Our Shepherd With Us

Amen. You may be seated, kids. You are excused to your King's Kids class.

And if you would open up your Bibles to Psalm 23.

It's on page 541 of your Pew Bible.

I'm going to read Psalm 23 in its entirety one more time.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down, settle down in green pastures.

He leads me besides the waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for His namesake.

Even though I walk to 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, your goodness and mercy, shall follow me, pursue me, all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of Yahweh, the great I am, forever.

May God bless the hearing of His word.

Well, this past Wednesday, Charlie Kirk, an outspoken conservative activist, a Christian, was murdered in broad daylight in Utah.

And we've been living in the shadow of his murder since in a variety of different ways.

Later that afternoon, a 16-year-old gunman walked into a Colorado high school and started firing, wounding two classmates, then taking his own life.

In late August, a confused young man opened fire through the windows of a Catholic school in Minneapolis, killing an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old and wounding 18 others, then killing himself.

On August 22nd, the Ukrainian refugee, Irina Zarushka, was stabbed to death by a deranged man on a train.

On June 14th, Minnesota Democratic Senator Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered by a man posing as a police officer after that same man tried to kill two other people in their homes.

These are just some of the murders from this summer.

We're not even talking about the murders in cities.

These are high-profile murders.

These murderous death cast a shadow over the last four months.

We've been walking through the valley of the shadow of death or the valley of deep darkness.

And if you aren't walking through a ravine of deep darkness regarding death, maybe the death of someone or maybe your own death,

how about the deep darkness of just being disoriented, of your health declining, of despair?

The valley of the shadow of death is real.

And we walk through it.

Last week, we looked at Psalm 23, 1 and 2, our shepherd who goes before us.

And so we say, I lack nothing.

Next week, we're going to look at Psalm 23, 5 and 6, our shepherd who comes after us.

So we can say, surely, your goodness and your mercy follow us, pursue us all the days of our lives.

This morning, we're looking at Psalm 23, 3 and 4, our shepherd who is with us.

So we say, even in the valley, I will fear no evil.

Here's what I want you to walk away with this morning.

Fear not.

Our shepherd is with us.

Fear not.

Our shepherd is with us.

Three points.

Our shepherd restores us.

Our shepherd leads us.

And our shepherd comforts us.

So let's work through these two verses so that you can rest assured.

So you fear not for Yahweh, the great incarnate I am, Jesus, is with us.

In 23, verse 3, the first four words, we read this.

He restores my soul.

Notice, it's the third person singular.

He restores my soul.

And just to remind you of who this he is, last week we looked at that verse 1,

the Lord, all caps, is my shepherd.

It's the personal name of God, the memorial name of God, Yahweh.

I am who I am, the great I am.

David is saying, he's making quite a declaration, quite a claim.

The great I am is my shepherd.

He's saying, I'm his sheep.

I follow him.

He's my leader.

I trust in him for daily provisions of green pasture and still water.

And last week, I wanted to show you that in multiple places in the gospel of John,

but in particular, John 8, 58, Jesus claims to be the great I am incarnate.

Remember when he said before Abraham was, I am?

There's no missing the grammar.

He's claiming to be the God of Exodus 3, 14.

In the flesh.

The good shepherd.

He claimed to be two chapters later in John, the good shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep.

The great incarnate I am has laid his life down for his sheep.

And now his sheep who hear his voice, follow him wherever he would lead us, whatever path he leads us down.

That's the he.

He restores my soul.

Your soul is your inner being.

And at the very center of your soul is your heart, not your physical blood pumper.

Thump, thump, thump.

It's your central operating system.

In the West, we tend to separate our heads and our hearts.

We think with our heads.

We feel with our hearts.

But David would have thought about it this way.

He thinks, feels, makes decisions out of one place.

His heart.

His central operating system.

His inner being.

The very animation of his soul.

The implication here is this.

David's soul needed to be restored.

Our souls need restoring.

Our souls need renewing.

Our souls need refreshing.

And our souls need only what our shepherd can give.

And do you know what that is?

Himself.

Augustine or Augustine, depending on your circles,

is well known for this quote.

You have made us for yourself, O Lord.

And our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

All of us have a God-shaped vacuum in our souls that only God can fill.

We need God.

And so when we talk about this idea of restoring,

you restore my soul.

Soul restoration is going to come from eating your fill from His green pasture,

from drinking deep from His still waters.

And I made an argument last week.

That is God's Word given to us,

and God's Word gives us God.

He gives us Himself through the Word.

When your heart is content,

satisfied,

in God alone,

you are going to find your soul restored.

restored in a right relationship to God,

refreshed,

renewed,

because you have the life of Jesus pumping through you.

Jesus went into the tomb dead,

and He came out of the tomb alive,

so that your restless heart can find its resting place in Him.

find life,

find peace.

So our great incarnate I Am,

our good shepherd,

is on a mission.

He is on a seek and restore mission.

Your soul is His target,

and His purpose is to give you Himself,

to restore you,

to refresh you,

to renew you.

If you want to listen to a passage from the Gospel of Luke,

Jesus is being watched by Pharisees,

and they accuse Him of,

this man receives sinners and eats with them.

to which Jesus gives this parable.

What man of you,

having a hundred sheep,

if he has lost one of them,

does not leave the 99 in the open country,

and go after the one that is lost,

until he finds it?

And when he has found it,

he lays it on his shoulders,

rejoicing.

He's rejoicing.

And when he comes home,

he calls together his friends and his neighbors,

saying to them,

rejoice with me,

for I have found my sheep that was lost.

Just so I tell you,

there will be more joy in heaven

over one sinner who repents

than over 99 righteous persons

who have no need of repentance.

Here's what I want you to see.

Your good shepherd

is on a seek and restore mission.

If you're lost,

if you've never become a Christian,

could it be that the good shepherd,

the great I am,

is calling you to himself

to enter into a relationship with him,

to be restored,

and you can find life?

Or maybe you are a Christian,

but you've been wandering.

You've been wandering in the desert places,

and your good shepherd's saying,

come back.

Come back.

Come back.

And there's reunion.

There's restoration

in your relationship with God.

And maybe you are a faithful follower,

a sheep of the shepherd,

but we are prone to wander.

Lord, we know it.

Prone to leave the shepherd we love.

Here's what this means.

We need our shepherd,

and our shepherd restores us to himself.

He restores my soul.

And that's really important

when walking through the valley

of the shadow of death.

That means whether we're walking

through green pasture,

or we're walking through dark valley,

we always get to say,

blessed be your name.

Our shepherd restores us.

Fear not, brothers and sisters.

Our shepherd,

he restores us to himself.

Second point is our shepherd leads us.

We read in the second part of verse three,

he leads me in path of righteousness

for his name's sake.

When you experience soul restoration of Christ,

and you are in a vibrant relationship with him,

you've essentially responded to his call.

If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself,

take up his cross,

and follow me.

And when you follow me,

when you say yes to Jesus,

you are going to follow your shepherd

where he leads you.

And he's going to lead you on his paths.

He's going to direct you in his ways.

And they are called paths of righteousness here.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

So what are these paths of righteousness

that our shepherd leads us on?

Well, back in the day,

David wrote this,

and he was writing it in a dry,

desolate, rocky, hilly climate

with many paths crisscrossing the landscape.

But not all those paths were right paths.

Think of these paths of righteousness

as moral pathways our good shepherd leads us on.

And he tells us these good ways.

He reveals these good paths to us

through the scriptures.

These paths of righteousness aren't mysterious.

They're not something that you've got to meditate on

and say, oh, Lord, show me your path.

He's shown us his path.

He's revealed them to us in the scriptures.

Let me make a case from Psalm 119.

Let me just show you

how Psalm 119 talks about paths.

I love Psalm 119.

I think I'm in the eighth round through it this year.

I can't get enough of it.

Listen to Psalm 119.

This is on page 606 of your Pew Bible.

Blessed are those whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the Lord.

Blessed, happy, joyful,

experiencing goodness of blamelessness,

of integrity,

of walking in the way,

the law of the Lord,

right out of the gate.

Psalm 119 starts talking about

following God in terms of pathways.

Verse 9,

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

Lord,

we pursue sexual holiness

by walking along the path of God's ways

revealed in the scriptures.

Verse 33,

Teach me, O Lord,

the way of your statutes,

and I will keep it to the end.

Verse 35,

Lead me in the path of your commandments,

for I delight in it.

Incline my heart to your testimonies

and not to selfish gain.

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things

and give me life in your ways.

Life,

delight,

joy,

goodness,

blamelessness.

It's his path,

his ways.

Verses 59 and 60,

When I think on my ways,

I turn my feet to your testimonies.

I turn my feet to your ways.

I think on my ways.

I turn my feet to your ways.

And then,

I hasten and do not delay

to keep your testimonies,

your commandments.

I get at it.

I hustle.

I'm quick to obey.

Because your commandments are not burdensome.

We could go on and on.

105,

Your word is a lamp to my feet

and light to my path.

If you flip over to the book of Proverbs,

Proverbs 3, 5, and 6,

familiar to many of you,

trust in the Lord with all your heart

and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways,

acknowledge him

and he will make straight your paths.

He will light up your paths with his paths.

The way of wisdom.

To be a follower of Jesus,

to follow after the good shepherd

is to walk on his paths.

The path of God's blessing

outlined in the scriptures.

Let me drill down a little bit more.

We live in a culture

in which one's sexuality and gender

is under assault.

There's a lot of confusion out there.

In Genesis 1, 27,

we learn that God says

that he has created

in his image

both male and female.

He created them

biologically sexed.

And that's a way for us to walk.

We think about sex and gender

in terms of biologically defined.

There's only two sexes

that are biologically determined.

And this is a way

of righteousness.

Genesis 2, 24 through 25,

when it comes to marriage,

it's very clear.

One biological man

is joined by God

to one biological woman

for an exclusive

one flesh union for life.

It's a path we walk.

It's a good way.

It's blameless.

Ephesians 4, 29

shows us a way to walk

in terms of our speech.

Let no unwholesome talk

come from your mouth.

Don't go off the path

with gossip.

Don't go off the path

with scornful, hateful speech.

Stay on the path

of God's blessing.

Build up those around you.

Give grace to those who hear.

John 13, 34 through 35.

Another pathway.

Jesus gives us the great,

the new commandment.

A new commandment I give to you

that you love one another

just as I have loved you.

You also love one another.

And by this,

all people will know

that you're my disciples

if you have this kind of love

for one another.

And so it is a path,

a good way to walk.

These paths of righteousness

in 23,

they're not mysterious.

They're very clear.

They're good paths.

They're right paths.

But did you notice

at the end of verse 3,

for his name's sake,

that seems a little odd.

God,

because maybe you're thinking

something like this.

He leads me in paths

of righteousness

for my good.

Or this is going to be

tongue-in-cheek.

He leads me in his paths

of righteousness

so I can be the best version

of myself.

No.

He leads me in paths

of righteousness

for his name's sake.

Remember,

this psalm starts

with the name of God.

The great I am

is my shepherd.

And it ends

with the name of God.

I shall dwell

in the house

of the great I am

forever.

And here in the middle

is another reference

to his name.

He leads us

on paths

of righteousness

for his name's sake.

For the name

of Yahweh

or the incarnate

Yahweh,

Jesus.

A shepherd's reputation

depended on his

careful leading

of his sheep.

And so when we walk

on his paths

of righteousness

that have been revealed

in his word,

it's not just good

for us,

it gives him glory.

It magnifies

his name.

It says

to a watching world,

this is legit.

Being a follower

of Jesus,

being a sheep

of his sheepfold

changes things.

We experience

his goodness

and he gets

the glory.

Have you strayed?

Have you strayed

off his path?

Are you

doing what's right

in your own eyes?

That's not his path.

You want to stay

on his path

and if you've strayed

from his path,

you have a gentle,

loving Savior

who's saying,

baby,

come back.

Come back

to the path

of blessing.

Come back

to blamelessness

and goodness

and experience

the goodness

of my ways

for the glory

of my name.

So far,

we've seen

we are to fear

not because

our shepherd

restores us

to himself.

We are to fear

not because

our shepherd

leads us

on his paths

and those paths

of righteousness,

they go through

both green pastures

and dark valleys.

So let's look

at the last point.

Our shepherd

comforts us.

Fear not.

Our shepherd

comforts us

in the valley.

Verse 4.

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.

There are a number

of things I want

you to see

in verse 4

designed to comfort

here's the first thing.

I want you to see

the connection.

I just said it.

Verse 3

and verse 4.

He leads me

in paths

of righteousness

for his namesake.

There's not

a full stop there.

The psalm continues

and that path

of righteousness

will lead

through the valley

of the shadow

of death.

He leads us

through the valley

of the shadow

of death.

God's paths

of righteousness

lead through

dark valleys.

It's part

of his design.

It's part

of his active

leading of us

in this world

at this time.

And yes,

there will be times

that are bright

and good,

ease and plenty,

and there will also

be times

of difficulty

and hardship

when things get dark

and we start

feeling a threat,

a danger.

In other words,

God purposefully

leads us

through valleys.

And here's the comfort.

It's not random.

God is always

at work for our good

and his glory.

He's always

at work.

He is sovereignly

overseeing

all things,

whether it's

on the global

front,

whether it's

on the national

front,

or in just

your world.

He is sovereignly

orchestrating

over all things

in ways

that we do

not comprehend.

but we know

the great I am.

God is sovereignly

at work

in our midst,

even in the valley.

The second thing

I want you to see

is actually

just make a statement.

Dark valleys

are real.

The valley

of the shadow

of death

can also be translated

the valley

of deep darkness.

And in my study

this past week,

scholars think

that this valley

being talked about

is not so much

of a broad

and wide valley,

but a narrow ravine.

And in the Middle East,

there would be

seasonal rainfalls

that would fall down

and it would cut out.

It's like a slot canyon

out west.

Just this very narrow ravine.

And if you're a shepherd

leading your sheep

going from one pasture

to the next,

sometimes you had

to bring your sheep

through these

narrow ravines.

They're dry creek beds,

sheer walls,

that once you descend

into them,

it is very hard

to escape them.

They're narrow,

you feel confined,

they can be very dangerous

in light of this.

If there is a flash flood,

those narrow ravines

can fill with water

and they can roll down rocks,

big rocks.

And so if you are a shepherd

of a herd of sheep,

you can lose your herd

in one flash flood.

Another danger is wild beasts

lurking in the nooks and crannies

of these dark ravines.

Another threat are bandits

who in that day

would use these ravines

to trap people,

to take advantage of them,

to rob them,

to beat them.

Last week I told you

that sheep by nature

are defenseless.

They are easily disoriented.

They are on the duller side

of the intellectual spectrum

of animals

and they are skittish.

And if you're bringing sheep

through a dark ravine,

they would be quite nervous.

And we, like sheep,

get nervous

in dark and threatening places

or seasons.

Death is one of them.

Whether it's the death

of Charlie Kirk this week

or other people

that have been murdered

in the past several months

or several years.

Maybe it's the death

of someone close to you,

their pending death,

a possible death.

Maybe it's even thinking

about your death.

Your body is declining.

That can insert fear

and anxiety.

And if you have lost

someone close

or if you're in a nation

that is going through turmoil,

it can lead to grief.

Grief is a dark valley.

But there's also

other kinds of deep darknesses

that we need to go through.

Despair.

When you find yourself

trapped in a ravine of life

and there is no escape,

you feel like you're

at a dead end,

you are hopeless

because you feel helpless,

that's a dark place.

And you can start feeling

acutely aware

of being alone,

of being fearful,

being disoriented.

Disorientation is a dark place.

I'm in my 50s

and I've seen our nation

change dramatically

over the last three decades,

four decades.

There's a disorienting effect to it.

What has been happening

to our nation?

What's taking place?

I believe that we are being

handed over by the living God

to the sinful desires

of the greater people

that we live amongst.

I believe that we are living

in a day and age

that's changed.

That we are living

at a time when

people are not looking

to the king of the universe,

but they're doing

what's right

in their own eyes.

And that kind of disorientation,

that kind of change,

is hard to bear

and hard to process.

And then there's

the deep darkness

of disappointments,

whether someone

has disappointed you,

whether it's a person

or a group

or an organization,

or there's another

kind of disappointment,

is that you are living

in fear of disappointing

other people.

And it is like this

cavern without a top,

a ravine.

You feel enclosed,

you are regularly anxious,

you are wondering

what people are going to do,

and it is a very difficult

place to live.

And wouldn't it be nice

if these valleys

took their turns?

That's not the way

these things unfold.

Oftentimes death,

despair,

disorientation,

disappointment,

declining bodies,

they all hit at once.

All under God's

sovereign purview.

And the effect

of these deep,

dark places,

these ravines,

is isolation.

fear,

anxiety.

And God gives paths

to lead us

right through them.

He has paths

for us to walk

through deep,

dark places,

through the valleys.

And we must walk them,

and we must walk them

individually,

and we must walk them

corporately

as a church.

And we must walk

the valleys real.

These dark places

are real.

Let's not minimize them.

Here's what else

is real.

You're not alone

in the valley.

Here's the good news.

Even though I walk

through the valley

of the shadow of death,

you have led me here.

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me.

You are with me,

for you are with me.

There are a number

of promises

throughout the Bible.

And this one

in which God promises

to be with us,

and to fear not,

for he is with us,

is a glorious one.

Let me share with you

a few.

Here's some of my faves.

Joshua chapter 1,

Joshua 1 · chapter mention

I'm going to start

in verse 6.

Skip to verse 9.

I have this passage

taped up

at different places

in my house

because I'm regularly

tempted

to be afraid

of things.

I'm afraid

be strong

and courageous,

for you shall

cause this people

to inherit the land

that I swore to their fathers

and to give them.

Only be strong

and very courageous,

being careful to do

according to all the law

that Moses,

my servant,

commanded you.

Do not turn from it

to the right hand

or to the left.

That's pathway talk.

That you may have

good success

wherever you go.

This book of the law

shall not depart

from your mouth,

but you shall meditate

on it day and night

so that you may be

careful to do

according to all

that is written in it,

for then you will

make your way prosperous

and then you will

have good success.

Have I not commanded you?

Joshua,

Mike,

have I not commanded you?

Christ the King Church,

have I not commanded you?

Be strong

and courageous.

Do not be frightened

and do not be dismayed

for the Lord

your God

is with you

wherever you go.

Give me an amen.

I need that.

Amen.

Wherever you go,

Isaiah 41.10.

Fear not

for I am with you.

Be not dismayed

for I am your God.

I will strengthen you.

I will help you.

I will uphold you

with my righteous

right hand.

Do you know

what the Apostle Paul

writes in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1?

For all the promises

of God

find their yes

in Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Be not dismayed.

Do not fear

your great

incarnate.

I am

is with you.

Unbelievable.

No, no, no.

Believable.

The Gospel of Matthew

starts with this

fulfillment of

Isaiah 7.14.

There's Emmanuel

coming,

God with us.

Wah!

Jesus the baby!

God,

the I am

incarnate.

And then the book

of Matthew

closes

with Jesus

risen

and glorious.

All authority

on heaven and earth

has been given to him

and the last thing

he tells us

is I am with you

always.

Even to the end

of the age.

The God of the universe,

brothers and sisters,

the God of the universe

is with us

in the valley.

The creator of all,

the sustainer of all,

the savior of all,

the judge of all,

who knows all things,

who's all powerful,

who's all wise,

who's all good,

who's everywhere present,

he's with us.

That's why David says,

I will fear no evil.

Let's just be clear.

He's not saying

that evil will not

befall him.

Let's be clear.

He's not saying

that he will not

experience evil.

He's saying,

I will not fear evil

because the great I am

is with me

and the great I am

is greater than any evil

that I would face.

Be strong and courageous

for I am with you.

This past Wednesday,

I was at

Frank and Sharon Schneider's house

and they're sitting

on the porch

and me and another guy

are helping out

doing some stuff

and I asked Frank

who's got Parkinson's.

I said,

Frank,

how is God using

your Parkinson's

in your life?

And his immediate answer

was,

well,

I pray more.

I pray all the time.

I pray for my family.

I pray for other people

and then I said,

well,

Frank,

what's your favorite

Bible verse?

And he's like,

Psalm 23.

And I'm like,

yes,

I'm preaching that right now.

And then he adds,

when I was 10,

I memorized Psalm 27.

And then he goes on.

He's standing,

standing in his driveway

and he starts reciting

Psalm 27

and he's not just reciting it.

He's weeping

while he's reciting it.

Our brother with Parkinson's

is weeping in his driveway

while reciting Psalm 27

and here's what that says.

The Lord is my light

and my salvation.

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold

of my life.

Of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me

to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

it is they who stumble and fall.

Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear.

Though war rise against me,

yet I will be confident

and it closes by him saying,

I believe that I shall look upon

the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Surely goodness and mercy

shall follow me

all the days of my life.

wait for the Lord.

Be strong.

Let your heart take courage.

Wait for the Lord.

Do you know who

he was ministered to on Wednesday?

Me.

By our brother with Parkinson's.

By way,

there's another brother

with Parkinson's

serving the brother

with Parkinson's.

Unbelievable.

Believable!

Unbelievable!

The final piece

I want you to see

from this verse

is a monosyllabic word.

For you are with me.

I quoted Spurgeon last week

and he said that his,

he thinks the most important

monosyllable of verse 23

is the my of verse 1.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I find myself saying,

Mr. Spurgeon,

this you is pretty significant.

Did you notice

the change?

Did you notice it?

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.

He moves from he

to you.

He moves from talking

about God,

his shepherd,

now to talking to

God,

his shepherd.

And you know what

brought it about?

The valley.

The hardness,

the difficulty,

the fear.

God uses valleys

to draw us to himself,

to cultivate in us

a dependence on him,

to call out to him,

you,

you are with me,

you deliver me,

you make straight my paths.

I look to you.

We look to you.

That you is a covenant you.

We can call God

our you shepherd

because of the blood

of Jesus built for us,

our Emmanuel,

our good shepherd,

laid down his life

and has bound himself

to us.

And now we can say,

for you are with me,

Jesus,

no matter what valley

you are in.

No matter what.

David goes on to say

that your rod

and your staff,

they comfort him,

comfort me.

These were the two

implements of a shepherd

back in the day.

The rod was

about a two foot club

and it was used to

beat against

wild animals

and bandits.

The staff was

a shepherd's crook,

a wooden pole

with a little hook

on the end

to pull and push

sheep in the way

that they should go

and they were

a comfort

to sheep.

Brothers and sisters,

our Lord Jesus

isn't carrying

a beat stick.

But his cross,

oh, it's a club.

His cross defeated

sin, death,

and the devil,

our enemies.

He clobbered him

with the club

of the cross.

And his cross,

oh, it pulls us,

pushes us.

It hooks us

to himself.

We're bound to him

along his path.

His path

is a cruciform path.

We walk

his path

and he leads us

and his cross

is a comfort

to us.

It tells us

that we are his

and he is ours.

And if he has

died for you,

how much more

along with that

death

will he give you

everything you need

for life and godliness

even in the valley?

He's never going

to let you go.

Fear not.

Our shepherd

restores us

to himself.

Fear not.

Our shepherd

leads us

on his paths.

Fear not.

Our shepherd

comforts us

with his presence.

I will fear

no evil

for you are with me

in the valley.

Brothers and sisters,

fear not.

Fear not.

Your shepherd

is with you

wherever you go.

Green pasture

or dark valley,

nothing is random.

He is for you

and with you

for your good

and for his glory.

So we walk

through the valley

with confidence.

Let's pray.

God,

thank you so much

for Psalm 23.

Lord Jesus,

thank you so much

for being our

ever-present help

in time of trouble,

for being our shepherd

in the midst

of the valley,

and we confess

that we will gladly

follow you

on your paths

because you are

wise and good.

Lead on,

good shepherd.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.