But I just sensed from the Lord that it was a good time to take a different approach for the next several weeks, and we're going to be looking at the Old Testament in Psalm chapter 23, which probably is one of the most well-known passages of Scripture from a familiarity standpoint in the world. Just because you know about the passage doesn't mean you understand the passage, but it is a very important passage of Scripture The theme of a shepherd is a very strong theme that runs throughout the Bible. It is a picture that God himself really likes to use when he describes his relationship to us. It also is a word that is used in the Old Testament to refer to prophets and priests and other men like Moses and others like that who oversaw the affairs of Israel. It also is used in the New Testament referring to the pastoral office. There are few things in life from an artistic standpoint that are as reassuring, calming, and pleasant to look at than a picture of a lush green countryside a bright blue sky, white fluffy clouds, and a flock of white sheep, and a shepherd off to the side, overlooking the whole business. Nothing quite as relaxing as that in the artistic world. The reality is, as believers, we are sheep. Whether we like to think about that or not, we are sheep in God's perspective. We might prefer ourselves to be something majestic like a bald eagle, or something powerful like a lion, or something fast like a cheetah, or swift like a bird, or glamorous like a big fish gliding through the ocean. Whatever animal you prefer to think of yourself as, the reality is you are like a sheep. The good news is, though, and let me just say, we'll talk about that part of it in the upcoming weeks as we walk through the psalm. I'm not going to emphasize the matter that we're a sheep today. We have plenty of time to talk about that. It is humiliating. Today I want to talk about the other side of this passage, and that is who our shepherd is. In your mind again, just consider that picture of that lush green countryside. Do you know what that's like as a city dweller? We don't see that very much. That's one of the reasons why I think it's important for us to look at a passage like this. There are places in the world that aren't cities. Think about that lush green countryside, a flock of white sheep, a shepherd off to the side, a little patch of trees, and some clouds and a blue sky. Think about that scene and imagine what it would be like to be in that setting, to lay down in the grass with your arms behind your head, look up at the sky, the air about as fresh as it is today, and just taking that all in. No worries. In our life, that is where we're at. Every now and then, we have to go through a valley. Every now and then, there is a lion that seeks to attack us. And every now and then, there's a thunderstorm in the sky. But we always have a shepherd. And our shepherd isn't just any shepherd. Our shepherd is the Lord. Daniel is staying here this year to work a job. He has a lot of responsibilities that are now falling at his feet. But here's the good news. You have a shepherd, and he's going to guide you through that. I could walk in each of our lives. I could walk you through what you're facing and remind you that you have a shepherd who is watching over the whole business. Everything is under his watchful eye. I really trust that as city dwellers that we can tap a little bit into the rural, agricultural, and natural life of a sheep and a shepherd. It's important for us and sometimes reading a passage like this we get caught up in the poetic sound of it and the comforting effect that we get from reading it. The reality is there are things regarding this psalm that we would understand much more vibrantly and practically and personally if we understood the idea of a shepherd and a sheep a little bit more. And if you didn't grow up in a farm and if you didn't grow up on the countryside there are things you're missing when you read this passage. Who wrote this psalm? We know the Holy Spirit was instrumental in this happening to the very word, but who was the person who wrote this psalm? King David, right? We don't really know if he was a king at the time he wrote this or not, but one thing that we do know is that David himself also had been a shepherd. We are reading a psalm about a shepherd and sheep written by someone who knows about shepherds and sheep because they were one. You say, which one, a shepherd or a sheep? Yes, both. I am a shepherd. I'm also a sheep, just like each one of us. One commentator named J.J. Stewart Perrone back from the 1800s observed that there is no psalm in the Bible in which the absence of all doubt, misgiving, fear, and anxiety is so remarkable. As you read this psalm, one of the things that catches your attention is that there's no fear in this psalm. There are no misgivings or lack of trust. There's no trepidation or holding back. There are no concerns, no worries, no anger, no frustration. This psalm has the same nature and character as though it was written by a little baby, fresh into this life, fully fed and laying in his mother's lap. And reading this psalm gives us the reality of that kind of rest and trust. And what I want as pastor is for that to be a reality in your life, not just the way you feel when you read this passage. This is the kind of trust we need to cultivate in our relationship with God. Simple, calm, unafraid, wholehearted trust in Jesus, knowing that at all times he has our best interest in mind and his eyes are watching over the whole business. Since your shepherd is the Lord, you should rest completely in his care. Can I ask you before we even start today, any further, to take all of your worries, lost relatives, difficult jobs, ramped up pressures as the academic season begins for some of us, financial stresses, bills on that desk back at the house that you don't know how and when to pay, medical issues that are still mending or just occurred and they weren't planned, relationship stresses and hurts, and so many other things. Let me ask you in a very simple childlike way, can you place those things at the feet of Jesus today as we pray for this message? Can you say, Lord, my good shepherd, take all of them. Forgive me for the hurts and the pains and the challenges and the stresses I've held on to because I felt like I could solve them myself. You know the questions in my mind right now. You know the challenges that I'm facing, and I don't have the answers or the resources or the means or skills. You're my shepherd. Help me to turn my head over my shoulder and see you on the hillside and give you all of them and then turn back around and go rest under that clear blue sky with the white fluffy clouds and the sunshine shining. Can we do that today as we pray? Our good shepherd. We speak to you from Faith Baptist Church this morning in a very, very busy city. So many ways, unaware of what it's like to be a sheep and a shepherd on a countryside. But we ask today that you'll refresh our minds and spirits with this psalm. Enable us to hand over every challenge and trial in our life those we've never given to you those we have given to you and taken back and those were afraid to give to you and Help us to hand them all over to you today and let go and let you take charge of the whole business and guide our lives 100% that we would rest in your care Thank you that you are our Shepherd In Jesus' name, amen. Let's read Psalm 23 together. I'll read it out loud. You follow along. 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 restores my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. 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 a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord. forever you see the emphasis in this passage can you see the pronouns the lord is my shepherd just from a poetic standpoint let's start right out of the gate with the main point of this passage the lord Jehovah God is my shepherd, and do you see the end of it? I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And between those two references to Jehovah, you have pronouns. He, him, thou, you, Lord, and then a few regarding me as well. The only people in this psalm apart from the enemies that are mentioned is you and the Lord. This is a passage between you and the Lord. I am talking about it today. Try to ignore me. And just let the Lord, your shepherd, calm your fears. Let the Lord, your shepherd, give you courage. Let him give you wisdom and nourishment and refreshment. You need it. You live in New York City. You need it. The first point I want to make is number one, there is more than one shepherd, but only one is good. There is more than one shepherd, but only one is good. There is more than one shepherd for us in the world. The devil himself is a shepherd of sorts who feeds on his own sheep. Psalm 49 and verse 14. Let me read this to you. says like sheep they are laid in the grave death shall feed on them and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling not all sheep have good shepherds A good shepherd does not manage his sheep like merchandise. He genuinely cares for each one individually. He doesn't just care for the sheep because they draw him an income. He cares for the sheep because he knows them by name. He understands the individuality of each sheep. He understands the personality and the strength and the weakness and the propensities of each sheep. He not only has them in his head, but he also has them in his heart. A good shepherd knows his sheep by name. A good shepherd looks at a flock of sheep and to you they all look the same. But he can tell you, oh, that one? He may not have a name, or he may, but he can tell you what that one's like. That one never listens. Whenever I say, go this way, it goes this way. The only way to get that sheep to go this way is to tell it to go this way. Then it goes the way you want it to go. This sheep always eats too much. And when they feed and go to pasture, I have to watch that sheep and pull it out of the pasture prematurely, or it will gorge itself to death. That sheep is always picking a fight. That sheep already has a wife, but it wants more. That sheep needs special attention. I have to put it over here. That sheep had some babies last year. but it doesn't treat them very well. I have to come in and be a mother to those lambs a little bit more than the rest. That sheep there was abused by a wolf as a young lamb, and it's been afraid ever since. I have to show some extra love to that sheep. That sheep hates to be shorn. It takes two people to hold it down. But not that sheep over there. That one will lay down at your feet and let you shear it. And it almost seems to thank you with a funny smile on its face, though I know it's not a real smile. It looks like it every single time. It's a good sheep. And that sheep over there is old and everybody respects it. And there are some times I even look to that sheep to know where to go. A good shepherd knows his sheep. Did you know that not every shepherd, though, is good? I have a book that helps me, among other resources, in studying and preparing for these messages, and it's written by a man who was in full-time ministry, but who had also been a shepherd of sheep himself in reality for many years. He says in testimony that, in memory, I can still see one of the sheep ranches in our district, which was operated by a tenant sheepman. He ought never to have been allowed to keep sheep. His stock were always thin, weak, and riddled with disease or parasites. Again and again they would come and stand at the fence, staring blankly through the woven wire at the green lush pastures which my flock enjoyed. Had they been able to speak, I am sure they would have said, oh, to be set free from this awful owner. You ever drive through farmlands and notice that one barn seems a little well cared for and the other one doesn't? Some cows look better than others. Some fields look better than others. Not every shepherd is a good shepherd. If you followed Satan at all at any period in your life as a Christian or a non-Christian, you know that he doesn't care for you. He offers you many things only to get you into his headcount. only to take you over the cliff with him. He could care less if you get parasites. He could care less if you get blessed. He could care less if you get nipped at the heels by a wolf or a fox or a bear. He could care less about whether your offspring survive or not. He could care less. All he cares is that you go to the grave with him. Don't follow him or any of his representatives in this world. There are many shepherds but only one is good. If you are a born-again child of God, think about it. You once were in a different flock, and Satan was your master and shepherd, and you know the results of that. He did not care about you or for you. He mistreated you, misled you, and neglected you. In fact, he hated you. But you have been graciously claimed by Jesus Christ, and you are in his pasture now and forever. You will never leave his flock. He will never let it be. No matter how obstinate and ridiculous you may behave, he loves you, and he bought you, and he will never let you go. He cares for you at every moment and serves you with your best interest in mind, even when you're doing the most awful of things. He's watching over the whole business, and he loves you. He will never let you go. There are many shepherds, but only one is good. Number two, our shepherd isn't just ordinary. Our shepherd is the Lord. The word Lord is the English translation of the great Old Testament personal name for God. And this is described for us by James Montgomery Boyce in his expositional commentary on the Psalms. Very good resource. This name of Lord was first disclosed to Moses at the burning bush, and was told in Exodus chapter 3, then repeated more than 4,000 times in the pages of the Old Testament. The name literally means, I am who I am. It is an inexhaustible name, like its bearer. Chiefly, it refers to God's timelessness on the one hand, and to his self-sufficiency on the other. Self-sufficiency means that God needs nothing. He needs no wisdom from anyone else. He has all wisdom in himself. He needs no power. He is all-powerful. He needs no resources. He has all resources. He needs no help. He has all help. He does not need to be worshipped or helped or served. Nor is he accountable to anyone. He answers only to himself. He is God. He is eternal. Revelation chapter one and verse eight says about Jesus Christ, our shepherd. I am alpha and omega. I am the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come. The almighty God. Your shepherd is God. Your shepherd has never had a beginning. He never will have an ending. He has seen everything. He knows everything and he has everything that he needs. There is not a point in the past that he has not existed. And there's not a point in the future where he will fail to exist. He is always and will always be there for you. Think about history in this way, because in part it is true. Ever since the beginning of whenever there wasn't a beginning, he has cared for you. If we look in the New Testament, in John chapter 10, without quoting it, Jesus refers to himself as the Good Shepherd. Which, by the way, folks, if you understand the Old Testament and the shepherd theme that runs throughout it very clearly, and especially Psalm 23, which was known very famously. If you know anything about the Bible, for Jesus Christ himself as a rabbi, as a teacher of scriptures, for him to be so bold and brazen and blatant as to say, I am the good shepherd. You can only take that to be a claim to be God, a claim to being Jehovah. Psalm 23 is an evidence of the deity of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who will feed his flock like a shepherd and will gently lead those that are with young. It is Jesus who guided ridiculous Israel, bumbling around, rebelling and resisting all the way through the wilderness, every last one of them. It is Jesus who guided history to get to you. And he intends to guide the future with you in mind as well. He cares for you. He is the Lord. He is eternal. He is also the creator and sustainer of all things. Let's look in Colossians 1, verses 16-17. Colossians 1, verses 16-17. Paul writes and says, For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things. And by him, all things consist. Consist means held together. The only reason this world does not fall apart or literally scientifically blow apart is because he, by his own grace and power, holds it together. Every atom, every collection of atoms, every DNA, every living species and being on this earth. There's not a volcano that's not blowing right now, apart from the fact that he's saying no. There's not a volcano that blows that he hasn't said yes to. Yesterday, some rain hit us in Corona and then it hit us again last night. Every drop was ordained by God and not a drop more or less. He was in charge of that business. There is not a political office or position in the world and in history, whether we're talking about Genghis Khan or our own presidents who did not get that from God. there isn't a place of authority in the invisible world that was not allowed by God. Every angel and every parasite, every mammal and every reptile, every living and unliving object, every plant and any place in the world, identified or not, cataloged by a scientist or not, it has all been created by him. Every animal or creature in the depths of the ocean and every undiscovered animal in the remote regions of the world, all were created by him, by species and individually. He knows the feathers on a bird's wing. He knows the hairs on your head. He knows exactly how many grains of sand there are in the world at any given time. And if that changes, he knows when it changes and to what number. He could tell you right now where every loose cat is in the city of New York. And you know what? He cares. He knows how much food you have in your cupboard right now. And he knows how much money you have or don't have to replace it. He knows how much gas is in your car if you have one. And he knows if you don't have one. He knows if you do have one when the next tire is going to go flat. And he's already preparing for that. He knows what grades you're going to get this year. He knows everything. You may not even know everything about your own personal finances, but you know what? He already does. Did you know that when you look up at the sky in a rural area, we're not used to this in the city, but there are places, and you know this in the world, that where there isn't light pollution, where there aren't so many electrically generated lights, that you can actually see the sky. I remember traveling to South Africa back several years ago on a missions venture, and I remember going out to the villages and looking up in the rural village setting where there were no electric lights. And I remember looking up at the sky and seeing so many stars, you couldn't count them. It was an awesome sight. When you look at the sky in that kind of a place, some scientists have estimated that 250 million times 250 million such stars exist. And this is a fact, that each one of them is larger and sometimes ridiculously larger than our sun. And these kind of objects fill our universe. They help us to put things in perspective like this. Did you know that the sun that we have in our own solar system, to equal its size, you would have to take 1,300,000 Earths and dump them into it? Have you traveled the world yet? This thing is so large we don't even know that it's round except for that it was discovered another way. It looks pretty flat. It would take 1,300,000 Earths to make up the Sun, and the Sun is a very, very, very small star. Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system to our sun. But at 4.3 light years away, and this is the closest one, getting there would be a difficult thing. The Alpha Centauri system is much farther away from us than the sun. There's a lot of empty space between us and this nearest of stars among the millions and millions and billions of ones that are out there. If you imagine Earth as a grain of sand, then Alpha Centauri would be over six miles away. How many grains of sand strung next to each other would it take to equal six miles? That's the picture we should get for how far we are from the next star. And there are billions of them. My shepherd holds all of this. in his hand. And he cares. I like talking to Brother Carl because he likes plants and botany, and I'm not as advanced as he is in those things, nor am I probably as advanced as my own family. Right now they've been studying those things and can identify every tree on our block. Pretty neat. Did you know that when you walk around and you look at plants and flowers, sometimes you might catch me stopping and smelling a flower? I do do that. I know it's not the manly image that the world tries to sell, but you know what? I feel that King David probably would have done the same. So he wrote psalms and played the harp. He also killed people with his bare hands. So there's a man for you. He did it all. Frontline linebacker and poet. Seriously, that is manliness, but that's another topic for another time. It's not the cowboy image that everyone tries to sell. One of the benefits of being David was that David himself had been a shepherd. And what do you do when you're a shepherd watching sheep? You're outside all the time, away from the developed, civilized world, and the sky is your ceiling. and the grass is your floor. And you have no central air, you just have air to breathe. And if there's rain in that air, you have that too. You think David ever analyzed the natural world around him? Isn't it David that said, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork, day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night shows knowledge? What is he talking about? He's talking about day after day outside and night after night awake in the natural world. He saw all kinds of things. And he walks away from that and he says, God, you are amazing. Sometimes we're so distracted by our skyscrapers, our automobiles, and our computers that we forget the things that God has made. Pick up a leaf and think about it. Pluck a flower and smell it and take it in. Look at an animal and be amazed. No man made that. God made that. And no one can duplicate it. It's phenomenal. If you walk to an art museum, and sometimes you have to be careful which art museum and which hallway you go down in the art museum. Some, not all art is created equal or appropriate. Yeah, Phil says, hey man, you work at an art museum, brother. You gotta deal with this. But one of the things that you do when you study art is you look at a picture and you try to understand the person who painted it. It tells you a little bit about how they think, which leads you to the idea that some of them have questionable thought processes. But some have phenomenal thought processes, and you think, how did a brain produce this? What kind of feelings do they have? What kind of ideas? How do they perceive the world around them? And what were they trying to say through this painting? This here is the specific revelation from God in words, and this is important. This is where the buck stops, right here. But don't ignore the natural revelation around us. You want to understand the delicacies of God's thought process, his idea of beauty, his idea of strength and majesty? Study the world around you. Look at a plant. Before I got married, there were times that I would use my park pass, and I'd just go out on my lonesome, and I'd walk through the woods, and I'd just look at trees, listen to birds, smell flowers, walk up the tree and feel its bark and look at it, and just try to understand God. because he made all those things. My kids color a picture. Sometimes I take that picture, and when they're not looking, I study it and try to think about what I can learn about them from that picture. Sometimes I'm not quite sure what I'm looking at, but it helps me understand them. because of the ways that they express themselves. God expresses himself through this world. All things were created by him and for him and he holds all of it together. By the way, my shepherd someday is going to let go of it and he's going to take it as it were, not you, but the created universe and all these billions of objects larger than our sun, light years away, he's going to take all of it say done with that and do that again and he's gonna make a brand-new world and he's gonna make a brand-new it's okay to raise your hands on that he's gonna make a brand-new universe with no sin sorrow hardness difficulty or pain there will be work there will be challenges there will be responsibilities but in a perfect work environment Free access to the throne at any time. A room in his mansion just for you. And I am convinced there'll be a lot of gardening. That's the first occupation God created. It's the closest to his heart. There you go, Brother Roberts. But it's true. Study the Bible. It's not computer science. This is your shepherd, folks. I just want you to stop and think about him. He needs you to think about him a little bit more and who he really is, not just what you can get from him or some things about the Bible that teach you more doctrine. Yes, that's important, but what about him as a person, as our shepherd? A sheep most benefits from the care of a shepherd when he begins to consider his shepherd personally, individually, and intimately. Not only is he the sustainer and creator of all things, he also is the judge of the whole world. Romans chapter 14 and 10 says this, why do you judge your brother and why do you set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.10 We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. 2 Timothy 4.1 I charge thee therefore before God and even the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Philippians 2 9-11 Wherefore God also has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The upper world, our world, and the underworld will all submit to Jesus. There is not a created being with a thinking process that will not bow their knee to Jesus someday. And when that happens, and when you're on your knee, you can look at him and know, that's my shepherd, he's mine. And when all those billions of people are bowing, you can look at him, all of you, and have that one-on-one connection. You're my shepherd. Thanks. Some people will have to turn their shoulder and look to the lake of fire where Satan will already be, where their shepherd is, and realize at that great white throne judgment that they're about to follow their shepherd into that lake and be with him forever. If you have never placed your personal trust exclusively in Jesus Christ, that is your destiny and that can change. You can become a shepherd in the flock of Jesus and be cared for perfectly forever if you will ask Jesus Christ to be your personal shepherd now and forever. You can do that today. Talk to one of us. Talk to me. I'll refer you to one of the members in our church, and you can get that settled today and have no worries. I don't have this in my personal notes, but this occurred to me this morning as I was reflecting on the message, and I just told the Lord, if you really want me to say that, remind me about it personally. And he has reminded me about this personally. Did you know that your shepherd never sleeps? I had to go to sleep last night and there were some things in my heart and I had to put pause on. I had to put those things aside and I had to get some sleep. The deacons know sometimes they get emails from me kind of late at night. Sometimes I just have to put a stop to that and go to bed. I can't work two o'clock in the morning. I have to sleep. But there are some times I wake up in the morning and it hits me. My shepherd never sleeped. God has never slept because he is always working for us. And that is what a shepherd does. Being a shepherd is a hard job because you can't ever sleep. You have to be awake when everyone else is sleeping because when everyone else is sleeping is when the enemy likes to attack. And you have to be awake then. You have to catch sleep here and there. Shepherding is tiring business. Even when no action is taking place, you have to stay awake. It's also dangerous business because you can get yourself killed by a lion or a bear. It's also uncomfortable business because when it rains, you have to be there with the sheep. When it snows, you have to be there with the sheep. When it's ridiculously hot, you have to be there with the sheep. Not easy business. Number three. Shepherding is a menial role. Shepherding is a menial role. The word menial simply means low-level, bottom-shelf, unglamorous responsibility. It's a menial role. How astonishing it is, folks, to find the words Lord and Shepherd in such proximity, connected by a linking verb. The Lord, who I just described very briefly, who holds all this universe in his hands and is in charge of everything, who made everything, and to whom everyone will give an account, is my shepherd. David is asserting here that the sovereign ruler of the universe has taken up the menial task of shepherding him. We could not dare believe this if the Lord himself had not revealed himself in this way. Our president doesn't care for us in this way, and quite frankly, not even your parents care for you in quite this way. No one is as more personally and intimately involved in your care than the Lord himself, if you are a Christian. and you'd think he had better things to do. But he doesn't. In Israel, as in other ancient societies, a shepherd's work was considered the lowest of all works. It was the bottom rung, entry level, If a family needed a shepherd, it was always the youngest son, like David, who got this unpleasant assignment. Shepherds had to live with the sheep 24 hours a day, and the task of caring for them was unending. Day and night, summer and winter, fair weather and foul, they labored to nourish, guide, and protect the sheep. David knew what it was like to be a shepherd, because he himself had been one. You all know the story of David, 1 Samuel 16, verses 10 through 11. Samuel comes to the house of Jesse, and he says, who are your sons? Because I've been told that one of your sons will be the next king. And Samuel, or Jesse, takes his oldest sons, who all were very qualified to join the local college football team on scholarship. And they all came parading out, very impressive, very tall, very handsome, very winsome, very strong, very smart, very intimidating. And Jesse said, check him out. Oh, man after his own father's heart. Hey, this guy is born right out of his father's genes. And this man is, boy, he's impressive. Samuel said, no, none of these guys are the guy. And he looks at them again, and he tries to consider them again. No, this just really is not going to work. It's none of these men. And he doesn't know how many sons Jesse has. from what I can gather. But he looks at him and he says, none of these men are who God is looking for. Do you happen to have any other sons? It says here in 1 Samuel 16, 10 through 11. Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, the Lord hath not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, are here all thy children? And he said, well, there remaineth yet the youngest. And behold, he's keeping the sheep. Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he comes hither. This was the job that a fine family sent the youngest boy out to do. And the Lord says, For you, I'm going to do it personally. I'm going to sit through that weather. I'm going to stay 24-7. I'm going to sit by your side. I'm going to take the hits and the bites and the fights and I'm going to heal and lead and guide you and feed you. I'm going to call you by name. I'm going to love you and I'm going to know you intimately and personally with no intermediate but me. Let me also say this. This is where you have to pray for me as pastor. I have a very great burden. My burden is that to the best of my human ability, I am able to shepherd you like God. Dads, let me quickly turn the topic to you. You are responsible to shepherd your family in a way that they see how God is like in the way that you lead them. What an opportunity. Ladies have a great place in life, but you don't get that chance. Men, you do. Shepherd like God. As we walk through Psalm 23, know that as a pastor, I'm asking questions in my personal study in life like, Lord, how can I be like this? And men, you should be asking questions like, how can I be like this? Not just how are you this way to me, but how can I be this kind of a shepherd in the lives of the people you've given to me? Because that's what this world needs. They need to know a shepherd who cares like this, who makes hard decisions as we'll see in this passage, but everything that he does is gentle and firm and right. And in the end, all the sheep get the blessing. For all the dirt, and the mud, and the cuts, and the scrapes, and the misunderstandings, and all the things the shepherd got left out on to lead them to higher ground, they get all the blessings. And that's as it should be. I'm reminded of Mark chapter 10, verse 45, one of my favorite verses in the Bible. when Jesus himself said, even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. The sovereign Lord of this massive universe has chosen to be your servant, to be your shepherd. Do you marvel at that? Do you brag about that? I remember as a child bragging about my own father's boss. My father was a bivocational pastor. He worked for a bus charter service known as the Star of Indiana Bus Lines. It's now been bought out and changed. I was doing some research yesterday to dig up some things on this company. It's owned by another company now. This is the company that would provide charter services for all the IU, Big Ten University, all the chartering for all of their sports and athletic teams, which aren't much to speak of, and also for their drum and bugle corps, which are very much to speak of. The Canadian Brass, if you're familiar with them, are a very high-level brass group. The Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps would be right up at that level. premier for that kind of a venue. And they would take these people around, among other things. The person who owned the Star of Indiana bus lines, his name was Bill Cook. Bill Cook at that time owned that company. Now, it wasn't something he overly cared about. He owned half of downtown Bloomington, which is where IU University was at. He was an incredible philanthropist in the sense that he gave many, many gifts financially in many, many ways. Bloomington owes a lot to him. He was the richest man in the state of Indiana. And just for fun, he bought Star of Indiana bus lines, showed up there once or twice a year, didn't pay a lot of attention to it, threw a few of his friends in there to run it. And my dad ended up being one of the mechanics, one of the two or three mechanics there who worked on the buses. He saw Bill Cook once or twice a year when he came in to look at his personal bus. As a kid, I thought that was pretty cool. I liked telling my friends, my dad works for the richest man in Indiana. I tell you what, that's neat, right? In fact, this man was worth about $5 billion in 2008, according to the Forbes 400. In September 2010, he was ranked number 101 on the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans. And this was ultimately, though he didn't know my dad, my dad didn't really know him, technically, he was ultimately my father's boss. I enjoyed telling my friends about this, even though Mr. Cook and my dad didn't even know each other. I remember on one occasion, my father working on one of the buses. There was some mechanical work that needed done, and it was my brother Donald's birthday. And he had to take this bus for a test drive. And so he got permission to take this bus and to drive it to our house. And the five of us, I think there were six at that time, we had just adopted my brother Zach, And the six of us got into the bus. We had this huge, high-premium, very, very nice charter bus, all to ourselves, because my dad was the mechanic, and he had to test drive it. And he turned the test drive into a family trip. And we took that thing to the local Ryan's Buffet, which is, we don't have a lot of things like this here in the city. It's kind of this big piece of property with a large parking lot and a big building, and kind of like the Maple, what's the place that we go to. The Shady Maples, kind of like that, only not high level like that. But a very big buffet. I tell you what, there was something prestigious about my dad pulling up with that big old bus, pushing the button for the kneeler, and the air letting out, and the bus leaning down like this. We're just dressed in jeans and polo shirts, just getting out, people were looking at us. Who are these people? And there only were six of us that got out. That was fun. And then it was fun having him pull up and all of us got picked up and we got into the thing. And it was fun driving out and watching lines of people watch. Who are these people driving this bus around? And I remember pulling back into the garage that night and parking the bus and getting off. And it was kind of like a Cinderella moment where you feel like you're getting back to normal pedestrian life as you get off the bus and get into the little Ford Escort and all four of us stuff into the back and we go home in our little four-cylinder economy used car. My dad's boss was the richest man in Indiana, but he died in 2010, or 2011. He no longer is the richest man in Indiana, and my father no longer works for him, but there is something more important that hasn't changed. The Lord is my shepherd. That hasn't changed, and it never will. He will never die, he will never go out of business, and no one will ever become richer than him. And he will always be my shepherd. The God of the universe, not anyone else, is your shepherd. Do you brag about that? When I read the first half of the first verse of Psalm 23, I can imagine David standing there, and with humble pride, putting his fingers on his lapels, leaning back, the blade of grass in between his lips, taking a deep breath, and turning to a friend and saying, you know what? I'll tell you something. You want to know something? It was big. It's really big. You ready for this? You're not going to believe it. Look up there. See those stars? There's billions of them, bigger than the sun. Look out there. You see the river? See that forest over there? You know who made all that? It's God. You want to know something? It's big. He's my shepherd. Do better than that. You can't. No one can do better than that. You've got the best and the only. And whatever is happening, whatever you're feeling like this week, stop and look up at the sky and whatever star you can see here in the city, try to find it and say, Lord, you made that thing. And you're my shepherd. And someday, I'm going to hear your voice, and I'm going to see your face. But help me to kind of see it and kind of hear it now, because I really need to do that. I have a lot of things in my heart right now. And you know them better than me. I give them back to you all over again. I tried that yesterday, and I feel like I've grabbed onto them again today. Take them, because I'm just a sheep, and I can't do it. Love on me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus. I need you. Thank you for looking over me. And tonight, when you go to bed, let me challenge you to consider, perhaps, before you go to sleep, thanking Jesus for staying awake. And when you get up in the morning, if you think of it, thank Him for having stayed awake and for whatever He did over the night to make your sleep possible, whatever sleep was possible. and whatever happens realize he's on the hillside looking over the whole business and he is the Lord and he has everything in his hand everything is in control. Husbands be confident in leading your home not because of who you are because you've got his his care at your back and he lets you take the credit for it but give him the glory The Lord is your shepherd. Obey Him. Is He telling you anything to do? Are you obeying Him? He is the Lord. Yield today and He will guide you through it. The Lord is your shepherd. Trust Him. Do you have needs and hurts in your life that no one else can meet or solve? Look behind you. The Lord is there watching over you with a firm grip on his rod and staff and that relaxed, fixed, strong view of his eye. Everything is under control and no matter what enemy comes out from the shadows, they stand no chance against your shepherd if you're near his side. The Lord is watching over you, protecting you from danger. Trust him and he will take care of you. When we come back next Sunday, Lord willing, we're going to take a look at the next part of this sentence. The Lord, he is my shepherd. I shall not want but we're gonna wait. We have to digest what we've already heard about today. My shepherd and yours. Let's brag a little bit.