Well I know nothing else to do but
read the 23rd Psalm.
So shall we turn to that blessed chapter?
It has been so rightfully called the Pearl
of Psalms, and it has also been called
the Shepherd Psalm.
How blessed to recognize the value of it.
One has said it is probably the first
Psalm that we ever learn in life.
And it is also the last one, for
it is precious to the young, and it
is also precious even to the aged, at
the end of the road.
But here are the words of the beloved
Psalmist as he writes this Shepherd Psalm.
He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures.
He leadeth me beside the still water.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's faith.
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.
At the table before me, the
one that in
death giving, that
I loved in simplicity tonight, are revealed in
this wonderful Psalm.
It reveals the secret, it reveals the secret
of a happy, and third, it reveals the
secret of a happy eternity.
The introduction of the Lord is, it
does not say the Lord is, neither does
it say the, there
was a British chap, he gathered them together,
they needed Christ, it was finished.
It was his custom to say to the
men, remember these five, I
didn't say the apostles, and representing
them as
their own Savior.
In death, O beloved
one, I may be able
to say the Lord Jesus Christ, can
you call him yours?
Can you say he is mine?
The important fact is
to be able to say with assurance, he
came to his own people, and his own
received him not.
Then John said, then gave he the right,
the privilege, the authority, even to them that
believed him.
May I emphasize, it is important that you
and I receive him.
I will create my Savior into your heart,
and then you will say he is mine.
Now may I draw a
happy eternity, quickly,
and thoroughly as possible, as we go down
the chapter.
Given to those, may
I, and
as the original suggests, it means nothing, action
is in the possession of Savior.
May I call him nothing,
and leadeth me beside the green patch, with
their food?
They were not being fed, the green, the
contentment that only Christ can give.
Of peace, that are found in the pages
of this, the
still waters, of
me, wherever, he
restoreth mine.
He leadeth me, like to be
walking in the paths of righteousness.
No one but the good shepherd can lead
you in such.
That precious him, leadeth
me, he leadeth me, to be guided, and
may I say, he's never lost a sheep.
Neither shall any flock come out, neither shall
any flock, and beloved, if not
this shepherd, may I assure, put his and
her trust in him.
He's never lost one, to the eternity above,
at the end of the pilgrimage below.
He then knows something, he
doth before me, in the flesh, there
is constantly divine food, and
as David the shepherd lamb, took care of
the sheep, he fed the sheep, and
there was a table of food, as they
wenteth there, the
leader hath a forty
years, and through the will, forty
years in the wilderness.
My beloved, this is the secret of that,
he prepares a table, and there's not only
food, and inflicted upon the existing,
but there's only, the oil and the, not
only healing, you go into verse four,
it's the shepherd's thought, you'll
never find sheep drinking from running water, the
water has to be still, and
even over the bridge, my cup, well
would to God be filled, when
the Lord, in verse six and the first
part of is, and is,
this shepherd, it is the secret, that
this shepherd is not only, and he assures
me, knowing him, no
fear, no evil, thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
Now let me apply it, to what may
be one of the most solemn, there
is no necessity, for
as he speaks of the word walk, he
declares, when I come, there
will be composure, when I come, in
death, blessed come, the
valley of the shepherd, in the hills of
Judea, when David was, when
the Lord is, and
what joy, you're
going through it, there's another side, and
oh that, this there shepherd, oh
I remember a beloved brother, but
oh that, he
not only hath composure, yea though I walk
through the, no evil, my
beloved may I say, when that time, the
evil will be behind, the evil of a
wicked world, will be left behind, the
evil even, of the flesh, there
can be courage, no need to fear, you
say why, because I know it's going to
be easy to die then, and
despondency, except, when I've had to take the
funeral, meetings as
children, years ago, both of them killed in
an accident, I
swear, listen, do you know the shepherd,
do you know the shepherd, heart, fear, and
then not, there was not only composure, when
you read this psalm, before you come to
the fourth verse, he writes with
me, she
said an old college, but he's got heart
trouble, he
was wrapped in an overcoat, he had a
blanket, and
said apologetically, uncle Jim, I'm, he
wouldn't touch him, he
didn't live long afterward though, but he knew
the shepherd was with him, neither
do we know when we're going, we know
with whom we're, when that moment, thou art
with, he had come, and
cared for the sheep, he had, usually there
were about three weapons, three things that the
shepherd carried too, he had a rod, and
he had a sling, he knew, that
with the implement of the sling, that
even in death, he will still be faithful,
my dear friend, we must say, then may
we know, happy
eternity, there
is a happy eternity, can I read one
verse in vivid
contrast, what we have mentioned is the happy
eternity, chapter 14, verses 10 and 11, they
do not reveal a happy eternity, they reveal
the most unhappy eternity, which
is porn, in
the present day
nor night, may I link it with verse
15, may I read the following 15 of
chapter 20, in
eternity, beloved, eternity, eternity, where
will you spend eternity, your choice,
forgive it, my happy
death, happy eternity, my wish
to receive tonight, this blessedness of a
happy life, a happy death, and a happy
eternity, oh beloved, if you think it's a
happy place to be, a park of palms,
you have never been in eternity yet, when
we get homeward is
penalty and price, he still waits to see,
if there be one within his or her,
I need, can't need, so
make me whole, asking
him by holy name, amen.