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy hill." And look at v. 5. "...I lay down and slept. I awoke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God." You see that. David is able. His shepherd so cares for him that when his own son is on a murderous tyrant to kill him, he can lay down and sleep even though thousands might encamp around him and want him dead. He's able to say, I lay down and I slept. I woke again, meaning he didn't die. He was safe. He didn't have to stay up all night long. His shepherd was there protecting him. A shepherd you and I can't see. We're trusting in by faith. He sustained me. I didn't want. I was sustained. I was content. And he was not afraid. You see this in David's life. You constantly see these realities that he needs to lie down and sleep. The good shepherd meeting those realities and giving him rest. Brethren, if you look at your life, I trust you will see the same thing has happened. Because if you're one of his sheep, this is a guarantee. He's doing this in our lives. I mean, the Father bought us with His own Son's blood. This is a guaranteed reality. But you see, this could make you upset. I don't experience this. Well, are you really not experiencing it? Or are you interpreting incorrectly your experience? Because if God cannot lie, and this is absolutely true according to the Lord, then what's really going on here? Is the Lord not your shepherd? Or is He your shepherd, but you don't rightly interpret how He deals with you? Something's happening here if we can't seek to lay hold of this. He lay down and slept. The Lord sustained him. And so here, thinking about I shall not want. I shall not want. You know what? If you trust in other support convoys as a primary supply, they can be taken out and removed. But the Lord your shepherd, He cannot be taken out. He cannot be removed. We saw in this psalm that like the rest of the Bible, this psalm is not primarily, let me stress this again, is not primarily about our shepherd's commitment to us. What did we see last time? This is about His commitment to Himself. Look at v. 3 again. He restores me. He leads me. What is the purpose behind all of this? For His name's sake. This is God's commitment to you because God is committed to Himself. And David's the one writing this. Meaning, David in his own life recognizes what's behind all of the Lord's actions is His own glory and His own namesake. That's why the Lord's doing what He's doing in His life. Just like David, you and I have got to recognize the big purpose behind everything that's happening. It's God being committed to God. And that will help you and I interpret more different trials we go through when we realize maybe the Lord's brought me in this because somehow He's going to get more glory for His name's sake. But if you just view this psalm, if you just view the Lord as just being committed to you as a sheep and it's all about a shepherd loving you and it's not about a shepherd pursuing His own glory and His own honor, then you're going to wrongly interpret different things that happen in your life. Because it won't make sense why I went through such serious of a trial. If it's just about the shepherd caring for me, why did He allow that? For His name's sake. For His name's sake. I mean, this is God being about God. And remember the grounds and the basis for why we will not want. It's the Lord as my shepherd. He's the one overseeing the cafeteria and what you eat. He's managing your armor protection in the dark valley. Or He's giving you absolutely no protection and putting you in a prison that you learn to be content in the midst of the jail cell. He has the maps to lead you. He knows you're going out before you even go out. He's got the grace to restore you in the midst of sin and failures as He restores David. He's able to be with you in the old age as your hairs get gray. He's able to walk with you through miscarriages. He's able to go through with the loss of children and a spouse and trials and apostasy in the church. He's bearing the responsibility of providing for you. He's with you when you sleep. So what does it mean, I shall not want? What does it mean? To not want is to not lack or to be without. It's to have your needs met. That's simple. You look at the lexicon, that's what it says. But there's a lot of different questions that I think come to our mind when we try to understand what David is saying here. First would be this, I shall not want, but in what areas? Is he speaking about not lacking in the physical realm? Or the spiritual? Or both? Physical? Spiritual? Both? What do you see in the psalm itself? What are the primary things there seem to be speaking about? Physical or spiritual? You guys with me? Physical? Spiritual? Both? He restores my soul. That's definitely talking about spiritual. He has a righteousness spiritual for His name's sake spiritual. But yeah, I think this is both. There's not a major reason to argue about it, but you don't want to just go to this passage and think it's just talking about the physical. And I think there's actually a wrong understanding if we try to separate physical from spiritual. I mean, when the Lord gives you property, what's the purpose of the property? Is it just some physical thing in a physical realm? Or did He provide it with spiritual reasons behind you having it to use it for His own name's sake? So we want to be careful here to just split the spiritual and the physical apart from each other and make distinctions there that when you go to the Bible, you find in 1 Timothy 6, the richer to be rich in what? Good works. God gave them what He gave them to use it for His name's sake. You don't want to think the physical things are not there for Christ. They are. Remember that one sheep in the flock named Paul? Keep your spot in Psalm 23, but go to Philippians 4. Look at what this sheep says here. It's pretty astonishing when you think about I shall not want. This guy had really learned something that I think many of us are still in the process of learning to a greater and greater extent. Verse 10, he said, I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length You have revived Your concern for me. He's telling this church at Philippi, You indeed were concerned for me, but had no opportunity. And he clarifies, not that I'm speaking of being in need. For I have learned in whatever I have learned. Paul learned something. His Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, got him to this point to learn something, and that is that in whatever situation he is to be, content. I shall not want is speaking about contentment. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty in hunger, abundance in need. And what did he learn? What does he then say next? I can do all things through my Good Shepherd who strengthens me. Right? Through Christ. Paul's saying the same thing David is saying in Psalm 23. I shall not want. Paul says the same thing. You go fast forward in time. Here Paul is saying the same thing. I shall not want. David's in the valley. Guess what? The Lord's with me. Paul's in the prison. Guess what? The Lord is with me. David is looking forward before Christ has come and really taken this banner of Jehovah Jesus, our Shepherd upon Himself in John 10. Paul has come after that. It's already happened. It's all the more clear what Christ has done. That Psalm 22 applies to the Lord Jesus. That's who strengthens Paul. Christ. That's who strengthens David is the Good Shepherd. Is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why Paul can state in v. 19, still in chapter 4 of Philippians, my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. And what is the purpose of the provision? To our God and Father be glory forever and ever, Amen. David and Paul, they're thinking the same way. We've got consistent theology here. To not want is to be content. That is to not have needs when you actually have needs. You don't describe them as true needs because you've learned to be in that situation and it's okay. I'm not being stripped of my peace. That's what happened to Paul. He's suffering. He's in prison. Most of us would say we have a lot of needs in that situation. Paul's able to say I'm fine. I'm fine financially. I'm fine in this situation. I've learned to be brought low. I've learned to be in whatever situation. I have learned the secret of contentment and that is that Christ is with me. But back to Psalm 23. Contentment, as they say, is this perfect condition in life in which no aid or support is needed. That would be a definition. But we would add to that as Christians, that's because all our aid and support has already been given to us and is being given to us right now through Christ. We're abiding in Him. Apart from Him, we can do absolutely nothing. And the opposite of being content is being discontent. A condition in which you're anxious, unsatisfied, and you're demanding aid. You can't rest. You can't lay down. Children, again, that's many of you. You don't have rest. Your life is full of anxiety. Only the Good Shepherd, only the Lord Jesus Christ, if you come and believe on Him, only He's able to give you that peace. He's the only one. There's no other option. Your parents can't give you that peace. The church can't give you that peace. Reading your Bible ultimately won't give you that peace if you don't believe on the One of Whom these Scriptures speak. You can see from David's life and you can see from Paul's, it would seem like they had a lot of wants and a lot of needs, but they actually had a lot of contentment because they were trusting the Lord. So this really goes back to perspective. Perspective. Same thing, don't turn there, but in Deuteronomy, he makes this comment. He says, these 40 years the Lord your God was with you and you lacked nothing. What does it mean they lacked nothing? Because later on in Deuteronomy 8, he says this, you shall remember the whole way the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not, and He humbled you and let you hunger. Wait, I thought they lacked nothing for 40 years, and now he's saying He let them hunger. Well, that's what? Them hungering wasn't them lacking. Because their hunger needed to happen for Him to do the test to see what was in them. Do you see? There's certain things the Lord is putting you in where it looks like there's really a need, but God's actually meeting a deeper need by putting you in the trial. And we've got to recognize that. And it might be 40 years of you feeling like you have lacked things, but the Lord describes your situation as you lack nothing. And you're thinking, that's not what I felt. Again, your perspective is wrong, not God's. You've got to repent of incorrectly judging God and His treatment of you. And you know what He went to say on in Deuteronomy 8? He wanted them to learn that they would know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. So they lack nothing, yet at the same time, the Lord let them physically hunger in order that they would all the more see the real satisfaction is going to come from who God is and from feasting on Him. The physical need carried a purpose of driving home a reality in their life that could not have been driven home apart from the hunger. The same thing is happening in our lives, brethren. We've got to interpret it correctly. And you know what? That would bring up one reason why so many want. They don't eat the green pastures, if you want to define it as the Word of God. At least one of the things. They're not feasting devotionally on Christ and His Word. And they wonder why they feel so much want when their devotional life is declining. Maybe it's just like what happened to the Israelites. The Lord wants you to see you've got to go to His Word. You need to feast on Him. So, I mean, what are you saying, James? What exceptions are there? I'm looking for the exception. When is the real situation where I really will want? Because it looks like David was wanting the Lord. Well, guess what? The Lord came. You see, you're in the trial, and there's a sense that God isn't with me. The enemy's trying to say, God has abandoned you. You and I have to keep believing the Lord. He will come through. He is there. He might not have revealed Himself to you and come around the corner to show you that He's there, and He's allowing everything to happen. That is happening by His own rod and His own staff. He's standing back and allowing that. We've got the trust. This is a life of faith. This text is not saying you won't feel wants inside subjectively, but you've got to discern those correctly. When your experience seems to contradict the promise that you shall not want, realize it's really your discernment that is lacking. I know our knee-gut reaction is to, I hope it's not, this is a bad statement, but your knee-gut reaction should not be to distrust the Lord. Your knee-gut reaction should be to distrust your own ability to discern what you are experiencing. Maybe you're thinking you stand in need of something which your Father sees you do not need at all. And what if it's really just some covetous desire in my heart that wants more? What if I don't really understand my real need? And I'm asking for that which will ultimately harm me, but I think from my perspective, it'll be good for me. You know what I find? Many people are stuck in the Psalms 84:11 dilemma. What does he say there? The Lord my God is the sun and the shield. He bestows grace and glory. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. And that puzzles people. How can he say no good thing does he withhold, yet apparently there are things in my life that are being withheld? Well, the obvious conclusion is what? The things that are withheld are not currently good right now. And so the shepherd is wanting you to be content. Not to fight his leadership, but to trust his leadership. Maybe ask this, how is it that there are situations I feel in desperate need, but another person's going through the same thing and they feel no need? What's the answer there? I'd go back to Philippians 4. Maybe that other brother or sister has all the more learned, like Paul, the secret of being content. They've gone through trials and they've learned, I gotta go to the Lord here. There's no reason to grumble, complain, be in fear. I don't want to lose sleep over this. I mean, you know how we say that? I lost sleep because of it. Or I lost sleep over this. I mean, that happens. David was able to not lose sleep, at least right there in that one Psalm, when his son's out trying to kill him. I lay down and slept. The Lord sustained me. That's amazing. Is this promise just for certain classes of sheep? And this can't be for all of us. I mean, doesn't the Lord make a hierarchy of all his sheep? David's like in that little group that he really likes his favorites. Is that right? What passage talked about that? The book of Satan, chapter one, verse one, speaks about that. Again, Satan wants you to doubt God. He wants to attack your mind that you would doubt the love of God for your soul. Remember, whether or not you and I can write it down doesn't mean every one of these realities is not already true. They do not become true by you believing in them. They are true from Psalm 23, whether you believe them or not. It's just true because it's God's Word. And it's what God has said. Yet at the same time, remember Christ saying, I didn't do many mighty works among you because of what? Unbelief. So maybe your situation is, I don't experience the reality of this because in the trial, I'm not actually believing God. And He's not supplying because of my own unbelief. And He's wanting to drive me to Him. Because again, the problem is not God. The problem is our own unbelief. We're wrongly interpreting our circumstances. So would you rather say, I shall want and constantly need and keep being beaten by the shepherd of death until I cannot rise? Would you rather be in the camp of saying, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, and He's just going to take care of me all the way to the end, all the way my Savior leads me? No want or care have I. But Satan wants you to think that's not true of God. Warren Peale, he wrote this just to help us understand the ways of God. He said, the other week, I came across one of those sayings that sticks to your mind and makes you think. An expert hits a target no one else can hit. A genius hits a target no one else can see. It struck me that there's a third level we could add. The Lord hits a target no one else can even imagine. And he goes on to say, how often in Scripture and in history does the Lord act in a surprising, unexpected way? His ways are not our ways. And that is not because God is being unpredictable in a random or arbitrary way, but because He is so infinitely greater and wiser than us so that we simply can't imagine what is involved in working all things for good. Wisdom means knowing what is best and knowing the best way to bring about what is best. And God does that in everything that He ordains. Just think about that. He doesn't just do the wisest thing nine times out of 10 or 99 times out of 100. He always does what is best every single time. You see, that's what we've got to believe. His perspective is beyond you's and I's. We can't see it. We can't see it. Again, does this all, I shall not want the Lord as my shepherd, this is great, I shall not want, so I just sit by passively. No, you got to believe God. You got to do as David did and cry out to God in prayer. You got to do as Matthew 6:33 says, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Or look at Paul talking to the Thessalonians. I mean, some of them weren't working. What did Paul say? Well, just wait until the good shepherd provides you a job. No, put them under discipline so they wake up and go get a job. I mean, this isn't talking about passivity. This isn't talking about sitting around. The Lord is not saying I'm bound to give you all these necessities if you just sit by and do absolutely nothing. Again, why do so many want? They're not obeying the good shepherd as he's directing them towards the green pastures. They're rather going in the opposite direction and straying. Maybe you're not even making your request truly known to God. You have some want that you think is a genuine want. Are you even committing that to God in prayer? Yes, the Lord uses means by which to fulfill this text. He'll use under-shepherds, pastors in the church, believers, and all other sorts of means. It says in Psalm 77, you led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. There's a lot of that that happens. I was led by Moses and Aaron. But God used people in my life to help me. And one might ask, well, wait, then how can the Lord keep His promise if means are involved? Because don't the means fail? I'm trying to be a means to help you. You might say, yeah, He's not helping me. He's failing to help me. Well, who ultimately is going to sustain me to help you? The Lord. So it's still back on the Lord. The Lord sustains the means in His providence to help you. And when I say providence, I mean it might be some random sermon you hear online. It might be a book you pick up at a conference. It might be a person's home you go into. It might be someone who calls the church's phone that you pick up for breakfast before you take them here. And you don't even remember what was preached that Sunday, but you remember that conversation and things that individual said that were specific food for your soul at that moment. God cares about feeding you and strengthening you. And if you look back in your life, there's all sorts of times the exact meal you needed, God gave it to you. Whether it's from this pulpit or whether it's somewhere else, God cares about feeding you and leading you all the way. And you might say, well, what do I do if I can't find grass and I'm just starving? Well, that's not consistent with what the Good Shepherd is saying. It's true of Him. So if I feel like that, if you feel like that, you should ask Him to feed you. Appeal to Him to give you some food for His namesake. And you watch, He will give you food. If you're believing for Him to feed your soul, He will do it. He will do it. So, a couple conclusions here. David can confidently say goodness and mercy will pursue him. I mean, what a statement. And yet, he does not know what tomorrow will bring. How can you say... I mean, isn't it the arrogant man in James 4? I'll go to such a town and trade and make a profit. Isn't that arrogance, David? No, no, it's not. He's not saying specifically what's going to happen. But he realizes in the broader view of things, goodness and mercy are always going to be pursuing him. And that's not arrogance, that's faith that can say that because that's true of his God. He doesn't know what tomorrow will bring. But he does know who the Lord is. And thus, he can have confidence heading into the future. Do you know who the Lord is? Is the Lord your Shepherd? Can you say, I shall not want? He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me. Is He leading you? Here's an encouraging example from the life of David. I was trying to read everything about David just to see what I could glean from David's life. If you remember in 2 Samuel 5, what did they call David? David was what of the people of Israel once he became Cain? He's called a shepherd. A shepherd king. In 2 Samuel 5. Remember this account? 1 Samuel 30. 200 people were too exhausted to cross the brook. Remember that? Women had been taken and they were going to get them back and they get to the brook and 200 people are too exhausted and they don't go. And the rest go and they get everything back. What happens when they arrive back to the 200 who are exhausted? The others, with David, thought, well, because they didn't go with us, we'll not give them any of the spoil. Right? What was their interpretation? Those are worthless fellows. David, the shepherd of Israel, did he view those 200 people who couldn't go as worthless fellows? Did he in an overzealously harsh way look at them and condemn them as being spiritually lazy because they didn't make it across the river? No, he did not. David realized the Lord is the One who gave us victory. That's what he says in v. 23. And so David realizes the Lord is the One who preserved us in the battle. And so David made sure those who were exhausted got the exact same share as those who went into the battle. And he even made it a law in the kingdom to prevent such an unrighteous act of partiality happening again that did not reveal the moral character of who God is. You see what type of shepherd David was of Israel? How much more the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He willing to come and tenderly care for you and I? I mean, look at Him on the hillsides feeding the 5,000. Did they deserve any food? No. And what does He do? Feeds them. This is the character of Christ. And He's given undeserving, weary people not only food, not only let us share part way with the goods, but He's actually died for us and made us co-heirs with Him seated in the heavenlies with God. It's absolutely remarkable. Often the proud religious people like the Pharisees, they look at the exhausted men and they think just like those men of David, oh, they're worthless. How's your attitude towards the weak, brethren? Does it imitate the good shepherd? Or do we let harshness enter in and treat others in a way that is not honoring to God? The Lord wants you and I's confidence in Him. Is this attainable? Can you have Psalm 23 for you? Absolutely you can. David here expresses such confidence in God. Why can't you express the same? You and I who have this final revelation here before us that David didn't have. It speaks about Christ. Listen to this. Psalm 31. You know what was right nearby? You could turn there real fast. Psalm 31. We're almost done. Verse 19, this is David. Oh, how abundant is your goodness which you have stored up for those who fear you. Even there, you see, there's not this passive thing. There's a right view of God. Fear and reverence of who God is. And work for those who take refuge in you. You see, you've got to take refuge in the Lord. But he says how abundant is your goodness which you have stored up. Look at your life, Christian. What's in store for you? The good shepherd has things in store for you as you walk through this wilderness. He has in store provisions and providences and that which will encourage and stir your faith. He's got in store for you riches in here that He's just waiting to show you as you sit down and feast on this Word. You should expect Him to do that. You should expect Him to take what's in the storehouse and give it to you. And you say, well, how can you be so certain that He has goodness stored up for me? Well, I'd ask you this. You want to be certain? Have you ever looked at the story about the Lamb who dogs encompassed all around Him and killed Him? It's not a children's book that talks about that. It's the Bible that talks about that. Oh, it's right there in Psalm 22. So look at that verse. Verse 16. You know one of the main things that kills sheep? It's dogs. For dogs encompassed Me. A company of evildoers encircled Me. They have pierced My hands and My feet. That's Christ. You know what it took for you and I to be part of the flock? He went out there as those dogs were coming to maul you and I to pieces, and He took our place and He died in our stead like a lamb with no shepherd there to protect it. Where's the Father at? As this lamb had His hands and His feet pierced. As the dogs encompassed Me. Where is God the Father? Right there as He's enduring such sufferings. Where is the Father at? As this pack of dogs is mauling Christ. Where is the Father's staff and the rod to come and protect the Son? Where is it? Where was the Father? Where is the Father to fulfill justice? The Father was not only allowing those dogs to maul this lamb, but this perfect lamb who had never strayed, He not only didn't take His staff to protect the lamb, but He reached down to His belt and He took a knife of His divine justice and wrath, and He Himself slaughtered this lamb on that cross. And this lamb was His only Son who took upon the sins of His people. And unlike Abraham who put the knife back in the belt and did not have to slaughter His Son, the Father did not put the knife back in His belt. But Isaiah 53, it says it was the will of this Father, of the Lord, to crush His Son. And it's in the Son's death that the price has been purchased to bring you and I into the fold. So, you say, give me a good reason to believe there's goodness stored up? That's your reason. Christ died. And that's the exact same reason Paul appeals to in Romans 8 for you and I to be stirred up to believe the Lord. He says in 8.32, the well-known verse, if the Father who did not spare His own Son, but He gave that Son up for us all, how much more then will the Father also with Him graciously give us all things? And if He's graciously going to give us grace and glory, how can we not trust Him in this life? Even for the physical? The physical is so pathetic and stuff you see. If we're believing for the greater, the spiritual realities, how can we not believe Him for that which is lesser? And if He's given us His Son, how can we not believe Him for all these other things? And that's the basis for David saying, I will not want. The Lord is my Shepherd. How did the Lord become His Shepherd? Psalm 22 and the cross. That happened. And here you and I have this risen Christ. And He says to us, fear not, little flock, it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Fear not. You know what the one thing we lacked? That we do not say, I shall not want anymore. We lack the perfect record of righteousness. And no more does the Christian say, oh, I lack that perfect standing before God. It's been freely given to us by Christ. Not because of works that we have done in righteousness, but because of His own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit which He poured on us richly. That is where our hope is at. Brethren, it says in Hebrews 13:20, Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, You said it right there in that passage that all the equipment necessary to serve You and to make it through this life, Lord, You've said right there that You're going to give it to us. And Lord, I know that our experience often is not Psalm 23, but it can be more like Psalm 22 and Psalm 28 and some of those other psalms. And so, Father, I pray. Lord, I pray that You'd equip these precious sheep of Yours who sit here, that You would equip them according to Your Word and for Your namesake, Lord, that You would feed them, Lord, that You would feed them even as they read Your Word tomorrow morning, Lord, that it wouldn't be dullness, it wouldn't be something hard to understand, but Lord, You'd show them wondrous things from Your Word. Lord, if You've done the greater on that cross, Lord, feed them. Equip them. Lord, help them to be able to lay down and rest, even tonight, with a world falling apart with wars and rumors of wars. Lord, we're thankful that You give Your beloved sleep. Lord, we're thankful You don't cast us off. We're thankful even as we'll look at in the future, You restore our souls, Lord, and we're thankful that You did the ultimate restoring of life of the soul on that cross after You rose Your Son from the dead and He ascended into heaven 40 days later. And we thank You for giving us the Great Shepherd. We thank You, Father, for the Lord Jesus Christ Who's caring for us. And Lord, we want to imitate Him, and yet, Lord, we absolutely need Your help and Your power. And Father, I also just pray, Lord, those here who are not in the flock, who don't have Your tender, loving care, Lord, I pray that You would draw them to Yourself. Lord, that they would no longer be content to live their life full of want and need and dissatisfaction in the world. Lord, that they would come and believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Please, Lord, do that. Save the lost. I pray this in Christ's name, Amen.