I'm going to see, say it again? No, it's, I forget. But the point is, it's supposed to, they're showing, we're going through Old Testament passages, and the point is, we're supposed to be seeing Christ and the Gospel in Old Testament passages. I don't know why I can't remember that. I'm going to attribute it to 69, being 69. So anyway, that's the purpose. And so I've been assigned probably the easiest task out of many of the passages, Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is probably, I don't know, for many of us the most beloved psalm in it. It's the psalm that has been memorized by millions of Christians over the centuries. If you've memorized any scripture in your life, Psalm 23 is among them and you know if you haven't memorized it we've read it and talked about and you know it's been such a resource for us you probably know it pretty intimately anyway so that's what we're going to do where our task is to look at Psalm 23 and see how that speaks of Jesus Christ okay now before I we get into that. Yeah, we want to see Jesus as our shepherd. And, you know, if you're like me, you want to see yourself as the speaker in that psalm. So, why don't we read it? Kenton, you want to read it? Loudly? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in His pasture. He leads me in His eyes. The waters, He destroys my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for He is my Savior. Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. Okay, thank you. You know, I guess this is obvious to all, but let's just make the point anyway. What kind of literature are the Psalms? What form? Song, right, or poetry, right? So different types of literature, what's commonly called different genres of literature, have characteristics that are generally true of them, right? a piece of poetry or a song is going to have different characteristics than say if you were writing an article about how internal combustion engines work. The type of literature is going to be different. Just think about it for a second. Tell me what kind of features you would expect in a piece of poetry that you wouldn't expect in a technical article. Meter. Say it again? Meter is going to have a rhythm. That's interesting you should say that. This is off the subject matter. English poetry relies on one of two things, either meter or rhyme, correct. Hebrew poetry, if it relied on either meter or rhyme, it would not translate very well into English at all. Hebrew poetry relies on what they call thought couplets or thought triplets, and I could spend ten minutes talking about that, but let's move on. Okay, what kind of things would you expect in poetry that you wouldn't expect in a technical Peace. Go ahead. Okay, some kind of empathy or something like that that's personal or intimate. It would be more technical, more in detail. What else? Doug? I can't hear you now. Symbolism, yeah, a figurative language, right? That's what we expect in poetry. We don't expect that in a technical piece. That's the big thing that I was going after. So as we look at this psalm, we're going to see a lot of figurative language and I think You know, we can make connections with the New Testament. You know, you have to be careful sometimes in interpreting figurative language, but reasonable people, we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, so I just want to throw that out there to you at the beginning. Okay, because we're going to be looking at Psalm 23 and thinking, how does this reflect Jesus, or how Jesus reflects that. And as we do that, I'd like everyone to share in this, please. Think about New Testament passages that do, that show Jesus doing what Psalm 23 says. Yeah, Elaine? We'll get to that. Don't steal my thunder here, lady. Yeah, for certain. And frankly, you know, for me, and I'm sure for you, there are many times in our lives when we find solace and comfort in various scriptures, particularly Psalm 23, and some of these things can be very personal. I don't expect you to reveal anything that's intimate or personal, but if you'd like to share something that is personal experience, you're welcome to do that as we go through this. Now Elaine just kind of stole some of my thunder on this, but let me say it anyway. It's pretty easy to draw a straight line. When we look at this song, especially verse 1, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, it's pretty easy to draw a straight line between that verse and a particular chapter in the New Testament. What chapter am I thinking about Steve? Anybody? What's that? John 10, right. Now we're not going to read the whole thing, but would someone turn to John 10 and let's read verses 11 to 17. I am a good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He who is a higher hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a higher hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am a good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the father knows me, and I know the father, and I live my life like him. Comments? Observations? Has this struck a chord in your life and your Christian walk? I'm sorry, could you? Right. This psalm is full of reassurance like that, right? Now, how does that work in your life then, Jeff? I've always said, you know, this world is so complicated and it presses in so handily. And what is this? This is a promise. It's, you know, to an extent, it's an inherent. This is, you know, where your faith has to take practice, right? I think the best thing that I have is to go back to past practices of different situations where I wasn't just there. And the Lord will do what He can do to you. And you can take that as, you know, a promise to other people to go forward. Hold on to that thought because I'll ask you about that again. Now look at the, there's something in verse 1 here of the psalm that seems to resonate with verse 14 in chapter 10 of John. Do you guys see a connection there? Something in verse 1 that connects with John 10, 14. You've got to get into my brain too, okay? Because I'm thinking of something very specific here. No, just verse 1 and something in 10-14. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking about in 10-14. How do you see that? What do you see in verse 1? Yeah, but there's something else there. The Lord is my shepherd. It's personal, isn't it? I mean, in John, we are told that the Lord Jesus is the good shepherd. Well, he is my good shepherd. You know, to me, that's an intimate, personal detail that we, you know, I want to hold on to that. Thank you guys for that. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. So, the point of verse two is, I think, that Jesus provides, it's interesting that he should start with this, huh? Not that it starts with him providing provision or food or security for the sheep, but it starts with the fact that he provides peace for the sheep. He provides rest for the sheep. Can you think of any, New Testament passages that show that with our Lord? I spent some time thinking about this, so if you don't think of any, I have a couple. Go ahead. Verse 2 tells us that he leads us into green pastures and leads us beside still waters. I think the point of the green pastures and the still waters, I think that's figurative language to communicate he gives us rest and peace. So I'm trying to think of a New Testament passage that would communicate that same thing about Jesus. Go ahead and read it, Doug. Yeah, this is a really interesting verse here, come to me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Yeah, that's it. And then verse 29 and 30 as Doug recited there. Exactly. This is because he, you know, if you look at this in your English Bible, in my Bible, it's connected with the everything that goes before, because it's kind of a monologue that Jesus is giving, instead of connecting it with, and it comes right at the end of the chapter, instead of connecting it with what comes next. And what comes next is a episode where Jesus ends it by declaring himself, the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. So when he says in these verses, come to me, you who labor on our heavy laden, and I will give you rest, he is declaring himself, in my view, he's declaring himself the fulfillment of the Sabbath rest, okay? He gives you a Sabbath rest for your souls. Any other thing? Any other passages? I think that's the crucial one there, Matthew 11, 28. I had another one too. I'm sorry, go ahead. Okay, I think that's good and accurate. I'm kind of narrowing the field a little bit, so I want to look at New Testament passages, so I want to see how that song is how Jesus kind of represents, you know, that's fulfilled in Jesus. And I think that passage you just read is fulfilled in Jesus as well. Anything else in the New Testament you can recall that talks about... I think, I'm not sure if this scripture does or not. Let me just read it to you. I'm in John. Oh, I see what I was thinking. John 14, 27. John 14, 27. his conversation with the disciples, he states, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. So, you know, Jesus communicates peace and rest to us. Now, how does that affect us? I mean, we're not literally lying down in green pastures or, you know, walking beside still waters. Okay, how does it affect us? In my case, failing to do what I thought I was expected to do. He comes as a good shepherd, with mercy and loving kindness. He gives peace to my soul. He says, you do not need to tell me. So he restores peace to our soul. There are two big things that stick out to me when I've heard you say that you would provide a piece. One, that somebody needs to be provided a piece more, and two, that you have the power to do so. And what's one of the other big parts that you skipped? It's like, two, the purpose of what you borrow. you're not going to be able to find it yourself because there are no other piece site finders, no other breast site finders, no one likes it. In his spirit, he was conversing in the presence of the Lord. So, it's spiritual. No matter what's going on physically around us. It's not easy, is it, though, sometimes, you know, in your circumstances, Elaine? But let me ask you this. I mean, I can't imagine an extreme case like that, but when I think of times when I am anxious about something, maybe it's a conversation I have to have with somebody or I have a financial issue or something like that that causes me anxiety, Why do we lose sight of this peace that Christ promises us and gives to us? We keep our mind on one thing, we keep our mind on another thing, and the scripture says if we keep our, if we will keep in perfect peace, we keep our mind on the state of being, I will keep in perfect peace. And you know, I think we just, we get so caught up in our worries and our fears and our anxieties that we forget that we have Question being asked. You know, I didn't think of it before you just said that, hun, but there's that episode where Jesus is walking on the water toward the boat, and the disciples are in the boat, and he says, don't be afraid, it's me. And Peter says, if it's you, Lord, bid me come to you. And Jesus has come. And Peter steps out of the boat and is walking on the water to the Lord. And the text says, I wasn't thinking of this before, so I don't have it in front of me, but the text says, but when Peter saw the waves, I think he began to doubt and he started to sink. And he said, Lord save me. And Jesus reached out and picked him up. But so I think that hits the nail on the head, hon. You know, when you, let's keep our eyes on Christ and not look at the waves. I mean, I know it's easier said than done, you know, but it's a word of encouragement to us. Verse 3, He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake. You know, there's one passage that I don't know if you're going to resonate with this passage I picked, but let me read it to you anyway. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. In Matthew 12, they quote this passage from Isaiah. This is 1215, Matthew 1215. Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there and many followed him and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, Nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, And a smoldering wick he will not quench, Until he brings justice to victory, And in his name the Gentiles will hope. I will say that through the course of my life, That passage right there, a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. That has been very meaningful to me at times in my life because I felt like that. You know, I felt like that flickering flame that was just about to go out, but Jesus is a gentle Savior, right? And he nurtures that. He doesn't break a bruised reed. He heals the bruised reed. He nourishes that. That's what I take it when it says there, He restores my soul. There are times when I feel just down and depressed and I have no assurance of my salvation, that Jesus is, as our Savior, restores my soul. Now there's a pretty good example of that in the New Testament. No, I've already reprimanded one person. Go ahead. I couldn't hear what I was going through, and it was just a simple word in the song, right at the end of the song, 9 to 11, it said, Carsey holds fast to me, and Rob, I love your work, and I want to thank you, Carsey, that was my name. And I thought, well, I know his name. You know, it's as simple as that. I don't have to know which way to go about it. I don't have to choose his model. There was a time in the New Testament where one of the persons we know well was in despair and was at a low point in his life But our Lord went out of His way to restore that person's vitality. Who? Tell me about it. Yeah. And the fact that, if you did hear her, Kathy referred to Peter, and I think that's right. You know, Peter there was a time nearing the end of Christ's life where he warned, he forewarned Peter that, and he says, Satan desired to sift you like wheat, but I've prayed for you, so that when your faith returns, go strengthen your brethren. Okay? That's an amazing thing to say there. And Peter then denied that, whatever, he wasn't going to lose his faith, but he did. And he denied the Lord. And he went out and wept bitter tears, it says. And when you look at him at that moment, You know, I think of Judas went out and wept bitter tears as well. I mean, yes, Judas betrayed Christ. Peter denied Christ. There wasn't a whole lot of difference between those two guys at that point. It was just that Jesus had prayed for Peter. And Peter came back to restoration. I don't know, I don't want to push that thing too far. But, you know, Peter was restored. And then Jesus specifically names Peter when he gives that message, go tell my disciples and Peter to meet me in Galilee. Specifically calls him that. And then that, at the end of John 21 or whatever it is, where he, the love passage. Doug? Thank you, Doug. But we need that, don't we? I mean, have you ever been in a position where, you know, we just heard last week, right, in the sermon, for we all stumble in many ways, as James says. And when he says stumble, I take that to mean sin. We fail morally. We fail, we sin again. Again. You wonder, am I even saved? You know, we despair. How can we regain hope? How can we have our soul restored? Our life restored? We need a touch from Jesus Christ. I can't hear you. Yeah, well that's the passage we just read. John 10. And he said, same as it's our recipient, God pray for you. He knows our days ahead of time. He knows our times. And he's not our accuser, he said to the woman who was brought by the cross conversion. We're your accusers. We would like to accuse you. He's not our accuser. That's all we have of the shepherd. I'm going to hurry along here. We have 15 more minutes. We're about halfway through this psalm. He says that he leads us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Sometimes I think that this very despair that we have when we sin is leading us in a path of righteousness. These guilt feelings that we get when we sin, this conviction of sin that overcomes us, Doesn't that help lead us in a righteous path? Yeah. I mean, I know it's smarter to, as Proverbs says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding. in all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will make straight your paths. So, yeah, that's the wiser move. But when we sin and when we stumble and when the Holy Spirit convicts us, both those things push us on that narrow road, keep us on that narrow path, okay? You know, speaking about that, trusting in the Lord with all your heart and him leading us on paths of righteousness. The other thing that strikes me about this is that paths of righteousness, as we walk through the Christian life, it includes a path through the green pastures and along the still waters. But as the next verse tells us, it also includes a path through the valley of the shadow of death. Laura, I saw a lot of connection here with Pilgrim's Progress. That's a book, if you haven't read Pilgrim Progress, please go out today and buy it and read it. You know, how Christian is raised up out of a slough of despair, how he walks through this valley of the shadow of death. Now typically when we think of the valley of the shadow of death, we interpret that to mean death, actual death. And I think that's appropriate. I think we should think like that. Go ahead. A valley of sin, a valley of darkness. You know, the shadow means darkness. In Pilgrim's Progress, in that scene when Christian was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, he described it as something that was worse than his fight with Apollyon, which was figurative of the devil, that he had a physical fight with this demon, but this is walking through this valley in darkness, not knowing where his next step would take him, you know, and him not sensing the presence of God, not, you know, just, it was a, it was all darkness for him, just doing what he knew he had to keep going forward towards the Celestial City. And then at the end, a day break now, and he turns around and looks back, not because he wanted to go back, but because he just wanted to see where he had you know, where he had walked. And it was a very narrow path. And on one hand was a steep cliff that he nearly fell through. On the other was a quagmire that he nearly was lost in. But he was directed along through that path without him even sensing it or knowing it. And a great book, powerful scene. Did you want to say something? Yeah, unfortunate. I mean, I think that's our last faith test before we're actually changing the world and trusting in God's word that we will ever be disciplined and that we will be blessed. And how, you know, through his word, through his love and through his touch, he guides us along the path of faith. I'm sorry. Yeah, let's read that. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Okay, I want to ask a couple questions about that real quick. But first of all, there's a change in this verse from what has come previously. What change in the language here do you see? Got to talk louder. Yeah, well yes, and then he stopped saying, he will, he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. Now he's using the second person, right? You are with me. Your rod, your staff, they comfort me. It's like saying back in verse 1, my shepherd. You know, I know His voice. It's emphasizing this intimacy, this personal Savior, this personal Shepherd we have. He is my Shepherd. You lead me. You are with me. It changes the tone of it. Matthew 28, 19, 20. Wait a minute, talk a little louder. Yeah, that's the great commission, he says. You know, going to all nations, teaching them, baptizing them. But the last words out of his mouth in the Gospel of Matthew is, I am with you forever. You know, I think in the Gospel of John, I won't take the time to look at it right now, but I think in the Gospel of John, in many of the ways that he is with us, is through the person of the Holy Spirit indwelling us, right? You know, he says, I won't leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay, let's move on here. You prepare a table before, oh wait a minute, let's talk about, you know, I don't know, I'm a city boy, born and bred, okay? I don't even know a shepherd, other than Jesus. I mean, we saw sheep one time in the petting zoo, I think. But what do they mean when they, what's he talking about when he says, your rod and your staff? What is that? Okay. Was it used for anything else? Defense. Okay. I'm sorry, say it again. Yeah, I mean you hear a lot of stories about how dumb sheep are. And by the way, the last time I preached here, I gave a sermon. It used Psalm 23, but it wasn't about Psalm 23. But in that sermon, I made the point that doctors and medical students often use sheep's brains because they're so similar to human brains. And the one brainiac we had in that congregation that day who knows, actually just because I read it on the internet doesn't make it true, but Ken Hovis knows a lot about that stuff and he confirmed that, you know, so now I believe it. I don't know, I got off track there, but what are we talking about again? Yeah, the rod in your staff. So he protects us from ourselves when we wander off and may wander into danger. He pulls us back into the flock. And he protects us from enemies outside as well, many of which, I dare say, we don't even know about. I have some great scriptures here to read. I won't go through him, but he intercedes for us. You know, Matthew 8, Hebrews 7. He is our great high priest who always lives to make intercession for us. And he disciplines us, which is not an issue of condemnation. It's an act of love from a father who loves us and wants the best for us. So he disciplines us. And so in those two ways, the figurative language is his rod and his staff. Comfort us. All right, verse five. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows." I don't want to spend too much time here, but David seems to change the metaphor right now. It doesn't seem to be directly talking about his shepherd anymore. It looks like, you know, you're a guest at a feast, right? You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Christ just doesn't just save us and he doesn't just give us the things that are absolutely needful or we couldn't get by. He blesses his children extravagantly, lavishly. He blesses us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Peter tells us that he is giving us all things that are necessary for life and godliness so that we may become partakers of the divine nature. It's a lavish, extravagant blessing that we need to be more mindful of. We need to nourish those sentiments of thanksgiving. and recognize who they come from. From what? Parasites. I've heard that. Yeah. and you prepare people for being in the presence of all the enemies. And so it's before the enemies can attack, even in the presence of them, you really see who it is that's going to be protecting the targets. And he's supposed to be the only sheep. Okay. I'm sorry. Well, that's where I was going to go with this actually. I haven't read any commentators, so I may be saying something that's wrong. But when I think about being anointed with oil, it just seems to me that that's a reference to the Holy Spirit. And again, Like I said, Peter tells us he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings necessary for life and godliness so that we become partakers of the divine nature. Well, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us. Isn't that a glorious thing? Isn't that becoming a partaker of the divine nature? And I think figuratively, our psalmist expresses it by saying, you anoint my head with oil. Okay. You know, when you look at this, I mean, my first reaction of that, when you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, the first thing that popped into my brain was the marriage supper of the Lamb. Okay, there's going to be a great feast at some point. But, in the presence of my enemies made me think, what about the here and now? There's an already and a not yet, right? We already taste some of the benefits here. It's not yet reached its consummation. The world, the flesh, the devil. Right. Well, this... This is a great time of year to nurture those kind of sentiments of Thanksgiving, isn't it? But let me just say, I want to move on to verse six here real, real quick. But let me just say one thing about that. My cup overflows. Okay, that's extravagance. You know, he's not just, you know, we're just not surviving being surrounded by our enemies. We're thriving. Okay? Okay. Why didn't he get up and start singing after they left him for dead, after he was beaten? He was just, he had that. No matter what was happening around him, he had that peace of mind. Jesus was with him. He knew that he was having it. David was prepared for him in the presence of his enemies. And Jesus said, behave and you're gonna be okay. OK, I'm going to move on. Surely, I like the way that starts. Surely, he is certain of this. This is assurance, brothers and sisters. Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We're completely out of time. I just wanted to, this is not even really on the topic, but I just wanted to make a connection between this verse and prayer. This is a verse of assurance. He is certain of him being part of the flock of the shepherds. He says, surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Flip over for a minute to Psalm 27, just a couple of psalms later, and look at verse 4. David says, one thing I have asked of the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire of his temple." So this very thing that he is certain of in Psalm 23, he continues to pray for in Psalm 27. Okay? I hope that's us, too. Let's persevere in prayer. You know, I've heard these word faith people say, you pray for something once, and if you pray for it a second time, that shows you're a lack of faith. Boo! That's unbiblical, okay? In Luke, they make the very clear statement, Jesus said this so that people may pray and never give up. We persevere in prayer, okay? So even though we can state with confidence, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, let's continue to pray for that, okay? All right, thank you guys. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. My partner said, I think they did, but I don't know. I read that there's been a mistake with that for a couple of years. And he doesn't come to our house. So, he just thought it was a bad idea.