Well, happy Father's Day, huh? How many dads do we have here? Young fathers, old fathers, medium old? Fathers, would you all stand? Let's give them a big hand. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Please be seated. Today's message is coming from Psalm 23, and I want to preach out of Psalm 23 to encourage our fathers, and also mothers as well, and the children as well, so that I can cover everybody with Psalm 23. But let's have the Word of God, Psalm 23, on the screen. I want to read this all together out loud with you. Are you ready? Get set, go. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake, even though I walk on water. I 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. This psalm is maybe one of the most beloved psalms of the church. written by David of course. David is a man who experienced everything that a person could ever experience in his or her entire life. He experienced the grandeur of triumph and also he experienced the humiliation of defeat. He received glory and fame when he killed the giant Goliath. But his fame became infamy when he succumbed to his lustful desire for a married woman. He displayed an incredible generosity towards Saul, even though he had an opportunity, not even once, but twice, to kill his opportunity, to kill his enemy Saul, but just because Saul was God's anointed, he did not kill that man. What amazing generosity of a godly man. But his dying words to Solomon also revealed David to be a cold-blooded professional politician when he instructed his son Solomon, kill that man and exterminate that household because they are my enemies. Now at this point, let me ask you a very tough question. Do you think that this man, David, believed in the goodness of God without, without any doubt, without a shadow of doubt, and followed God's leadership throughout his entire life? Gosh, your facial expression looks very serious. Let me rephrase my question a little bit for you. Do you sometimes have doubts about God? Do you sometimes wonder if God is on your side or even the existence of God itself? Yeah, I have, I'm seeing a couple of heads being nodded, and then about 300 people, either saint or liars. Yeah, yeah. Let me put it in the right perspective. Now Samuel, the kingmaker of Israel, anointed David as king over Israel and Judah, when David was either 10 or 15 years old. But up until David was 30 years old, he got everything but the royal treatment. Instead of proudly stepping into the palace, If not overnight, at least gradually every day, what happened to his life was that he had to flee, he had to desperately flee from the jealous fear of Saul that was trying to kill him. And he had to desperately protect himself and save his life. While most of us can endure this dichotomy for a few weeks, Maybe even a few months, maybe even a few years. Doubts are bound to arise when the waiting period lasts for five years, 10 years, 15, even for 20 years. David was a human. just like you and I and I believe He also had doubts and questions look at this even as David was reigning over Israel and Judah as king His own son, Absalom, turned against him. He rose up against him and David experienced tremendous shame and humiliation when he had to move his entire family out of Jerusalem and cross the Jordan to escape the sword of his own son, Absalom. I wonder if Absalom was a teenager. Any parents who have teenager kids may identify with David. I don't know. Fathering teenagers is really hard, isn't it? Scholars are yet to figure out the exact dating, the exact time when Psalm 23 was written, but possibly as David was fleeing in the wilderness, his heart was stirred by the sight of a flock of sheep grazing in the fields of Judah. Perhaps he thought back to how he was once a faithful shepherd boy, Tending his father's flock very sincerely, and how well the flock followed him. And all of a sudden, as he was reflecting upon his past, perhaps it finally dawned on him how faithfully God led him up to that point in his life. Inspired by his memories of God's goodness, I believe David wrote Psalm 23. In verse 1, David confesses, in spite of all the adversities of his life, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Can you offer the same confession to God in the midst of the most humiliating trials of your life? The Lord is my shepherd is not offered against the backdrop of the prosperity gospel. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want is not about easy believism. Only those who have molded their faith through trials and hardships can make such an audacious confession when things are not really going as planned. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. In other words, those who have God as their shepherd will live an abundant life. But how? Number one, those of us who have God as our shepherd can live an abundant life because God restores us. Verse 2 and 3, David goes on to say, He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake. Now, what is your picture of abundant life? What do you think is the abundant life? Maybe life devoid of work? with full of pleasure? If you were a student, maybe you make great grades without studying much hard. Buy a lottery, hit the jackpot, you know, and become a millionaire overnight. Are you familiar with this psalm called the Channel 23? The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in cozy couches and he leaves me beside a coffee table. He restores my laziness. He leads me in the path of different channels for my entertainment sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of power outage, I feel no evil for battery-operated TV sets are with me. Your antenna and your cable, they comfort me. You prepare popcorn before me in the presence of my Netflix movies. You darken my living room with curtain, my soda pop overflows. Surely the TV guide and remote control will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the television forever and ever. Amen, huh? Is that the best life you're dreaming of? Contrary to our hopes, an easy life is not the abundant life the Bible is promising to believers. Psalm 23 presupposes arduous work and the stress thereof. You know, work is not a curse. It's a mandate from God. In the Garden of Eden, when God put the proto-man, Adam and Eve, they also had to till the ground. They had their work. It was only after Adam and Eve sinned that work became painful toil, and supporting our families financially through work became a harsh reality of life. We often feel like our well-being is threatened by work and work-related stress. You know, stress is one of the most obvious reasons for poor health today. We feel intense pressure as we compare ourselves to others and measure our self-worth and self-esteem by the amount of money we make and by the social status we have achieved. In the milieu of this harsh reality of life and work, the Bible says, although we may work, we are not a slave to work. If God is the shepherd of our life, He will make us lie down in green pastures, and He will lead us beside quiet waters. Meaning, God will give us rest when we are under incredible pressure. We have work, but we have rest. We have work, we have rest. So God restores our soul. In 2015, I went to a country in East Asia, and I'm not gonna mention the name of the country. During this trip, I had the privilege of speaking at the largest Baptist church in that country. After my message was over, one of the church members came to me and wanted to talk. She introduced herself, and she said, my husband died, and I'm a widow. She was about She looked like in her early 50s. And I raised up by myself three children. She said, since 90% of the population, over 90% of the population are Hindus, everybody looks at the world from Hindu perspective. According to Hindu worldview, a woman becomes a widow because of the sin that this woman committed in her previous life. not even in her current life, but in her previous life, so she doesn't even know what kind of sin she committed that made her deserve to be a widow. From the husband perspective, he died prematurely only because he married the wrong woman, a woman with the doom, with the karma. whose husband was gonna die prematurely. Therefore, in this country, widows are often referred to as husband eaters or husband killers. She said, in our country, we really seldom bury our dead. We cremate our loved ones after they die, following our custom. A huge pile of wood is stacked up in the crematory, and the dead person is put on top of the pile of wood, and we set fire. on the wood, and all the family members are mourning and weeping as we are watching our loved one turn into ashes. Our tradition is, as the family is watching and weeping, the widow screams and cries out, honey, take me with you, take me with you, and then she rushes into the flame of fire when the fire is the hottest and burns herself to death. But in reality, nobody has the guts to dash into the burning fire So, it is a family member who pushes her back into the fire While pushing somebody into the fire is illegal now Often centuries old customs override the laws of a nation. She said, David, in our country, if a widow dies like that, she's a blessed woman. But if the widow survives, then misery, harsh life lasts for the rest of her lifespan. Because this woman, a widow, is a doomed woman. No company would hire that woman to work, lest her doom, her misfortune, is carried to the place of work. This woman tried to commit suicide a few times, but the only reason she could not kill herself was because of the three children that she was responsible for. As she was mourning one day, her neighbor said, Sabina, I heard that a couple of, a Korean couple came to the foot of that mountain way over there you see and they built the building and they're doing something. I wonder if you go there they may be able to help you with whatever. So one day, Sabina walked miles to meet this Korean missionary couple, and she poured out her heart to the missionary's wife. The missionary's wife opened the book, translated into her language, and pointed out one passage, handed it to her, and said, Sabina, would you read this? So she read it out loud, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. Sabina broke down, and she wept profusely, wiping her tears. She says, in this country, once I became a widow, nobody said, come to me. Everybody said, get out from me. Do not come to me, lest your misfortune, lest your doom will come upon my life. Get away from me. But Jesus was the only and the first person and the only person to tell her, come. to me just as you are and I will give you rest she instantly gave her life to Christ she instantly accepted Christ and entrusted Christ for the rest of her life and she was wiping her tears and rose up to go back to her own home she came home with the courage to live She scraped everything, all the financial resource she had, and she borrowed as much money as she could borrow from friends and from relatives, and she started her own business because nobody would hire her for work. People, knowing that she's a widow, despised her, wanted to stay away from her, but it did not bother her at all, because the peace of God that the world would not understand was guiding and guarding this woman's heart. She worked hard. She really worked hard, paid back all the debts, and she even saved up some money. Now, every time she hears about a woman who lost their husbands, she went to those people, she went to those women and shared Jesus Christ with them, and then he helped the widows start their own businesses. Through Sabina's micro-financing, many widows of this country have found Jesus and have found financial stability. Now, in her Christian Widows Club called Rise and Shine, there are some 60 widows worshiping God together and helping each other. Let's give God the glory. Yes. Despite the hardships of life and the stress thereof, Sabina told me, David, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. Jesus said, come to me all. all who are weary and heavy laden, I will give you rest." When God becomes our shepherd, He will give us the He will give us an abundant life. How? Number one, God will restore us. Number two, God will protect us from evil. Psalm 4 and 5, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Do you feel like God is far away from you from time to time? Am I the only person who feels that way? Would you like to feel God's nearness, God's presence in your daily life? Then I have a very strong recommendation for you. Start asking God for suffering and hardships. Oops. Huh? Wow! Then you will experience God's nearness. Well, actually, you know, I was kidding. Actually, nobody, none of us has to ask for hardness, hardships of life. Why? Because the Bible tells us that in this world we will have trouble. Sorry, but we do. But pay attention to the subject of these lines. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He. He leads me, He guides me in all, in the third person singular, but when you are walking in the valley of the shadow of death, all of a sudden, the He turns into you. Even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will feel no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table of feast before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. The third person singular, He becomes you, very close in our life when we are walking through dark tunnel Why does God allow us to walk in the valley of the shadow of death? Huh? Why does he do that? Because it is in the valleys that we learn to fix our eyes on Jesus. It is in the valley of tears that our faith in God becomes strong and our character as men and women of God mature. Now look at David, nobody's exception. When David was in the grisly wilderness seeking refuge from the outrageous Saul, God raised David to become a man of God. However, when David was living in the luxury and the splendor of the royal palace in Jerusalem, somehow David became a man of lust and he was reduced to a rapist. Suffering has this distinct quality to make God real. I believe that's why they say that there are no atheists in foxholes. Seven years ago, I wrapped up my ministry in Nepal. A missionary drove me to Kathmandu International Airport for my return flight back home. While I was in the car, I began to have severe abdominal pain. To make a long story short, I had a bacterial infection called Clostridium difficile. To make matters worse, I am an ulcerative colitis patient. So my colitis plus C. diff made the internal, the intestinal inflammation extra harsh. I do not know how many times I had to go use bathroom while I was in that airport, excruciating abdominal pain, physical and emotional exhaustion and embarrassment. The fear of flying for seven hours all the way to Incheon and then 10 hours back to Seattle began to haunt me. Every time I stood in line for the security check, I found myself having rushed to the restroom before I reached the head of the line. Every time I returned, stood in line again, the line had grown longer. Exhausted, after four to five times back and forth to the restroom, I collapsed in one of the airport chairs. I felt like crying. I honestly wanted to lie down on the airport's floor because I was exhausted and the pain was so excruciating and I wanted to lie down and squirm my body. But I did not do that lest the other passengers are scared. I desperately prayed, God protect me from evil. Save me from embarrassment and take me home safely. After suffering for a while in the chair, I stood in the security check line again. By God's grace, I was able to wait to use the restroom until I passed the security check this time. Now when I walked to that airline's gate, departure gate, for whatever reason the airline company blocked out the whole resting area except the little entrance As I walked through the entrance into that... waiting area. The airline's employee stopped me and asked me for my boarding pass, and I handed him my boarding pass. He looked at my boarding pass, and he looked down onto those few boarding passes on the podium in front of him. He looked at my boarding pass again. He looked down on those A few boarding passes on the podium in front of him and he finally picked one up and he handed it to me and he said, I'm taking your boarding pass but I'm giving this to you instead. And I screamed, No! You cannot do that! As you can see, I'm a tall man, I always fly an aisle seat, and I need an aisle seat. And then I have a bad stomach inflammation now. I need a quick access to the restroom. I have a 7-hour flight. I need an aisle seat. This man said, No, no. Your new boarding pass is also an aisle seat. Just go. I was frustrated. I walked into that waiting area, sat in the chair, and I looked at the boarding pass. I saw my name on the new boarding pass. And then as I carefully examined the new boarding pass, tears began to flow down on my cheeks. They upgraded me to the most expensive prestige class free of charge even when I did not ask for it In the next 7 hours, I was able to sleep all the way in that 180-degree bed-like seat with a designated flight attendant providing care for me The only regret that I have is this. I wish I had been able to order the medium rare ribeye steak for dinner. But because of the stomach pain, I did not order my food on that day. Let me conclude my message with David's own conclusion. David says in verse 6, surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now do you remember Marilyn Monroe, once upon a time, Hollywood's symbol of sensuality? Maybe young people may not remember her, but most of you may remember who Marilyn Monroe is. I wonder how many of you remember that she had a little mole right here above her upper lip. Every time you see her picture, You see her face in a picture. That little mole kind of catches your eye, drawing your attention. In fact, that mole right above on her lip worked for Marilyn Monroe for an attention getter. I grew up in Korea back in the late 60s and early 70s. Korea was poor country at the time, but just because people are poor doesn't mean that they have no sense of fashion. I still remember as a young lad in the early 1970s, so many good-looking, tall, skinny, good-looking Korean young ladies wore miniskirts with red high-heeled shoes, you know? And in order to draw attention to their classical flat and round Asian face, these ladies drew a little mole right here above their upper lip with eyelid pencil, so that the mole could emphatically catch attention of the good-looking bachelors, good-looking young men in the street. It worked, you know. But in a hot, sticky summer day, when these ladies were riding the overcrowded bus without air conditioning, their moles kind of flew down to their chin. You know, because they were sweating. Wow, good old days. I still remember those. And I used to chuckle at those. You know, in English grammar, when we want to emphasize something, we use adverbs Like, for instance, we say, he runs very fast The word, the adverb, very, is the emphatic word And you can imagine the ancient Hebrew grammar was different. Instead of using an adverb like very fast, the ancient Hebrew people, in order for them to emphasize a thought, in the middle of the verb they put a dot. Like he runs, dot, and the ancient readers are reading, wow, this man is running fast. Power of a dot. Listen now. The action verb follow. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me. The action verb follow in verse six has an emphatic dot in it, in its original Hebrew text, but the translator of the Bible somehow did not translate it as emphatically as he should. Whoever the translator was, I guess that person's grasp of the Hebrew grammar ain't as good as mine. You're not just a dot. You know, I'm a humble man. The only pride that I have is that I'm a humble person. With a dot. So, let me proudly present to you David Chung's 21st century revised edition of Psalm 23.6. It reads, however bad my life may look in spite of all the troubles I may have about the all the doubts I may have about the goodness of God in the face of unending hardships and daunting trials by all means As God has promised in the Bible, as God has demonstrated it on the cross, as God has sealed it by the Holy Spirit who indwells me, God's goodness and God's loving kindness will surely, inevitably, by the beyond the shadow of doubt, follow me and even pursue me all the days of my life, throughout the entire lifespan of my whole being. Therefore, therefore, I am determined to dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever. Amen. Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about the same thought. He says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Shall we trust God for His goodness? Let us entrust our whole life to His loving kindness as we walk in the shadow the valley of death, instead of fixing our eyes on the circumstances, let us learn to fix our eyes on God. For He is with me, right there in the midst of the place of suffering. If we have that faith, if we have that commitment to God, then God will surely bless you. with the gift of incredibly abundant life. Shall we pray? Let's bow our heads and close our eyes. Is God your Father? Is God your shepherd? If you have never built that personal relationship with God as the Father through Jesus Christ, what better time do you have to accept Christ into your heart than the Father's Day 2023? Would you be willing to do that? If you're willing to do that, I'll be praying for you. I will pray with you. If you tell me, David, would you pray for me? I want to accept Christ into my heart and I want to have God as my shepherd. Would you just raise your hand up and down? Let me see your decision. I'll be praying with you. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. You made the right decision. What about those of others? God wants to save you. God wants to be your shepherd. Animals without shepherd. A beast, wild beast. The beasts are on their own. But when we come to God's fold, God will be our shepherd. And he will guide us. He will give us meaning even in the midst of our suffering. Father, I thank you for your call to an abundant life. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Father, I thank you for this amazing promise. Because of you, we have comfort, we have restoration, we have protection, even as we walk in the midst of suffering. Father, because of your goodness, we are determined to dwell in the house of God forever. With that confession, with that commitment, with that faith, there are a few people that raise their hands to accept Jesus Christ into their hearts and have this very personal relationship with Jesus and with God. I pray for those people, Lord, would you reveal yourself in a tangible way that they will not only conceptually know that you are their father, you are their shepherd, but may they feel your presence every day and walk with you daily with confidence, with a sense of triumph. There are many of us who have come with heavy burdens of life, and we seek you for your grace. We seek you for your mercy and rest. Would you fulfill your promise in their lives? Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of age. would You fulfill that promise in our lives and glorify Yourself in that fashion. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Amen.