We'll turn now to the book of Psalms and Psalm 23. Psalm 23. And we'll read the Psalm first of all. Psalm 23, a Psalm of David. 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 mine 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. There's no psalm quite like Psalm 23. It's by far the best known and the most widely sung. We sing it on all sorts of occasions, at weddings and at funerals. We sing it with children in the Sabbath school and children at school assemblies too. It's popular with young and old and it's a psalm which has been a blessing to many. I remember my closest friend at university, we were in an open-air service and he was a boy who could never sing, didn't have a sense of tune, but as we were standing at this open air service and we were asked to sing Psalm 23. He began to sing it at the top of his voice and this really surprised me. At the end I went to speak to him and he explained to me how through the singing of the psalm he had found peace with God. The light of the gospel had shone into his heart with assurance and peace and joy. I think of an old lady that godly old lady that was in Partick congregation when I was there at the beginning of my ministry. She was struck down with a stroke and couldn't speak and I was called and while we were waiting for the ambulance I read to her Psalm 23. It still remains in my mind that sense of the Lord's presence there, how meaningful the psalm was. Every word seemed to speak to her situation. It was a precious time. Thinking too of Jessie Rogers and our church, the old lady who is deaf. When she was quite young, newly married, Some fellows from, I think it was a brethren church, came into their house and asked her, did she sing? Did she ever sing Psalm 23? Oh yes, she said. She liked to sing Psalm 23. Well, they said to her, you've got no right to sing that psalm, because that psalm says the Lord is my shepherd and he's not your shepherd. And these words were blessed to her and she began to search her own heart and to seek the Lord until she could with every right sing it. And she loves to sing it. Above all the Psalms, the Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. It's such a precious psalm. A psalm of David. David wrote it. He had spent his youth as a shepherd. So he could speak from experience. He knew sheep, and he knew what it was to shepherd sheep. But best of all, he knew the Savior, who is the Great Shepherd. It's a tremendous confession of faith. David didn't write this psalm as a young shepherd boy. He didn't write it as a young man of God. He wrote it as an old man who had been through many trials and tribulations, who knew what it was to pass through the valley of the shadow of death and to know the Lord's presence with him. He could speak from experience as he looked back and he said, goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." It's a great confession. Can you make it tonight? Can you say in truth, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want? Well, looking at these verses in turn, the Lord is my shepherd. David David had been given a flock by his father and he looked after these sheep. We don't know how many he had. Maybe it was a hundred sheep. But there's another shepherd and he was given a flock by his father. and they were given to him to be his flock he had to look after them and as I remember hearing one minister put it very graphically David was given a flock of living sheep but the Lord Jesus Christ was given a flock of dead sheep and he had to bring them to life and the only way he could bring them to life was by dying for them. The flock of God which he purchased with his own blood. David diligently cared for the sheep. How much more does our Lord Jesus Christ care for you and me? For every trouble we have, David saw a sheep that was unwell or a sheep that was having difficulty giving birth to its lambs, he would be there helping that sheep. How much more the Good Shepherd cares and tends to us. David knew his sheep and he knew every one of them. He knew their traits, he knew their character, their personalities. The Lord Jesus Christ, even although He has a flock of millions and millions of sheep, He knows everyone and He calls His sheep by name and they follow Him. They are His. He knows every trait of our character, every weakness, every strength. He knows everything we're going through. The Good Shepherd, I know my sheep and I'm known of mine. He has called us and we follow Him. We follow in His footsteps. David led his sheep to the pastures. The land of Israel is semi-arid in parts and quite dry many times of the year and brown. But David the shepherd knew where he could find grass for the sheep. And how much more does the Good Shepherd know where to take us, to lead us, to provide for us. He gives us manna every day. He tells us to pray, give us this day our daily bread. And He Himself gives us not just that bread which perisheth, the loaves that perish, but He gives us the bread that came down from heaven, which is Himself. He leads us, He feeds us, and there's no limit to His ability. David protected his sheep from the lion and the bear. When the lion came and took a lamb, David went after it and took the lamb out of its mouth and when the lion turned on him he slew it and similarly the bear. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no hireling to run away when the wolf comes. He is the one who will fight against all his and our enemies. He protects us from a much more fearsome lion than the one that David had to contend with, the roaring lion, the devil himself. David didn't lay down his life for the sheep, but the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. What a good shepherd he is. David didn't take his sheep with him when he became king and he didn't take them into the palace. But the good shepherd that we have goes to prepare a place for us and then he will come and take us to be with himself. But where he is, we will be also. He takes us into the very palace and the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed us and shall lead us to living fountains of water. God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. He says then, you shepherd, are you one of his sheep? Have you heard his voice? Can you distinguish between his voice and the voice of false shepherds? And are you walking in his paths. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall have no want. I shall have no lack, no need. The lions young may hungry be and they may lack their food, but they that truly seek the Lord shall not lack any good. My God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, providing for us our every need. I shall not want, I shall not be in want, I shall not lack, because I've got a perfect Shepherd. Those who are without Christ, they are without everything, everything of value. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things shall be added unto you. But if you don't seek Christ first, you have nothing. Having Christ, you have all. Without Christ, you are poor indeed, miserably poor. Verse 2, He makes me to lie down in the green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters. Green pastures, these meadows, these blessed experiences, the still waters, not the raging torrents, not the dry waddies, but by the still water, where there's plenty, where it's peaceful, it's not dangerous. There's enough water, there's the green grass around, refreshed by the water. The world is a weary place for the child of God, but there's always the green pastures and the still waters. And the world itself is running here, running there, trying to find peace. The wicked are as a troubled sea, a raging sea, casting up mire and dirt. But the righteous, they are like a deep flowing river. They are like the sheep in the meadow, or the river running by, peaceful, protected, blessed, joyful. Our heaven is not all in the future. It's not, as some mockingly say, pie in the sky, by and by. Our heaven is a real experience here, heaven on earth, because we have a good shepherd, and he takes us to the green pastures and by the still waters. He's a good shepherd like Jacob who didn't overdrive the sheep. We aren't to be in stress and in strain and in worry and anxiety. Let us remember that the good shepherd cares for us. and he's not going to overtax us. It's an important lesson for us to learn to try and trust in the shepherd and realize that he's in control and he will look after us. Verse 3, he restoreth my soul. Restores. Restores the backslider. Think of the lost sheep The shepherd who had a hundred sheep and one went missing, what did he do? He left the ninety and nine and he went looking for the lost sheep till he found it. And then he laid it upon his shoulders and carried it home. And he said to his neighbours, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. And so it is with a good shepherd. He brings home his lost sheep on his shoulders. The taskmaster would take out the whip and lash the sheep, but he's not like that. No, he's very gracious, very merciful. I will heal their back sliding. I will love them freely. I will be as the Jew unto Israel. He shall grow as a lily and cast forth his shoots as Lebanon. Yes, He restores our soul. He pardons us. He assures us. When we defile ourselves and our sins, He takes us to the fountain that was opened for sin and for uncleanness. He washes us. He leads us in the paths of righteousness. not in our own paths, not in the paths of wickedness, but in the paths of righteousness. On Saturday, we were hearing about the importance of holiness. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. The Good Shepherd leads us in these holy paths, in these paths of righteousness. Are we following? Are we saying, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Lord, teach me. Help me to understand how thy word, how thy law applies to me. Guide me. Direct me. Are we walking in a way that he would have us walk? I remember hearing of a man sitting in the pub and a friend comes by and he calls to his friend to come in and join with him. But the friend says, no, I've got a different interest now. I've got a different shepherd and he's leading me in different paths. It can't be in the old paths of sin and of wickedness. It's a new way, a new road. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. For His reputation's sake. And His reputation is tied with His sheep. The Good Shepherd and His sheep are identified with one another. And the sheep glorify the Shepherd. And so for His name and His reputation's sake, He will restore the backslider. and he will lead and guide the sheep in the paths of righteousness. Let us also be concerned about his reputation, and let us not tarnish it in any way. Lord, lead me, for thy name's sake, in thy paths of righteousness. Verse 4, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Lord Jesus, it's the valley of the shadow of death. In the metrical psalm, it's not so accurate. It says, Yea, though I walk through death's dark veil, yet will I fear no evil. But it's not death's dark veil. It's the valley of the shadow of death. It's a different thing going through death itself. In our life here, death often casts shadows on our life. There can be shadows from bereavement. There can be shadows from serious illness. Shadows from different, shadows of death from different experiences in life. And the older we get, it's like as the sun is going down, the shadows are getting longer. The shadows of the crags and the rocks, the shadows of death itself. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, when others fear and tremble and worry and are anxious and stressed and concerned, I will fear no evil. Why? Because I am not on my own. I'm not left in the valley of the shadow of death to make my own way through it. Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. It wasn't as if he had a rod in one hand and a staff in another, but the one shepherd's crook, the one rod he had was a staff to help him as he walked. A rod to chase away wild animals. And a rod also to correct and to chastise his people when they go astray. But also with a crook on the end to pull in his sheep to himself, closer to himself. And so it is with the good shepherd. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou art with me. Going through these dark valleys, different times in our lives, and sometimes the valleys are terribly dark. Sometimes we can see no light, but if we can feel his presence, if we are conscious of his shepherd's crook around our neck, If we can rub up against His legs, as it were, we need not fear. The Good Shepherd is with us. And He will take us through every dark valley. And He will take us even through the valley of death itself to the better land. The valley of the shadow of death. Verse 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. When the food was scarce, the shepherd would spread out a leather cloth, wear a leather mat, and onto that he would place food for the sheep. And the sheep would come and they would eat of that sheep, of that that was there for the sheep. And their enemies, the wolves looking on, unable to get at them. A table prepared in the presence of mine enemies. The Saviour is there. The good sheep. Enemies dare not attack. The closer we are to Christ, the safer we are from every wolf and from every roaring lion. A table spread, when food is scarce, there the leather sheet down, and the food upon it, and all that we need provided for us, we shall lack nothing. Thou anointest my head with oil, when the sheep had got its head into thickets and thorns, when the head was cut and bleeding, the shepherd would anoint it with oil, healing oil. How wonderfully and tenderly the Good Shepherd anoints us when we are bruised and battered and feeling tired and weary and feeling as if we've been through the wringer. And there are times like that in our lives when it's difficult, there's so many pressures, there's so much to be done so much that we can't do and so much that we try to do and so many things going wrong and it seems sometimes as if everything's on top of us but we come to the Good Shepherd with our bleeding head and he anoints our head with oil my cup runneth over the sheep wounded and weary and then the Good Shepherd comes not with a miserly little bit of drink for the sheep, but with a full and running over cup of whatever the sheep needs, of the refreshing water, the medicine that it needs, whatever we need, our cup runneth over. The Lord's plentiful kindness, His rich goodness, His mercies which know no bounds. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. I think back on my own life, I think back to my childhood, the home I was brought up in, the family, my parents, the church I was in and the education and direction I was given. I think back over the years since then, different experiences in different places, university and college, abroad and at home and the beginning of my work and then working in different places and God providing me with a family the loving family and all these blessings. What can I say? Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. Can you say that? Or are you saying, oh my life has been very bitter and very hard and the Lord hasn't been good to me. The Lord has only been treating me very harshly. I've had a very poor portion in life. And everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. The Lord has sent trouble after trouble after trouble my way. Well, what a sad situation it is. No goodness and no mercy has come to us. But how wonderful when we can say the Good Shepherd has looked after me all my days. Many a time I went astray and He brought me back. Many a time I grieved Him, but He didn't grieve me. Many a wandering, and yet the Good Shepherd brought me back to Himself. Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life. Mercy, oh, the mercy of the Lord to an unworthy sinner. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I will dwell with the shepherd. I love him because he first loved me. He looked after me from the time I was a tiny little lamb born into this world. And He's looked after me all my days as I grew up, up to this very point in time. And where would I want to be throughout the endless ages of eternity but close to the Good Shepherd? In that wonderful place. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to be with myself at where I am. there ye may be also, the house of many mansions, the heavenly fold. I am the door, by me if any man enter in he shall go in and out and find pasture. Is the Lord your shepherd? He offers to be your shepherd. Look to me, he says, take me as your shepherd, go in through the door and feed from the hand of this Good Shepherd, who will look after you all your days in this world, but better still, He will look after you throughout the endless ages of eternity. And none perish that whom trust.