8. The first person to be helped by this Psalm was David himself. Thomas Boston speaks of how the glorified shall walk eternally, seeing more and more of GodThey may bring their vessels to this ocean every moment, and fill them with new waters.[4], Donald Macleod says of the Garden of Eden, It offered scope for art, science, and technology The same will doubtless be true of the world to come. Website: OpentheBible.org. He understood the special relationship and care a shepherd has with the sheep. Death will be defeated. xxiii. 2. 1. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. "Shall follow me." xxiii. THE ASSURANCE EXPRESSED BY THE PSALMIST. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. THE CONSUMMATION OF IT. Where streams of living water flow My ransomed soul he leadeth, And, where the verdant pastures grow, With food celestial feedeth. Having trouble logging into your account? 6. So he calls the Lord his shepherd as a beautiful illustration of his own relationship with God. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. It seems, as if Jesus could not part from the City in holy anger, but ever, and only, with tears. STRENGTH FOR LIFE'S WORK. He leads me beside still waters. "Good" and "God" in Anglo-Saxon are the same word. INTRODUCTION: Something odd happens when we get to verses 5-6 in Psalm 23. Its guilt dogs my steps. xxiii. There are places in Scripture that are powerful, so deep, that to recite them is to experience them. The greatest blessing you can know in life is to be wholly owned by the Son of God. The Good Shepherd has come to seek and to save the lost. Make your life all temple, all part of the , the sacred enclosure. As we sit in this room, and mourn but also celebrate the life of Brandy, our soul feels dead, it feels no joy or rest. Scriptures: He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. 29.) Jesus has trod the Psalm 23-journey before us. All the days of my life that is, all my life long even to the last. It promises much, but it always disappoints. They may apply to other things, national or ecclesiastical, but here is their chief intent. 2. They were originally used as songs in the Jewish Temple Worship. 4-6. 2) THE CERTAINTY OF IT (PSALM 23:6) a) "Surely, I will dwell in the house of the Lord." i) No if's, and's, or but's about it; it's a sure thing. "Shall follow me." A wildfire sweeping over the mountain consuming everything in its path. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. For us, I suppose we could apply it to the blessings we experience in God's church. 4-6. What is your position if you choose to be your own shepherd? In all probability its prosperity was chiefly due to the neighbouring Tiberias, which Herod Antipas [2583] had built, about ten years previously. And when he looks beyond the days of his life in this world he sees what comes after: The joy of eternity in the immediate presence of the Lord. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. The Lord guards me. The Purposes: 1. THE POETICAL BOOKS: Psalms Page Song of Solomon Page Proverbs Page THE PSALMS I. 1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. We belong to a better time, but still we can feel its grandeur. Whatever happens in your work, your family, with your health or with your money, whatever happens in our country, if the Lord is your Shepherd, you will always be able to say, Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me; And in Gods house for evermore my dwelling-place shall be.[7], And so, through all the length of days Thy goodness faileth never Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise Within Thy house forever.[8]. For posting on the web, a link to this document on our website (OpentheBible.org) is preferred. I. Click here for more messages from the book of Psalms. I t is not easy for those, whose habits of life are insensibly formed by the customs of modern times, to conceive any adequate idea of the pastoral life, as obtained in the eastern countries, before that simplicity of manners, which characterized the early ages, was corrupted, by the artificial and false refinements of luxury. Over these last weeks, we have seen the devastating effects of wildfires in California. I. The Return to Capernaum - Healing of the Centurion's Servant. Because some of my enemies are in the rear; they attack me from behind. Intro: The Lord could have compared His people to anything in the world.He could have said, "My people are like bears, they are strong!" He could have said, "My people are like lions, they are courage, fearless and brave!" He could have said, "My people are like foxes because they are so shrewd and wise." He could have even said, "My people are like . The continuance of it. It is the permanence of heaven that is one of its greatest joys in prospect. Now here is where a shift takes place in this psalm. 4. Gal 5:52. This language implies the assurance, on his part, of the existence of a state of future blessedness. Then comes the assurance of expectation and hope. But of this you can be certain: Whatever the future holds, Gods goodness and Gods mercy will follow you all the days of your life. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. This phrase is based on a system of law that does not hold . In one of his books you may find a review of his life. Jesus taught immortality: no one taught it as He did; no one preached it as He preached it. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [8] From the hymn, The King of Love My Shepherd Is, Henry Williams Baker, (1821-77). This confidence rests in the promise of God, the finished work of the Redeemer and the sealing of the Holy Ghost. It tells of man made a partaker of the Divine nature, and coming into intimate communion with God. Protecting mercy. 14 I am the good shepherd. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. Observe the beautifulness and the blessedness of a Christian old age. But suddenly in verse 5, the picture changes, and we no longer have the image of a shepherd, but rather that of a host in his home. The querulous old man puts together all that he had gone through, finds it dark and disappointing, and concludes by saying, "I am this day so and so, and I wish that I had never been born." 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. Evil will be overthrown. It will be yours to kindle the lamp of a never-ceasing devotion, to place the Eucharistic Shewbread before the Lord. So I have an enemy in the, My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year. 11 I am the good shepherd. But we are prone to look on the dark side of His providence, and to ask, with the murmuring Israelites, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? "I will dwell in it. What is heaven like? [924] (Epistle 341.) Beware of sinking into the vortex of selfishness, and burying your mercies in the grave of forgetfulness. I. Its guilt dogs my steps. Someone may say, Well my life is filled with a great deal of trouble. You can easily list many things that are not as you would want them to be. Heaven will be a world of fresh discoveries and new delights. Amid the manifold anxieties and cares of my heart,[925] by the multitude of which my soul is sore vexed,[926] the brothers coming from a far country[927] that they may serve the Lord,[928] thy letter, and thy staff, they comfort, St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh, 'And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt them mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel! This is just a statement of a fact; and if such persons believe that the dispensations of God's providence with reference to them are intended to cause "goodness and mercy to follow them all the days of their life," or that they will in fact do so, they are labouring under a fatal delusion. We will be with Him where He is We will see His glory: He will be our Shepherd, and He will guide us to streams of living water. [1] Douglas MacMillan, The Lord Our Shepherd, p. 82. 25. The poem supposes the man who speaks to have spiritual life in him, and the good man thus utters his confidence in the protection and in the care of that God under whose loving fatherhood he has been brought on his way. He gave Himself to you, and He calls you to follow Him. I. But why "follow" me? Please include this statement on every copy distributed: By Colin S. Smith. III. By just giving a little turn to the, last expression of the text I see three things 1. The original is 'lead gently.' Sinners blame God for everything and thank Him for nothing. Why not "go before"? This magazine often included an exposition of a psalm, and in the 1866 publication Spurgeon featured Psalm 23. This statement actually shook the readers of biblical times because the temptation in ancient Israel was to speak only about "our" God, ( Deuteronomy 6:4) forgetting that the God of Israel is also the God of individuals. It is a delightful passion. "And God said unto Moses, I am, that I am: and He said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you" (Exod. Wherever He may guide me, No want shall turn me back; My Shepherd is beside me, And nothing can I lack. The Shepherd is in front of the sheep. II. [924] (Epistle 341.) And here God uses three things that we can touch and handle: a table, oil, and a . Have follow'd me through all my days; Thy strengthening staff, and guiding rod, Upheld my steps, made straight my ways: Lord, till I reach thy holy hill, Goodness and mercy guard me still. And it is a psalm in which he sees God in three aspects. ", 2. 3 He restores my soul. II. Permissions: You have permission and are encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format you choose, as long as you do not alter or change the wording in any way and do not charge a fee (beyond the cost of reproducing these materials). But the treatment has been so extremely imperfect, in view of the importance of that section, that a few further remarks must be made. [1200]Carey: Henry Carey, 1723 Psalm 23 Joseph Addison, 1712 DOXOLOGY The Lord my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care; His presence shall my wants supply, And guard me with a watchful eye; My noonday walks he shall attend, And all my midnight hours defend. Soon on wings, on wings of love, My transported soul shall rise, Like the home-returning dove, Vanishing through boundless skies; Then, where death shall be no more, Sin nor suffering e'er molest, All, The Lord the Good Shepherd.--Ps. And Davids faith is strengthened as he takes in what the Lord does for him. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 5 Bread that camest down from Heaven, Fruit of the eternal tree; Banquet which my God has given Even unto me; Lo, before the world that scorneth, I give thanks and eat, At the table in the desert, Spread with heavenly meat; Wine of the divinest gladness, Milk and honey sweet. Shepherds had to live with the sheep twenty-four hours a day, and the task of caring for them was unending. What a grand triumphal ode! We're taking about believers: about actual Christian experience. iii:14). He will guide you to springs of living water (Rev 7:17). Please follow along as I read Psalm 23:1-6: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. And David is in no doubt about this. Goodness to creatures; mercy to sinful creatures. And no shepherd would ever be without them. Gods goodness and mercy are chasing after you to bring you closer to the Good Shepherd. Reason says there must be such a state; conscience says there is such a state. And this is how the Good Shepherd keeps us close to Himself. "Shall follow me." 1. It brings to mind all that is true of you in Christ. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart.--Ps. No one loves God but a true Christian, because nothing will produce love to God but the belief of the Gospel; and of course, it is the belief of the Gospel that makes a man a Christian. 12-16 Christian exultation--Christian confidence--"Not in the flesh"--"In Jesus Christ"--The prize in view--No finality in the progress--"Not already perfect"--The recompense of reward--What the prize will be In a certain sense we have completed our study of the first section of the third chapter of the Epistle. These are just the two things into which God's beneficence, generally considered, naturally divides itself. When the Lord is your shepherd, you are surrounded on all sides by the goodness and mercy of God. When you dwell in the house of the Lord, faith will be turned to sight. "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 is one of those places. Shall I be able Charles KingsleyOut of the Deep, Letters of St. BernardI To Malachy. What will the next world be like? "I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.". When you can say, The Lord is my Shepherd, you will be able to say, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Welcome to our LIVE Service from St John's Knypersley. Douglas Macmillan quotes a Scottish shepherd who preached on the verse we are looking at today: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. It is contrary to sorrow, which is a perturbation Thomas WatsonA Body of Divinity, Out of the Deep of Death. Because it is the scene of His familiar glory. Below are some of his most touching and eloquent comments on each verse. As years pass you have a growing pool of blessed memories from which you can draw, and every new joy in your life makes that reservoir deeper. In death's dark vale I fear no ill With. Psalms 23:1-6 , the prayer of David, or a psalm of David, rather. If you are using the ESV Bible you will see a footnote that says, for length of days. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for length of days.. "Shall follow me." Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Goodness to creatures; mercy to sinful creatures. And the last thought is, that the best way to be able to end life with an utterance like this is to begin it well. Psalm 23:5-6. He took our flesh. "Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity," etc. 1. The whole of this Psalm is a meditation on what the Good Shepherd does for His sheep. Psalm 23:5-6. This should be our aim, to attain to the realisation of the life hid with Christ in God; and to this God is separating us off, that our sojourn with Him may be eternal. The good man says, "I have needed both; I have had both all my days, and surely they shall follow me all my days."2. I. Who in his right mind would choose to be a shepherd? And when I yield this mortal breath, My soul into Thy hands commend, And pass the vale and shade of death, Thy staff and rod my path attend: Mercy and goodness then shall be My song to all eternity. His wisdom ever waketh, His sight is never dim, -- He knows the way He taketh, And I will walk with Him. And in fact, I wanna ask you to do that . In the wilderness unwatered, In the lonely land, This the feast of God made ready By His mighty Hand; Thither came I, spent and weary, Hungry and athirst, From the wastes of thorn and thistle Of the land accursed, Frances BevanHymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others, Christian Standing and Christian ProgressPHILIPPIANS iii. The Twenty-Third Psalm is one of the best-loved and most well-known sections in the entire Bible. they smothered him with flowers and killed him with fame and it came to this! Not only the Creator but the Creation too will be an object of wonder to the redeemed. Sermon Title: "THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!" Sermon Text: Psalm 23 Introduction: GOOD MORNING TO ALL! God is our shepherd, and we are his sheep. Sin prepares a table before me in the presence of my friends. Our Lord Jesus Christ is no less person, than the I AM. III. 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