 Let's open up our Bibles tonight to Psalm 23. We're going to just be looking at these six verses in this Psalm. And this is going to kind of go off into just what Pastor David was talking about right now with the things that have transpired. I'm not going to get onto the whole political side at all whatsoever. But I do want to address just one thing. I've received emails and text messages. And so many Christians concerned about this recent decision. And my entire attitude has been, what are you worried about? I mean, what's the problem? What is it that you're so concerned about? I'll give you my modern day translation. What are you tripping on, man? Don't worry about it. This is just confirming what the scriptures have always said to be true. That these days are coming. And not too long ago, someone came to me and they said, well, how is it that you could just so easily just not be moved by this? This is what it's all about who you're being led by. And I follow the Lord. And I know that that is an obvious statement. But the point that I was getting across was the Lord's in control. And even in the midst of these difficult times, church, Christ is still leading His church. And so though the world around us is falling apart, and though the world around us is getting worse, it has not yet affected who we are as Christians in the sense of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who is the one that is the head of the church and is still leading and directing even in some of the most difficult times in our day and age today. And so when you look at a passage like Psalm 23, I was kind of just praying as to what the Lord would desire to encourage the body with. And for some, this passage might not be a passage that they would look at and say, well, that's a funeral passage. What are you trying to say, Pastor Dave? It's not a funeral passage. As a matter of fact, it's probably one of the most famous passages of scripture. And as you're preparing your notes, I would like for you to kind of title this all the way my Savior leads me. And looking at chapter 22, chapter 23 and chapter 24, and I'm only going to focus on chapter 23, I want to want to give you guys just kind of an overview of this, the way these books work out. You've probably heard this before, but I just want to kind of set the tone with this. Psalm 22 we know is speaking about the cross. 1,000 years before, execution by the cross was even thought of, David wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Psalm 22. And it speaks in detail in regards to the crucifixion. It's the very Psalm that Jesus quoted from when he was on the cross. Psalm 22, 1, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? And then you look at Psalm 23 and we know that we call this, the Lord is my shepherd, Psalm. And we kind of look at this. And clearly we take this as a Christ being the shepherd of us, the shepherd of the church. And then Psalm 24 speaks about the second coming, the coming of the Messiah. And so you look at Psalm 22, you have the cross. And Psalm 23, you have the shepherd's staff. And Psalm 24, you have the victor's crown. And these Psalms clearly give us an overview of Christ and his purpose and his ministry and his reign as king of kings and Lord of lords. And I love this Psalm because when you come to Psalm 23, it's believed that this Psalm was written at the end of David's life. And the point I'm trying to get across is that we're looking at a Psalm where David is reflecting back on the goodness and faithfulness of God in his life. And it seems that every time either a person is coming to the close of their life, they know that their departure is at hand, or they're going through some difficult times. And kind of now a lot of people are reflecting back at how good and faithful the Lord has been. And oftentimes when I find myself facing certain circumstances and situations, I always look back and remember well, the Lord got me out of that one and he met my need here and he carried me through this one and he encouraged me at this point in time. And I look at the situations that surround us today and I just looked at my wife and I just says, hey, the Lord's going to carry the church through this. What a great opportunity for the church to live for Christ. What a great opportunity for us to speak about Jesus and live for him and think about it. It's like, we got too many people talking about religion and nobody's talking about Jesus. Too many people living for religious ideologies, but nobody's just saying, I'm just living for Jesus. You mentioned that in Jesus, people look at your sideways, but that's who's leading us. The Psalmist puts it this way in chapter 23, verse one, your attention please. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. I love this here because when we look at this, we would say, who is David talking about? Now we know that David doesn't know Jesus the way that we know Jesus. Anytime we read right now, we're doing a study through the Psalms and you get down to these Psalms that are, you know, imprecatory Psalms. You guys know that to implicate means to what? Kind of pray bad on someone kind of thing. And there's quite a few Psalms that David wrote. And some people say, that's very hard. How do you write a Psalm like that and be a man after God's own heart? And it says, remember what Jesus said in Matthew. He said it in Matthew five, you've heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemies, but I tell you to love your enemies. So David's writing from the side of, you know, withstand your enemies. And so when you look at the letters that David has wrote, these songs and these Psalms that he wrote, such great truths in these Psalms and very encouraging. David is reflecting back on his life and he's saying here, the Lord is my shepherd. Who does David have in view? Well, we know that according to Genesis, chapter 48 verse 15, jot it down if you're taking notes. I'll be giving you a couple of passages probably without reading them. That way you can study them on your own as you go over the notes on this message tonight. But this Psalm here is a Psalm of the great shepherd who cares for his sheep. To some degree there were those among the body that really feel that the church has lost with this decision. Some of the greatest revivals in church history have broken out in some of the darkest days of society. What great encouragement. You know what I told my congregation on Sunday morning at each of our services, I says, you're probably expecting me to give a whole message on this, all I'm telling you right now is we're on the verge of revival. Pray, pray. Well, what do we do? You love him? Just like you love anybody else that needs Jesus. Love him, give him Jesus, preach the gospel. That's what we're to do. David's shepherd here obviously he has the Lord in view. Genesis 48, 15 speaks in regards to God being the shepherd of his people. It's a true testimony of the Lord's faithfulness throughout David's life. And we look at David's life and we see all the times that God has met David's needs and was there. And the great victory of David's life, David always reflected back that it was the Lord who had given him the ability to win these victories. And in the life of every Christian even here tonight, every single one of us, our victories are only a result of who God is. He's faithful. And when your enemies think that we're losing, we're really winning because we've already won. Take note of this, we don't need to fight for victory. We're fighting from it. Victory has already been won. So we're already on the winning side. So when somebody comes to you and says, you know, we're losing, you might be losing your mind, but we ain't losing. We're there, we're winning, we're winning. And so he says here, the Lord is my shepherd. In Psalm 28, nine, we see the reminder there of that very encouragement for the Lord being that. And this is what he did. It says here in Psalm 28, nine, save your people and bless your inheritance, shepherd them also and bear them up forever. Shepherd them. There's nothing like being in the care and the hands of the Lord. There's nothing like knowing that God is the one who is in control. And this is what he's saying here, that the Lord truly is his shepherd. What did shepherds do? They protected, they cared, they fed, they directed. All this is what they did. And so here, what is he saying? He says throughout my entire life, this is what the Lord has been to me. And here's what I love about what else he says in verse one. I shall not want. I remember when I was younger, I'm still young, but you know, when I was, when I was a little boy and I used to hear this passage and he used to say the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I used to always think, why wouldn't nobody want him? I never understood what this meant. Why, it just never made sense to me. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not, he doesn't want the shepherd? And as I got older, I realized what the psalmist is saying. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. That's a pretty powerful statement. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. What do you want tonight? What are the desires on your heart tonight? Well, you know, Pastor Dave, I would like a new job. I would like this now, there's nothing wrong with work. I'm all for work. But sometimes we want things that don't do nothing for us spiritually. We want the name Jesus, but we don't want the obedience to Jesus. What's the thing that excites you, church? What's the thing that motivates you? What's the thing that gets you going and stirs your heart? Now, listen, for me, yes, we can go down the whole list of things. My wife and my kids, I get happy when I see my wife in the morning. I do. I wake her up every morning. Oh, serious, I do. She tells me, you just don't like being awake alone by yourself, what's the problem here? She tells me that every morning. I just want to be the first person you see in the morning when you wake up. Okay, go make me coffee then. I'll go make you coffee. And yes, our families, my children. But what I'm always reminded of is I wouldn't have what I have if it were not for the Lord. The desire to want to know God more. Yeah, some of you've probably been walking with the Lord longer than me, but I've been doing this now about 15 years, almost 16 years. And do you know I'm still as excited and on fire for the Lord as I am today, the day that I first got saved? Do you know that? No, I'm serious. I'm like fired up. I'm just like so excited. And I tell my wife, you know, like, come on. You know, it's cracking up and just having a good time. And just like, let's read the word. And you know, and she's just like, okay. You know, it's just devotions, okay. Just devotions in the morning. Like, oh, let's keep going, you know, kind of thing, you know. And she has her moments too. But it just, I love that. Because it's not a religious ideology. It's a genuine faith. And you here know what I'm talking about tonight, amen? As you're here tonight, why are you here? Not to get your religious kick. You're here because you want to know more of the Lord, amen? You want to receive of Him, you want to grow, you want to hear. Some of you came tonight and you're like, I want to hear from the Lord. I shall not want, I shall not lack. If we could take a few moments, as I'm teaching, ask yourself this question. Might not be for all of you, but it may be for some. And I need to say this is, is He the Lord of all? Now you guys know this statement. If He's not the Lord of all, He's not the Lord at all. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Remember, when we look at this here, we know the whole picture, right? Sheep, we know what type of animal they are, right? They need to be led. I know what you were thinking. I was gonna say what everybody else says when they talk about sheep, but they're needful. They're very needy. They need someone to lead them. They need to be taken to eat. They need to be protected. They need to be led. And notice what he says here. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. In other words, David is saying that the Lord's provision throughout my life, it's been the Lord that has been taking care of me and he leads me beside still water. Are you aware that sheep will not drink water if it's stirred or moved? It has to be still. So a shepherd had a job. As a matter of fact, when it says here that he makes me lie down in green pastures, it's pretty interesting because sheep don't just lie down in green pastures. You see, the shepherd has a job that really, as he's going and he's leading the sheep, David is saying here, the Lord has been at my every step and has provided and has directed and has led me. And I'll tell you what, as I reflect back, I even see the Lord in some of my biggest mistakes. Can I get a witness tonight? And sometimes I'm even ashamed of the very thing the shepherd has had to lead me out of. But all the while, he was faithful to do so. What a gracious, merciful God, amen. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. And I love that. The term here to lead literally means gently leading the sheep. So patient with us, right? He goes on to say here, and he leads me in paths of righteousness. The paths of righteousness here, the term literally means paths means well-worn paths. And these are the paths that he leads us on. And this is what David is saying here as he's looking back and he's talking, listen guys, he's talking about his shepherd. You'll see that the transition is gonna change in verse four, but right now he's talking about his shepherd and this is what he's saying. Well, he is the Lord. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He goes on to say here, he restores my soul. Now I love this because the word there, restore in the original language, the word Shaub literally means that he turns us back. That's what restore means to turn back. And the understanding here is very clear. When you look at passages like 1 Peter chapter two, verse 25, it says that, you know, we were all like sheep that have gone astray. But the Lord in his leading us has brought us back. And for some, it might be that very thing that he brought us to him, but in others, as the Lord is leading us, the Lord sometimes has to bring us back to the elementaries and the basics of our faith in Christ. You ever kind of got lost in your salvation? I know those terms probably don't make sense. There's much debate as to those two terms even being in the same sentence, but the point I'm trying to get across is being lost in your walk. I have. Some people call it just spinning my wills, but our great shepherd, what does he do? He restores our soul. He brings us back. He brings us back to the very place of feasting on the word, fellowshiping in prayer, speaking to him. Most people, when they go through some of the greatest trials in their life, you know, that's one of the things they do. They stop reading, they stop praying. It's like Proverbs 18, one really teaches us not to isolate ourselves. But I'll tell you what, one of the greatest ways in difficult times is to worship. I don't know if you've ever done this. Have you ever worshiped when you've gone through something? I have. I just start singing any song that comes to mind. And I just start singing about the Lord and all of a sudden it's like, wow, what am I worried about? Amen? So I've been whistling purposefully around the church since this decision has been made. Pastor, you're really happy, praise God. Like really, praise God. Praise God for what? God, you asked me, I'm happy. I'm just telling you, praise the Lord. You're not, what should I be bothered about? The Lord's in control. I think that yes, there is a time for us to be concerned about certain things because as Christians, we need to be aware. We need to be prayerful. We need not to just walk into things blindly, but they should never take and consume the position that Christ has in your heart. The Lord is your shepherd. Do you lack? Good question. Do I? He goes on to say here that the Lord is the one who has led him. The Lord is the one who restores him. And he leads me in the paths of righteousness. You see, the direction the Lord takes us guys, but what's righteousness? It's right living, right living. Some people have asked the questions, what's the difference between righteousness and godliness? Well, righteousness is right living among your fellow man, among the body, among your neighbors, among your coworkers, among those, that's right living. And godliness is right living before God. And here he says that the shepherd leads in one direction and that's in paths of righteousness, meaning what? That the Lord leads you in a way that you will live righteously before your fellow man. Now I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather go the direction the Lord is leading than find myself in a place where I know he didn't. Why is that so important? How can we be so sure that the Lord knows best? Oftentimes I've come across people and I've given them advice and I say, well, you know, this is what the Lord would show us to do because this is what the scripture says. Some of you have probably been there and then they turn around and say, well, I don't know yet because they're so driven on one thing that they want. How do I know if God truly, truly knows what's best for me? Now you might say, who would ever say that? But I think sometimes in decisions we make, we make that statement. Does God really know what's best for me? Does he really know? Does he really wanna see me happy? It's always a person who's driven and they want one thing. I've had this conversation from time to time with single people. Come, don't do it. But you don't understand. Oh, I understand. You just don't wanna see me happy. I don't even know you. You don't like me. It's like, what are you talking about? This is what the word says though. What's wrong with that? I says, well, have you read the passage in the song of Solomon where the word is being spoken to the daughters of Jerusalem and it says, do not awaken love before it's time? You ever considered that? Well, you know what, God, then, do I have to be single the rest of my life? With that attitude, you probably will be. It's interesting how people, you know, I just, I share and I use this because single people, they come out with every, every counter argument because they're just so desperate to be in a relationship. It's mind blowing. And they disregard the counsel of leaders or mature Christians or the pastor and they just say, you just don't want me to be happy. Well, you don't have that problem. You're married. What are you talking about? Tell me. You won't understand. You've been married for such and such amount of years. You don't know what it's like to be single. I don't know what you're talking about. But is he the Lord of all? Is he the Lord of all? Because you can't serve or pursue two things. Matthew 6.24. Some of you single people are like, I didn't know this was gonna be a singles message. It's not. Just trying to drive a point. But just on a quick note, Adam never asked for a wife. God saw that he was lonely. God didn't leave it up to him. All right, I created everything. Go ahead, go look for one. He wouldn't have found one. God saw that he was lonely and took care of that need in his life and prepared a bride for him. But Jesus said in Matthew 6.24, you can't follow two things. You can only follow one. Right? You'll love one and hate the other. Right? But then what does he say in verse 33? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then, and then all things will be added unto you. That sounds like a condition, of course. Get with the program, but it's the truth. Matthew 6.33, the same thing. What delight the believer has to know that we are in the care of the Lord. Praise God. I was watching a clip before, you know, I drove out here tonight and a certain individual on TV has a show and went around asking children what their view of marriage was. Mind-blowing, mind-blowing. And I say to myself, you know, what's the church doing? What's the church doing? We are the ones who show the world what biblical marriage is. We show it by the lives that we live in our marriages. The encouragement should always be that your marriage is an opportunity for heaven to touch earth. It's an example. It's a picture of Christ and his relationship with us. But the Lord's faithful. We're going to get through this. We're going to get through this. The name of Christ will be exalted. We're going to look back and guess what we're going to say. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. He met the need. He was faithful. He led us. He brought us to these pastures and we lied it down. He led us beside these still waters. He restored our soul. He led us in paths of righteousness. And here's the reason why I know without a doubt that the Lord is able, because David says here, for his name's sake. Here's a couple of passages for you to read Psalm 25 verse 11. Jot it down, Psalm 25, 11. Psalm 31, 3. Psalm 106 verse 8, 106 verse 8. Isaiah chapter 43, verse 25. And Isaiah 43 verse 25, and these other passages in Psalm, these clearly point to the goodness and character of God. This is why God is able, for his name's sake. Because he's good, he's faithful. And someone says, well, how do you know God's going to deliver for his name's sake? How do you know the church is going to win for his name's sake? How do you know God's going to get you out of this mess that you got yourself in for his name's sake? How do you know God can restore this relationship or this marriage for his name's sake? How do you know God is able for his name's sake? Amen? Yes, thank you. That's awesome, church. So it's not a matter of just like, well, man, you know, this guy's really excited. It's not energy drink, trust me, it's not. It's the Holy Spirit. But he's our faithful shepherd, amen? Look at verse four. Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Now I love this here because a lot of times people grab this part and they say here, well, you know, this is it. Here's the death, the death verse, funeral. Here it is, ye though I walk through the valley. Well, really what it's talking about here is really threatening environment. That's all it is. Every day we're walking in death's shadow. Tomorrow's not promised to know what, correct? So you're walking in the valley of the shadow of death now. And we are in a very threatening environment. Your pastor was in a very severe threatening environment that he was able to go there because the Lord is his shepherd. You're able to walk in difficult times because the Lord is your shepherd. You're able to be in the valley of the shadow of death because the Lord is your shepherd. He goes on to say here, for the Lord is, ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Now notice what happened. Here's the transition. Take note of this, for you are with me. Notice that he says you. You see in verses one through three, the psalmist is describing who his shepherd is and in verse four now he's speaking to the shepherd that he's writing about. Pretty awesome. He says, for you are with me. That's moving for me. When was the last time you spoke to the Lord that way? You're with me. Goes on to say this, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The rod, obviously the shepherd would use for protection and the staff was really used as they would go to walk around. It would help them as they were going and leading the sheep. But it also had this nice kind of hook on it that as a sheep would go astray, especially the little ones, they were able to pull them back into the fold with it, hold the other end of it and just kind of pull them in. A lot of things the shepherds did. We know what happened to the sheep that would go astray. As they'd go astray and they'd wander off. Jesus talked about, you know, when one goes missing, you leave the 99 and go after the one. But in these days, when these sheep would go astray and if it continued to wander off, the shepherd would have to go and he would have to find it. When he'd find it, he'd break its legs and pick that little lamb up and carry it and carry that lamb until its legs healed. And after its legs healed, that little lamb would never leave his sight. Sometimes when we go astray, boy does the shepherd have to do some breaking, right? And man through that breaking, I like what the writer of Hebrews says in regards to that as he's encouraging them. And this is one of the things that I love what he says here in regards to chastening. Listen, he says this in Hebrews chapter 12, verse seven. He says this, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? Check this out. I was teaching this national language at our church and I says, man, if you're being chastened right now, that just shows that you're a Christian. Everybody's like, I'm serious. Look at what he goes on to say here. But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. I'm being chastened of the Lord, God bless you, bro. You're a true son, you're a true child of God. But just think of that there. The whole purpose of the shepherd's care, the responsibility and here for the Lord, it's what he desires to do, Genesis 49. We see in verse 24, Psalm 100, verse three, Psalm chapter 80, verse one in regards to the Lord here that David is talking about, but being the shepherd. But we also see that according to John chapter 10, Jesus is our shepherd. According to Hebrews chapter 13, in 1 Peter chapter two, verse 25, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And some would say the rod of correction, the staff of comfort. But it's really the rod of protection. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Going back on the note in verse four, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, enemies surround us. Here's the picture here. You're ready for this? Enemies surround us. We read the Psalms, right? David starts talking about all these things. They want me dead, they want me done. It's over, right? Kind of thing. And he says, Lord, vindicate me now, Lord. Vindicate me, help me, right? And we're reading these, and David's Psalms are very exciting. It's like, whoa, man, you know? Help him, God. It's already like past, done. And I'm getting excited. Come on, Lord, you know. And then the Lord prepares a table before him, the preparation, the Lord going before him, the Lord meeting his need, before David even really knows what his need is. And preparing a table before him, placing it in front of him. And what he's saying here, listen, is when my enemies desired it to be over, when my enemies thought I was done, Lord, you met my need for all the enemies to see. What a great opportunity. Or perhaps maybe some of those enemies to say, his God must be true. What an opportunity for us. What great privilege for us to be able to say, Lord, prepare the table before me in the presence of my enemies. But you know what, that's a result of, guys, listen, it's not a result of like, yeah, in your face, kind of thing. It's a result of the Lord being your shepherd, you shall not want. I'm not talking about joining a church and being in ministry. I'm talking about truly being in that place where you can say tonight that he's all that you desire. He's all that you desire. Because truthfully, he's all that we need. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemy. You anoint my head with oil. The term here, anointing, we know what it means as we read the Bible. It's associated with what? Blessing. You anoint my head with oil. And my cup runs over. There's an abundance of this blessings that you do and you work in us. And I'll tell you guys what, I can probably name a few blessings that I would say were from the Lord today. Isn't it awesome? It's like, God, you're so good. I didn't even see that. I didn't even know I had that need. Wow. You know, we say things like that, like, God was just on time. He wasn't up there running like, oh no, I better get over there and do that. He saw the need before you even knew that need was gonna come into your life and he took care of it. Why? Because he's your shepherd. And if he truly is your shepherd, we can say like David said, I shall not want because David never needed anything else. The Lord provided, the Lord met it, the Lord done it. Now the enemy will try to tell you he's not able. He can't do it. He doesn't work in that dynamic no more. You need to go out and you need to make it happen. You need to go out and you need to do it. You know what Satan's biggest fear is? That I've learned in my own personal experience that when the believer learns to wait upon the Lord, your greatest growth comes in waiting and it's the believer's biggest challenge. I feel like I'm not doing nothing. I feel like I'm not being used. I feel like I'm not going nowhere. I feel like I'm not growing. They get antsy. They get anxious. And before you know it, they find themselves taking steps that are not along the paths of righteousness. And then they look back and they say, how did I get here? You ever ask that question? I have. How did I get here? Lord it's like very easy. You took your eyes off me. You got anxious. You should have just waited. How long? As long as I feel you need to. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemy. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Notice that David here in the middle of verse six when he says, all the days of my life he has earth in view here. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And there he has heaven and eternity in view. You see, David understands that his entire time on this earth has been a result of his shepherd leading him and guiding him. Can I give you guys a clear picture of who David is speaking about? Get ready to jot these down. I think you'll like this as we close tonight. David said here that the Lord is his shepherd I shall not want. In other words, he shall not lack because the Lord has been his provider. According to Genesis 22, 14, what do we see there? Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. He goes on a little bit further and he goes on and he says this here and I think this is really good. It says he leads me beside still waters. In other words, there is great peace as the Lord directs and the Lord leads. It's calm, it's peaceful. The Bible goes on to say in the book of Judges, chapter six, verse 24, that he is our peace. The Lord is our peace. He goes on to say here as we read, he restores my soul. Yes, he restores. He turns back, he heals. The Bible says in the book of Exodus, chapter 15, verse 26, the Lord is the one who heals. Jehovah Rafa, he goes on to say this and he leads me in paths of righteousness. Yes, righteousness. According to Jeremiah 33, 16, the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah Tzitkinu, he goes on to say this in regards to speaking to the Lord. He says this, you are with me. According to Ezekiel 48, 35. Jehovah Shama, the Lord who is there. You see who David is talking about here? He's talking about the very one who has met his need but has been there. You prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies, the presence of my enemies. Yes, they seen the favor of the Lord upon his servant. Jehovah Nisi, the Lord my banner. And he goes on to say here, you anoint my head with oil. I love this here. Jehovah Mipkadesh, which literally means here. The Lord is who sanctifies, Leviticus chapter 20, verse eight. So because the Lord is his shepherd, David says surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Can I encourage you tonight, church, that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. And what are you looking forward to? That we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So what are you tripping on? What can you trip on after you read what David wrote about, amen? Isn't God faithful? Amen.