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[0:00] As the Lord shall be pleased to help me, I shall call your attention to a subject which you will hardly need to look up.

[0:17] Psalm 23, verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23, verse 1.

[0:38] I should judge this psalm as one of the most familiar psalms to those who search the scriptures.

[0:49] And maybe, while you can repeat it from memory, can you take up the language and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth can speak?

[1:07] When this word welled up in the breast of godly David long ago, he was speaking of what he had known and felt as a sweet reality in his soul's experience.

[1:26] And it is what every sinner taught of God, following on to know the Lord, desires to realize.

[1:38] And I want you to remember that this experience is attainable. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

[1:53] And now, some of you will feel if God would only make that matter plain in his dealings with you, Oh, how happy you would be.

[2:06] And you would be happy beyond words to describe. But there is a word to encourage you. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, is going forth, is prepared as the morning.

[2:27] Amen. Now, you do not question but what the sun will arise tomorrow morning. And he will rise to a God-given time.

[2:38] And he will not be before time or too late in rising. It will be the exact time that is set in God's own calendar.

[2:49] And therefore, for poor sinners, who desire to say, and to say it feelingly before God, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

[3:07] The word of God is full of encouragement for you. A time he has set to heal up thy woes. A season most fit his love to disclose.

[3:18] Until he is ready to accomplish his will. Be patient and steady. And wait on him still. And now, I want to look at this subject from just two viewpoints of it.

[3:36] One is the Selmist's confession. It is a confession of faith. It is good to be able to make a confession of faith.

[3:51] Showing that you are on the Lord's side. Whose you are. Whom you serve. And the Selmist makes this confession of faith.

[4:05] And there was that he came to make it. The heading of the page tells us David's confidence in God. The Lord is my shepherd.

[4:19] The second viewpoint of the subject is the Selmist's confidence. I shall not want. What does that mean?

[4:34] The prayer book version is, The Lord is my shepherd, therefore I can lack nothing. Nothing worthwhile. He was made my heaven secure.

[4:48] Will here all good provide. While Christ is rich, I can't be poor. Whatever. What can I want. Beside. And you will say, some of you.

[5:01] All of you born again. Oh, if I could but be assured. The Lord is my shepherd. I know of a truth. I shall not want.

[5:13] For anything. That is. Good for me. In this life. Or in that which is to come. Come. The Lord is my shepherd.

[5:26] I shall not want. And now, godly David. Although he was inspired by the Spirit of God.

[5:39] To pen this beautiful little psalm. Yet, he could speak and write very experimentally. Of what it was to be a shepherd.

[5:53] So that. We see, as it were. In the psalm. Great David. Setting forth. Great David's greater son.

[6:05] The Lord. Is my shepherd. I shall not want. And now, when you think of Jesus Christ.

[6:16] From this viewpoint. And you find this viewpoint. Is taken up. Through the Old Testament. You find other references.

[6:28] To Jesus Christ. As a shepherd. In the Old Testament. And that. Is how he is regarded. Thou that dwellest between the cherubims.

[6:42] Shepherd of Israel. Shine forth. And. You find in Isaiah's prophecy. He shall feed his flock.

[6:54] Like a shepherd. That is the name. That is outstanding. In the Old Testament. For Jesus Christ. As the sinner's friend.

[7:05] Friend. But when it comes to the. New Testament. The dear Savior. In John's Gospel. Gives quite.

[7:17] An exposition. Of being a shepherd. I am the. Good shepherd. And now when you think of that adjective.

[7:29] Good. Good. What shall I say. About the goodness. Of the good shepherd. First of all. I will say this.

[7:41] Angelic minds. Cannot explore. That vast. Unfathom sea. Tis void of bottom. Brim or sure. And lost in deity. I am the good shepherd.

[7:56] And now the Savior said. The good shepherd. Giveth his life for the sheep. There you see. The setting forth. Of the goodness.

[8:08] Of the. Good shepherd. And every lamb that was offered. Every sheep. Throughout Old Testament times.

[8:20] In the worship of God. According to the. Mosaic. Ritual of it. You could say. As every lamb. Every sheep. Every sheep.

[8:31] Was offered up. Before God. This is to say. The good shepherd. Who is yet to come. Giveth his life. For the sheep.

[8:43] Yes. Wonderful. Is his goodness. Rolexes. once you have entered into it by a gracious experience there can be no end to it they who once this kindness prove find it everlasting love I am the good shepherd and do remember this it is difficult to put into words some of these deep truths so that you shall have a right understanding of the same Jesus Christ as the good shepherd is good by nature he is the essence of goodness he is goodness itself and he cannot be otherwise than what he is the good shepherd and to all who make up his flock lambs and sheep alike his word is

[9:54] I will set mine eyes upon them to do them good the good shepherd good by nature he was appointed by his father to be who he is as the good shepherd there is a word in Zechariah's prophecy which will help you to understand that viewpoint of it where it is said by God the father smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered and I will turn my hand upon the little ones and before that statement awake oh sword against my shepherd against the man that is my fellow saith the lord of hosts it was when that sword awoke the sword of justice and that was seen on Calvary's cross sinner thou hast done the deed thou hast made the saviour bleed justice drew its sword on me pierced my heart and passed by thee awake oh sword against my shepherd and so you read in Jeremiah the people that were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness because the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep but then

[11:59] Jesus Christ is also said to be the great shepherd that great shepherd of the sheep great because of who he is verily God one with the father one with the holy spirit in the blessed trinity verily God verily man it is a great truth you remember I quote this quite often and do not forget it almighty God almighty God side human breath the lord of life experienced death how it was done we can't discuss but this we hope it was done for us the great shepherd the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep yes and there is nothing that is good for the sheep but what he can bestow it and he declares to each one

[13:15] I will make all my goodness to pass before thee in the way one more thought about the shepherd Jesus Christ is also declared in Peter's epistle to be the chief shepherd what does that really mean somehow it has come about in the church of Christ that those whom God ordains to go forth to preach the gospel and especially those who fill pastorates are said to be under shepherds and so they really are or they should be but when all is said and done they take their order so to speak from him who is the chief shepherd one is your master even

[14:19] Christ yes good shepherd great shepherd chief shepherd is there any other adjective one comes to my mind in Ezekiel's prophecy and there he says I will set over them one shepherd and that is great David's greater son is there any other word that can be used concerning the dear saviour as the shepherd besides good shepherd great shepherd chief shepherd one shepherd either is one and listen you must be helped of God to use it or you will never never be found where the good shepherd dwells in the blissful realms above here it is the Lord is my shepherd everything hinges on that and let it be our chief concern saviour divine blessed son of God among thy sheep redeemed by blood oh may my soul at last be found and with eternal life be crowned yes

[15:54] I was touched a little while ago in reading a little record of an old deer who was found dead in a slum in an upper room and there she was lying in the bed with her bible open and her hand was on the page and her finger pointed to our text the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want don't you think that old deer found this other word in the psalm a reality 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 there is a word in the psalms I would like all of you dear friends ever to keep in mind you must as grace is given be large hearted and look beyond the circumference of our denominational life and now the psalmist says thy hidden ones and how many they are

[17:21] God alone can tell what that number is but there must be multitudes who are not found in the church of Christ professing not much is known about them but they live their lives before God and they live unto God and they are numbered with the sheep or lambs thy hidden ones yes oh there is a word that must be fulfilled people of every kindred tribe and tongue should dwell on his name with sweetest song but there are millions of these people whom you and I know nothing about whatever beyond the fact that the spirit of God is at work north south east west worldwide every day adding unto the church daily such as should be saved do you keep that outlook of the church of

[18:32] Christ because it is for the glory of God to view it from that viewpoint remember remember that and now the Lord is my shepherd and now when you think of what it is to be a shepherd and a man needs to be born to be a shepherd I'm speaking now from the husband man's viewpoint not every man who is a good workman and who can fill a sphere in life and has great ability in filling it could step out of it to be a shepherd no no a man who is to be a shepherd needs to be born to fill that capacity and he learns to be a shepherd by experience and he comes to know quite a deal about sheep and lambs as he goes on in fulfilling what is his sphere in life to be a shepherd and now there are three or four characteristics that every shepherd must possess one is skill sheep need understanding and lambs yes and now if you think of the shepherd that the

[20:01] Lord is when you speak of skill our words fail us I like that word in Isaiah where it says that he is a savior of quick understanding what do you sing sometimes this physician understand it all disorders of the soul and no payment he demandeth when he makes the wounded whole oh he has skill and his touch has still its ancient power yes he understands all about sheep and lambs every jot and detail of their makeup yes what did he say to Moses is when the Lord designed to deliver

[21:02] Israel from Egyptian bondage I know their sorrows I know how they are oppressed as I had been upon what had been happening for a long while and he knew every jot and tittle of it and he says I have come down to deliver them and he did it yes the shepherd not only needs skill to fulfill his office as a shepherd but he needs strength to do it and as regards the shepherd in our text the Lord is my shepherd what does the word of God say whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered he is able to do it his arm is not shortened that it cannot save neither it is his ear heavy that it cannot hear no he can deliver yes if need be he will go over the dark mountains to rescue the sheep which are strayed he has indeed strength

[22:28] I told you he is almighty God almighty to deliver the sheep wherever they may be and every lamb not only so the shepherd needs sympathy and when you speak of sympathy Jesus Christ his loving heart overflows with it in all our afflictions he was afflicted and there is that word that I read to you which will show you somewhat of his sympathy I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away and will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick yes blessed be his name his heart overflows with sympathy with joy we meditate the grace of our high priest above his heart is made of tenderness his very name is love and now there is just one more characteristic

[23:52] I would name before I look at the subject from another viewpoint a shepherd not only needs skill to do his work and strength to be able to attend to all the details of it and sympathy but he needs to see success attending his labours success in caring for the flock that year by year the flock shall be increased and made yet larger still and now transferring that thought to Jesus Christ as the good shepherd great shepherd chief shepherd he has never lost a sheep never lost a lamb and he never will there is a great word which declares he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied none will e'er be lost that make up this wonderful flock all that you and I may be found within the compass of it and if you could keep this thought uppermost in your mind when you were thinking about the church of

[25:25] Christ sometimes it might help you to be more hopeful in your outlook regarding the future because when all is said and done the good shepherd in all that he is doing in the church of Christ it can only increase and success will ever attend all that he is doing there will be no failure because it is said of him he faileth not so that you and I can thank God and take courage changing the illustration to enforce the truth of it upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it so that there will be success ever attending the preaching of the gospel whoever

[26:32] God sends forth with divine authority to preach it there will be success attending that man's labors wherever it may be and it will be for the increase of the church of Christ and for the glory of him who is the church's living head much might be said along that line of thought but I want to look at the subject from another viewpoint the Lord is my shepherd and now the shepherd marks his sheep you can see it you must have seen it many a time you've only got to go across Romney marches especially at shearing time and just after that you see the sheep and the lambs!

[27:28] are all marked and they have got the mark that shows them to belong to their particular master and now the good shepherd marks his sheep yes what is sung sometimes Jesus is our shepherd for the sheep he bled every lamb is sprinkled with the blood he shed and on each he setteth his own secret sign these that have my spirit these saith he are mine these that have my spirit the spirit of the Lord beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his and now regarding these sheep marks much might be said but

[28:34] I must not go into details about them at this time when you come up to worship God it is that you might be confirmed that you have got some sheep marks each of you who is born again as you come up to worship God it is your concern that you may be confirmed in your soul that you are indeed numbered with the sheep of Christ and that you might be able to declare the Lord is my shepherd and nothing else will satisfy you than to have that mark which he alone can impress upon your soul it is that which must be known and felt yes it will not do just to be a chapel goer all your life and get no good for your soul and no marks be stamped therein with heaven's own hallmark to emphasize the authority thereof wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and your election sure yes the good shepherd marks his sheep and he says blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled and you say may this my blessed experience be to hunger

[30:19] Lord and thirst for thee and on thy righteousness to live which can both food and comfort give yes and there you see that godly David in the psalm sets forth somewhat of what his experience was mark the wording of it he maketh me to lie down in green pastures margin pastures of tender grass he leadeth me beside the still waters waters of quietness and now what are these green pastures the green pastures are the gospel of the grace of God as it is set forth in the word of God where you read about it and when you gather together as you are in the attitude of worship you listen to the proclamation of the gospel and you have found the gospel to be green pastures in your soul's experience many many times yes quite a few of you could say he maketh me poor guilty miserable undeserving hell deserving me to lie down in green pastures you have listened to the gospel and your soul has been cheered comforted instructed and blessed and you have said oh what amazing words of grace are in the gospel found suited to every sinner's case who knows his soul's deep wound he maketh me to lie down the meaning is that when the gospel is made a reality in your soul's experience you rest in the

[32:27] Lord and you can wait patiently for him in all his dealings with you although it may be you have felt those dealings hard to be understood but when you were made to lie down in green pastures then you can enter into one scripture which otherwise oh how hard it is to learn it and to reduce it to practice be still and know that I am God he maketh me to lie down in green pastures the meaning is that when you are so favored that all to do with you and yours you can leave with God to arrange and feel a sweet gracious willingness to whatever his arrangements may be for you and yours you can even feel like this shines the whole providence of

[33:31] God with love divine and bright whether he gives withholds or takes all is supremely right you know what this is some of you dear friends he maketh me to lie down in green pastures what are these still waters waters of quietness I judge these still waters speaking with great reverence to be the purposes of God and it is a wonderful mercy when in the dealings of God with you you can begin to realize there is an underlying purpose and that purpose is a purpose of love as many as I love are rebuke and chasten yes this will help you to understand what these still waters are when you can feel like one him writer when he said rejoice ye saints in every state every state divine decrees remain unmoved no turns of providence about

[34:59] God's care for those he once has loved he leadeth me beside the still waters and how do you feel as you were led thereby it is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good you know he is the good shepherd in his dealings with you you know the Lord is good a stronghold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him and that is what you help to do then he maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters and now I said earlier on that a shepherd needed skill and that skill means knowledge it is that which must be reduced to practice it is not just head knowledge you could sit down by the fireside and read all about a shepherd's life and what he has to do but then you go out and see what you can do in regard to putting into practice what you have read up in every detail of it you need the knowledge and now what is so wonderful about

[36:33] Jesus Christ as the good shepherd not only as he a knowledge of all his sheep and lambs his flock at the present time even this sabbath afternoon the word of God is true the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of all them whose heart is perfect sincere toward him everyone waiting on him waiting for him that they might with Christ and be found in him his eye is upon everyone and he has a complete knowledge of who they are and what they are and what his purposes are concerning each one and now that knowledge is wonderful in as much as it is fore knowledge whom he did fore know so that before as you read in the word of

[37:44] God in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth before them all these sheep and lambs making up the fold of God were known and such was that knowledge fore knowledge that where they should be born and when parents native place and time all appointed were by him oh what a wonderful foundation is the foundation of our most holy faith whom he did foreknow all that you and I might be found amongst that blessed host shut up in that everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure but then there is another viewpoint I want just to touch on it says

[38:47] I am the good shepherd I know my sheep and they follow me yes and that is how they live a right when they are helped to do it looking unto Jesus as you read in the Hebrews epistle there it is all set forth beautifully the language is familiar to you but is it what you are living out in your everyday life looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God for consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds the

[39:55] Lord is my shepherd and now as his eye is upon every one of his sheep every one of his lambs whoever they are wherever they are do remember this his eye observes when they become straying sheep even this godly David says in one psalm I have heard and strayed like a lost sheep what else did he say seek thy servant for I do not forget thy commandments as though the dear Selmy said Lord here I am afar off at the ends of the earth I am just like a sheep when it is heard and strayed and cannot get back to where it belongs but I do not forget thy commandments

[40:58] Lord I still have it in my heart to be found in the fold and to belong to thee as the good shepherd seek thy servant bring me back as thou alone canst do that I may once more be found numbered with thee and thine in my soul's experience yes and remember if any of you should be in a like case and you feel you have heard and strayed like a lost sheep if you are saying and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is speaking seek thy servant you may find in how the good shepherd does it he may do it with a rebuke he may drop some word in your heart return unto me and I will return unto you and he might do as a reminder of your ill behavior

[42:05] I say he might do what eastern shepherds did when they picked up a stone a pebble and slung it from the sling and there was a mighty bruise on the sheep reminding it what its behavior had been and God may say to you or me your sins your iniquities have separated between you and your God and then we have to realize the smart of doing it but blessed be his name he brings us back the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want and now you think of what a comprehensive word that is I shall not want I can lack nothing it means this

[43:07] I have no time to work it out in detail because I must come to the Amen I shall not want for wisdom as I journey on through life when I come to a stand still and say oh Lord I know not what to do my eyes are up unto thee I shall prove if any man lack wisdom let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and afraid it not and it shall be given him weakness to be made strong and as thy days so shall thy strength be and when all is said and done if you look back over the way you have come along you have lived just like that every moment be receiving strength and yet be always weak this is the way walk ye in it

[44:38] I shall not want for grace to help in every time of need because the good shepherd has declared my grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakness and when I feel as I do such a poor specimen of a sheep or a lamb as the case may be then when this word is opened up to me the Lord is my shepherd I realize I shall not want for righteousness to cover me and make me to be meat for the inheritance of the saints in light the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want and I can tell you this as an addition I shall not want for happiness worth the name even when my circumstances make me feel as

[45:47] I view them all these things are against me yet if this truth swells in my heart the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want for happiness even then no I shall feel that all is well come what will it shall be well here then you see I shall not want I shall not want for protection because if I am numbered with the fold of God among the sheep a sovereign protector I have unseen yet forever at hand and I shall not want for provision what does it say here thou prepare is to table before me in the presence of mine enemies yes

[46:49] I shall not want for provision bread shall be given water shall be sure they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing so it will be right down to the end of life's journey and when you get there yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou are with me and look what a confession of faith this is not only in the subject I have said just a little upon the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want remember this is godly David when he is old and grey headed and now he says surely do remember this the original the margin reading is only God help you to interpret that in your everyday life only goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and as you realise that in looking back and looking around lost in the goodness and mercy which has been surrounding you all your life long you can look forward you will not want then for a sweet prospect of what is before you as you go down into

[48:23]  Jordan swelling I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever Amen Amen