happening on the pastoral search front. I'm gonna ask you to take your Bibles and turn to Psalm chapter 23, Psalm 23. You ever find times when you are, you want to offer some words of hope and encouragement, and you are searching for that? You're like, what is the best thing to say? And maybe you just can't think of the right thing to say. You find it hard to find the right thing to offer encouragement to someone. The right words said in the right way at the right time can offer comfort and encouragement, right? But wrong words, unhelpful cliches or well-meaning words that are just given at the wrong time in the wrong way can be hurtful and they can be disheartening. And throughout history, there's been a simple phrase that I think has brought comfort and hope to millions upon millions of people. It's well known. It's like no other phrase. It's been quoted. It's been shared. It's been posted. It's been heard so frequently. We quote it at weddings a lot, in times of joy. And we say it at funerals, in times of heartache and loss. We read the scriptures in the hospital rooms in times of fear and uncertainty. Posted on walls in churches, stamped in stone, grave markers, on and on. And it's this word right here, Jehovah-rah. Now you may not ever say that, but you say the Lord is my shepherd. And those words have brought comfort to millions of people throughout the ages. And my guess is the most common time when you hear this would be at a funeral, right? And it's in the times where there is certainly it's a comfort at death and loss. But I want to tell you today that these are words of comfort and they're words of life. These are words of life. The Psalm of David, most people believe this was written as an aging king. He was older. He had experienced life. He had gone through some heartaches and some hardships. And he's looking back and he's remembering, my shepherd, this is what my shepherd did. This is how he guided me. And we're gonna look at that this morning, but David himself was a shepherd king, and he knew exactly what that relationship of a shepherd to his sheep was all about. He knew how to care for them. And he describes the tender care of Yahweh, leading him, guiding him, upholding him, and pursuing him throughout his earthly journey. It's a beautiful passage. Well known, as Matt said. But I think it will be good for us to read it together this morning as we start. And I'm gonna put it up on the screen, and we're just gonna read it out loud together. We're gonna meditate on these words for a moment, and then we're gonna take a few moments this morning to try to break it down into some helpful ways for our context today. So we're reading from Psalm 23. And it's a Psalm of David. So let's read it together. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And 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. This is not unusual imagery in the Old Testament. If you were to look throughout the Old Testament, you would find God identified as a shepherd. Genesis 49 talks about the Lord as Jacob's shepherd. In Isaiah 40, it talks about the Lord feeding his flock just like a shepherd. Micah 7, the prophet there says, praise that God will shepherd his people. And then if you go to Zechariah chapter 13, you're gonna see what the prophet says about the shepherd. He said the shepherd's gonna be struck and the sheep are gonna scatter. And we know what that's looking ahead to. But throughout the Old Testament, we find that the Lord is the shepherd of his people. And it's remarkable that this imagery is used, if you think of it, because the work of a shepherd is a lowly task. It is not a noble profession. And the psalm here deals with the realities of life. Fear, anxiety, need, death, pressure, opposition. So as we try to break down this passage and walk through it, I want to, even if you've never seen a flock of sheep in your life, you've never observed it, we can understand from this passage the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep. And I think it'll be very, very helpful for you. It's just gonna be a simple outline this morning. We're gonna follow the passage. And the Lord is my shepherd, and what that tells us is that the shepherd sustains. In verse one, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. I'm afraid oftentimes when someone might be asked to describe God in light of the Old Testament, some of the things they might come up with is that he is a distant and far away person. That he is awesome and majestic, but he's just so far removed from our personal life that can't really relate. to everyday trials and afflictions. Now, many of the Psalms might rightly refer to Jehovah in that way. He is our rock. He's our strong tower, kind of an impersonal object, maybe, kind of feeling. Or He's a king and a deliverer. He's way away. He's way far off. We have no access there. In this moment, David chooses to be very, very personal and depict God in a very, very personal way. It's beautiful imagery. He is not distant. He is there. He is with you because the shepherd, in fact, lives with the sheep. He knows them. He's their provider, their sustainer, their protector. And this is the experience that David had in his own life as a shepherd. And this is what he's enjoyed throughout his life with Jehovah, Rah. David found comfort and security in the fact that God cared for him just like a shepherd cares for his sheep. And by virtue of this, it's very, very personal. He's my shepherd. But David also acknowledged that he was in need of a shepherd. He needed that guidance, he needed that care, he needed that protection. Because he's a personal shepherd, there's no need for anything else. Jehovah has everything that the sheep need. You know, that message may not be well understood by the person who thinks that they can sustain themselves. that they think that they can handle it, that no matter the problems, no matter the difficulties, I can figure a way out of this. Like a self-sustainer, a person who is self-confident, they're self-sufficient. But those who truly recognize their need for care and for protection and for grace can find great comfort in these words, that there is a personal God, a personal shepherd. And he says, I shall not want. I don't need anything. I lack nothing. And one pastor commentator wrote, called this a declaration and a decision. David's making a declaration of fact. All my needs are supplied by the Lord, my shepherd. And because he is my shepherd, I can trust him to provide everything I need and that is comforting to refresh my soul. But it's also a decision point. Because I decide not to desire anything more than what the shepherd provides, what the shepherd gives. It's a declaration of intent to trust whatever the shepherd decides is enough, it is right, and it is good. Now that comes vaguely, really familiar with some New Testament words from the Apostle Paul. My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. And then Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter one that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and to godliness through the knowledge of him who's called us. Our shepherd is meeting our needs. He is there, he knows us, and he is providing for us every need we have. And with the shepherd, we will never lack what we need. So we have a question for us this morning. What about us today? Are we acknowledging honestly that we do need the shepherd, that we are in need, that we are like sheep who are needy and strong-willed and dependent? Are we acknowledging correctly that you can't really live this life in a self-sustaining way? There's no way. You can't keep it going. Are you truly recognizing that all of your needs can be met in the one who cares for you and sustains you in this life? And maybe the question becomes, do you have actually a right understanding of what need is? Of course, I believe it's talking about the physical needs, the day-to-day, daily needs that we have. But maybe one of the aspects you should consider is the spiritual needs of your soul. The shepherd has the ability, the wherewithal, the power to meet that need, and he will. He will meet your needs. So the shepherd sustains us. The shepherd leads us as well. We see that in the next phrase. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters, restores my soul, leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. You know, the quality of life for any flock is fully dependent upon the shepherd. He has, we have this image here, the shepherd knows the best way to fulfill the needs of his sheep, because he knows the right places, he knows the right direction, he knows the right timing, and he knows the right path. That's what this verse is saying. He knows, he knows where to leave them. And he knows where the best places are located, and he knows the best path to take the sheep there. Jehovah-Rah is committed to making sure the sheep has all he needs for nourishment and growth. Now, a few things I've learned about sheep, not from any personal experience at all, mind you. I've just read a few books, and I've talked to a few people, and I've observed a few things. But one thing that I've observed is they're grazers. Sheep just graze, and they spend all day just grazing. They're just eating all day. They're very skittish. You can tap your foot, stomp your foot, it'll scare them. They're defenseless. They need a lot of care and they're not very good generally at perceiving danger. I actually read an account of a sheep that was grazing towards a cliff and just grazed right off the edge of the cliff. Didn't really have a sense of where he was and just fell right off the cliff. Now a shepherd knows this and the shepherd is there to minimize the risk and he's caring and he's watching and he's fully committed to their welfare. If you've ever heard of the book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, it's very popular. It was written in the 70s by Philip Keller, a man who was a pastor but also served a time as a shepherd, and he had a flock of sheep. He wrote some very and insightful things about this. It says, a strange thing about sheep is that because of their very makeup, it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met. And I have those for you here. The four requirements are, because they're so timid, they need to be free from fear. The shepherd needs to make sure that everything is calm for them. And because they're very sociable, they stay together in a flock, in a pack. There needs to be free from friction within the flock. If something's going across on the other side over there, these guys are very skittish. I went, what's going on? What's happening? I can't see it, so something's wrong. Boy, that's a good picture for us as a body of the church, right? Because we can get caught up in things that, what's happening, what's going on, and we get all out of sorts. But he says they need to be free from that. They need to be free from friction within the flock to rest. They gotta be free from flies or parasites if they're gonna relax, and then they have to be free from hunger. They won't lie down unless they're free from hunger. They've had the pastures to graze in, and now they can rest. And it's only the shepherd who can provide for all these anxieties. He knows where to take them. He knows how to meet these needs to help us to lie down. Philip Keller goes on to say this, nothing so quieted and reassured the sheep as to see me in the field. The presence of their master, their owner, and their protector put them at ease as nothing else could. And then he makes the comparison here, in the Christian's life, there's no substitute for the keen awareness that my shepherd is nearby. There's nothing like Christ's presence to dispel the fear, the panic, the terror of the unknown. It's the knowledge that my master, my friend, my owner has everything under control, even when they may appear calamitous. And this gives me consolation, it gives me rest and repose. It's in these moments when we trust and we see our shepherd that our hearts can actually rest. We understand his care in leading us to these places and we find these words, restores my soul, so helpful. Some other words for it might be renewal, revival, reconciliation. But for those who are spiritually sick, spiritually weak, emotionally tired, anxious, heavily burdened. This is the imagery that David gives us, and he says, our shepherd knows, and he knows how to dispel those things and take us to places of quiet rest, because we're resting in him, and thereby, our souls are renewed, our spirit is picked up, and our trust in him is made stronger. So how much more does our shepherd want to give us rest, right? He just wants to give it to us. And how does he do that? Well, through the Word, right? We say that a lot. You read the Bible, you saturate your mind with the washing of the water of the Word. Let the Spirit speak to you through the Word of God. You hear it through the preaching here. We're engaged in the Word and we're listening for the things that God is restoring our soul with. I think another way that we often neglect is just that prayerful conversation and communion with our shepherd. Just talking to him, bearing our soul, bearing our burdens, talking, listening, and maybe even through the fellowship of the flock because we're together in this and we understand the shepherd together and we're walking this life together. Sheep don't know where the pastures and the water is. They have no idea. They don't know. They just know the shepherd. And they just know the shepherd's gonna lead them there. And they trust him and they follow him. So I ask you, are you at rest today in the shepherd? Are you at peace? Are you being renewed in your spirit today? Because you're following the shepherd and you see him and you're comforted by that and he's taking you to those places of quiet rest and restoration of your soul. Maybe you need to cast your burden on him, and he can bear that. Matthew tells us in Matthew 11, he records Jesus' words saying, come, come to me, all of you who are heavy laden, and I'm gonna give you rest for your soul. And Peter tells us to cast our burden on the Lord, because he cares for us. And there's a beautiful picture of a shepherd caring for his sheep. And it's just brought out right there in those passages. So, are you at rest there? The shepherd sustains, he leads, and then he also comforts and protects. Comforts and protects. And we read the next verse, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you're with me, your rod, your staff, they comfort me. Valleys depicted here might not be like the ones you typically have come into your mind. Not those beautiful, lush valleys of, you know, green that we might picture in a serene setting. It may actually look a little more like this. This photo was taken in Israel. This is called a wadi. It's a wadi kelp, actually. We were standing there. And what I want you to notice about it is that it's pretty rocky and craggy and deep. There's shadows. The sun is shining above. There's shadows down below in those places. This is likely the picture that you need to have in your mind when you read this, the valley, the dark valleys. We tried to take a picture of a shepherd, and you can barely see it right there, I think, maybe, just walking through there. We zoomed in on an iPhone, it's not very clear. But here the shepherd sometimes leads those sheep. He takes them through those dark valleys to get them to the places he needs them to go. They're not always pleasant experiences. In fact, there's darkness. There's predators. There's certain feeling of danger there, for sure. And it doesn't really seem like a safe passage where he wants to lead you. But you know, it's much easier to be at peace and following the Savior when you have in mind those, I guess, Scotland Hills with the green grass and you're just trusting the Lord there. It's much easier to follow him right there. It becomes more of a challenge for us as humans when he wants to take us through one of these, one of these dark valleys. Now as a pastor, I've had the opportunity to be in both places. Some of the best and most wonderful moments of life with people, with you. Moments of weddings that you could celebrate, graduations, births of a newborn, baptisms, overcoming addictions, families restored. These are some of the best and most beautiful moments of life. I've also had the privilege, the opportunity to walk beside some of you in the most heart-wrenching and difficult moments. Cancer diagnosis, a health crisis, death, abandonment, betrayal, unimaginable heartaches. And those were the dark valleys. In fact, I've personally experienced both myself. Right now my wife and I are walking through a dark valley. But we have confidence that our shepherd is there. He knows the way. He knows. We have to trust him. Now, these dark valleys, sometimes there's things that are happening all around us, and the darkness, and the caves, and the crooks, and the crannies, and there's predators. And some of them are lies that you might hear. Some of them are the evil one that's trying to pull you off track and saying, I think your shepherd's lost. I think he forgot the way. Actually come this way because the green pastures are over here. What you're looking for is over here. He's tricking you. And then the most evil lie of all, is he really good? And you know what? We can be tempted to believe those lies. We can be tempted to kind of get off track in our hearts. What does the song say? Prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. But friend, despite the fear, despite the pain, despite the uncertainty, the feelings of vulnerability that you may have, please never forget that the shepherd is right there with you. He has you in his righteous right hand. And in fact, he'll never leave you. He'll never forsake you. He's not just leading you sometimes. Sometimes he's picking you up and carrying you because he loves you that much. So we ask, Lord, why do we have to go this way? Isn't there a better route? Maybe it's safer or easier or less painful. But what this passage is telling us, he knows the right path. He knows the right path. He knows the most direct route to the place He wants to take us. And I think the song we sing is a beautiful testimony of that. All my life, He's been faithful. All my life, He's been so good. And along the way, the psalmist writes about a couple of things that comfort him through this, a rod and a staff. Now, some commentators debate, is that one thing or two? I kind of tend to lean that it's two different things, a rod that he would use for protection against the predators that might come, and a staff, you know, the one with the crook on the end, the shepherd's staff that he would use for stability, but also to guide and to correct the sheep when necessary. And the fact that God was David's shepherd did not keep him from the many trials he faced in his life. It did not exonerate him from tribulations. And it's not gonna shelter us from these dark valleys. But the comfort when we look at the rod and the staff that God has is that even though he's not going to eliminate the presence of evil right now, he can eliminate the fear of the evil in our hearts. Because we look at him, full of deep darkness, we look at our shepherd and we say, he's got it. He's in control. What's your impression of God today? As you sit here and you hear these words and you think about this, maybe you're a little bit skeptical. And instead of seeing a gentle shepherd, you might be looking at a God who you think is an angry ogre, just ready to whack you on the head if you step out of line. or wander away. I submit to you nowhere do we find that the shepherd of our souls is just waiting for us to mess up so he can punish us. He loves us too much. He cares too much. He's guiding us the path he wants us to take because he wants to take us to the best places. He wants to restore our soul. He wants to strengthen us. He wants us to be fully dependent upon him. And I just tell you today, while he may not always use his power to keep you out of the trials, his presence and his power will always be with you to keep you through the trials. And I want you to think about that today as you leave. Now we get to verse five, and there's a noticeable shift in the metaphor that David uses. He's been talking about the shepherd leading and sustaining, providing and comforting. And now he's shifting to a picture of a host. A host. The shepherd is my host. And it's actually given us two invitations. The first is an invitation to feast. It's a beautiful picture. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. There's three pictures here. You read that, right? Three pictures, a gracious hospitality, the feast, the oil, and the cup. The feast, let's talk about that. You set a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Just picture there a table, a full banquet table set up, beautiful flatware, silver, everything, everything's there, just a bountiful supply of the best meal you could ever enjoy, right? And the host says, come, come in and enjoy. But you look and you see all those enemies that he's talking about standing around. Is that an inviting picture to you? But what about the enemies, Lord? What's going on here? Jehovah says, come sit, rest, eat, drink, enjoy the provision. Then the presence of the gracious host. Would a soldier who is engaged in battle take a break, set up a table, pull out the tablecloth and sit down and have a meal? No. He's gonna be fighting and he's gonna catch a meal whenever he can and he's gonna be engaged in that battle. But the Lord says, come sit with me. Take a load off, come enjoy the feast. It's a beautiful picture. Protecting them while they feast on the goodness and the bounty his is offering. We're gonna come back to that in just a moment. You anoint my head with oil. It's customary in the day that the host would welcome someone into their home, would wash their feet. And then he would also take an oil, mix with a perfume, a fragrance, and he would give it to them, and they would rub it on their face, their head, because of refreshment. The sun beating down, this would be a refreshing and soothing thing, but it was also a way to honor them, and to say, you're my honored guest, and here's something special for you to enjoy. and they would use it on festive occasions. And then the last picture of hospitality is the cup. Many things in the scriptures about the cup, which we don't have time to get into today, but not only was there enough in that cup, there was more than enough. Overflowing cup, not a half-filled, not a running empty, but an overflowing cup that God graciously provided. Now many times these verses have been read as if this is an inventar that is the cup overflows equals great abundance and great material blessing and just everything is so good. And the thought often comes from what they get from God. That might be posted sometimes like hashtag blessed, right? Look at all the good things God has given me to enjoy. But here with this table that was set, and the feast was presented, the servants could fill the cups, and as long as the cups were being filled overflowing, the feast was carrying on, right? The host was saying, stay, sit, stay with me. I want you here. If the cups ran dry, it would be signal to the guests that the feast was coming to an end and they could return home. As we learn from Scripture, many feasts in the Bible are several days long, and so they would last, and that's why it was such a huge deal at the wedding feast in Cana when the wine ran out, but when the party wasn't over. And Mary pleaded with Jesus to do something. And this psalm is painting a beautiful picture for the flock of God, a beautiful picture. He invites us into his presence, right? He says, I'm going to share with you the bounty of my provision. Come, rest, feast at the table, sit with me. And we say, but my enemies are all around. You've done so many good things, God, but my enemies are all around. It's okay, trust me, I've got it, and you have me. Those are the words he can say. He wants our fellowship, he wants our time, he fills our cup because he loves us. He claims us and he defends us against the enemy. He wants us at his table. Now that word enemies here is an interesting word. It actually means to bind up something and it can refer to anything that is narrow and confining. It pictures one who is in dire straits or distress. And it can picture a strong emotional response when you experience it, when you're pressed externally by enemies on the outside and internally by wrong decisions or wrong thinking on the inside or wrong passions. What enemies are keeping you from enjoying the feast, the bountiful feast that the shepherd has spread for you today? What has you so distracted so in turmoil that you can't even enjoy the presence of the shepherd, the one who rescued you, the one who sustains you, who cares for you, who watches over you day and night. If you want to put it another way, we can see what Paul says. In 2 Corinthians chapter 7, he says about Macedonia, he said, Do you feel that way sometimes? Conflicts on the outside, fears within? From within we might be attacked by various anxieties, by that inner voice of self-doubt or self-condemnation that just tends to plague us. You're not good enough. He's never gonna accept you. Or by lies that assail us with that terrifying question of what if? What if this, what if that? It's a terrifying thing and it's an internal battle that rages in our heart. On the outside, it might be conflicts relationally that you have. It may be a mocking you experience because you follow Jesus. Some of our enemies today may simply be those who just wanna see you fail. They don't really wish the best for you, and they let you know that. But whoever our enemies may be, whatever battles are facing, when they surround us, it's very, very, very easy to focus exclusively on them. and miss the shepherd, and not even notice that he spread a table for us, and he just wants us to be with him. We have these fears, and God says, trust me, and he steps in between me and the fear, me and the enemy. Now, I think we would like for him to appear as the Lord of armies and just wipe them out. That might make us feel better, and one day that's gonna happen. But for right now, he's saying, trust me. He's peering here as a humble host, serving a banquet, focused exclusively on honoring his guests, welcoming us, meeting our every need. And he appears totally oblivious to the enemies. But he knows where they are, and he's got them marked. So the poetic shock of this scene really comes that the verse, when evil threatened in the valley, he took his rod and he attacked it. But when he sets the table before us and he says, rest, eat, he's just holding them back. He's at bay. He humbly serves us in this totally unexpected way. So he invites us to a feast, and then the shepherd, my host, invites us to abundant life. Surely, verse six 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. What a wonderful verse, what a wonderful conclusion. The host care brought goodness and mercy of God to David and he lived in the faithful expectation that it was going to continue all the days of his life. And some key words under here I think that will help us understand this conclusion a little bit better. Follow, you actually heard it in the song. The Hebrew word here literally means to pursue. It's not a path, it's not just I'm casually following. I'm actually, it's after us. It's pursuing us aggressively. And God's mercy will never stop pursuing us. Goodness. That's really just what it is. It's an attribute of God. It's what He is. He's bound up in that. He is good, always, all the time. We don't deserve it, but He continues to pour it on us. Mercy is that beautiful word in the scriptures of Chesed, that loyal love, that steadfast love of the Lord. Unfailing love, faithfulness. In the past, David had experienced his enemies pursuing him, chasing him, but now it's God's goodness and loving kindness which is actively pursuing him and he is just praising God. And he's saying, thank you, my good shepherd. Jehovah, our Great Shepherd, in His goodness, with His steadfast, covenantal love, will never let go. He'll never give up. He will pursue us to the end. So, no matter your fears, your anxieties, your experiences, your heartaches, your betrayals, He will never stop pursuing you. He will never forsake you. He will never betray you. He will never stop carrying you. He will never stop carrying your burdens. He will never stop bearing the weight that you can't handle anymore. He's got it, he's your good shepherd, and he wants to restore your soul. So he invites us into this bountiful feast, and he invites us into life. And that's David's conclusion, David's conclusion. the calm assurance that he would enjoy the presence of the Lord forever. And to that we say amen. Now, this is a messianic psalm. Chapters 22, 23, and 24 look ahead to someone else. And it's obvious, I think, that we know who that is. It points to the one who fully embodies this, and it is the fact that Jesus is the great shepherd. Jesus, it's looking ahead to him. Jesus is the good shepherd. He's the one that protects his sheep. He's the one who knows his sheep and he cares for them. John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Verse 14 says, I am the good shepherd. This is Jesus talking. I know my own and they know me. He knows us. Hebrews 13.20, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep. 1 Peter 2.25, the shepherd, talking about Jesus, the shepherd and overseer of your souls. In 1 Peter 5.4, he is the chief shepherd. We've been talking about Jesus this whole morning. He is so rich in mercy and grace. In fact, he actually laid his life down for his sheep. Jesus is the great shepherd, and Jesus is the great host. John 14 says, I'm going to prepare a place for you, and I'm gonna come again, and I'm gonna take you there with me. He's inviting us to be with him forever. The invitation is open. He's ready to host us for eternity. And Revelations 19.9 says, blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb. And I'm telling you today, the invitation is open to everyone. Whether you accepted it or not, it's an open invitation. And so I ask, do you know the shepherd? Are you part of his flock? And maybe that's the decision point you need to make today, that all of these things sound so good and so encouraging and so helpful, but I don't know that shepherd. So I ask you, think about that. Do you know him? He says, I know my sheep and they know me. Do you know him? Are you part of his flock? And for those of us who do, we know the shepherd and we're confident in that. My question to you is are you resting in him? Are you fully confident in the shepherd's ability to care for your soul, to meet every need you have, to enjoy the presence, his presence, daily, forever? There's an invitation for that. Are you resting in him? Are you resting in the goodness of your shepherd? The song we sing, the goodness is running after you. Don't run away. Don't keep running. Turn, face it, embrace him. He wants to. This picture was taken in the early 1900s in Israel. It was taken by a man who escaped the Armenian genocide, and he ended up as an orphan in Israel, and he just got into photography. These are glass plates, these are some amazing things. We found a little shop in Jerusalem, and this picture right here just resonated with us, because it's a beautiful picture of our good shepherd. And I just want you to notice as we close, what is he doing? He's holding the face of that sheep in his hand. He's focused on him. There's other sheep, they have needs too, and he's not neglecting them, but the one right there, he's saying, you are mine, and I love you. That could be you, that could be us, sitting at the feet of our shepherd, and I encourage you today to turn your heart to him, cast your care on him, come find rest in him. Oh God, we thank you today for the beauty of your word. It's so rich and full. And so many times we read through these familiar words and passages and we get lost on it and we just, we don't comprehend the depth. So I thank you for giving us time today to just understand better, to focus for a moment on you, Lord Jesus, our great shepherd. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your sacrifice, that you came, you dwelt among us. You were the lamb that was slaughtered. You gave your life for us. And I thank you, Lord Jesus, that now you are our shepherd. And you guide us, you lead us, you take us to the best places even when we have to walk through some hard times. But thank you for being there, for comforting us, for guiding us, for helping us, for protecting us, for sustaining us. And thank you for the invitation you give to sit at your feet, to be with you, to know you, to love you more, to have our souls restored in our moment of need. Lord, be calm now to find rest.