Welcome to the Susquehanna Valley Baptist Pulpit. Preaching a life worth living, abundant life in Christ. And now the message. As you're turning there, I was sitting there listening to the announcement about the Flemings, remembering that I believe I ate dinner with them one time. We were at the Love Feast, and I think they were in first grade or second grade, and now I'm looking and they're in 11th grade. So it's amazing how time flies, and then that reminded me that I was 15 back then, and so that was a reminder to me as well. So, it is good to be here, and I look forward to seeing the Flemings here eventually, whenever they come. That's exciting. Psalm 23 could be known as the Shepherd's Psalm, and we'll begin reading here in the Word of God. Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of thine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a very familiar passage to all of us, I believe. Even the lost world is familiar with some of this, and portions of this scripture. Yet, hidden in here, in this passage, the Lord takes a picture of a shepherd, and He takes the sheep, and something that's been around for a very long time, and He teaches us a very precious truth, many precious truths from His Word. And if you were here in Sunday school this morning, you would have heard the first reference to a shepherd. Shepherds have been around for a long time. In fact, Abel is recorded in the Word of God as the first shepherd. You think about that, the second generation of mankind, and there was a shepherd. So the shepherd and his sheep is something that's been around for a long time. And I've enjoyed getting to study a little bit, not just Psalm 23, but also what else the Word of God has to teach about shepherds. What else shepherds have to say about shepherds. I just am excited about this. And there's a lot of fun facts, but in the midst of all the fun facts, there's great truths in the scripture here. And I like and pray that the Lord allows us to look and to get into those things, and that He would work and speak through them to our hearts. So we'll be turning here a couple times, a little bit, just to read more about the shepherd. But the first passage we see here is, the Lord is my shepherd. And over in Matthew, I'll turn there here. Matthew chapter 10 in verse number 36. This is speaking of Christ. The word of God says, but when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. And I would like to note here the attitude in the heart of the shepherd is that of compassion. And then it would cause to answer the question, what is the sheep without the shepherd? Where is the sheep without the shepherd? And I would note from this passage that the state is that a sheep without a shepherd is fainting and scattered abroad. That is where we would find sheep without a shepherd. That is how come you see even Abel back in early, early, early, early history. The sheep still needed a shepherd and we have Abel as the shepherd. And where would the sheep be without the shepherd? They would be fainting and scattered abroad. Here in the very first passage here we see The Lord is my shepherd. And I would ask you tonight, is the Lord your shepherd? Christ compares himself as being the shepherd. He compares us to the sheep. If you would turn in your Bibles to John chapter 10. Christ actually takes a whole portion of scripture here and speaks of, gives a parable, often called the discourse on the good shepherd. And he gives us much about that. He says, And then we would go down to verse 4. This is speaking of the true shepherd. Jesus Christ, and when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of the strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he speak unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. Verse 14, I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and I am known of mine. What a wonderful passage as we see here how one can truly say the Lord is my shepherd. Now it's important to notice the context here. It's interesting that Psalm 23 is written from the perspective of a sheep. This is from the perspective of a sheep speaking of his shepherd. And we find in the scriptures that for one to be able to boldly proclaim as this individual here, as this sheep, is boldly proclaiming, the Lord is my shepherd. And in order for that to be so, the Bible says that as Christ is the good shepherd, he is also the door. We find him as the door, another name of Christ. And he says, by me, men will enter in. The one way into the flock of God, the only way into the flock of God, is through the door, and that door is Jesus Christ. And He is that Good Shepherd. And if one is to declare, just like the writer of this passage, then he must have first come through the door, and that is Jesus Christ. And when one comes through the door, they begin a relationship with that Good Shepherd. And that relationship will grow, and we'll see it growing throughout these six verses here. The Lord is my shepherd. It is done so by entering in to the flock through the door. Another thing that's interesting is the Word of God says, and Christ tells his disciples, The sheep, they hear my voice. They know my voice. And for the strangers that come and call unto them, they don't hear. They don't answer. They actually flee from a stranger's voice. Now, sheep are very skittish animals. They like having their shepherd, the one that they know. and that He knows them. He knows their needs and they know His voice. And that is what we find not only in nature, not only when looking at the shepherd and his flock in nature, but also in the scriptures here. Christ is speaking to a people who know about sheep and know about their shepherds. And He is reminding them that just as the sheep Listen for the voice of their master and it brings them comfort. It brings them the recollection of that relationship they have with him. So you and I as believers who have entered into the flock of God are able to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd. And we are able to distinguish the voice of the Good Shepherd from a stranger or a hireling or someone that is a thief that is entering in to steal and to kill. And he says, that they hear His voice and they follow Him. They hear His voice and they follow after. And we, as the flock of God, as one of these sheep in Christ's precious flock, as we hear Christ's voice, as He speaks to us, we are to follow after. We are to pursue. We are to be led by that shepherd. And that is something that's important to see in the picture of the shepherd. is one that leads and the flock follows him. And just so Christ is our good shepherd, is leading us, we hear his voice, we hear his word, and we follow him." What a wonderful lesson we have here in parallel. But he goes on to continue that thought, the sheep here as the one giving these thoughts. And we know this is obviously not a sheep, but we're using a picture. The shepherd is Christ, And the sheep, no doubt, is David. He says, the Lord is my shepherd. And he goes on to continue the thought. He says, I shall not want. I shall not want. It's an amazing thing. Whenever you have a good shepherd versus a bad shepherd, there's great comparison. Now it's been said, I'm going to read a quote here from a shepherd. He says, sheep, When considering sheep, no other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more careful direction than do sheep. Sheep left to themselves can be destructive. Sheep left to themselves will actually eat the pasture down and destroy the pasture until it's no longer usable and they'll destroy the land. So it takes a good shepherd to provide for those sheep. For a sheep to say, I shall not want, it's because there is an effective, administrative, directing hand of the shepherd at work. And he says, I shall not want. He makes that comparison. And what a wonderful thought when we consider the work of Christ. Back in John chapter 10, he said, I am the good shepherd and I have given my life for the sheep. No, it is no wonder then why we have no need to want. Because if Christ has satisfied the need for my soul for eternal salvation, surely he can satisfy all the daily needs, all the daily provisions that I need as I go throughout life. And Christ makes that comparison. He says, just as the shepherd would be willing to lay down his own life for the sheep, whether it's before a bear or before a lion, we see David doing that as a shepherd. If he's willing to give his life, then surely he's willing to take care of the rest of the sheep's needs. And we're going to continue here and just keep seeing more and more about how this shepherd provides for his sheep. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. This is something I never considered before, but I just mentioned how flocks can eat themselves out of pasture. They will eat and dig down and eat up the roots and then there's no more grass. And it's important for the shepherd, if he's going to have a healthy flock, he needs to have good food for his sheep. But he also needs his sheep to be calm, to be at peace. And sheep have a tendency, when they've eaten their pasture down to nothing, they aren't at rest. They're constantly looking for the next meal, the next bite. And whenever it's hard to find, they'll be on their feet continually. And the shepherd I was reading after said that you don't want that for your sheep. It's unhealthy to have worrisome, fretful sheep that are out searching for food all the time. They're going to be thin, They're going to be skittery. They're going to be scared. They're going to be jumpy because they're not in good health. They're not at peace. They're always wondering where is the next bite going to come from. But he says in order for a sheep to lie down to rest, to be comfortable and at peace, and that's a healthy thing for that sheep because then it can conserve all that energy. It's just eating its food. It can sit down there and ruminate. and re-chew that cud and just enjoy being there. He says in order for that to happen, it's going to happen best in a green pasture. It's going to happen best in a place where there is no longer, that sheep's no longer looking for its next meal because it's actually laying down on its next meal. It knows it's there. And what a wonderful parallel to us. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. We always and forever will have the Word of God. It's something that we will have to feed upon. It's something we don't have to wander about and worry, where are we going to find the answer to life's next problem? We have the answer in the Word of God. He says, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. That also speaks of the care of the shepherd. The care of the shepherd to provide that green pasture. the care of that shepherd to watch his fields, to rotate those flocks. It just speaks continually of a shepherd that has compassion. He sees the need of his sheep, and he goes about and he takes the effort and the steps that are needed to provide for that sheep. And just so Christ is our good shepherd, is looking over us, watching over us, sees our problems ahead, and knows exactly what we need. He knows exactly the food we need, knows exactly the pasture we will need, and gives us those answers, gives us that peace. He's a providing shepherd. We see also that He leadeth me beside the still waters. Sheep also need clean water. Not only do they need grass, they need the water. Sometimes, that is, the shepherd takes them out early in the morning and they can feed off the dew, off the grass. But oftentimes, He has to lead them to clean water. I would note that our shepherd, our living shepherd, Jesus Christ, He is the living water. so we can drink and thirst no more. He is the provider. The Word of God says here again, He restoreth my soul. We're looking at the compassionate shepherd. He restoreth my soul. Now remember, if you're in the flock of God, He's restored your soul once from that sin nature. You are now in the flock of God, but yet the sheep can fall. This studying I was doing, and I had heard Pastor mention it here recently as well, he talked about a cast sheep, a sheep that's cast. And I wanted to see what that looked like, so I looked up what a cast sheep looks like. And it's a pitiful sight, really. It's a big, plump, healthy sheep laid over on its back, and it's just laying there. Its legs are all like... stiff, he's just laying there in the grass. And I was looking and watching and there's this man, he's a shepherd, and he was showing how you fix the problem here. He comes up and he said, you have to walk the fields daily to look for a cast sheep. Because if a sheep is cast, depending on the weather, they probably have 12 hours to live. And they'll be laying there on their back and the gas is building up inside of them because their body's not made to function that way. And he said their legs, all the blood runs out of their legs and runs into their head. Just picture a sheep here on its back, okay? It's laying here on its back, its legs are up in the air, and it's just laying there waiting and watching. It happens most often with healthy sheep, really. The more plump, the more dense, the more wooly they are, they have a greater tendency to cast themselves. And so they'll go about and they'll lay down and they'll be in a rut and that rut will swallow them up and they can't roll back over. And he said he goes around each and every day and he restores the cast sheep. He restored and in the passage here, he restores my soul. The sheep says he watches and he sees the shepherd coming when he needs his soul restored and the shepherd restores his soul. And in the video I was watching, the shepherd comes up and he takes the sheep and he just rolls him over, and the sheep staggers up on his feet, his legs are asleep, he falls to the ground again, he gets back up, he staggers around, and eventually he's on his way, but he's been restored. The sheep was about to die, the sheep was going to die, and he mentioned this, and it reminded me of the passage where the shepherd goes out after the one out of a hundred sheep, you remember that story? That parable where the one sheep was lost and did not come back into the fold, and the shepherd goes forth to save him, and the shepherd made this statement. He said, if you save one cast sheep a day, it pays for your day's wage. He said, that's the value of the sheep. You go and you write, you restore that sheep. He said, you just paid for your wage for the day if you're a shepherd. And so he was speaking of the importance of going out in the fields and he said, sheep do this all the time. This is a common thing. Sheep need restored. And so it is for us in our daily lives as we go through life, we get cast. We're like a cast sheep, we're on our side, we're unable to help ourselves. And we need the Good Shepherd to come along to restore our souls, whether that is spiritually giving us a word from God, a word of encouragement, whether that's sending someone along our way to point out the wisdom in God's word, whether it's sending an encouraging hand to uplift us in times of trials, There are many things that could set us aside and cast us by the wayside, yet the good shepherd goes about daily seeking out those sheep. That's why it's important that the shepherd counts his sheep. We find that in the passage in the Gospels. He keeps close account. And he's always looking for that one sheep, even that one, that needs restored. And he says, it's a good day's work if I just save one sheep. That's what the man in the video is saying. He's saying it's a good day. It is a good day's labor. If that's all I did for the day was restore one sheep, the value of that restoration is my whole day's wage. He said it's a wonderful thing. And many times he was restoring multiple sheep in a day. And that takes a loving, compassionate shepherd to do so. In fact, sometimes the good shepherd goes and he stands that sheep up on his feet and his legs have been so fallen asleep because the blood's gone that he needs to stand there. and rub the blood back down into the sheep's legs. I thought that was interesting. Just pointing out the care and the compassion that the Good Shepherd, our Lord, often has to do for us as we find ourselves cast into the Savior, sometimes calling or crying out to God. And we know that we have that Good Shepherd who is walking about daily, seeking to write and to restore the souls of those that have fallen and need uplifting. We're not talking about restoring their salvation, they are still part of the flock. But rather, lifting them back up, saving them from what has cast them aside. He restoreth my soul. Continuing on with that restoration, What does he do after he restores their soul? He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. There are a lot of paths that a sheep could take, but the Word of God says that the Good Shepherd leads them in the paths of righteousness. We saw that the passage in John 10, that the thieves cometh not but to seek and to kill and to destroy. They're out to destroy the flock. They're out to lead them in paths that are going to be destructive, but rather the good shepherd leads them in the righteous path. And for a sheep, what that would look like is the sheep is being led from green pasture to green pasture. He's being led into the correct pasture so that he can have health, he can have peace. But for us spiritually, he leadeth us in the paths of righteousness. We need to be led in the way that is righteous and pleasing to God. We need to be led in the way that is healthy for us. And God says here that there is a reason for that. He says, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Why? For his name's sake. You know, the shepherd finds glory and finds joy in seeing a healthy flock. A good shepherd is going to look out over his flock and if he sees them healthy, he sees them plump, he sees their wools full, he sees they're satisfied, they're lying in the green pastures, they're being led to the still waters, their souls are being restored. And whenever that's all falling into place, those sheep are living in a way that brings joy. That flock is participating in a way that brings joy to the shepherd. And so it is with us as Christians, as we walk on each and every day's path, if we are to take the paths of unrighteousness, we soon become weak spiritually. We soon become wandering from the flock. I was thinking about this. People often say, not all those that wander are lost. Well, when it comes to the sheep and the flock, those that wander, it is not a good place to be. If you're a sheep, if you're a child of God, if you belong to the flock of God, it is not a place to wander from. For who would want to wander from the Good Shepherd? So the believer is to be led by the Good Shepherd in paths of righteousness. And when he does so, when the flock of God, when the individual sheep of the Good Shepherd follow the Shepherd in the paths of righteousness, for his name's sake it brings him glory. He then has a spiritually healthy flock. The Good Shepherd now has sheep that are spiritually healthy. Their well-being is affected. And now all of a sudden, whenever Whenever others look at the flock, they see, wow, what a healthy flock. They bring glory to the good shepherd, and that is the purpose of the sheep. The shepherd's success is based on the health and success of his flock, is it not? If you're a shepherd and you own sheep, and then you're going to bring the wool to market You're going to bring the sheep to market. People are going to look at your pastures. They're going to look at your sheep and they're going to establish a value upon your flock. And if they look out and they see barren pastures because the sheep have not been well grazed, they've been grazed in a poor manner. They see sheep that are scrawny, sheep that are sickly, sheep that their wool is all messed up and they're all in a stir, in a frenzy. They're going to look upon the shepherd and they're going to say, what's the shepherd's problem? There's poor shepherding going on. But whenever There's a good shepherd whenever he's leading his flock in the paths of righteousness. And really whenever the sheep are following in those paths of righteousness, there is a healthy flock. There's a healthy pasture. Sheep are actually beneficial to the land if done properly. And someone could look at that shepherd that's a good shepherd and see, wow, their flock looks healthy. They have a bountiful pasture. Their wool looks beautiful. that shepherd must care for his sheep. And there's a reason for that. It's not just because there's a good shepherd, but it's because there are sheep that are following in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Each and every day as we walk through this life, we are to be following our good shepherd. And he gives us many, many different things. We just spoke of how the shepherd would lead the sheep by his voice. We have the Word of God. We have His Word. What more could we ask for? And even beyond that, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We have God's Holy Spirit that can speak to us. We learned this morning that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost in Junior Church. And that is where the Holy Spirit dwells within our temple. and we have his word to guide and direct us. And we are to follow in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, for the glory of God." Now in verse 4, we come to a great moment in the passage because before that, in verse 1, 2, and 3, we have a sheep declaring to us about his shepherd. However, in verse 4, the passage grows into a deeper relationship with the shepherd. The sheep, now, we're seeing the change. And note how it's done. 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. Now the sheep is speaking to the shepherd. Now the sheep is telling the shepherd, what he is doing for him. He is glorifying the shepherd. That is what it looks like whenever we walk through life, whenever we bring glory to God, we are to glorify God as this sheep is glorifying the shepherd. No longer is he saying, look, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. This is what he's doing, he's leading me in the paths of righteousness. Now all of a sudden it's going from telling others, it's a more intimate relationship, And now all of a sudden we find the sheep speaking directly to the shepherd. It's a wonderful thing in our life whenever, because the fact is that we can speak to our good shepherd. But I want you to notice where this happens. What's going on whenever this change takes place? Because there's a definite change. The sheep is now speaking to the good shepherd, declaring how wonderful he is, and here's where the change takes place. In the valley of the shadow of death. The sheep makes this statement, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. The Bible doesn't say, yea, though I walk into the valley of the shadow of death. It says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Now, as we think of this, to be a shepherd means that you're with your flock. The shepherd doesn't come walking along leading the sheep and then he comes up to the valley one day and he says, all right, go through. I'll meet you at the other side. That's not what the sheep does. That's not what the shepherd does. The shepherd rather leads them through the valley of the shadow of death. Whenever you go through the valleys of life, even the valleys of the shadow of death is a dark and dismal time in your life. Remember the good shepherd is going through it with you. He's going through it. He's not sending you through on your own. He's not driving you through as what a cattle herder might do. Rather, He's taking the lead and leading the sheep through the valley of the shadow of death. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. For thou art with me. It's an amazing thing, a wonderful thing. to find that peace and that comfort that comes from the shepherd. It would be noted that if sheep are going to stay calm, if sheep are going to stay and go through a place that they are unfamiliar with, it is important that they have their shepherd. You remember hearken back to that verse that we read earlier, Matthew chapter 10, it says, he saw the multitude, he was moved with compassion, why? They were scattered and fainting as sheep having no shepherd. And if you're going to go through the valleys of life, you don't want to do it without your shepherd. You're a sheep and you're going through a valley, and you go through the valley of the shadow of death without your shepherd, You're going to be in need of food. You're going to be in need of grazing. You're going to be in need of water. You could be cast down by the wayside in the valley, needing your soul restored. And if you're without the shepherd, you're in deep trouble. But he says here that he fears no evil because he has the shepherd with him. The sheep trusts in the shepherd. What a wonderful thing. And there's a great picture for us here of the shepherd leading his sheep through the dark valleys. Now let's just look at some reasons why the sheep is comforted. He says, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. So he's walking through the valley of the shadow of death and he mentions two things that bring comfort to him. Two distinct different things. I was reading about this. I never considered the difference between a rod and a staff. I just figured one, you know, the shepherd carries his crook and that was what was carried. But here we find two different things, a rod and a staff. And in the Middle East, back in these times, the shepherd would carry two items. He would carry his rod and he would carry his staff and I found out that there's a difference. So the rod would be a straight stick, something that would be used as a weapon. Modern day ranchers, modern day sheep ranchers carry a rifle. But back in the days of the Bible when there weren't any rifles around, the shepherd had a rod. It was a stout straight stick that he would carry and he would use it in many different forms. But it was an extension to his arm. If the sheep were seeing a lion or a bear coming after them, they would be looking for the rod. They would be desirous to have the shepherd's rod there because it was a symbol of power and authority. It was the extension of the shepherd's power and authority. And it's been noted that over in Palestine, the shepherds today still use a rod. And they'll actually throw it. They'll use it obviously to swing with. There are many different ways that they use this rod in defense, and it is their primary weapon of defense for the sheep, and defense for themselves. And so as the sheep is going through the valley of the shadow of death, he says, there's something that brings me comfort, and that's the rod of my shepherd. Because I know if there's an issue, I know if there's an enemy, I know if something's coming upon me, there's a rod. And it's carried by my good shepherd and he's able to use that to protect me. He's able to use that for my benefit. It represented the power and the authority of the shepherd. It represented protection and it even represented discipline. Another thing that he carries and another thing the sheep looks at and he says, thy staff, it comforts me as well. And the staff would have been another stick. This would have been the one with the crook on the end of it, as we're so picturesque in our mind as we think of the shepherd in the Bible. And that was a more gentle instrument, whereas the rod would have been used for defense. The rod was more stout. The rod was something that you wanted to protect you. The staff was more of a comforting item, a comforting tool. It would be something that the shepherd could use to pull that sheep up from being cast down, whether it was in a pit, whether it was off to the side. He could use that staff to pull it back onto his feet. The staff was also something that shepherds would use as another extension of their arm. It's been noted that they would sometimes, just with their staff, they would walk along with their sheep and touch their sheep with the staff. And that staff was like an extension to his arm, just giving comfort to the sheep. And he would take that staff and as he's walking he could just, you know, tap the sheep and keep them in line, keep them in order. Even the staff was used to pull the sheep closer to the shepherd. Maybe there was a pet animal, a pet sheep in the flock that the shepherd was fond of. He would use his staff to reach out and pull that sheep to himself. That staff was a representation of a far more gentle relationship. So when the sheep was saying that the staff was comforting him, he was speaking of being drawn close, or being restored, or being guided and gently touched by the shepherd. The rod was something he looked for whenever he needed power. whenever the sheep needed protection, and the sheep looked towards the staff whenever he desired a more intimate relationship with the shepherd. And that is how the shepherd would reach out and communicate with his flock. And he says in the passage here, as I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, these two things comfort me. And although we're not exactly told what those two things are to compare to ourselves, as we look at what they represent, I would note that the Word of God is powerful and authoritative. The Word of God, when enemies come against us, it is the Word of God that can defeat the foe. It is the Word of God that stands before us in times of trials to protect us. It is the Word of God that is our authority. And it is even the Word of God that disciplines us as His children. As we read the Word of God, we see how what we are doing displeases God and it brings us back into alignment. It brings us back to the flock of God. And it is the Word of God as an instrument of protection for the believer. It is the authority for the believer. It is something that shows great interest in the believer's life and it can even be used for discipline and it is most definitely a protection to the believer. And as we go through the valley of the shadow of death when we need the authority, of God, when we need the protection of God, when we need God's interest in our life, standing there to protect us, standing there to guide us, even sometimes to discipline us, we have the Word of God. And I think of a second thing that God has given us. You remember, He says here, they comfort me. I'll mention another thing that the Word of God speaks of, and that is the Comforter. Do you remember who the Comforter is? It's the Holy Spirit. Now we have the Holy Spirit, and He dwells within us. He is our Comforter. And as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we have the Holy Spirit within us. He speaks to us, He can direct us, He can guide us. It is the Holy Spirit that can give us peace in times of difficulty. And that perhaps is another thing. The sheep has the rod and the sheep has the staff and they both comfort him. And the Holy Spirit, as the staff was reaching out to remind the sheep of the shepherd's comfort and relationship with him during times of trouble, during that dark valley, And the shepherd would reach out with his staff to remind the sheep of where he is. Reach out and pull the sheep in towards himself to remind him of the special place he had in his shepherd's heart. So God, by his Holy Spirit, reaches out. He reminds us that we are precious to him. The rod and the staff, they comfort us through the valley of the shadow of death. And whenever we come through the other side, we find where the sheep comes. It says, thou prepare us to table before me. Now this always interested me because I thought of a sheep and I don't really think of a sheep coming to a table to eat dinner. And so that was something that always interested me and I was studying about this sheep and I thought it was interesting that he brings in the fact of a table. And I think of a table, I think of a dining room setting, I think of perhaps a fork and a knife and a plate and a table. And it makes sense as a place where I eat and where I enjoy my food. However, it always kind of confused me why it was in the story of a sheep with a shepherd. Now, if you'll remember in geography class, there is a word that means table. It's part of geography. Maybe you've heard the word mesa. It's the flat table land. It's where the pastures and the prairies are. And the shepherd leads us through the difficult times in our life. The shepherd leads us through the valley of the shadow of death and we come out through on the other side with our shepherd. Having been guided and comforted, we come out and we find that the shepherd is taking us to a prepared table. And he would take the sheep through that valley and he would come to a prepared place of refuge, a prepared place of food, a prepared place of feasting for that sheep. And the shepherd would go and says, prepare us to table. It was common for shepherds to take their sheep into the highlands, the mesas, the flatlands of the mountains. And that was where they would graze in the summertime. And the shepherd would go ahead of them. He'd put minerals down. He'd clean up the watering holes. He would make sure the paths were ready for the sheep. And it took preparation. And he went ahead of them and prepared a table, he prepared a mesa, he prepared the grazing land for the sheep. And although the sheep had to be led through the dark valley to get there, often times in mountains you have to go through valleys to get to the flat mesas, to get to that table that the Lord has prepared, that sheep would follow the shepherd and he would go to a place of great bounty, of great feeding. It was where he was going to fatten up for the year. It was where his health was going to be regained. And after the struggle of going through the valley, he was going to feast and enjoy upon the wonderful place that the Lord had prepared for him. And as the sheep would go, he would find that pasture land, he would feed, he would graze. and he would be well fed and in that pasture land it was two people. It was the sheep and it was his shepherd. No longer was it the sheep and the shepherd and the shepherd's children and the shepherd's wife and the ranch hands. No longer was it the whole ranch operation. The sheep was taken with the shepherd and he was taken through the valleys and then he would spend time up in the flatlands And there was two that were there. It was the shepherd and it was his sheep. And it speaks once again of the intimate, close relationship. That bond would grow between the shepherd and the sheep. And it's important to remember that in our lives, when God takes us through the valley of the shadow of death, He takes us, He comforts us through it, and whenever we come out the other side, we are closer with the Lord than whenever we began. And it's a place of feasting, it's a place of feeding, even in the midst of enemies. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. And those sheep would spend that time there with the Lord and they would grow. I would remind you that it's important for us, as we struggle and as we go through the valley of the shadow of death, to remember that we're going through it and there's not an end. Even if that valley of the shadow of death is death itself, for the believer, it is not an end. There is still that coming through on the other side. There is still that wonderful pasture on the other side with eternal presence with the Lord. And even if that valley of the shadow of death isn't representing death itself, I would remind you that as we come out the other side of dark valleys, it is a very precious time for us in our lives and our walk with the Lord. Because as you come out of the valley of the shadow of death in your life, you come through to a pasture land. It's a place where you're intimately more close with the Lord as He has guided and directed you, as He's comforted you and brought you to a great place of feeding. Thou anointest my head with oil. Now this was funny. I laughed whenever I read this. I was looking at what a shepherd would do. He'd put oil on the head of his sheep. I thought that was interesting. Now I'd worked in a dairy farm before and there was a certain time of year when the flies would get terrible. And you'd go out there and you'd If I ever needed to get through the cows I would carry like a stick and you just tap the stick on the cows and get them to move. And you'd tap them and the flies would just go and then they'd come right back. You'd tap them and they'd come right back on the cows. And so what they would do is they'd take this big long sock type thing and they would soak it with a type of insecticide. And then they'd put it across the door and the cattle would walk underneath it and it would rub on their back. And then it would put that insecticide on the cow's back and it would keep the flies from continually infesting them. And so I was familiar with the idea. But basically, the shepherd would be doing something similar. There were three purposes for this different type of oil. The first thing that they would do is they would mix the oil with sulfur, and they'd mix it with some tar so it was sticky. And they'd put it around the noses of the sheep, and it would keep the sheep from getting these flies that would lay eggs on their nose. And then basically, the flies would hatch inside their nose. And it was basically a pest keeping pests out of their lives. And the interesting comparison is that these sheep would get these flies in their nose and they would be driven to distraction, even sometimes driven to death as it's reported that the sheep would smack their faces against the fence posts to try to relieve themselves from this. And of course that's not good. If you have a flock and you're trying to keep them healthy, you don't need them killing themselves. And so the shepherd would take this ointment and he would anoint their face with this oil. He'd rub it on their face and he took extra care and that would keep them from being driven to distraction. And I think of in our lives as how we can have these little pests in our lives, these little flies, and they can get into our lives and drive us to distraction and sometimes even drive us to the point of disgracing our good shepherd. It's far too often where something comes into our life, it's a little pest, it's a little fly, yet it drives us to distraction and can drive us onto the verge of disgracing our Heavenly Father. We are one of His flock, we are one of His sheep. We have a relationship with Him. When others look at me, whether it's in the workplace, whether it's in my daily life in the grocery store, wherever it is, Sometimes people do things, oftentimes people do things, I'll be honest, that are like pests to me. And it could drive me, if I'm not careful, it could drive me to distraction, to the disgrace of my Heavenly Father. However, it is the Lord, it is the Good Shepherd that can give us that anointing oil to help us through those times, so that we are not driven to distractions, so that we are not driven to the disgrace of our Heavenly Father. I think of the Holy Spirit, how we can call upon Him to help us. We can call upon the Lord as He indwells us to be controlled, to be under the power of God and to not give way to my own flesh or to your own flesh in our response to others. And it is by God's help, by the Good Shepherd's help, that those pests can be taken care of. Those pests can be put under control so that I don't go out of control. That was one of the uses of anointing the head of the sheep. Another reason was there is this time of year when these sheep can get this thing called scab and it's basically a skin. I guess it's a parasite that gets in their skins and it can ruin their wool. It can ruin their health. All of a sudden they'll be sickly and they can pass it on to one another. And so in order to heal them up, in order for them to be healed, There's a mixture or concoction of oil and different things that the shepherd will put on their faces. That's usually where it starts breaking out at. That's how they're healed so that they don't pass it on to the other sheep. And I was thinking about the comparison there is as we go throughout life and sheep have a tendency to greet each other. They like rub their heads together. I don't know if you've been to a petting zoo. You watch them like bang their heads. And when the sheep do that, they pass on that parasite if they have it to another one. Well, how often in our lives do we maybe go greet somebody or whether it's a saved individual or lost individual and maybe there's something that's passed on that causes us now we have a little parasite. We have something that's put us off track with the Lord. We now have something that's gotten into our lives because of another individual and we need healing. We need restoration, what we need. And we need healing. It is the shepherd's hand and the shepherd's care that can heal us. from those wounds, from those parasites that can get in our lives. Just as a sheep needed healing, often times it is we as believers that need healing in our lives. Sometimes that's hurt from others, sometimes that's hurt from just life itself. The third one, the third reason I found why a shepherd would anoint his sheep, and this is hilarious to me. In about a week, two weeks, three weeks, you're going to see a lot of deer traffic. They're all running around, going crazy. And if you're lucky enough, you'll see two buck come together and they're going to have a fight. And they're going to crash antlers together and have a fight. It's what every hunter dreams of seeing. Now sheep have the same thing. They have that same time and they fight as well. They're going to go knock heads together. It's going to be that time of year and the shepherd sees it start to happening. And this one shepherd I was reading about in particular goes and he takes some axle grease. He goes and gets his bucket of axle grease and he starts smearing it on the heads and on the horns of these big male sheep that he has. He smears it on their horns. He smears it on their heads. And then whenever they go to crash heads, they skip off of each other. They can't land any good blows. They're running at each other trying to kill each other for all they're worth, and they can't connect. They just keep skipping off each other. I thought that was great, but... The shepherd who is also a believer made the connection of comparing our good shepherd and how often times we can have conflict even within the flock of God, we can have conflict with other sheep in that flock. And there can be a time or a season whenever we have conflict with that other believer and we need the Lord's help so that instead of landing blows with each other, Those blows are set aside and instead of being at odds one with another what would happen is those sheep would get so frustrated that they couldn't land a blow on each other that they would stop. He said it was very effective. They found out that they couldn't actually connect and make a good hard contact and they decided it just wasn't worth it. And how often times and perhaps in our lives we can have a conflict with somebody and we need the good shepherd just to show us, this isn't worth it. I don't know what you're doing here, buddy, but this isn't worth it. You're not gonna find it worthwhile. And the shepherd's place in the flock is sometimes to keep order. The shepherd's job is to keep the sheep from being at odds one with another because it's not healthy for the flock. And often times God has to do that for us as the good shepherd, help us to realize that it's not worth being at odds with one another. It's not worth going and trying to have conflict. That was the third reason that the shepherd would anoint the sheep with oil. Some interesting things, interesting facts, many truths that can be found. And we close here in the sixth verse, the word of God says, surely, this is the sheep speaking again, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. The sheep's recognizing his position in the flock of God. He's recognizing his position within the flock of the Good Shepherd. And he says, what I can expect each and every day from my shepherd, surely what I can expect from my Good Shepherd is goodness and mercy. Every day at the hand of my Savior I receive goodness and I receive mercy. He says there's nothing more, there's nothing less that I would expect. Each day I wake up and surely goodness and mercy are going to follow me all the days of my life. That sheep recognizes something. He recognizes the goodness and the mercy of his shepherd. He recognizes the love that that shepherd has for him. And he is of a surety. and he's telling us here that goodness and mercy are going to follow him all the days of his life. Another thing to mention, another challenge for us, is as he speaks of goodness and mercy following him all the days of his life, not only does he know that the shepherd is always going to care for him with goodness and mercy, perhaps there's a challenge here for us. What is going to follow you all the days of your life? What is going to follow you? I would note I made mention that a sheep under good management of a good shepherd is going to benefit the property. Sheep eat some of the most nasty weeds. They take out some of the most nasty plants. And sheep can benefit the land if managed properly. They're actually a good land management tool if the shepherd is wise and a good shepherd. And shepherds can increase the value of their property by having sheep that are well managed. And the sheep recognizes here that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I would like to ask us tonight, what is following you all the days of your life? As you graze from one field to the next, as you follow the Good Shepherd, as you walk in paths of righteousness, what are you leaving behind? What is it that is following you? Is it goodness? Is it mercy? Is it a testimony before the Lord that would please God? A sheep that is walking in the paths of righteousness, following the Good Shepherd, will leave behind not pastures that are torn to shreds and worthless, but rather Pastures that have gained value. Pastures that are going to be looked at and seen as, wow, that holds a greater value than even when that sheep was first brought into the flock of God. What a wonderful thing it is that God can take the sheep, even the most sickly sheep, even the most unhealthy sheep, and whenever he comes to the door and the good shepherd allows him, brings him in to the flock of God. Remember, Christ is that door. It is only through believing in the door Jesus Christ, that one can enter the flock, and though no matter how sickly, no matter how scrawny, give that sheep some time. Give that sheep some time walking, being led in paths of righteousness by the Good Shepherd. And pretty soon, instead of leaving barren wasteland behind, you're going to find a healthy sheep, and you're going to find a sheep that is leaving behind it goodness and mercy. What a wonderful thing it is that no matter where we start on our walk with the Lord, No matter how scrawny we are, no matter how worthless as a sheep we are, others might look at us and see, well, he's not too well equipped. That sheep over there has a scrawny looking coat. Their wool looks like it's torn to shreds. You give him some time with the good shepherd. Our shepherd is so good to us. So what will follow you? One man said the good men, the good men do lives. The good men do lie. Oh man, I need to read this. I thought I could just quote it. The good that men do lives after them. The good that men do lives after them. That's by Sir Alfred Tennyson. A gentleman there that recognized that the good that we do that is of great value is something that's going to live after them. And so we find the sheep here that leaves goodness and mercy behind him. And he concludes with a great statement, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." This sheep says, I have no plans of going anywhere. Surely goodness and mercy, that is what I expect from the hand of my good shepherd each and every day. And he says, I will dwell in the house of my Lord forever. It is his plan. It is his status. He's going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a wonderful thing for us to compare ourselves to that sheep who has been in a flock. He loves the flock. He loves even more his shepherd and he says, I'm not going anywhere. I recognize the food I get. I recognize the comfort that my good shepherd gives. I recognize that whenever I'm cast down, I'm restored and I have no plans of going anywhere. My only plans are to stay in the flock of God. to stay in the comfort of the Good Shepherd, to continue allowing Him to restore me, and just to grow healthier and healthier each and every day. To graze and to leave more goodness and mercy behind me in my life, and He says, I will dwell in the house of my Lord forever. I also find it's a good reminder to us that one day, as Christ spoke to His disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. And He's going to come again one day and receive us unto Himself that where He is, we may be also. And what a wonderful thing that is that this verse hearkens to. I will dwell in the house of my Lord forever. And if you've received Christ as your Savior, if you are in the flock of God this evening, then you will as well. Some wonderful truths here from a shepherd and from a sheep. Let's pray. Thank you for listening. If you would like to contact us, please write us at P.O. Box 126-541-Harrisburg, PA 17112 and visit our website at www.svbcpa.org. Until next time!