 It's Psalm 23, if you can please turn there. I don't know if you guys ever heard of Psalm 23. It's one of my favorites. You know as you're turning here, what would you say, as you already know what book this is going to be, what passage, what would you say when you consider the entire Bible, what would you say the most popular chapter in the Old Testament would be? Well a lot of us would say Psalm 23. There are so many passages that are in the Old Testament that are so beautiful, but for me personally it's Psalm 23. Everyone knows this Psalm. It's something that as children we've memorized, oftentimes even non-Christians have heard of Psalm 23 because it seems to be the favorite in funerals. What first Corinthians to weddings is Psalm 23 to funerals. This is a great shame because even though yet it's a great passage to read during a funeral it's not a Psalm of death, but it's a Psalm of life. It's a Psalm of life and rest and peace and it's a Psalm of all but six verses, but countless sermons, entire commentaries have been written on this six verses. It's a Psalm that encompasses our lives. It even extends into eternity, so through the 3,000 years old that it is, it's still extremely relevant for our lives today, you know, and on a personal level. There's things that I've been going through that I've been turning to the Psalms and it's been one of these go-to Psalms for me because yet when I'm going through a difficult time in my life, when I'm going through a struggle, I know I can turn to Psalm 23 and I can get peace and I can get comfort and I can hear of God's peace and comfort, and so many times we try to find this peace and comfort through the ways of the world. We go through something, we go through a crisis and right away we want to turn to other means. I joke with our Tuesday morning men's study, I tell them that they want to call Dr. Phil or Oprah Winfrey or turn to the view to get their feedback in crisis, but when we're looking for peace, all we do is turn to Psalm 23 because it's the book of peace, how God leads us as his shepherd. So let's take a look at it. What I want to do is just share some points about it. I want to break up some of the words in it because I found for me personally, it's been very helpful and you know, with the size here this evening, there must be some of us that are going through a difficult time, maybe times of uncertainty, maybe times where we're feeling we're walking through the valley of the shadow of death, or we're going through a time where it's just chaotic, we're going through a time where we're just on the go, we may be feeling lonely, we may feel like nobody else understands because those are times that I feel and I know I can turn here. So let's take a look at it, Psalm 23 and I'm going to read the six verses and then we'll get into our study, a Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs 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. Isn't that beautiful? The great shepherd. You know what's interesting about this Psalms here? It's nestled between two different Psalms. Psalm 22 talks about the good shepherd and how time and past that he died for our sins. Psalm 24 talks about the king to come. And Psalm 23 is the Psalm of great, a great God who gives us peace. It's a messianic Psalm, meaning that it speaks about Jesus. And so we see right off the bat here in verse one that it says, the Lord is my shepherd. I love this verse. King David is the one that wrote this Psalm. He knew what it was about, what it was like to be a shepherd, for he himself was a shepherd boy. That was his role growing up. He would tend and he would protect the sheep and he would fight off vicious animals that would come and try to attack the sheep. He knew what the role of a shepherd would be. But he also knew through the many highs and lows throughout his life that he was two, but a sheep with a great shepherd. David had had the highs of defeating Goliath and the lows of running from King Saul in the caves in Ingeti. He had the honor of being king over all Israel, but yet he's seen the lows of having his son, Absalom, trying to revolt and take over the kingdom. He had known feast. He had known famine. Yet in all these things that he's gone through, David, probably one of the greatest kings of the entire Bible, looks back and doesn't reflect on his kingdom. He doesn't reflect on the great accomplishments that he's had. He doesn't reflect on the great victories that he's had. Here's what he reflects on. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. That's amazing. What great confidence that David had in his God. You know, there's something about people who truly know their God and what God can do in their lives and to know that it always works out with God. Haven't we learned that? We've learned that it always works out with the Lord, that everything will always be okay. People that know their God will also know that through all things that Jesus is the good shepherd. And this is what God desires to work in your life. I like what the Apostle Paul wrote when he says in Philippians chapter 4 verses 11 through 13, it says, I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance that I am. I know how to get along with the humble means. I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I've learned a secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. And the famous verse that we all know, right? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Do we know our Jesus in this way? Are we confident that our Jesus is the good shepherd? Because if we do, we will live a life that reflects the peace that he leads his sheep into. You know, it's interesting that Amazon, when they released the Kindle, they did some research and they found that the most highlighted passage that was popular in their downloaded books came from the Bible. And it was the most highlighted passage in the Bible, what turned out to be Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 through 7. I mean, Amazon recognized this. It says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request being made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all of all comprehension, will guard your hearts and in your minds in Christ Jesus. It's great advice, right? But why are we so troubled by anxieties? Why are we so troubled by worries? Why have we found ourselves in a place where our world is upside down at times, and at times we're seeking for this peace and this comfort? Paul knew, as he was writing in the Philippians, that there was an anxiousness that people had. Interesting that Amazon even pointed it out. Well, we don't need Amazon to let us know how anxious we can get about things, right? We think about our finances. We think about our relationships. We think about our jobs, our marriages. I mean, you can fill in the blank on the things that causes anxiety, but when we have the true shepherd of Jesus Christ, he will lead us in those paths of righteousness. We're so anxious about so many things. Doesn't it seem to just get harder and harder to live here on planet earth? I mean, we think about our health. I was going to tell you guys I go to the gym, but it's obvious that I don't. But I do go to Jim's Burger. I mean, that counts, right? From a financial standpoint, from a moral and spiritual standpoint, from fear and anxiety, from the point of view of that, our hearts and our minds can be cluttered with so many things that will cause anxiety in our lives. There is much that a person can be concerned about. We see our days getting darker and darker, but Jesus is the good shepherd, isn't he? He's the good shepherd. Now, what I want to do is I want to break this first verse up a little bit, because what it does, it sets the tone for the entire passage. And so I want to take a look at some of these words that are here in these first verse. And I want to break it up here, just so it gives us a good foundation moving forward in these rest of the six verses. Because it's in these, in this first verse, that when we look at the words here, it really gives us insight to the great shepherd that Jesus is. And so when we look at the first thing that is mentioned is the Lord. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. Notice in your Bibles, it's the Lord, not a Lord, the Lord. And notice in your Bible that it's all capitalized. In the Hebrew language, that means Jehovah God, the Almighty, powerful God, the God who delivers, the God that says, I am, the God who says, told Moses, remove your sandals from the ground you're standing on for, the ground you're standing on is holy ground, the great I am. And the first thing that we notice in David's source of his comfort is recognizing who the Lord is. The Lord is his shepherd, the name Jehovah, the sovereign, Almighty delivering God. It's the name that Jesus took up in John 8.58 when he had told the Pharisees before Abraham was born, I am. So many people have placed their trust in all sorts of different things. And David had it right when he placed first and foremost in his life, the Lord. He put his trust in the one true God who controls all things. This also shows us that our need to give him his rightful place in our lives. You know, it's interesting, and I found this onto my own life, you guys, is that John has sat on the throne of John's heart for a long time. And that's gotten me into a lot of trouble. I don't know if you guys, I mean, I know I'm talking to a bunch of spiritual people here, but I don't know if you're, if yourself has ever thought, sat on the throne of your heart, thinking that it was your rightful place. How did that work out? It doesn't. I can tell you firsthand. And David here recognizes the Lord first and foremost. It's the one that we're to trust in who controls all things. We can be in pursuit with so many things, you guys. We can be in pursuit with many things, but when we understand that the Lord is to be first in our lives, we will experience true peace. But you notice what it says after the Lord? It says, the Lord is. I think a lot of times, as we read this, we memorize it, we can pass by that small word is. My question to you is, can you say that? Do you have confidence to say that the Almighty God is your shepherd right now? Not was, like he has been in the past. Not will be as we know that he's the same king as we look forward, but is he now your shepherd? David had extreme confidence in who God is right now. Do we have the same confidence in our God that he's our shepherd right now? Not who he was back in the day or who he will be? Is he your shepherd right now? That's a question I asked myself because a lot of times I can worry about so many different things. And I have to recognize not only is the Lord number one in my life, but I also have to recognize that he is at work in my life right at this moment. In Psalm 27.1 it says, the Lord is my strength. Excuse me, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life and whom shall I be afraid? And it's so interesting that after we recognize that who the Lord is and that he's our shepherd now, we see that it's personal because he said the Lord is my shepherd. This is probably for me, you guys, the best thing about this Psalm because it's so personal. We attach our ownership on a lot of things. My car, right? My wife, my kids, we attach identification as a personalization to a lot of things. And here David is saying, my God is my shepherd. When we take a look, take a closer look at this Psalm here, we can note the many times that it references I, my, me, his, you are used indicating that this relationship that we have with our shepherd is personal. There are only six verses here in this chapter, but the terms that these pronouns are used to make it personal is used over 30 times. There's a deep and personal relationship with our God. Have we got to that place friends where our relationship with Christ is personal? Is he truly your shepherd? Do we truly take ownership in our relationship with him? I think sometimes that we can have the idea of putting Jesus on the shelf and we use him as needed as a vitamin. And then when we're done taking him, we put him back on the shelf and he's in our periphery, but he's never in front of us as the Lord is my shepherd. And in times of trouble, we go to him as a vitamin. That's not a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That will cause heartache. I love what it says in Isaiah 40, 11. It says, he will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather lambs with his arms and carry them in his bosom and gently lead those who are with young. My shepherd. This imagery of a shepherd and sheep spans the entire Bible, but most prominent in the New Testament when Jesus speaks about his relationship with his people, his sheep. Ezekiel 34, 31 says, you are my flock. The flock of my pasture, you are men and I'm your God, says the Lord God. John 10, 11 says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. Only a God who loves so much would want a personal relationship with you and I. But if I were to ask you guys, how would you describe sheep? Will we say they're the smartest animal on this earth? What characteristics do they have? I mean, they're pretty dumb, right? Dirty, defenseless, dependent. Someone said they're the most dumbest animals on the face of our earth. And if there was such a thing as an animal school, they would be dropouts. If there's a ditch, they would fall into it and need to be rescued. And if there was a wire fence, they would get caught in it. And then the same thing would happen tomorrow. They don't run that fast. They don't have the greatest eyesight. Man, it sounds like it's describing me. They're defenseless, they're timid, and they're fearful. They're prone to wander. There you have it. That's the animal that God chose to choose to best represent us. Not very encouraging, right? But sheep need a good shepherd. They need someone to guide them, to love them, to protect them, to fight for them. Sheep need someone who will guide them and not beat them. And someone that would take ownership and have a personal relationship with them. I mean, I was thinking of, if we were sheep, what name would Jesus give you? Fluffy? I don't know. What name would He give you? Speckles? I mean, I don't know. But what's telling us here is that sheep need a shepherd. And we remind ourselves of this all the time that it's God who looks over our lives. And when we look again at verse one, it says, the Lord is my shepherd, and it says, I shall not want. David wasn't saying here that the Lord is my shepherd whom I do not want. He's not saying that. Nor is he saying, the Lord is my shepherd, I get everything I want. No, David's not saying that. What we're not talking about the things we want, we're talking about the things we need, not greed. It means that the Lord protecting and providing for us that we shall not lack anything that He has to give us. But do we have the same confidence in the Lord that David had to finally say, Lord, you are my shepherd, I'm going to trust you. And you know what, Lord, I'm even going to take it a little step further. And I'm going to say, I shall not want because we live in a society is, get all you can, the one with the most toys wins. And we've turned our want into greed. And David's saying here, no, when your confidence and trust is in Jesus Christ or in God, He will give you everything you need. Isn't it amazing that God will give us the things that we need? Even sometimes it feels like it's at the last moment. We're like, Lord, I'm crying out to you, I need you. Lord, I need you to come through. And on that 11th hour, the Lord comes through. I shall not want. Everyone loves this Psalm. But do we really believe it? I think if myself personally and all of us would just be able to grab this first verse and grasp it and hang on to it, that our hearts would then be able to rest. But what's even more striking for me, you guys, and I want to see if you would just bear with me for a moment here. But look at the order of this first verse. First recognizing that who the Lord is, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord that provides. And it's the Lord who provides everything that we need. And when we can understand that the Lord comes first and recognize Him as my shepherd, then we will understand that He is everything we will ever need is in Him. But sometimes we can reverse the order of this verse. And it can read something like this, I shall want first than the Lord is. Oftentimes our hearts operate from this viewpoint. Lord, it's about me first. I'm going to get mine. And so it's about me first. And then I'm going to recognize who you are. Sometimes when we are living in a life that's chaos without peace, it's because we have the order backwards. We're not to say, Lord, I shall want. You are my shepherd. No, it's the Lord is always first if we want peace in our lives. And sometimes we put ourselves in this situation where we do say, I shall want first, then the Lord, then after I get all what I need, Lord, now you can be my shepherd. And a lot of times we can reverse what is said here and we find ourselves upside down. We never know that if we do this, this never works. And it will never lead a life into total peace. But the confidence David had is that the greatest shepherd will always know what we need and when to provide it. Everything will be okay because our shepherd is in control. What are some things this evening that you may be thinking about that may be worrying you even as we speak? I would ask to see then is the order of that first verse intact because a lot of times when we take our eyes off Jesus and we put our eyes on me, we have a tendency to reverse this order of this first verse and then things already jacked up from day one. Instead of recognizing who the Lord is, the Lord that provides, the Lord that leads, the Lord that guides, but more than that, the Lord that loves. You know that He loves you so much and when we understand and have this confidence in Christ and that He loves us so much, then we don't have room for us. I've done this many times, you guys, this is how I know. I've had this verse backwards for a long time and it never worked out. I never had the peace of God. I was always worrying about things. You know, you guys, as you guys know this one, I got clean. I was a drug user for many years, many years, jail. I mean, you name it. And when I got clean, I started coming back to the Lord and I had this verse backwards because what I wanted was what John wanted instead of recognizing that the Lord is my shepherd and that He'll provide every need for me and that He will give me the things I need, that I started reversing that and saying, no, John first and then Lord second. And it was just a matter of time until my life was just because I tried to do it myself. But where does He lead us? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want it. It tells us here in the second part of verse two. It tells us that He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. You know, in the Middle East, the landscape there in, especially in the summer months, I mean, it doesn't rain a whole lot there and it's not like I'm an expert in the Middle East. But when shepherds had their flock out, they would have to go from pastor to pastor looking for nourishment. And the green pastures and the waters that are spoken of in this verse can oftentimes be a distance away and it can be apart from each other and the shepherd would have to lead his flock into these places. They would travel from pastor to pastor and when I think about this, I wonder if we can relate to this. There are times where it seems that we're in the dry and arid places in our lives and that the Lord is leading us from one place of refreshment and then we feel that we're going to another place and we find ourselves in a dry spot again. But then we must allow Him to lead us again into that pastor. And He says in verse two that He makes me to lie down so many times friends that our lives are so frantic that we're always on the go. Gotta do this, gotta do that, gotta do this and we're frantic about a lot of things and a lot of times the Lord's saying, hey, hey, slow down. I need to make you lay down because if you don't trust in me, it's going to be very difficult and it tells us that He makes me lie down and He leads me beside the still waters. He is in control of our lives. Jesus, our shepherd is in the business of leading us and bringing us to that place of rest. But we often try to work things out in our minds and we end up working ourselves into a place of nervous exhaustion, right? I mean, I'm one of these ones that I'm always trying to work things out in my mind. What about this and what about that and my mind's always on the go? I'm always trying to work it out and I end up working myself into a place where I'm stressed out. We must learn to trust in God. We must learn to trust in His guidance. We're to allow Him to make me and to lead me. I mean, sheep are stubborn. You try to make them go this way and they won't. They want to do their own thing. And what a shepherd would normally do when the sheep was doing that, he would actually break their leg and allow them to be in that place where they have to lay down and they have to drink of the still waters because if they won't, they will just wander off and find themselves in even a bigger issue. They may find themselves as lunch to somebody. We must learn to trust in the Lord. We need to learn to lie down. Yes, we're smart enough to do this in the physical. When we get tired, we take a rest. I mean, when you get my age, you take naps, right? Then I can't sleep at night. But it makes sense. We're physically tired. We're going to lay down. But what about spiritually and mentally when we get tired of trying to do and work all these things on our own and we don't rest? Where does that lead us to? We lie on our beds and yet carry the same thoughts in the inside. And what can it lead to? Burnout, breakdowns, depression. Sometimes it leads to suicide. Sometimes it's a severe mental breakdown, broken hearts. Our lives can be so chaotic. So many things fighting for our minds tonight, guys. So many things vying for our hearts. So many things that are not wanting us to lay down and rest in the Lord and to come beside the still waters. But I think Jesus, our great shepherd, that he does bring us to the green pastures and the still waters. You know, it's interesting when you look at this in the original language, the word lead, he leads me, is to lead gently. You cannot drive sheep. They'll go all which ways but loose. But the sheep will hear the shepherd's voice and follow him just as we listen to Christ in his word. We obey him. Sheep will not lie down when they're hungry nor will they drink from fast-flowing streams. So sometimes the shepherd will have to temporarily dam up a stream so the sheep can quench their thirst. This is why we read he leads us besides the still water. I don't know if you guys have listened to water that's flowing and still, it's just so peaceful. But when's the last time that you've allowed Jesus, our great shepherd, to just let you lie and rest, reflect on his goodness, reflecting on all the great things, and reflecting on his peace, reflecting on his love, refreshing from him and his word. You know, one of the things I always ask the guys on Tuesday morning, how much time do you guys spend in your word? Because if you're not, you will not be refreshed by these still waters. You know, I love what it says here in verse 3. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. Or he says, he restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. The paths that the shepherd takes us on are righteous or their right paths. They will lead us to places of rest and provision. It doesn't mean that the track that the shepherd's going to take us on is always going to be easy. Sometimes we'll go through the dark valley as we will see in the next verse. But when we see here that the paths that he leads us on, they're well worn out paths. They're sheep when they would start to explore an exciting new path that usually would lead them into trouble. But these paths are paths that are well worn paths, paths that the shepherd has led his sheep into. And a lot of times these sheep would want to go and do their own thing and it would put them in a place where there's danger. I like what it says in Hebrews 13.9. Do not be carried away about with various and strange doctrines. How easily as sheep we can be led away. So God will always lead us into that place which is right. That place which is true. That place that is for his name's sake. Now I think about that for his name's sake. Not for my name's sake. I tried so many times to live for my name's sake. What I wanted to do, how I felt. If it was good for me, I would do it. If I thought I would gain from it, I would do it. I was doing a lot of things in the namesake of John. But you know what? It never works out until I allowed Jesus, my shepherd, to lead me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. What does that tell us friends that he has a plan for each and every one of you? If we would just allow him to lead us. It's not what I've done. It's what Jesus has done. Our lives should be a testimony to God himself and these paths that we should desire to walk on. We must actively seek. David wrote about this in Psalm 25 in verses four and five. He says, Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. For you I wait all the day. Before that, he tells us he restores our soul or he refreshes our soul. The Lord brings restoration and all we need and everything that he provides. When we're able to be led by him, our soul is refreshed. I mean that's a phrase that we don't throw out all the time friends. Hi Ray, how are you doing today? Oh John, my soul's refreshed. We don't hear that. But what are the things that refreshes your soul? My wife, my kids, my job, my bank account, my, and a lot of times that refreshing of the soul is so often times traded for worldly things that eventually those things don't refresh our souls. Those are the things that will lead us down the valley of the shadow of death eventually. It's only Jesus who restores our soul. His refreshment only comes from him. Maybe a time of disappointment or uncertainty has entered your life. Jesus will bring you the refreshment that you need. And it's only after restoration can we be led in the paths of righteousness. But what happens when things begin to get dark? What happens when we're like, yes, Lord, lead me. You're my shepherd. You're my shepherd right now. You're the Lord God first in my life. You are my shepherd. You are personal in my life. But what happens when things get dark? What happens when things go wrong? What happens when there's crisis in our life? What happens when our world is turned upside down? Because in verse four it says, yeah, though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, sometimes those paths of righteousness that he leads us on leads us straight through the valley of the shadow of death. The difficult times, the times of tears, the times of brokenness, the times of like, Lord, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I can't go on this way. My heart is broken. I've been betrayed. And as sometimes as a shepherd leads a sheep from pastor to pastor, sometimes this also means that we pass through the narrow valleys that has steep cliffs that face on every side. These valleys were often so dark because of the shadow caused by the cliffs that they were a favorite place for predators to hide in. If it was up to me, you guys, here's how I wrote this verse. Though I close my eyes and I run through the valley of the shadow of death, this verse speaks to us of the trying times in our lives when there's darkness, there's confusion, there's fear. But notice that David, the psalmist says, yeah, though I walk, I walk through this valley. He doesn't stop. He doesn't give up hope. We may be in this dark place, but we must keep walking. It's not somewhere we're gonna stop and set up camp thinking that this is all we ever know. No, we're to press on that if there are shadows, there must be light around the corner causing the shadow to be casted. But I think sometimes we stall in the valley of the shadow of death. There's times in my life, guys, that has been great sorrow, great hurt. Sometimes I'm like, Lord, I can't get through this. I can't. I mean, I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about. I don't know if there's ever been in a time in your life where the valley of the shadow of death has been so great in your life. You're like, Lord, I can't even get through this. You're walking me through this and leading me. I don't even have the strength to walk. How am I gonna get through this? But we're to press on. I remember as a kid, I had a friend. He was a shadow. He wouldn't talk back, which was cool. I would just talk to him and he would follow. Matter of fact, he's behind me right now. You guys want to say hi to him? And I started thinking about, he's just a shadow. You know, shadows can never harm us. They can never harm us. And it tells us here that we must walk through as our shepherd is leading us. It's not a place where we're camped out, friends. It's a place that he's leading us through. Why? Why does God allow us to go through these valleys? Because not only does it build character, but it builds our trust in him, right? By a show of hands here, how many of us have been through the valley of the shadow of death? The rest are lying. You're going to come back to church on Sunday. No. Remember that time? Remember that experience? Some of us are in it right now. Some of us are getting through it. Some of us are walking into it. But you know, it's interesting. It's that it's when these times things become more personal. Look what it says at the end of verse four. I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Notice that there's a transition from he leads me, he guides me to now you are guiding me. You will comfort me. Your rod and your staff, they will comfort me for you are with me. Notice when things are about to get real here with David that he changes the pronouns to make it a little bit more personal. What does that tell us about our shepherd that he's near you during these times than ever before? That he's more close to you, that there's a more intimate relationship with you. When you are going through these difficult times, you can see here the language now changes from he leads me, he guides me to you are my staff. For it says for for I will fear no evil for you are with me. Just know that when times are starting to get serious and difficult, that it begins to become a lot more personal with our shepherd. I will fear no evil for you are with me. Instead of speaking about his shepherd, now David is speaking to his shepherd. It becomes personal when we go through this valley. Though the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives, we can actually go through these times of fear knowing that he's with us. But what's so difficult about going through the valley of the shadow of death? Because it's dark. We can't see. It's uncertain. It's fearful. It says I will fear no evil. When we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, a lot of times we equate that with evil. We're fearful. We're confused. We're dazed. And the very first time that we walked through this valley, it's always the scariest. But it's there that we can learn and know that our shepherd is with us even when we don't see him because he's leading us through. And even though we may not see him, he can see us and he's still protecting us. What a great shepherd we have, right? And each time we go through this valley, we can know in confidence that Jesus is with us. And going through these difficult times, they can paralyze us. It can really knock our confidence down. We begin to flood our minds with all the bad that will happen. But he says, you are with me. This is all David needs to know when he's going through this valley. All he needs to know is that when he goes through this valley, that he will go through these as Jesus is leading him. But isn't oftentimes we feel lonely in these valleys? We feel alone. We feel like nobody cares. Nobody sees. Nobody understands. I'm going through this alone, but it tells us here that you are with me. That just blesses me because regardless of what I'm going to go through or what I'm going through, I know that Jesus is there with me, even though I may not see him. He is there with me. He's leading me. He's guiding me even in the most difficult times in my life. Jesus is there. The great shepherd. I love what it says in Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 6. It says, Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear. No, be afraid of them for the Lord your God. He is the one who goes with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. And then he goes on to say that your rod and a staff, they comfort me. The shepherd's rod is the rod that the shepherd would use to protect his sheep from predators. He never used it on his sheep, but he would use it to fight off predators. The comfort is that our Almighty God is always protecting us from the robber, the predator. Nobody ever takes them by surprise when we're under his care. The shepherd's staff was used by the shepherd to direct the sheep in the way that he wanted them to go. And in the case of wandering, nosy sheep, he was able to use that to bring them back into line. And again, there's comfort in the fact that God directs us even when we need discipline from the Lord and pulling us back into line. It's comforting even that Jesus will bring us back. And Hebrews chapter 12, verse six, it says, whom the Lord loves, he chases. Verse five is probably one of my favorites. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. My cup overflows. Here, David pictures God as a gracious host who provides all that one would need, even in the times of apparent difficulty. The table represents all blessings that are ours in Jesus Christ. Enemies may surround us. The battle may be hot. Everybody around us hates us. There's no peace when you know that you have enemies around you. You don't even want to show your face. You don't even want to be around. And Jesus says, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. We know that enemies surrounded David all the time, but he's saying that the provision and the grace that God gives him gives them such confidence that in these times where we need to be fearful and anxious. And when our enemies are surrounded us with their presence, that we're able to still sit at the table of the Lord and enjoy his provisions. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. God's table is a time of provision, a time of feasting, a time of celebration. And a lot of times when we're surrounded by our enemies or we're surrounded here in this world, a lot of times it can cause anxiety and it can cause fear. And the next thing we know, we're just kind of paralyzed and stuck. And Jesus and David are saying here, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You haven't, it doesn't say you prepared. It says you prepare. That tense in the Hebrew, it's ongoing. God was the one providing for him. And he says that you anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Oil was used to anoint a guest in the house. When people would come into someone's house, the guest of honor would be anointed when they sat at the table. And Jesus is saying, or the Psalmist is saying here, in the times even in front of your enemies, I will anoint you as honor at my table. I will provide provisions for you. But oil also represented when the shepherd would put it on the eyes of the sheep and around the ears of the sheep, because mites and bugs would get into their eyes and begin and you get into the ears and begin to start eating away. And oftentimes when we're not anointed by the word of God, we will allow things to get into our ears that will paralyze us. We start begin to follow weird things. We start taking our eyes off Jesus. We begin to allow the things of the world to get into our ears and into our minds. And the next thing we know are eyes are off Jesus. And as a shepherd carefully anoints the eyes of the sheep and the ears and the nose that protects from any bugs or insects to get inside and cause damage. And it says my cup runs over in abundance even in the presence of our enemies. There's an abundance in Jesus Christ and surely goodness and mercy shall follow me shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Isn't it amazing? Can we say this about our lives? Will we only be able to say that if we truly have come to know the Lord as Jesus as our shepherd to know that we will that grace that goodness and mercy shall follow us that He will never leave you. He'll never forsake you that His goodness and kindness will always follow you. It's interesting the word in the Hebrew when it talks about the word follow just doesn't mean something that tags along like a dog. It means that it's actively pursuing you and to put it in perspective it can be a chase. It's usually used in a negative sense when Pharaoh chased Israel in the Exodus or when David was being chased from his enemies who sought to take his life. But he also knew something else that it was those things that he was also being pursued by goodness and loving kindness of our great shepherd. Did you know this evening that God's goodness and mercy goodness and mercy is following you? It's pursuing you in a chase. And David knew that this would carry on all the days of his life. Do we have the confidence in our God? What confidence for this life that this should give us as we believe in him? And then it says in verse 6, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Finally we have the small matter which occurs after my days here that our great shepherd will protect us and provide for his sheep during their this life on earth. But a greater provision takes place because it says, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever for eternity. There's a greater provision for you guys. It's a far greater blessing that is still to come. Revelation chapter 21 verses 3 through 4 says that I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and he shall be his people. God himself will be their God, will be with them and be their God and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and there shall be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, there shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Forever is a long time to dwell. But for now let us follow the Lord where he guides us, where he leads us. Let us stick close to him and thank him for his wonderful grace. He is not just a good shepherd. He is the great shepherd. He is trustworthy and he loves you so much. And all and when the days of this life are over then we should enter that which we can only partly imagine where it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9, no I has seen, no ear has heard nor mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. Are we allowing Jesus to lead us tonight? Are you walking through the valley of the shadow of death? Are we living a life that's chaotic? Are we living a life where we're wore down, we're lonely? Are we living a life that's frantic? Are we living a life that we're just, I don't know Lord I can't go through this anymore. And if that's you tonight put your hope and trust in Jesus Christ the good shepherd because he will lead you by the still and greed pastures. He'll make you lie down in the green pastures. He will lead you by the still waters. He will restore your soul. It's time that we give these to Christ and allow him to lead us and to know that when you are walking through that valley of the shadow of death just know that it's a walk and that we'll get through it and Jesus is leading us through it. Amen. Let's pray.