Well, for a few more weeks, we're going to be looking at John 10 in light of Psalm 23. In the Psalms, and many of the Psalms, of course, we see our Savior. We see Jesus. And for that reason, they are precious to us. Of course, all of God's Word is precious, but the Messianic Psalms are a very special part of the Scriptures. In Psalm 22, right before this psalm that we're studying, Psalm 22, we see the suffering of our Messiah. And in Psalm 24, we see our Messiah coronated as the king. But here, in Psalm 23, we see that our shepherd, our Messiah, lays down his life for the sheep, is always with his sheep. Indeed, we see the heart of our shepherd king. So I will be referencing Psalm 23, especially verse 4 during this message, but specifically focusing on the great care of the sheep in the face of danger. In John chapter 10, would you please stand for the reading of God's holy and inspired word? God has preserved this word for you for this morning. John chapter 10 in verse 3. The sheep hear His voice, 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. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees. And the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he's the hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me just as the father knows me. And I know the father and I lay down my life for the sheep. Amen. Please be seated. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Let us pray. Father in heaven, great shepherd of the sheep, we pray in Jesus' name that you would enlighten our hearts, open our eyes, unstop our ears, that we might hear your word, the voice of our shepherd this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, verse 4 of Psalm 23 states that even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil because our Shepherd is with us. In His rod and His staff, they comfort us. when I was preaching through Psalm 23 a few years ago, this verse reminded me very distinctly of The poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Charge of the Light Brigade, I think he uses that phrase, the valley of the shadow of death in this poem. If you're homeschooling your kids, I would say this is a poem that could be used wonderfully to just teach your children poetry and how to read poetry, because it is a wonderful and rhythmic poem. You feel like you're on a horse charging into the Russian brigades. But the charge of the Light Brigade was written during the Crimean War, and it was to commemorate the charge, the cavalry charge of 600 brave British soldiers who made up the Light Brigade. They were mistakenly ordered to charge with armies on both sides of them, pummeling them. They charged straight ahead, through a valley for a mile, attacked the infantry unit waiting for their attack, turned around and ran back home. It was all a mistake, and many people suffered. Indeed, in the poem, Tennyson says someone had blundered. Tennyson wrote the poem to honor their bravery, but also to cause the reader to kind of despise the futility of that action, of that charge, to despise the lack of good planning, the lack of clear communication, the lack of purpose, the waste of life, Truly, as Tennyson said, they rode into the valley of death, but someone had blundered. So you have this paradox of courage and just anger when you read. And that was, of course, Lord Tennyson's purpose. 50% casualties, killed, wounded, or captured. No one knew why they did it. It made no sense. Well, David talks about our own Christian valley. He calls the valley of the shadow of death. But there are many notable differences between the charge of the light brigade, although we often feel like we are part of that brigade in the way we walk through life. We feel like it's a blunder. There are many differences between our valley, our Christian valley, and that. You may walk through dark valleys in your life. and you will have trouble, our Lord tells us. But unlike the light brigade, you can be certain of this. No one has blundered. No matter how uncertain or confusing or how painful the enemy seems to be attacking. All is being accomplished according to the will of our sovereign God. According to his righteous and good plan, truly he is leading you. In the valley of the shadow of death, our Good Shepherd leads you. He is with you. The new Table Talk magazine is in the back. Burt Parsons has a wonderful little opening article describing living in what he calls uncertain times. And he says he actually despises that phrase. People will say often, especially in the past two or three years, well, we certainly live in uncertain times. Or the only certain thing about today is that it's so uncertain. And he makes the point rightly that that's just not true. There are no uncertain times. David says in Psalm 31, My times are in Your hand, O God. And we know that for a Christian, it's truly all good. Romans 8 tells us that we know for God's people, all things work together for good. And we hold tightly to this promise as we walk through times that feel uncertain, as we walk through our own valley or shadow of death. Our children certainly understand this and I remember as a child singing the song that you all know. He's got the whole world in his hands. He's got the whole world in his hands and I just believed it. It wasn't until I grew older and got smarter that I began to doubt. Smarter might be in quotes there. Truly, what I learned as a child is correct. He does have the whole world in his hands. And because of that, There is nothing for the Christian to fear. So I want to look at verse 4 of Psalm 23 in light of John 10. If you remember from last week, verse 3 of Psalm 23 says that He leads. He leads in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. David knew that good shepherds didn't take chances. They didn't just let the flock run and follow them where they were going. No, they led their flocks. And often they had to go to higher pasture. They couldn't graze on the same piece of grass in the same pasture for a long time because it would ruin it. He had to lead them to higher pastures where the grass was greener, where the weather was cooler, and shepherds would plan and do plan their routes very carefully. They consider the route, they consider the dangers of the terrain, they consider the dangers of predators, they consider the weather patterns, the condition of the flock to make the sheep. Indeed, every individual sheep is considered by a good shepherd before he leads them on a road that might be difficult to greener pastures. He knows that there might be difficult terrain to get from one pasture to another. leading to the greener pastures, but that the flock would be stronger and healthier by making that difficult journey to the green pastures. So more than just taking the flock higher for good grazing, it's also to the benefit and the health of the flock of the sheep to endure and survive the journey of the mountain pastures or to the mountain pastures. So these paths of righteousness where He leads certainly will include shadowy valleys that may feel dangerous. So the psalm certainly seems to flow and progress in this direction. That He leads us even into the valley of the shadow of death. The shadow of death is a single Hebrew word. It's translated shadow of death, but it's just one Hebrew word and it just means gloom or deep darkness or kind of a death shadow even. Let me give you some examples of how it's used in the Scriptures. Job 16.16, My face is red with weeping, and on my eyelids is deep darkness. That deep darkness is that same Hebrew word translated shadow of death. This is Job, of course. Job 38, Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Have you seen the gates of deep darkness? See, it's a very foreboding word. Psalm 107. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons. For they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. So He bowed their hearts down with hard labor, and they fell down with none to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble. He delivered them from their distress, He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and burst their bonds apart." So, being led into the valley of the shadow of death is no easy thing. These dark valleys are valleys where you feel sometimes that death itself encompasses you. They're not coincidences. We're being led there for a good and holy purpose. No, these aren't evil paths. They are actually, in God's economy, loving paths. Loving paths planned from all eternity for your health and for your good. So David could remain confident that God was with him. In the very next two verses, he talks about all the blessing that God was bringing to him. For the Christian, we can affirm that even the most horrible paths have a redeeming value. You see, your Good Shepherd knows you. He knows you personally. He won't give you one ounce more distress than you can handle or that is needed to accomplish His glorious, sanctifying purpose in your life. And besides all that, He knows you. He makes no mistakes. I know that there are some of you who are struggling. horribly right now with all kinds of hardship. So I don't say this lightly. But the Bible teaches that God is the one leading you into these difficult valleys. He's not the author of evil, but he does use and ordain all things for his own glory. And his own purposes. And even the sins of man are not apart from his providential care. God knows. God of all people knows what suffering and injustice is. Even the most uncruel, unjust crime of all eternity happened to God Himself, to the God the Son, when He was crucified. The perfect, innocent Lamb was crucified. The Holy One was crucified. Suffering at the hands of murderous men. And He bore the wrath of God. for us. And Jesus calls the cross His glory. That's our example, brothers and sisters. When you receive a cross, you don't rejoice that you're being hurt or that you're suffering. You rejoice that God is doing something amazing. And in that sense, you can call your own cross your glory. He submitted to the will of his father. It was his father's will to crush him. For a glorious purpose, it was God's definite plan and foreknowledge for him and whatever you face is God's definite plan and foreknowledge for you. Yes, your life will be filled with valleys. It will be dark and dangerous at times, and you might be in a valley right now. I was just thinking through the life of our church. You may have experienced the death of a loved one, or the rejection of a friend, or loss of a relationship, the apostasy of a family member, or some chronic sickness that just doesn't seem to end, or a financial hardship, or some overwhelming emotional stress, or debilitating sin that you feel like you cannot get out from under, no matter what the trial. No matter how closely the shadow of death might feel to pursue you, you know that whatever valley through which you walk, that it is God who has led you there. And He is a good shepherd who loves you. Remember, Jesus told His disciples that He goes before His own sheep and the sheep follow Him. He is the good shepherd, the Almighty God. He knows His own and His own know Him. He's leading you there. In Amos 5-8 we read that He is the one who can turn deep darkness into the morning. Post-Tenebrous looks was the theme of the Reformation. Out of darkness, light. Certainly He does that over and over again for the church of God throughout history. And He does it for His people as well. Well, what's the problem? Sometimes we know this factually, but we feel like maybe someone has blundered. Maybe the charge is futile. Maybe God has forgotten me. You feel like the light brigade. Like guns are firing on every side and you're just trying to survive and not knowing why you're there. Not knowing if anyone really knows what's going on. And yet God's Word tells us to remember that He goes before His sheep. The sheep are following their Good Shepherd. And He's not a shepherd who runs. He's a shepherd who lays down His own life for His sheep. He knows each one of you. So for that reason, we fear no evil. We fear no evil. For He is with us. The heidelberg, number one, is a wonderful question and answer, which you've heard before. What is your only comfort in life and in death? Answer, that I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood, who has set me free from all the power of the devil, He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my Heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head. Indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now on to live for Him." It's basically a summary of Psalm 23 and of John 10, is it not? Because of our God, We can have courage in the valley of the shadow of death. We will fear no evil, for He is with us. His sovereignty plus His presence equals courage and comfort. Well, continuing in verse 4 of Psalm 23, David states that God's rod and God's staff, they comfort me. So a rod was used for correction, for protection, for training. The staff of a shepherd was used to rescue or to comfort. The rod was used to prod the slow sheep or to correct the bullying sheep, to defend the flock. But the staff supported the sheep, lifted the sheep. It was for their good. David sees the use of the rod and the staff in the work of our own shepherd. Why? Because he knows his own. He knows every detail of your life. He knows what you're thinking before you think it. He knows what you're saying before you say it. He knows what you're doing before you do it. There is nothing uncertain. And if we had a wicked shepherd, this would be terrifying. But we have a good shepherd who lays down his own life for the sheep. You see, at times when you feel like your shepherd has run away and left you to the wolves, it's actually just the opposite. You feel that way, but the reality is He's right there with you. He's led you into the dark valley, and yes, you may feel the rod, the shepherd's rod, but you will soon feel His staff. He's leading you well. This is His perfect plan. And He's already laid down His life for you. He's proven His love for you. And this is our comfort, our great comfort we have in this world. That God is sovereign over all things and that He loves me. We live in His kingdom. This is His universe. He's got the whole world in His hands. Our shorter catechism, number 11, states that God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. I don't know of a better description of providence than that. And what's the effect of that wonderful providence? Well, I must also read Heidelberg 27 describing God's providence in a more poetic way. God's providence is His almighty and ever-present power. whereby, as with His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them, that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, food and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed all things, come to us not by chance, but by His fatherly hand. He knows His own, and His own know Him. And this means that we can be patient in adversity and thankful in prosperity. And with a view to the future, we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature shall separate us from His love. For all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will, they cannot so much as move. I'm reminded of Psalm 139. You have laid your hand upon me. And such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's too lofty for me to contain. So let's conclude with just remembering the great benefits we have from being with our Good Shepherd. John 10.28 he states, as the Good Shepherd, that He gives them eternal life, the sheep. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hands. The Father who has given me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. What confidence we have knowing our Shepherd. What confidence we have in His sovereignty. Again, this produces great courage and perseverance under trial. In the valley of the shadow of death, we will not fear because He is with us. We will fear no evil because He is with us. Our shepherd never runs. He always stands and fights for His own. In Hebrews 13, verse 5, He says, I will never leave you or forsake you. In Joshua, He says, Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be terrified. Do not be dismayed. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you are going. In Isaiah 43, God says, Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. And Jesus tells us that the Father and the Son would send the Comforter, the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will be with you forever. And of course, as we go into this world, all of this is not just for our comfort. It's part of our mission. The Great Commission was to go and make disciples of all nations. We have all of this great comfort and assurance, not so that we can sit here in these four walls and just soak it up. No, it's so that we go out and accomplish the great mission that He's given us. Confidently that He will be with us always, even to the end of the age. So yes, we will fear no evil. We will go out and do the mission God has given us with courage. Yes, when we have trials and tribulations, we cry out to God for help. Yes, absolutely. We're commanded to do so. But we're confident that the rod of correction or the rod of our Shepherd will also be used to comfort us with His staff. And the presence of our Shepherd is the greatest comfort. Today I want you to remember that He is with you. He is sovereign in all things. Nothing happens apart from the will of our Heavenly Father in Heaven. You aren't ever in a valley for no reason. No one has blundered. And it is all good in Christ. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you. We thank you in Jesus name that you have brought us to yourself. You brought us to yourself, and this is a safe place to be in your flock. It is a safe place to have such a shepherd who knows all things, who can do all things. And yet who loves us individually. Lord, please. Be with us in our valleys. Let us fear no evil. Let us remember that you are with us. Comfort us with your rod and your staff. Let us never forget the great sacrifice that was made to bring us into this flock, and let us never, ever fail to cherish the wonders and the glory of our Good Shepherd. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, we turn now to a time of the Lord's Supper. By way of introduction, you should remember that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who instituted