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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] We're going to start this service off singing A Shelter in the Time of Storm. That's page 146. C, grab a handbook and turn to page 146. A Shelter in the Time of Storm. And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first verse. The Lord, our Rock, in Him we hide. A shelter in the time of storm. Secure whatever will be tied. A shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A shelter in the time of storm. Find a seat, turn to page 146. Let's sing it out on the second. A shade by day defends by night. A shelter in the time of storm. No fears alarm, no foes affright. A shelter in the time of storm. Sing it out. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A shelter in the time of storm. You guys are singing good tonight. Let's sing it out on the third. The raging storms may round us beat. A shelter in the time of storm. We'll never leave our safe retreat. A shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A shelter in the time of storm. Page 146, let's finish it strong on the last. Oh, rock divine, oh refuge here. A shelter in the time of storm. Be thou our helper ever near. A shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land. A shelter in the time of storm. Amen. Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church and the Wednesday evening Bible study. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Or the Tuesday evening Bible study. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Father God, thank you for giving us the chance to come out here today, Lord, to sing praises to you and glorify your name, Lord. I pray that you bless the service. I pray you bless the preaching and come in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, turn in your song books to page number 227. Page 227, we're going to sing Saved by the Blood. Page 227, Saved by the Blood. And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first verse. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. Now ransom from sin and a new work begun. Sing praise to the Father and praise to the Son. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. Saved, saved. My sins are all part and my guilt is all gone. Saved, saved. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Page 227, let's sing it out on the second. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. The angels rejoicing because it is done. A child of the Father joined here with the Son. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. Saved, saved. My sins are all part and my guilt is all gone. Saved, saved. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. On the third. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. The Father he spake in his will it was done. Great price of my part on his own precious Son. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. Saved, saved. My sins are all part and my guilt is all gone. Saved, saved. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Page 227, you guys are singing great. Let's finish it strong on the last. Page 227 on the last. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. All hail to the Father, all hail to the Son. All hail to the Spirit, the great three in one. Saved by the blood of the crucified one. Saved, saved. My sins are all part and my guilt is all gone. Saved, saved. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified one. Amen. Great singing. Amen. And we want to welcome you to the last service of 2024. And we of course are glad that you are with us. Let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, you can raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. The verse this week, Psalm 65, 11, thou crownest the year with thy goodness and thy paths drop fatness. And that's a good verse there. We like that. If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service times Sunday morning service 1030 a.m. And we of course invite you to be with us on Sunday morning on the Lord's Day for church. And of course this Sunday will be the first Sunday of the year. So we want to encourage you to be here and honor the Lord of course with your presence Sunday evening service is at 6 p.m. And then of course tonight is our midweek service Tuesday evening. And we just want to remind you that due to being here tonight, there will be no Wednesday evening Bible study tomorrow. So the midweek service is tonight. And of course we've got all sorts of special things going on tonight. We'll talk about that here in a minute. If you look at our soul winning times on May, soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. And then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and on Sundays at 2 p.m. as well. And if you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course tonight is our New Year's Eve service. So we're going to have our church service just like we normally do on Wednesday nights. But tonight. All right. So we're going to go through our prayer list. We're going to go through the preaching. The only difference is that tonight I'm just going to preach till midnight. And then I'm just kidding, you know, and when I'm done preaching, it'll be the new year. No, we'll be done at the times we normally are for the midweek service. And after the service, we're having a potluck. So we want to invite all of you to stick around, of course. And if you go to the fellowship hall, which is behind me, the big room there will, of course, have a time of fellowship with the potluck. And then also, if you'd like to stay till midnight, you don't have to stay till midnight. But if you'd like to stay till midnight and there's always a group to stay till midnight, we'll just be fellowshipping and we'll be playing board games and just waiting for the new year to come. And then, of course, about 20, 25 minutes before the new year, we'll gather here again and then we'll sing some songs together. We'll take some favorites and then we'll pray in the new year. And I can't think of a better way to start a year than to start it in prayer and with prayer. So, of course, if you'd like to stay for that, we appreciate you doing that. And then we just want you to remember that starting tomorrow morning or just in a few hours begins our nine chapters a day challenge. And we hope that you'll take the challenge. Don't let it scare you. If you've never done it before, don't let it scare you and think, oh, nine chapters. It's not as hard as it sounds. And you'll be glad you did it. So make sure you start January 1st. You've got the tracker there and you've got two grace period days. If you read nine chapters every day in the month of January, then you'll read the entire New Testament in the month of January. If you accomplish the task, we'll put your name on a nice plaque and it'll just be a good thing, a good way to start the new year. Also, we want you to be aware of our Spanish service coming up on Saturday, January 11th. So it's not this Saturday, but next Saturday. And we'll have a Spanish potluck for that as well. And if you'd like to participate, you're welcome to do that. Also, the wedding is coming up for Brother Adam Ritchie and Miss Emily Gessler on Saturday, January 18th at 2.30 p.m. And if you're planning on attending and you've not yet done it, please let them know on the communication card so we can let them know what the number is and they can plan for that. And then choir practice begins on Sunday, the first Sunday of the year, January 5th. This is the adult choir. They're going to start practicing for I Love My Church Sunday. So make a note of that. Don't forget about that. There's other things there for you to look at. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of December. And this week, we had Penelope Pompa's birthday on December 30th. Miss Diane DePasquale also had a birthday on December 30th. And then two anniversaries, Brother Aidan and Miss Ruby Roldan and Brother John and Miss Irene Reed. Both couples have an anniversary today, December 31st. When they were getting married, they just couldn't wait for that new year. They just had to get married right then and there and put it on the books. So anyway, we have a potluck for you for your anniversary today. And congratulations on your anniversary. And then we have a birthday, Brother Ron Edwards, January 1st. So he's a New Year's baby, or was a New Year's baby. And then Amira Holland, January 2nd. So praise the Lord for that. Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at. And let's see, we've got the, of course, the Christmas gifts for Jesus. That's still out there. And we're going to have that out till the new year, all right? So if you want to run to Walmart and buy something, you can do that. And you can give towards that. And let's see, I think that's it for all of the announcements. So let's go ahead and we're going to take our song books and go to page number 281. Page number 281. And we're going to sing, Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior, as we prepare to receive the offering this evening. 281. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. Pass me not, O gentle Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me. 281. Sing it out on the second. Let me at a throne of mercy find a sweet relief. Mealing there in deep contrition, help my unbelief. Savior, Savior, my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Trusting only in Thy merit, would I see Thy face. Fill my wounded, broken spirit. Save me by Thy grace. Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Good. Page number 281. You're singing very well this evening. Let's sing it out on the last. 281 on the last. Now the spring of all my comfort, more than life to me. Whom have I on earth beside Thee? Whom in heaven be? Savior, Savior, hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, do not pass me by. Amen. Good singing. Before the guys come up, just a quick reminder that we of course are a family-integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We've got mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms. So of course, make sure you use those rooms if you need them. And please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent in the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. Let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. And let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love You. We thank You for allowing us to gather together this evening. Lord, we pray that You bless the offering, the gift and the giver. We thank You for Your continued meeting of our needs. And Lord, we pray that You would bless this evening. The time set aside for prayer, the time set aside for preaching, the time set aside for fellowship, for food, for all those things. Lord, we pray that You bless all of it. And Lord, we pray that You'd help us to end this year well and to begin the new year well as well. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, let's go ahead and take our prayer sheets tonight. We're going to go through our prayer list like we normally do for our midweek service, of course. We always want to take some time to pray. And if you did not receive a prayer sheet on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a prayer list, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. And of course, I want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card. On the back of the card, there's a place for you to write down a request. Make sure you mark whether it's private or public. If it's private, only I will see it. If it's private, only I will see it. If it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet. If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out. But we usually don't add those. And of course, when we do add the request, they're added in the order that they are received and they're removed after a couple of weeks. And so if you'd like for the prayer request to be there longer than a couple of weeks, then make sure to fill out another communication card. And then let's go ahead and take these requests to the Lord. I'm going to pray out loud. And I'm going to ask that you would follow along in your mind and your heart. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight. Lord, we pray that you bless us as we pray through these prayer requests, Lord. And we begin with these requests regarding salvation. We pray for Brother Ron and praying for his mom and his family's salvation. Also for Ms. Brittany Loderman, praying that her aunt would get saved and praying for her aunt's 14-year-old student that she would get saved. And Ms. Maria Cudalima, praying for Roma and Skylar's salvation. And Ms. Christine Ortiz, praying for her family's salvation. Ms. Dogma, praying for her daughter and her family's salvation. Lord, we ask for all of these individuals. We pray, Lord, that you would help them and be with them. We pray that your Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their minds. And Lord, we pray that you would help them to come to the place where they'd be willing and able to hear the gospel. And we ask that they be saved. Lord, we pray that you would help us to help them in any way we can, that a soul winner would communicate the gospel clearly to them. We also pray, Lord, for these health requests, for the Ron praying for his own health, for his foot and stroke-related issues that they would heal. Ms. Amy, praying for her health. Brother Darryl, praying for healing and also for his dad's blood clots. Ms. Edith, praying for her health. Ms. Brittany, also praying not only for the salvation but for the health of her aunt's 14-year-old student who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and praying for healing there. And Brother Warren, praying for the health of his siblings. Ms. Maria, praying for healing from cirrhosis and also for back surgery for Pete's cirrhosis and for her back surgery and praying for healing there. Ms. Christine, praying for her health. Ms. Salvador, praying for health and for recovery from surgery to remove skin cancer. Ms. Dogma, praying for her pain, for relief there. Brother Edgar and Ms. Lena, of course, praying for a little Urezi and Jonathan to continue to be healthy despite their cystic fibrosis. We continue to pray for our missionary's wife, Ms. Angel, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Lord, we pray for all of these individuals. We pray that you would put your healing hand over them. We pray, Lord, that you would be with them. We pray that you would give wisdom to the doctors, the nurses that are dealing with them. And Lord, we pray that you would heal them if it's your will. We also pray for the ladies in our church that are expecting, Ms. Antonina, Ms. Katie, and Ms. Ajana, praying that you give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues and no complications. Lord, we pray for the requests here regarding friends and family as well. Ms. Nicole, praying for her mom, Henrietta, and for her aunt, Jeannie, and for her son, Ronald. Also, Ms. Munoz, praying for her brother, George, and his wife and family. And Ms. Kimi, praying for Adam and Emily's upcoming wedding and marriage. And Brother Salvador, praying for his family. And Lord, we pray for all of these individuals. We pray that you would help them and be with them, that you'd bless them. We do pray specifically for Brother Adam and Ms. Emily as they're entering into marriage and establishing a Christian home. Lord, we pray that you would bless not only the wedding, but the marriage, and that you would bless these young people as they honor you with their lives. And Lord, we pray for these that have requests regarding their faith and walk with you. Ms. Christine, Brother Salvador, praying that you give them strength spiritually. We pray, Lord, for these that have unspoken requests as well. Ms. Nicole, Brother Ike, Ms. Ruby, Brother Montel, my dad, Brother Felix, all having unspoken requests. Ms. Kimi having an unspoken request as well. Ms. Docma and Brother Salvador all having unspoken requests. And you know what their petitions are. You know what they're asking for, Lord. We just pray that you'd answer according to your will, that you would make it clear to them when you have answered. And then, of course, we pray for our church and the things going on here in our ministry. We pray for the missions work going on in the Philippines. We pray for our missionary, Dave Cabuntal and his family, and the work in Cebu. We pray for Pastor Stuckey and his family, and the work in Manila and Pampanga and Bicol. We pray that you'd bless those ministries. We pray, Lord, for our upcoming Spanish service. And Lord, we just pray that you would meet with us tonight. And we pray that you would help us to be able to learn from your word. And Lord, we just pray that you'd continue to help our church, bless our church, strengthen our church. And Lord, we ask that you would help us to learn from Psalm 23 tonight as well. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Please, open your mouth to Psalm 23. Psalm chapter number 23. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand. And unless you're reading your Bible. Psalm 23, just keep your hand up unless you will come by. Psalm chapter number 23. Psalm 23, reading verse number 1. Now 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 forever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word and for our church. I ask that you please meet with us tonight. Give us all a tender heart to the message. And ask that you be their pastor. Please strengthen him. And fill him with spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in Psalm 23. And of course, normally on Wednesday nights for our midweek service, we've been going through the Book of Psalms. And tonight being Tuesday night, but still our midweek service, we're going to continue in our Psalm study. And tonight we actually find ourselves in a very special Psalm. And we are in Psalm 23. And Psalm 23 is a portion of scripture that should probably be familiar to everybody here. It's familiar to people who don't even know anything about the Bible. It's one of the most famous, one of the most quoted, one of the most well-known chapters in the Bible. And of course, we do a lot of verse-by-verse studies here at our church. And sometimes when we're doing verse-by-verse studies, I'll make reference to things like this is one of the most famous chapters in this book. Or we might say this is one of the most well-known verses in this chapter. But then every once in a while, there's a special heading or a special designation. For example, John 3.16 is not just the most famous verse in the Book of John, but it's the most famous verse in the Bible. And Psalm 23 is not just the most famous verse in the Bible. Psalm 23 is not just the most famous psalm in the Book of Psalms. It's arguably the most famous chapter in the entire Bible. And it is a chapter that for 3,000 years since it was written has been comforting believers. It's a psalm that is often read at funerals, but not just at funerals. It's probably the psalm that has been read at the time of death for more Christians than any other portion of scripture. And because of the fact that probably hundreds and thousands of Christians, as they were dying, had a pastor or a spouse or an adult child maybe reading Psalm 23 to them, it's a pretty interesting thing to consider the impact that the psalmist had on Christians over the ages. So it's a very well-known, famous verse of a portion of scripture. And you probably have much of it memorized, even if you haven't attempted to memorize it. What we're going to do tonight is we're going to study Psalm 23 together. And to be honest with you, it's one of the most famous portions of scripture for good reason. It's an amazing portion of scripture, and there's so much depth to it. We could honestly do a whole study just from Psalm 23. There's six verses. It's not long. We could probably do a six-week study out of Psalm 23. We're not going to do that. But there's just so much here, and we will cover all six verses tonight, of course. But let me just give you some thoughts with regards to just introductory statements before we jump into it. First of all, if you're taking notes, and I do encourage you to take notes on the back of your course of the week. Of course, there's a place for you to do that. Let me begin by saying this. The psalm is divided into two different sections, and you may have never realized this before. And I think that it'll become clear as we travel through it. But we, of course, have the famous portion of scripture that has to do with shepherding. The psalm begins, the Lord is my shepherd. And what David, this is a psalm of David, of course. David wrote this psalm. What David is doing is that he's using an analogy. He's using an illustration of the Lord being the shepherd and those of us that believe on him being his sheep. And this would be very special to David, because if you're familiar with the life of David, of course, you know that he was a shepherd himself. And you'll be very familiar with how the relationship between sheep and a shepherd would go. And this is an analogy that he's using. This psalm is rich in verbal descriptions. It paints pictures for us, and it's one of the reasons why it's so loved by so many people. However, the shepherd illustration does not go through the entire psalm. And this is something that you may have not noticed as you read through it. But what we actually have is between verses 1 and 4, we have this picture painted, this word picture about the shepherd leading his flock or leading his sheep. And then there's a transition in verses 5 and 6. The picture changes. And the picture changes to that of a host. That of someone who is hosting someone maybe in their home or in their tent, in their place of dwelling. So what we have in this psalm is two different pictures or illustrations. And we'll look at it under these two headings. And if you want to jot this down, we'll begin with the picture of the herdsman. And we'll see that in verses 1 through 4. And then we'll see the picture of the host in verses 5 and 6. Now, just one other thing real quickly before we start dissecting it. If you notice, of course, the first verse again, the famous words, the psalm of David, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd is how this psalm begins. And I want to speak just real quickly on this idea of the identity of the shepherd. Who is the shepherd being spoken of here? And of course, you'll notice that the word Lord there in your King James Bible is not just a capital L with lower cases, case letters for O-R-D. But it is this capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. I've highlighted that for you in the past as we've seen it. And here when we see the word Lord, we are identifying that this is the God of the Bible. This is the God of the nation of Israel. The word Lord simply means boss or means a master. And the word Lord can be used as a title and is used as a title in the Bible to just simply speak of other people who are in charge of something. It's of course used of the Lord Jesus Christ. But when you see the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, that is the way that the King James translators have identified for us. That this is the Hebrew name for God. And whenever you see that capitalized Lord, the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, we need to realize that it specifically corresponds to the Hebrew name for God. This is known as the Tetragrammaton. And this is of course the four letter name of God that nobody really knows how it's supposed to be pronounced. In our King James Bible at other times, it's referred to as Jehovah. And also the name I am that I am is a reference to this. If you remember when Moses for the first time asked God, you know, when he was going to go free the nation of Israel from Egypt. He said, what am I going to tell them when they ask what your name is? And God said, you tell them that I am that I am sent you. And when in that statement, I am that I am is this idea that God is this present tense God. The idea is that he is the self-existing God. That he always has been and he always will be. That's what Jehovah means. And that's what is being referred to here when you see that word Lord, capital L-O-R-D. It is Jehovah God. So we see that the shepherd here is the Lord. It's God. But more than that, in general, it's the Lord and we understand that. But specifically, I want to point out to you that we understand that it is the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd like you to keep your place here in Psalm 23. We're going to come back to it and we're going to dissect it. But go with me just real quickly to the New Testament book of John. John chapter number 10. In the New Testament, you got Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Do me a favor when you get to John, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. And I'd like for you to get to it quickly. John chapter number 10. Jehovah or that Lord, capital L-O-R-D, corresponds to that Hebrew name of God. That corresponds to this idea, I AM. In the book of John, seven different times, the Lord Jesus Christ made these I AM statements. If you remember, Matthew, Mark and Luke are all chronological stories of the Lord Jesus Christ, the life of Christ. They're called the synoptic gospels and they all correspond together. Yet the book of John is not divided synoptically, or it's not organized synoptically, but it is actually organized by these seven great I AM statements of the Lord Jesus Christ. I AM the door. I AM the way. I AM the truth. I AM the life. In John chapter 10 and verse number 11, brother Sha, if you could help me, I feel like there's just a little bit of an echo. If you could help me with that, I'd appreciate it. In John chapter 10 and verse number 11, we read this statement. This is one of the great I AM statements. The reason that I point that out is because when Jesus made these I AM statements, it was a statement of deity. He was referring back to when God told Moses, I AM that I AM. And when Jesus made these statements, he said before Abraham was, I AM. He was making these statements of deity. In John 10 and verse 11, I want you to notice that there's a connection to Psalm 23 when Jesus said, I AM the good shepherd. I AM the good shepherd. That is a reference back to the Lord, the I AM that I AM. I feel like the echo is worse now. So if you could help me with that, I'd appreciate it. I AM the Lord is my shepherd is the reference being given there. So Jesus says, I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. So go back to Psalm 23, if you would. Let's look at this Psalm together as we look at it under this first heading, the picture of the herdsman. The picture of the herdsman. I want you to notice that there are four things we learn about the shepherd here in Psalm 23. And if you'd like to jot these things down, you can. First of all, I want you to notice that we see the personal shepherd. The personal shepherd. In Psalm 23 verse 1, we read again these words. The Lord is, I'd like you to notice this word here. He says the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. David, of course, is speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. But he chooses to use this word, the Lord is my shepherd. I don't know, Brother Oliver, I don't know where you're at. But if you want to go up there and help him with that, I'd appreciate it. Thank you. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. David chooses to use this phrase, my. And what I want you to understand or to see here is this. That he could have said, he could have made a doctrinal statement. He could have said the Lord is a shepherd. And that would have been a doctrinal statement to a characteristic of the Lord and how it is that the Lord relates to his people. He could have said the Lord is a shepherd. Or he could have been more emphatic. He could have emphasized the power of God and the control of God. He could have said the Lord is the shepherd. But he did not choose to say the Lord is a shepherd just to highlight the characteristic and make a doctrinal statement. And he did not choose to say the Lord is the shepherd to emphasize the power and position of the Lord. Instead David here uses an intimate word and he says the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And what we see here is that David is emphasizing the fact that he has a personal walk with this shepherd. There is an ownership here. He is identifying himself. David is identifying himself as a sheep, as a lamb who needs a shepherd. And he is saying the Lord is my shepherd. Now we just saw that Jesus said I am the good shepherd. And of course Jesus is the great shepherd of the lambs. And what we see here is that there can be this personal relationship with the shepherd and with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me just say a couple of things. Whenever you use the term, and I actually try not to use the term, but whenever you use the term personal relationship with Christ, that term has so been used and misused by people. It has all sorts of connotations that go along with it. And let me just say this, when we are talking about having a personal relationship or a personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, we are not talking about salvation. Salvation is not a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So when we use that term don't confuse that. Personal relationship with Christ is not referring to salvation. However we do believe that after someone is saved they should develop a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Not to get saved but because they are saved. And when we talk about this idea of walking with God, having a relationship with God, the idea is that we are walking and having an intimate and close bond and relationship with the shepherd, with the Lord, with God, and of course with the Lord Jesus Christ. What we need to understand about this personal relationship with Christ is that Christ is willing and waiting to engage all of us in a personal walk with Him. Go with me just real quickly to the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter number 3. Last book in the Bible should be fairly easy to find, Revelation chapter number 3. See David doesn't say the Lord is a shepherd. He doesn't say the Lord is the shepherd. Those are all statements he could have made. And those are all statements that a believer could make. A believer could say the Lord is the shepherd, the Lord is a shepherd. But here's not a statement that every believer can make, at least not honestly. The statement that David makes is the Lord is my shepherd. And the idea is this, that the Lord is leading me, He is guiding me. And if you ask the question, how can I make the Lord my shepherd? Well you and I need to understand that that decision and that choice is up to us. Because the Lord is willing and waiting. The Lord Jesus Christ is willing and waiting to have a close relationship with every believer. And if you ask, well then why doesn't He have a close relationship with every believer? The reason He doesn't have it is because not every believer is willing to say the Lord is my shepherd. They might be willing to say the Lord is a shepherd and the Lord is the shepherd, but are they willing to say the Lord is my shepherd? In Revelation chapter 3 we find another analogy, but it tells us the same story. Revelation chapter 3 we find Jesus, He's speaking to one of the churches here in Asia and He's using this illustration of being outside of a house. Revelation 3 and verse 20, Jesus says this, Behold, I stand. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have a red letter edition Bible, they're in red. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. He says, If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. And I understand that sometimes over the years people have used this verse as an analogy for salvation, but this verse is not an analogy for salvation. This is Jesus speaking to a church, to a congregation of believers and He's telling. Imagine Jesus telling a church, telling a church, I stand at the door and knock. Imagine the Lord Jesus Christ physically being outside of this church building, standing at the door there and knocking and saying, Hey, are you going to let me in? I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me. And the idea is this, that Jesus is standing at the door of the heart of every believer. We're not talking about salvation here, but He wants to walk with you. He wants to fellowship with you. He wants to have communion with you. He wants to sup with you and spend time with you. But it's not up to Him, it's up to you to let Him in. He says, I stand at the door and knock. I'm wanting to spend time with you. Do you know that as we come in to this new year, and of course this being the last day of this year, I thought about preaching from another passage and leaving Psalm 23 for another week. But I thought, what more fitting Psalm as we enter a new year than Psalm 23, which is all about us allowing the Lord to lead us and us allowing the Lord to guide us. Do you know that in 2025, the Lord Jesus Christ is hoping that you will walk with Him and talk with Him and spend time with Him. And He's standing at the door of your heart. He's standing at the door of your life. He's standing at the door of your attention and saying, if any man hear my voice, he said, and open the door, I will come in. So you've got to make the choice. You've got to decide, like David, to not just say that the Lord is a shepherd or the shepherd, but the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The move is up to you. And the reason the move is up to you is because He's already made the move. He's already decided. The Bible says we love Him because He first loved us. He's already decided. This is, by the way, why the Bible says, go back to Psalm 23 if you would, this is why the Bible says in James 4-8, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. We often, when we study the Bible, we need to look at the divine order that things are given in. The Bible says you draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. And somebody might look at that and say, well, why do we have to draw nigh to God first? Why does He say you draw nigh to God and He'll draw nigh to you? Well, the reason is He's already drawn nigh to you. He already came to this earth to seek and to save that which was lost. He's already loved you. He's already standing at the door and knocking and wanting to have a walk with you. He's just waiting for you to open the door and let Him in. So we're told draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. So we see, number one, that He is a personal shepherd. Not just a shepherd of a flock, not just the shepherd of the flock. All of that is true. But here, in this Psalm, we learn from David that we can say, you and I can say, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. So we see that He is a personal shepherd. Then I want you to notice, secondly, tonight, not only do we see that He's a personal shepherd, or I should say, secondly, under this heading, not only do we see that He is a personal shepherd, but we see that He is a providing shepherd. Notice the provision of the shepherd. Psalm 23 and verse 1 again, the Lord is my shepherd. And then notice this statement. He says, I shall not want. I shall not want. One of the phrases used here is not the way, the way the word want is used in this statement. It's not necessarily the way that you and I would use it in our vernacular today. If you and I use the word want, we're talking about something we desire. I want this. Here, when David says, I shall not want, it's similar to that. But the word want there means to lack. And when he says, I shall not want, what he's saying is, I shall not lack. I'm not going to lack anything. And what David is saying is this, when the Lord is my shepherd, and when the Lord is your shepherd, you're not going to lack. So the idea is not, when the Lord is your shepherd, you're not going to want anything. If you're a human being, you're probably still going to want things if you've got the flesh and covetousness. But what he's saying is this, when the Lord is your shepherd, you're not going to lack. God is going to give you everything you need. He's not going to give you everything you want, necessarily, in the modern way that we use the word want. But in the archaic word, the way that the word want is used, then he will give you everything you want because you will have everything you need. Do you understand that God is going to give you everything you need? And that might not be everything you want, but you're not going to be in want. You're not going to lack. So David says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Now, here's the thing about this phrase, I shall not want. And again, the way that Psalm 23 is worded, it's beautiful. One of the reasons why it's so well known and quoted is just because it's written in a beautiful fashion. But for you to understand the phrase, when you see I shall not want, think I shall not lack. I'm not going to lack anything. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. When it comes to this idea of not lacking, there's two ways to look at this, and I think they're both biblical. One, this is a declaration. David is declaring that God is the Lord who is his shepherd, is the provider of all things that he has and all things that he needs. In fact, look down real quickly at verse number five. I know we've not yet left verse one and we're going to travel through every verse, but look at verse five real quickly. In verse five the Psalm says this, thou preparest a table before me. And the idea here is that God is preparing a meal. He's bringing a meal and he's bringing so much food that he needs to set up a table. Don't think this is some sort of a small box lunch. Think of this more like a big Thanksgiving spread. He says thou preparest a table before me. The declaration that David is making when he says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. Thou preparest a table before me. The declaration that he's making is this, when the Lord is your shepherd, he gives you everything you need. He may not give you everything you want in the modern sense of the word, but he gives you everything you want, everything you want in the archaic sense of the word, everything you're lacking. This is why the Bible says that every good gift is from above. That every good gift comes from the Father of lights. So there's a declaration. When he says, I shall not want, he's declaring the fact that God is a provider. And look, you and I need to acknowledge that everything we have comes from God. And if we acknowledge that everything we have comes from God, it would probably help us to be content. When we realize, look, I shouldn't complain. If you're the type of man who's constantly complaining, first of all, we already have a problem, because men shouldn't complain. Men learn to not complain, and ladies shouldn't complain. Nobody should complain either, but if anybody's going to complain, let the toddlers complain. Men need to just man up and quit complaining so much about everything. But look, if you're the type of guy who's just constantly complaining about your job, oh, my job this, and oh, my job that, and oh, my boss this, well, wait a minute. God's looking down from heaven to say, I gave you that job. So when you complain against the things you have, when you complain about the things that God has given you, really you're complaining about God. And what David is saying, he's saying, look, the Lord is my shepherd. I'm not lacking anything. If I have it, it's because the shepherd gave it to me, and if I don't have it, it's because the shepherd doesn't think I need it. But I'm not in want. So it's a declaration. Thou prepares the table before me. But let me just say this. Not only is it a declaration, it's also a decision. In Philippians chapter 4, you don't have to turn there, but I'll just read this for you. It's a well-known verse. You'll recognize it. Philippians chapter 4, verse 11. The word want is used in a similar fashion. Here's what it says. Paul said this, not that I speak in respect of want. And when Paul said not that I speak in respect of want, he's using that archaic definition. He's saying, I'm not speaking in respect of lack. Paul's saying, I'm not lacking anything. He's saying, what I'm about to say to you, I'm not saying this because I'm lacking something. He says, not that I speak in respect of lack, not that I speak in respect of want. He says, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. And what I'm saying to you is this. When you and I make the declaration that the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want everything I have came from God, I'm not lacking anything. If I feel like I'm lacking something, I must be wrong because if God has withheld it from me, He must withhold it for a reason. I have everything I need. The Lord is my shepherd. Everything I have came from Him. And I'm declaring that everything I have is what I need. When you make that declaration, that'll help you with the decision, not that I speak in respect of want. For I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. When you learn to realize and when I learn to realize that everything we have came from God, then it'll help us to be content with what we have. So we see number one, the personal shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. Then we see number two, the providing shepherd. I shall not want. Thou preparest a table before me, is what the psalmist says. Then I want you to notice the third thing about this shepherd under this heading of the picture of the herdsman. We see in verse two that he is not only the personal shepherd, he's not only the providing shepherd, but I want you to notice number three, he's the preceding shepherd. He precedes us. He goes before us. In verse two we read these words, He maketh me to lie down in greased pastures. And then I want you to notice this little phrase here in verse two. He says, he leadeth me. He leadeth me. There's a song we sing, he leadeth me. And this is a phrase that is emphasized in this psalm. It's said twice in verse two. He says, he maketh me to lie down in greased pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. Verse three, he restoreth my soul. Notice it again. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. So we see that he is the preceding shepherd. He goes before us because he leads us. Doesn't this match the Lord Jesus Christ? The Lord Jesus Christ would say to his followers and to his sheep. What would he say? He would say, follow me. He would say, I'll go first. I'll lead the way. You follow me. The idea is of a shepherd leading his sheep. And David is saying, 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. He says, he leadeth me. We see that he is the preceding shepherd. He's the guide. And by the way, that's how it's supposed to be. The shepherd is supposed to lead the sheep. You need to make him your personal shepherd and say, okay, God, you're in charge. You're the shepherd. I'm the sheep. He leadeth me. She said, well, where does he lead you? Well, notice the Psalm tells us where he leads us. And there's two locations or two different things we see here in regards to where he leads. The first thing we see is this. He leads to rest. In verse 2, we read these words. He maketh me. He maketh me. And the word maketh me or that phrase maketh me has the idea that he forces this upon us. It's not something that the sheep want to do. It's something he makes the sheep do. He maketh me to lie down, notice the words, in green pastures. Now, again, David is articulating here a word picture. And he's doing it beautifully. As you read these words, there should be images coming to your mind. Can't you just imagine a beautiful green field, a beautiful green pasture, a little lamb being led by its shepherd. And he's leading the sheep to green pastures. And, of course, this is where they would feed. This is where they would eat. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Then, notice these words, he leadeth me beside the still waters. Again, look at the adjectives. Look at the description here. Still waters, not turbulent, not choppy, not rough, not chaotic waters. No, the still waters. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me besides the still waters. What we see here is that when the Lord leads you, he leads you to rest. You know that the Christian life should not be a chaotic life? You know that the Christian life should not be a turbulent life? The Christian life should be a life that is characterized by this idea, peace. If the Lord is your Prince of Peace, then there should be peace in your life. Can you go back to John, if you would, if you kept your place there, John chapter 14? The Lord leads us to rest. And the idea is this, that sheep, and I don't know anything about sheep, I'm not a herdsman, I'm a city slicker. But there have been many people who have studied these things out. In fact, there's a famous book, I've never read it, but there's a famous book out there about Psalm 23. It's called The Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, and it's an old book. It's a man who actually literally had the occupation of being a shepherd of real sheep. Because I'm a shepherd too, but different type of sheep. And this man had this occupation, and then later in his life he became a pastor. And he wrote this book on this idea, and he wrote several things. One of the things that he said was this, that sheep are skittish animals. They're anxious animals. They're on edge all the time and easily. And the reason for it is because they really have no self-defense. No way for them to defend themselves other than, number one, running. Which I don't think they do very fast anyway. And really, their only way of self-defense is the shepherd. You know, so these sheep, they don't have big fangs, they don't have big claws, they're not very scary. There's nothing about them that is really innately providing defense for them. So as a result, they're very skittish animals. They're always on edge. They don't settle down. They are always anxious. And the only way that they can ever find rest is when a shepherd makes them lie down. When a shepherd provides security, provides protection, provides provision, gives them everything that they need, and then makes them lie down. And this is what David is saying, that this is what the Lord does for him. He says, I'm, by human nature, just anxious and nervous and afraid and always upset about things. But the Lord leads me to rest. In John 14 and verse 27, the Bible says this, if you kept your place in John, John 14 and verse 27, the Lord Jesus Christ said this, the great shepherd, he says, peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. And you say, well, what does that mean? What does it mean to have peace? Well, then Jesus describes it. He says, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And what I'm saying to you is this, that when the Lord is your shepherd, in case you're wondering, you know, is the Lord my shepherd? Well, you should know this, is he making you to lie down in green pastures? Is he leading you beside the still waters? Is he providing rest for your soul? Is he providing rest? Look, you know what the Bible says? The Bible says the way of the transgressor is hard. And this is what characterizes the life of the worldly. The life of the worldly is characterized. You know what, you know how New Year's Eve is going to go for us tonight if you stay here? We're going to have good food. We're going to have clean fun. We're going to have board games. There's going to be people lying. I mean, as I'll probably walk around the building and what I will probably see is people talking and people laughing and people joking and people playing games. And then if you stay till midnight, we'll spend 20, 25 minutes singing psalms, singing praises, praying in the New Year. That's how we will bring in the New Year. You want to know how the world, a lot of the world is going to bring in the New Year? Drunkenness, rioting, fighting, anger, cussing, yelling, wives yelling at their husbands and husbands yelling at their... That's how the world will bring in the New Year. But when the Lord is your shepherd, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside distilled waters. Peace I leave with you, Jesus says. My peace I give unto you. And the thing about the peace of God is that it is Philippians 4 and verse 7. The peace of God which passeth all understanding. Jesus said, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Because the peace that the world gives you, it's circumstantial peace. You have to go somewhere. You have to do something. You have to get good news in order to have that peace. But the peace that God gives you, you can have it anywhere. In fact, you can even have it at times when it doesn't make sense. You can have it at times when the whole world is falling apart or your whole life is falling apart. And people might look at you and say, how are you being so calm about this? Do you understand what's going on? You know, you might have received bad news. Maybe health news or maybe relational news or maybe you found out that your job is going away. And the world, they would fall apart. They would run to drugs. They would run to alcohol. How do Christians deal with it? They should run to their shepherd. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So you see that where the Lord leads, there's peace. There's rest. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside distilled waters. But I want you to notice, not only is there rest, there's also restoration. Look at verse 3. He restoreth my soul. He gives rest and He gives restoration. And the idea there when He says He restoreth my soul and I don't have time to develop, this is what I'm telling you. We could spend six weeks on this song. But this idea of restoring my soul, it's the same concept of this reviving, this renewal. This is what God does. And look, I hope you're saved tonight. I think probably if you're here on a Wednesday night on December 31st, you're probably saved. But just because you're saved doesn't mean the Lord is your shepherd. Just because you're saved doesn't mean that you're actively following the shepherd of your soul. That's what 1 Peter says. He restoreth my soul. 2 Corinthians 4.16 says this, For which cause we faint not. This is what Paul said. He said for which cause. He just talked about all sorts of problems. And he said for which cause we faint not. He says, But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. The inward man is renewed. The inward man is restored. And what he's saying is this, God does this restoring work in your soul, in your heart, and He does it every day. There's lots of ways He does it, but one day when I read those words day by day, one day, one way that the shepherd does this is through His Word. The great shepherd said this, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Now I want to encourage you on December 31st, I'm sure you're tired of hearing me say it, but I want to encourage you on December 31st that you just make a decision tonight. You're going to read 9 chapters a day in the month of January. That you're going to take the challenge to read the Bible and be in the Word of God and hear the voice of the shepherd. Why? So that He will restore your soul. I can't tell you what the next year will bring. I can tell you this, this last year was pretty crappy. I mean, I say 20 to 24, good riddance. I'm ready to forget those things which are behind and reach forth into those things which are before. But I don't know. I remember this time, this time 2019, none of us knew that in a few weeks our whole lives would change and we'd have another bad year, 2020. And I'm not telling you that something bad is coming. What I'm telling you is I don't know what's coming. Maybe bad things are coming, but though our outward men perish, the inward man can be renewed day by day. And this great shepherd of your soul can restore your soul. So where does he lead? Where does he lead? He leads to rest. He leads to restoration. And I want you to notice, thirdly, you see there in verse 3, he leads to righteousness. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the, notice the words, paths of righteousness, for his name's sake. He leads to paths of righteousness. If you would just real quickly turn back to Psalm 5. We dealt with Psalm 5 many weeks ago, but I want you to just see this verse, Psalm 5 and verse 8. See, there's this moral connotation to his leading. And by the way, let me say this. If you think, well I want the rest and I want the restoration, but I don't want the righteousness. I want the rest and I want the restoration, but I want the party lifestyle. I want the rest and I want the restoration, but I want the drinking and I want the fornication and I want the staying out late. Not at church, of course. And I want the sin. These two things, they don't go together. You don't live the life of drugs and alcohol and marijuana and fornication and adultery. You don't live that life and get rest. There is no rest for the wicked. You say, I want rest. Then you better follow righteousness. I want restoration. Then you better get on the path of righteousness. In Psalm 5 and verse 8, the psalmist says this, Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies. Make thy way straight before my face. So we see that he leads. And this is echoed by Jesus in the New Testament. You can go back to Psalm 23, but if you remember the great Lord's Prayer, Jesus says these words, he teaches us to pray in this way and to say these words, Lead us not into temptation. And I've explained this before, but I'll explain it quickly again. When Jesus is teaching us to pray to God, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, when he's teaching us to pray to God, lead us not into temptation, that is not a request. We're not making a request to God like, hey God, don't lead us into temptation. We're not going to lead you into temptation. That phrase, lead us not into temptation, is not a request but an observation. The observation is this, when God leads me, it's not to temptation. When I lead myself, I'm enticed by my own lust and I'm enticed to sin. When I'm led by the world, by the flesh, by the devil, I'm enticed to go to sin which brings death. But when the Lord is my shepherd, when he leads, he doesn't lead to temptation. He leads in the path of righteousness, in the path of restoration, in the path of rest. So we see where he leads. Then I want you to quickly notice why he leads. Why does he do this? Look at verse 3, he restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the path of righteousness. Here's the why, for his name's sake. He does it for his name's sake. In Psalm 31, just real quickly if you don't mind turning to Psalm 31. In verse number 3, Psalm 31 and verse 3. Psalm 31 verse 3, the Bible says this, for thou art my rock and my fortress. Notice what it says, therefore for thy name's sake lead me and guide me. For thy name's sake lead me and guide me. David said, he restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the path of righteousness. Why? He leadeth me besides the still waters. He leads me by the green pastures. He's making me to lie down in the green pastures. Why does he do this? He does this for his name's sake. You say, what does that mean? Here's what it means. Christians that are led by the Lord make the Lord look good. You understand what I just said to you? Christians that submit themselves to the authority and submit themselves to the shepherd. They say the Lord is my shepherd. I'm going to let him lead me. I'm going to let him guide me and when he leads me it will not be to temptation. It will be in the path of righteousness. It will produce restoration. It will produce rest. You say, but he does that for me. Well he does do it for you, but that's really not the main reason. The main reason is for his name's sake. Because when Christians are led in the path of righteousness it makes God look good. And when Christians lead themselves, you say what happens when a sheep decides to lead itself? It goes off a cliff. You know that there's a real story. I should have probably got this and I didn't get it. But you know that there's a real story. There's a real story. This literally happened just maybe 10 years ago or something. There was this big gathering in one of these Middle Eastern countries where all these shepherds had gone together. And they had brought all these sheep together. There was like thousands of sheep, like 3,000 sheep. And they had brought them into this valley and they all went off to have a meal together. It was like a shepherd's convention I guess or something. And they thought the sheep would be fine and one sheep got this bright idea that it was going to jump off the cliff. And it did. And when it did, 400 followed. There was like 3,000 sheep there. But when these shepherds came back they found 400 dead sheep at the bottom of this cliff. They lost a valley of like 70,000 dollars or the equivalent of 70,000 dollars. This is what happens when sheep lead themselves. But when He leads you, it's for His name's sake. This is why Jesus said, by the way, those sheep, they made their shepherds look bad, didn't they? Jesus said this, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Why does He lead us? For His name's sake. Because sheep that are properly cared for by their shepherd make the shepherd look good. So we see the personal shepherd, we see the providing shepherd, we see the preceding shepherd. He leads us. Where does He lead us? To rest. Where does He lead us? To restoration. Where does He lead us? To righteousness. Why does He lead us? For His name's sake. But then I want you to notice, we see the fourth characteristic in verse 4. We see the present shepherd. The present shepherd. In verse 4 we find, out of the most famous chapter in the entire Bible, probably the most famous verse in this chapter. 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. And again, we can preach an entire sermon just out of this one verse. This verse is read in funerals. I've read this verse in funerals. It's read at the bedside of those that are dying for obvious reasons. I want you to notice that there's a shift here where we go from a very happy illustration. The picture has been a good picture. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake. And then in verse 4 there's a transition and if it were a movie, the music would change, the screen would get darker, and we read these words negatively. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. What's interesting to me is that the emphasis is not necessarily on the valley of the shadow of death. And the Bible talks a lot about the shadow of death and the darkness of death. And one day, maybe I'll preach a whole sermon just from that verse and we'll cover that. I don't have time for that tonight. But I want you to understand that the valley of the shadow of death is what's made this verse so popular and why it's read at funerals and read at the bedside of those that are dying. It's been read to military soldiers on the battlefield as they lay there dying. Someone has read these words to them. These words have comforted individuals for 3,000 years. But the emphasis is not really on the valley of the shadow of death. The emphasis is actually on this statement, thou art with me. We see the presence of the shepherd. You say, well why does he bring up death? I think the reason he brings up death is this. Because David wanted to emphasize that when the Lord is your shepherd, he is always with you. He's always present with you. He is the I am that I am. He is the ever-present God. You don't go anywhere without God already being there. He goes before us. He is the shepherd that leads. And David wants to emphasize that the shepherd is always with his sheep. And I think, and I know that he wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, but I think what he was probably doing is he was trying to think of a scenario. When is there a scenario in life? When is there a time in life when someone might be alone? Because he wants to use this example of something that we would all identify as a time of solitary. A time of loneliness. A time when someone is alone and say even in that time the shepherd is with you. And what David lands on under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost is that as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, as we walk, and this can be applied many ways, but one of the applications is definitely this, as we're walking towards death. Because if you think about it, is there anything more lonely than death? I mean there's lots of things that you can do with lots of people. And there's lots of things that you can do to make sure you're not alone. But I don't know that there is no more of a solitary event than death itself. It's something that everyone has to go through unless you live to the rapture. And it's something that everyone, saved or unsaved, it's something that everyone, unless you live to the rapture, you have to experience physical death and it's something that everyone has to experience on their own. When someone walks to the valley of the shadow of death, they walk through it alone. Here's the thing, and I'm not trying to be gruesome and I hope you understand. Even if someone were to die alongside other people, even if someone were to die in some sort of an accident where there's other people who all died at the same time. Even if you were to die alongside and at the same time of other people, you still have to experience death on your own. There's no more event that is more solitary than that dark walk through the valley of the shadow of death. That is, it's solitary for everyone except those who are believers. Because David says this, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, even as I walk into eternity, he says, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. He says, you will be with me, you will be with me even through death. I want you to notice that in verse 4 there's another transition, not just a dark gloom that comes upon the psalm, but also there is a change in the pronouns. You may have not noticed it, but I want you to notice, in verses 1-3 he's been talking about the shepherd. He says the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He says about the shepherd, he leadeth me, he leadeth me besides the still waters and he makes me to lie down by the green pastures and he restores my soul. In verses 1-3 he talks about the shepherd, but in verse 4 he begins to talk to the shepherd. He doesn't say he, he says thou. He's not talking about the shepherd, he's talking to the shepherd. He says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. We see the presence of God. He's an ever-present God. You understand that nothing can separate you from God? If you're saved. And this is why Paul would write, you don't have to turn here, but in Romans 8 verse 38 he writes these words, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Then he says this, thy rod and thy staff, they come from me. These would be tools used by a shepherd. Now I don't want to spend a lot of time on this because I need to move on, but he's referring to a stick that a shepherd would use. And these would be tools that would be used by the shepherd to do two things, protection and correction. Protection and correction. The rod would be used to protect, the staff would be used to correct. And David says these things comfort me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. And I want to emphasize the rod and the staff because I want you to notice that this is the last imagery that we see of the shepherd in this psalm. Between verses 4 and 5 there's a transition and the picture changes. I want you to notice that in verse 5 we leave the imagery of a shepherd with his sheep and now we enter into a tent where we are guests and the Lord is our host. In verses 1 through 4 the Lord was a herdsman, he was a shepherd. In verses 5 and 6 the Lord is a host and he's hosting us. Let me give you quickly just some thoughts with regards to this host. In verse 5 he says this, thou preparest the table before me. We already saw this phrase, it deals with provision, but I want you to see it in the context. And again, thou preparest the table before me, think of a meal and think of a big thanksgiving spread. And what we're going to see in verses 5 and 6 is this host now being described. And you and I may not really understand this because we're Americans and Americans are jerks. But in the Middle East and in the ancient world hosting was a big deal. In fact in the Middle East it's still a big deal today. I remember years ago being in Jordan and I was in Palestine and in Jordan recording for a documentary. I honestly can't remember if we were in Palestine or in Jordan. At this time I want to say we were in Jordan, but we had hired a guide to drive us around to the different locations that we had to go. We literally had just met this guy, I mean we hired him through a company, we just met him, we're paying him to drive us around, he drove us around for a few hours. And then at the end of the whole thing he invited us to his house, which we are of course happy to oblige. I remember we just met this guy, we paid him to drive us around, he takes us to his house, he introduces us to his wife, to all his children, to his mother, to his wife's mother. They serve us Turkish coffee, they bring us all sorts of fruit, and they're just hosting us. And it's just a different culture, they take this idea of hosting very seriously. And in the ancient world, it's clear in scripture, if you look at Lot hosting the angels and Abraham hosting the Lord, it's a big deal. And this is what David is talking about, he's transitioning from a shepherd, from a herdsman, to a host, and he's saying this is how the Lord hosts us. He says, thou preparest a table before me. We've already talked about the provision of God, but what I want you to see here is the protection of the host. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. And the idea is this, that the host is a protecting host. Not just provision, but protection. And what we need to learn from that is this, that just because the Lord is your shepherd, and just because he gives you peace that passeth all understanding, and just because he guides you and he leads you to the green pastures and to the still waters, does not mean that the enemies are going to go away. He doesn't promise to remove your enemies, because this is not what we want. We just pray, God can you just kill them? Just get rid of them. And God never, and sometimes he does, there are imprecatory prayers in the Bible, but God doesn't promise to kill all our enemies and to make all the bad people go away. But what he does promise is to provide and protect in the presence of our enemies. The imagery is this, think of a soldier who is on the front lines and there's your enemies that are in front of you and you need to eat. I mean are you just going to put out a nice blanket and bring out a little basket right there? No, if you're going to eat in front of your enemies you're probably going to eat quickly and be alert and just ration out what you need. But God says no, no, no. When I feed you and when I protect you, we put out a table, we put out a spread, we put out the napkins, and we put out a big old meal. And you say, God you're going to do this? You're going to do this? Yes, in the presence of your enemies. Sometimes you feel like God is providing and protecting in the presence of the people that hate you the most. We see the protecting host. Now prepare us a table before me in the presence of my enemies. I realize I'm taking a little longer than I normally would on a Wednesday night but you're going to be here until midnight so let me just finish this. We see the protecting of the host and then I want you to notice the prosperity of the host. In verse 5 he says, thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Then he says this, thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. And again it's this idea of hospitality. He comes in, the host then anoints the head of their guest with oil. But when he anoints the head of the guest, he anoints them so much with oil that it actually begins to drip into the cup that he's also been given. And the cup gets full and the cup's running over and there's so much imagery there and there's so much that we can say and the oil represents so many things in the Bible. And I won't take the time to go through all of that but I'll just say this, this highlights this idea that we not only serve a God who provides, we serve a God who is prosperous. In fact in the very next Psalm, Psalm 24, the first verse says this, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And the idea is this, that when God gives, he gives more than you can handle. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. When I read that, it reminds me of Luke 638, you don't have to turn there, but it says this, give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, that's a good amount, the idea is that he's going to give to you and he takes a cup to scoop and it's a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over. Shall men give into your bosom, for the same measure that ye meet with all it shall be measured to you again. And the idea is this, you cannot out give God, God is a generous host. In Malachi 3 and verse 10, the Bible says this, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be me in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. This is what David is talking about when he says, thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. So we see that he's a protecting host, we see that he's a prosperous host, then I want you to notice, thirdly under this heading of the host, we see that he's a pursuing host. Look at verse 6, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, that's like this church's favorite song, right? Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He says, he precedes us, he leads us, he guides us, but then he also follows us. He goes before you and he goes behind you. And he follows you with what? Here's what he follows you with, blessings. Surely goodness and mercy are a description of the blessings of God. And again, we can spend time on this, I'm not going to, but here's what he's saying. When the Lord is your shepherd, goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life. The blessings of God follow you. Aren't you thankful that God not only precedes you, but he pursues you, goes after you with goodness and mercy. And I want you to notice this little focal point, he says, all the days of my life, all the days of my life. So we see the protecting host, we see the prosperous host, we see the pursuing host, and then lastly tonight, we see the preserving host. Notice in verse 6, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, all the days of my life. Then he says this, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now this can be applied to going to church, and I don't have a problem with that, and I think it can, and it should be applied to going to church. But really the primary application here is the house of the Lord in heaven. It's not a church house you stay till midnight on New Year's Eve, it's when you get there, you dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And notice it's the context, he already talked about all the days of my life, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. He's talked about the days of your life, he's already talked in verse 4, yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, now he's saying after death, after all the days of my life, this host is not just a prosperous host, this host is not just a protecting host, this host is not just a pursuing host, this host is a preserving host. He says I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In Jude verse 24, just one chapter before the book of Revelation, you don't have to turn there unless you want to, but here's what the Bible says, Jude 1.24, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. I like alliteration, I love it when the Bible alliterates. He's not only able to keep you from falling, he's able to present you faultless. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever, Amen. You say what is he saying? Here's what he's saying, when I, he combines now the host and the shepherd, and the idea is this, when I'm a guest being invited to the house of God, the great house of God in heaven, and I go through the valley of the shadow of death, and it begins to get dark, and it begins to get lonely, and it begins to get scary, and it begins to feel like I'm not sure how this is going to go. He says the great shepherd of my soul shows up, he leadeth me, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. He's the preserving God. See Paul said it this way, oh death where is thy sting? Oh grave where is the victory when death comes for you? The great shepherd of the sheep holds your hand, and he guides you through the valley of the shadow of death, and you enter into the house of the Lord, because he is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory. So we end the psalm with these beautiful words, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I hope you can see now why Psalm 23 is the most famous chapter in the entire Bible. There's so much beauty, and there's so much depth, and what I hope for you, and what I hope for me, is that as we enter into this new year, that like David and with David, we might say, and we might pray, and we might not just read this psalm, but we would live this psalm, and be able to say like David these beautiful words. Can we read it together just one more time? 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. 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. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup renteth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you, and we thank you for this beautiful psalm, and the beautiful imagery in this psalm. There's a reason why Psalm 23 has comforted believers for three millenniums. There's a reason why this psalm has been read and quoted and memorized and put to music, because there's so much truth. Lord, I pray you'd help all of us to make the decision to say, especially as we enter into this new year, that we would all say, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. We love you. In the matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Well, God bless you. Thank you for being here tonight. We're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. Let me just give you a couple of reminders and instructions. Of course, we have a potluck right after the service tonight, so we want to invite you to stick around. As soon as the service is over, if you go out these doors towards the back fellowship area, the food is there, and we are going to prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies, and we're going to eat together and fellowship, and then after the food, if you'd like to stick around until midnight, we have all sorts of board games. The board games are going to be set up in the back of this auditorium. We're going to have tables there, and we've got all sorts of board games that the church owns, and if you brought your own, that's great. No poker, all right? No poker, but board games and other card games are fine. In the back of the auditorium, if you stay until midnight, we'll sing some songs, and we'll pray in the New Year together. I want to wish you all a happy New Year, and then I want to encourage you a couple of things. Number one, tomorrow, nine chapters a day. Start the year off with the Word of God. I want to encourage you to do that, and then of course be in church on Sunday. Start the year off in the house of the Lord. Don't miss the first Sunday of the year. Give Him the preeminence. Seek Him first. I want to encourage you to be here for that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. If I don't see you before midnight or whatever, or at midnight, we want to wish you, my wife and I, want to wish all of you a happy New Year, and we're looking forward to what the Lord will do here at Very Baptist Church in this coming year. We'll have Moses come up and lead us in a final song. Turn in your song books to page number 216. We're going to sing Surely Goodness and Mercy, page 216. Page 216, Surely Goodness and Mercy. Let's go ahead and sing that out on the first verse. A pilgrim was high and a-wandering In the cold night of sin I did roam When Jesus the kind shepherd found me And now I am on my way home Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Page 216, let's go ahead and sing it out on the second. He restoreth my soul when I'm weary He giveth me strength day by day He leads me beside the still waters He guards me each step of the way Sing it out. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Let's go ahead and sing it out on the last. I just want to take a note. On the last we're going to sing that extra chorus. So just be on the lookout for that. Let's sing out. Let's finish this year strong. Page 216 on the last. When I walk through the dark lonesome valley My savior will walk with me there And safely his great hand will lead me To the mansions he's gone to prepare Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life Sing it out. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever And I shall feast at the table spread for me Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days, all the days of my life All the days, all the days of my life Amen. Great singing. If you're a guest and you have any questions about salvation, church membership, or baptism, you can see pastor at the front. And let's go ahead and close this in a word of prayer and let's pray for the food as well. Heavenly Father, thank you for this year, Lord. Thank you for everything that you've done for us, everything that you've given us. I pray that next year we would continue to serve you, Lord, and pray that you bless our church. I pray that you bless our church people. And I also pray that you bless food and the fellowship that we're about to partake in today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.