4-6. Hence it is said, "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to," etc. And David is in no doubt about this. The goodness of God is a most delightful and animating theme; it touches every chord of the Christian's heart. He could not else be good. 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. 4. But why "follow" me? As we all know, a "shepherd" looks after sheep. Frank Nelson PalmerA Bird's-Eye View of the Bible, God's ProvidenceIn facts from Christian and philosophical standpoints it has been demonstrated that the infallible Supreme Ruler of all human spirits has made His final provision for the safety of each and every individual soul for its temporal and eternal welfare. It promises much, but it always disappoints. It begins with these words, I bind unto myself today, the strong name of the Trinity. Psalm: Psalm 119:129-136 132. Sermons. The Good Shepherd' and his one Flock' - Last Discourse at the Feast of Tabernacles. However, it is far more likely that David wrote this psalm late in his life, possibly during the rebellion of his son Absalom (2 Samuel 13-19). [924] (Epistle 341.) So I have an enemy in the John Henry JowettMy Daily Meditation for the Circling Year, The Kingdom UndividedTHE POETICAL BOOKS: Psalms Page Song of Solomon Page Proverbs Page THE PSALMS I. Barnabas was also filled with faith. Though in the VariousThe Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA, The King of Love My Shepherd Is[1242]Dominus Regit Me: John Bacchus Dykes, 1868 Psalm 23 Henry W. Baker, 1868 The King of love my Shepherd is, Whose goodness faileth never; I nothing lack if I am his, And he is mine for ever. Behind me, before me, beside me, beneath me above me. Copyright 2003-2023 | Outreach, Inc., All rights reserved. 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. 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. We are once again in Capernaum. We belong to a better time, but still we can feel its grandeur. James MontgomerySacred Poems and Hymns, The Lord My Pasture Shall Prepare[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. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand, (John 10:28). 4-6. For posting on the web, a link to this document on our website (OpentheBible.org) is preferred. Psalm 23:5-6. He leads me beside still waters. David led the sheep, .read more. Shepherds had to live with the sheep twenty-four hours a day, and the task of caring for them was unending. "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. But why "follow" me? they smothered him with flowers and killed him with fame and it came to this! He sees God first as a shepherd; secondly as a guide; and thirdly as a host. The Purposes: 1. "Shall follow me." An angel is the object of one; man of both. 1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. If he were a mere intellectual being, and nothing more, then he might dwell here. [7] The Lords My Shepherd Ill Not Want, Scottish Psalter (1630). When the Lord is your shepherd, His love surrounds you now and forever. And here God uses three things that we can touch and handle: a table, oil, and a . ^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. David was of course referring to Jehovah, the supreme, sovereign, almighty, all-powerful, omniscient, creator God of Israel. And it reminds us of the "certain king who made a marriage supper for his son." STRENGTH FOR LIFE'S WORK. It will be yours to kindle the lamp of a never-ceasing devotion, to place the Eucharistic Shewbread before the Lord. The perfection of manhood; the "rest that remaineth;" the "fulness of joy;" the glorious fellowships that know no break, and that bring no pain, are in our Father's house. He took our flesh. 29.) We take the faith and feeling of the man to expand and enlarge, till they embrace the great and ultimate future of the life that is to be, and he says, "I feel that I have been led onwards to that. [1] Think of a shepherd walking in front of his sheep. Your experience in heaven will be very different from your life in this world, but your relationship with Jesus will be the same. We thank the Lord for another beautiful Sunday morning that He has given us. It has been frequently supposed, that the being born of God was all one with the being justified; that the new birth and justification were only different expressions, denoting the same thing: It being certain, on the one hand, that whoever is justified is also born of God; and, on the other, that whoever is born of God is also justified; yea, that both these gifts of God are given to every believer in one and the same moment. fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided Me a king among his sons. This magazine often included an exposition of a psalm, and in the 1866 publication Spurgeon featured Psalm 23. You could not draw a richer picture of a regenerated earth than by just supposing such an extension of its Sabbaths as alone would render safe the removal of its churches. But God raised Him up and exalted Him to the highest place. "I shall not want." Now here is where a shift takes place in this psalm. ^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. The Lamb will be your Shepherd! --Ps. Surely goodness and mercy That is, God's favour, and the blessed and comfortable effects of it; shall follow me Hebrew, , jirdepuni, shall pursue me, by which emphatical expression he signifies God's wonderful freeness and readiness to do good to his people, and that his blessings not only prevent us, but even pursue them who flee from them, or that they . My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of death has fallen upon me.--Ps. Note the number of psalms in Books 1 and 2. That is good news, because if God chased after us in justice we would all be in trouble. "Surely," etc. He became the Lamb: The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, (John1:29). 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. Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.' Voltaire does just the same thing as to the review, but with a totally different result. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Observe the beautifulness and the blessedness of a Christian old age. Many of us feel tired, jaded, discouraged, and flat. It is contrary to sorrow, which is a perturbation Thomas WatsonA Body of Divinity, Out of the Deep of Death. I want to end where we began. And like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth (Isa 53:7). Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, (Psa 103 1-2). Here we have . Brothers and sisters, nothing can ever separate us from you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Rom 8:39). As one scholar said, "The psalm itself is green pasture; the psalm itself is still water; the psalm itself restores my soul." Hear it again in the joyous voice of a . 4The Valley of the Shadow of Death.--Psalm xxiii. It is a fearful doctrine, but clearly stated in Scripture with regard to many individuals of the human race, that, so far from "goodness and mercy following them all the days of their life," everything that He gives them seems only the more to estrange them from God and goodness. He has bound Himself by His own promise to be merciful and forgiving. Noteworthy is it also, how many of the most attractive characters and incidents in the Gospel-history are connected with that Capernaum, which, as a city, rejected its own real glory, WHEN Moses in the desert beheld the burning bush God answered his question by the revelation of His name as the "I Am." I. I have walked through some dark valleys and more lie ahead of me. In verses 5 and 6 David changes the metaphor a . David writes in verse 1a, The Lord is my shepherd.. -- Psalm 23:4. Psalm 23:1-6. In facts from Christian and philosophical standpoints it has been demonstrated that the infallible Supreme Ruler of all human spirits has made His final provision for the safety of each and every individual soul for its temporal and eternal welfare. Shall I be able, I To Malachy. THE ASSURANCE EXPRESSED BY THE PSALMIST. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of Gods grace.[3]. That is . In giving this emphatic testimony to the nobleness of mercy David does but voice the dearest assurances of the human heart concerning the omnipotence of love. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. 29.) He gave Himself to you, and He calls you to follow Him. He leads me beside still waters. If you are coming for the first-time we are now studying the Book of Psalms under the theme "PONDERINGS ON THE PSALMS: FINDING MEANING & PURPOSE IN THE PANDEMIC!" Jerry Bridges says this so well, Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of Gods grace. And it is a psalm in which he sees God in three aspects. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. His first thought is I shall not want but by the end, he is able to say something even better: Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Learn to be active. This also is characteristic of the Divine relation to man. They will run in wide arcs over the hills, chasing the sheep in the direction the shepherd wants them to go. It is a rich study from the perspective of a shepherd on Psalm 23. Remember, David has already said that the Good Shepherd leads His sheep. In 1970, W. Phillip Keller wrote a book titled, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Like some chemical characters, in certain temperatures they are illegible; but raise the temperature and they appear in all their reality. Goodness. Psalm 23 is an exercise in faith. He does not just say that the Lord is a shepherd. Psalms 23:1-6. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. Because it is the scene of His familiar glory. If we turn to the fourth Gospel in which the Holy, He shall feed his flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Because some of my enemies are in the rear; they attack me from behind. 493 Likes, 8 Comments - Daystar Christian Centre (@daystarng) on Instagram: "Sermon Title: Direction for Success - @thesamadeyemi Text: Psalms 23:1-6 Success is the achieve." Daystar Christian Centre on Instagram: "Sermon Title: Direction for Success - @thesamadeyemi Text: Psalms 23:1-6 Success is the achievement of set goals. 3. So, thank Him for it. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. 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 . Day and night, summer and winter, in fair weather and foul, they labored to nourish, guide, and protect the sheep. "Shall follow me." III. 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. When the Lord is your shepherd, His love surrounds you now and forever. Green pastures. Where streams of living water flow My ransomed soul he leadeth, And, where the verdant pastures grow, With food celestial feedeth. Ill will or bad purpose on His part is inconceivable. There are foes in my yesterdays which can give me fatal wounds. (Psalm 23:1) Introduction: Dr. Charles Allen, beloved Methodist minister, tells the story of a friend who came to see him one day. We take the faith and feeling of the man to expand and enlarge, till they embrace the great and ultimate future of the life that is to be, and he says, "I feel that I have been led onwards to that. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. A Table Among Enemies: W. C. E. Newbolt, M. A. Psalm 23:5: A Table Prepared: W. Forsyth : Psalm 23:5: Bounty Should Lead to Charity: O. Sedgwick, B. D. . They are divided into five books, each closing with a benediction, evidently added to mark the end of the book. On that Sunday, I said that I was going to suspend my series on The Life of David and begin a series of meditations that I called, Hope in Troubled Times. This is the last in that series of meditations, because we plan to resume corporate worship services this coming Lords Day on Sunday, May 31, 2020, at which time I shall continue my series on The Life of David.. 1-21. Sin has brought its devastating effects into the world, and things are not as they should be in our world, our country, our work, our churches, our homes or in our own hearts. Gods goodness and mercy are chasing after you to bring you closer to the Good Shepherd. Members of my own family rise up against me, but the Lord stands with me and gives me strength. Wealth, in those John NewtonMessiah Vol. Voltaire does just the same thing as to the review, but with a totally different result. The "green pastures" may give place to the dark valley. -- Psalm 23:4. Friends, we are talking about exponentially increasing joy! You will have frequently to go there, to plead the great Sacrifice. And the more you love God the more happiness you will have in Him.[6]. When the Lord is your shepherd, he provides everything that you need. The Psalmist's strong confidence of dwelling there "forever." iv. Learn to be grateful. All shall be well. "Goodness and mercy." And the Discourse which followed, ere He once more left Jerusalem, is of the same character. The Good Shepherd will always be leading you into something new. An angel is the object of one; man of both. In one of his books you may find a review of his life. (Psalm 23:1-6) Introduction. By just giving a little turn to the, last expression of the text I see three things 1. iv. THE SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP. It is the permanence of heaven that is one of its greatest joys in prospect. CONCLUSION . Mercies Remembered and Anticipated. What is your position if the Lord is not your shepherd? Now today, we are looking at the last verse of this Psalm. ", 2. 3. The third fruit of justification, adoption, and sanctification, is joy in the Holy Ghost. The picture of Moses and the children of Israel singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national pride and of worship! They stay in your memory and you can continue to derive happiness from them. The extent of the Psalmist's assurance. they smothered him with flowers and killed him with fame and it came to this! God often uses material things to speak to us about spiritual things. And my cup is always empty. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23:6). He already said, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Cf. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." In the midst of affliction my table is spread; With blessings unmeasured my cup. If Saul hear it, he will kill me. xxiii. THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD Psalm 23 is the best-known psalm in the book of Psalms. Psalm 23:1-6. So, in Christ, you are encircled in the love of Christ. Let it be a life of patient witness for God. And Samuel said, How can I go? It was this Lord whom David called my shepherd. James Montgomery Boice writes: In Israel, as in other ancient societies, a shepherds work was considered the lowest of all works. Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6. I will not mislead you by denying that reality or letting platitudes and sentimentalities echo off the valley's walls. So when wandering sinners, The Pilgrim's Rearguard, Goodness and Mercy, David's Confidence in the Prospect of the Future, Religious Conceptions Coloured by Secular Vocation, The pilgrim's rearguard, goodness and mercy, Christian Standing and Christian Progress, The Valley of the Shadow of Death. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. No one can expect goodness and mercy to follow him save in virtue of God's promises. Its sins are ever at my heels. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Before, then, any person is entitled to assert, with reference to his own afflictions, that God does everything for the best, and to apply this as a ground of comfort and consolation to himself, he must not only love God, but know and be convinced that God loves him. Supplying mercy. xxiii. MERCY. 12 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. Enlarge it towards the sunny south; take in many a piece of ground which is now covered by worldly occupations, business, or pleasure. Amid holy enterprises, spiritual conflicts, arduous duties, severe afflictions, trying bereavements, God has sustained His saints. "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. Please follow along as I read Psalm 23:1-6: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. xxiii. Firm faith. When the Lord is your Shepherd, you are able to say, He leads, me, He restores me, He guards me and He sustains me. iii:14). INTRODUCTION: Something odd happens when we get to verses 5-6 in Psalm 23. 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. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. "How great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for the children of men. SUPPORT UNDER LIFE'S TRIALS. James says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change, (James 1:17). Goodness to creatures; mercy to sinful creatures. Click here to return to the Sermons page.. Psalm 23:1-3. Goodness is God giving us what we dont deserve. 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. 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