Then you have climacophobia. Maybe you have thalassophobia. This is fear of the ocean. Or jeferobia, which is the fear of crossing bridges. Or maybe you have pantophobia. Do you think you have pantophobia? What's pantophobia? The fear of everything. Well, we might laugh and get a little chuckle out of that, but for many of us, that hits a little too close to home. The truth is a little closer to us than we might want to admit. We live in a time that's marked by fear. a time that's marked by anxiety. There's something called the Unisys Security Index that surveys more than 13,000 people in 13 different countries around the world. And among other things, this survey measures anxieties about issues like national security, disasters or epidemics, and personal safety. The most recent survey was done this year, 2017, and it shows that the level of anxiety in the United States has jumped sharply since the last survey was done three years ago in 2014. In fact, levels of anxiety in the United States came in at their highest level since the survey began a decade ago. It's an understatement to say that anxiety levels are high and we live in uncertain times, says a Unisys senior vice president. We definitely have seen a huge spike over the last three years. Another expert added, it appears that our cloak of security, the impression we once had that we were more secure than the rest of the world is starting to fade. A long time ago, in what may well seem like a galaxy far, far away, the nation of Israel also faced similar fears about national security. In the midst of all that, against a background of impending national calamity and disaster, the prophet Isaiah delivers a message of hope to God's people. A message of hope. Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10. Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Even on your darkest day, When everything around you seems to be crumbling, even when you're facing the worst of the worst, God promises, I will be with you. I am your God. Fear not. Be not dismayed. It's interesting to know that that word dismayed, it literally means to be looking every which way, to be looking all over, not to have a constant focus, a secure focus. Be not looking all around you. I will be with you. I am your God. We took a little look last time on what it means to us that we can have hope and confidence in knowing that God is with us. And today we're going to build a little bit on that foundation as we look at God's promise to us here in Isaiah 41 10 that I am your God. What can or should it mean to you that God says I am your God. Now about a hundred or so years after Isaiah's death, God starts speaking through another prophet named Ezekiel. And Ezekiel's prophetic ministry comes to us basically like a two-act play. In act one, Ezekiel, who is included already among the Jewish people who have been deported to Babylon, Ezekiel warns the Jewish community of the impending destruction of the temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of all the surrounding cities. Ezekiel's message is heavy, it's dark, it's ominous. The Jewish people have gone so far off the rails by this point that there is now no longer any hope that God will change his mind and relent. Any Jews who remain in Jerusalem will be ripped from their homeland. The temple along with all the surrounding cities will be destroyed. That's act one. Now, after a 13-year intermission, I always hate intermission. I hate intermission when I'm a performer because you just got your energy up and you're going and now you gotta sit still for 15, 20 minutes. I hate it when I go somewhere because I'm like, what's next? What's gonna come next? But it's a 13-year intermission. 13 years passed between Act I and Act II of Ezekiel's prophecy. For 13 years, Ezekiel is silent. But then God gives Ezekiel a new vision and a new mission. Now Ezekiel's message contains words of hope. Hope is on the horizon. God will surely bring his people back to their homeland. Once again, they will be planted in the place that God promised to their ancient descendants and to Abraham before them. I wanna invite you to open your Bibles, please, to read with me a small portion from Act 2 of Ezekiel's prophecy. It's in Ezekiel chapter 34. We're going to pick it up at verse 22. If you wanna use one of the Bibles in the seat rack in front of you, it's on page 722. I'll give you a moment to turn there and then invite you to give your attention to the reading of God's word. Because this is God's word to us today, so many millennia later. God says, verse 22, I will rescue my flock. They shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David. and he shall feed them. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord, I have spoken. I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing. And I will send down the showers in their season. They shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And the earth shall yield its increase. And they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. And they shall know that I am the Lord, their God with them. and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God. And that's God's holy inspired word to us today. I want you to imagine yourself You're living as a captive in a foreign country. Life is drab. Life is dark. Life is disheartening. One wearying day after another with no relief in sight. There's no end to it all. You have no hope. And then out of the blue someone announces this tremendous message that's packed full of hope. Look look at all the promises that we just read in Ezekiel 34 verse 22 I will rescue Verse 23, I will set over them one shepherd. Verse 24, I will be their God. Verse 25, I will make with them a covenant of peace. Verse 26, I will make them in the places all around my hill a blessing. I will bless them with showers of blessing. Verse 27, the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. The earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure. in the land national security they shall be secure in the land. Verse 28 they shall dwell securely and none shall make them afraid. Fear not. God says through Ezekiel verse 29 I will provide for them renowned plantations. Verse 30 they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them. Verse 31 you are my sheep human sheep of my pasture and I am your God. Sounds pretty amazing, doesn't it? For anyone who's here today who may be battling with anxiety or depression or dealing with affliction of any sort, for anyone who's slogging their way through trial or testing or temptation, there is nothing that is more life-giving. There's nothing that is more restorative than clinging to the promises of God. God gives us his promises to support and to console us during times of trouble. God also gives us his promises to strengthen and to encourage us. The promises of God are the fuel that keeps hope alive because God keeps his promises. God keeps his promises. Now chief among these many many promises in this very short section that we read from Ezekiel 34 is the promise that God will set up one shepherd over his people. That's verse 23. God tells him at the end of the passage in 31, you are my sheep, your human sheep, and I am your God, the Lord God. I will set over you one shepherd. Now we have to understand then that the Bible is using sheep as an illustration. He's saying, hey, you're all like sheep. And what does sheep need? Sheep need a shepherd. Left to their own, sheep tend to get off course. They don't know where to go. They are easily picked off by predators. So we need a shepherd. God promises, I'm going to send one shepherd over my flock. Now what's the identity of this shepherd? And what will that shepherd do for God's people? Those are two questions we want to ask of this text today. What is the identity of the shepherd? And what will this shepherd do? for God's people. Verse 23 says, When Ezekiel proclaims these words, David has been dead for several hundred years. And between the time of David's death and the time of Ezekiel, no one has ever showed up on the scene claiming to be David. No one's ever showed up on the scene claiming to be identified with David. And though David's son, Solomon, who was king after him, may rank higher than David in terms of wisdom and wealth, David holds the record as being Israel's greatest king. So who is Ezekiel talking about when he calls this shepherd, my servant, David? Well, let's think back a little to what we know about God's servant, David. First of all God's selection of David to serve as Israel's king was unveiled when David was very very low on the pecking order. He was young and he was inexperienced so he was low on the pecking order both within his own nuclear family and also within society because before David was a king he was a what he was a. Shepherd. He was a shepherd. And those shepherds were essential to the fabric of the society. They were essential to the economy of the society of David's day. Shepherds occupied a very low rung on the social ladder. They were generally looked down upon. They were not trusted. They couldn't give testimony in court. They were thought to be thieves and scoundrels. They were viewed with skepticism and suspicion. But by God's sovereign choice, by God's design, David is chosen, David is anointed king. And over time, we see David emerge as a conquering hero, a champion in Israel. David, the giant killer. David, the warrior. David is the channel through which God ministers his grace and his peace and his favor to this young, Jewish nation as he leads them under David's headship of the army leads them from one victory to another over the enemies that surround them. Now in addition to his role as shepherd and king, David is also known as the poet. of Israel he's a musician David is the author of numerous Psalms that we have in the Old Testament in the book of Psalms and David is directed by the Holy Spirit in his composition of these Psalms and as he writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit David records many observations he records many reflections about himself his life his times his experiences and these things that are true about David have a much broader scope. They have a much greater application than even David can begin to fully realize. Because as David writes in the praise and the worship of God, he makes many illusions, he makes many predictions that point to the coming one, that God has promised God's Messiah. Now standing as we do on the other side of Calvary, we have 20-20 hindsight, and we can see that David is a picture of Jesus. David is a type of Christ. David prefigures Jesus. So things that were true about David's life become amplified. They become even more abundantly true about Jesus. One of Jesus' titles is Son of David. Why is this? Why is Jesus known as the son of David? Well, first of all, Jesus is born in Bethlehem, the same city where David was born. Jesus is described as reigning on the throne of his father, David. When the angel comes to Mary and announces that she is going to be the favored one who will bear the Messiah, bring him to earth, the angel tells Mary he will be great He will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. So David and Jesus share the same birthplace. They share the same ministry as ruling on that particular throne. And also in terms of defending both the animal and the human flocks that God entrusted David, we see that David is oftentimes exposed to very serious, very imminent danger. David's life is frequently in danger as he cares both for his sheep and later for his nation. When David cares for his sheep, there are accounts of him taking a lion and pulling it apart with his bare hands. But, as David does all this, protecting his sheep, protecting his nation, he is really simply a picture, an illustration, an anticipation of the greater ministry of Messiah. Like David, Jesus is known as a shepherd. Jesus calls himself what? The good shepherd. I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. In Ezekiel 34 22 Jesus who is the spirit of prophecy says I will rescue my flock. They shall no longer be a prey. Psalm 78, 72 says that David shepherded the people of Israel with uprightness and a heart and a skillful hand. Again, what David does on a small scale, in a small way, on a small scale, Jesus does on a large scale. Jesus does what David does in a far grander, more meaningful, more powerful way. Jesus is constantly seeking the lost. Jesus is constantly binding up the broken. He is strengthening the sick. He is attending to the necessities of those who are around him. And I want that to sink in for you today and to encourage you because Jesus did it then. He does it now. He is looking to bind up the broken hearted. And I know there are many broken hearted people here today. He was intent upon strengthening the sick. And again, I know there are many people carrying heavy health challenges here today. He attended to the needs and the necessities of those who surrounded him. And again, there are many among us who have financial struggles, economic hardships. So let that be a reminder. I was thinking to encourage you today because when we start getting all wrapped around those things and our mind bent out of shape and fear bombarding us, simply remember we have a shepherd. We have a shepherd that says, I am God with you and I am God who is for you. During the years of his kingship, David is deposed. He's driven from his throne by his own son. And on another occasion he is betrayed by Joab one of his closest friends and advisors. Those were indeed times of deep sorrow and tears for David. But in a far greater way Jesus is revealed to us in scripture as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I mean, Jesus is hardly born, right? Hardly even a few months old, perhaps, when Satan inspires a murderous rage in King Herod that results in an attempt to have him killed. And like David before him, Jesus is exiled to a foreign land until that threat is removed. In an even deeper way, leading up to his crucifixion, Jesus knows the ultimate betrayal of one of his closest friends as Judas betrays him. So Jesus is the shepherd Ezekiel has in view back in Ezekiel 34 verse 23. Unlike Israel's false shepherds who were intent on feeding themselves Jesus is the faithful shepherd of Ezekiel 34 who feeds God's flock. I will set up over them one shepherd my servant David and he shall feed them he shall feed them and be their shepherd. Jesus is the shepherd who inaugurates God's covenant of peace with us. Jesus is the shepherd who protects us. Jesus is the shepherd who provides for us. Jesus is the shepherd who rains showers of blessing down upon us. Jesus is the shepherd who says, I am your God. I am your God. So that's the identity of the shepherd. Now what does the shepherd do for his flock? Whether it's conscious or not, Ezekiel echoes a theme from Isaiah when he celebrates the way that Jesus, our good shepherd, comes and cares for and feeds his flocks. Now perhaps you're going to hear these words from Isaiah sung If you listen to or attend a performance of Handel's Messiah during the Christmas season, these words are featured in one of the solo pieces in that work. It's from Isaiah 40 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom. And he will gently lead those who are with young. Jesus protects. Jesus comforts. Jesus nurtures his flock. Now, as beautiful as Handel's music is, and as much as I like it, we must be very careful not to disconnect that one little excerpt from Isaiah 40 from what comes immediately before it in Isaiah 40, verse 10. We find out in Isaiah 40, verse 10, behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him. Behold, his reward is with him. "'and his recompense before him, "'he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. "'He will gather the lambs with his arms "'and carry them in his bosom "'and shall gently lead those that are with young.'" This God who is our God is both powerful and personal. Our shepherd the God who is our God comes as a conqueror. He comes with might. Behold the Lord God comes with might. Our shepherd comes to us as Immanuel, God with us. The God who is with us is also the God who is for us. And he has, according to Isaiah, he has a strong arm with which he rules the world. We'll sing it this season. We'll sing it tonight. He rules the world with truth and grace. He rules and he reigns over the entire universe by the word of his power. And yet, this God who is our God, in addition to being powerful, is personal. He's present. He's active in our lives. He's awesome in power, His majesty and might are without equal, but at the same time, He is the source of kindness and comfort and compassion. As Jesus comes in power, he brings his sheep with him. He brings his sheep with him. Isaiah 40 verse 10 pictures Jesus coming with one arm, ruling with might and with power, and with his other arm, what is he doing? He's snuggling his flock tightly against his bosom. Isaiah says this is Jesus recompense. This is Jesus reward. We are the fruit of Jesus ministry. When Christ comes again he will bring us with him as a tangible sign of his victory his authority to rule and to reign. He'll be saying these sheep are my sheep. These are the children that I gained through my blood brought bought sacrifice. My blood bought sacrifice. God comes with power and he comes snuggling his sheep in his bosom. As Jesus brings us with him, he shows himself to be the good shepherd. Those whom Jesus so graciously feeds and leads through this life will be eternally secure in the snuggle of his loving embrace. Jesus will come back to earth again, holding his sheep in his arm, carrying them in his bosom. I want you to be honest with yourself today, honest with God, honest with the Holy Spirit. Do you struggle? Do you struggle with fear? Do you struggle with anxiety of any kind? Are there things weighing heavily on your heart right now? Things weighing on your mind that threaten to keep you up at night? to rob you of your joy? If you are, I would find it hard to believe there's not a single person in here who struggles in some area. If you are, there's a good shepherd. There's a good shepherd who wants to care for you. There's a good shepherd who wants to carry you. There is a good shepherd who wants to carry your burdens for you. Do you know him? Have you been enfolded in the powerful comforting arms of his loving embrace? Both Ezekiel and Isaiah give outstanding pictures and promises about Jesus, the greater David who serves us as our good shepherd. But these pictures and these promises do not apply to everyone. Only those who accept their role as Jesus' sheep benefit from all the wonders of God's love. Ezekiel 34, 31, again, and you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God. That raises a very important question we have to ask. Are you his sheep? Do you acknowledge that? Do you recognize that? Do you find yourself in that verse? You are my sheep, my human sheep. Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. My sheep, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Do you know the voice of the good shepherd? Do you know him? Not just know about him, not just be able to recite the facts about him, but do you know him? Do you listen for him? Do you respond to the call of Jesus, the good shepherd? As Ezekiel compares David and Jesus, he categorically says that God will set over us one shepherd, and Jesus is appointed to be that one shepherd. There is no other shepherd, except no substitutes, because there are no substitutes. There is no substitute to the one shepherd. Jesus was exalted to be our king and Ezekiel, he's called a prince. And Jesus continues to execute and fulfill all the duties of his role, both as shepherd and as king to the fullest extent. When you submit yourself to the shepherd and this king, God welcomes you and acknowledges you as part of his people. You become part of his flock. And when you do that, God gives himself to you as your God. I am your God, God says. If you desire to be part of God's people, he will never refuse you. He will never refuse you. If you want to be in the flock, you can be in the flock. think of the other words we'll sing this season let every heart prepare him room you have to prepare room you have to move off the throne of your life and let jesus the good shepherd start ruling and reigning there think of paul writes in romans 8 32 he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him Graciously give us all things. He's a giving God. He wants to give to you. He wants to invite you into his flock. He wants to care for you. He wants to carry you. He wants to take your burdens upon himself. So stop doubting and believe. Stop living in fear. Trust and do not be afraid. Embrace and be enfolded by God's covenant of peace. No true security. Know God's protection and provision. Know him as God with you. Know him as God your God. Let's pray. Lord, again, we thank you for the richness of your word and the richness of your promises to us. We thank you that you are our God, and that out of love, you have willingly come and offered us yourself, that you've sent your son, Jesus, to take away the burden of our sin, to take away the penalty of our sin, and in its place to give us his own nature his own character his own righteousness. Lord how awesome how amazing how marvelous. Lord I pray today for all of us who are here today that you would continue to remind us that you are our God. If we willingly put ourselves into your arms we willingly come into your flock and identify with being one of your sheep. Lord, if there's anyone here today wondering about that, struggling with that, not sure about that, I pray that you would move with power on his or her heart. Lord, convince them, convict them that this is true, that you are the one shepherd, the only shepherd, the only way to have a right relationship with you restored through what Jesus comes to earth to do. We thank you again for what it means that he would come in humility as a baby in Bethlehem. We thank you for what it means that he would willingly grow up in this broken world, that he would identify with us in our suffering, that he would be willing to take our penalty, our burdens upon himself. We thank you and praise you for that. We'll never stop being able to do that. And Lord we pray that you continue to be gracious to us. Help us to live in the midst of uncertain days. Help us to live in the midst of many attacks that come to rob us of our joy and our security to know that you are God with us and that you are God our God in Jesus name. Amen.