Psalm 23 // Stories Behind The Psalms // Jeremiah Cope

Welcome to the Movement Church podcast. We want you to know that God is

for you and so are we. You're about to hear a sermon from one

of our weekend services in Palmer Lake, Colorado. We pray that your faith

is provoked, your mind is renewed, and your heart is awakened as you

engage the Word of God. Stay tuned back from the message for ways to

get connected with us. God bless you. Thanks for tuning in. My

name is Jeremiah. I am one of the worship leaders here. We welcome

you to the Movement Church and we're currently in this series called the Stories Behind

the Songs. And in this series, we're looking at what brought the writer

to write these words? Will the motivation behind the lyrics? What did the

author know and experience about God that brought him to a place of writing this

words. Now, just a quick disclaimer before we get started this morning.

We all know the saying don't judge a book by its cover. There's also

a saying don't judge a church by the guest speaker. So if this is

your first or your second time with us this morning, we invite you to

join us again next week when today's worship leader. Pastor Fike will be back

to speaking. So today you might have thought, man, that worship was

incredible, but that speaker was terrible. Come back next week you'll have just

the opposite opinion. So this morning the message is coming from the words of

smash Mouth in somebody once till I don't get it, dude, that was

hilarious. Psalm's twenty three. The Lord is my shepherd, today is jew

So it's only fitting that this is what we're looking at today. 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. 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. Man. There's probably no passage of scripture

more famous more recited, more memorized, more known than Psalm twenty three.

Abraham Lincoln. He would go to these verses during times of depression. George

Bush would read these verses on television to a nation mourning on nine eleven.

It's been quoted by Coolioh, by weird Au, by Pink Floyd, Megadeth,

Tupac, Kanye. The list goes on and on, and of course,

on loads and loads of Hallmark greeting cards. These verses are frequently read

at funerals and read at bedsides in the hospital, so we often associate this

psalm with death and with dying. However, these verses have much to do

about life. These verses talk about sheep and a shepherd, but they're more

than that. These verses are about a psawmist relationship with a living God.

Psalms twenty three is all about Jesus, all about God with us. David

was a shepherd that became a king, and in these verses he is writing

about a king that became his shepherd. Since David knew his first hand what

it meant to be a shepherd, he knew the responsibilities that a shepherd had,

and he knew what it was to care for sheep, to look out

and protect his flock. So for David to look back and to say the

Lord is my shepherd is powerful because David is not just saying the Lord is

shepherd. He is also saying that he is a little like a sheep in

a shepherd's care. Today. If the Lord is your shepherd, then you

two are saying I'm a little like a sheep. You might remember this guy,

This is goat Boy. If you remember Saturday Night Live, there was

a short called remember the Eighties, Remember the eighties and goat Boy. He

had a nervous twitch where he would just he'd be talking and then yeah,

you'd start he hawned like a goat, uncontrollably. And I don't speak very

often, so I get nervous and I start. Just bear with me,

we'll get through this together this morning. But David recognized that he was a

little sheep like, just like goat boy. Here was a little goatish.

I know I have some sheep like tendencies, and I'm sure you do too.

Anytime you hear someone in church telling you that humanity is like sheep,

or comparing humanity to a flock of sheep, They always point out to the

fact that sheep are dumb, so we like sheep are dumb. That's a

terrible, terrible thing to be told in church. Each one of us is

so much more than a stupid sheep. Where sons where daughters bought at the

ultimate price. But there are certain things about us that are a little sheepish.

We all go to bed at night feeling just a little sheepy. You

see sheep at petting zoo's eating grass, crapping themselves. They don't do tricks.

You don't go to as or a zoo and see a sheep do something

impressive. They don't sit or shake or play dead. You have to kill

them to do that. You don't see sheep on canine units. Sheep just

don't do much. You may see service dogs leading sheep or leading people across

the street, but you'll never see a service sheep do anything significant. Let's

take a look at this video right here, This is what sheep do you

see? This sheep is stuck in this side of the road here in this

crack. Come get out, Come on, sheep, you're free, you're

free, give it up for pah right back in man. Sheep are dumb.

Here's just a few quick characteristics about sheep. Sheep are lost, Sheep

like to wander. Sheep need a shepherd, or they will go their own

way. I read a story this week that in two thousand and five in

Turkey there were fifteen hundred sheep gathered together in one field and their shepherds,

their owners, their managers were sitting down to have breakfast together. And it

didn't take long when one sheep got the bright idea of going, I wonder

what's down there? And he went, and he jumped off the cliff,

and the other sheep were like, he knows where he's going, And so

four hundred other sheep all jump off the cliff, all to their deaths.

The loss added up to seventy four thousand dollars to the sheep owners. It

was a bad day. Sheep can't be left alone. They have to be

under constant care, or they will go their own way. Isaiah fifty three

to six. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We

have left God's path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him

the sins of us. All sheep are defenseless. Sheep don't have horns or

a ferocious bite. A sheep wouldn't last a night in my neighborhood. Just

last night we saw a bear. A sheep would get taken out by a

bear a bobcat. Maybe my own dogs would take out a sheep like sheep

without a shepherd, they are easy to devour, is what one Peter five

eight says. Sheep are stubborn, they need constant redirecting. Sheep are stinky.

They can't clean themselves or take care of themselves or groom themselves. They

drop their stuff on the ground and they walk in that stuff all day long.

The nasty gets in their fleece. Then they lay down and sleep in

their fleece, and unless they have a shepherd taking care of them, and

they stay stinky, nasty balls of fur sheep stick around other sheep. Sheep

need a shepherd, but sheep also need sheep. Sheep know and recognize the

voice of their shepherd. And finally, sheep are more high maintenance than any

other livestock. So it's no wonder that the Bible refers to us as sheep

over two hundred times. So if you can relate to any of these characteristics

this morning, then you two might be a little sheepish. Maybe you're not

stinky, but maybe you're a little high maintenance or stubborn, or you need

community. If you would just turn to somebody and just say, man,

come on, amen, Amen, that's good. The only time that sheep

are ever mentioned in a positive light in scripture is when they're in the care

of a good shepherd. So this is where we're starting today. Psalms twenty

three, Verse one. The Lord is my shepherd. David is saying,

the Lord is shepherd, and I need a shepherd because I'm a little sheepish.

David is writing this in celebration and in confidence of who his shepherd is.

That a loving, patient, forgiving God is his shepherd. It's like

kids around at lunch table bragging about what their dad does for work or the

type of car that their dad drives. The Lord is my shepherd. He's

bragging about who his manager is. He's got confidence in his shepherd. He

is speaking to the care and the comfort that God has provided because of his

experience with sheep, he knows that a sheep can't care for itself, provide

or comfort it shelf itself. Sheep will die unless they have a shepherd.

And David's saying that I've got a good one as a sheep. David is

pointing to three different environments. We're gonna look at three different environments this morning

where he has experienced the Lord as his shepherd. The first place was in

the field where he experienced God as his shepherd giving him direction. The Lord

is my shepherd. I shall not want. Since the Lord is my shepherd,

I don't have to want. Man, there's a lot of things that

we want. More coffee, more sleep, more time, more patience,

more money. David is saying, I am content in my shepherd's care because

what I need he's given. David knew this to be true Philippians four nineteen,

and my God will supply every need according to his riches and glory.

He's saying He has been my source, and I have no need outside of

what you, my source, can provide. He goes on in verses two

and three, and he says he speaks of how he lacks nothing. He

speaks of the blessing of being in the Lord's flock, pointing to how God

has provided and how God has navigated his life, leading and guiding him.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. Like our kids, sheep have

to be told put down to sleep. I know when my kids were younger,

and sometimes even still, I have to make them lie down and take

a nap, or I have to make them go to sleep. It's not

what they want to do, but it's what they need to do. It's

what's good for them. David is saying, you led me, you filled

me, you gave me rest David is saying, when I didn't see the

need to lie down, you made me lie down. He leads me beside

still waters. A shepherd knows that it's at still waters where his sheep can

get a drink of water, where they can be refreshed, where they can

be cooled down, where they won't get too close and get swept away by

the current. Sheep are kind of like cotton balls with toothpicks for legs.

It wouldn't take much for the water to get on their fleece and to wash

them away. He's saying, God, you refreshed me, you restored me,

you cleansed me. You took me by things that I could handle because

you were with me. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths

of righteousness, for his namesake. David says, he guided me along the

right paths. A shepherd knows the right paths, the well traveled paths to

take for his sheep so that they can get to their destination. He knows

the terrain that is she can handle. He knows the equipment that they're gonna

need to complete their journey. Last Sunday, on Father's Day, we made

the very last minute decision to hike up Pike's Peak. And we decided,

like Friday night or Saturday night, just right before we decided that we would

wake up as a family early on Sunday morning, that we would head to

Bar Trail in Manitou Springs and get an early early start and hike up to

Bar Camp and stay the night at Bar Camp and then wake up early on

Monday and go the rest of the way to the summit. So that was

the plan. And so we made it into the hike and about ten minutes

in my youngest, this one Finny here in the green shirt, he decided

that he wasn't having it. He was not gonna be a hiker today.

And in his words he said, he said, this is the worst day

ever hiking, so stupid and he was just geeking out. He was so

angry, and we've got a long day ahead of us. So for the

next two and a half hours, my wife and I we had to take

turns guiding him and keeping him on the path, keeping him focused. I

had to give him my walking stick, and I had to bribe him with

jelly beans and gatorade and cliff bars. I had to tell him that I'd

buy him a hat if we made it to the summit. I had to

tell him that we'd go camping at Jellystone the next day and we'd go do

water slides all day. I was doing all I could to keep him him

going. I had to tell him to get up off the ground whenever he

kept sitting on the ground. And eventually, after fighting it for hours,

my wife and I finally broke him and he just accepted, man, this

is my life today. I am going to be a hiker. And after

a little bit of time, he started then having a little bit of fun.

And then he started running just out of nowhere, and then he started

jumping from rock to rock, and then he started trying to make shortcuts in

this in the switchbacks, and then we had to remind him, dude,

you've got to calm down. You've got to stay on the path. You

got to take it one step because if you start changing your pace and being

silly, you could get hurt or you're going to get worn out. So

you got to just calm down. And we finally made it to bar camp.

It was a long flipping day. So that night we had a family

talk on what we were going to do tomorrow. We were like, dude,

do we really want to try it's get the height gets worse, we

do we really want to try to keep going up? And so Finn or

Miles, our oldest, he was one hundred percent on on board, and

he that kid just wants to keep going uh. And Finn said, I

don't want to talk about it. So he didn't want to talk about it.

So we decided to just just take take a rest and uh and talk

about it the next morning. So the next morning we wake and Finn is

ready to go. He says, let's go to the top. So we

packed up and we started heading up and sure enough, about ten minutes in

this time, it all started again. For the next three and a half

hours. This is the worst day ever hiking, so stupid. We started

bribing him, encouraging him, doing all that we could to keep him going,

and eventually, after hours and hours and loads of jelly beans and bribes,

we made it up to the summit. Finn got his hat. Miles

was the pacesetter for us all the whole time. He is a machine and

the Gabby. I was getting frustrated and tired and worn out, and Gabby

kept telling me, Hey, when you get to the top, you'll get

a donut, and I was like, awesome, the line was too long.

Once we got up there, I didn't get a donut, but I

had like eight this morning during worship. Give it up for the hospitality team

always putting out a spread for us here at the Movement Church. So David

experienced God in the field giving him direction along the trail of life, guiding

him, directing his steps. The second environment that David experienced the Lord was

in the valley where God gave him shelter and protection. Though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, he says. David walked through some

valleys. Man, he had people that were against him. His own son

was against him. He had to fight a giant. The guy had to

go through some dark days. He walked through some really, really dark valleys

that looked like the end of him though, I walked through the valley of

the shadow of death man. The thing about a shadow is it's bigger than

the actual object that we should be fearing. It's darker, it moves,

it follows us. We can't get away from it. But a shadow cannot

take you out. No one has ever been killed by the shadow of a

car or a bus or a train, or hit by the shadow of a

bullet. No one's ever been bitten by the shadow of a dog bite.

What we think we see and what it is actually there are not the same.

How many of you would agree that many of the worst case scenarios,

and I know that I've done this in my head. Many of the worst

worst case scenarios that you dream up in your minds, they've never come to

pass. But we let the shadow of our fears paralyze us and keep us

from making progress. David is saying, I have walked through some dark valleys,

some massive problems, but I have walked through them. I didn't set

up camp and stay there because you were there with me guiding me through it.

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod

and thy staff. They comfort me because they keep me from going where I

shouldn't go. Anybody in here ever goes skydiving, nobody. Okay, there

we go awesome. Skydiving is a blast. I highly highly recommend it.

So whenever I turned eighteen, my good friend and I we had vowed to

each other man, when we turn eighteen, we're going to go skydive together.

And so we stuck to our guns and we did it. And the

way it works is when you go jump a tandem skydive, is you get

into the plane, and once you're in the plane, you're sitting on this

bench and the instructor is right behind you, and the instructor he then attaches

himself to you against his chest right here and here, and against his waist

which is way too close to be to another man. That'll make you want

to jump out of a plane real quick. And then you then screwed up

along the bench and after each person jumps, and then it's finally your turn,

you scoot out to the window. And the first couple times that we

jumped, we turned sideways, and then we counted one, two, three,

and then we would jump together and it was wonderful. But the last

time I jumped my instructor he was a large, really large guy, like

well over six and a half feet tall. And the way we did it

this time is we got to the door and I'm connected to him here and

here, and we get to the door. We're sticking it, sticking our

heads out fourteen thousand feet above the air. The engines blaring, the wind's

blowing, it's a lot of adrenaline and excitement. And he says, pick

up your feet. And I said what because normally we turned sideways and we

jumped, but he said, just pick up your feet. I'm like,

dude, then I'm just gonna dangle from you. So I do. I

pick up one foot and then I pick up the other foot, and I'm

just dangling from this guy like a kangaroo in his mom's pouch. And there's

no count, there's nothing. We just jump and we're off and it was

awesome. There was no one, two, three. He just said pick

up your feet, picked him up, and we went. But the instructor

knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that if I picked up my

feet that he would have the most control, and that we would have a

safe and successful jump. Just as David said, you are with me.

This guy was with me, and I was with him, and once I

trusted him and I picked up my feet, I had a blast, I

had no fear, and we landed safely on the earth below. David is

saying, God, You've been with me, the one by my side,

closer than a brother, closer than a friend, behind me, beside me,

guiding me, leading me, being patient and loving with me. I

am confident in you, God, he says, because of who my shepherd

is, I don't live in fear. Man. We've all experienced high levels

of fear, and when fear is high, it can be difficult to trust.

But trust in God is relief from fear. I've always loved this quote

from Joyce Meyer. Fear always tells you what you're not, what you don't

have, what you can't do, and what you will never be Romans eight

fifteen. It says you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children.

Now we call him abba father. If Romans eight fifteen is true,

man, I think it is. And if you're a parent in here,

you know there is nothing you want more than for your child to feel safe

and confident in your care. I know that I've looked under the bed,

I've looked under the closet, I've checked in the garage multiple times over the

last years so that I can reassure my kids that there is nothing there.

There's nothing to be afraid of, there is no boogeyman. I'm so relieved

to finally be out of the diaper stage of parenting. They're expensive, they're

stinky, they leak. I know many of you might still be in that

season of life, and I am sorry, but I bet there has never

been one time when your kid has dropped to load in a diaper and you've

taken them to change them, and you've shoved that load in their face and

say, look what you did. You'd nasty, disgusting little infant. You

wouldn't do that, man, That's not what a good mom or dad would

do. You want the best for your kids, and you're gonna clean up

their mess. You're gonna throw it in the trash so they don't have to

have to carry that ever. Again. We all know that song You're a

Good Father, and I mean, it's one of my favorite songs. And

sometimes I act like a son of a because I forget that I'm a child

of God. I forget that I'm a child of God because I forget that

God is for me. I forget that God has good in store for me.

I forget that He is working behind the scenes in my life. You

know that old song, He's got the whole in his hands, He's got

the whole world. I forget that, man, I forget that God's got

my world in his hands. You know. I like to think of David

in a field surrounded by a sheep, just playing guitar and singing some good

old country music, and I can imagine the sheep being calmed by their shepherd's

voice. There's a verse in zeph Andiah chapter three that's always been relief for

me, as it deals with the struggles that I have. Too often I

operate in fear. Too often I forget who God wants to be in my

life, and too often I forget who I am to God. Too often

I forget that He's got the whole world in his hands. Zephaniah three,

p. Sixteen. Do not fear. Do not let your hands hang limp.

The Lord, your God is with you, the mighty warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you in his love. He will not

rebuke you, but he will rejoice over you with singing man. A shepherd

might get frustrated with his sheep, but at the end of the day,

a shepherd loves his flock. A shepherd has either purchased those sheep as a

business asset to provide for his family and well being, or he's being compensated

to take care of that flock, So a shepherd's concerned, even delighted by

his sheep. Man, there's not an animal in my house that I don't

like that. I'm not concerned about Sonny. He's my golden doodle. He's

a great dog. Lulu, she's our sheep, a doodle. I could

do without her, but I'm still glad that we have her. Even Skittles,

my son's beta fish. He's a good fish man. And our newest

member, Charlotte. She's the leopard gecko. She's weird. She's always hiding

and licking the air, and she really doesn't do much, but I'm glad

to have her around. I believe this to be true about God with us.

He made us, he paid a price for us, and though he

has to be so patient with us, he's delighted in you. He's singing

a song, rejoicing over you. With singing. The third environment where David

experienced God was at the tent, or at the table, where he experienced

God as his source Psalms twenty three, verse five. You prepare a table

before me, in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with

oil. My cup runs over. I'm no shepherd, but I've done some

reading about shepherds this week, and evidently, when a shepherd is with a

flock, it's not uncommon that they will lead their sheep up to a high

place, a mesa, which in Spanish is a table. First time I

ever came to Colorado, I went to a place called maysa verde, or

to the green table. When it's time for the sheep to wren a shepherd

will go to the mesa and prepare it for his sheep. A shepherd will

do his best to ward off anything that could be a threat or an enemy

for his sheep. Up there, he will walk the table. He will

walk the high place and remove things that may be a temptation, poisonous plants

or thorny bushes that his sheep might be attracted to, but might be things

that aren't good for his sheep. He will prepare the table for them so

that they can eat and sleep in peace. Our good shepherd, god man,

he prepares a table for us. He prepares a feast for us where

he wants us to sit with him. Even though our enemies man, our

insecurities are temptations, our debt our, broken relationships, our addictions, our

hurts, our pasts, our habits, our anxieties surround us, he says,

I'm with you, never leaving you, never forsaking you. You are

welcome at this table. You may have things that bring you down, but

I have a chair for you to sit in here at my table. You

anoint my head with oil, he says, my cup runs over. When

it's time for the sheep to rest. A shepherd may put oil or citronella

type substance on top of his insects or on top of the sheep's head,

because it's not in common that that insects will get into a sheep's nose or

into their eyes, and will lay eggs in there and will cause all kinds

of torment and irritation to the sheep. And then the sheep will go and

ram their heads against a tree, and can can you do even more damage

to the sheep? You anoint my head with oil. He's saying, you

protect my thoughts, You protect my head. We forgot to pack our insects

spray when we went hiking up Pike's Peak the other day. And this is

how Finn woke up the next day like a bad dad. I forgot to

anoint his head with insects break. He has a severe reaction to mosquitoes,

and they irritated him and caused all kinds of frustrations and distractions to him.

And some bills. Anointing with oil and scripture is often referred to as a

sign of protection, a sign of honor, welcoming, blessing, refreshing,

as well as representing the power of the Holy Spirit. David is saying,

God, you anointed me, You blessed me, You protected my thoughts,

You kept my vision steady on you. My cup runs over. The scripture

says, you ever had a guest at your house that just kind of they

come over and you're having a great time. You're like, oh, can

I get you something to drink? Can I get you something to eat?

Your porn and stuff for him? And then they just kind of overstay they're

welcome, and you start like putting up the dishes, loading the dishwasher,

turning off lights, trying to get them the hint, and they just don't

get it. David saying, God, you've shown me that I'm welcome as

your child. You just kept pouring into my life, just kept saying you're

welcome here. You didn't put up the dishes, you kept a buffey before

me, giving me constant provision. You've equipped me empowered. You've always been,

You'll always be more than enough. So the first few verses of Psalms

twenty three up to this point he's talking about God as shepherd going before him.

You lead me, you guide me, you make me lie down.

All of these things God is before him, and then verse six he says,

surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, follow me all the days of

my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This last voice verse points to a shepherd that's behind us, following us.

So it's both God leading us and going before us. But then there's also

this shepherd following us with his goodness and his mercy. His favor follows us

when we remain in him. If you would this morning, put up your

left hand in the air and make the number five, so there was a

military chaplain, And when it was time to go to the front lines of

battle, he would have the men and women that needed some extra courage,

he would have them put their hands up in the air, and he would

give them a pen and have them right, the Lord is my shepherd on

the palm of their hand. And then he would give this simple object lesson

the pinky man. It's small, but it's significant. The ring finger the

Lord. I am in a committed relationship with the Lord. The Lord is

the middle finger. The Lord is the center of it all, not before,

not after, but the center of it all. And my pointer.

He's mine. He's not hers or his, but he's my shepherd. And

then finally the thumb. The Lord is my shepherd. As to say,

I've got a good one and everything is going to be okay. Sheep need

a shepherd. There's no such thing as a healthy, self sufficient sheep.

Oftentimes in our own lives, and in my own own life, we replace

our need for a shepherd with the desires of self. Yolo you do you,

I do what I want. The book Praying Life the author Paul Miller.

He writes this paraphrase of Psalms twenty three on what's his Alms twenty three

would be if it was a shepherdless som my I shall be in want me

my soul. Me I walked through the valley of the shadow of death.

I fear me me, in the presence of my enemies, my head,

my cup, me all the days of my life. Man, a life

without a shepherd is a scary place to be, and nobody knows that more

than this guy. This is Chris. Chris holds the world record for the

most lost, most neglected sheep because he had the heaviest fleece. Chris didn't

have a shepherd. He left his shepherd and he wandered away from his flock

for seven years. He roamed around Australia before he was discovered he had blended

in with a flock of kangaroo. His fleece was so heavy that he could

barely walk under his own weight. He was distressed. He was so terrified

of humans that he had to be sedated to be able to be sheared.

In order to save his life. Over ninety pounds of wool were removed from

Chris. Man a sheep without a shepherd, they can go where they want,

and they can do what they want, and they may have a good

time doing it for a little bit. But just as sheep, this guy,

Chris the sheep. If we go astray and stay away for too long

from our shepherd, it's guaranteed to leave us weighted down by our own efforts,

by our own striving, by our own trying and wandering, that our

spiritual, our emotional, and our physical health will suffer. Matthew nine thirty

six. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they

were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Man, he sees

us, He sees you this morning, and he would leave the ninety nine

to get to you. So where are you today? Man? If you're

in the field, he's with you. He wants to direct you and lead

you. Will you let him? Maybe you're in the valley what feels like

the shadow of death. Maybe you're facing something that looks dark, scary,

huge, He says, I will protect you. You aren't fighting alone,

and a shadow can't take you out. Be reminded today that God is with

you. You will get through this valley. When we made it up to

the top of Pike's Peak, there was another hiker, Dad up there,

that saw me carrying my big old backpack and he said, it looks like

Dad's the sherpa. And I said, yep, I guess so. And

he said. Then I started thinking, you know what. Yeah, our

God, our father is our sherpa. He will care Mary what's too heavy

for us to carry. If we let him, you'll get through the Vality

valley and he'll help you here. Maybe today you feel like you're looking for

a seat at the table, God says, just sit, be with me.

I'm with you. Even though you have things you're dealing with. I

will overflow your cup. I want you to stay, to sit, to

talk, to walk with me, work with me. Learn the rhythms of

my goodness, learn the rhythms of my grace. You are welcome at this

table, loved, accepted, blessed. You are a treasure to me.

Maybe you've wandered from your shepherd like Chris. Good Lord, I know that

I have. Maybe you've allowed your shepherd to be replaced with self searching to

find your truth. And if you've found that your truth isn't the truth that

you wanted at all. The constant cycle of trying to satisfy your needs,

maybe their needs. These are needs that can only be satisfied by a shepherd

like Chris. The cycle of trying to comfort ourselves, soothe ourselves, protect

ourselves, working hard to find our peace. Man, this searching will take

us nowhere, end up with a flock of kangaroos. It's a terrible place

to be, to wander like a sheep without a shepherd. The good shepherd

is waiting for you. We sing that song that your love is coming after

me, the reckless love of God, that he would leave the ninety nine

to get to you. And that's true today. The good Shepherd is waiting

for you. He's running after you, keeping watch of you. You've never

been out of his mind, You've never been out of his sight. Remember

the hand the Lord is my shepherd. So what's God leading you to do

next? And how can we help? Would you send us an email to

info at Movement Church dot co and tell us how we can pray for you

and help you take the next step in your spiritual journey. If you'd like

to contribute financially to our ministry, text the amount you'd like to give to

the number eight four three two one, or look us up online at Movementchurch

dot c. You can find the Movement Church on all social media platforms,

and we hope that you'll give us a follow God bless you, and remember

God is for you, and so are we.