22nd February 2026 - Psalms 23 | Pastor Ryan Foo |

You know, this morning as we were worshiping the Lord, and I just sense in my spirit that this word of encouragement for your church that in Isaiah 54, verse 2 to verse 3, says this, enlarge the place of your tent and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings.

Isaiah 54:2

Do not spare, lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes, for you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations and make the desolate cities inhabited.

So, church, don't be afraid of the enlarging, don't be afraid of the stretching, don't be afraid of the lengthening and the strengthening.

Because I really believe that a season is coming upon your church.

I I really felt this word of encouragement.

I'm not a prophet, alright?

Please don't think I'm a prophet, but I really sense that if the Lord impresses a word you know of encouragement to your church, I just want to be uh you know uh obedient to just release it.

It's gonna be a season that God is gonna bring you to new heights, a season that's gonna be beyond your imagination.

Yeah, just like how the children of Israel sometimes it feels that you have come to a place where finally it's a place of rest.

Yeah, but then the Lord says, Come on, uh, once they pitch their tents, then God says, Come on, everybody, let's get moving again.

And this is the word a day past is a day closer to the promised land.

So stand together with your pastors, with your leaders, because I really believe that there is something that God has uh for your church.

All right, and and it's gonna be amazing, amen.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

God is good, amen.

Amen.

You guys ready for the word of God this morning?

This morning I'm gonna preach from Psalms 23.

Everybody say Psalms 23.

This is probably the most read, the most used psalm, the most merchandise psalm in the world.

I believe that many of you will somehow have some form of merchandise on Psalm 23, either hanging on your doorpost or on your on your wall, some poster.

Am I right?

Psalms 23.

And this psalm is very unique.

And Bible commentators believe that David wrote this psalm in the last leg of his life.

Contrary to many who believe that he wrote this well, he was when he was a shepherd boy.

No, this was the last lake of his life when he looked back on his life from where he was, from a shepherd boy in the fields to being a king in the palace, and he looked at this, his whole entire life journey is sum up in these six verses of who God is or what God was doing in his entire life.

So let's turn to Psalm 23, and I want every one of you at the count of tree, at the loudest you can, read out this Psalm.

All right?

You guys okay?

I I believe that it's on the slide.

Okay, Psalm twenty-three, at the count of three.

One, two, three.

You see, God had been a lot to David, he had been a deliverer, the master of breakthroughs, he's been a lot of things to David.

But yet at the end of David's life, he looked back and he said this.

The first thing that he described God is, the Lord is my shepherd.

Isn't it amazing?

Yeah?

David himself was a shepherd boy, and he saw himself as a sheep.

Isn't it amazing?

I mean, being coming to a place where he was a man of authority, a man of power, a man of war, a man who has seen so many things in his life, yet he came to God in all his humility and still recognized himself as just a sheep.

He knew that sheep needed a shepherd.

There was a very bizarre event that happened in 2005 called the Great Sheep Leap.

It happened in a place called Gevas in Turkey.

So, what happened was this that as the shepherd took the sheep out for grazing, and for some odd reason, the shepherd left the sheep alone, and one sheep decided to go off path and jump off a cliff.

And what happened next?

Nearly 1,500 sheep followed one that one sheep and they jumped off the cliff.

About 450 sheep died instantly from the fall, but the remaining sheep survived by landing on the growing pile underneath.

This tells us something very important: sheep can't lead sheep.

Sheep needs a shepherd.

And just like sheep, we need a shepherd.

And Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 11, that he is the good shepherd.

John 10:11

And he gives his life for the sheep.

And every one of us, at some point of our lives, or or you know, in different seasons with different needs, we have come to the Lord.

Yeah?

Am I right?

And God met us where we were.

God didn't despise us, even though you know, when we were at a point where being rejected, maybe some things that we have done we are not proud of, but God just took us in as who we were.

Amen.

And this is the important truth because God He accepts us as His sheep, and He knows the very nature of His sheep.

Am I right?

Romans chapter 5, verse 8 says this.

Romans 5:8

God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So there's nothing ashamed to be a sheep.

And God proved Romans chapter 5, verse 8.

Romans 5:8

In John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

So turn to your neighbor, tell your neighbor, you are a sheep.

Amen.

I am a sheep.

Amen?

God being a shepherd.

That's why Jesus said that I am the good shepherd.

And he knows that sheep needs a shepherd.

And this tells us, this truth, that he being a shepherd to his sheep, he wants to be in close proximity with us.

God doesn't lead us from afar, he will never leave us nor forsake us, he will never abandon us to go on our own.

And he is not far out of reach, he's always near.

That's why he says this: that my sheep knows my voice.

Amen.

In 2017, when I turned 40 years old, some of you might have known this, I probably have shared this many years ago.

I still remember in 2007, at the age of 40, everybody said life begins for men, life begins at 40, right?

But I that year was one of the most challenging years for me because one morning I woke up and all my joints were so painful I couldn't even walk properly.

So I was staying in USJ at that time, and every morning I needed to go down to the living room from the first floor.

I had to hold on to the railing and step by step walking down.

I'm sure some of you over 80 years old, you understand what I'm saying here, right?

But 40 years old, and I had to go to see the specialist, from one specialist, they passed me to another, and they couldn't find anything wrong with me.

So first specialist they sent me to was a neurosurgeon.

I thought, what's going on?

So they put, you know, they say, okay, you can do this test, they put me in a room, put all the you asked me to wear something on my head, and they put a lot of wires all over me.

Man, I've for the first time I felt like I'm a scientist, you know.

And they they did the test and nothing.

They found nothing, you're perfectly fine.

They couldn't explain why all my joints were painful, I couldn't walk, and it was really, it was very disheartening.

Then from that they sent me to a I mean orthopedic.

So maybe it's something wrong with with your bones or whatever.

So they sent me, they did x-ray everything, I was perfectly fine.

So finally, this doctor told me, you know what?

We'll send you to a rheumatoid arthritis, uh rheumatologist.

So at least if it is rheumatoid arthritis, we know how to handle it.

So when I read about RA, I don't want to have RA.

Because rheumatoid arthritis is not a fun disease, not a fun sickness, alright?

So, but anyway, they put me there and they they took my blood sample, they sent all the way to Australia, came back, everything is fine.

They couldn't find anything wrong with me, so they the only thing was that okay, since all your joints are inflamed, you could not walk, we'll just put you on on steroids.

So every day I have to take four tablets of steroids.

Alright?

And then on top of that, every day I have to take acosia, painkillers, 120 mg.

And for the next two months, I was on these drugs, and I tell you what, I ballooned up, but nothing worked.

Every morning it was still like that, it was still painful, and I was very disappointed, I was very, very hurt.

Say, if I've if I've done anything in my life that deserves this, then at least I I can rest my case.

But I've been active, I've been, you know, active in sports, I've been, you know, sleeping right, I've been eating right.

But all these things just happened to me.

And I still remember, and it's it's still so you know so distinct in my mind that one morning in my memory, one morning I remember way, way early in the morning, about three something, four o'clock, all right, very early in the morning.

All right, and I I got up from my bed slowly.

I was literally like a turtle, you know, slowly getting out of my bed and coming down, holding on to the railings and slowly, step by step, went down to the living room.

I sat at the couch in the living room and I prayed to God.

I say, God, my whole entire life is ahead of me.

I want to serve you, I want to do everything that I can to bring honor to you, but this condition is very disheartening.

If I know what is going on, at least I know what I can do about it, but nothing.

And you know what?

After I prayed, it was a long silence.

Nothing, God did not, you know, uh uh spoke to me like I will heal you, Ryan.

And then suddenly a voice came, it was so distinct, so clear, that God said these few words.

I am with you.

Full stop.

God didn't say, you know what, in the next three days, you're gonna experience, you know, a flash of light, and you'll be blinded and you will not see anything.

Then someone will come and lay hands on you and your eyes are nothing.

It's just this word, I am with you.

Silence.

After that.

And to cut the long story short, a month after that, I was miraculously totally healed.

The pain just went off, all the inflammation went off.

And all God said was this that I am with you.

And that is exactly the nature of our shepherd.

That God wants to be with you, even in your most challenging of times and situations, is not the breakthrough that defines God, it is his presence with you that defines who he is.

Amen.

So please don't get dejected or or rejected just because you have not received what you've been praying for.

But I tell you what, that four words, I am with you, is more important than anything else.

Just knowing that God is always with his people.

Amen.

And let me tell you what, it's nothing wrong to be a sheep.

Sheep are not dumb.

Many people think that sheep are dumb.

Am I right?

You know what?

Sheep can even recognize and remember 50 faces up to about two years.

Some of us can't even remember five names after five weeks.

God knows the nature of his people.

God, the shepherd knows the nature of the sheep because sheep are dependent.

They are not dumb, but they are dependent.

And just like sheep, we also are dependent on God, and we need Jesus as the true shepherd, as the good shepherd in our lives.

John chapter 10, verse 27 to 28 says, Is my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27–28

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hands.

Friends, this is why, this is one of the reasons why God is in close proximity with us.

Because he wants us to recognize his voice.

God is still speaking today, but are we listening?

Or the question is this do we recognize his voice?

I remember that morning when he said this, I am with you.

That was enough for me to know that God is with me.

It wasn't that after that I have no health challenges.

You know, your pastor knew this just recently.

I had three bouts of Wataigo one month after another.

And it was just suddenly, you know, I just the whole world spin around me, and it was very disheartening.

Yeah.

But I remember that 2017 morning where God says, I am with you.

I'm not praying that God, please take this away from me, please heal me.

I just prayed this.

God, I thank you that you are still with me.

That makes a huge difference, friends.

So we don't focus, our our attention will not be drawn away from God, from him.

Amen.

Sometimes we focus too much on his hands.

What he can do for us, we forget his face.

That should not be the way, friends.

We must recognize his voice.

That's why prayer is very important.

And I've learned this one thing prayer with God.

I don't know whether you can call this the highest level of prayer or the deepest level of prayer.

I always believe this.

The deepest level of prayer, for lack of better words, are those prayers that are without words.

You know, in the outer courts, there's a lot of happenings.

Open ding tang thang, you know, cut bull wong you know, a lot, right?

Then they come into the inner courts.

Yep, the priests are still doing something.

Lesser, what noise?

But when you come to the Holy of Holies, it's just silence, it's the presence of God.

So sometimes in our lives, you ask me, Pastor, are you the one?

Are you one, you know, those that are you one of those that when you pray, you pray two hours non-stop?

I'm not.

Sorry to disappoint some of you.

But what I really enjoy is those moments, even sometimes, in an hour or two, just silent before the Lord.

Nothing, cannot say anything, just enjoying being in his presence and just allowing him to minister.

Amen.

Yeah, it's not sleeping, yeah?

That's a big difference, alright?

It's not dozing off, but you are just yeah, sheep knows his voice.

And I look around here, many of you, you have gray hair, some of you lesser hair, some of you know hair.

I I I I grew up in your generation.

I I I I you know, one of the things that we have in those days is called a telephone.

How many of you still remember?

Those that are still rotary one?

The black color one?

Yes.

When you turn, you know, and you have seven numbers or five numbers, you uh no, six numbers you have to.

Yep, six numbers, right?

And you have to turn that.

In those days, you cannot even hide from your parents from not using the phone.

How many of you still remember those days?

The younger generation, what is that?

But the older generation, you know what those telephones taught us?

It teaches us to recognize the voice on the other line.

Pastor Clarence, have you called Pastor Debbie on those lines before?

No.

Too young, okay.

But when we pick up the call, how many times that when we pick up the call we have to like, hello, I am Ryan Fu, I'm looking.

We don't do that.

The moment you pick up the phone, you recognize the voice and say, hey, hi Albert.

Am I right?

The person don't have the interest because we recognize the voice over the other side.

Now, the younger generation, everything is face ID.

No, ID, you know, what do you what do you call that?

Call ID.

Before you call, before it rings, you already know who.

That's why a lot of scams happen, lah.

You don't recognize voice.

You know?

So you see what friends.

The thing is this the sheep knows the shepherd's voice.

And even more so today, we need to recognize his voice.

And then the second part of this verse, David says this that I will lack nothing.

I lack nothing.

Amen.

So if Jesus is our shepherd, he will take care of us.

And as a shepherd, he will provide.

This is important.

You know, a lot of times when we think about Psalms 23, it's always like, you know, the the the plains are filled with grass, green grass, like meadows, like the prairie, like that, right?

And then water is very clear, crystal clear, that you know it's blue in color, and the ship is just happily going around and and just grazing everywhere.

But in actual fact, the landscape of Israel is not flatlands with greens or with flowing rivers everywhere.

In fact, 60% is desert.

Most places are dry.

Yeah, the shepherd knows where to take the sheep to graze.

Because the sheep themselves can't provide for themselves.

They need the shepherd to lead them.

And even in the harshest of environments, the shepherd's duty is to take the sheep to where the sheep need to graze.

So as as Jesus as our shepherd, he will provide for you.

He is Jehovah Chirah.

Amen.

God knows how to provide even when we have no idea.

So we can take confidence in that.

There's nothing open.

You can't even go to remote, you can't go to the you know cafes or whatever, because even in cafes you have to sit.

Social distancing, so what's the point?

And he says, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know that.

Why not we go and look at houses?

I look at her, houses?

I said, why you want to buy?

So I say, we don't have money, we only have 10,000 in the bank account.

What house are you talking about?

Then it dawned upon me, there's nothing else we can do, at least go and just go, wow, so we drove out and we went to to this place to see.

And I walk in the showroom, I say, Wow, the moment you know there are some places, the moment you walk in the showroom, you know you can't afford.

So I walked in there, I looked at my wife.

I think we are wasting our time here.

But I said, Yeah, since we are here already, why not we just look at it?

So the lady took us to see the show unit, then brought us to see, you know, the place that's being built, and you know, it's already built.

I said, Wow, you know, the facilities are just amazing.

I'm looking looking at it, I said, Wow.

I told my wife, I say, we definitely cannot afford this.

So I told her when we go back there, we just politely take the water and leave.

Yeah?

So anyway, after that, she took us to to back to the showroom and she sat down in front of me.

I still remember this.

This this uh sales agent sat in front of me and my wife.

And she looked at me and says, What's your budget?

I told her, No budget.

And she looked happy, but she didn't know.

Having no budget with money and having no budget with no money are two different things.

So she was so happy.

She thought, man, we're gonna seal the deal today.

A client with no budget that came in.

But me and my wife, we knew we only had 10,000 ring.

So she happily wrote down everything.

Oh, you know, the sale price of this place is 1.047 million.

I look at my wife.

Just take the water and go, right?

Then she said, you know, but we have this MCO discount.

And she's she she's beginning writing again.

And they gave us 35% off.

So it came down to 699,600 again.

I was like, wow, huge discount.

But look at my wife, we only had 10,000.

What are we gonna do?

We can't even pay for the down payment.

And we just look at the the sales agent and sales agent, yeah, you know, why not just just choose one unit first?

And then later you can decide, you have two weeks to decide.

So I say, how much to pay?

You say free.

If you just choose unit, then I say, wife, you choose.

So my wife chose.

So she was happily writing down and all, you know, and took all our details.

So we went back, we went to the car and started laughing.

I say, next time, just make sure we know how much is, you know, it's just so embarrassing, right?

But at least we got a bottle of water, lah.

All right.

And then my wife told me this.

I prayed and God spoke to me that He will take care of it.

I look at my wife.

Yeah, amazing.

Praise the Lord.

But God spoke to you, didn't speak to me.

So how?

But just to cut the long story short, we paid 1,000 ringgit for that place, and we moved in fully renovated, and we are staying there right now.

And even that 1,000 ringgit was converted into maintenance fee.

So we literally paid nothing.

All right, to go there.

God is amazing.

And you know what is one of the most profound lessons I've learned in all this?

Husbands, listen to your wives, and all the wives say, Amen.

Hallelujah.

If I didn't listen to my wife, I'd still be ranting.

Friends, God is just amazing.

The sheep doesn't need to know how or where or what, as long as the sheep knows who the shepherd is.

And then verse 2, David says this, he makes me lie down in green pastures.

Just imagine with me when this was written, he makes me lie down in big green pastures.

Naturally, we all love this because it is uh pictures, a very serene picture, very calming.

Am I right?

It's like very gentle.

But I want to tell you this, it can also mean an assertive action.

It makes me lie down.

How many of you like to be made to lie down?

Not many of us, right?

Especially when guys, you know this, right?

Husbands, you want to watch your football match in the middle of the night?

Your wife says, Come to bed.

Yeah, you understand what I'm getting at?

We don't like to be made to lie down.

In reality, it's this we want to lie down on our own terms.

But looking at the life of David, he had his fair share of God making him lie down.

Not that come in, come here, little sheep.

But God had to judge him, God had to discipline him.

I used to have a friend from New Zealand, he already passed.

He used to have a farm, and he said this every time when I have to tend to the sheep, to make the sheep lie down, it's always like a wrestling match.

Because the sheep will not be like, come here, lie down.

It's nothing like that.

Has to wrestle the sheep down, tie the four legs, press the head down to to find whether there's cuts underneath their fur, their hair.

And he has to, you know, do all this, and the ship will struggle.

And that's the picture of when he makes me lie down.

Amen.

David had his fair share because of his disobedience and sin.

Am I right?

Many times, from Bathsheba to the census, to so many things, other things, that he be he was disobedient.

Isaiah chapter 53, verse 6 tells us, we all like sheep have gone astray.

Isaiah 53:6

Each of us have turned to our own way.

So this is not a bad thing.

When God makes us lie down because he loves us.

Sometimes when God disciplines us, it's because he loves his children.

A shepherd who does not care for his sheep will not even bother about the condition of his sheep.

We must learn to give up control to God as our shepherd.

Giving up control is difficult, but it is necessary.

God wants us.

God wants us to trust in Him.

Amen.

God wants us to seize our control to Him.

Because if God is going to be our shepherd, it must be fully in His terms, not to our preferences.

Because we can never control the outcome.

It's an illusion that we think that we can control the outcome.

You know, I see some people during Chinese New Year when they play gambling cards.

I mean, play cards, right?

I don't know what.

Every time when they put they were picture, picture, picture, the card is already there.

You no matter how much you shout.

If it's not the picture, it's not a picture.

Some you don't open blow, you think you what?

Come on, let's be honest.

How many have seen us here?

No, no, no, no, no, it's just okay, all right.

And we think that we can control the outcome.

We can't.

Only God can control the outcome because God will always have his best for those who live the choice with him.

So this morning, we must learn to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding in all our ways to submit to him and he will make our path straight.

In my wildest of dreams, I would never have thought that I could own a property.

But God knows exactly what he's doing.

He had to wrestle me down, and my wife can testify to this because all my years, since I moved up from KL, I've been staying in Subang.

I won't, you know, you ask me to go out of Subang, it's very difficult.

Can you imagine?

For the past 20 over years that I've been in KL, in Subang, I mean staying in Klang Valley, I can tell you there's less than 50 times I go to KL downtown.

Because I'm I'm a creature of habit.

I just like to just be comfortable.

So for me to move out of Subang, my wife will testify this, it's only God.

And God can only do that with you.

And he told me that.

She told me that.

And you see, friends, sometimes, in fact, all the time, the lesser we struggle, the more effective the outcome will be.

Amen.

So we need to learn to trust in him.

God says in Isaiah 55, verse 8 to verse 9, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

Isaiah 55:8

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Amen.

Friends, always remember this.

When times when God makes us lie down, is to experience his grace and his mercy.

Discipline, chastisement is never comfortable.

But is needed.

Amen.

And God, when he does that, he's not wanting to expose.

Every time when God disciplines us, it is to bring us back to Him.

That's why a lot of times that when people are being disciplined, they run away.

That should not be the way.

You must learn to accept God's grace and mercy in this manner.

Because God is always one thing to cover us.

And even as a church, we need to cover more than to uncover.

Amen?

Yep.

So, friends, remember this.

The lying down will be a place of rest and restoration if we allow God to do his work in our lives.

That's why don't walk away because of shame.

That's the worst thing to do.

To walk away.

Because there's chastisement, because there's discipline.

Don't be.

Because it is to experience for us to experience his grace and his mercy.

Amen.

That's why at the end of all these things about David's life, God still said that he's a man after God's own heart.

Was he an adulterer?

Yes.

Was he a sinner?

Yes.

He did a lot of things.

Was he a murderer?

Yes.

He killed Bathsheba's husband.

Or at least planned to have him killed.

He did a lot of things.

But yet, because he came under the hands of God to allow God to make him to lie down.

The result will always be the green pastures.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

And the still waters.

That's important.

Amen?

Hallelujah.

You guys okay?

And then verse 4, it says this, even though I walk through the darkest valley.

In the New King James Version, it says the shadow of the valley of the valley of the shadow of death, right?

Amen.

This probably happened when David was fleeing Jerusalem during Absalom's rebellion.

And he, this moment, I believe that when David wrote about the valley of the shadow of death, he was referring to uh he was referring referring to the crossing of the Kidron Valley.

You can read that in 2 Samuel chapter 15.

2 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

Alright?

And this valley, the Kidron Valley, it was a burying site and a place to dispose of idols.

So it was very eerie.

On one side, you see, and it's not those really nice graves, it's just open graves.

Alright?

And maybe it's just very eerie.

And then there's idols, broken idols.

That people threw it there.

So as David was leaving Jerusalem, and he when he was about to enter this Kidron Valley, and there were people who were loyal to him, they were weeping and crying as he entered into the Kidron Valley.

So it was a very downcast environment.

Read that in 2 Samuel chapter 15, alright?

2 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

And the whole atmosphere was still.

And David was on the run for his life.

You see, it's one thing that your external is like that, but it's quite another for the internal.

You know why?

Because he was running away from Absalom.

His son, the son that he loves.

Because of his rebellion, right, towards David, David had to run for his life.

He was running away from betrayal of his closest.

It's one thing to face an enemy from without, it's quite another to face an enemy from within.

So David, at that time, he was physically, he was mentally and emotionally drained out.

It was a very strenuous time for him.

How many of us we understand what you know I'm talking about this morning here, right?

It's like a tunnel without light.

The valley of the shadow of death is a powerful image of the darkest and most dangerous times in a person's life.

But Jesus, as our shepherd, he is not there to help us to avoid the valley of the shadow of death.

The valley is in our lives.

But he did promise this that he will walk with us through it.

That's why he says, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Don't ever pray, God, remove this valley from me.

Because if every valley is removed from you, there's only flatlands.

You can never see what mountains are really look, how mountains are really mountaintop looks like.

You understand what I'm saying?

But one thing is this that you can be assured of that God will be with you even in the darkest valley of your life.

Valley experiences are never pleasant, but they are necessary for our growth and maturity.

We may not fully understand why things happen the way things happen, but we are never alone.

God is walking us through.

Even if we allow him, even when you know, even when when times that we don't feel like it, God is not gonna function just because how you feel.

You understand what I'm saying?

His character is that he will never abandon, he will never leave his people.

We must allow him to be our shepherd and he will walk us through.

You sit still and trust the engineer.

Am I right?

You know, trains those times and this and now it's very different.

When they went to a tunnel, everything becomes dark.

So she said this.

Don't throw off the ticket and jump off.

You just sit still in that train.

The train is moving, even though you may not see it.

The train is still moving, and sooner or later you see a tiny dot at the end, somehow resembles light, and as you grow nearer, it confirms that it's light, and sooner or later you go out of that tunnel.

And we have Jesus as the chief engineer in our lives, and we have the Holy Spirit with us, so we don't have to fear.

You know, in Corey Ten Boom's house, there was this tapestry that she had in her living room, and on one side, do I do I have the picture?

Yeah.

You guys see, right?

On one side, it says this all the threads of my life have often seemed knotted.

I know by faith that on the other side of the embroidery there is a crown.

On the back of this embroidery, it doesn't make sense at all.

Like what is on this side?

Am I right?

It's so messy.

If you go to uh an art shop or a souvenir shop, you see it like that, you probably won't even pay a single dollar for it.

But what happens on this side of eternity, we may never be able to understand fully.

But we must learn to trust God as our shepherd, because on the other side, it is a beautiful stitching together of things, a weaving together of things that we will never be able to fully understand.

What we don't see on one side doesn't mean that it is insignificant.

Friends, God is the master weaver of our lives.

And as a shepherd, even when we walk through the darkest valley of our lives, even things may look so messy, so disorganized, so unpleasant.

But on the other side, there is a crown that awaits us.

Can I hear an amen for that?

Amen.

Romans chapter 8, verse 28 says, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Friends, we're not the end.

Turn to your neighbor, tell your neighbor, where these are not my end.

Hallelujah.

Your welly is not the end of your life.

Amen.

Yeah, and the last point, you guys, okay?

Shout hallelujah.

Amen.

In verse 5, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

David had a fair share of enemies in his life.

But yet he said this, God, you prepare, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

Isn't it amazing?

He didn't say in the presence of my friends, but he said, My enemies.

This is a picture of peace.

God is our peacegiver.

Where we sit determines what we see, and what we see determines what we do.

So the place where you are seated is important.

Because if it's a place of peace, everything else you see will be peaceful for your life.

But if you sit, if you are seated on a place of contention, everything, even the slightest of things, will be a contention for you.

Just as valleys are not our end, enemies don't end us.

No matter how difficult situations or how difficult people can be, God always has a seat of peace for you and I.

So no matter what enemies you may have, friends, I tell you what, you don't need to make them your enemies.

You can have the peace of God with you, and you can love your enemies.

Amen.

If people want to make you their enemy, it's their problem, it's not your problem.

But please don't be so silly to make it your problem.

Because God has given you a seat of peace.

Not a seed of contention, not a seed of you know trying to to to to fight your way through, but a seed of peace.

I've gone through so many times.

You know, I I I'm you know, I've been in ministry for 20 over years.

I I I'm not dumb to think that everybody likes me.

There are some people that I don't know that I don't even have contact with them, but they just don't like me.

But doesn't matter.

You don't like me, it's your fault.

It's your problem, not my problem.

But I'm not gonna make it my problem by not liking you or you know having a problem with you.

No.

Because God has given me a seat of mercy, a seat of peace.

I can practice peace, I can practice mercy.

So please don't waste your life on enemies, it's not worth it.

Jesus said this in John chapter 14, verse 27 Peace I live with you.

John 14:27

My peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives, do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

The seed of peace.

Amen.

So remember this.

The Lord is our shepherd.

Now it makes sense why David, of all things that he could describe God, not God is my king, God is my deliverer, my conqueror, my everything.

He just simply said this.

The Lord is my shepherd.

I pray that when you go back and read Psalms 23, you'll bring a different light of who God is in your life.

Amen.

Because sometimes when we read this, we just read past it and don't really fully understand why David, as a king, probably the greatest king in Israel, who is loved by his people, yet he said this the Lord is my shepherd.

Amen.

So this psalm is not only for funerals.

Almost every funeral I go to is always Psalm 73.

It's not.

It's when we can look back at our lives.

Where at whatever juncture that you are in right now, just know this Lord is with you.

Amen.

He's your shepherd, he's with you, he knows how to provide for you.

Amen.

He knows how to care for you, he knows how to give you peace.

He knows you as his sheep.

Amen.

And there's nothing to be ashamed to be a sheep.

Because everyone thinks that they want to be a shepherd.

No.

We all of us are sheep before God.

If David being a king has seen so many great things in his life, how God has done what God has done in his life, he still saw himself as a sheep.

I think that tells us a very big and huge lesson.

Amen.

Turn to our neighbor, tell your neighbor, the Lord is my shepherd.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Church this morning.

Can we just close our eyes and bow our heads even as we pray?

Maybe some of you here this morning, you someone invited you to church, or you have heard of this church and you came and you have not accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.

And this morning, this short Chinese man sharing with you about the Lord is my shepherd, and somehow it made sense to you that this God that we sing to, this God that we worship, this God that we are talking about, He too wants to be a shepherd in your life.

Maybe you have not accepted Jesus before, or maybe you've been far away and you have gone you know your own way for a long time, but this morning you know that God had not, Jesus had not given up on you.

The very fact that you have heard this message, it reveals that he is the shepherd who wants to bring you back into the fold.

So if you are any of this, just very quickly, wherever you are seated, don't look to the left or to the right or to the front or to the back, because this is between you and God.

And the shepherd is speaking to you personally.

You don't have to be ashamed, you don't have to be embarrassed.

All I want you to do is this.

If you are any of this that I mentioned just now, at the count of three, wherever you're seated, wherever you are seated, just lift up your right hand up and then put it down.

That's what I'm asking you to do.

Nothing more.

Alright, and then I'll pray for you.

Alright?

One, two, three.

Yes, I see that hand.

I see that hand.

Yes, I see that.

I see that hand.

Yes, yes, I see that hand.

Praise the Lord.

Hallelujah.

And for the rest of us, can we pray this prayer together?

Dear Jesus, I thank you.

You know our hearts.

Lord, those of us who are far away from you, we thank you that you have never excluded us, but you are bringing us back to you.

So this morning, we come to you and we pray, be our shepherd, lead us on.

And for those of us, for the first time, we're asking you as our Lord and our Savior, as our shepherd.

Jesus, we thank you for dying for us on the cross.

We thank you for forgiving us of our sins.

And we come before you and we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus, you are our Lord and Savior.

We thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

With every eyes closed here.

I wonder how many of you this morning that you have a situation in your life and you need God to be that shepherd in your life to see you through.

I don't know what you may be facing or what you may be going through, but God knows.

But this morning, don't respond to the words of men, don't respond to man, but respond to God.

And if God has moved your heart, have moved for your heart.

I want you by this being a sheep before him, to be obedient before him, by just reaching out to him and saying, God, I really need you to lead me through, to guide me through.

Sometimes what I'm going through is it feels like a valley.

There's no end.

I really need you to be with me.

With every eyes closed here in this place.

Wherever you are, why not just lift up your hand and then we're gonna pray at the count of tree?

One, two, three.

Yes, I see that hand, I see that, and I see that, and I see that.

It may be uh a financial issue, it may be, you know, a relationship, it may be anything, but you see, friends, God does not separate us just based on our needs, He doesn't do that, He sees you as his sheep, and this morning your response.