When I was a child, I memorized Psalm 23.  I memorized it because memorizing Biblical passages, stories and one-line scriptures was the big rage in our family setting.

Now, I am not saying that was a bad thing, and in fact I believe memorizing Biblical passages, and scriptures is something very worthwhile and something that should still be a practice in every Christian home to this very day.

However, it should be a practice that goes well beyond simply memorizing parts of God’s Word.  Whenever we were encouraged to memorize something from the Bible, my mother and father would always take time to give us the background of whatever it was we were to memorize.

But as I look back over those times, the one thing I cannot remember them doing was; I do not remember being taught how what we were memorizing had applied to our individual lives, nor what it may mean to our future when it came to God in our lives. 

It was more like a Biblical history lesson than it was anything else.

And that in itself is not a bad thing and can be very beneficial, but there is more to studying the Bible than just a history lesson.  We need to learn and be taught what God is saying to us about what it means in our present, as well as in our future.

Am I being harshly critical of what my mother and father were trying to do for us?  No, not really.  In fact I appreciate everything they did when it came to helping us in our walk with God.

But I also believe that from Genesis the whole way through to and including the book of Revelation that there is something God intends for us to take with us and to learn from and to apply to our daily living and that there is a message within each and every book, chapter and verse or series of books, chapters and verses.

So, when we teach our children to memorize something from the Bible, or when we take the time and effort to memorize something from the Bible as adults, for ourselves we should remember 4 important points.

1) We should look at, examine, and explore WHY something is there (the history behind it).

2) We should look at and examine what it meant in the time that it was recorded, and by whom and for what purpose.

3) We should always look at and consider what value and lesson it has for our current lives and for our lives in the future.

4) We should explore what it means in our relationship with God.

The one thing we should never do is: We should never memorize something just for the sake of memorizing it.  If we don’t know why we are memorizing something, or if our children don’t know why, and if we don’t explore the past, present and future of a certain text, or portion of scripture then it will all be for naught and can be meaningless.

This past week, a very good friend of mine lost his life, and through his death, my attention turned to Psalm 23.  I am sure most everyone in this room has had a time of loss in life where your attention turned to Psalm 23. 

It is a wonderful portion of scripture to ease minds, and to help heal the hurt of a loss of someone near and dear to us, and rightfully so because this is one of the things I believe God wants Psalm 23 to do for us.

I also believe it is a wonderful Psalm to consider when trials of ANY kind come into our lives, and it can be an awesome way to help us through in time of great personal need.

But it is also a Psalm of Awesome Joy, Happiness, and Fulfillment.

As heartbreaking and mournful this past week has been for me, it has also been a wonderful experience to look through this familiar Psalm, and to have the Lord speak to me again out of this passage.

It is a great psalm, and one that, as a small child, I never had an opportunity to study in detail and to grasp its substance and true value.

And the Lord put it on my heart to share with you the wonderfulness of what I experienced through this Psalm, this past week.

Before we begin, I think it is important to know, and to consider, that, Psalm 23, which is so popular, would not be as meaningful without Psalm 22, or Psalm 24 which leads me to believe that we have a trilogy or triptych of Psalms that literally belong together.

They are Psalms 22, 23, and 24, which are sometimes referred to as “The Shepherd Psalms”. These three psalms present a vital and important picture of our Lord and Saviour:

In Psalm 22 our focus is turned toward our Lord as “The Good Shepherd”.  Interestingly, and certainly not by coincidence, In John 10:11 this very same reference can be found when Jesus Himself made the statement, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep".

Then in Psalm 23 our focus is turned toward The Lord as: “The Great Shepherd”.

Now, and here again, this same type of focus can be found in Hebrews 13: 20-21 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlast­ing covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen"

Next, in Psalm 24, we see Him as “The Chief Shepherd” This too is brought into perspective in 1 Peter 5:4, where it says, "And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall re­ceive a crown of glory that fadeth not away".

I think it is an important fact to know that all three references to our Lord:  "The Good Shepherd" – "The Great Shepherd", and "The Chief Shepherd" are closely referenced and brought into light in the New Testament. 

I also believe it is important to note that all three chapters: Psalms 22 –23 and 24 are placed in a significant order, and in close relationship to each other and here are the main points to consider when studying these three chapters:

Follow along closely with me and look at the connection of how these three chapters are divinely laid out before us:

In Psalm 22: we see the cross,

In Psalm 23: we see the crook (the Shepherd's crook - the rod of protection and correction – the staff of direction),

In Psalm 24: we see the crown (the King's crown).

In Psalm 22: Christ is the Savior,

In Psalm 23: He is the Satisfier;

In Psalm 24: He is the Sovereign.

In Psalm 22: He is the foundation;

In Psalm 23: He is the manifestation;

In Psalm 24: He is the expectation.

In Psalm 22: He dies;

In Psalm 23: He is living;

In Psalm 24: He is coming.

In Psalm 22: it speaks of the past;

In Psalm 23: it speaks of the present; and

In Psalm 24: it speaks of the future.

In Psalm 22: He gives His life for the sheep;

In Psalm 23: He gives His love to the sheep;

In Psalm 24: He gives us light for when He shall appear again.

Do you see it?  Can you make the connection?  I think you can.

What a wonderful and awesome picture we have of Christ in these three psalms alone!

With this as our focus I’d like to take a little closer look this morning at Psalm 23, probably the most familiar passage there is in the Word of God.

No portion in writing of any time or of any work has been so widely circulated.

Christians of all denominations, from all over the world are well acquainted with this psalm. And the World as a whole has embraced its beauty – and yet there are so few who know it’s meaning – or who can paint a mindful picture of what value lies within the words.

It has been said, many times, that Psalm 23 is one of the most beautifully worded portions of scripture in the entire Bible.  And in some respect, I would agree with that statement. 

But there is more to it than simply “Beautiful Wording”.  These beautiful words are, and can be meaningless without realizing the inspiration and true intent within the text, and particularly as a whole, from beginning to end.

Much has been written about this short and simple six verse psalm, many sermons have been preached with this Psalm as the back-drop.

And more often than not it is reserved for funerals and memorial services for those who have departed this world, or in times of great distress, and I don’t disagree that it shouldn’t be used and considered in those settings. 

But, it isn’t just a part of God’s Word that should be reserved only for death and the dying, struggles and strife, because it is more about life than it is death, and in the mournful and solemn times when death has taken a loved one away, or when we struggle through some sort of devastation it is difficult to see through that and find the beauty and promise of our Lord and Savior that it holds from within.

It only takes about forty-five seconds to read Psalm 23. It is brief. It is not the language of philosophy. It is not the language of theology. It is not a legal or scientific document. It is sublimely simple and simply sublime.

Before we look at the text itself, I want to offer somewhat of a personal opinion and belief that I feel is important. Throughout the ages, many debates have been waged over whether David wrote this psalm as David, a young shepherd boy or as David, the aged and wise King.  

A man by the name of Dr. Frank Morgan has called Psalm 23 "The Song of the Old Shepherd."

And I have to say that I agree with him.

David the king never forgot David the shepherd boy.

In Psalm 23 you do not have the musings of a green, inexperienced young boy, but instead you find the mature deliberations of ripened and hardened experience.

You see, David, when he came close to the end of his life, looked back upon his storied past.

And it was then that I believe he wrote this psalm. The old king on the throne remembered the shepherd boy. Life had beaten, battered, baffled, and bludgeoned this man. He was a hardened soldier, a veteran who knew victory and hardship. He was tested and he was tried.

In Psalm 23 we do not have the theorizing of immaturity - but what is clearly evident is the fruit and the mature judgment born out of a long life.

And since Psalms 22, 23, and 24 go together and tell one awesome and complete story, I would love to travel through them step by step, but because of limited time we can’t explore all three this morning, so I would strongly encourage you to read all three Psalms in their entirety and take time to grasp the picture of what lies beneath the Words in what God wants to show us.

And I encourage you to take a look at the connection of all three, as one completed story.

So now, let’s take a journey through Psalm 23.

This, of course, is a psalm of David. We know something of the circumstances of its composition.

In the Fifteenth chapter of Second Samuel there is recorded the instance in David's life when his own son rebelled against him and toppled him from the throne.

David was forced to flee into the Judean wilderness with his family and servants, and for a period of time he was unable to reclaim his throne.

His life was in jeopardy and he was hunted and hounded for a number of months.

Perhaps, because so much of his early life had been spent as a shepherd in that same wilderness, the circumstances recalled his shepherd’s life.

The images in this psalm are drawn right out of his experience as a young shepherd.

The lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters

Verse 1 is a declaration and a deduction. It is one thing to say, "The Lord is a shepherd" — and many people do say that, and it sounds good.

But you can make it personal and say, "The lord is my shepherd"?

By the authority of His redemptive work, His death and resurrection, you can trust Him and call Him your Shepherd.

It is also easy to say, "The Lord will be my shepherd," but David did not say that either. He said, "The lord is my shepherd." This is his declaration, and can be ours as well.

"I shall not want"—notice that David does not say, I have not wanted, but "I shall not want." What is it that we need? Well, we need safety, protection, and guidance. We are sheep, we are HIS sheep.

Because the Lord is our shepherd, we do not lack anything. He satisfies our needs. That is the place to which God wants to bring us. He wants us to be independently dependent upon him, and to need Him and Him alone.

You know, it struck me as I was studying this psalm that there are really only two basic options in life.

If the Lord is my shepherd, then I shall not want; but if I am in want, then it is obvious that I am not allowing the Lord to be my shepherd. It is that simple.
 
If there is emptiness and loneliness, anxiousness and despair and frustration in our lives, then we are not allowing the Lord to be our shepherd. Or, if anyone or anything else is shepherding us, we are not being satisfied.

If anything other than the Lord is shepherding us, then there is restlessness and uneasiness and frustration and we are constantly being disillusioned.
 
If we are allowing other people to shepherd us (and I am not talking about preachers or pastors), we will always be disappointed and ultimately we are left empty.

If drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography and any other thing of this world is our shepherd, then we are allowing ourselves to be wasted.
 
But if the Lord is our shepherd, David says, we shall not want.

Therefore, our Shepherd sees to it that we won't want for anything because He alone provides all we need.

When we (as God’s sheep) say, "I shall not want" and "I shall never perish," it is because we have a wonderful Shepherd. "I shall not want" looks into the future and gives assurance to the child of God. The security of the believer rests upon the Shepherd. And the believer's deduction rests upon our declaration.

It is important to realize that if Jesus is to be our shepherd, then we have to begin by recognizing that we are His sheep.

When we think about sheep, usually our first impressions are of a nice, sweet, helpless little animal. Reality is, (and I know because we raised sheep on our farm when I was little) that sheep are stubborn, hardheaded, and pig­headed animals.

And, they are dirty and filthy and they absolutely have no sense of direction left on their own.

Not only are they dirty, timid and defenseless and helpless, but our sheep were constantly getting lost and hurt, bitten by snakes, and attacked by foxes, and did you know that sheep literally do not know enough to come in out of the rain, and can actually drown in a downpour.  It’s true!

I do not like this word and I am constantly correcting my children for using it, and to them I apologize, but for once I have no other word to use than to say that sheep are stupid.

But if we are really honest with ourselves we know we are like sheep. We lack wisdom and strength. We are inclined to be self-destructive, we get lost and we do have enough sense to come in out of the rain and we sometimes we find ourselves drowning in the downpour of the world.

 Isaiah 53:6 says,
 
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Our tendency is toward self-indulgent individualism, going our own way and doing our own thing. That's me. I'm a sheep.

And if Jesus Christ is to be my shepherd, I have to admit that I need Him as my Shepherd. It can be difficult to do that, but that is where we must start.

By allowing Christ in our lives as our Shepherd, and by totally trusting in Him, He will not allow us to lack physical necessities, and He will not allow us to lack Spiritual necessities.  He will fulfill ALL our needs.

Not only do sheep need safety, guidance and protection they need sufficiency and satisfaction.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." Folks, that is sufficiency.

The first thing He does when we accept Him as our Shepherd is to meet the needs of our inner selves, the basic needs that give us nourishment within. The basic needs of sheep are grass and water.

Anyone who knows anything about sheep, will tell you that a hungry sheep will not lie down. When sheep are lying down in green pastures, it means they have their tummies full.  When they are up and running around foolishly and aimlessly it means they are not satisfied.

And here we are given the scene (a picture if you will) of sheep bedded down in grassy meadows, having eaten their fill and now totally satisfied, and then being led by and to the still waters.

And Christ IS our sufficiency, John 6:35. "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst".

THAT is sufficiency folks – true sufficiency.

"He leadeth me beside the still waters." Sheep are frightened by running and moving water. And they don't like stagnant water either. Cattle and horses will drink from almost any type of setting, but fickle little sheep will not.

A good shepherd, knows where the clean clear and still watering holes are.

He knows where the grassy meadows are. And so he leads the sheep into places where they can rest and feed, and where they can drink. The picture is one of calm and tranquility, because the basic needs of the sheep are met.

All of this applies to us as human beings too. 

We are fickle, picky, uneasy about where and how we quench our thirsty and hungry selves and without our Good Shepherd leading us in the right ways, we will never find contentment and satisfaction.

With God as our Shepherd, He restores our inner most selves through His Word. As we feed and drink upon the Word of God we see our Lord and Saviour there. We draw upon him and our hunger and thirst is satisfied.

And we need rest in our day - - - not so much physical or mental rest, but rest of the soul. Listen to what David said in Psalm 55:6: "Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."

He wanted to get away from it all. But he found out that getting away from it all did not solve his problems. He had to learn to put his trust in the Lord, rest in Him, and wait patiently upon Him.

Jesus says, in Matthew 11:28. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". 

We can find rest in Him and He will quench our thirst in the still and clear calm waters of His AWESOME Love – folks, that is a powerful promise, and a beautiful picture of Who our Lord is.

Next, Psalm 23 says, “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

“He restoreth my soul." David knew what that was. David had sinned—he was that little lost sheep that had strayed from the fold, and his Shepherd had restored him. And Jesus can restore us too, if we allow Him to.

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteous­ness for his name's sake." He leads, but we must follow.

Jesus said to the religious rulers who were actually His enemies, in, John 10:25-27 "... I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me".

Sheep, by common nature will follow their own shepherd. That is the way you can tell the one to whom the sheep belong. In Jesus' day the shepherd never drove his sheep; or chased them around like some massive round-up like is common place now - he led them.

In the time Christ walked the earth, the shepherd was with his sheep day after day – night after night – and without fail, and sometimes those Shepherds went days without sleep - watching over their flocks.

And as stubborn and pigheaded and as inconsistent as sheep are, they knew their Shepherd and they followed him. And in the same sense, Our Shepherd, Our Saviour, Our Precious Lord leads us in right paths, and it is up to us to trust Him and to follow Him.

Even though a trail (a pathway) is well laid out, sheep are inclined to wander away, and stray off of the pathway no matter how obvious the path may be.

They still need a good shepherd. And WE need a good shepherd Who knows the trails, and Who has been there before us, and we as His sheep must learn to trust Him.

These paths are not always easy, they can be difficult and trying – sometimes filled with rocks and boulders and uneven ground.

But how fortunate are we that our Master, our Shepherd – our Lord and Saviour loves us enough to walk these paths ahead of us and clears our way.
 
And how blessed we are that if we DO stumble and fall, that our Shepherd is ready, willing and able to rush to our side and help us back up once again so that we can continue on in our journey

Probably the most anxiety-producing factor in the world today is uncertainty about the future. What is going to happen this afternoon, tomorrow, and the next day, the next week?

There are decisions we must make which bear, not only upon our own lives, but upon the lives of everyone with whom we are associated.

Our lives touch and influence our familys, our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, strangers we meet - and so on.

We are constantly having to make decisions. How do we know that we are making the right ones and following the right pathways?

Decisions can be crucial, and frustrating, and very influential. 

This passage from Psalm 23 tells us how to know when we are on the right paths.  We have to follow the Shepherd – our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  There is no other way.

We have to make countless decisions, day after day, which touch the lives of our children and our spouses, our familys and so on.

We need wisdom. We need a shepherd. We need someone who knows the trails, someone in whom we can trust – and there is no other Shepherd who can lead us onto the right paths – but Jesus.

If our hearts and eyes are fastened on Jesus Christ, then our whole selves will be full of light. We will know what to do. We will know the truth, and we'll act on it. We'll have understanding and wisdom. But if we have one eye on Christ, and the other on the world or on our circumstances or some other distraction, if we have double vision, then our darkness will be great, and we will never know where we are to go. We will have no sense of direction, and will wander in constant darkness.

We have to be willing to submit wholeheartedly to the leadership and wisdom and love of the Shepherd. We must be willing to say,

I'll go anywhere You want me to Lord.....

I'll do anything You want me to do.....

I'll be anything You want me to be.....

I'll carry any load You want me to carry, live anyplace You want me to live.....

Once we're willing to say and do that, then God can reveal His will to us.

That does not mean that we will be sinless, because none of us are.  But it does mean we have to be willing to face and put away sin as God points it out to us.
 
If we are willing to be brought into conformity to Jesus Christ in every area of our life, and if we are allowing Him freedom to work, then He will reveal more truth to us than we could ever see on our own.

But we cannot consciously be holding out, and defending sin. He reveals additional truth only when we open obedient and trusting hearts.

Paul said it another way in Romans 12: 1-2:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." - He leads, but we must be willing to follow. 

The Lord knows the way.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Here comes courage and comfort folks.

Death is the supreme test of life, (although this is not just talking about the deathbed). But because of our mortality we all live in the shadow of death.

When a person is born, they begin a journey down a great divide -  a great valley, and that valley is the valley of the shadow of death.

You are in it constantly. All of us walk in the shadow of death. The very moment we are born – we begin to die. All of us are in death's valley. The shadow of death is on us. But, all the while that I walk through that valley, I will fear no evil.

But this applies to something other than death as well.

Here again is a beautiful picture being painted of our Lord and Saviour in our everyday life. The shepherd is leading the sheep back home at evening. As they go down through a narrow gorge the long shadows lie across the trail.

The sheep, because they are so timid and defenseless, are frightened by their experience. But they trust the shepherd, and therefore they are comforted. They will fear no evil, because the shepherd is with them.
 
Here, I am reminded of what Jesus tells us in Hebrews 13:5,

"I will never leave you nor forsake you,"

We can confidently say, The Lord is our helper; and as we are told in Hebrews 13:6

“ …we should not fear what man can do to us”
 
I do not know what your experiences are, but whenever I'm in a situation, whenever there is a great deal of pressure, I am tempted (at times) to wonder if the Lord hasn't abandoned me.

But He says He never leaves us, never forsakes us. He is always there. Therefore we have no reason to fear. That is a great comfort.

When we come to Him and answer His beaconing call this is the encouraging comfort given to us through the promise of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

And if one of our loved ones dies as a child of God, or whenever everyday situations arise from the wilderness and the darkness -  this is our courage folks – this is our comfort.

"I will fear no evil: for thou art with me."

We can know that our Shepherd is with us at all times.

And when it comes to my hour of a physical death I want Him with me when my time comes to die, and it is my heartfelt prayer that each one of you, do too.

"Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

The rod was a club which was used to drive off wild animals. It was never used on the sheep but was a heavy instrument used to protect the sheep from predators.

The staff was a slender pole with a little crook on the end. It was used to aid the sheep. The crook could be hooked around the leg of a sheep to pull him from harm.

Or it could be used as an instrument to direct, and occasionally to discipline the sheep, with taps on the side of their body.

A rod was for defense, and a staff was for direction. He gives us gentle reproof and severe rebuke. He has a rod for our defense, but He also has a staff for our direction.

His rod protects me and His Staff directs and guides me.

This comforts me. Now that I am getting older, and hopefully wiser I look back on my life and I realize that indeed that rod is a comfort.

He used several times in my life, and I thank Him for it because it got me back into the fold – and it served as protection. We all need that.

I also thank Him for using His staff to guide and direct me and to help me find my direction in life.

Understanding how the shepherd tends his sheep has helped me so much in understanding the character of God.

When I go wandering away he doesn't say, "Well There goes that stupid sheep, Dwight again…I guess he is just going to be lost...nothing I can do about it!"

No. His attitude is, “Well, there's Dwight, wandering away again.”

“How can I help him?”

“How can I move in his life to bring him back into line?”

“How can I comfort him, and supply what he needs?”
 
He may have to discipline me, and He does - but he always does it in love.

He reproves, corrects, encourages, and instructs in righteousness, dealing with us firmly and gently.

And He uses the rod against the two greatest enemies we have to face. One is Satan, who is working through the worlds system to destroy us. Satan is out to devour us, and so the Lord uses the rod on him and keeps the predator away.

But the other enemy is me, the enemy within. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy, and our Lord knows that, and I know that.

The shepherd's rod is used to chasten, and to subdue the enemy within. But the confidence he gives is that I have nothing to fear, neither from Satan nor from myself.

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the lord for ever”

These two verses reflect the happiness and hope of the Shepherd's heart. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." Here we have felicity, fruitfulness, and fullness.

All of that is under-girded with joy.  At the time this psalm was written it spoke of God's prom­ise to Israel of physical blessings; to us He promises spiritual blessings.

Here, we still have the vision of the shepherd caring for his sheep, and it serves to illustrate the love and care of the Great Heavenly Shepherd for his sheep.

An important part of the shepherd’s duties is that of preparing a suitable pasture for the sheep under his care.

Not only must he find a supply of water, and plenty of the right kind of grass for the sheep, but he must also prepare the pasture in the sense of driving off the wild animals and reptiles which may be lurking around.

The shepherd walking ahead of his sheep would be able to note any poisonous grasses and avoid such places; also the presence of snakes would be detected; and foxes and wolves and hyenas and so forth would need to be guarded against, and chased off.

What an awesome picture this paints of our own Good Shepherd who provides the nourishment for His trusting ones, and that He sees to it that no poisonous elements or enemies shall get into our way.

He sees to it that we find satisfaction as well as protection.

The Good Shepherd has spread a table for his trusting sheep in this time, in the very presence of our enemies, but we need to listen and thus keep ourselves in his love and care, by earnest efforts of knowing and doing His Will.

"Thou anointest my head with oil." That oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. And we need that anointing today. We cannot face life alone, and we don’t have to.

Throughout this Psalm, the leading thought is that of the Lord’s love and care and concern for His people, which is illustrated by the figure of a shepherd caring for his sheep.

The Psalm has sung the whole round of the day’s wandering–all the needs of the sheep, all the care of the Shepherd. Now we close with the final scene of the day.
 
At the close of each day the shepherd would stand at the entry point to the place of safety, refuge and rest for the night. And he would carefully inspect each sheep as they passed by, one by one before him.

In his hands he would have a horn filled with olive-oil and in his hand he would also have a supply of Cedar-tar, and he anointed knees that were bruised on the rocks, or a side scratched by thorns.

If one was simply worn out and exhausted, he bathed its face and head in the refreshing olive-oil; he would take a two-handled cup and dip it full from the water he had brought for that purpose, and he would let the weary sheep drink.
 
This too paints such an awesome picture of our Lord. God’s care is not for the wounded only; it is also for those who are just worn and weary, to the point that we can say his mercies and goodness are such that our Cup overflows, all our needs are fully supplied.

He cares for us, and He loves us so much that He is willing to anoint our wounds and massage all our hurts, aches and pains whether physical or emotional, and when we are simply worn out from the everyday struggles in life, and we thirst – He offers us rest and refreshment. 

He cares for us, and folks - He loves us so much that He stands at the doorway to safety, rest and refuge and He inspects us and carefully notices each and every one of our needs – and He offers His Hand of Love and Healing.

"My cup runneth over." This is symbolic of joy. And we need to be undergirded with joy today – wouldn’t you agree?

Listen to what our Lord says, "... I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" that’s John 10:10. The Lord wants our joy to be full.

It reminds me of a story of a little girl who said, "Lord, fill up my cup. But be careful cause it’s small and can't hold very much, but it can run over a whole lot."

Oh, how this world needs Christians today who are running over and overflowing for Christ!  Our cups might be small – but I thank Jesus that He continues to fill my cup up to overflowing each and every moment.

And I shout praises of GLORY and HONOR to Him from the highest mountain tops for all to hear and know.

This brings us to the final verse of this psalm. Our Shepherd brings us all the way from the green pastures and the still waters to the Father's house. He leads us Home.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the lord for ever."

In John 14:2-3 the Lord says to us, "... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

If that doesn’t instill great joy, comfort, peace, and eternal security in our hearts and minds, then I don’t know what else will.

You know, in the true sense of the term, we are not pedigreed sheep, but to be honest, we are very much like them, and we do have a won­derful, and absolutely AWESOME Shepherd in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

Can you say at this moment, "The lord is MY shepherd"?

Can you say at this very moment that when Jesus leads you into the green pastures and beside the still waters that you are experiencing the fullness, and the complete satisfaction of all He offers to you, through His mercy, love, and grace?

Do you know His protection?

And do you know what it is like to not suffer from the agony of “Want” in your life?

Can you say that He has restored your soul, and that He is leading you in the paths of righteousness for His Names sake?

And that although you walk through the valley of the shadow of death every moment of everyday, that you fear NO evil, and have the absolute comfort that He offers?

And do you have the security of knowing He is walking through this journey of life, with you?

Is your cup running over this morning with JOY for and in Jesus?

And does that joy make you want to shout “GLORY HALLEJUIAH” and sing PRAISES to Jesus throughout the world?

If so, and if you can, then all the wonderful promises of this psalm are yours.  Lay claim to these promises – make these promises YOUR joy – YOUR happiness – and YOUR eternal security.

And if you can’t answer any of the thoughts I just gave to you with assurance, then I encourage you to please examine your heart, and Respond to the call of the ONE Who can give you peace, comfort, Love, and eternal happiness and life.

Respond to the call of our awesome, kind, caring and loving Shepherd, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, because He is calling on your heart today. To dwell in the house of the Lord forever requires,

Change of heart.....

Change of mind.....

Change of direction.....

Change of the way we live.....

and requires obedience.

We live in a temporary World and we wait for our Precious Jesus to call us home to be with Him in our heavenly mansions.

And the promise of Jesus when he went away to prepare a place for us (His sheep) is a promise we can count on.
On this Earth we can only imagine the joy that is set before us for when we can dwell in the house of the Lord forever, but when the day is finally here, we can KNOW that joy first hand.

We realize more and more as we look back over the way, that He has been with us throughout and during,

the sunny days,

the cloudy days,

the days of joy,

the days of sorrow,

the days of trial,

the days of toil and days of weariness,

that we can truly rejoice and along with David, and we can say that surely goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our lives and we can look forward to dwelling in the house of the Lord forever.

He is the Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep and He is your Savior Who is coming again to receive you unto Himself, and this Psalm is not just for the dead and dying, or for those mournful and sorrowful times when we face the loss of someone we love.

But this Psalm is for ALL times, and should instill great comfort and joy in our hearts – and it should bring peace and calm to our everyday living and hope beyond the grave because this is a Psalm of LIFE and this psalm – Psalm 23 …is for you.

May God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace be with you all the days of your life