David: Part 2 - The Shepherd Shaping a King

Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our

lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message

would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you

to the life changing love of Jesus.

May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today.

Good morning. It's good to see everybody this

morning. You heard my name out there.

Thanks Chris. It is good to be with you this

morning. I mentioned this in first

service and I'll say it again here.

Man, that worship was just what my soul needed this morning.

Just taking time to stop and remember who is in control.

There's a lot going on right now in our world.

It's been a heavy, heavy few weeks and I know my spirit has

been so heavy, but to come in here this morning and to just be

reminded of the God that we serve, that He is on the throne

and He's good and He's worthy of our praise.

It was good for me this morning. I hope it was for you as well.

Well, my name is Jennifer Adams. My husband Chris and I, we help

lead the greeting team. So you'll often see us out there

greeting. If you are new today, if this is

your first time here with us at River City, we want to welcome

you. You are our guest and we are

truly honored that you would spend a little bit of your

Sunday with us. And so I hope that you felt

welcomed when you came in. I encourage you to go stop at

the connection tent, get some information.

We'd love to just meet you and hear your story, but today we

are going to. Well, first before I do that, if

every week we start off with a confession together.

We do this every week to remind us of who we are, but more

importantly, who he is. And so together we say that we

are badly broken, but we are deeply loved.

Amen. You are deeply loved.

And we're going to be talking about that a little bit today in

the message. So I'm going to start off the

message today and I want to encourage you to use your

imagination. I'm going to paint 2 pictures

for you this morning. And so the first picture I'm

going to use this prompt. And if you know what this is,

I'm going to reassure you that my family removed the batteries

because this is a cattle cried. And so when I told them I was

using this for an illustration, they were like, you are not

going up on the stage mom with a live cattle prod.

And I said, I don't even think I can prod like I can do anything.

Oh, you could. So it is harmless today, but

imagine that it's working. So I want you to imagine with me

a scene. Imagine a dust choked cattle

drive and you've got a cowboy riding behind the herd.

He is yelling, shouting at these animals.

These animals are exhausted. He's trying to get them to move,

go where he wants. He's cracking the whip.

He's using this when necessary. Apparently it works really well

is what I've been told. And he the, the whole vibe of

this scene is one of fear. It's the idea of move or else,

right? And the, and listen, the cowboy,

he does not have all of these cows named.

These are not 4H or FFA projects, right?

They don't have nice cute killing names.

They are just cattle and he just wants them to move.

OK, so this is that's the first scene.

So imagine that scene with me. Second scene, we're going to

totally change gears. And I want you to imagine a

Middle Eastern shepherd, OK? He is walking through some

green, beautiful green hills. He is walking in front of his

flock of sheep. All right.

And this shepherd, he does know his sheep intimately.

He might, they might even have names, right?

He knows them. Not only does he know them, but

they know him because he's a Good Shepherd and they recognize

his voice and he they follow him wherever he leads.

And the whole picture, this whole picture is one of trust,

the shepherd saying, come, follow me, I know where we're

going. All right, so you got those two

pictures in your head, right? The cattle prod, the fear, and

the shepherd's staff, the trust. All right.

And so my question for you this morning is, when you think of

God, which of these two tools do you instinctively imagine in his

hand? Do you kind of think of God as a

taskmaster, the one with a list of things that you need to do

and maybe even a longer list of things that you should not do,

that he is watching and waiting, ready to get you if you do the

wrong thing, ready to punish you?

Or do you just kind of instinctively think of God more

as the shepherd, the one that's leading you, the one that's

leading you from a place of love that knows what's best for you?

His job is all about providing for you and protecting you,

keeping you safe. Which one do you tend to think

of when you think of God? And there can be a lot of things

in our life that shapes that view of God.

But here's the thing, when the the way that we view God, it

will shape how we respond to the highs and the lows of life.

And so we are in the middle of a series on King David, thus the

shepherd's staff, because we are going to be looking at David as

a shepherd today. And in this series, I think

we're on week two of the series. We're not going to be starting

at the beginning of David's life and working our way through.

This is not a chronological study.

We are just pulling little bits and pieces out of his life and

looking at him and how we can apply it today.

But David, when we talk about our view of God shaping how we

respond to life and highs and lows, listen, David had his fair

share of highs. I mean, like, hey, this is the,

this is the young teenage kid that killed a giant, right?

Goliath, when nobody else was willing to go out there.

He goes out there with a slingshot and some stones.

He kills the giant. He and later in life, he becomes

this amazing warrior. He is celebrated everywhere he

goes. He becomes one of the greatest

kings that Israel ever had. He had some amazing high

mountain top experiences. David also had some very, very

low experiences. We know the story.

We heard a little bit about it a couple weeks ago.

I think we're going to hear more about it maybe next week.

But when David commits adultery with a woman, she ends up

getting pregnant and trying to cover it up.

He kills the husband, then the baby dies.

I mean, this is low, right? We have later in his life when

one of his sons tries to raise up at a rebellion to take his

throne. David knew lots of hard times,

lots of highs and lows and his life.

And listen, David's life was not perfect.

You're going to hear this throughout the series.

The hero of the story is not David.

Because when we look at the life of David, yes, there's some

amazing things, but there's also some really messy things.

The hero of the story is God, the one that he was following.

But what made John read that passage?

As we started before I came up here, and it talks about how God

said that David was a man after his own heart.

What made David a man after God's own heart?

I've often whenever I would read that passage and that you see

that in the Old Testament and the New Testament, I thought,

man, what made David get that description?

Because, yeah, I would like to be known as not a man, but the

woman after God's own heart, Right.

Like, who doesn't want to be known that way?

What made David fit that description?

Well, I think there's a number of things, but I think one of

the big ones is that he had a healthy and proper view of God.

Now, David was this mighty warrior.

He was at this amazing king, but he was also a musician and a

poet. I mean, this was quite the man.

And he wrote a lot of the Psalms.

And one of the most familiar Psalms probably to most of us,

is a Psalm that David wrote. They believe he wrote this

towards the end of his life when he has had a chance to reflect

on his life, on those highs, on those lows, and who God has been

to him. And at this point in his life,

he wrote Psalms 23. I'm going to read it to you this

morning. All of my passages this morning

are coming out of the CSB version.

But if you are like me, and so I'm going to be reading out of

the CSB, if you're like me, I learned Psalms 23 when I was a

little kid and Sunday school. So I kind of know it in King

James. So I might kind of mix it up a

little bit, but this is Psalms 23.

The Lord is my shepherd. I have what I need.

He lets me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life.

He leads me along the right path for his name's sake.

Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no

danger, 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. Only goodness and faithful love

will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the

House of the Lord as long as I live.

You know I love this Psalm. It has brought me comfort in so

many different seasons of life. And so you have David here

towards the end of his life, looking back and when he is

trying to think, you know who God has been to him.

This was the best way that he knew to describe it as the

Lord's been my shepherd. And you have to understand David

as a child, that was his job and he was a young boy.

He was a shepherd. So he intimately understood what

it meant to be a shepherd and and what it meant to be a Good

Shepherd. OK, because you can have bad

shepherds, but he knew what it meant to be a Good Shepherd.

So in the Psalm, we've got some beautiful truths about what it

looks like if we can view God that way as a shepherd.

And so we're going to break the Psalm down.

It's like 4 different sections. We're going to pull out four

truths about what it looks like when we live from a place where

we view God as our shepherd. So let's start in verse one.

The Lord is my shepherd. I'm going to stop right there 5

words in the Lord is my shepherd.

You notice he says is it's present tense, like right now,

right here, not just was, not just will be, which are also

true, but is right now right here today God is my and he says

my shepherd. He's very personal, right?

It's not just the shepherd. He says God is my shepherd

because David understood that God, he, he had this

relationship with God and he knew that God knew him

personally, that there was this personal intimate relationship

and that God was in very intentionally involved in his

life and always taking care of him.

So then it goes on to say the Lord is my shepherd.

I have what I need. And then that's just it.

Like that's all he's that's all he has said is the Lord is my

shepherd. I have what I need.

He understood that contentment came from who he belonged to,

not what he had. Now anybody else challenge a

little bit with that? The Lord is my shepherd.

I have what I need. What else?

How could David live from this kind of place?

Like how could he live from this place by just simply saying the

Lord is my shepherd, I have what I need.

If you look at the life of David just as a whole, you can kind of

see this theme of contentment woven throughout.

I find it interesting that, you know, I said he was a shepherd

as a young boy. He was, we don't know the exact

age when he, when Samuel came, Samuel was the prophet at this

time. Saul was the king.

He had was the first king of Israel.

He started out OK, but then we had some issues with Saul and

Saul began to disobey God and God said, OK, you are no longer

my anointed. He goes, God goes to Samuel the

prophet and says, hey, you're going to go anoint the next

king. So Samuel shows up at Jesse's

house. Jesse has eight boys, 8 boys.

I have three. I cannot even imagine 8 eight

boys. David is the baby of the family

out in the field because what is he?

He is a shepherd. And so Samuel comes, he goes

through all the brothers, finally gets to David.

He goes, oh, that's the one that God wants.

He anoints him as the next king of Israel.

But listen, nothing changed. Like not in that moment, like he

didn't immediately go to the palace and become the king.

We see a whole season of 10 plus years before this comes to

fulfillment and David actually becomes king.

And there's some really low, low times during this 10 year

period, 10 plus period year period.

And so David is, but what I find interesting is that when he gets

anointed as king, he just, what does he do?

He just goes back to shepherding.

There's also a season in there where Saul, the current king is,

is being tormented by evil spirit.

He is not getting any rest. They call in a musician and they

go to David because he is, remember, an accomplished

musician. So he would go back and forth.

There's a verse in First Samuel 1715.

It says David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his

father's flock in Bethlehem. And we see from a young age and

David, this just ability to be patient and trust God and trust

that he's going to do what he's promised in his time.

Anybody else have a hard time with that sometimes?

Yeah. Because I feel like God's time

is never my time. Never.

And, and I again, David wasn't perfect at this because there's

definitely some seasons in his life where we do not see him

walking out from a place of contentment, But overall, you

can see this idea of contentment.

And, but I think if you just stop right there, like, OK, the

Lord is my shepherd. I have what I need.

I feel like I need a little more context, like, OK, how do you

find contentment? Just if we just full stop right

there. Well, as we read into the song,

we get a little bit more insight into why he can say that, why

David can say the Lord is my shepherd.

I have what I need. So we're going to look at that.

So let's go to the next verse. The next verse is verse 2 in

Psalms 23. It says he lets me lie down in

green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters.

David lived and he led from this place of security and rest.

Now we're going to talk a little bit here about sheep and

shepherds so you can understand this.

I did a deep dive into this chapter a number of years ago,

read a whole lot about sheep. I learned a lot of sheep facts.

I bored my family to death with them.

And so one thing that a shepherd's primary role is to

feed and protect his flock. And so he is responsible to make

sure they have good, healthy pastures.

So a lot of times that means that he's moving them from

pasture to pasture so the land doesn't get over grace and so

that the sheep stay healthy because that keeps the sheep

healthy and free from parasite and disease.

If they're in good, healthy pastures are my parents live out

in Kerrville and kind of out. They have a ranch out there.

And when you're driving there, you can see the land that has

been over grazed. It's like all rock, right?

And a Good Shepherd is constantly moving those sheep.

So they have good pasture and good food.

But also after a sheep has been fed, they will often go and

rest, lay down. OK.

And here's what is fascinating. This whole idea, this phrase

that says he makes me lie down in green pastures.

What I learned about sheep is a sheep will not lie down unless 4

requirements are met. A sheep has to be free of fear.

And sheep are very skittish animals, like a loud noise,

anything sudden they're bolting, right?

So they're not going to lay down unless they feel free from fear.

They have to be free from friction.

The sheep are very social animals, so there needs to be no

friction in the flock for them to rest truly lie down.

They need to be free of pests, flies, parasites, disease,

whatever in order to rest. And finally, they need to be

free from hunger. So the shepherd's job is to make

sure all four of those are met in order for the sheep to lay

down and rest, because sheep must feel safe and satisfied

before they will rest. I don't know what keeps you from

rest. I think we all have the

different things in our lives that can keep us from rest.

For me, it's usually fear, a fear of the future.

The what if start going crazy in my mind and I get caught up in

it and I cannot rest. And I'll be honest, sometimes

it's honestly just a need to control.

Like I just want to fix it. There's a problem and I just

need to get in there and control it and fix it and I can't rest.

This passage has always challenged me because it just

points to the fact that my ability to rest is truly a

reflection of my ability to trust the Shepherd.

Because if a sheep is not going to lie down unless all these

things are met, he has to trust the shepherd, that the

shepherd's taking care of all those needs or he can't rest.

Psalms 4610 says this be still and know that I am God.

That verse has always challenged me because I'm not a still

person. First of all, just in the

practical, but go go, go. But that when you study that

verse, that phrase be still means to let go, to take your

hands off be still and know that I am God.

There's a story of another story from David.

This is in first Daniel 30. And this is during that that

period of time where he has been anointed, but he is not yet

king, right. So he is on the run from Saul.

Saul is trying to kill him. David has at this point he's

kind of gathered this little ragtag army, got about 600 men.

They are living in a town called Ziglag.

That's a fun town name, right? Ziglag.

They're living there with their families.

The David and all of his men leave to go to this battle.

While they're gone, the enemy comes into the town, burns the

town down to the ground and kidnaps all of the wives and the

children. And I want to read to you in

first Daniel, what happens after this First Samuel 30?

I'm going to jump up to verse four first and then we're going

to jump down to six. So David and his troops,

they've, they've arrived back in the city to find this.

Carnage. OK.

And it says David and his troops with him, that he wept loudly

until they had no strength left to weep.

Then going to verse 6, it says David was in an extremely

difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him.

They were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and

daughters, but David found strength in the Lord his God.

And David said to the priest, bring me the Ephon.

So the priest brings it to him and David says, asks, asks God,

should I pursue these Raiders? Will I overtake them?

And the Lord says to him, pursue them, for you will certainly

overtake them and rescue the people.

Now you read on in that chapter. And they do indeed.

David and his men go after the enemy and they recover all of

their family. They're all OK.

They get them all back and it has somewhat of a happy ending.

But what I want to point out here to you is David's response

in this situation. David is obviously distraught.

Who would not be distraught? You get back to the town,

everything's gone and your family is missing.

But I want you to notice that he's not overcome with panic

like instead I love it. It says that he found strength

in the Lord has God. It's almost like David like

consciously like grabs hold of who he knows God to be like OK

God. I don't like all the men want to

stone me. We are beside ourselves and he

just goes to OK God. I know you're faithful.

I know who you have proven yourself to me before in the

past. And he holds on to that.

It's, it's like he finds this place of rest, soul rest, the

green pasture in the midst of the chaos by going back to who

God is. And then what does he do after

he has found strength in the Lord?

Then he goes and he inquires of God, OK, what do I do now?

Like tell me, what do I do now? Listen, frantic people who are

frantic don't usually stop and pray.

It's the rested people that do, the people that are able to rest

in God and who he is and who they know him to be that can

stop like that and pray and seek him.

So he was able to live from this place of security and rest

because he knew God as his Good Shepherd.

So let's move on now we have, we're going to look at 2 verses,

verses 3 and 4 of Psalms 23 and it says he renews my life.

He leads me along the right path for his name's sake.

Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger

for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they

comfort me. And what we see in here, two

things we see is that David, he just lived and LED from this

place of first of all, submission, but also trust.

And there is a, I'm just going to be honest, there is a lot in

these two verses. Like I could seriously a whole

sermon just right here, maybe 2, which I'm not going to do, don't

worry. But there's a couple key things

I want to point out to you in these two verses.

The first one is at the very beginning, it says that he leads

me along the right paths. Listen, a shepherd's jaw we

talked about earlier, one of his primary roles is to provide and

protect. But another primary role of the

shepherd is to lead. The shepherd is in front of the

flock, leading the flock, which means what the sheep have to

follow. Obviously, the sheep are not

following. He's not leading anybody, but

the sheep have to follow him. Now following is one of the

primary traits of sheep. They will follow their leader

anywhere. I have a story I want to read

you. This happened in Turkey in 2005.

You may have heard the story this is reading from the news

article. It says first one sheep jumped

to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds

who had left the herd to graze while they had breakfast watched

as nearly 1500 others followed, each leaping off the same Cliff,

the Turkish media reported. In the end, 450 dead animals lay

on top of one another in a billowy white pile.

Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and

the fall more cushioned. I, I'm not even sure what to do

with that story. Like, OK, yay for 451.

Like, I, I, I don't know. And I have to be honest, when I

did this like really deep studying to sheep, I wasn't

super excited about the fact that Jesus often refers to us as

sheep. I'm just going to be honest.

OK, 'cause I'm like, really. And this particular trait of

just following their leader right off a Cliff, I thought,

gosh, OK, really. Like, really, are we like,

really like that? And then I was like, yeah, COVID

and toilet paper. I mean, come on.

I remember when that first happened.

I was like, what is wrong with people?

Toilet paper? But what was the first thought

in my head, oh, I need to go to HEB just to see if they have

toilet paper. And, and I have three boys.

So I am frequent Costco often. And I at Costco, I have my

certain route that I take. I know exactly what I need.

And I always start in one spot and work my way through.

Not during COVID, because I would walk in that Costco and go

straight to that back corner where the toilet paper was just

to see if there was any. We, we have this like a mob, a

mentality of just like following the mob when it doesn't even

make sense, right? And so this idea of a Good

Shepherd has to lead the sheep and the sheep have to follow.

The sheep have to be willing listen, the sheep have to be

willing to be led. And that's where this idea of

submission comes in. If the shepherd is leading, the

sheep have to be willing to follow him.

They also have to be able to recognize his voice, which is a

key part of shepherds and sheep. Like when you have a really Good

Shepherd, the sheep know his voice.

Like they actually recognize his voice.

There's some amazing videos of this I was watching actually

this week as I was preparing for this of, you know, different

people calling out to sheep using the same call that the

shepherd does. And the sheep do not even like

look up. They don't even respond.

But as soon as the shepherd stands up and says the exact

same call, they all look up and they all come running like they

know his voice. I want to encourage you when

throughout the Bible we see this idea of God as a Good Shepherd.

God is a relational God. He wants to have relationship

with you. He is also a God that wants to

speak to you. There's lots of ways that God

can speak to you. It can be through his word, it

can be through music, it can be out in nature, it can be through

someone else confirming something that you've kind of

been sensing. But God speaks to us and listen,

you have to stay close and practice listening so you can

learn what his voice sounds like.

And here's the thing. And again, that's the whole

really another sermon. But learning to recognize the

voice of God, it takes time. This is a journey.

It takes time learning what he sounds like to you, which means

you have to practice. And I want to encourage you.

Hey, relax. Because I, I talked to so many

people who are like, I'm so afraid I'm going to mess it up,

Like I'm not going to hear right.

Yeah, you're, you're probably going to, you're going to mess

it up. I'm just going to say it.

But there's going to be, there's been times when I'm like certain

that God said this to me and then I go do it.

And then later I'm like, I'm not sure I heard that exactly right.

But the more I listen, the more I respond, the more I do it and

the quicker I do it, the easier it is for me to recognize the

next time he calls. And I'm like, oh, yeah, that's

God. Oh, yeah, OK.

That's I need to obey that. I need to obey that.

That's God. Listen, just just practice it

and relax because our shepherd is a Good Shepherd.

If you're trying to stay close to him and follow him, and maybe

sometime you think he's saying something and you start going

and then you're like, yeah, you think the shepherd's just going

to sit, stand there and just watch you.

No, he's going to come after you.

He's going to come get you. Like you're going to be OK.

So learning to recognize the voice of the shepherd is key to

being sheep that are submitted to him.

Now let's talk about the trust factor because it talks about,

you know, he leads us along right path.

And then we have the verse, when I go through the valley of the

shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

You notice it says when not if, because following Jesus does not

mean that you will never have hard times.

So this is not if you go through the valley.

This is when you go through the valley.

And David understood this just like anybody else because he had

had his fair share. But he, David, understood that

when I go through the valley, I fear no evil.

Why? Because you're with me.

It was the presence of the shepherd that removed fear.

And there's over 100 verses in the Bible telling us, do not

fear, Fear not because God knows this is a big deal for us.

And there's a, a verse, it's to again towards the end of David's

life. It's in First Chronicles 2820.

David is coming to the end of his reign.

He has been the greatest king that Israel has ever known and

will ever know. His son Solomon is getting ready

to become king. And so Solomon, God has told

Solomon that he's going to build God's temple.

And so David is starting to gather things, get ready, and he

gives this like word of exhortation to his son.

And I love it. It's in First Chronicles 2820.

And he says this. Then David said to his son

Solomon, be strong and courageous and do the work.

Don't be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is

with you. He won't leave you or abandoned

you until all the work for the service of the Lord's house is

finished. Listen, this is again is towards

the end of David's life and his reign.

And David had seen the goodness of God in his life despite the

UPS and the downs. He had seen his faithfulness and

he could say with confidence to his son, Hey son, be strong, be

courageous, do the work that God has set out for you to do.

Don't be afraid because what does he say for the Lord God, My

God, Again, that personal David is so personal about this, like

he's my God. He is with you and he will not

leave you. Now when we go back to this,

first it talks about going to the valley.

We don't need to be afraid because he's with us.

And then it says my, your rod and your, your rod and staff,

they comfort me. Well, what does that mean?

Well, OK, we know what the staff is.

We've seen the staff. The staff is very unique to the

shepherd. It's the only, really the only

profession that uses that. It's brings comfort to the sheep

because the shepherd uses the staff to pull the sheep in

clothes. Like if they start to wander

away, you can grab that hook and pull them in.

He also brings them in to examine them.

There's lots of things the shepherd uses the staff for that

is very comforting to the sheep. Now the rod was this short kind

of club like item and he would carry it in his right hand or in

one of his hands and he would a Good Shepherd could hurl that

club like with amazing speed and accuracy.

And so he would use the rod for protection like it would help to

protect the shepherd and the flock from predators and things

like that. But he also would use it for

discipline and probably use it more for this than anything

else. You know, a sheep is a wandering

off, not going where he needs to be.

And that shepherd can hurl that rod, get that sheep and make

that sheep come running back. And so that's why the the idea

of the rod and the staff bring comfort.

Cuz are these pictures of protection, comfort, even

discipline when necessary because it's coming from a Good

Shepherd that loves you and knows what's best for you.

And so those the last point here is the last two verses of Psalms

23 says you prepare a table before me in the presence of my

enemies. You anoint my head with oil.

My cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love

will pursue me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the

House of the Lord as long as I live.

David. He was able to look back over

his life and just he lived and he LED from this place of hope

because he knew who God was. David had experienced the

faithfulness of God throughout his life.

There's a verse of one of my favorite verses in Lamentations.

It's in Lamentations 322 to 23. This is this because of the

Lord's faithful love, we do not perish, for his mercies never

end. They're new every morning.

Great is your faithfulness and this phrase at the very end of

Psalms 23, when he says only goodness and faithful love will

pursue me all the days of my life.

It gives us this beautiful picture of a God who is

relentlessly pursuing us and chasing us down.

Not as the taskmaster with the cattle prod ready to ZAP you for

not doing what you're supposed to do No, no, He is relentlessly

chasing you as the shepherd with the staff because he wants to

pour out his goodness and his faithful love on you.

And listen, David didn't deserve it.

We don't deserve that. And yet David recognize that he

could not escape it, and we can't escape it either.

The the pursuing of God, that love, a faithful love, and that

goodness that he wants to pour out.

And again, I've said this already, but David wasn't

perfect. He it wasn't.

I'm not saying that he lived out these characteristics perfectly

100% of the time. Just go read the story of David.

In fact, if you're not really familiar with the story of King

David, I would encourage you because we're going to be

continuing this series for like 6 weeks.

Go spend some time in first and second Samuel, read about David.

He definitely wasn't perfect, but because he had this proper

view of God as a Good Shepherd, he was able to handle the

triumphs and the tragedies with without losing his faith in God.

So what does God look like for you today?

Is He the taskmaster ready to get you because you're not doing

what you're supposed to do? Or is he the shepherd who's

leading you from a place of love and knowing what's best for you

and you know that you can trust him even when you don't

understand what he's doing or where he's taking you?

And remember how I talked about how the shepherd is constantly

moving the sheep from pasture to pasture because he knows what's

best for the sheep? And how often does God doing

something in our lives that we're like, this doesn't make

any sense. I don't what are you doing?

And he's like, trust me, trust me, I know what's best for you.

You know, I grew up in church, I've known Jesus since I was a

little girl. But because of some of the

things I was raised in and some of the things I experienced, I

definitely leaned more towards this when I was younger.

And it has been a journey for me to get to the point where I see

God like this. Because here's the thing, when I

view GOT, when times I view Got as a taskmaster, it becomes more

about what I can do. And it's all about doing.

Where is this picture of Jesus and God?

It's our shepherd. It's about being like just being

with him, being close to him, learning his voice, following

him. And also when you end up

focusing on works and be doing, it becomes really about you,

right? The triumphs and the tragedies.

It's about you, what you did or didn't do.

Whereas as the Shepherd, when we can just trust him, it's about

him. It's all about him and what he's

doing. So I don't know where you are

today. I don't know if you're in a

place or maybe you're experiencing that dark valley

and you need to be reminded that you are not alone.

Or maybe you're in a place where you're just not able to rest

right now. You're just, there's fears,

you're trying to fix and control things, and you just need to be

reminded that you can trust your shepherd.

Or maybe you are somebody that has never actually taken that

first step for relationship for this God who is relentlessly

pursuing you. He wants nothing more than to

have relationship with you. And maybe you're ready to take

that first step today, no matter where you are.

I just hope that you are encouraged today that it is in

our Shepherd that we can find contentment, that we can find

security, we can find rest and we can find hope.

So what does God look like for you today?

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you,

Lord, that you are the Good Shepherd, that we can trust you

even when things just seem to be burning all around us and life

is hard and messy and there's lots of grief and worry and all

the things. Lord, I just thank you for the

reminder today that you are the Good Shepherd, that you see us,

that you know as a you desire relationship with us and that

you have good things in store for us.

What I pray that we would be able to walk out of here today

remembering who you are, that you are not the taskmaster, you

are the Good Shepherd. I'm so grateful for that.

And the precious and beautiful, powerful name of Jesus we pray.

Amen. Thank you for joining us today.

River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing

God's love in our lives and community, and we hope that

you've been able to experience that today.

As grateful as I am that you've spent this time listening in

this morning, this podcast is no substitute for full

participation in a local church. I love it when River City people

listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after

week, faithfully giving their support and time and resources

that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected

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May the Lord bless and keep you in all grace and peace.