We're turning to Psalm number 23. It's the Psalm of David. It's a psalm which really needs no introduction. It's very well known, very familiar, and a psalm of great encouragement and blessing to the child of God. And we're going to be considering the latter part of verse six. And as we look at this psalm, we are going to see that verse 6b is the end or the final resting place for the believer. It is the end of their journey and in fact the whole of Psalm 23 is describing the journey of the saint from salvation to glorification. And this psalm clearly teaches us that it is the Lord who began that journey, the Lord is the one that is with us at every stage of this journey, and he is the one who abides with his people forever. And as you look at all of this, It is not about me or what I have done, rather it is about what God has done and what the Lord has done for his people. As you think about salvation, it begins with God, it is worked out and accomplished by God, and it's brought to glorious conclusion by our God. Robert Murray McShane would write, Let's read Psalm 23. 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. Amen. As we look at this psalm, this salvation that comes to us is really in spite of us, and not because we have deserved it or we have even desired it. It's humbling to see that from beginning to end it is God who is orchestrating his purposes for the good of our souls. And as you look at this in every stage of life, in the times of happiness, in the times of blessing, but also in the times of distress and the times of terror, that valley of the shadow of death, the Lord has been with his people. He has not ever once abandoned them or left them to their own devices. The Lord has never left his sheep to tend for themselves. They are after all helpless, foolish, vulnerable. And he has always provided that correct path for them to walk in. And he is the one that is defended from every foe and from every enemy. So from verse one through to verse six, the shepherd is there with his sheep. And so the object of praise, and for the believer, that object of thanksgiving, is always and must always be the good shepherd. He is the one who is led from the start, provided on the way, the one who's protected from every foe, and the one who has lost none on that journey. So all glory goes to him. But we're going to turn to verse 6 and the latter part of verse 6. Here the child of God can say with certainty, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The first thing to note is the certainty that the believer has in this life. They know, they have promised to them this certain reality that they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The Psalmist David doesn't use vague language. He doesn't use language which could have a get-out clause or exemptions attached to it or conditions that would be applied. He doesn't say, I will dwell partly. but he says, I will dwell certainly. It's not a case of I might dwell or I hope to dwell, it is certain and definite. Who is the I that's spoken of in verse six and verse part, second part B? Well, it is the one that is in union to the shepherd, the one that can say with David in verse one, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. The one who has brought them and kept them and supplied their needs is in the bosom of the Good Shepherd. And so the child of God has a remarkable certainty here in their life. When we think about sheep, there is a natural timidity about them. They are unsure creatures. Sheep are not decisive. They don't devise plans. They act according to what is in front of them. They cannot arrange themselves any kind of defense or attack. Their only interest really is in the next blade of grass. Where we were staying, we had one of those peak, Derbyshire Peak stone walls, and just beyond it was a flock of sheep. And those sheep, they were munching away. If there was any loud noise or somebody came out of the house a bit quick, they would all scatter. And I've never seen sheep run quite so fast as they do up in Derbyshire. But they run from one end all the way to the other. If we wanted to go and take them home and to have roast lamb for tea, they really wouldn't have much chance of survival other than to run away. They can't face down the foe. They can't protect themselves from the devices of those that would want to cause them harm. They are very dependent upon the shepherd protecting and providing for them. If we look at ourselves, if we look at humanity and its natural condition, we hear people and they think about death perhaps, and for some there is a blind assumption that they will go to heaven. They don't have any interest in God in this life, they're not interested in worshipping him, but they have this idea, however unfounded it might be, that they're going to go to heaven. Well, if they were to really explore and to evaluate and to analyze the grounds that they had for making such an assumption, you would discover very quickly that they have no confidence in anything other than some kind of vague hope. Others may be a little bit more cautious and they will hedge their bets and they will say, well, I hope to go to heaven when I die. They hope that they have done enough. They hope that God will accept them. They comfort themselves by measuring their efforts and their works. They perhaps minimize their sin and their failures. And they imagine that on the balance of things, yeah, they're going to be okay. But when that great foe, death, comes along, that king of terrors arrives, is that conviction strong? And when death is then replaced with judgment, how do they fare then? There may be others who are blinded, and then they blind themselves to the reality of eternity, and they deny that there is any kind of existence beyond the grave. But very quickly, death comes. And after that, the judgment and eternity is ushered in. The child of God, though, is in a different condition. They can say with confidence, and this isn't any kind of presumption, but they can say with confidence without hesitancy, because of what Christ has done for me, I will therefore dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Why could they say that? How could they say that? Because it all began in verse one. They have been bought by the good shepherd. He has given his life for them and he has secured them with his own precious blood. And he keeps them in his grip and in his tender care with his eye of compassion being readily upon them. He has given his life for them and he will not allow them to perish en route to the end. They won't wander off and escape because he has that rod and that staff to bring them back. They cannot be overcome completely by the enemy because the shepherd is with them. even in the valley of the shadow of death, even in the midst of the enemies, the Lord is preparing a table for his people and the Lord is with them at every step and stage of this journey. What has begun is certain to be completed. We have verse one, and we have all the details in between, but we can say with certainty, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, because the Lord is my shepherd. If you look at Romans chapter 8, you have that wonderful statement at the end of that chapter where nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. And Paul gives a whole list of things that we might imagine could break that bond, and not one of them, however severe they may be, is capable of severing the bond that we have in Christ. We have in John 10, the great chapter concerning the good shepherds, we have there, they're all promising how that none can pluck them out of his hand. So the Christian can say with confidence, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. There's certainty about it. That said, not all Christians And for all of us, not at all times will we be able to say with confidence these words, because we know the truth, but then the doubts and the fears, the unbelief begins to rise, and we then question whether we belong to the shepherd, whether we are truly one of his sheep. There is no doubt objectively that the Lord will keep his people, protect his people, supply his people, but the devil will come in and will suggest, well, were you truly one of his people to start with? Well, how could we help ourselves in such a time like that? How could we encourage somebody who may be having that lack of assurance? Well, perhaps one way is to meditate and to consider the Good Shepherd. Look at his conduct. Look at his compassion. What does he do? Who does he help? How many people does he turn away? Does he ever discourage a seeking soul? Does he ever turn somebody away and say, well, you're not good enough? Does he list exclusions of those who cannot come to him? What does he say? He says generally, come to me and I will give you rest. Look unto me and be saved. And so in our Saviour we have one whose love is wide and broad, and those that come to him, he says, I will in no wise cast out. If you're a Christian, trace the good hand of God on your life. Look at how you became a Christian, that work of grace in your soul. See how your life has changed. You will mourn, you will lament that it isn't as dramatic as you would like, it is not as far as you would like, but look at where you were where you are now and where your soul is hankering for for the future. Perhaps you look at chastening and trials and you think, oh the Lord doesn't love me. Well that's foolish because the Lord says the ones I discipline, the ones I chasten, are the ones I love. If he disciplines you, he loves you. When we look at what he does, he provides that comfort for the soul. At the turn of the 20th century, 1900, thereabouts, you can see the plaque as you go out to the side hall and toilets. There is a monument to a Mr. Charles Hemmington. He was one of the pastors here. And he, throughout his life and throughout his ministry, did not have any kind of assurance of salvation. He doubted whether he had a place in heaven. But three weeks before he died, he was knocked over whilst preaching away in Croydon. And he was there dying. This was before there would have been any kind of NHS, before any kind of trauma intervention. And he wrote to the congregation back here in Devizes, expressing the certainty of where he would be spending eternity. And the Lord granted to him that faith to the belief, that understanding, that perception of what is awaiting and what is ahead of him. He'd had all those years, a lifetime of doubt, but in that last three weeks, he knew where he was going and where he would spend eternity. And so the child of God, without doubt, has a certainty concerning their end. They will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The second thing to note is the perpetuity that exists for the believer. In verses 1 to 5, those verses relate to here and now, time and present. They're fixed and limited, and yet when you get to the second part of verse 6, it just soars away into unending eternity. Verses 1 to 5, they're limited. The valley of the shadow of death has a finiteness to it. The enemy that is prowling and at times almost feels is prevailing against us is limited. We think about the struggles and the difficulties in life, they are finite. But then comes that eternity of dwelling with God forever. Being in God's presence has no end. It won't be terminated. Once the shepherd has landed those sheep safely home, there they remain. They are there forever. And dwelling in the house of the Lord speaks about that continuation. and that truth of abiding and dwelling where there is no deterioration or no corruption. In our text, we don't have qualifications given to us that we will dwell in the house of the Lord whilst it remains. It's emphatic. The house of God will continue. It will be world without end. No end is possible. Perhaps we've bought a house. and we've got the keys, we've had the deeds, we've got the mortgage set up for the next 20 years, 30 years, whatever it might be, and we look at the house and think to ourselves, well, I've got no intention of leaving this house. But we know that life happens. Perhaps there's a change in circumstance, perhaps there's a change in job, perhaps there's all kinds of things that can happen, good or bad, seemingly. And what we had planned comes to an end. But for the believer dwelling in the house of the Lord forever, it carries on. It continues. We don't have to pack up and leave and make our excuses and depart. We will be there forever. And we have in this state a time of blessing and joy and victory. In verses one to five, it's been characterized by journey, difficulties, problems, and now comes rest, blessing, and joy unspeakable. And the psalmist speaks about dwelling and remaining there forever. They won't have anything to leave for. There won't be a greener field on the other side of the hedge to go and explore. This is the end of the journey. It's not some kind of staging post, but it's the goal for where we have been heading. When we think about the Christian life, it's sometimes spoken of as being the race. What comes after the race? The crown. After the fight, what comes next? The victory. And here, in that same sense, we have this journey, long as it may be, and then comes the abiding, the resting, the dwelling with God forever. that dwelling with God doesn't deteriorate, doesn't cease, doesn't change, doesn't get altered in any way, it is perfect blessing and joy. The third thing to note is what is the habitation of the believer? What is the end like? What does this end of the journey look like for the child of God? Well, it is dwelling in the house of the Lord. That is our home. Now, people will often speculate and wonder what heaven is going to be like. I remember when I was growing up, there was a lady in the church, and she was very upset with some of the modern translations that translated John 14, in my father's house are many mansions, and in some of the modern translations, it puts in my father's house are many rooms. She didn't like that. because she wanted a mansion that was on its own. She didn't want to share with anybody else. She didn't want to have anybody else poking their nose into her business. She wanted a mansion separate from everybody else. Well, we can have some quite scruffy and skewy ideas of what heaven is like. We could think about the beauty. Read those chapters in Revelation and you'll be struck with the precious materials that are used. They are there to emphasize and to give understanding as to how beautiful it will be. There's no doubt when we arrive by the grace of God into heaven, the view and the scenery will be of something that is breathtaking, spectacular. We will have our breaths taken away as we see and survey that beautiful scene, that anything that we've seen here on earth, it will be quickly surpassed. We'll be overwhelmed by its wonder. in the new heaven and the new earth, all things will be made new. And whilst we can appreciate some of the splendor of creation here upon earth, it is still marred, it is still fallen, and it's still a poor reflection of what it once was like prior to the fall. And there in glory, we will have glorified bodies and we will enjoy and experience those things that in life we've only just vaguely peered into. In life, perhaps our eyesight fails, perhaps we struggle to lift our heads up, but there we will explore the wonders of that new heaven and new earth. And there we will be surrounded by the beauty of that habitation of the saints. Well, we could think about the beauty. Well, what about the buildings? There's a lot said about buildings in the new heaven and the new earth. Here in our text it talks about the house of the Lord. We can think about heavenly Jerusalem and if you look at some of the Psalms it talks about the architecture, it talks about the splendor. If you imagine with your mind's eye or perhaps have looked at pictures that people think, or how the temple that Solomon built, how that looked like or how you could visualise that, it would have been amazing in comprehending its size and its splendour and its situation. I believe it was regarded as one of the great wonders of the ancient world. And as you look at this place, this is where God's throne is, this is where God dwells. and we will see the beauty of the house of God. We were looking a few years back now at the life of Ezra and Nehemiah, and there's quite a sad detail that Ezra records. There they are with the joy and the exuberance of rebuilding that desolated temple. And some of the older folk who'd come back in the exile, they remembered what the former house looked like. And as they looked upon this house that was being built, the foundations that were in place, they saw how insignificant it was in comparison to what the original was in its heyday. Well, we won't have Solomon's temple to look at, we won't have the temple that was built and then later extended in Herod's time, but rather we will be seeing the place where God dwells. Well, another thing we might think about is believers. Sometimes Christians talk and they wonder, well, who will we meet? There will be some surprises. People you don't expect will be there and people that you are certain will be there will be missing. And we will in heaven see this person and that person. It will be an opportunity to fellowship and to talk with each other. We will see the likes of Elijah and Moses, the apostles. We will see the patriarchs. We will see these people. and we could go through all these things, but that is not who we will be focusing our gaze and attention on. We might think also about the business of heaven, what will we be doing? We may think about how we will spend our time, if we could put it that way, in eternity. who we will be talking to, the eating, the serving of God in heaven. It talks about the marriage feast of the lamb. It talks about sitting down. It talks about a place of joy and bountiful provision. We can think about all of this and how we can serve God with pure hearts. All of these things are very true. But when it comes to our text, And when it comes to really what heaven is really like and what makes heaven heaven, it is the place of meeting with God. In the Old Testament, we have two principal ways that God met with his people. One was through the tabernacle, that was replaced with the temple. and the way in which those things pointed to another meeting, another tabernacle, the place of Jesus, or the person of Jesus Christ. In the tabernacle and temple, sacrifices were made. And then Christ has come, God manifest in the flesh, and here he dies for our sin and redeems us to himself. And so there we will see our Lord, we will be with our Saviour and we'll be taken up with him. When you come to the New Testament we have the Apostle Paul emphasizing this very point. He doesn't say absent from the body, enjoying the banquet of heaven, or absent from the body and enjoying the after church fellowship with the saints. He says absent from the body, present with the Lord. He doesn't say to be in heaven is far better. He says to be with the Lord, which is far better. Heaven is all about being with God, being with our Saviour. You think about Stephen, what view did he have as he faced those stones? He had his Saviour standing and welcoming him into glory. It wasn't the pearly gates, or the great throne or the golden streets. It wasn't the prophets or the patriarchs looking down upon him, but it was his saviour. In the Song of Solomon we have that tender portrait of Christ with his love for his people, the church, In Ephesians 5 you have that same picture picked up, the Apostle Paul describes the people of God as being the bride of Christ. If you were talking to a bride that's getting ready to get married, we're talking to somebody on Sunday and asking them what they're looking forward to, You'd be a bit concerned if they said, well, I'm really looking forward to having the cake. I'm really looking forward to being the center of attention. I'm really looking forward to wearing that fancy wedding dress. I'm really looking forward to having all the presents. If you started to hear all of those things, you would go, well, what about a husband? What about getting married? What about being joined together with the one that you love? You'd be very concerned if you heard that. Well, same with the Christian. It's not about those other things. It's about taking up with the Savior. Well, as you look at the shepherd here, or if you look at the bridegroom of the church, the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our focus and he is the attention. It's interesting to think about the sheep here. Where does the sheep look? It looks for the shepherd. It's looking and ready to hear the voice of the one that is leading them. And as we think about our saviour, there is no other gaze that we could have given what he has done for us. The hymn writer puts it this way, eternity is too short to utter all his praise. Think about some of these questions. Why was I chosen? Did he not see how awful my sin was or is? Does he not know the evil capabilities that my heart possesses? Did he know that although he would be faithful unto death, even the death of the cross, my love for him would often fail. It would often falter. And I would be like that spiritual adulterer that Hosea is picturing. Did he not know that I could never repay him for what he has done? Does he not know that my serving of him is so often tainted with grudgingness and unwillingness? Does he not know the pride and the ambition of my heart? Does he not know what he would have to do to save me? We could go on and go on. And yet the reality is this, he knows all of that. and many more things besides. and yet he still loved us and gave himself for us. Hearing his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. Or Paul writes in Galatians 2 verse 20, I'm crucified with Christ, Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loves me and gave himself for me. Heaven, therefore, is about being with the one that has done everything for us. The psalmist concludes this psalm by saying, Being at home. being at rest, being in that place that he has secured for us, prepared for us, and provided for us. He will safely bring every last one of his precious sheep, for whom he died, to be with him, not just for time, but for eternity. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.