Our Shepherd Before Us

Amen. You may be seated. Children, you're dismissed to your King's Kids class.

! And if you would open up your Bibles while I tie my left shoe.

! I don't want to trip while I'm preaching.

Psalm 23 is on page 541 of your pew Bible.

Psalm 23. I'm going to read it.

May God bless the hearing of His Word.

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 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.

May God bless the hearing of His Word.

Psalm 23 is likely the most familiar and beloved passage of the entire Bible.

These six verses are very familiar to many.

And we got to ask the question, why is that?

Well, a quick answer to why Psalm 23 is so special to so many is it's so personal, so comforting.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.

You know, your rod, your staff, they comfort me.

You know, we all know what it's like to be in dark places.

We all know what it's like to long for a leader, to be present with us, to guide us through dark times.

But Psalm 23 is far more than comforting.

Psalm 23 begins with a confession, with a declaration.

It's a declaration where David, who wrote it, says,

The Lord is my shepherd.

There's no ifs to that.

There's no maybes in that.

He's not, I hope the Lord is my shepherd.

It's declarative.

It's a confident claim.

It's an assertion of fact.

Do you know what David is claiming?

The God of the universe is for him.

The God of the universe is his leader.

And it's as though David is saying,

The Lord Yahweh is my shepherd.

Lead on.

Lead on.

Over the next three Sundays, we'll be lingering in Psalm 23.

I got a little cracker still in my throat.

This morning, we're going to look at our shepherd goes before us in verses 1 and 2.

So we get to say, I lack nothing.

Next Sunday, we'll see our shepherd is with us in verses 3 and 4.

So we can say, I shall fear not.

And then the following Sunday, we'll see how our shepherd comes after us in 5 and 6.

And how we are promised to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Lead on.

Lead on, good shepherd.

Lead on the great shepherd of the sheep.

Lead on the chief shepherd.

Lord, we fear not.

We lack not.

We will dwell with him for other brothers and sisters.

The God of the universe is for us in the person of Jesus Christ.

He's our leader.

He's our shepherd.

And so we follow him.

And so this morning, I want to help you see how he goes before us.

And so as we look through chapter 23, verses 1 and 2, I want to make this case.

With God as our shepherd, we lack nothing.

With God as our shepherd, we lack nothing.

And that should put confidence in you.

So three points.

Our shepherd's name.

Our shepherd's care.

And our claim on this shepherd.

So let's look at our shepherd's name.

Chapter 23.

The first five words.

The Lord is my shepherd.

What we have here is a bit of a job title.

Shepherd.

And a name.

Lord.

Throughout the Psalms, God is described as a king enthroned in heaven.

Psalm 2.

He's described as the judge of the whole earth.

Psalm 96.

And in Psalm 18, we have this series of descriptions.

My rock.

My fortress.

My deliverer.

My shield.

The horn of my salvation.

My stronghold.

And here in Psalm 23, David confesses God as his shepherd.

Now, David himself was a shepherd.

1 Samuel 16.

He's a shepherd of the sheep.

But he was also a shepherd of people.

A shepherd king.

Psalm 78, 74.

Shepherds of the ancient Near East would go out before their flocks by day, leading them out to grassy pasture in fresh water.

And they would leave them out with their voice or with a little pipe.

And the shepherd would recognize the voice.

The sheep would recognize the voice of their shepherd and would follow.

Shepherds would provide for their sheep.

Shepherds would protect their sheep from danger.

Shepherds tracked down lost sheep of theirs.

Shepherds brought sick and injured sheep back to health.

To shepherd sheep is to lead sheep.

And to shepherd people is to lead people.

God is our shepherd leader.

The shepherd leader of his people.

Shepherds know their sheep.

And sheep know their shepherds.

Now, sheep are not the most intimidating creatures of the animal kingdom.

Sheep do not have claws.

They do not have fangs.

Sharp teeth.

They're not bloodthirsty.

They're rather vulnerable and defenseless.

Has anybody felt vulnerable and defenseless?

Felt exposed?

Yes.

Sheep aren't the brightest of the animal kingdom.

They're easily disoriented.

They're more on the dull side of things.

And aren't we too?

Doesn't take much to disorient us.

Doesn't take much to realize we have knowledge of only a limited amount of things.

Sheep are nervous.

They're nervous.

They're nervous.

Sheep are nervous.

They're jumpy.

They're skittish.

They're anxious.

We all know what it is like to be anxious.

If God is the shepherd, then we are the sheep.

And we need a shepherd to lead us.

Do you know in John 10, how Jesus refers to himself?

I am the good shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep.

Jesus isn't speaking about animals.

He's speaking about people.

A whole new flock with one shepherd that would become his through the blood he sheds for them.

A blood and a body which we celebrate at communion.

A new covenant.

And that's why this shepherd's name is so important.

The Lord is my shepherd.

We've looked at the title, shepherd.

Now let's look at the name, Lord.

Now you may be thinking, huh, Lord, that sounds like another job title, not a name.

But did you notice in 23.1 that the word Lord is all in caps, every letter?

L-O-R-D.

Now that is because that English translation of the Hebrew word under it is signaling something.

It's signaling that the name is the personal name of God.

Yahweh.

Or Jehovah.

And it comes from something that happened in Exodus chapter 3.

Exodus 3 · chapter mention

In Exodus 3, Moses is shepherding his father-in-law's flock, Jethro's flock.

And he's on Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai.

And lo and behold, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush.

And what was striking about this whole situation is that this bush was burning,

but the bush was not being consumed.

The flames, the burning was self-perpetuating without consuming the bush.

It was a sight to behold.

And out of that burning bush, God speaks to Moses and he commissions Moses to go to Egypt and lead his people out of bondage.

And so Moses says, okay, I'll do that.

What if I go and the people ask who sent me?

By what name do I tell them is sending me?

And then God says to him, tell them I am who I am is sending you.

Tell them I am is sending you to them.

It's almost like God is saying, tell them the I is is sending you.

And what that name that's translated Yahweh, because it means I am, it's a Hebrew verb.

It's getting at something about God's nature.

His self-existence.

His self-sufficiency that he is uncreated.

The I am.

He is the creator of all, the sustainer of all, the savior of all, the judge of all, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present, all-wise.

This is the great I am.

And if you're hearing it right, this is what David is saying.

In these first five words.

The great I am is my shepherd.

No ifs, maybes, or hopesos about it.

It's confessional.

It's declarative.

What's interesting about Psalm 23 is that Psalm 23 1 starts with the Lord Yahweh.

And if you look down to verse 6,

And I shall dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.

It bookends the psalm.

Now, when you know that your shepherd is the God of the universe, it puts confidence in your heart.

In John 8, Jesus is interacting with some Jews.

If you want to turn there, it's on page 1064 of your Pew Bible.

He's interacting with a group of Jews.

And Jesus starts talking about Abraham in the most interesting of ways.

He says in verse 56,

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day.

He saw it and was glad.

Now, what's interesting about that is he's not talking about Abraham as a historical figure.

He's talking about Abraham as if he knew Abraham.

So the Jews said to him,

You're not yet 50 years old.

And have you seen Abraham?

He lived hundreds of years ago.

Jesus said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

Before Abraham was,

I am.

The Greek is ego ami.

The Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible translates the I am of Exodus 3.14 as ego ami.

What Jesus is claiming here is to be Yahweh incarnate.

This good shepherd of John 10, here in John 8, is claiming to be Yahweh incarnate.

This is striking.

So when we read,

The Lord is my shepherd.

David is saying,

The great I am is my shepherd.

We get to say,

Yahweh incarnate is my shepherd.

We confess him.

The great incarnate I am is my shepherd.

That's his name.

Jesus.

And now we move from our shepherd's name to our shepherd's care.

At the second half of verse 1 into verse 2, we read,

I shall not want.

Yahweh is my shepherd.

The great I am is my shepherd.

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

To English speaking Americans living in the 21st century.

It would be very tempting to interpret,

I shall not want as,

He gives me everything I desire.

He gives me all the health that I want.

We know that's not true.

He gives me all the wealth that I want.

We know that's not true.

David's not saying that.

What David is saying is that,

The great I am is my shepherd.

I lack nothing.

It's the old way of thinking about the word want.

I lack nothing.

And the reason why David lacks nothing

is because his God is his everything.

The great I am is his shepherd.

And he knows that he will provide everything that he needs.

In Psalm 16,

David speaks of his God

as my portion.

My everything.

Because the great I am is David's shepherd,

he knows that all of his needs

will be met.

And so what you have in the rest of Psalm 23,

if you think of the Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want,

as kind of the governing sentence

of this whole Psalm,

the rest of the Psalm

kind of lays out

how we need not worry.

He goes before us.

He is with us.

He comes after us.

Green Pastures.

Name that movie.

The Hills Are Alive.

Yes.

Do you remember the opening scene?

Some kind of flying vehicle

kind of zooms in on Julie Andrews.

She's twirling in a pasture,

a mountain pasture of the Austrian Alps,

surrounded by lush forest.

It is just vibrant.

The hills are alive.

Or maybe you've driven up north

and you've driven through the pasture lands

of Wisconsin.

And you've seen these fenced stretches

of rich green grass

where animals roam in gray.

You just need to let them out of the barn.

Because it's fenced.

You don't need a shepherd.

These are not the green pastures

of David's time.

In David's day,

he lived in a dry, arid, rocky, hilly place

with dangerous ravines.

Green pastures were spread out

among this dry and rocky countryside.

And it was somewhat dependent too

upon the season that you were living in.

A shepherd knew where

to find green pasture

so that his sheep could eat,

survive and live,

to thrive.

The grass in these green pastures

provided the nutrients

for the sheep to live.

But God doesn't lead sheep.

He leads people.

God doesn't feed us with grass.

He feeds us

with the spiritual nutrients

that come from this book.

This is the green pasture.

Our good shepherd leads us here

for our souls to feast,

to find strength.

We find rich pasture in God's word.

Still water.

Did you notice that the phrase is,

he leads me besides,

not just water,

still water.

Remember,

we sheep are nervous,

jumpy,

and anxious.

And so,

it turns out that sheep

are reluctant to drink

from running water,

apparently because it moves.

And so back in the day,

these shepherds would dig out

little troughs next to streams.

And what would happen is,

the running water

would trickle into this trough

and it would fill up

into a serene pool of water

that was very inviting to sheep.

Still waters.

Just as sheep need water to live,

we need spiritual refreshment,

and God leads us

to the still,

deep,

gentle waters

of this book

for refreshment.

We need the food

and the drink

that our good shepherd provides

and he provides us

again and again

and again.

He leads us to the book

so that we find strength,

that we thrive,

we eat our fill

and drink deep

on a daily basis.

This book,

the Apostle Paul

describes it as

every word,

all Scripture

is breathed out

by God.

Every word

originates

in God's mind.

And when you

consume it,

it gives life.

Remember what Jesus said

when he was tempted

in Matthew 4,

for man cannot live

by bread alone

but by every word

that proceeds

from the mouth of God.

Hey sheep,

you want to thrive?

You want to live

in this dry

and rocky place

called life?

Your good shepherd

brings you to

this grain pasture

and this

still water

of Scriptures.

It's

to give you nutrients

and refreshment

to live.

I mean,

September

is the season

of start-ups.

School starting up,

extracurricular

starting up,

work seems to

take up notches.

I mean,

just our life

together as a church

ramps up.

One could

start neglecting

the green pastures

and the still waters

because it's so busy.

I would say

it's all the more

reason to

eat your fill

and drink deep

from God's word

on a daily basis.

Man cannot live

by bread alone

but by every word

that proceeds

from the mouth

of God.

and Jesus

himself,

our good shepherd

wants you

to eat your fill

and drink deep.

There's this expression,

you can lead

a horse to water

but you can't

make a drink.

Your shepherd

can lead you

to the green pastures

and still waters

of this divine book

but he can't force you

to eat and drink.

What are the obstacles

that get in the way

of you

consuming

daily

from this

good book?

Have you ever wondered

why God

would want you

to

daily

consume

his words?

Do you have

a daily time,

a daily place,

a daily plan

to consume

the richness

and fullness

of God's word?

If you don't,

I got a plan

for you.

You ready?

Just carve out

five to ten minutes

a day to start

and just start

reading Psalm 23.

That's all.

Just start reading

Psalm 23

and then

if you think

of it,

start confessing

verse one

by way of prayer.

The Lord,

Lord Jesus,

you are my shepherd.

I lack

nothing.

There's this

other piece

of verse two

that's very

interesting.

You see

in it,

in verses two

and three,

he makes me

lie down,

he leads me,

he restores my soul,

he leads me

in paths of righteousness.

This is God

leading us.

This is our

good shepherd

leading us.

But what's

interesting about

verse two,

that he makes me

lie down in green

pastures,

this one commentator

said,

it's more like

he settles me

down.

He doesn't

force us

down.

He doesn't

force us

to lie down.

He settles us

down.

He knows the

sheep are

jumping.

And the way

that he settles

us down is

by saying,

hey,

eat your fill,

drink,

drink deep.

And when we

eat our fill

of scripture

and we drink

deep from

scripture,

we are renewed,

we remember

that our God

is our shepherd,

we remember

that all things

are in his hands,

we remember

that he goes

before us,

he's with us,

he comes after

us,

and that we

can settle.

He settles us

down.

He calms our

anxious hearts.

It's a picture

of peace,

safety,

security,

of rest.

Remember what

Jesus said,

come to me

all you

who labor

and are heavy

laden

and I will

give you

rest.

With God

as our shepherd,

we lack

nothing.

We lack

nothing.

It's

his care

for us.

This book

gives us

everything that

we need

for life

and godliness.

Isn't he

good?

good?

We've looked

at his name,

we've looked

at his care,

now let's

look at

our claim

on him.

Back in

verse 23,

1,

we read,

the Lord

is

my shepherd.

I'm not

sure if

there's a little

question in the

back of your

mind,

but maybe it

goes something

like this.

how can

David say

that,

like that?

How can

he be so

confident

that the

great I

am is

his shepherd,

no ifs,

maybes,

or hopesos?

How can

David,

with such

seeming

confidence,

say,

I lack

nothing?

How can

David say

that he

knows that

God is

with him,

so he

will not

fear in

these deep,

dark ravines?

How does

he know

that?

How does

he know

that he

will dwell

in the

house of

the Lord

forever?

How does

he know

that God's

goodness and

mercy shall

follow all

the days of

his life?

How does

he know

that?

Because I

want to

know that.

Don't

you want

to know

that?

Don't

you want

to go

day in

and day

out knowing

that your

God goes

before you

and with

you and

comes after

you?

How do

you do

that?

Is that

something I

need to work

myself up

for every

day?

I want

that kind

of confidence.

Charles

Spurgeon,

the prince

of preachers,

who called

Psalm 23

the pearl

of the

Psalms,

he wrote

this,

the sweetest

word of the

whole of

Psalm 23,

the sweetest

word of

the whole

is the

monosyllable

my.

The Lord

is my

shepherd.

That my

is a

covenantal

my.

That my

is a

my

of

promise.

David

can say

of God

my

shepherd

because of

God's

promises

to David.

It's a

covenantal

confidence.

It's a

confidence based

on who God

is and what

God promises.

David was

living under

the old

covenant when

he wrote

Psalm 23.

It was

established

by Moses

on Mount

Sinai.

It's where

God said

I will

be your

God and

you will

be my

people.

God

committed

himself to

Israel's

welfare so

long as

they were

faithful to

him and

out of that

divine promise

to Israel

David is

able to

call Yahweh

my shepherd.

And if

David wrote

Psalm 23

after becoming

king that

would also

mean that

he had this

confidence to

say my

shepherd based

on a covenant

God had made

with him in

particular.

In 2 Samuel

7 God

promises to

David to

set one of

his descendants

upon his

throne forever.

So it's on

the basis of

these promises

these covenants

God makes to

David that

he can

confidently

claim the

Lord is

my shepherd.

He's not

confident in

himself.

He's confident

in his

God.

In his

God's promise

to him.

And of course

we know that

the descendant

of David

who now sits

upon his

throne over

a forever

kingdom is

none other

than Jesus

Christ.

David's

greater son

who's established

a better

covenant.

Thank you

Hebrews.

A better

covenant

through his

blood.

Each of

us on

this basis

this blood

covenant

established

at the

last supper

we can

say each

of us with

confidence the

Lord Jesus

is my

shepherd.

The great

I am

incarnate

Yahweh in

the flesh

is my

shepherd

because of

his

covenant

to me.

You see

when our

good shepherd

laid down

his life

for us

his sheep

he bound

himself to

us.

He is our

God and we

are his

people the

sheep of

his pasture

and his

church

is the

new

covenant

flock

and he

is

he's the

good shepherd.

The new

covenant

established

by the

laying down

of the life

of the good

shepherd

is the

basis by

which we

can claim

him as

our shepherd.

There's no

ifs about

that.

There's no

maybes about

that.

There's no

hopes

about that.

This my

with which

we say

my shepherd

is a

blood

sealed

my.

You belong

to him

and he is

your shepherd

your leader

to be fully

trusted.

He laid

down his

life so

that you

could call

him

my shepherd.

That's our

claim on

him.

It's a

blood bought

claim.

And in

the words

of Romans

8.32

He who

did not

spare his

own son

but gave

him up

for us

all.

How will

he not

also

with him

graciously

give us

all things?

With God

as our

shepherd

we

we lack

nothing.

would you

finish this

sentence for

me?

Here's how

you're going

to finish

it.

Two words

my shepherd

the Lord

Jesus

Yahweh

incarnate

is

my shepherd.

The Lord

Jesus

Yahweh

incarnate

is

my shepherd.

You wake

up tomorrow

morning

what

what did

you think

about this

morning when

you woke

up?

Feet hit

the floor?

Who are you

looking to

to lead you

today?

My guess is

you're looking

to you.

How about

tomorrow

you bounce

out of bed

because I know

it's you're

bright and happy

on a Monday

morning.

You spring

out of bed

with a smile

on your face

like Julie

Andrews.

the Lord

is my

shepherd

I shall

not want

he is

our good

shepherd.

This

shepherd's

name is

Yahweh

and we

call out

to him

as Yahweh

incarnate

Jesus.

He's your

confidence.

He is the

great I

am.

The creator

of all

the sustainer

of all

the savior

of all

the judge

of all

that's

our shepherd.

He goes

with you

he goes

before you

to supply

everything

you need

and the

shepherd's

care is

that we

lack

nothing

I lack

nothing.

He leads

us to

green pastures

and still

waters

of this

book.

We

feast

on his

word

we

eat our

fill

we

drink

deep

from this

on a daily

basis

and

that's

how he

settles

us down.

How we

trust in

him.

And our

claim on

the shepherd

is that

sweet

monosyllable

word

my.

A blood

bought

my.

A covenant

my.

A God

promised

my.

You claim

him because

he has

first claimed

you.

With

God as

our

shepherd

we lack

nothing.

So we

say to

him

lead on.

Oh we're

in a busy

season?

Lead on.

We lack

nothing.

The great

I am is

our shepherd.

It's this

shepherd that

goes before

us.

And so

how about

this tomorrow

morning when

you wake

up.

Feet hit

the ground.

you say

this.

The Lord

Jesus is

my shepherd

and today

I lack

nothing.

Let's pray

together.

Lord

Jesus

thank you

for all

that you

have done

in order

to claim

us as

our own

so that

we can

claim you

as our

own.

We trust

you.

You are

good.

You are

holy.

You care

for your

own.

Would

you

Lord

Jesus

would

you

Lord

Jesus

draw

near

to

us?

Would

you be

our

confidence

for the

balance

of this

day?

Lead

on.

And if

you give

us tomorrow

if you

give us

breath

we will

say to

you Lord

Jesus

you are

our

shepherd.

Today

we lack

nothing.

Lead on.

In your

name we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.