28 "A New Shepherd for a New Flock" Numbers 27:12-23 | Thursday, April 23, 2026

Numbers 27. And we looked at the first

uh 11 verses last week detailing how uh

they were to inherit the land that they

are to do it God's way. That's how you

get God's will is God's way by following

God's word. And so that's what we looked

at last week. And so and in Numbers 26

was the counting of the new generation.

The old generation has died off in their

rebellion. And now a new generation has

come on the scene. And with a new

generation comes new rules and

instructions or even reminders that

we'll see here at the end of this book.

Uh but also a new leader. That's what

we're looking at tonight is the

appointment of Joshua to be the next

leader of the nation of Israel. So let's

stand together if you found your place

there in Numbers 27 and we'll be reading

verse 12 through verse 23.

Numbers 27:12,

Numbers 27:12

you'll have to excuse me.

Now it's not. I don't know why, but

anyhow. Numbers 27:12.

Numbers 27:12

And the Lord said unto Moses, "Get thee

up into this mount Abberim, and see the

land which I have given unto the

children of Israel. And when thou has

seen it, thou also shalt be gathered

unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother

was gathered. For ye rebelled against my

commandment in the desert of Zen, in the

strife of the congregation, to sanctify

me at the water before their eyes, that

is the water of Meabbah in Kadesh, in

the wilderness of Zen. And Moses spake

unto the Lord, saying, "Let the Lord,

the God of the spirits of all flesh, set

a man over the congregation, which may

go out before them, and which may go in

before them, and which may lead them

out, and which may bring them in, that

the congregation of the Lord be not a

sheep, which have no shepherd." And the

Lord said unto Moses, "Take thee Joshua

the son of Nun, a man in whom is the

Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him, and

set him before Eleazar the priest, and

before all the congregation, and give

him a charge in their sight. And thou

shalt put some of thine honor upon him,

that all the congregation of the

children of Israel may be obedient." And

he shall stand before Eleazar the priest

who shall ask counsel for him after the

judgment of Yurim before the Lord. At

his word shall they go out and at his

word shall they come in. Both he and all

the congregation or children of Israel

with him even all the congregation. And

Moses did as the Lord commanded him. And

he took Joshua and set him before

Eleazar the priest and before all the

congregation. and he laid his hands upon

him and gave him a charge as the Lord

commanded by the hand of Moses. The

title of our message tonight is a new

shepherd for a new flock. May God bless

his word. You can be seated and we'll

consider our text tonight.

Whenever I was in college, I had the

privilege to observe a significant

transition of pastoral leadership. I

attended Southwest Baptist Church in

Oklahoma City, where Sam Davidson, who

is my dad's pastor in Stillwater,

Oklahoma, he had become the pastor there

in 1990 and had been pastoring for 20

years at that church. Under his

leadership, the church had grown from

800 to over 2,000 people. They had a

very large passion for preaching, a very

vibrant Sunday school program, and a

huge bus ministry with, I believe it was

over 24 buses at the time. Just a large

ministry. On top of that, they had

Heartland Baptist Bible College there as

well where we graduated from. And so,

this was a very large flock that was led

by a very faithful pastor. But the time

had come when he knew that it was time

to prepare the church for its next

pastor. And so for eight years, he had

been developing a staff member named

Jason Gatis to assume the pastor when

God led him that it was time to step

away. And so while I was there in 2009,

a year ahead of time, uh, Pastor Sam

Davidson presented to the church that he

felt like the Lord's timing for him to

step down was coming soon. And that he

intended to step down a year following

in May of 2010. And he recommended to

them at that time that Brother Jason

Gatis become the next pastor of the

church. And so the church voted on that

matter and received Pastor Gatis to be

their pastor by 98% vote out of a 2,000

member congregation. Pretty significant

uh assumption there that this is what

God wants. So for the next year over the

course of my sophomore year, I observed

as brother Sam slowly stepped away and

preached out a lot more and gave Pastor

Gatis ample opportunity to preach. he

transitioned some leadership over to

him. And by the time that it came to May

of 2010, it just kind of fit like a hand

and glove that this is what God's doing.

And on that transition Sunday, uh,

Brother Sam preached his final message

there after 20 years. And at the end, he

took a shepherd's staff that had been

given to him as a pastor, uh, a decade

prior, I believe. And at the end of that

uh message, he took that shepherd's

staff and he passed it on to the new

pastor. And that that very important

church in our independent Baptist

circles was able to go uh from I I

believe that total then would have been

34 54 years and now it's been another 16

years. So we're talking about 70 years

without a single day without a pastor. A

single day. in 70 years because there

were some pastors who understood this

basic biblical principle. Sheep need a

shepherd.

Shepherdless sheep will be scattered.

They will wander. They will go astray.

It's a principle that's deeply rooted

here in Numbers 27 where we see this

really for the first time that Moses

longs that Israel would be would not be

as sheep which have no shepherd.

Moses asks the Lord to appoint a new

shepherd over Israel.

The old flock had died in the

wilderness. The new flock has come. But

now the time has come for Moses to pass

off the scene. Why is that? Because he

rebelled against the Lord. It says at

the waters of Meabbah.

That was where Moses, God told him and

Aaron to speak to the rock. You might

remember that message that we were

talking about how the picture that God

was giving to this rising generation of

Israelites was that though Moses is

going to pass off the scene that they

are going to go forward with the word of

God that and so the rod of God was going

to transition away out of Moses' hand

and the word of God was going to move

Israel forward. And so God told Moses to

speak to the rock so they would see that

the word is just as powerful as the rod.

But Moses in his anger and frustration

with the people struck the rock twice.

And God said that he failed to sanctify

him in the sight of Israel. He failed to

uphold the holiness of God to prove to

Israel that God is worthy of obedience.

He failed to do that. So God told him

that he and Aaron would die in the

wilderness without seeing the promised

land. Aaron died at Mount And now

the time comes when God tells Moses to

go up into this mountain and he too will

get to see the land, but he will die

there in the mountain without ever

entering. But what we notice is that

Moses's primary concern is not about his

own death. It's about what's to become

of the people.

He's concerned that they'll be like

sheep which have no shepherd. And so he

asks God to appoint a man over Israel.

And we find that God provides a new

shepherd for this new flock that's going

to go into the promised land. And in

this text, what we really learn is this

simple fact that all God's people need a

shepherd.

But we also see in this text what kind

of leadership we really need. But then

we also are going to see who it is that

we really need to lead the way. So

that's what we're going to look at as we

come to our text tonight. Number one,

God's people need leadership. God's

people need leadership.

Israel needed a leader that particularly

would bring them in and out of battle. I

want to point out first of all that

Moses sought leadership from the right

place. It says in verse 15 and Moses

spake unto the Lord saying let the Lord

the God of the spirits of all flesh set

a man over the congregation. See God is

the one who knows the spirits of all

men. He knows our strengths and our

weaknesses. He knows our personalities

and our leadership capacities. But most

importantly, he knows what is within us.

He knows who will lead with the right

spirit. And so Moses doesn't just want

to appoint any man or take the next

person from the tribe of Judah or the

next person from the tribe of Benjamin.

He wants God's leadership because God

knows what is in man. And he

specifically asks God, you'll notice in

verse 17, to set a man over the

congregation which may go out before

them and which may go in before them.

Now, that sounds weird and strange to

us, but this is the language of a

conquering king because ancient

conflicts were not like today. They were

not led by commander-in-chief issuing

orders from a bunker on the other side

of the world. That's not how it was back

then. The king led them into battle. The

king was front and center. The king

would bring them into the hottest part

of the battle. The king would fight with

them and the king would die with them.

And so the idea here of of one to go in

and out before them. The idea is to lead

them in and out of battles. It's it's a

king who conquers for his people. That's

what they need. Why? Because there is

conquest that is coming. there's

conquest coming and during the times uh

but but I also want to point out that

this really foreshadows how Israel is

going to be led in their conquest that

yes, God is ultimately going to go

before them, but they're going to be led

by a new leader that won't be Moses, but

it also foreshadows how God's going to

lead them during the times of the judges

in and out of battle. And then also it

ultimately points to King David. King

David more than anyone else. It is

pointed out during his lifetime that he

led Israel in and out of battle. In

fact, even when it says that that that

uh David has slain his 10,00ands and

Saul his thousands, it speaks of him

bringing them in and out of battle. And

when it comes down to the the end of

Saul's life and the time for David to

reign, they said in the first place,

David, it was you who led us in and out

of battle. And so when when Moses is

asking God to set someone before them

who will go in before them and out

before them, it's talking about a

conqueror. They need a conqueror to lead

the way. But notice he also says that

Israel needs a shepherd. It says in

verse 17 as well and which may lead them

out and which may bring them in that the

congregation of the Lord be not as sheep

which have no shepherd. Now this idea of

leading them out and leading them in has

much more covenantal language that it's

the same language that's used of how God

led Israel out of bondage and was now

leading them into the promised land.

Moses says they need a man in front of

them to lead them into battle to

conquer, but also to shepherd them into

the good land that God is going to give

them. But what we know is this

that that Israel as a nation, well, let

me let me start here.

What what's really going on here and

what Moses is communicating is something

that God has already promised and proven

to be. God's conquered Egypt and brought

them out. God's led them safely through

the wilderness. He's given them

victories. He's conquered the

Amalachites there in the wilderness.

He's led them to victory over the

Amorites of Og and and Sihon, the kings

of the Amorites there. And so, he's

already given them victory. He led them

to miraculous waters in the desert. He

fed them mana from heaven. And so, what

you find is that God has proven to be

both the conqueror and the shepherd that

Israel needs. But what we have come to

see is that Israel as a nation lives by

sight and not by faith. Even though they

have the cloud above them, they just

can't seem to trust a God they cannot

see. And Moses recognizes this. He says,

"Lord, they need a man." And so what you

really find here is that this man that

he is calling for is somebody to

represent God before the people just

like he had all these years.

And so the reality is that they need one

to bring them in and out of battle and

one who will lead them to their

inheritance. They need a conquering

shepherd. And that's really what all of

God's people need because we have

battles that we face today. Battles with

sin, battles with our flesh, battles

with Satan. We face financial battles

and health battles and family crisis. We

need someone who is in the trenches with

us. We need someone who battles for us

on their knees. Someone who walks

through rugged terrain with us and one

who at times fights off the wolves for

us. And all the while we face these

battles in life. We are also going

somewhere to an eternal inheritance, a

land of rest, a kingdom of righteousness

and peace. That is what God is bringing

us to. But before we can settle in that

land, we must navigate the tests and

trials of this life. We go through

tribulation and persecution and

hardship. And so we need someone to lead

us until we reach that final

destination.

But we got to understand we don't win

battles on our own. The reason why is

because all we like sheep have gone

astray. We are easily deceived, misled,

or misguided along the way. And that's

why we need leadership. But listen, not

just any leadership will do. We need a

leader who can conquer and a leader who

can shepherd. And thankfully, God

provides us with the leadership that we

need. And he does so for Israel here.

God instructs Moses in verse 18 to

commission Joshua to lead his people

forward. Now, what do we know about

Joshua? Number one, he was a servant of

Moses. He was Moses's minister. And so

God doesn't necessarily go through the

children of Israel and pick out the most

the the biggest and the most courageous

and battle warrior necessarily. He picks

somebody who embodies what it means to

be a servant. Somebody who's been in

close proximity with the man of God. But

then also, we know that Joshua went up

into Mount Si with Moses. That Joshua

has had close proximity with God. Joshua

has spent time in the tabernacle. Even

as you get to the end of Exodus, it

talks about how Moses came out or or

sorry, the end of Leviticus that Moses

came out of the tabernacle, but Joshua

stayed in there. Joshua had some close

proximity to God. We also know that

Joshua was a man of faith that he was

one of those uh one of the two spies who

believed God and said, "Let's go conquer

the land. God is with us." Yes, he was a

man of faith. But then we also find that

he was a man of courage because the

battle against the Amalachites back in

the wilderness, it was Joshua who led

the way that while Moses and Aaron and

her were up on the mountain holding up

the rod of God and you know when the rod

dropped, then Amalcch prevailed. And

when the rod was up, then Israel

prevailed. And it says specifically that

it was Joshua who discomforted them.

That literally means that he he punished

them. He plowed them. He he led the way

in conquering these people. And so we

find in Joshua that he's a servant, that

he's a a courageous conqueror, and he's

also a a man of faith. But I want to

point out what God points out about

Joshua in this text. If you look at

verse 18, it says, "And the Lord said

unto him unto Moses, take thee Joshua

the son of Nun, a man in whom is the

spirit." A man in whom is the spirit. He

points out that Joshua is filled with

God's spirit, that he has been equipped.

He has been furnished. He has been

empowered by the spirit of God. And so,

he knows that what is in Joshua is the

right thing that his people need. But

then we also notice that he was ordained

by God. It says there at the end of

verse 18, "Lay thine hand upon him." The

idea here is that Moses is going to

press his hands upon Joshua the same way

we saw that with the sacrifices. And

what that is is it's a transfer of

authority and leadership. And so Moses

is called by God to transfer his

authority now to Joshua. And it says in

verse 19 and set him before Eleazar the

priest and before all the congregation

and give him a charge in their sight.

And so now he's supposed to bring Joshua

before the high priest. You've got Moses

the current leader, Eleazar, the new

priest, and Joshua the new leader. and

and before all the congregation. He is

to transfer his authority over to

Joshua. Why? In verse 20, and shalt put

some of thine honor upon him that all

the congregation of the children of

Israel may be obedient. They need to see

that this new leader is appointed by God

through the man God had chosen. And so,

he's ordained by God. But then notice

what God calls Joshua to do, and that is

to seek God's counsel. In verse 21,

it says this, "And he shall stand before

Eleazar the priest, who shall ask

counsel for him after the judgment of

Yurum before the Lord." What in the

world is that talking about? Well, this

is going to take us all the way back to

Exodus when it when God gives the design

for the priestly garments. And he was

wearing this breastplate here with 12

stones that represented this. Eleazar,

the high priest, wore this at 12 stones

that represented each of the 12 tribes

of Israel. And underneath that or or

behind that breastplate was a little

pocket. And inside that pocket was

something called the urum and the

thumim. And we have no idea what that

is, but it was some way they were tools

by which they discerned the will of God.

Some people say that they were like

stones and they were painted uh uh

different colors. And so you had a color

on one side and a color on the other

side. The other one would be just like

it. And so uh they would they would roll

these stones out and if it landed on the

same color, then they knew it's this

decision. If they both landed on the

other color, they knew it's that

decision. If they didn't land on the

same color, then they they knew they had

to wait for God. That he wasn't ready to

give his answer. This was how they

discerned the Lord's will before uh they

had the Holy Spirit. You find David

continuously inquiring through the high

priest with the yurum and the thum and

the ephod which is that that breastplate

that he wears over his garments. And so

what God says is that Joshua is not to

make decisions based on his own

thoughts. He's not to trust in his own

opinions. He's not to trust in what the

crowd wants or what the enemy wants.

Rather, for every major decision for the

children of Israel, he is to come to the

priest and he is to seek counsel from

the mouth of the Lord. He needs God's

counsel. But then what we find is this

that Joshua visibly represents who God

is to Israel. It says in verse 21, at

his word they shall go out and at his

word they shall come in both he and all

the children of Israel with him even all

the congregation. This is what we're

talking about that representative side.

God is the one who goes before Israel

and leads them in and leads them out.

And God is saying that Joshua is going

to be the one to lead the people as

God's representative

to them.

And so Joshua

is the leader that God provides. And

what we find is this simple truth that

God provided a conquering shepherd to

lead Israel through battle to their

inheritance. A conquering shepherd to

lead them through battle to their

inheritance. And I just want to say to

you tonight that God's people still need

the kind of leadership that God provided

for Israel. They need conquering

shepherds to lead them through battle

until we reach our inheritance.

And God provides those leaders for us.

But the kind of leaders that we need are

the kind of leaders that God gives in

Joshua that we need leaders today who

are filled with the spirit. See, God's

flock does not need fleshly pastors,

angry pastors, hurtful pastors or

selfish pastors. They need rather

pastors who are filled, empowered and

led by the spirit of God. Pastors who

are gifted with the spirit to study and

interpret and apply God's word to feed

his flock with a steady diet of biblical

truth. They need spiritfilled shepherds.

But I want to say to our men for a

moment tonight that's not that that

that's not just true at church. That is

true in your family. It's true with your

wife. It's true with your kids. That

they need men. They need a husband. They

need a father who does not lead

according to his flesh but after the

spirit of God. One who is full of love,

joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,

goodness, faith, meekness, and

temperance. You know what that is? the

fruit of the Holy Spirit. They don't

need a man who is led by the flesh, that

is angry, that is lustful, that is

selfish and undisiplined. Can I just ask

our men tonight, which describes you?

Are you after the flesh or you after the

spirit? Because what your family needs

are spiritfilled men who can conquer

enemies and lead like a shepherd. That's

what they need.

God's people need leaders who are filled

with the spirit. But then number two, we

also need leaders who are ordained by

God, ordained by God. See, churches

don't need hirings who are in it for the

money. Nor do they need influencers who

build a huge following on social media

through YouTube and their podcast simply

to build their brand or grow their

platform. You want to know what one of

the problems is with modern American

Christianity?

It is that our flocks are pastored by

unordained podcasters,

by people who are not uh appointed and

scrutinized and ordained by elders in a

church or by or or authorized by the

authority of a church. People who are

not called by God to pastor people. And

yet what we have, you know, and see see

there's a balance here because I

mentioned on Sunday that we need to take

in a steady diet of truth. And one of

the ways that you can do that is through

some good solid theological podcasts and

through some good solid sermons that are

out there online. But I also want to

give you a caution that not every

podcaster is ordained to pastor.

Don't let them be your pastors. Don't

let them be your final authority.

Because I'll tell you this right now,

that famous podcaster is not going to be

there for you when your family member

dies. They're not going to be there for

you to answer the questions that you

have. They're just going to continue to

state their opinions to you. And so, I

want to caution you, church, to be sure

that you follow a pastor over a

podcaster

because that's what God has ordained.

That's who God has equipped. That is who

g God has gifted and called. And so, I

encourage you in that way.

I want to say also that what the church

needs is men of God who fulfill

qualifications

and who are filled with the spirit and

who have proper authority

for the role of battling for God's

people and shephering them through the

challenges of life. That's what you need

is that kind of leadership. And that's

the kind of leadership that every pastor

ought to strive to be to not just be

influencing people online and building

our brands, but to be sure that we are

shephering the people that God has given

us.

We also need leaders who seek God's

counsel. Spiritfilled,

ordained by God, seeking God's counsel.

Your church and your family don't need

human thoughts and opinions.

They need leaders who are going to spend

regular consistent time on their knees

building a relationship with God,

developing an ear for God's voice. You

need leaders in your life that are not

going to make snap decisions, but will

genuinely and diligently seek God's will

about every battle and every major

decision at every turn of life.

Now, I want to be careful as a pastor

that I'm not so quick to just issue my

opinion. My dad is so good at this where

anytime I ask him something or or

present something to him, he says, "Let

me pray about it." And sometimes that

gets annoying. And sometimes that gets

frustrating. I'm like, "Dad, I don't

have time for your prayers." You know,

isn't that how we often are? But I just

want to encourage you to follow leaders

who are going to take the time to seek

God's counsel on your behalf. That's

what we need.

But then also, we need leaders who

properly represent God to his people.

See, your responsibility as a husband

and a father is to lead your family in a

way that shows them who God is. I think

it's a sobering thought, men, to ask

ourselves,

does my family see God in me the way I

treat them?

because that's who we are ought to be.

You know, guys, we we tend to be, you

know, uh gruff and mean and and strong

and and all of that, but listen, what

your family needs is for you to shepherd

them, to lead them, to be a gentleman to

them. But then when the enemy comes at

them, that's when it's time to conquer.

That's when it's time to stand up. I'm

reading a book uh right now by Victor

Marx, candidate for governor of

Colorado, that's called Dangerous

Gentlemen. And that's the perspective

that he strikes there is that our our

churches need men who are going to be

gentlemen to their families and they're

going to be gentlemen to their brothers

and sisters in Christ, but they're going

to be dangerous to the enemy. That's the

kind of man that we're seeing Joshua

being here that he is a conqueror. The

enemy needs to fear Joshua, but God's

people just need to have a profound

respect so they can follow the leader

that God has put over them. And that's

the kind of men that we need to be for

our families. is the kind of men that

our pastors need to be. We need to lead

God's people in a way that reminds them

of God in a way that fiercely defends

them from wolves in sheep's clothing and

in a way that pursues them when they

wander. In a way that binds up their

wounds when they are hurt. In a way that

feeds them when they are starved for

God's word.

God's people need leadership and God's

faithful to provide that leadership for

his people.

But it doesn't take long for us to

realize this. Human leadership always

falls short.

Human leadership always falls short.

No Israelite

perfectly embodied

this conquering shepherd.

When the Gibeonites deceptively sought

peace with Joshua, pretending to be from

a far off, they looked at their moldy

bread. They looked at their worn

clothes. They trusted their eyesight.

They trusted their feelings. And they

made this peace treaty with enemies that

were right beside them. And they did not

seek counsel from the Lord. You know who

is leading that? Joshua. Joshua sought

not the Lord's counsel is what it tells

us in the book of Joshua. And because he

did not seek God's counsel, they entered

into this treaty and they ended up

fighting battles that were never theirs

to fight because they had to help these

people. And even uh centuries later when

Saul becomes king, Saul kills the

Gibeonites, breaks that treaty, and God

brings a famine on Israel because of it.

And so this had long lingering effects.

Why? Because Joshua fell short for

everything good he was and everything

good he did. He fell short. You know who

else did? David

at the times when the kings go forth to

battle. David terried at his home. And

he went up to the rooftop and he saw

Bath Sheba bathing, called her to him,

committed adultery with her, killed her

husband. And Nathan the prophet comes to

him and says it gives him this story

about a man who stole someone's sheep.

And you know what he was basically

doing? He was telling David, you're a

robber of sheep instead of a good

shepherd of God's people. That's a

double whammy for him. He didn't lead

Israel into battle and instead he failed

to be the shepherd he was called to be.

In Ezekiel,

God confronts who he calls the shepherds

of Israel, the kings and the spiritual

leaders, and he calls them out for their

failure to lead God's people in God's

way. And so, what we find is that human

leadership falls short of the conquering

shepherd we need them to be. You've

probably experienced some human failure

in your own life.

Perhaps your father was a failure.

Perhaps he left you when you were young.

Or maybe he hurt you or abused you.

Maybe acted like everything was okay on

Sundays at church but was a total

disaster on Mondays at home. Was a

hypocrite. Or perhaps your husband has

failed you. And maybe he's hurt you.

Maybe he's been unfaithful.

Maybe he's been led by the flesh rather

than the spirit. Maybe he failed to seek

God's counsel, made a foolish decision,

and you were left with a fallout.

That stinks. It's hard. But perhaps even

a pastor failed you. May have betrayed

your trust, your confidence. It may be

that he left his wife and abandoned his

kids.

Could be he said he would do one thing

but did another. Or maybe he just

suddenly quit the ministry.

See, whenever humans are involved,

failure is inevitable.

You know what it points to?

We need a greater

shepherd.

We have a greater need for a greater

conquering shepherd.

In Ezekiel, when God pronounced judgment

on the failed shepherd kings of Israel,

he stepped in himself and he promised

that he would pursue his people, that he

would bind up their wounds, that he

would gather them back to himself, and

that he would appoint one shepherd over

them, whom he calls my servant, David.

David was long dead.

was pointing to a greater David, a son

of David, one who would come on the

scene and say, "I am the good shepherd.

I lay down my life for the sheep."

That conquering shepherd that we need is

Jesus Christ. One who is fully man and

fully God and therefore incapable of

human failure.

one who would lay down his life for us.

He's the one who conquered sin in the

flesh through his death on the cross. He

conquered death and hell through his

resurrection. And he ascended into

heaven, was seated on a throne where he

reigns forever more as a conquering king

who leads us in and out of battle today.

In Jesus Christ, God provided us, the

true conquering shepherd who leads us

through battle to inheritance. He is the

one who said, "I will never leave thee

nor forsake thee." He's here to stay in

your life, and he'll never fail you as

others have. You know what that means?

What's our responsibility in this?

Well, look what it says in verse 20.

Thou shalt put some of thine honor upon

him that all the congregation of the

children of Israel may be obedient.

May be obedient.

God put his honor on his son that we

might trust him and that we might follow

him, that we might be obedient to him.

And you can have confidence no matter

who has failed you in your life that

Jesus will never fail you. That he's the

one who came through and fulfilled every

promise. He's the one who conquers and

defeats all of our foes. He's the one

who leads us like a good shepherd. The

Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green

pastures. He leadth me beside the still

waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadth

me in the paths of righteousness for his

name's sake. Yay, though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, I

will fear no evil, for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the

presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest

my head with oil, thy cup runth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow

me all the days of my life, and I will

dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The Lord is the true shepherd and the

true king that we need. One more thing,

Joshua,

his name means the Lord's salvation,

the salvation of Jehovah.

In Matthew 1,

when the angel told Joseph that Mary

would conceive and give forth a son, he

said, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus,

for he shall save his people from their

sins." Jesus is the Greek rendering for

the Hebrew name Joshua.

God's setting up a pattern here for us

that we need a conquering shepherd, but

he's going to provide one for us who

never fails.

Because of that, no matter what we face

in life, we can trust him and we can

follow him. Let's pray. Our heavenly

father, thank you for faithfully

providing for us

a good and faithful shepherd king

who will defeat all of our foes

and who will lead us to the throne where

our tears are wiped away

forever.

He leads us through every battle

all the way to our inheritance.

This is your plan and we give you glory

for it. I pray for your people tonight

that whatever they may be facing,

I pray that they would seek to first and

foremost the leadership of Jesus Christ.

I'm thankful that because we too are

fallen

and we tend to live by sight and not by

faith, you provide us with visible

leadership in our lives. I pray that

those who are in those positions here

tonight

would lead like you called Joshua to

that we would be spiritfilled,

ordained of you. We would seek your

counsel and represent you to your

people.

But I pray for those who have been

failed by human leadership.

They would find in Jesus an unfailing

shepherd king. May you encourage us and

grant us the faith, the grace, and the

mercy to trust and follow our shepherd

Jesus Christ. It's in his name I pray.

Amen.