Please open your Bibles once again to John chapter 10. We're going to be in John chapter 10 for, I believe, another two weeks, looking at God as our shepherd. In Psalm 23, we hear David calling Yahweh, calling the Father, His shepherd. We see also that Jesus calls Himself our shepherd. The characteristics and the attributes them are the same. They are both Almighty God. David declares that Yahweh, the Almighty God, is his shepherd. And Jesus declares that he and the Father are one. Such is the unity of the Godhead that we can see both declaring themselves to be the shepherd of their people. The Psalms are found in the very middle of your Bible, and I'm going to be referring to Psalm 23 and to John 10 as we talk tonight. The Psalms are actually in the middle of your Bible. I don't believe by chance. This is God's providence. It's in the heart of the scriptures. In many ways, the Psalms could be called the heart of the message of God. They show what man is to believe about God and what God requires of man in many ways. David wrote many of the Psalms. He was a shepherd king. And out of the Psalms that David wrote, you can see such a great expression of human experience, such great expression of sorrow and joy, of dependence upon God, of reliance upon His steadfast love in every aspect of our lives. This wonderful array of the Psalms minister to the hearts of you and me and all of God's people throughout the ages. in such a wonderful way, and many of the Psalms point directly to our Savior. Psalm 23 is one of those. And it's interesting, too, in the previous Psalm, Psalm 22, you remember in John 10, Jesus says He lays down His life for the sheep. In Psalm 22, we see the shepherd, we see the Son of God laying down His life for the sheep. And then in Psalm 24, right after Psalm 23, we see that this king, or this man is coordinated as the king of the universe, the God of the universe. The Psalms, indeed, show us the heart of our shepherd king. So, for that reason, I'm going to spend a few more weeks just talking about God as our shepherd. Again, I believe if you understand the concept of God the Father as your Father, and you understand the Son of God as your shepherd, then you will have such a foundation of solid strength in your life, because really, if that is true, if God is your shepherd and God is your Father, then what else matters? If God is for you, who can be against you? So this is John 10, and I'll read verses 1-11. Would you please stand for the reading of God's holy word? Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter the sheep fold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him for they do not know the voice of strangers. this figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what He was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Amen. Please be seated. Thus ends the reading of God's holy and inspired Word. Let us pray. Our Father, we come to You once again as needy people We come to You as those who know that if we are to drink life-giving water, then You must bring it to life for us. Lord, open up our mouths and let us drink. May we be nourished and encouraged in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, in Psalm 23, which we have already read, this morning we talked about Yahweh Himself calling Him our shepherd. and Jesus, the Son of God, declaring that He is the I Am, and He is also our Shepherd. And because of the wonderful care of our Shepherd, we have nothing that we want. We have no needs that we have not been given. So this evening we're going to talk about the second verse and relate it to John 10 as well. That He makes me lie down in green pastures. This is what our Shepherd does. And He leads us beside still waters. This is the work of the good shepherd. What we'll find is that the lying down in green pastures and the leading beside the still waters, it's all revolving around the shepherd. It's all about the care of the shepherd. It's not necessarily about the pastures. It's not necessarily about the water. It's about the shepherd. So first we're going to talk about the green pastures, and then we're going to talk about the still water. And then we're going to talk about how sheep often wander off and try to drink their own water and find their own food to their own harm. Well, David says that this shepherd makes him lie down. He makes me lie down in green pastures. If you remember, in John 10, verse 1, Jesus says that the one who enters the sheepfold by the door, who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in another way, is an imposter, a thief, and a robber. This would not be someone who would take you to green pastures and still waters. the gatekeeper opens for the true shepherd of the sheep, and he calls his own sheep out by name and leads them out. You see, the shepherd is the one who leads them out. And when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. It seems that Jesus is leaning heavily on this particular psalm to describe the work of the shepherd leading out his own by name into places of rest that they might have abundant life, which he says is ours in verse 10. He came that we might have abundant life. Spiritual life that's abundant. So one of the things that Philip Keller, who wrote the book about a shepherd on Psalm 23, One of the things that he mentions is that it's almost impossible to make sheep lie down. You can't make a sheep lie down. You can provide conditions for the sheep in which they will lie down. He says, and of course, God can do what He wants, and we don't want to pull too much on this metaphor, but the reality is that God says He makes. David says that Yahweh makes Him to lie down in green pastures. He makes you lie down in green pastures. Well, for actual shepherds who take care of physical sheep, the way to get the sheep to lie down is to take care of their needs. To make sure that a sheep can rest, he has to feel safe, he has to feel fulfilled, not hungry, and he cannot be easily, he cannot be frightened. So to make the sheep lie down, implies the great and wonderful care of the shepherd in providing those conditions. Certainly, we know that God, as Yahweh, as our shepherd, He certainly makes all things come to pass according to His will. So we see the providence of God in making us lie down in green pastures. Well, what are the green pastures? Well, it's feeding on the Word of God. It's having Christ. The still waters we can see as the green pastures and still waters. Really, we can look at these things two ways. One, physically God will provide for us. Yes, absolutely. But secondly, the most important way to see it is our salvation. The green pastures, the still waters, point to the health of a soul that is focused on Christ. In John 10, verse 4, we see that Jesus brings out His own. He goes before them, and they follow Him, for they know His voice. Where are the green pastures? Wherever Jesus is. He must make them walk where the grass is green, because otherwise, they will not go there. And where is the grass green? Where are the pastures green? Where Jesus is. You see, Christ is the only green pasture. He's also the only one who would make us lie down in green pastures. He's the only place where we can be safe in a frightening wilderness journey. Sheep are easily frightened. Constantly bothered by discord from within the flock. Sheep constantly bucking up against each other, but also danger from outside the flock. And interestingly enough, This is a requirement. Safety from these things is a requirement for a sheep to actually lie down. Jesus in John 10 talks about all of the disturbances to the flock from those who would seek to harm them. The one who climbs over the wall is a robber. In verses 5 and 8 and 10, a stranger causes them to flee. They don't know the voice of strangers. Thieves and robbers. Wolves. You see, this is a dangerous place. How can you be lying down? And again, we're going to talk about this in two or three weeks when we look at a later verse in Psalm 23. But how can we lie down surrounded by such things? We stay with Jesus. We stay with our shepherd. Our shepherd is the one who protects the flock from predators. Our shepherd is the only one who can give life. And of course, Jesus talks about how He lays down His life for the sheep. So the protection that we have, the rest that we have, is only in the presence of our Shepherd. Of our Good Shepherd. But our Good Shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures, if you think, again, of the spiritual nature of this psalm. The peace that we have is only ours because of His sacrificial death. So when you think of your Good Shepherd, when you read Psalm 23, you need to think primarily of all the spiritual goodness that is ours because of Christ as our Shepherd. And as John 10 tells us, this is a Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. We should remember the blessings that we have because of our Shepherd. In Christ, you have everything you need, and you have nothing that you don't. you have everything that you need and nothing that you don't. Does that mean we're not to pray when we feel discomfort? No, absolutely. We should be praying. We should be praying that God is with us, that He strengthens us, that He does lead us to green pastures, that we get rest, even in this wilderness journey, that we get rest for our souls and our bodies. But our rest is based on the shepherd's provision and his leading. It's because of our trust in our Savior that we actually shall not want. We need nothing more than what He provides for us. And the spiritual and emotional rest that we get in knowing Christ Jesus our Lord is the greatest blessing of all. This truly is green pasture. We pray every day. If you pray like I do, the Lord's Prayer, as part of your prayer time, give us this day our daily bread. We're talking about our physical bread, absolutely, but we're also talking about the spiritual life that we need, the bread of life. You see, when we feed on Jesus, when we are branches in the vine, when we're the bride of the groom, surely we need nothing else than Jesus. So our Good Shepherd calls us to trust Him. To trust Him. There might be difficulties. There might be hardships. But ultimately, we know that He's leading us and making us lie down in green pastures. Well, what does this say about times that are difficult? You see, even God in His providence, when He brings difficult or hard providences to us, we can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that somehow He's working it for good. Somehow this can be a green pasture for me. The Holy Spirit sanctifying your soul. He's sanctifying your desires in Christ. He's sanctifying your thoughts, words, and deeds. So even hardships in this light are a green pasture. Because you will be caused to pray more fervently. you'll be caused to devour the Word of God, to study and meditate on the Scriptures, to see your Savior, to taste and see that the Lord is good. You'll also begin to know the Shepherd more deeply. He says in John 10 that He calls His own out and He knows His own and His own sheep know Him. He knows you, as we talked about this morning. This means He will give you what you need. So even if it doesn't feel like a green pasture at the moment, He always does what is good for each individual sheep. It's a green pasture. Someday, it's a green pasture in that it brings glory to God. Someday, someway, it's for your good. So we trust His good and kind leading as a shepherd, and that somehow it will bring peace and rest for our souls and glorify God even after we're gone from this earth. So we fix our eyes on Christ. Again, if you're in a difficult providence, that doesn't mean that you don't... You can recognize that God is sovereign and still craft Him in prayer. And you should. Call out to God in prayer. The pasture doesn't feel green to you? Then pray. How does Christ communicate all the benefits of our redemption to us? One of the ways is through prayer. The other way is through His Word. The other way is through His sacraments. All in the context of fellowship. The Christian life is filled with green pastures that feel like green pastures and green pastures that don't feel like green pastures. And regardless, He calls us to follow Him. This is following Him every day. In Matthew 11, He says, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. read Little Sheep. Yes, Father, for such is Your gracious will. In verse 28, He says, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. You see, knowing your Shepherd And knowing that He's making you lie down in green pastures doesn't mean life is easy. But what it does mean is that you have embraced the yoke of Christ upon you. And He's the only one. He's the only one who can give you rest. It's not something you can do to just lie down and rest. He must make you lie down and rest. He makes you lie down. The Holy Spirit must tell. It's not even just knowing your doctrine about God's sovereignty in a difficult time that makes you lie down. You pray to God. Holy God, please help. Please help in this difficult circumstance. Help me to trust you. Help me to keep my eyes on you. And as you pursue God in prayer and his word, as you receive the benefits of your redemption and all the ordinary means of grace. He makes you lie down in green pastures, he comforts your soul. He also leads you besides still waters. Again, it's saying the same thing in a different way. The life-sustaining water that a sheep needs, he cannot find on his own. Sheep will drink almost anything. Sometimes they drink water that will kill them. And yet in verse 10, Jesus says that He, John 10.10, that He has come to give us life and life abundantly. The soul fully nourished with life-giving water. And remember in John 7, Jesus stood up and cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. The shepherd knows that the only water that we need is himself. It must be good water. Bad water will harm the sheep. but Jesus Christ, the living water, will provide health for your soul. And remember, when you think of sheep, again, think of the metaphor of sheep and shepherding. Sheep stand about this high off the ground. The shepherd is five and a half, six feet tall. The shepherd sees much, much farther than the sheep. The sheep see two feet off the ground. I remember being around my grandkids, They're little things, and they're running all over, and I'm always asking myself, at least in our rolling hills in our yard, don't they see that over there? Don't they know how that could hurt them? And the reality is, no, they don't. They don't see that over there. Because they're so short, they're not seeing what's just beyond the hill. Cheaper like that. They can only see what's right in their line of sight, but the shepherd sees much, much farther than any of the sheep can see. He's the one leading and feeding, and he's the one taking you to the still water. We have to trust the shepherd. Again, if it's a difficult path, trust the shepherd. The water may not feel still in the moment, but Jesus is the living water. He's all you need. Truly, if you thirst, we go to Jesus to drink. He's the true and living water. He provides for all of your needs, both spiritual and physical. He ultimately leads you to Himself in all things. What's our primary purpose in life? To glorify God. All that He does will bring glory to Himself and bring you to Him. All things must work together for your salvation. We read this morning. He's the source of all health, both spiritual and physical. And you need this living water every day. Think about how much water you need just on a daily basis. You need to drink eight glasses, so we're told, of water every day. I find that I need much more than eight glasses of water a day. If you're exercising regularly, you know you're going to need, or if you're working hard, you're going to need much more than eight glasses of water a day. And if you don't get this water, you get dehydrated. How do you feel when you're dehydrated? You get a headache, maybe. You feel tired. If you eventually, if you stay dehydrated, you're gonna get a fever. You're going to be sick. Your body suffers if you don't get water. Long-term health, if you're constantly dehydrated, day after day, long-term health, eventually, you could die. You need water every day. eight glasses a day. That means all throughout the day you need to drink. Well, you need Jesus, the living water, infinitely more than you need physical water. He is the living water. He says in John 4, whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will become to him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. So this still water truly gives life to a sheep. Still water, the water of Christ, gives us life every day. And this overflows to others, but then it also wells up to eternal life. What your soul needs more than anything is Jesus. But there is a propensity among sheep to seek their sustenance and their health elsewhere. The reality is that many sheep don't want health. They don't want healthy water. They don't want healthy food. They don't want to follow the good shepherd. Often they'll follow the wolf or the robber or the imposter, the thief. In the New Testament, the word healthy is the same Greek word used in the phrase sound doctrine. Sound is healthy. Healthy doctrine about God and man is the last thing most people want. Knowing what's right about God is often the last thing that people want. Jeremiah 2, the prophet talks about this. He says, Be appalled, O heavens, at this. Be shocked. Be utterly desolate, declares the Lord. For My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves." Broken cisterns that can hold no water. And Jeremiah is not speaking of the Moabites, or the Philistines, or the Babylonians. Jeremiah is speaking of his own people. He's speaking of God's people. People in the covenant community of the Old Testament. They knew about their shepherd in heaven. Psalm 23 was already written. They chose to make broken cisterns for themselves. They would rather have the cheap substitute, the broken cistern, than the fountain of living water. They would rather drink the dirty water and be sick. We also need to take those words into our own hearts and our own lives. How many times a day do you actually live like this prophecy in Jeremiah. How many times a day do you actually live like you would rather have the broken cistern that contains no water, rather than the water of life? We look to all kinds of other things to provide contentment in life. Money, security, health, fame, possessions, peace, entertainment, pleasure, drugs, alcohol, you name it. There's so many things that we look to, even our families, even our marriages. We look to as the thing that will fulfill us like living water. When ultimately what we need is to fix our eyes on the shepherd. At the heart of all rebellion like this is just a self love, it's a prideful selfishness. That refuses in that moment to be ruled by that man. Jesus, they will not be shepherded by him. They will not be owned by Him. They will not submit to Him. Because that would mean they couldn't be their own shepherd. They couldn't be their own king. They couldn't be their own owner. You see, we all seem to want to be our own God. And even Christians sometimes act this way. Even Christians sometimes think that we just want what we want. The shepherd will be there. I'll go find him later. And what a horrible, horrible presumption. No, the Good Shepherd is the only way to life. He's the only way to the still, quiet waters of life. The reality is that this living water is the only thing that can satisfy the thirst of man. Augustine said, You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee. The shepherd is the only living water. He's the only place where we will lay down in green pastures. So let's conclude by just focusing on our shepherd. He is the one who makes us lie down. He is the one who leads us beside still waters. Our care is completely dependent upon him and him alone. He is the good shepherd. He's what your soul really desires and what your soul really needs. Are you troubled and tossed by the storms of life? You need your shepherd. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Are you weary from pain and sorrow and uncertainty? Do you need refreshing and rest? Look to Jesus. Look to Christ. He calls you. Come to Me, all you who are weary and are heavy laden, carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Your eyes have been off of the shepherd far too long. Put your eyes on Christ. Only there will you not be easily frightened. Only there will you find comfort. The comfort of His voice that tells you not to be anxious, to lie down and rest and trust Him, that He is leading you well. If you feel parched and dry, alone and hungry, sick, tired, if you've been wandering, If you've been embracing sin and running from the flock and from your shepherd, there's but one thing to do. Turn to Jesus. Turn to Jesus. Run to Jesus. He's always with you. And He does make you lie down in green pastures and lead you beside still waters. Fix your eyes upon Him. And He alone will provide rest for your soul. Let's turn to Him in prayer before we partake of the Lord's Supper. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the care that we have in Christ Jesus, providing rest for our souls. We thank you that you do lead and guide as the sovereign, almighty Yahweh, the I Am. And because of that, we have nothing that we actually need besides you. Lord, fix our eyes upon you. and encourage our souls as we partake of your supper, your covenant meal this evening in