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One of the most amazing descriptions of our God is that He wants to be our Shepherd. The Bible opens with Genesis, and Jacob’s life fills half the book, from Genesis 25-50. In Jacob’s final days he made an astounding confession. Please open there with me to Genesis 48:15-16 (NKJV):
And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”
What is astounding is that the word used in Jacob’s testimony of God’s faithfulness for all of his 147 years of life was that the Lord had been his ra’ah (Hebrew word for “fed and led as a shepherd”).
Think about what that means:
Jacob testifies that the Lord was his shepherd, that had guided, led, protected, blessed, and accomplished His will through Jacob’s life. Despite all of Jacob’s personal struggles, deceitfulness, deception, fears, and failures: God had faithfully guided, blessed, used, protected, and lovingly forgave him. Wow, that is an amazing testimony.
GOD WANTS TO GUIDE US THRU LIFE AS OUR SHEPHERD
David enlarges the concept of God as Shepherd to mean a personal shepherd:
God can stay through life with us,
God can supply our every physical need,
God can satisfy the deepest emotional needs of our soul,
God can secure us through the gravest of dangers, and finally
God can safely walk us to our eternal dwelling place that He has built just for us.
Wow, that is quite an arrangement!

Transcript

Wow, I can’t believe another week has gone by and I get to share with you. If you want to grab your Bibles, we’re in Psalm 23, as you see on the screen. Psalm 23 among the 52 greatest chapters in the Bible. It might be the greatest of the greatest. Probably, in the English speaking world, nearly everyone in the world that speaks English has heard of the 23rd Psalm. It’s the psalm that church kids start memorizing when they’re little, tiny Sunday School attenders. It’s also the psalm that as a pastor for over 30 years was the first place I went to when I had to go to the hospital beds of a dying Saint. What’s amazing is, the 23rd Psalm is something children know about because they can relate to “The LORD is my shepherd.” It’s something that adults think about, especially as death is approaching. More important than little kids, adults, and dying old age people, the 23rd Psalm is the part of the Bible that most describes what Jesus is doing right now in my life and in your life. Look at the slide, Jesus is all I need.

This is week 14 as we cover the 23rd Psalm. See where we are? Week 14. Now we’re in the midst of eight weeks looking at the Psalms, so I won’t repeat again the historical context and the geographic context. What I want you to see right here is that these three Psalms, 22, 23, and 24 are part of a wonderful grouping that explains Jesus in the past died on the cross for my sins and that’s 22. Jesus, 24 is coming as the glorious king and that’s the second coming of Christ. That’s Him coming as Judge to restore His kingdom on the Earth. Between 22 and 24, where we are today, the good shepherd. The shepherd of my soul is living in me and through me. Let me explain that as we go through this.

Psalm 23:1, depending on what version of the Bible, the New International, New American, English Standard or the King James /New King James, basically the first verse is universally the same. That’s why this psalm is so well known. No matter how you translate it, it always comes out the same way, in every version of the Bible. “The LORD is my shepherd.” Then, I lack nothing, “I shall not want.” I will not be in need. Very clearly, “The LORD is my shepherd;”

Look at this reminder, Jesus, who is the Lord, who’s my shepherd is all I need. When I have Jesus, I don’t lack anything. When I have Jesus, I don’t have to fear, I don’t have to worry, I don’t have to be alarmed as we’ll see from the life of the sheep.

I’ve spent over 30 years of my life as a pastor. As a pastor, in this next slide, I always put this verse at the bottom of every letter I wrote. For over 30 years, all the thousands of letters all of my staff members had to type, and print off, and have me sign; whether it was for every visitor or whether it was for some business matter at the church, always Hebrews 13:20-21 we’re always at the bottom of the letter. That ties with this psalm.

Do you see this chart? You remember this chart? The triad. The three part look at Jesus Christ. He’s the good shepherd in 22, that dies for us. He’s the great shepherd in 23, that lives for us. He’s the chief shepherd in 24, that’s coming in glory. The Psalm 22 verse is I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives us life for the sheep. That’s John 10:11. The 1 Peter 5:4 verse is about when the great shepherd, the chief shepherd appears; the Lord of glory. That’s what we’re going to see next time. By the way, that’s going to be an unbelievable look at how Psalm 24 and Revelation 6 to 19 all tie together. Listen to this, the good shepherd in Psalm 22 is the creator who came to save His fallen creatures. The great shepherd in Psalm 23 is Jesus ever living for us who know Him today. Psalm 24, and by the way He our Redeemer ever lives to make intercession for us, but our judge. The judge of all the Earth is coming in glorious power. That’s Revelation 6 onward.

We’re looking at every dimension of the life of Jesus Christ in these three psalms, but the central most widespread part of Christ’s life, once we’re saved until we get to Heaven, he Is this Psalm 23 wondrous shepherd of our lives. He is my savior the moment I bow in faith, confessing my sins, and asking Him. He becomes my shepherd all the way through life. He is going to be my king as I serve Him in Heaven, as He reigns over the perfect universe. The cross is where He accomplished my salvation. Being the shepherd and guiding me with His staff, the crook of His staff, all the way through life. Then, the crown that He offers for the future as we in glory, live with Him. My past is under His grace, but every moment of the present it’s all about following Him as my good shepherd. How do you do that? That’s what we’re going to see in this study.

First of all, do you remember those three? In the past, He was the good shepherd who gives His life for the sheep. In the present, now this is the verse right here that I put on every letter, thousands, of my whole pastoral ministry. Let me read it to you, it’s my favorite verse. If you’ve ever gotten a note from me or a card, or even a lot of times even online when I send emails, I add this. “Now may the God of peace,” that’s one of God’s names. He’s called the God of grace, the God of peace, the God of hope. One of his names. He is, “the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead.” God raised the Son from death into life, that’s what we just celebrated. By the way, we just went through the week between Palm Sunday and Easter. Now, we’re from Easter Sunday on. We are celebrating what that verse says. That God, “The God of peace […] Brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead.” Who is He? He is the “great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” That’s where He gave Himself for me. He shed His blood to forgive my sin.

Look what Jesus wants to do, that’s why I add verse 21, “make you complete.” It’s an interesting word. That’s the word equip. It’s the word, to mend us, to set broken bones, to make us back to the way He designed us to be. The fall, and sin, and our broken lives are mended by the cross, by salvation. Jesus makes us complete. We’re finally, once we get saved, where everything He wants us to be if we allow Him to live through us, because it’s not me. Remember what Paul said, it’s “not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Look at this, He wants to make us “complete in every good work.” You and I, Ephesians 2:8-9, were created for good works to do His will. That’s the essence of life. Not my will, but Christ’s will.

How do we know that? “Working in you what is well pleasing.” I have a little motto. Every church I ever pastored the byline on the bulletin, and on the sign, and on the advertisements, was always pleasing God and making disciples of Jesus Christ. Individually, we please God. Collectively, the purpose we have as a church, make disciples of Jesus Christ. Look at that verse, He wants to work in us “what is well pleasing in His sight,” He’s always watching, “through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” That’s the Psalm 23 tie.

Then Psalm 24, “And when the Chief Shepherd,” see, great shepherd, good shepherd, chief shepherd, “appears,” that’s the second coming of Christ, His coming in glory, “you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

This is what we’re looking at in Psalm 22, 23, and 24.

I have spent each day this week, studying sheep and writing down everything I could find. Let’s jump into that.

I studied Psalm 23 and started writing down all this stuff. Number one, Psalm 23 is like two other passages in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 13, and the sermon on the mount are monosyllabic, primarily, mostly one syllable words. Psalm 23 is one of the most simple communications in the structure of the Hebrew language, and in the translation into the English language. It’s easy to understand, just like “the greatest of these is love.” The great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. Also, just like Jesus teaching the sermon on the mount. He was teaching, and we’re going to cover in a few weeks that great passage of scripture, but in that amazing message Jesus taught peasant and farmer, poor people. They understood because He used simple words, just like in the 23rd Psalm.

The next thing that I saw this week, as I studied, is 3000 years ago David wrote these words, “The LORD is my shepherd.” 2000 years ago, Jesus said the one David was talking about, that’s me. I’m the good shepherd. Today, the day after Easter 2021, shepherds all over the world have changed very little. Sheep have changed even less. Look at this, the Lord, He hasn’t changed at all.

What we’re going to see is, David communicates that he realized the Lord was the shepherd and he was the sheep. I wrote in my notes, I wrote back up there, I am like a sheep. We’re going to study sheep. I found so many ways that I relate to sheep. I want you to think about it and the primary way we’re like sheep. This 23rd chapter that I’ve marked up in my Bible, and I hope you’re going to mark up this week, if you’re following the normal pattern of our study, I’m launching what you’re going to do all week long.

By the way, I look at you all as my small group. Bonnie and I are actually on the road. We filmed three classes each day. We get the notes, and get the material, and get the teaching, and send them out to students actually studying with us, but you are my small group. I look at you all, it’s like my little tie back to everything that was normal all the years I was a pastor. When I was a pastor, I used to meet with my Bible and my little journal I have it right here. This is one I share with you; this is the one that I’ve been writing and typing all these notes in from studying the 23rd Psalm. For all the years that I was pastoring, I always had a small group that was going through life together with me. Sometimes it was couples bonding. I used to host small groups in our home. Then, as the churches got much larger, we started hosting small groups at the church. We had all these couples, Bible studies, that we would work together with. Then, for the last three or four years before Bonnie and I launched into being missionaries I had 10 small groups of men that I went through the Bible with for two years. This study, actually, what you’re doing is what I did for all those years, those final years of my pastoral work with 10 small groups, 30 men. We did Christian life together. We met every week, year round. We studied the very same passage. That’s why there’s 52 of them because it was a yearlong study, and it was so good. We did it a second time and memorized verses we all journaled. We brought our journals to the study. We all wrote those application prayers, and we prayed those prayers in the hearing of one another as accountability of where God was working. Why? Because we’re like sheep. What does that mean? I am like a sheep.

Sheep are the most mentioned animals in the Bible. Over 600 times sheep are mentioned in the Bible. We know so much about sheep, but here’s just a summary. An ancient shepherd was active in every phase of a sheep’s life. From its birth, when the shepherd served as the midwife to its death, when that shepherd devised the swiftest and most painless death possible. The shepherd provided the food. He would gently pull thorns from the fleece and thistles from the paws. He painlessly would shear the wool from its body and even gently set the leg bones when they were broken.

Why are we like sheep? It may be however because, sheep are the most helpless animals known in all of zoology. They’re always losing their way. Almost every known animal can perform, but we’ve never seen a trained sheep. Have you? You can have a trained dog, a trained cat, farm animals, everything that we catch and trap can perform for our amusement, with the exception of sheep. Perhaps the Lord considered the utter helplessness of humanity and just shook His head and said, we’ll call them all sheep. That’s what one author said.

By the way, all my little things I’ve found as I studied all week, I put quotes around it. There are many resources. Phillip Keller was a shepherd and he wrote a whole book about sheep. Don Baker wrote one. Of course, MacArthur and Swindoll, and all kinds of people have written, but I’m showing you the cream of everything I’ve found. Here’s what one of my favorite authors wrote, he wrote seven characteristics of sheep.

Number one, they’re utterly helpless. A sheep can’t find food. It can’t find water. It can’t find its way home if you leave them alone. They can’t find their way out; it has to be led.

Number two, sheep are among the most tender of creatures. I read about a place that constantly was butchering sheep. One of the butchers said I’ve never seen a sheep, as we skinned it, that wasn’t covered with black and blue marks. What he compared a sheep to is a walking peach. That everything that bumped into it bruised it. Half of a sheep’s life, it’s bleeding because it’s hurt and the other half it’s bleeding because it’s helpless and lost.

Number three, sheep are extremely vulnerable. They can’t protect themselves in any way. They can’t even tell what they should eat and not eat when they are out grazing. If a shepherd does not go through and remove all the dangerous poisonous weeds, the sheep will eat them, get sick, and be laying on the ground very sick.

Number four, sheep are about the dirtiest animal because they can’t cleanse themselves. They walk around with a giant sponge that soaks up everything that gets near their wool.

Sheep are mindless. They absolutely will follow whatever’s in front of them. If one sheep cuts off the path, all the sheep behind it will follow and miss where the shepherd’s taking them. That’s just how mindless they are.

They have the greatest need of cleansing, this author said.

Number seven, they’re one of the few animals totally incapable of self cleansing. You ever watched a cat licking itself? You ever watched a dog licking itself and cleaning? Have you ever watched animals as they rub against things and take care of their pests with their flapping, like the horse’s tail? Sheep are totally incapable of self cleansing.

Most sheep if left to their own, become a huge walking mud pile filled with thistles, and burrs, and mud, and just pitiful, helpless.

Those bring us to some lessons. Look at Jesus, remember in the Old Testament He introduced Himself to Moses. He said, “I AM THAT I AM,” His ineffable name, His personal name. Actually in Hebrew, which actually reads from this direction to this direction, it would be Ehyeh asher Ehyeh, I Am that I Am. In the New Testament Jesus takes that Old Testament personal name of God and adds descriptors. He says in John, these are all in John by the way and we’ll talk about them when we get to the Gospel of John, but “I am the bread of life,” John 6. “I am the light of the world,” John 8. “I am the door of the sheep.” ” I am the good shepherd.” Look, two out of seven, a third of all Jesus personal names have to do with us as His sheep. He said, I’m the doorway, the way you get into my fold is through me. I’m your protector, and your guard, and your guide. I’m your good shepherd, John 10: 11 and 14. I give my life for the sheep. That’s why He is the resurrection and the life. He’s the way we follow the truth we believe and the life we live. That’s especially what we’re going to see in this incredible look at the 23rd Psalm.

Our good shepherd, Jesus is the great I Am, the great tie to the Old Testament.

By the way, a little lesson here, there’s no letter J in the Hebrew language. The word Jehovah is a wonderful English word, but it’s an English form of the Hebrew Yahweh. Yahweh is actually the Hebrew pronunciation. Ehyeh asher Ehyeh. Ehyeh, Yahweh is the personal name of the Lord in Hebrew. If we’re speaking about Hebrew, there aren’t any J’s in Hebrew. Jerusalem, that’s English form, it’s Yerushalayim. They don’t have a J. The names of the Lord are Yahweh Raah, that’s Jehovah is our shepherd, the Lord our shepherd. Yahweh, and it’s not Jehovah Jireh, there’s no J in Hebrew. It’s Yahweh Yireh, the Lord our provider. Shalom, our peace. Rapha, our healer. This is all the ways God has revealed Himself.

Look at this. Psalm 23, the encompassing one, the Lord who is our righteousness and our victory. The one who’s ever with us. The way we relate to Him is, He’s our shepherd. I just want you to think about that.

The lesson of Psalm 23, grab your Bible and let me read to you this amazing, greatest chapter of all. This is probably, in the whole Bible out of the 1,189 chapters, the most well-known. It says this, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me.” Notice the change from the third person. He, verse 2. He, verse 2. He, He, but now in verse 4, You. David said, see, there’s something about knowing the Lord at a distance, He. Then David said, that’s not enough. You need to know Him up close and personal. That’s what salvation is by the way. Jesus died for the sins of the world. Anybody can say that. They can read that. Christianity is, He gave Himself for me. He is my savior. You, verse 4, “You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” You, I experience You Lord.

Verse 5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Look at this, “You anoint my head with oil.” That’s going to be fun, I had an even more amazing time studying that. For us, anointing our head with oil, some people thought… is that gel? Is that formula for my hair? No. It’s so much more than that. Remember, this is talking about is a sheep. When do sheep get anointed by shepherds? That’s going to be fun. Here is the end of verse 5, the theme I want to get to. “My cup runs over.” The whole conclusion, after this whole list of making me lie down, leading, restoring, leading me, walking me, protecting, and preparing an anointing, leads me to the Psalm 23 life. What is the Psalm 23 life? My cup overflows. My life is overflowing. I don’t want. I’m not in need. I’m able to lie down. I’m restored. I’m walking in righteousness. I’m not afraid. I know the Lord is with me. I’m calm in the presence of my enemies. I’m healthy. He’s anointed me, my head. Look at the slide. Psalm 23 living is the type of life that God calls us to live. Each of us must ask, is the cup of my life overflowing today?

By the way, this that we’re standing on is the mount of beatitudes, looking across the Sea of Galilee. In fact, I could talk about this all day. You’re aware Jesus taught the sermon on the mount. Right over here is where the prodigal son went, he went to the other side. This is where Jesus went. The demonized man was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We’ll cover those in future lessons ahead.

Let’s think about sheep. The strange thing about sheep is because of the very makeup it’s almost impossible for them to lie down in those green pastures unless four requirements are met.

Number one, they have to be free of all fear. A sheep cannot put its head down in the grass, unless it’s not afraid something is going to jump up and get it and harm it. Free from fear.

Free from friction with other sheep. The shepherd has to separate the combatant sheep that are pushing and fighting for the grass. They have to be spaced so they don’t fight. Once they get calm, and unfearful, and no friction they’ll start eating.

They won’t eat if they’re sick. They have to be free from sickness.

They have to eat enough to be free from hunger. A sheep can actually get its whole day’s supply if it’s just plowing through the pasture with nothing going on. The problem is, the shepherd has to constantly be helping the sheep to stay focused on feeding and getting to that lying down so they can ruminate.

Let’s talk about that. Only the cup of a peaceful sheep can overflow. Where does peacefulness come from?

Look at this, Isaiah wrote this. “You,” this is the Lord, “will keep him in perfect peace.” Did you know this perfect peace is actually the word shâlôm, shâlôm. It’s just the doubling of the word. That’s how God emphasizes things. He either doubles or triples it. Do you want to know what real peace is? It’s peace, peace. Perfect, peace. Shalom, shalom. How do you get Shalom, shalom? “Whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

Do you know why most people are anxious these days? Let me give you a little visual because their mind has stayed on this, their phones. You can see what’s on my phone, my wonderful wife. I wasn’t talking about that picture. I was talking about; they’re spending all their time on their phone. Either they’re texting or Instagramming or YouTubing or Snapping or Facebooking or whatever. Emailing, or texting, or talking, or playing games. When they do that all the time, do you know what happens? They say, I didn’t have time to read my Bible. One time, Bonnie and I were invited to the launch of about a hundred next generation missionaries heading off to the second largest country in the world. One of the darkest countries in the world, that has over a million deities, darkness, and spiritual warfare. They asked me to address them just before they got on the airplane, all these couples going to penetrate this country. They were young. They were in their thirties. They were fully supported. They were launching. They said, come and challenge them. I said, what do you want me to challenge them on? They said, now this was about five years ago, they said all of them are about 30 and most of them have never read the whole Bible all the way through. I said, What? They’re full-time career missionaries, they’re heading to the darkest spot on Earth almost. They said, they grew up in the iPhone generation. They said, we want you to challenge them to get in the word.

The first thing I did is, I said, get a piece of paper. I had them all get a piece of paper. I said, write on that piece of paper how long you spend, every day, with all the normals. Instagram. Facebook. Snapchat. Texting. Playing games. Watching/ playing video games and all the other games. Just put how much time, you on the average spend. 20 minutes here, 30 minutes there, and whatever. Then, I wrote this number in front of them. If you can read my writing, that’s 72. I said it takes 72 hours to read the whole Bible out loud, if you’re in sixth grade. I looked out at them, I said, every one of you are far from sixth grade. You’re much smarter than any sixth grader. It only takes 72 hours for you as a little kid to read the Bible out loud. Can you imagine how much faster you can read it silently? I said, now, how many of you have read the whole Bible, the whole Bible cover to cover in your lifetime? Raise your hand. Less than half raised their hand.

I said, now get your little piece of paper. Look at your time. I looked at them, some of them were spending an hour on Facebook and half-hour on Pinterest, and I don’t know how long on Instagram. They opened their day in Instagram, and it adds up. Many of them were still messaging and Facebooking at night, and checking the scores or watching the game or whatever on their phone. Their electronic time was in the hours. I said, take your little sheet of paper and take a little time from all those divisions. A little Facebook time, a little Instagram time, a little texting time, little gaming time, little movie time, little Netflix time, little prime this, and Disney plus that. I said, find how much time you want to invest with God, look at the slide, to stay your mind on your good shepherd.

The amount of time we spend in the word shows how much we trust Him. If I trust God, His word is more important than the latest everything, financial news, or sports news, or fashion news, or friend news. Okay, I’m meddling, I’ll stop there. By the way, the end of the conference they turned in their slips of paper and all of them made a holy sacred vow to the Lord to at least spend 15 minutes a day, that’s the minimum to read the Bible through in a year. Some of them said 30 minutes a day, read the Bible through twice. Some of them actually said, I’m going to take from all those, I’ve quit some of those lines on my electronic world and I’m going to spend an hour just getting through the word to catch up.

By the way, me personally, I was challenged when I was 19 years old. I only read the Bible through once before and I did it because someone paid me a hundred dollars to go to camp if I’d read the whole Bible. I sat down. That’s how I know it takes 72 hours because I just sat at Hassell High School and read it in the library. I asked my teacher; can I go to the library? Can I go to the library? Can I go to the library? I just read the whole Bible to earn a hundred dollars. Then, I got to Bible School. I was so convicted that I was going to spend the rest of my life teaching this book, and I’d only read it through one. So, I started, at age 19, reading the Bible through once a month. By the way, to read it through once a month, do you have to spend 72 hours a month? You know what I did? I didn’t have the iPhone to cut out or the laptop. I cut out going to every basketball game, every soccer game. I went to every kind of sporting thing, and I had long dates, and all these things. I used to read a whole pile of magazines every month. Life magazine, National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, all these different magazines. I cut everything out until I had two hours and 20 minutes free every day to read the Bible. I read the Bible through once a month for over three years until I far exceeded my age. I was told you’ll never be able to teach the Bible until you’ve read it through at least once for every year you are old. I had read it once at 19. I had read it 31 times by the time I turned 20., I had read it 43 times by the time, you understand, by the time those three and a half years were over.

Let’s get back. Number two, only sheep who are refreshed can overflow. Look at this. This is the Judean wilderness where David flees to. This is not far from Bethlehem. This is what it looks like. Does that look like green pastures? Yes, during rainy season, but most of the year is not rainy season and sheep really have to search to find a little grass here and there. Shepherds have to be leading them.

But look what we have. John 7, Jesus made a promise. “If anyone thirsts,” you want to be refreshed, “come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” You know what Jesus said? If you’ll spend time with Me, My Holy Spirit will well up in your life. You will be like a river of life giving water.

As with most animals, sheep are made up of 70% water. This is a typical sheep fold in the Judean wilderness. Probably David walked by that, it’s that old. Water is vital for them to live, but there’s only three ways that a sheep in Israel can get healthy and life giving water. Drawing water from a deep well, having water stilled in a running stream. By the way, a sheep cannot go into a river. It will float like a bobber and then sink like a lead weight because it’s just a big sponge. A shepherd, if they got near a river, had to make a little drinking station where they could just drink without being swept away. Those, deep wells sheep can’t get to. It takes a long time to bucket the water. Running streams are dangerous. Look at this, the primary method is due laden grasses.

Think about this. Mark 1:35, “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He…” that’s the good shepherd Himself, Jesus, “…went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” Think about the universal teaching in the scripture about refreshment, eating manna, and getting alone with the Lord. Jesus’s example, the Bible characters example, and all the great Christian biographies all have something in common. Look at this. It is in the quiet early hours of the morning Jesus communed with His Heavenly Father. It’s also in those times, at the start of each day, He waits for us to come for feeding, renewing, refreshing, and to quiet our souls.

Do you remember what it says in Revelation 3? Do you remember what Jesus said? He said behold, I stand at the door and what? I’m knocking. What is He doing? Jesus is waiting to come in, He said in Revelation 3, and have a meal with us. When does Jesus want to have a meal with you? Whenever you’ll invite Him in. What’s the best time to do it? For me, at the very beginning of my day, because if I’m not careful my day evaporates. I choose to start my day working on my verses that I have on my phone, reading my Bible, praying, writing in my journal to start each day.

Look back at the slide. Our quiet times each morning are much more than the old fashioned custom. A lot of people think, oh that’s old fashioned, that’s for the old timers. No, they are the habit of saints of old whose lives reflect the Lord powerfully in life and ministry. By the way, when you read the biographies of the great men and the great women of God who’ve gone before us most in their biographies will attribute their growth spiritually to these quiet times with the Lord at the start of each day. It’s the example of Jesus and it’s the example of David. He said, early will I seek thee.

Jesus wants to restore my soul. He doesn’t just want to refresh me and feed me. He wants to restore me. Only the lives of a restored sheep can overflow. What would make a sheep not restored? Look at this and I’m quoting from another one of these shepherds. “One of the dreadful situations of sheep is to be cast.” I’d never even heard of this. This refers to being on its back with its feet flailing, unable to regain its balance to stand. This often happens when sheep try and find a spot that’s too comfortable and they tumbled down into a depression and their feet are up in the air, or when they eat too much (and they actually do that) and they tip over, or their wool is too shaggy and untrimmed, and they stumble and roll down an embankment. That’s called being cast.

Look what David says, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” I don’t usually probably the older I get, I will, but I, it’s not normal for me to stumble and be with, I can’t get up, I’ve fallen and can’t get up like that advertisement physically. But emotionally, look at this. This is our real problem.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?” Your emotions, your feelings. “Why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God.” A cast sheep is a very pathetic sight and so is a cast believer who have lost their footing spiritually. Lying on their back, its feet in the air it flays frantically, struggling to stand up. It can’t succeed. It will bleat for a little, for help, but generally it just lies there lashing about, frightened and frustrated. That describes a great many believer’s lives.

Do you know what Hebrew says? The book of Hebrews, Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,” get rid of anything that casts you down. “Every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us,” go through the Christian life, “with endurance the race that’s set before us.”

This is what one of the sheep-ologists wrote. ” When the fleece becomes very long and heavily matted with mud, manure, burrs, and other debris, it’s much easier for that sheep to become cast, weighed down with its own wool.” This is what I wrote in my journal. Join me in asking Jesus to show us how to lay aside anything that impedes our walk with Christ! You can measure how you’re doing spiritually by how hungry are for this book. Which is more important, this or this? Which do you seek first? The kingdom of God or entertainment, amusement, fun, keeping up, poking, tagging, Insta, eating, whatever. What do you seek first? The Lord says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” What keeps us from doing that? Look at this. Anything that keeps us from seeking Him first, we should lay aside and avoid because it’s ensnaring.

Join me. You want to know what this week did to me? I started asking Jesus anew and afresh to show me what I needed to lay aside that has become ensnaring. We’re in this COVID time. Did you know that during this COVID time, Netflix, and Hulu, and prime video, and Disney plus, and HBO max, and you name it, peacock, I don’t even know all these streaming services, have become best friends with the world. They shouldn’t be our best friends as believers. We should lay aside anything that impedes seeking first, the kingdom of God.

Number four, Jesus wants to anoint my head with oil because only the lives of healthy sheep can overflow. Look what it says in verse 5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” That means I can put my head down to grass and eat because I’m unafraid, because you’re the one I’m trusting, and because you anoint my head with oil. That’s why my cup can overflow. This is what I wrote in my journal. Ask Jesus to keep me healthy every day. Ask Jesus to keep you healthy every day.

Let’s talk about spiritual health. “You anoint my head with oil.” What is that? If sheep are not checked, they develop infections. The most common is what we see in the Old Testament. It’s called a blemished sheep. If you read the Old Testament and you should be reading the Old Testament. You should read the Bible through at least once a year just to hear everything God has to say. You should invest 15 minutes a day, 15 minutes a day to read the whole Bible through. Read it just to get a scope, sequence, understanding, and hear the Lord’s voice. When you read the Old Testament it’s always, bring me an unblemished lamb. What is that? The blemishes were what we would today call scabs. They were communicable and infectious skin disorders that left unchecked would just totally disable the sheep. The face of the sheep is where the scab starts and is transmitted to other sheep as they rubbed their heads, which they do all the time. Remember they’re bumping and jostling. The most common other ailment is of the head and it’s also attacking their head. It’s called the nose fly.

This is in my journal. In application to me today, the world of sin, our flesh, and the Devil usually attacks our heads, our minds first. The first place a sheep gets sick is somewhere in its head and face. These nose flies are laying larva in its eyes and nose. Horrible infection, or the scabs start forming. It’s just gross. Think about it.

Ancient and modern shepherds have made an oil with sulfur and spices that repels the flies. It prevents eggs from being laid and it calms the sheep in the summer, the fly season. It’s also a medicine that heals all these scabs and makes them not transmittable. That’s shepherding. That’s what oil on your head was, medical attention. Have you received medical attention?

As the shepherd anoints their sheep, pouring oil over their heads, rubbing their wounds, anointing their noses, something wonderful takes place. An anointed sheep’s whole personality changes. They’re not irritable with the other sheep. They’re not frustrated about getting to the grass first. They’re not hostile and fighting. They focus on feeding and growing. All they have to do is have this health treatment by their good shepherd.

What would that be to us? Are you thinking? What is oil a picture of in the Old Testament? The Holy Spirit. Now think about that. The nose flies of the Christian life are cataloged in Galatians 5. That’s a key chapter. They’re called the works of the flesh. 17 works of the flesh are named. “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries.” Wow, think about this.

Most believers shun nine of those. You heard words that you would never have anything to do with. We’re proud we don’t do them. The other eight reflect the irritations of the flesh in our social relationships, of which most of us are guilty. Hatred. Contentions. Being jealous. Saying I lost my temper when you actually found it. Selfish ambition, thinking of ourselves first. Dissensions, disagreeing with people. Not properly understanding the word of God. Envying others. Those are all common. These pests are constantly buzzing around us and within us, and they’re causing harassment. We can swat at them, we can run from them, we can hide from them, we can pretend they’re not there, but we can’t eliminate them. They create guilt and anxiety within us, hostility. The only solution is found in another, in the Lord. My irritable personality must be exchanged for another’s personality.

Do you know what the fruit of the Spirit is? I call it a personality transplant. When I say not I but Christ, how does that happen? When I empty myself of self, say no, and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Think about that.

The fruit of the Spirit is actually a list of Christ’s personality traits. When the Holy Spirit runs our lives, the nine evidences are called the fruit of the Spirit. They come right after the fruit of the flesh, same chapter, Galatians 5. They’re called, “love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

The Holy Spirit pours that oil of His love on the nose fly of strife and brings peace. He pours His oil of joy over the nose fly of my envy of others and brings me peace. He pours his oil of peace over my nose fly of disputes and brings peace to my life. That’s what the Lord offers to us.

The Holy Spirit wants to replace my personality with Christ’s. I just have to invite Him, and ask Him, and surrender to Him. That’s what it means to walk in the Spirit.

My best illustration, that resonates in my mind, that’s clearest to me is a glove. You can go to Walmart and you can look at the glove section. You can get a gardener’s glove, or a golfer’s glove, or a baseball player’s glove, or a skateboarder’s glove, or whatever kind of glove you want. If you have that glove and just throw it on the table, nothing happens until that glove is filled with a hand. You can get a gardening glove and put it on your hand, and you won’t become a gardener. A gardening glove with the hand of the gardener in it becomes able to do gardening. A golfer golfing, a baseball player playing baseball, or whatever kind of person. It’s not me filling my life, I am like the glove. The Holy Spirit fills me, and He changes my personality. Just like filling the glove, He fills my life. It is dramatic, life-changing, and overflowing.

There’s always enough anointing leftover for others. The overflowing cup is meant to be shared. The anointed head is for me. God wants to heal me of my sins that so easily beset me in all the frailties of my flesh. Once I get healed, the overflowing cup is to overflow to others. We’re supposed to be overflowing into the lives of everyone around us. The people that know us, that live with us, that are our roommates, that are married to us, that we are their parents, or we are their children, or fellow members of the body of Christ. In the long-term, I should see a decreasing frequency of me being sinful and an increasing frequency of me looking and acting like Christ. That’s the Spirit filled life.

Next slide, is the cup of your life overflowing today. That’s the bottom line of our whole study. If not, have you bowed your head before the good shepherd and asked Him to oil you with the Spirit of God yet today?

At salvation we received all of the Holy Spirit, but He doesn’t have all of us. For Him to fill us and control us are two vastly different conditions. The shepherd could carry gallons of this oil, but until it’s applied the sheep don’t get healed. It’s the application that matters.

I love all these pictures by the way. There’s a website it’s called Bibleplaces.com. It’s an old friend of mine. I met him in Israel. Dr. Todd Bolen is his name. His website has a picture of everything you’ve ever heard of in the Bible. He lets all of us use his pictures in teaching. There’s the shepherd and there’s the flock. The shepherd is going to look them over, feel them, and apply the oil to them.

To be safe from all wounds, pests, diseases, and dangers. Sheep learn to trustingly pass under the rod of their shepherd. As he moves the rod in his hands over their wool he checks, and cleans, and protects them.

You must bow your infected head for His daily inspection and cleansing. It comes right here in the word when we bow before the Lord and say, speak to me, your servant is listening, change my life. That’s what our application prayers are all about. Secondly, you must bow your rebellious will for periodic cleansing to purge the taint of sin. It says in 2 Corinthians 7:1 where to purge ourselves from “All filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” What that means is, saying Lord, search me, know me. By the way, that’s Psalm 139 and we’re going to study it in a few weeks. You must bow, look at this last one, and asked to be filled by God’s Spirit again, moment by moment, day by day. I don’t know about you, but I’m like an old tire. I have a leak somewhere in the rim or the stem. I have to keep getting refilled, all the time, and that’s what the Lord wants to do.

All this stuff we’re supposed to be recording in our journal and that’s what I did.

Here’s my journal.

I titled, remember every week we’re supposed to do this, this is week 14, we’re doing Psalm 23, I titled the Psalm every day. I thought of different titles. Jesus is my shepherd, was one day. Jesus is all I need, was another day. My great shepherd ever lives to feed and lead me safely home, that’s when I tied it to Hebrews 13.

Here’s my summary. Psalm 23 is David’s summary of his heart’s desire. I remember he was the man after God’s own heart. He wasn’t perfect, he was just focused. Sheep are the most mentioned animal in the Bible. We are called the sheep of His pastures. Sheep are weak, defenseless, helpless, and utterly dependent on their shepherd. Jesus wants to shepherd us, that’s the first part of verse 1, and satisfy us, and rest us, and lead us, and restore us. As He wants to do all this, all we have to do is agree with Him and invite Him.

Jesus said I won’t leave you alone at death, instead I’ll come just for you. If a believer dies you know where Jesus was at that moment. He comes to lead them personally through the valley of the shadow of death. That’s what He promised. You can see that if you read Hebrews 9:26-27 and verse 4 of Psalm 23. He wants to protect, and comfort, and calm, and empower, and bless, and take us home with Him. That’s my summary.

Here are the lessons. I belong to the Lord. I’m in His flock. He’s my shepherd that I want to follow, trust, and obey. Only following Him brings satisfaction. God never says we won’t suffer wants. I will be like Paul, content in whatever state I find myself in. Lord, you are my shepherd, number two, teach me not to want. Teach me to trust, to rest, to understand Your shepherding. Verse 2, Lord I know I need to rest. I need to be vulnerable and I need to feel Your provision of green pastures. Make me lie down. Lead me, instead of my own way. I want to follow You until the waters of life are still.

From verse 3 I said Lord, you can reset my heart and my mind back to peace, joy, and hope. You can restore my emotions to tranquility. When I follow You, my path leads into deeper, purer, and fuller right living, right thinking, right doing. I can live for the glory of Your name. My soul needs Your reset, Your restoration that only You can do. I want to follow Your pathway. All I do, I want to do in Your name.

Can you tell us was a great chapter? This is probably the greatest chapter for the Christian life, that I know of, in the whole Bible. Out of 1,189 chapters, Psalm 23 sums it all up.

Lord, death is coming. That’s verse 4. The valley is dark, but if I follow You, there’s nothing to fear. I want to trust, feel, know, and believe Your presence is with me right now, so that when the dark valley comes, I’m really sure of it. Use Your rod to correct and protect me. Use Your staff to guide, lead, and feed me. Your comfort is what I seek. Lord, death’s shadow gets closer every day. Keep me closer to You, following You, trusting You, listening to You, and understanding Your way and timing are best. Keep me from fearing evil. That’s the most repeated negative prohibition, fear not, don’t fear because Your presence leads me and guides.

Just a couple more. Lord, let me rest and trust enough to eat at Your table as I feel the presence of my enemies. Pour Your power on me. Fill my life to overflow me. Lord, I want to sit, eat, and fellowship with You even when surrounded by my enemies. Some of you, the Lord might call to go to the ends of the Earth and you’re going to be living in a secular country, an antagonistic country, an Islamic country, or all alone in some huge city. Look at this, I want to sit, and eat, and fellowship even when surrounded by enemies. I invite and ask Your powerful anointing to fill my cup, the Holy Spirit to fill my cup, overflowing with blessings. Last one. Lord, I’m followed by Your wagons of goodness, somebody I read this week said that… wagons of goodness, and mercy every day. Help me stop and enjoy those gifts from You each day. Maybe by neglecting a little entertainment to have time to do that. Thanks for the place You’re preparing. I want to dwell with You forever. In Jesus name, Amen. Lord, Your promised goodness and mercy are always following me each day. Teach me to stop and drink them daily. I want to long for, and rest in the truth. By the way, I just kept packing these in because, like you, there’s so much here.

Here’s my prayer and I’ll pray it because you’re in my small group so you can see what the Lord is doing in my life. Lord, You want to shepherd me if only I will follow You. You offer complete satisfaction and rest for my soul. I ask for Your leading and restoration of my weary and often troubled soul. Only You can deal with all my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Lead me down Your righteous path, stay close to me all the way. I so need Your protection and comfort. Calm my troubled heart, because I need Your anointing power over every part of my life. Thank you for loading me with blessings all my days. I’m looking forward to living in Your house with You forever. Amen.

Real quick. As I said a couple of weeks ago, the Lord’s prayer parallels the 23rd Psalm. If we focus on our shepherd and follow Him, letting Him lead us, He’s all we want, and He cleanses us, His rod and staff protects us. All we think about is His kingdom, and power, and glory forever. There’s an amazing parallel between the simplicity of the 23rd Psalm and the Lord’s prayer.

Jesus is all I need, that’s the title or it can become your life direction and desire. I hope this week, your time in the word, your time journaling, will grow as you take and put other things secondary.

Two requests I have. Find someone this week with whom you can share your findings. Tell them, I’m in the greatest of the great chapters. There are 52 great chapters, this is the best one of all. It’s so simple, it’s monosyllabic. All of a sudden, I’m seeing what it means, that the Lord is my shepherd. That’s one thing.

Number two, pray for us. It’s increasingly difficult for me to go on in all the pressures of ministry without spending time getting ready to meet with the Lord every day, then to look forward to my small group with you. Pray for us. Some of you might think of adopting us as the missionary that you pray for. This is our prayer card, take a screenshot of that and put it in your photos, or something, to remember. This is my wonderful wife. She’s sitting right over there in the studio recording me. We’ve already done our whole day of teaching classes, and now we’re doing this. This is our small group time that we want to keep with you because we need to be accountable to you that we’re spending time in the word, and loving, and seeking the Lord. We need your prayers for us.

I’d also like to thank you. Many of you, I know it because I get notes from our headquarters in Oklahoma, that many of you that are in this small group actually are supporting us. I just would like to, and Bonnie joins me in saying, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I looked on Google Maps today. I got a notice of two or three people that sent in a monthly support gift and they actually included their address. One of them lives right between Vancouver and Calgary in British Columbia, right on the side of a mountain. Google maps had a picture of where they lived. Another one lived in London. The name of their street, name of your street if you’re watching, was beautiful, like Wanders Way. Google Maps showed me that it was just this little, tiny brick apartment and all this stuff on the other side, construction, and a falling down building. Another one was so far out in the country in Missouri, that Google had not even sent their Google van by. It said no picture available. Thank you to every one of you, you three from today, and all of you that pray for us. Pray for all that God wants to do through us. You’re upholding us by your prayers and you’re going with us by your support.

Next week, Psalm 24. Spend this week in Psalm 23. To live the best life possible Jesus is all I need. Come to the place where you can say that Jesus is all you need in your life. God bless you, as you go through Psalm 23 this week.