I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 23, Psalm 23, we're going to read the entirety of the psalm, we'll consider verses 2 through 6 this morning, Psalm 23, the psalm of David, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Well, back in July when I was being considered for the position of pastor of congregational life here at Escondido URC, if you recall, I had the privilege of preaching a portion of this psalm. I basically preach just the first verse to you. Afterwards, a number of you mentioned a desire for me to finish the rest of the psalm, and so this morning we're going to do that. We continue to look at Psalm 23 and God's care for us, his people, his sheep in this psalm. If you recall, when we considered this psalm back in July, we saw that God is our good shepherd. He is our shepherd and he cares for us by giving us the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. But this text continues, doesn't it? And it continues by teaching us all the more what God provides for us as his sheep. He is our shepherd. His sheep experience certain things as his particular sheep. We hear in this text about the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. He does certain things for them and they respond in certain ways. And so I want to look at the remainder of this passage with you this morning by considering three things from this text. Our shepherd provides us with contentment. Our shepherd provides us with security. Our shepherd provides us with victory. And those are our points this morning. Contentment, security, and victory. God provides for his people, doesn't he? We should all be able to say that. This psalm has much to say about God's blessed provisions for us. As the sheep of God's flock, he provides us with contentment. Verse 2 begins by saying, he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake. What this section points us to here is but the contentment that the sheep of the Lord has. Now, contentment is satisfaction in Christ. Contentment is satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's satisfaction in Christ. It's satisfaction with Christ. So that in all situations, all circumstances, we can say along with Paul as he does in Philippians 4, I am content. Remember Paul says that in Philippians? He says, not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who what? Strengthens me. That's contentment, isn't it? Contentment. There's a contentment that God's sheep have. And so as we work our way through this text this morning, the first question that I want before your mind is the question, are you content? Are you content as a sheep of the flock of the Lord? If you're not content, if you can't say what Paul says here in Philippians 4, why can't you? What is it that you are still pursuing? What is it that you are still striving for, that you're looking for to find satisfaction and contentment. So again, are you content this morning? Are you content with the Lord? You see, we most certainly live in a discontent world, culture, society, don't we? And that's no surprise to us, is it? It's not surprising that those who who are outside of the flock of the Lord are discontent. Sheep are one of the most helpless creatures in all of the earth. They're simply helpless. When a sheep is left to itself, it lacks everything. Lacks everything. That's a sad state of affairs of sheep that are outside of the flock of the Lord. I recently read an article that expressed today more than ever before in our society, people are discontent with their life. You see, we as sheep lack so much on our own, don't we? Contentment is not something that comes natural to us. It's given, it's granted graciously by the Spirit of God as he provides us with everything that we need as his sheep. And so when David says here in the text, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, That is because David can go on to say, he makes me lie down in green pastures. Christian, the Lord, your God, your shepherd, provides you with everything that you need so that you can lie down. It's interesting, but Philip Keller makes the point as the shepherd pastor in his book on this very text, he makes the point that it's very, very difficult to get sheep to lie down. It says it's nearly impossible. They will not lie down unless they believe or think to have everything that they need. They're creatures who are given to being timid and fearful, and so they won't lie down unless they have everything that they need. What do you think you need this morning? What is it that you are fearful of lacking that will not give way to trust in the Lord, that will not lead you to be content. You see, fear destroys contentment, doesn't it? How can a person be content when they're struck with fear? So what's the remedy? The presence of the shepherd. Cowler says the presence of their master and owner, the protector, puts the sheep at ease like nothing else can do. Christian, what do you fear this morning? What do you fear? What fear is robbing you of the contentment that you can have in the presence of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? You have Christ. You have what you need. Christ even says, after referencing the presence of the Holy Spirit, who will never leave us nor forsake us, he says in John 14, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, Not as the world gives do I give. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Jesus comforts his disciples with these words, doesn't he? Comforts by telling them that they have his presence through the Holy Spirit. And that's still true for us today, isn't it? He's still with us because our shepherd's eternal presence is with us through his Spirit. he has promised that to us. We too can lie down. We too can rest. We too can rest assured. We need not fear. So let me ask you again, what do you fear this morning? What do you need to give over to your good shepherd, your ever-present shepherd? The other thing to note here that David says in this passage is he references green pastures. In the Hebrew, the text literally says, he makes me lie down in pastures of grass. Grassy or green pastures in the ancient Near East were not in abundance. In fact, much of the grassy green lush land was reserved for agriculture. And so for a shepherd to find that green grass, they would have to wander or travel a long way. And so it required a lot of work for the shepherds to be able to provide their sheep with green pastures. Now, although it would be difficult for a human shepherd to provide for his sheep in that circumstance. Nothing, nothing is too difficult for our shepherd, is it? He leads his people just as he has always led his people. He led his people in the Exodus, didn't he? Brought them to the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey. In Exodus 15, in the Song of Moses, Moses says, you have led us in your steadfast love, the people whom you have redeemed. You've guided them by your strength to your holy abode. In terms of what Psalm 23 says here, the Lord brought his people to green pastures, to grassy pastures. He's still doing that today, isn't he? Maybe not in the sense of bringing us to some promised land here on earth, but he still leads us. As David says, besides still waters, he leads us in paths of righteousness. and why does he do that? Why does the Lord lead his people? For his glory and for our good. David says at the beginning of verse 3, he restores our soul, and then at the end of verse 3, for his name's sake. Our Lord, our shepherd, loves us. He loves you, Christian. He loves you with an everlasting love. He provides you with everything that you need to be content in him. Listen to how Isaiah 40 puts it. He will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead those that are with young. He loves you. He tenderly loves his sheep, his flock. He will provide us with everything that we need for his namesake, his goodness his mercy his provisions his care all are a reflection of who he is who he is reflects upon his name provides us with all that we need so that we would respond to the praise and glory of his name isn't that what scripture teaches us why the lord has chosen us, why he has called us out of the world so that we might declare the fame of the name of the one and only God. And notice how this benefits us. David says that he restores my soul. God's good provision and the contentment born from that provision restores our soul. In Psalm 42, David asked himself, why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God. David asked this of himself after already beginning that psalm, Psalm 42, with saying, as the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. David knows the fickleness of our souls, doesn't he? One moment we thirst for the Lord, the next we are downcast from worries of life. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I point you to your Lord this morning, to your shepherd, the one who provides you with everything that you need at all times, in all circumstances. Peace he has left us. Peace he has given us. We can be content this morning because of all that he has provided for us himself. Hold on to that. Hold on to him. The second thing that our shepherd provides us that this text speaks of is security. Security. David says in verse 4, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The contentment that David expresses has now spilt over to a kind of security for him in his mind. We see that, again, the presence of the shepherd is the determining factor here in the life of the sheep. David is fearless, fearless even before death itself. David is fearless before any possible danger because of the security of the presence of his shepherd being with him. Brothers and sisters in Christ, you too are not alone. You are never alone. Your shepherd is with you and with you always. Remember when the people of Israel were about to enter the promised land. They were afraid, weren't they? They were afraid because the nations that was there already occupying the land were greater nations. They were bigger nations. But over and over the Lord reminded them, Do not be afraid. Do not fear. For it is I, the Lord, who goes with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. That promise is restated in Hebrews 13 when the author of Hebrews then adds, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Christian, the Lord is your helper. His presence is with you. He is your shepherd. He promises to never leave you nor forsake you. And how could he? How could the Lord forsake us? He has bound himself to us already, hasn't he? By the blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, he has bound himself to us. And that will never change. That will never change. It is impossible for God to break any one of the promises that he has made to us. You see, it would be one thing if God was simply to have stated these promises. But along with the promises that he gives, he provides further proof, doesn't he? like with the sacraments that we partake of, which are signs and seals of his promises, he gives those to us to all the more assure us of what we have with him. Some of you know this in your own life, personally. You can look back on your life and you can see the work of the Lord providentially. You can see his hand providing for you, caring for you. You can see him being with you in all times, in all circumstances. Let me ask you again, how could God ever leave us, his people? Hasn't he already done everything necessary for us and for our salvation? He's already, again, bound himself to us. Christ came into the world. Christ lived on this earth under the law. Christ fulfilled the law for us. He suffered and was crucified upon a cross. He died, was resurrected, ascended, and triumphantly right now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Nothing is too difficult for him. Everything has been accomplished for us. How could we imagine him now breaking any promise that he has made to us? How could he now abandon us, his sheep? Jesus even says at the end of the Great Commission to comfort his disciples, Behold, I am with you to the very end of the age. And so he too provides us with comfort, doesn't he? He provides us, just like David was comforted with the security that he had, we too have that, the security of himself. Our Heidelberg Catechism asks in Question and Answer 28 when speaking of the providence of God, What does it profit us to know that God created and by his providence upholds all things? The answer, and this is such a comforting answer, that we may be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and for what is future, have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from him and his love. Again, this is why David can say in this psalm, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. You are with me. Now, as I already mentioned, sheep are animals that are given to fear and tibidness. Philip Keller mentions four fears that sheep are struck with. Fear of hunger and thirst, fear of provisions, fear of friction within the flock. Apparently, sheep can get into fights, fearful of being tormented by flies or parasites, fear of the threat of danger from outside predators. Now, our fears may not be exactly along the lines of sheep, but we too have fears, don't we? We too can lack or fear the lack of provisions, but we make enough money to provide for our families. We too can be fearful of other people, even people within the flock of God. Maybe we think to ourselves, what will they think about me? What will they say about me? We may not fear flies or parasites, but we can be fearful of the threat of sinful struggles or personal failures. And finally, we too can be fearful of physical harm, can't we? Harm at the hands of other people, the threat of people. When it comes to fear, what is true of sheep can so often be true of us. This is especially true when it comes to the fear of all fears, the fear of death. Death is a serious and significant fear for people, isn't it? Are you afraid to die? Are you afraid to die? Do you fear death? The sheep of God's pasture has no reason to fear death. That is again why David can say, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Just as the old hymn says, death no longer is the stronger. Hell itself is captive led. Christ has risen from death's prison over the tomb he light has shed. Now such things are easier, more easily said than experienced when you're faced with death. isn't it some of you have been in the shadow of death and you know the temptation to to give to despair at those moments a couple years ago my one of my daughters jumped off of a couch in our living room with a ruler in her mouth and that ruler had a metal edge to it and so as she landed she landed in part on that ruler, and it sliced the back of her throat. You could imagine how me and her mother felt. Well, after rushing her and her mom to the hospital, getting them securely into the ER, I came to terms with the fact that we could lose our precious little daughter. I was tempted to despair in that moment. But you see, Christian, death for the Christian is not the final place for us, is it? It is not the final place for those who are in Christ. The Lord will not abandon his people to death. He will not leave them even in death. David says in Psalm 16, my heart is glad, my whole being rejoices, my flesh also dwells secure, for you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your Holy One see corruption. You make known to me the path of life in your presence, the presence of the Lord. There is fullness of joy at your right hand, pleasures forevermore. Christian death is not the final place for a Christian. It's not the final destination for those who are in christ we are nevertheless even when facing death even in the midst of death secure with him and if we do die our physical bodies will one day just like christ be resurrected and we will be reunited to again dwell in his presence for all eternity and so death as david mentions and states here is only the shadow of death for the Christian. It's only the shadow of death. Christ has conquered death for his people. Hebrews 2 says that through death he might destroy, Jesus might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. No longer fear of death for the Christian. Christ has conquered death. It's finished for those who are in Christ. The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. And so now death for those in Christ, again, is just the shadow of its former self. And so we need not fear. The victory is ours. and that's really where David goes next in this psalm. He speaks of victory. You may have noticed at this point in the psalm in verses four through six, the grammar that David uses kind of shifts a bit. If you see, with the exception of verse one, which I take as a summary statement of the entire psalm, with that exception, the pronouns used in verses two to three all reference the Lord, the Lord is my shepherd. He makes me lie down. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness. Then the shift occurs in verse 4. No more he, the pronouns have changed to I and you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. From this point on, no more he, only I and you. David has shifted to a more personal way of referring to the Lord here and to the effect of his shepherding in and through the life of David. I take this to be a kind of internalization of what the Lord has done and who he is for David at this point. David has personalized who God is and what he has done for him. And that's why we at times speak of a personal relationship with Christ. Sometimes we're concerned about that way of speaking, and maybe at times rightly so. We never want to think of God as our personal God who is obligated to answer every call and desire that we have. He's not. He's not obligated. But God is personal. If there's anything we take from this psalm, it is that God is a personal God, that he personally loves his people, that he personally loves each and every one of his sheep. He personally cares for them, personally provides for them. He is our good shepherd, personally atones for us and our sin. And it's important that we, like David, internalize these truths that he speaks of here. It's important that we, as Christians, mentally chew upon the gospel of Jesus Christ and what that means for us. He's done wonderful, wonderful things for us, hasn't he? Our shepherd is the good shepherd. Provides us with contentment. He provides us with security. He provides us with victory. See, David here in these next verses, many, many commentators believe he has made this so personal that he has kind of shifted the illustration or the analogy that he uses here in the text, that he has kind of moved on from the shepherd analogy to something of a hospitable host at this point. But I don't think that's exactly the case. I think, again, he's just simply internalized what God has done for him. David hasn't moved from God as his shepherd. He's just made and realized God to be as personal as he really is. The first thing that David speaks of here in verse 5 is, in your presence, or you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. It's interesting, Philip Keller describes the higher elevations of hilltops as something of tabletops. Shepherds will describe them as tabletops. At times, it's necessary for shepherds, he says, to prepare those areas in which the sheep will graze in order to protect them from grazing on things that will harm them or even kill them. David takes these ideas and he applies it to our shepherd, but he adds to them, doesn't he? He adds to them the idea of eating in the presence of our enemies. Now, it wasn't really immediately apparent to me what David was doing here, but after considering this, David here is speaking of vindication, isn't he? He's speaking of vindication. He speaks of being vindicated by our shepherd as he prepares, sets a table for us as our enemies watch. This is a reference to the final victory that we have in Jesus Christ, if ever. We all know that reference to the marriage supper of the Lamb in Revelations 19, which says, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. This is David here foreshadowing that, foreshadowing that, that supper. God's people gathered with him in intimate fellowship, while those outside sadly watch. Again, this is vindication. It's victory for the Christian. We all know how it feels today in this dark day and age to be wrongfully charged, to be slandered, to be spoken of as being hateful and hurtful for not joining in in the world and sin and the celebration of sin. Today, right is called wrong and wrong is called right. And with the standards turned upside down, how often it is for us as Christians to be mischaracterized, mischarged, misconstrued, misrepresented. Our shepherd sees that. He sees that, and he knows what we endure. And one day, all wrongs will be made right, and we will be vindicated in his presence and in the presence of our enemies. Remember, it was Jesus who was vindicated, wasn't he? He was vindicated, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 3, manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit. Christ, our shepherd, was vindicated, and we in him too will be vindicated. With this victory before the mind of David here in this text, the rest of the things that he says here are full of celebration. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Oil at times in the Old Testament is a reference to gladness and joy. Listen to the way Isaiah 61 puts it. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning. With this gladness, david can't help but say his cup overflows he overflows with gladness at this point you see something is building in the heart of david here the lord as his shepherd all that the lord has done for him the lord his shepherd is crashing upon the heart of david here and it has now given him a perspective of victory and vindication and gladness that arises from that and so yes his cup overflows. It overflows. Notice what he says next. How does it overflow, David? Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What does this describe but just gladness, joy, excitement. This psalm is a beautiful psalm, it ends just as beautiful as it begins the lord is my shepherd i shall not want ends with goodness and mercy all our days and we will be with the lord forever eternity we will be in the presence of the lord our god for eternity it's a beautiful psalm isn't it beautiful psalm which gives us comfort upon comfort. Speaks of the contentment, the provisions, the security, the victory that we have as God's sheep. But you see, we must never, never forget this psalm is beautiful and comforting for us only because our good shepherd secured this for us. The truths stated here for us are given to us by grace and by grace alone. We're all familiar with Psalm 23, one of the most well-known passages in all of Scripture. But are we familiar with Psalm 22? Psalm 22 obviously comes before Psalm 23. That's no accident. Psalm 22 is a psalm of agony. It's the psalm that Christ quotes while on the cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 22 is a reminder to us, as we read Psalm 23 and other psalms like it, that Christ took the agony so that we might be the sheep of his flock. Christ was forsaken, our shepherd forsaken, so that we would be shepherded. So Christian, the Lord is your shepherd. He has proven that to you beyond a shadow of a doubt. And so wherever he leads you, whether that be among green pastures, grassy pastures, or whether it be in the shadow of the valley of the shadow of death, he's proven to you. His presence will go with you. He is with you at all times and all circumstances. May we respond with praise, thanksgiving, contentment, security, and trust. Let's pray together now. Lord, you teach us in this psalm how blessed we are to have you as our shepherd. How blessed we are to have your son, Jesus Christ, as our good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. Father, we have, like sheep, gone astray. we need you by your gracious hand and spirit we need you to continue to pursue us over and over and over and to lead us lord lead us back to yourselves we pray this morning for continual care and provision we pray for continual contentment and security in you and in christ provide us as provide for us as only you can continue to to fill us with your presence through your spirit. And we, your sheep, will be careful to give you all the praise, glory, adoration that you deserve. We pray all this in the name of Christ, our Lord, our Savior. Amen.