Psalm 23 and verse 1-6, that's the entire psalm, it's on page 458. Psalm 23 and verse 1-6 is the psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. So you've heard these words many times, right? Psalm 23. This is a popular psalm. I think it's popular, well, for one, because it's short. For two, it's just calming to the soul every time you read it. So it's used in movies, it's used in songs, it's used in everyday life. I remember my first kind of encounter with this psalm. probably wasn't my first encounter, but the first one that I remember was when I was in ninth grade and I was going to a Christian school and we had a Bible class. And school year had just started and I got a brand new Bible, NIV student Bible. And I was just carrying it to class, so proud. And this girl came out of nowhere and snatched the Bible out of my hand. I was like, what are you doing? And she like wouldn't give it back to me. And she opened it. She opened it, Psalm 23, and this is a brand new Bible that I had. She took a blue highlighter and highlighted the whole psalm. And then she underlined, even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, on top of her highlighting. I was like, why did you do that? She said, having you heard the song, this is 1995, having you heard the song, Coolio's song, and it's a rap song for the youth, it's 1995, and there is a part in the song that says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and she thought that was really cool and wanted to highlight and underline, mess up my Bible. I still have that Bible, I got it out thinking about this story. So you've heard these words many times. If you've ever seen the movie The Book of Eli, you remember the plot of that is that there's only one Bible left in the whole world, and Denzel Washington has it. And there's one part where they're in the cave and Denzel Washington, he recites the 23rd Psalm to Mila Kunis, his co-star. And after he's done reciting it, she says to him, that's beautiful. Did you write that? And he says, yes, I did. And she says, really? And Denzel says, no, that was around a long time before you and I got here. That's for sure. And that is for sure. It has, this psalm has been, it's the psalm of David. So we're talking about a thousand years or so before Christ. And these are sentimental words for most people. But if we're not careful, and maybe you even thought about this while I was reading it, if we're not careful, we can take the psalm for granted. Like, oh, I know these words. These words are so familiar. So because this is such a popular psalm, we can slip into reading it only on occasions like funerals. But this year I've discovered a new way to read the psalms. It comes from a book called Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney. Some of you might have heard this, of this book. And each day you read a psalm and you add 30 to that psalm. So today is the 25th, you read psalm 25, then you add 30, psalm 55, psalm 85, and so on. And what this does is it centers your concentration on the words and helps you in your prayers. So I read the psalm at least once a month because of that. It's a good way to read the psalms, and it keeps it fresh, keeps it fresh in my mind, helps me in my prayers, because you can read any passage of scripture, even this passage of scripture, a thousand times, and gain new insights each time. That's probably because you're growing as a Christian. If you're not reading it differently, maybe not every time, but over time, you should read new things or see new things in passages of scripture like Psalm 23. And Psalm 23, some people, these are the only words of the Bible that they know. I told someone who is not a Christian that I'm preaching on Psalm 23. And they said, what's that? I said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shout out, oh, oh, I know that Psalm. But these words are not merely sentimental. Because these are the words of God. This is a Psalm of David. A man after God's own heart. This is a psalm, it's read at funerals, but it is more about life than it is about death. So three points that I want to concentrate on tonight, and each one is answering the question, what is this psalm about? So the first point, this psalm is about God. And the second, this psalm is about us. It's about you and me. And thirdly, this psalm is about Jesus. So let's look at the first point. This psalm is about God. See, David is writing the psalm, and he writes a lot of psalms. He writes most of the psalms. But he doesn't use the familiar descriptions of God here in the first verse. Of course, he starts off with the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. the name of God, Yahweh, Adonai, the Lord. It sets the psalm in place. Everything following the name of God tells us who David is talking about here. You see, this psalm is not primarily about us. And this psalm is not primarily about David. Although by implication, we are included and David is included. But really, this psalm is about God and the close relationship that He has with His people. So David, he uses the familiar name of the Lord. But if you notice, he only uses the name the Lord once more in the psalm. He uses it in verse 6. So the rest of the psalm, he opts rather for a more close personal relationship between God and man. Notice verse 1 through 2. He makes me lay down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. It's interesting how David describes God in this psalm, going from the third person pronoun Or it goes from the third person, the Lord, or He, in verse one through two, to the second person, you, to describe God in verse four and five. So there is a growing closeness as David moves through this short psalm. David starts off close. He's not calling God the king, or the ruler, or even the rock. or even the refuge place, as he sometimes refers to God in those terms in the Psalms. But instead he calls the Lord shepherd. Then he uses the even more familiar, he. Then the even more familiar term, you. So there is a companionship, a close relationship, a friendship that David is describing with God here. The Lord is my shepherd. So a little bit about shepherding here. I don't know anything about shepherding except there's sheep and there's a shepherd that leads them. But David knows about shepherding. David was familiar because this was his occupation from when he was a young boy. So a shepherd leads the flock of sheep. He guides the sheep into the right direction to green pastures and still waters for rest and food and drink. And he also, he cares for the sheep when they are injured. He protects the sheep from danger. You see, this is how David is describing God as his shepherd. So the Lord guides, cares, and protects his sheep. God is holy and transcendent and totally other than us, right? But he doesn't boss us around. He leads us and protects us and fights for us. And verse four says, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. See the rod and the staff of the shepherd fights off and protects against wolves that would kill the sheep. And there are so many wolves in this world that are growling and sharpening their teeth to get at the Lord's sheep. I know we've experienced this in many different ways. You can experience it with false prophets, false preaching from our culture all around us, telling us what to believe in, what to do. You know, who has rights of what, and this, that, and the other. So there are many wolves trying to get at the Lord's sheep. But God has promised His protection for His people here. So, this psalm is about God. But secondly, this psalm is about you and me. You know, sometimes life is hard. I've heard some people saying that all the time life is hard, right? But, of course, that isn't accurate. I mean, life isn't hard for you right the second. I hope not. You seem comfortable. But maybe you're going through something that we don't know about, and life is hard. But sometimes life is easy. But there's good, there's bad times, there's good times. That's how life goes, ups and downs. I was talking to one of my professors a couple months ago, and I said to him, you know, life is going really well for me right now. I'm used to suffering. I'm used to being sick and maybe struggling financially and struggling with family relationships and all these. But life seems to be going pretty good for me lately. What's up with that? Is that the Lord taking His hand of discipline off me? You know, I'm used to suffering. Maybe you are too. Maybe you're used to suffering. But I said, life is going easy for me right now. So what was going on here? He said, oh, there are seasons of life that are in the valley of the shadow of death. And there are seasons of life besides still waters. And that's what the 23rd Psalm is about. And I was like, wow, it dawned on me, Psalm 23, it's about life. It's about your life and my life as it is tied to the shepherd's life or God's life. See, the Lord, he leads us to still waters. And He is with us in the valleys of the shadow of death. The NIV, it renders that first verse, I lack nothing. NIV. It's a good translation. Because the old King James and the ESV translated, I shall not want, and we're so familiar with those words that we can't possibly misunderstand them. But when I was younger, like when I was in ninth grade, the Lord is my shepherd. I don't want him. I don't want the Lord. Of course, it means I am not in want or I lack nothing. You could say, I don't want anything else besides the Lord. I don't want anything else besides the Lord and what he has for me, besides these still waters and even in the valleys of the shadow of death. I am not in want. I lack nothing. I have the Lord. What else do I need? So this psalm is about you and I. It's about us. You see, David used the personal pronouns. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. You are with me. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. This psalm is about David, of course. But all these things are true for the Christian believer as well. So this psalm is about you and me. Thirdly, this psalm is about Jesus. We've already said that this psalm is about God, and this psalm is about man. But this psalm is also about Jesus, who is God and man. He is the Lord. He is the shepherd. He leads us, and guides us, and comforts us, and restores our souls. Jesus is with us in the valley of the shadow of death. In fact, that phrase, it can also be translated as deep darkness, or it can be translated as simply death. I was thinking about this, I said the shadow of death. What was that for Jesus? It was the shadow of the cross. Jesus went into that valley of darkness, Calvary. He went into that valley of darkness and death and came out victorious for us. Remember what we read in John chapter 10. Jesus is the good shepherd. And he says in John chapter 10, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He knows his sheep by name and his sheep know him and hear his voice and he leads them. The victory over sin and Satan and death That's what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. He's also the one who prepares the table, he anoints our head with oil. You see in verse five, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You know, kids, when you are about to eat dinner, what does your mom usually tell you? Go wash your hands. Well, my mom told me to wash my hands, and Ashley tells me to wash my hands. But in these days, to prepare for a meal, you would anoint someone's head with oil to be clean. a wash up before a meal. So there's a story about Jesus visiting a Pharisee's house in Luke chapter seven. And Jesus, he points out to his host, Simon, the Pharisee, after a woman comes in and she anoints his feet with oil and her tears and dries them with her hair. And Jesus says to Simon, Simon, you did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment and her tears and dried them with her hair. See, Jesus, he was the guest of honor at Simon's house. But here, David shows how Jesus, He anoints our head with oil and we are the guests of honor in His house. After He has defeated our enemies, sin and Satan and death, He took the cup of God's wrath and filled it with His blood. Our cup overflows. with forgiveness and freedom from sin and eternal life. We are honored guests at the Lord's table, but we're not just honored guests. We have been adopted into the family and we live in his house. Jesus has made us honored guests at his table, he's given us a feast, but then he says to us, I'm gonna make you a permanent resident here. Makes us permanent residents, members of his family to live in his house with him forever. So verse six, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He also says in John chapter 14, in my Father's house are many rooms, and if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. You ever think about Jesus doing that for you right now? He's preparing a place for you right now. For those who have faith in Him, He is preparing a place for you. You must believe that He is preparing a place for you and believe that you will go to live with Him forever. And I say this to the youth a lot. I say, when does your eternal life start? It starts the moment you believe. Not just in eternity, you don't have to wait until you die to have eternal life, but it's from when you first believed. David says here, all the days of my life. So in closing, we can take this psalm for granted because it is so popular, so familiar. We can see these words and we know them so well and we take them for granted. But we can learn from these words if we apply them to our own lives. So I would ask you to not, don't take this psalm for granted. Read it often. Read all the psalms often. Read it with fresh eyes and ask for the Spirit's help. This psalm, along with all the other psalms that will help you in your prayers, will draw you closer to the Lord, and it will help you in your walk with Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the psalm of David. Thank you that you anoint our head with oil. You bring us into your house. You make us permanent residents to live with you forever. We pray that You would continue to guide us and lead us besides still waters and be with us in the valley of the shadow of death. We pray all this for the sake and in the name of Jesus, amen.