I invite you this morning to turn in your Bibles to the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 23. If you're using the Pew Bible, I believe that's found on page 541. We're going to read the entirety of the Psalm this morning, but we're really only going to focus on the first verse of this Psalm. I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to preach a two-part series through this psalm, and if the Lord so wills, and I'm around again, I will preach the other half to you. But this morning, we just get a taste of it. Psalm 23, again, we'll read the entirety, but we'll focus on verse 1. 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 name's sake. 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, this is indeed one of the most well-known psalms in all of the Psalter, is it not? It's quite possibly one of the most well-known passages in all of Scripture. This is one of those passages where people are so familiar with it that you don't even have to be a Christian to know this psalm, right? We hear it quoted in books. We hear it quoted in movie scenes. And so as I said, it's quite possibly one of the most well-known passages in all of Scripture. Now, although it is, the truths of this passage are still so comforting for us. These truths present us with comfort upon comfort. This is a psalm of David. We don't know the context of this psalm, but not knowing the context itself can be helpful for it, for us, can't it? Not knowing the exact and precise context that gave rise to this psalm makes it a bit more easy for us to apply it to the various situations and contexts that we find that we face in life. This psalm is a psalm of trust. It's a psalm of comfort. It's a psalm of assurance. And trust, comfort, and assurance are all things that we need every moment of our lives. Yes, particularly in difficulty do we need trust, comfort, and assurance. But we need these things all times, at all times of our lives. Some of you may have recently moved. A move requires trust, comfort, assurance. Some of you have taken on new jobs, new positions at your job, new challenges. Such situations require trust, comfort, assurance. Some of you are wrestling right now with life decisions, decisions about health, decisions pertaining to relationships, pertaining to families. Given all of these various kinds of circumstances that we face in life, at all times we need trust, comfort, assurance. Given all of these various things that we face in life, and on top of that, we never know what lies ahead for us, do we? We never know what our good and faithful God has planned or in store for us. But whatever comes our way, we need trust in Him. We need comfort from him. We need assurance in him. And so what I'm simply trying to say to you this morning is that at all times, in all circumstances, we need the Lord. We need our Lord. The primary place that we get such things as trust, comfort, and assurance is from him, from our God, our Savior, our shepherd. And so my title for this morning's sermon is Our Shepherd. It's a simple title, straightforward. It's a title that comes directly from the text before us. And with this simple title, I want to ask two simple questions. Who is your shepherd and how does he shepherd you? Who is your shepherd and how does he shepherd you? Let's consider our first question this morning, shall we? Who is our shepherd? The answer to the question, who is our shepherd, is told to us right off the bat in this psalm, right? David tells us right away, our shepherd is the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd, David says. This simple, familiar statement is so profound and beautiful, is it not? And it's recognized as so profound and beautiful so much that the title of this psalm is our shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Now, the beauty of such a simple statement here makes me wonder, what was it that gave rise in the life of David to make him acknowledge this and to pen these famous words? What in David's life gave rise to such an intimate statement of his Lord, of his Savior. Was it a statement that David realized through the intimacy that he had with God? Was it a statement that arose through David confessing it regularly in his prayer time? Was it something that he meditated on over and over and over? A few weeks ago in preparation for this sermon, I gave myself to doing that very thing. I meditated over and over and over to this statement, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I'd encourage you to do that today, to begin to meditate upon this beautiful, simple, yet profound statement, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And I think as we do that as God's people, the Lord who is indeed our shepherd provides us with a deeper grasp of what it means for us. And through that meditation and repetition we come to a better grasp of who our shepherd is. Now maybe this truth didn't come to David through constant meditation. Maybe it occurred through constant care for his own sheep. We all know that David was a shepherd, right? And so he had particular insight into what it would mean for God to be his shepherd. In my consideration of this text, I referenced the book, A Shepherd's Look at Psalm 23, written by shepherd pastor Philip Keller. And one thing that Keller portrays in that book is the neediness of sheep. He makes the point that sheep need constant care and oversight. There isn't a moment in the life of a shepherd where his sheep don't need him. Sheep are very, very needy. And so here, imagine with me David. David the shepherd, the son of Jesse, standing in a pasture overlooking his sheep. And maybe he was just faced with some kind of challenge, whatever it is, a bear, a lion, brush, a thief, some challenge regarding his sheep. And in light of that challenge and the need for constant care over his sheep, he comes to this realization, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Now maybe it was still different. Maybe it was still different for David. Maybe it wasn't a challenge at all that led to him realizing that the Lord was his shepherd. Maybe it was just through the regular provision that David had to provide for his sheep. Maybe it was because of the constant water that sheep need. Maybe it was because of the constant having to shepherd and move the sheep to greener pastures. Maybe it was the constant physical care of examining the sheep and their coats for infection or bug infestation or whatever it was. Maybe it was that care that raised in David's mind this truth. The Lord is my shepherd. As I said, we don't exactly know. We don't exactly know what gave rise to this realization. What we do know is that David did pen these words. He wrote them down, and by the Holy Spirit, they're inspired scripture for us to meditate upon and to look to for trust, comfort, and assurance. Let me ask you this morning. What would it take for you in your life in your day to come to the realization that the Lord is your shepherd. To realize that in a deeply, profoundly personal and intimate way, to realize this more than simply a line out of a familiar text, maybe the most familiar text in all of Scripture. Familiarity can take richness away for us, can't it? Familiarity can often take something that is profound, significant, meaningful, and it can cause us to take that truth for granted. There's a well-known quote that says, familiarity breeds contempt. I'd like to add to that or maybe change that quote to say familiarity breeds apathy. It can breed apathy. We've all had the experience of receiving a gift, something that we really desired, And once we receive that gift, we're excited about it, right? There's much joy and excitement. But as time goes on, what happens? We grow apathetic towards that gift. Familiarity can cause us to lose that excitement. Knowing this psalm, as well as many of us do, can lead us to being apathetic about the main truth of this psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is your shepherd. He's your shepherd. He's our shepherd. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. That's what Psalm 100 says, is it not? Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us. We are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Those words from Psalm 100, like these words before us in Psalm 23, are intimate words. The Lord wants his people to know and realize who he is to them and for them. Brothers and sisters in Christ, what again would move us like David with renewed freshness to realize this truth as if it was the very first time for us to realize it? What would lead us to confess this over and over in our minds? The Lord is my shepherd. To give ourselves to constant meditation upon it. Now, when David says here that the Lord is my shepherd, he uses the covenant name of God, doesn't he? That could get lost in the word Lord. But notice it's the name of God, the covenant name of God that David invokes here. David says, Yahweh is my shepherd. Yahweh is my shepherd. Now, the name of God is a reflection of who he is, isn't it? The name of God speaks to all that he is. Just as the Lord declared to Moses in Exodus 34 when he revealed his name to him. If you would, turn with me briefly to Exodus 34. Here in Exodus 34, the people had just sinned against God by making and worshiping that golden calf. And Moses intercedes for the people. And in verse 34, the Lord reveals to Moses more and more the name of the Lord, beginning at verse 6, the Lord passed before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, that's Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means declare the guilty, clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation. The name of the Lord refers to who he is. It refers to all that he is. It refers to him as the God of promise, the God who makes promises, the God who keeps promises. It refers to him as the eternal God, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the everlasting one, the one who knows all things, the one who plans all things, the one who can do all things. That is who Yahweh is, the creator, sustainer, redeemer, caregiver, provider, God Almighty. That is who our shepherd is. God is our shepherd, the one true God, the one who rules and reigns over all creation, over all things, the one who is seated high up in the heavenlies, the one who the angels declare over and over and over, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory. He is our shepherd. He is your shepherd, Christian. Now I belabor this point of who God is because I want us to feel and to realize the magnitude of who our shepherd is. The Lord is our shepherd. Yahweh is our shepherd. You see, much of what I just described to you points to the transcendence of God, does it not? The fact that he is high and lifted up, the fact that he is holy and distinct from anything and all of creation, the fact that we are sinners and undeserving of his love, care, his presence. And yet, he is our shepherd. And so this statement of David speaks to the fact that the transcendent, high and lofty God is imminently present with his people. He is our shepherd. And he is our shepherd right now, Here, at this very moment, at this very time, at all times, in all circumstances, he constantly watches over us and cares for us and provides for us. And whatever we face, whatever trial, whatever difficulty, he is with us. See, brothers and sisters, we need to hold on to this truth that the Lord is our shepherd. We need to hold on to it as if our lives depend upon it. Have you ever been in a situation like that where you're holding on to something for dear life? If you had the chance of reading the introduction about myself, you'll see that me and my family have recently taken up indoor rock climbing. And if you've ever done that, you know that there are times where you are holding on to a hold and you're just holding on for dear life. Of course you're strapped in. But you get my point, right? We've got to hold on to this truth. There are truths in our Christian walk that we have to battle for. This is one of them. Because today, I think more than any other time in all of history, the personal nature of God is so easily forgotten, so easily lost. We live in a day and age of technology, right? Technology seems to abound. It's everywhere around us. Atheistic scientism seems to rule the day. The dominant, dominant culture of the day tells us what is real is what you can feel, what you can touch, what you can taste, what you can smell and see. But in the midst of all of that, we need to remember the Lord is our shepherd. Yahweh is our shepherd. Now, the fact that God Almighty would call himself our shepherd is simply beyond me. It's beyond my understanding. I can't imagine God inspiring David to say this about himself. You see, we could get hung up on God calling us sheep, right? Knowing what we know about sheep. But the emphasis in this text is on God calling himself our shepherd. And that should be our focus this morning, and it is. And you see, there's no better place for us to turn our attention to see our shepherd than in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And for that, we turn to our second point this morning. How does the Lord shepherd us? How does he shepherd us? In John 10, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. Jesus says he is the good shepherd. Jesus takes this statement here from from psalm 23 that all of his listeners would have been familiar with just as familiar as we would have been and he applies it to himself who is your shepherd jesus is your shepherd jesus is your shepherd and he proves the love and care that he has for us his sheep in that the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep how does he shepherd us he does so by laying down his life for us. You see, immediately after applying this description, this metaphor of a shepherd upon himself, in that same breath, Jesus says the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. You see, Psalm 23 tells us who our shepherd is, right? The Lord, God, Yahweh. But in Christ, we see the fullest picture of our shepherd. And so Psalm 23 is fulfilled in Christ, isn't it? In Psalm 23, we hear a beautiful echo of what is proclaimed, declared in Jesus Christ. The Lord is my shepherd, is proven, fulfilled in Christ laying down his life for his sheep. He lays down his life for you, for me. He was bruised for us. He was broken for us. He bled for us. He was beaten for us. You see, God really does show us his love for us in Christ and that while we were sinners, sheep, if you will, Christ died for us. Isaiah 53 says, we all like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Christ died for us. The transcendent, almighty God condescends to his sheep in Jesus Christ, living among them and then dying for them. Christian, you have a great, great shepherd, a loving shepherd, a shepherd who loves you so much that he goes to the fullest extent for you, even to the point of death, death upon a cross. And what an interesting picture this presents for us when you think about it. Jesus is the good shepherd, but Jesus is also the sacrificial lamb, isn't he? Jesus is the good shepherd, but he's also the sacrificial lamb. In Christ, we have that picture of the good shepherd becoming the sacrificial lamb. He's the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Meditate upon that one. That's who your shepherd is. That's how he shepherds you. In Christ, the shepherd so identifies with his sheep that he humbly takes on their flesh and sacrifices his life for them you see it's one thing for God to identify with us as our shepherd that shows care that shows compassion that shows the love that he has for us but this shepherd goes even further he fully identifies with us by becoming one of us and then dying on the cross for us. First Peter 1.18 says, for you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot. Again, this is who our shepherd is. This is how he cares for us, how he shepherds us. You see now why we can go to him. We can go to him boldly, be comforted by him, trust in him, have full and complete assurance in him. He is our shepherd. He cares for us so much so that he would give himself for us and for our sin. With this truth before us, before our mind, we can now see why David, after confessing the Lord is my shepherd, goes on to say, I shall not want. I shall not want. David's words here in no way simply speak to the material possessions that a person can have or desire or need in their life. He's not saying, because the Lord is my shepherd, I will never desire or ever have any kind of need of anything. Everything will be provided and given to me. That's not what David is saying here. David's statement is not a point for the prosperity gospel. It's not what he's saying. In fact, we know that David at various times in his life struggled, didn't he? He suffered material need, want. He lived in caves. He lived among the enemies of God's people, the Philistines. He relied on the provisions of others, the priest, Ahimelech, Abigail, the wife of Nabal, and the situation of Ahimelech. David was in such dire need that he had to eat the bread of consecration, which you know was unlawful for anyone to do but the priests. Now, someone might say, well, that was before he was king. Then he became king, and maybe this psalm was written after he became king. But if you know anything about David's life as king, you know that that too was not a piece of cake, was it? He was overthrown by his son Absalom, again finding himself in material need and want. See, this opening line of this psalm, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, is not a truth that is true only when things are going well for us. Quite the opposite. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. is especially true in hardship, in difficulty, in trial. And that's why Christians have found so much comfort, assurance, and trust through this psalm throughout the history of the church. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, means the Lord is my shepherd, I am satisfied in him. I'm satisfied in him. Now, of course, our sinful hearts challenge that satisfaction, don't they? Our hearts tell us, sure, sure, be satisfied in the Lord as long as you don't forget the pleasures come along by living as you so choose and please. Our hearts deceive us, don't they? Lead us astray. Lead us away from the true satisfaction that we have in our good and great shepherd. And they direct the eyes of our hearts to momentary pleasures. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a sin that we must deny. This is a sin that we must train ourselves to deny, deny in our hearts, deny in our lives. See, C.S. Lewis was right when he said, we are too easily pleased. We are too easily satisfied. Lewis says that we would rather make mud pies in the gutter rather than enjoy a vacation at the beach because we are so easily pleased. We'd rather be satisfied with momentary pleasure with the delights of this sinful world than to feast and be fully satisfied in our good shepherd, Jesus Christ. Children, have you ever seen the movie The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe? Maybe you've had the chance of reading that book. And if you have, then you know exactly what I'm speaking of in regards to Edmund. Remember the boy Edmund, right? Edmund's younger brother, had two sisters. Edmund traded his siblings for some candy, didn't he? He traded his siblings for some candy. That's so believable to us, right? We can imagine that, right? If I was to ask you, are your siblings more important, more significant to you than some candy? You would probably say, yes, absolutely. And yet you understand why Edmund, how Edmund could trade his siblings for some candy. The fact is we all have that capacity to be so easily satisfied, so easily pleased. This is why the truth that the Lord is my shepherd is so critical for us to acknowledge. Because it reminds us of who our shepherd is, the cost of our sin, the cost that it was to him. The truth that the Lord is our shepherd reminds us of who and what and how our shepherd has cared for us, sacrificially dying for us to cover the depth of our sin. See, our shepherd doesn't just wink at sin. He can't just brush it under the rug, so to speak. In love, he doesn't tell us, you know what? Nobody is perfect. Don't worry about it. No, he says, I love you so much, and yet I take sin so serious that I will live and die for you. I am your shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. And so now, as his sheep, as his children, we're called now to not fall prey to our sinful desires, to not be satisfied so easily with the things of this world, but to be satisfied with Christ, to be satisfied with all that we have in him, all that he has done for us. The Lord is our shepherd. And that's a truth that should put all of our lives into perspective. David's words here, I shall not want, again, means what we have in Jesus Christ far exceeds anything that we could ever desire or want in this life. And this is why David says elsewhere, The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. We may have physical needs. We may have desires, good desires. But ultimately, ultimately, we need to come to the conclusion that what we have in Christ far exceeds all of that. See, this psalm here gives us a perspective on our Christian life, doesn't it? David is speaking here of contentment, contentment with his shepherd. Jesus says, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Our peace, our contentment comes from delighting and being satisfied with what we have in Jesus. Jeremiah Burroughs, the Puritan preacher, says in his book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, If I become content by having my desires satisfied, that's only self-love. But when I'm content with the hand of God and am willing to be at his disposal, that comes from love to God. True contentment, Jeremiah Burroughs says, comes from being satisfied with our Lord. Christian, are you satisfied this morning? Are you satisfied with your Lord? Are you satisfied with your shepherd? Are you satisfied with all that he has done for you? Is that where your treasure is? Is that where your heart can be found? When I think of a man who was satisfied in his life with what his shepherd Jesus Christ offered to him, I think of the man Horatio Spafford. Some of you probably know that name. Spafford was the hymn writer who wrote, It Is Well With My Soul. He wrote that hymn after a number of tragedies in his life. He first lost his fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. Shortly after that, he lost a four-year-old son to scarlet fever. Two years later, he lost four, four of his daughters in a shipwreck as they were crossing the Atlantic Ocean from the U.S. to Europe. In the face of these tragedies, Spafford writes the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul. We're familiar with that hymn, are we not? When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll whatever my lot thou has taught me to say it is well it is well with my soul Christians I ask you again this morning who is your shepherd how has he shepherded you the Lord is our shepherd and he has given up his life for us May we say with Spafford, it is now well with our soul. Let's pray. Father, what beautiful words you have given us here in Psalm 23. Familiar indeed, Lord, and yet so profound. Help us, Father, to meditate, to give ourselves to such truths as these. You are our shepherd. Christ is the good shepherd who laid down his life for us. And in light of the wonders of the gospel, Lord, wonders that we can only begin to scratch the surface in understanding, but in light of that, Lord, would you bless us with your spirit to move in us, to live according to what you command, to be your sheep, your people, the sheep of your pasture. Be with us all, Father. we need you. We need to meditate upon these truths. We pray this all in Christ's name. Amen.