Psalm 23: The Good Shepherd (5- He Knows the Way)

I don't know what else to say, but it's weird that I'm getting used to seeing snow on the ground.

Okay, I don't know what to do with that, but here it is anyway, and so I am so glad that you made it on what feels like a wonderful spring morning compared to the weather we've had this past week.

And I am here to tell you that there are all four seasons I have seen them and so spring is on the way, in Jesus' name.

But for this morning, we're still going to have a good time and just worship the Lord.

And if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to the next part of our series?

We're in on Psalm 23 that we have called the Good Shepherd, and so get your message notes out, get your Bibles out, and we had someone ask the question about do we have some Bibles?

And the answer is yes, we've always got a free Bible for you.

If we don't have one, you can have mine.

Okay, we've always got one for you.

All you need to do is stop by the Welcome Center and just say I need a Bible, and we will give you a Bible.

We'll give you a Bible journal, we'll give you a binder, we'll give you stuff you don't need.

All right, we just wanna resource you as much as possible, so make sure if you don't.

And while you're getting all that together, I've got some really good news for you, and that is that we have had to postpone our baptism Sunday to next Sunday, so there's one more week that you have to get ready for baptism Sunday.

Can somebody say amen?

We love watching people take their next steps and I just want to encourage you that, if you don't know if your next step is to be water baptized, please stop by the Welcome Center before you leave and say I've got some questions and we would love to talk with you about what that next step looks like, because baptism for us is the outward display of what God has done on the inside of all of us, and we would be honored to take that next step with you.

Okay, also, we have a free gift for you, and that is that we have a book for you out in the Welcome Center.

That is kind of the seed that started this whole series that we're in.

It's called A Shepherd's Look at, psalm 23.

And I've heard from so many of you that have gotten one that you've already read it because it doesn't take long and for some of you you're already on your second read-through because it's just so powerful and I've got a free one for you out at the Welcome Center.

But I did hear some folks saying it wrong.

Last week People were going up to the Welcome Center and saying might I have a book?

Can I tell you you're not going to receive a book if you do it like that.

All right, and I saw that it's not.

May I have a book either?

Okay, there is a code for this and that is I needs me my book.

Okay, if you say I needs me my book, they're going to know exactly what you're talking about.

So, on a count of three, I want you to make all our English teachers mad and say I needs me my book.

You ready.

One, two, three, there you go.

Okay, yes, absolutely, and I see some of y'all kind of just cringing that's fine, that's fine, all right, and one of the reasons why I'd love for you powerful.

There's so many great things about Psalm 23.

And, like my big hope for all of us is, as we are going through this wonderful Psalm, we are learning some things we didn't know about God.

We didn't know that God did that and that he supplied that and he moved in that way.

But there's others of us that we knew it but we've forgotten because of just things and stuff that happens in our life.

And God is refreshing our memory about his faithfulness and what he does, and that's one of the reasons why we're going through this series is to learn something new about God, but also to refresh something we didn't know about God, and one of them we're going to talk about today is one that I was thinking about and it reminds me of something that I did a long time ago and that is back when I was in my early twenties.

I was with a friend of mine and we lived in North Northeast Alabama and we needed to go to a conference that was going to be in Baton Rouge, or, as they say, baton Rouge, louisiana, or, as they say, louisiana.

That's where we needed to get to and we had to just make this trip.

And as we were going to make this trip down there, it was going to be relatively easy.

We were going to make this trip down there.

It was going to be relatively easy.

We were going to get on the interstate and it was just two or three connections.

That was going to get us down there.

But my friend had this wonderful idea he had noticed a shortcut.

Now can I tell you about shortcuts.

If shortcuts actually worked, they wouldn't be the shortcut, they'd be the way to get there.

Okay, there's a reason why shortcuts don't normally work.

And so we got off of the interstate because he had found out that we could save literally just 30 minutes and we were going to be able to get there 30 minutes earlier.

And can I tell you, we got off into South Louisiana and got so lost that we were just making circles and just going around places and I mean, we were hopelessly lost.

We couldn't find the interstate again.

It was bad.

To which some people would say why didn't you just check your GPS?

Well, thank you for reminding me how old I am.

Okay, I would like to remind you that not very long ago, gps was not very reliable.

I get that it's reliable now, but it wasn't, and it didn't matter if we had it.

It didn't work down there.

Our phones did not have any cell service, but we were okay because he had MapQuest, he had printed it out and we had had it and he had seen where you could go this way.

But the problem was is at this point we were so lost we couldn't find his shortcut.

The signs, they no longer worked.

Okay, they were no longer road signs and if there were, it would have been lost, disoriented, perplexed and confused.

We were so hopelessly lost, but we were two guys, which meant we are not about to stop and ask for directions.

We're going to find it eventually and I'm telling you this is it I'm talking about.

For hours we were lost and it was so funny because we would pass this same house and we were.

We weren't going in circles and we knew it.

We passed this one house.

The first two or three times we passed it, there was nobody out on the front porch.

Eventually they were out on the front porch rocking and watching us.

Before it was over with, they were in the yard trying to wave us down and we were like we're fine, we're fine, keep on going.

I mean, it was bad until finally, the guy I was with we kept passing by this area we saw a gas station and he said you know, I know that I don't need to do this, but to make you feel more comfortable, we should probably stop and ask for directions.

And I said you know, I'm fine, but if you need to stop and ask for directions, that's okay.

And so we stopped and asked for directions, and we pulled out this map and gave it to the guy behind the counter, and all he did was say good Lord, help you.

He said I'm gonna tell you something.

You can't get there from here.

Not, not, not doing this.

He said, but if you'll, let me draw on this.

And he drew a route that we would have never thought of.

And he said if you'll just trust me and go this way, you're only five miles away from the interstate, and I'm talking three hours.

We have been looking for this thing, and but here was the thing, though, he got back in the car.

We had to make a decision, because the way that he was going was not the way that we were supposed to go, like there were no roads that went through.

It looked like he was taking us literally through the woods, and so we had to decide are we going to trust this guy or not?

Well, we did, and it turns out he was wrong.

We were four miles away from the interstate.

We were actually closer than we realized, and I learned a wonderful lesson, and that is this GPS is wonderful in Jesus name, but I also realized that sometimes we need help.

Sometimes we need a guide to help us get through life, and one of the things I want us to realize about God is God wants to be our guide, and many times he can tell us exactly where we need to go.

We just got to have enough humility to come to him and just say hey look, I'm not making it, I'm going around in circles and I don't know what to do.

And my hope is, by the time we're done with this series, is that you're going to realize that the Lord is our shepherd and we can follow him, that he's trustworthy and we can follow him into every area of life, that we need some direction and can I just tell you that's every area of life.

And so let's read God's word and let's see what it has to say to us today.

God's word says the Lord is my shepherd.

I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows, he leads me beside peaceful streams, he renews my strength, he guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

That's what we're going to be focusing today, but it keeps on going, even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, your rod and staff.

They comfort and protect me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil and my cup overflows with blessings.

Surely goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Wow, it's just.

The more we read that every week, the more powerful it gets, as we're learning more and more about what it means for all of us.

And if you don't catch anything else today, the big idea for all of us is that, because the Lord is our shepherd, we can trust that he knows the way.

He knows the way.

Look at your neighbor and say he knows the way.

Look at somebody else, look at somebody you don't mind talking to Say he knows the way.

If you don't catch anything else we say today, my hope for you is you would realize that he knows the way.

Now, no matter what we do, no matter where we go, god's not lost.

He knows exactly where he is.

And that's what David is going to share with us today.

So to kind of remind us of what's going on.

Remember, king David wrote Psalm 23, and he wrote it probably close to the end of his life.

And as he's writing it, he wrote this one probably also was one that was meant to be sung in the temple during their times of worship, and if we also remember the idea that back in the day they wouldn't have called this Psalm 23.

Most of the time, the Psalms were called whatever the first line was, so when it was time to sing, they would say let's sing the Lord is my shepherd song, because that's what David did is.

He started off saying the Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.

And then he spends the rest of the song talking about how God is all that I need.

And over the past few weeks we've been talking about how he is our contentment, he is our peace, he is our restoration, and today we're going to talk about how he is our guide and how wonderful that is and how important it is that we need that.

But to get started with, we've got to make sure that we're all kind of saying the same thing.

And so, if you're taking notes, a definition of a guide is a guide is a trusted leader who helps others move from one place to the other.

And so, if you're taking analog notes, I want you to underline or circle that word move, because if a leader is not going somewhere, they're not leading.

But a guide is a trusted leader that helps others move from wherever they are to wherever they need to be.

And God's word tells us David is saying that he is our guide, he is our trusted guide and he knows the way, which, of course, then begs the question, and that is why do we need to move?

I'm perfectly fine where I am, but isn't it true that God doesn't let us stay anywhere, spiritually, for very long, that he's always moving us from place to place and doing different things in our life?

Why is it that we even need to move?

Well, since this is meant to be a metaphor between God as the shepherd and us as the sheep, let's look at why sheep have to move.

Because, honestly, the reality is is there some similarities?

Because the reality is is that sheep stink at directions and what they tend to do is they either don't move or they wander off.

There really is no middle ground.

If they have their way of doing it, they either will not move, or they're just going to wander, just go, just go somewhere, end up in the middle of nowhere, because sheep have a terrible sense of direction.

But here's the thing that we got to know about sheep, and that is that sheep need to stay on the move from one green meadow to another.

That, as a shepherd, one of the chief jobs of a shepherd is to guide the sheep and keep them in constant motion, that they'll stay a little while and then they'll go to another place.

And then they'll go to another place and say, well, why do they do that?

Well, here's several reasons why.

Why does a shepherd keep sheep moving?

Here's a several reasons.

Number one is because they won't move on their own.

They'll just stay there, they won't go anywhere, they'll get lazy and they'll just eventually plop.

And you remember what happens if you don't move, jesus will sweep the leg, all right.

So you either gotta move and then you gotta rest, and then you gotta do all that stuff.

So they don't move.

Here's another one that they will destroy the ground by ripping up the grass by the roots, and so if they stay for a little while, they'll just eat it down to the root, but if they keep staying there, they'll eat up the root, which then no more grass will grow, which will cause erosion, and it will literally take what was once green and turn it into a wasteland if they aren't on the move.

Here's another one, and it is what it is.

They will walk in their own chocolate ice cream, okay.

They will walk in their own poo, all right, and get infected with parasites.

This is a thing, okay, because what happens is I'm not going to give you a biology lesson but there's poo everywhere, okay, and if they're not moving, they're eventually walking in it, and then the parasites that get into the poo get on them and they get infected, and so they have to stay on the move.

That's gross, right?

Yeah, here's another one, and that is that it keeps them healthy and mobile.

It keeps them in a good way.

It also keeps them safe from predators, and here's one I love so much is that it keeps them used to following the voice of the shepherd, so they will be ready in the time of crisis, and so when a predator comes to attack, if they're used to knowing the voice of the shepherd and the shepherd says, come here, they don't have to wonder.

They know the voice of the shepherd.

They know the tone of his voice and so when he says, come here, they're going to come, because they're used to listening to the sound of the shepherd.

Well, there's a thousand reasons why many times God will move us from one season of life to another, from one place in our spiritual journey to another.

But here's just a few reasons why God keeps us moving spiritually.

One is because we tend to not challenge ourselves to grow.

If you think about it, if you're growing in God, right where you are, you're good, I'm growing, I'm happy and I'm content, when God may have so much more for you and so many times he will move you, whether you want to or not, because he wants you to grow.

Another one is is it keeps us from becoming unbalanced.

Have you ever seen somebody who they've been in a season for maybe too long and God's been moving in their life in a specific way?

And if they're not careful, all of a sudden they begin to think that's the only way God moves, that God can't do anything else.

He can only do that one thing.

And if they're not careful, they become very unbalanced in their relationship with God.

And then here's another one they will begin to wallow.

We will begin to wallow in our messes, okay, we'll begin to wallow in our chocolate ice cream, okay, however, that works for you.

But what happens is is, if that's a, if that's a bad season, that's a hard season, we'll forget that it's a season and we think that's the way life is, and we begin to forget that God is a good God and he moves us through all these different ones.

And then I love this one.

It keeps us attentive to the voice of the shepherd.

When God is moving us from season to season, we get to where we know his voice.

So then, all of a sudden, everything's going wrong and we we hear so many voices that telling us to do this, that and the other we can pick out that's the voice of the Lord, because we've gotten used to moving at the sound of his voice.

And I don't know what may be going on in your life, what, what season God may be moving you from, or what, what tension you're feeling right now.

But maybe this is your question and that is so I may, and I'm not going to try the.

I've given up on the sheep sound.

Okay, I'm really bad at it, but I may.

I may have someone tried it.

There it goes, there it goes.

All right, I may have, I may have going through.

I should have read that one more time.

I may be going through is what I meant to say.

I may be going through a difficult season.

How can I face the changing seasons with any degree of confidence?

So if you're telling me that not only do seasons of life happen, the kids are gonna grow up, whether you want them to or not, jobs are gonna change, whether we want them to or not.

Health situations are gonna come and go.

Whether jobs are going to change, whether we want them to or not, health situations are going to come and go, whether we want them to or not.

And if you're telling me not only does life happen, but God is going to move me from one season to another, how in the world can I have any confidence where he is going to be with me during these changing seasons?

And the answer is I'm so glad you asked, because God actually tells us, yes, seasons will change, but he gives us three promises that no matter what season that we go through, that he is going to be with us and that he knows the way.

And so I don't know what season shifting may be going on in your life.

Maybe you're right in between two different seasons, or maybe you're going through a difficult season, or maybe you see one coming on the horizon and you know that change is coming in your life in some kind of way and you're saying how can I have any confidence that this can happen?

And the answer is that God has three promises for us and we're going to go over them together.

So, no matter what is going on in your life, you know what God has to say about us.

Why don't you look at your neighbor and say he knows the way.

Okay, try it.

Try somebody else.

That's just not working.

Okay, try somebody else.

That's just not working.

Try somebody else.

Say he knows the way.

There you go, perfect.

Well, what does that mean?

Well, the shepherd promises to guide us every step of the way.

I love this so much, that the shepherd promises to guide us every step of the way.

He knows the way.

He knows the way Every step of the way.

Notice what he said is he said the Lord is my shepherd, he guides me.

Now, if you've noticed kind of a pattern developing here with David, every single time he starts to talk about another aspect of who God is.

He reminds us who the topic is, and he's reminding us that it's the Lord who guides us, that it's Yahweh that is the personal name of God, but that he guides and leads us.

And what I love about this that's totally lost on us is that he is saying that he, that God, guides us the way a shepherd would.

Now, for those of us who are not in you know this, this type of you know, livestock and and and husbandry and all this kind of stuff, they're like, well, yeah, but can I tell you that when the people of the time read this and they're listening to the song and they hear that the Lord is our shepherd and that he guides me along right paths, they would have just had to pause for a moment.

You ever been reading the Psalms and you see, over on the right-hand side, there's the word Selah.

Selah means to stop and think about it for a moment.

For us musicians, that means it's jam time.

Y'all thinking we're going to play a while.

All right, turn it up for a moment.

We're just going to play a while.

Y'all think for a minute.

But I'm telling you there should be a Selah after that because of the way.

It would have just blown their minds.

And the reason why that blows their minds is because they had all different kinds of livestock, but there was one difference between sheep and all the rest of them, and just use an example the difference is that cows have to be driven from the back, but sheep have to be guided from the front and from the side.

If you try to force sheep to go in a particular way, you try to drive them forward, it will scatter them and they'll go every way.

The only way you can lead sheep is to walk beside them and walk in front of them, and that what they will do is they'll constantly look up at the shepherd and they'll keep following where he is.

And what David is saying is the great thing about God is when God tells us to go in a particular direction, he's right there in front of us.

He's going on that journey with us and him saying that they would have been like wow, that's true.

God doesn't just tell us to go and then just go, but rather he is right there leading the way.

And that's how he describes himself in his word when he says this speaking of like, in this metaphor, he says he will feed his flock like a shepherd.

He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart.

He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

In other words, he is saying that he guides from the side and from the front, never from the back.

He knows the way and he always leads us every step of the way.

And I wonder if we had some people in God's word, if we were to ask them what does it mean for God to know the way?

I wonder what some of their stories would be.

And I got to thinking about this how I mean so many times when things happen and seasons change, how God's word shows us, how he knows the way even when we don't.

And I was thinking about one guy in the Bible by the name of Moses, which we all know looks like Charlton Heston.

Okay, if you don't know what I'm talking about, then go watch the Ten Commandments.

You sinner, okay.

Yeah, charlton Heston is Moses.

All right, when we get to heaven, that's what he's going to look like, all right, and he's going to have the weird robe, okay.

But Moses, he was adopted by a princess, a pharaoh, and she was a daughter of Pharaoh and she adopted him.

And then one day he goes out and he sees his fellow Israelites.

He sees one of them being beaten, and so he decides he's gonna go ahead and be this deliverer and he kills the Egyptian, only for the Israelite to turn around and go dude, what are you doing?

Don't do that.

Are you gonna kill me too?

He realized it didn't work, and so he ran out and he became an outlaw for 40 years on the backside of a wilderness raising sheep.

And then one day God comes to him and he says your season is about to change.

I got a big idea for you.

I want you to go back to that place that you said you was never going to go back to, and I want you to be my voice to tell them that I'm going to.

I'm going to set them free.

You imagine how quickly he probably said no, no, thank you, I'm just fine.

And think about the questions.

How do I face the most powerful leader in the world?

How do I face my past?

How do I convince people that this is even true?

These are valid questions, and Moses was giving God all these really good reasons why God didn't know the way, and I love how he says this.

Moses protested to God.

He says who am I to appear before Pharaoh?

Who am I to appear before Pharaoh?

Who am I to lead the people?

But God answered I will be with you.

Look at your neighbor and say that's good it is, it is, it is so good.

I will be with you.

And then, even better, he says and this is the sign that I am the one who has sent you when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.

In other words, not only am I going to go with you, I'm going to go with you until this thing is fully complete.

He's like I'm not going to go with you halfway, I'm not going to go with you three quarters of the way, but I'm going to go with you until you see this thing actually done.

I'm going to be with you every single step of the way.

And can I tell you?

I don't know what season God may be shifting you from and to and what you may be going through right now, but God's word promises that we can follow him and that he knows the way.

And you wonder how many times, when Moses went down to Egypt, that he just had to remind himself.

God knows the way.

He knows the way when he went before Pharaoh and Pharaoh kicked him out.

He knows the way when he would see the plagues and he would see all the things that was happening.

He knows the way when God told him hey, I want you to put the blood of the lamb over the door because the death angel is going to come.

He knows the way.

Then, when they saw the Red Sea in front of them and the Egyptian army behind them God, what are we going to do?

He says move forward, move forward in the water.

Yes, he knows the way.

And God split the sea on both sides until he made his way back to Mount Sinai and saw the power of God hit the mountain.

And he says, truly, he does know the way.

I would have never chosen this way, but it turns out that he was with me every step of the way.

And I wonder if Moses would say God will often move us through various seasons for a thousand reasons, but the great news is he's going to every step of the way.

Can I tell you, god will walk with you every step of the way.

Look at somebody and say he knows the way.

He knows the way.

For some of us that just needs to be our mantra for a little while.

We don't know what's going on.

We just say he knows the way.

God knows the way.

He knows what he's doing more than I do, and he knows because he's going to be with us every step of the way.

But the second promise he made is that he will guide us the right way.

He won't be like my friend and I who was absolutely certain that MapQuest was not going to fail us.

Mapquest certainly failed us.

Okay, it was leading us the right way.

But God promises, he said.

I promise you, I'm going to lead you the right direction.

Look what he says.

He says this the Lord is my shepherd.

I have all that I need.

He guides me where?

Along the right paths, along right paths.

If you're reading a different translation, it may be along the path of righteousness, the right path.

The Hebrew word for that is that You're welcome to try it.

Bemagalasetic, bemagalasetic, tsetik.

You got to do the T-S, tsetik.

You want to try it?

One, two, three.

That was amazing.

We should have recorded that, because that was wrong completely For all of us.

It was.

But you know, what I love about this is it is along the true firm ruts in the road.

Now, I don't know where you're from, okay, but where I'm from, ruts are all over the dirt roads that we're at.

And the thing is is actually, and sometimes you want to stay out of those ruts, but if you don't know where you are, you stay right in them because you know those ruts are going where everybody else has been and it's a sure direction that that leads somewhere.

And what God was saying through David is he's saying not only does he guide me, he guides me in a true way, he guides me.

That is leading in the right direction.

I don't have to wonder.

God's not experimenting on me, he's not trying something new.

He knows right where he's going and he's gonna lead me in the right direction.

How does he do this?

Well, god's word says that your word is a lamp to guide my feet and you are a light to my path.

And so what his word is saying is that we follow God's word.

It teaches us to trust God's ways.

That's why, when we look at the life of Moses, we're able to look and go.

He knows the way, god knows the way.

I would have never thought that God would have done it that way, but that's how God did it.

He took him from Mount Sinai and he brought him all the way back again.

Wow, god really does know the way.

If you've been reading God's word with us, we've been going through Jeremiah.

Jeremiah is such an interesting book.

Right On one end you got to love the guy because he's just he is.

He is the underdog of all underdogs and he is in ministry for like 70 years and not one person believes him.

God, love him.

All right, but he's still doing it.

And if you want to read God's word with us, you can text RLC Bible to 94,000, because he's telling the nation of Judah that that judgment is on the way he's like.

But God's saying I don't want that for you.

I want you to come back to me.

And the thing is you know the way.

You just got to come back against to remember what you did and come on back to me.

I want to lead you in the right way.

And he says it like this.

He says is not Israel still my son, my darling child, says the Lord.

I often have had to punish him, but I still love him.

That's why I long for him and surely will have mercy on him.

So set up the road signs, put up the guidepost, mark well, the path by which you have come and come back to me.

He's saying follow the path that I have laid out for you, and there's joy there.

There's coming back to my presence there.

If you'll just follow the direction I have for you and the direction that was lined out in the words of the prophet that we have now, if you'll follow the words of God, god will lead us in the right direction.

He knows the way.

And if we were to look in so many places in our life, just be honest, have you ever wondered God you lost?

Did you take a left and you should have took a right?

You know, and if you think about people in the Bible who we could ask and say, hey, listen, does God always know the way?

One of my favorite people in the entire Bible is a guy named Joe Joseph in the Old Testament.

Can you imagine how easy it would have been for Joe to have wondered how badly God got lost when he was going through his life?

If you don't know the story, I'm gonna try to make it very, very basic.

But the basic idea was when Joseph was a teenager, god gave him a dream and in that dream, joseph is given a dream that he will one day be a great leader.

One day he's gonna be a great leader.

Well, praise the Lord.

And wouldn't you think because if we've all watched the movies and read the biographies of people, that that just means a straight line to leadership?

Come on, somebody that's yay, that's how it works, right?

No, that's not how it works.

God tells him he's gonna be a great leader and then everything falls apart, the wheels fall off of everything in his life.

Like, just to give you a real quick thing, he told his brothers Can I tell you, sometimes you just don't need to tell everybody what God tells you.

Okay, but he told his brothers and his brothers started this trajectory in his life.

That's more what it looked like.

His brothers betrayed him.

They said we don't like Joseph, so instead of killing him, we're going to make some money off of him.

And they sold him into slavery, into human trafficking, and sold him down to go to Egypt, to a place he'd never been trafficking.

And sold him down to go to Egypt to a place he'd never been.

He didn't know the language, he knew nothing.

And he gets down there and you wonder if he's going.

God, do you know the way?

I'm supposed to be a great leader.

I can't even speak the language.

But he gets down there and he starts working for a guy named Potiphar.

And he starts working his way up the ladder of slavery in Potiphar's household and then he gets to the place where he is second in command of Potiphar's house.

That's not so bad, considering where he came from.

But then one day Potiphar's wife said let's go have a fling.

And Jojo says no, I don't wanna go have a fling with you.

Well, she gets mad and she lies and says Joseph tried to seduce her and Potiphar's gonna believe his wife.

So he throws Joseph into jail.

God, you lost.

I thought I was supposed to be a great leader.

And he gets there and there was a guy who was a cupbearer for the king and he does a favor for the cupbearer from the king and he said when you go see the king, tell him about me.

I'm in here.

I'm not supposed to be in here.

Please don't forget me.

Man, I am not going to forget you.

You get lost.

You told me you were going to leave me the right way, but I have been betrayed, I've been lied about and I have been forgotten.

Ever since you told me you were going to do something in my life, it has been from bad to worse.

Can we just be honest?

You ever felt that way?

Okay, not you, but I bet your neighbor has.

I bet they have, because everybody's got a private battle that nobody else knows about.

And, if we're honest, we sometimes think it's God's fault, because, I mean God, you told me you were going to move in my life and you sure are moving, but not quite in the direction I thought you would.

But you know, what's amazing about God Is he knows the way.

Because one day that cupbearer remembered Joseph, because Joseph could interpret dreams and Pharaoh had had a dream.

And when he went before Pharaoh and he interpreted the dream correctly.

And he went before Pharaoh and he interpreted the dream correctly and he said Pharaoh, that means that we're going to have seven years of good crops and then we're going to have seven years of the worst famine you've ever seen.

And if we will prepare during the seven good years, we'll survive the seven bad years.

And now they have a problem they need to hire a unique leader that can, first of all, can, keep people on task while everything is good and then hold the kingdom together when everything is bad.

Not in any way insult Pharaoh.

He's got to be able to know kind of where his lane is, and he's got to be able to do it for the right reason.

You know what they need.

They need somebody who's learned to be trustworthy.

They need somebody who knows how to have integrity and they need to know how to trust God instead of trusting everything else around them.

Just so happens, that's exactly what Joseph has been learning through all the bad things that's been happening to him.

And so they look at Joseph and they say you look like you're the perfect person for the job.

It's almost like God made you for that job.

And how amazing is it that he woke up that morning in prison and he went to bed that night in a palace and he went and started doing amazing things, not because of all the good things that had happened, but because of all the things that God prepared him for.

Because he'd been betrayed.

He found out how important it was to be trustworthy.

Because he had been lied about, he understood the importance of having integrity and because he got forgotten, he realized that only God could truly be his guide.

And you know what happened.

God used him to save most of the known world at the time, including his family, the guys who sold him into slavery.

And so they come back to him and they want to apologize to him.

And can you imagine how easy it would have been for Joseph to be bitter?

But instead, do you know what he says?

He says this.

He says you intended to harm me, but God intended it all.

Somebody say all.

Somebody say all you intended it all.

Somebody say all.

Somebody say all you intended it all for good.

He knows the way he brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

In other words, he thought Joseph thought that he was going to lead his family.

God wanted him to lead a nation.

God knew exactly where he was going.

It just wasn't the way that he expected.

It was for something else.

And I wonder, if Joseph was here today, I think he would say God will often move us through various seasons for a thousand reasons.

It's only when we look back that we will see what God was preparing us to do.

I tell you, he knows the way.

He knows the way, and if he's not going in your direction.

That may mean he has a better direction, but he's promised to always lead us in the right direction.

He knows the way.

Look at your neighbor and say he knows the way.

Look at somebody else and say trust me, he knows the way.

Now, any of y'all, that was terrible, that was awful, that was awful.

You were good until then.

He knows the way.

You know.

What that means is that means he's going to be with us every step, that you're never going to have to take a step without him.

It means that he's going to be with us and he's going to lead us the right way.

Then here's the last one, and that is this that he's going to guide us, to show others the way.

He's going to guide us so that we can show others the way.

He knows the way.

God knows the way.

No matter what you're going through, he's not lost, he's not nervous, he's not trying out something new on you.

He knows the way.

And he says it like this.

He says the Lord is my shepherd.

I have all that I need.

He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.

Now, the Hebrew word for that one is lemasimo Lemasimo.

You wanna try that one One is le massimo.

Le massimo, you want to try that?

One, one, two, three Le massimo, yeah, that's yeah, we'll get there.

We'll get there, all right, but that means for the sake of his own reputation.

You know, one of the things that would happen for a shepherd is a shepherd had to be very, very careful about how he did this, because, let's say, he had three different pasture lands.

If he didn't keep up with which pasture land was ready, and if he didn't keep up with where the water was supposed to be, he could end up leading his sheep into the middle of nowhere and he would lose his sheep.

And not only would he lose his sheep, but it also made him look like an incompetent shepherd, and so he had to keep up with all of this so that he could then keep his standing in the community.

It was for his own sake, as well as for the sheep, that he had to know what he was doing, and that would prove to everybody else whether he was a good shepherd or not.

And that's the same idea is that God governs our lives, and it's not just for us, it's because he wants to show himself to the world around us.

That's why he calls us this, he said for we are God's masterpiece.

He has created us anew in Christ so that we can do the good things that he planned for us long ago.

That word masterpiece literally means tapestry.

It's where you take different pictures and you put them together, and when you put them all together, it makes one big picture out of it.

That's what God does in our life is he takes different seasons and as he puts them all together, we don't always see it, but when we step back and we go wow, god, I didn't realize what you were doing this whole time.

You really do know the way, and he doesn't just do it for us, but he does it so he can show other people what he's doing through us.

He said only God could do that, only God could bring them through that, only God could be that faithful and he loves you so much that he's attached his reputation to bringing you out of whatever it is that you're in, or bringing you through whatever it is.

And I wonder if we had someone in the Bible that could help us understand that and I think three people that help us understand that.

A lot would be Shadrach, meshach and Abednego, or Abednego, however you want to say it.

I learned it as Rackshack and Benny Okay, that's what anybody else watched VeggieTales at some point?

Yes, absolutely yeah, rackshack and Benny.

Now, I don't know if you know the story, but we're reading the book of Jeremiah right now, and Jeremiah was saying that the nation of Israel and Judah was going to be in exile for 70 years.

Well, toward the very end of the 70 years that's where you have Rack, shack and Benny and they had been given the opportunity to go to, basically, the University of Babylon.

Okay, they had a chance to learn the ways of the country.

They were gonna be raised up in the courthouse of the king, learn how to govern, and then been sent out to govern the different provinces of Babylon.

That's what they were there to do.

They must've been really smart, really bright, best of the best.

Well, they get there and there's a problem.

They worship Yahweh even though, 70 years, they weren't born in Jerusalem.

They weren't born there, but they're still honoring God.

And now to be in the university of Babylon, they got to worship the kings or, excuse me, the gods of Babylon.

And they say no, we're not going to do that.

We're going to hold true to what God said, and God said there'll be no other gods before me.

Well, nebuchadnezzar tells them and he says I'm going to really need you to do this, and they say no.

And then he said here's the thing I'm going to give you one more chance.

And if you don't worship my gods, then you see that fire over there?

Yeah, I see that fire over there.

Well, we're going to make it seven times hotter and we're going to kick you into it.

We're going to burn you.

So here's one more chance.

And listen to what they said.

They said if we are thrown into a blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us.

In other words, you know what they're saying.

He knows the way.

He knows the way he will rescue us from your power, your majesty, trying to still be a little nice, right, but even if he doesn't, we want to make it clear to you.

In other words, your majesty, please listen as loudly as you possibly can we are never gonna serve your gods, and I would love to tell you that God knows the way.

And so Nebuchadnezzar was like well then, praise the Lord.

Well, guys, then don't worry about it.

Just go on back to what you were doing.

That's so good.

That is not what he did.

He said get the fire hotter and throw them in it.

Now, wait a minute.

I thought God knew the way he does.

Sometimes God doesn't deliver us from trouble, he delivers us through trouble because he's bringing glory to his name.

And so what happened was is the Bible says that they took Rackshack and Benny and threw them into the fire, and the fire was so hot that it killed the guys throwing them in.

And they get in there and probably almost immediately the ropes that had them bound would have burned up.

But instead of burning up you know what the Bible says they got up and they started walking around, started walking around with one another to the point that Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fire and he said hey, did we not throw three guys into that fire?

Well, yeah, we did.

Then why are there four in there?

And the fourth one looks like he might be the son of God, and what?

A lot of theologians think that this might actually be what's called a Christophany, and it's a place where maybe Jesus actually showed up in the Old Testament.

And can you imagine?

They're going right through a fire and God shows up?

Sup, y'all.

I don't know.

We're in a fire, I know, but guess what?

I am too.

I'm right here with you and I'm going to lead you every step of the way.

And they just hung out there until Nebuchadnezzar said hey, boys, y'all in there?

Yes, well, get out of there.

And they come out of there.

And the Bible says that not even their clothes smelled like smoke.

And you know what happened next.

The Bible says Nebuchadnezzar said Praise the God of Shadrach, meshach and Abednego, rakshaq and Benny.

He sent his angel to save his servants who trusted in him.

They were willing to die rather than serve or worship any other God except their own.

There is no other God who can rescue like this.

It brought glory to his name and everybody in the king's court now knows that Yahweh reigns supreme.

And I wonder if they were here today, if they would say God will often move us through various seasons for a thousand reasons.

God will use our stories to show his faithfulness to others.

It's okay to not understand it all, just trust him.

And so this is God's promise to all of us, that is that he never said that we were only going to go through good seasons.

He never said we were gonna understand everything along the way.

But here is his promise and that is that if we will trust in the Lord with all our heart and do not depend on our own understanding, seek his will and all you do, he will show you which path to take.

In other words, he will lead the way, god will lead the way.

Look at your neighbor one more time and say he knows the way, he knows the way, god will lead the way.

Look at your neighbor one more time and say he knows the way, he knows the way.

And so, reminding you back to when my friend and I you know, we we had that opportunity, you know that we had to make and we thought we knew where we were going.

We thought we had it figured out and it kept going further and further and we were getting more and more lost and we were just kind of circling more and more and more until finally we had to get to the place, until we realized, okay, look, we have no idea where we're going and we can keep going on in these circles or we can ask somebody to help us, and it's one thing to do that.

But then, once the guy gave us the directions, we still had another choice to make.

It's one thing to ask for help and it's another to take the help, to take the next step.

And so we had to decide are we gonna trust this person or are we gonna keep doing what we know is right?

Can I tell you how many times in my life that I knew God was up to something, but I didn't know what it was.

And so I'd cry out to God God, I need your help.

I don't know what to do.

I don't know, but you know what I would do then.

I would leave church on Sunday and I would take it back with me.

I would keep trying to do it my own way, and then I would come back to God and say God, I don't know what to do.

And then I would come back to God and say, god, I don't know what to do.

And I would look in his word and his word would tell me to go this direction.

I just felt certain I needed to go that direction, and so, over and over and over again, I just kept keeping my burdens, keeping my stuff, and I thought it was okay if I asked God for help but then kept going my own direction.

But can I tell you it's one thing to ask and it's another to walk.

And that is just to say, god, I trust you.

I don't understand, I don't want this, I don't want to be in this spot, but I trust that you know the way and that if you've brought me to it and as I honor you as much as I possibly can you're going to lead me through it, and that God never promised that we were not going to go through those dark valleys.

He just promised that he's going to go with us every step of the way and that he's going to lead the way.

He's promised that he's going to lead us in the right direction, even though all the way up to the end, it looks like it's the wrong way.

Do you imagine the day before they went and called Joseph from prison?

I sure thought God had a plan for me.

He told me he did.

He told me he was going to do this.

He told me he's going to do that.

He told me he was going to save my family.

He told me that he was going to heal my marriage.

He told me he was going to do this, but he just I don't know.

I guess it didn't work.

What if you just need one more day of faithfulness?

Because what if it's right there on the moment?

What if, because you know, he's promised?

He's promised to go with us every step of the way.

He's promised that he's going to lead us in the right direction.

And then he has promised us that if we will trust in him, not only is he going to do something in our life but he's going to do something through our life as well.

Kind of the rallying cry we've had this year in real life church is that we're going to grow together and that means that every one us we're praying for everyone to take a spiritual next step in their own life.

But then to turn and look at a neighbor and say, hey, how can I help you take a spiritual next step in your life?

And sometimes the greatest example is just you being faithful and letting somebody see what it looks like for God to rescue somebody through everyday faithfulness.

And so in just a moment we're gonna give you an opportunity to pray, maybe respond to what God is doing in your heart and your mind.

And I first wanna talk to maybe somebody in here that you don't have a relationship with Jesus, you don't know the Lord.

Can I tell you, god loves you more than you can imagine.

You've never been more loved than you are right now and even though you might feel lost and alone and in the dark, god wants to breathe life to you right now and that that you feel on the inside that, drawing on the inside of you, that's the Holy Spirit, reminding you that you've not been forgotten, that he still wants to have a relationship with you.

You got to come to him, repent of your sin, ask him to wash him away and he will.

He'll become your Lord, your Savior, your friend.

He'll walk with you through life.

And as soon as we get started with this song on the back of your worship or your connect card is the plan of salvation.

I would love for you to take a step out of your seat and go back to the prayer team and say, hey, how can I do this?

And let us walk with you in the steps of salvation so that you can know that you know that you've been forgiven, and the steps of salvation so that you can know that you know that you've been forgiven.

Maybe you're in here and you're not thought about the idea that maybe God is up to something in your life.

You've never really thought about it before.

This whole Christianity thing is new to you.

And so when you're going through those difficult seasons, you just didn't think about the fact that God will sometimes walk with you through difficult seasons.

And so now, with that fresh knowledge, maybe it's time, when we have our time of worship, for you just to say God, if you truly are with me, then I just give it all to you and just let him take away the fear and the worry of what's going on in your life.

And maybe you're in here and you know that God can.

But if you're not careful, you say God, help me, but then you're not careful.

You say God help me, but then you go back to your shortcut that leads to nowhere.

What if, today, you just laid all that down to him?

You said, god, I'm going to stop going my own way and I'm going to start going your way.

I realize that it may be slower than what I want, it may be harder than what I want, it may take a lot more out of me than what I thought, but I trust that you're gonna be with me every step of the way.

I promise that you're going to lead me in the right way and I promise I'm gonna follow that, and I promise that I'm gonna take everything you're giving me and I'm gonna tell about your faithfulness, and if you'll do that, I promise you he knows the way.

Let's pray together right now, god.

Thank you so much for today.

Thank you, god, that you are with us and that you are for us in all ways, and, lord, I'm thankful that you truly know the way.

For some of us in here, god, the way is the moment of salvation, but we've been running from you.

We just didn't realize what we were running away from.

I pray, though, that we will turn around now and run straight toward you today, that we will give you our heart and our life.

We'll give you everything about us, lord.

We will confess our sin, knowing and believing that your word says that if we will confess, you forgive and you restore all things to us.

And so what I pray?

You will give maybe somebody the courage to take that next step this morning and to give their life to you.

What I pray for, maybe those, maybe somebody, the courage to take that next step this morning and to give their life to you.

Lord, I pray for maybe those of us in here, that, lord, the idea of trusting you and walking with you through different seasons is new to us.

I pray that as we take that next step with you, god, that you will remind us that you are with us.

And, lord, I pray specifically today for maybe somebody that Lord.

They're going through a difficult season.

They tell you they need your help, but then, when they say amen, they keep on going their own way.

They don't do it on purpose, they just don't know what to do.

I pray God that as we pray and we worship you, we'll make a commitment in our heart that I'm going to follow his way in all things.

In Jesus name, Amen, would you stand with me all over the house this morning?

The worship team is going to lead us in a final song of worship and I want to tell you he knows the way.

How do you need to connect with that this morning?

Maybe you want to go back to the back and have the prayer team pray with you about what's going on.

Maybe you have questions about salvation.

They'd love to talk with you about that.

Maybe you just want to find a quiet place up here and just lay down those worries and those cares symbolically to the Lord and just say God, I trust you.

He knows the way.

Let's worship the Lord this morning.