Our Good Shepherd (Psalm 23) - Pastor Roman Flores (Redeemer Bible Church, Gilbert, AZ)

It is an honor to be here with you all. It's awesome to see just God working in different areas. It's always an honor to worship with the saints and to open up God's word together. So before I do that, actually, I guess I should say a little bit about myself.

My name is Roman Flores. I'm actually from California. I'm from Bakersfield. I'm in a valley. It's hot there as well as it is in Phoenix. I'm married. We've been married eight years. We have two little ones.

Quinn, our daughter, she is three. And then Roman II, he just turned one. And so it's great being a dad. It's great being a husband. Just God uses all these things to make us more like him. And yeah, just life is a blessing.

Life is a gift. And then it's awesome to do life together with fellow saints who love and cherish Christ. So before I open up God's word, let me pray. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you for just another opportunity to gather together with your blood blood saints to open up your word so that we can learn more about you.

And just reflect on the gospel and what you've done for us. Lord, we love you and we praise you. And we just don't want to take these times for granted. We love you. In Jesus name, amen. All right, so let me ask you a question.

Who is it that you follow? We have an election coming up pretty very soon, actually. Who is it that you follow? Who do you put your trust in and care about what they say? Maybe it's a group. Maybe you trust or you follow a certain person.

Maybe you just trust yourself. We're all familiar with social media. Who do you follow on Instagram or Twitter? I refuse to call X, it's still Twitter for me. Who are you liking on Facebook? What books are you listening to?

What podcasts? What news do you watch? CNN, Fox News, The Daily Wire. Who is it that pours into you? Who leads you or helps you along the way? As humans, we are prone to be followers. So ask yourself, who do I follow?

In today's culture, we have a term that people call each other who are followers. We hear it all the time. Oh, those people are sheep. Those people just do whatever so and so says. Isn't it funny how everyone else is a sheep?

It's always them, they are a sheep. We use it as a put down. You, you're just a sheep. Being a sheep is bad in today's culture. And you know, it really, it can be really bad. Being a sheep can be terrible depending on who your shepherd is, who is shepherding you.

You don't want to be a sheep to a bad shepherd and the world is full of bad shepherds. Well, this morning we'll be in Psalm 23, like we just sang, a Psalm that we are all very familiar with and this morning, I want to show you three benefits of being a sheep for our good shepherd.

Three benefits for being a sheep of our good shepherd. And the first one, because the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. Because the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. And then number two will be, because the Lord is our shepherd, we will fear no evil.

And then three, we will live forever. This morning, I want to encourage you and I want to remind you about our good shepherd who provides, protects, and gives us eternal life. So if you haven't already, please turn with me to Psalm 23.

Psalm 23. And I was told that you don't use the ESV, so I'm sorry I do have the ESV. So it's very similar. So that's what I'll be reading from just because it's worked all through my sermon. I'll read it.

It says, the Lord is my shepherd. Psalm of David, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is the very word of the living God.

The Lord Is My Shepherd and the Confidence of Belonging to Him

We start this Psalm of David with an amazing phrase that we might just skim by because we've heard it a million times. The Lord is my shepherd. We've heard it a million times, but these words are an amazing truth for believers.

We can't overlook this. The Lord is my shepherd. Think about this. The infinite sovereign Lord of the universe is our shepherd. And we could end it and we could sing praises for the rest of the service because of this amazing thought.

Our great God, he uses this illustration of a shepherd to show us his great love and care for his own people, his sheep. David who wrote this Psalm was a shepherd himself. He had many sheep. So he knows everything about them.

He understands their needs. He knows their cares. He knows all the cares that go into being a shepherd for them. But even though he knows these things, David doesn't put himself in the place of the shepherd, even though David was actually a shepherd.

He doesn't identify with the shepherd here. Instead, he puts himself and us in the place of the sheep. Instead of the place of the shepherd, we are the weak, defenseless, foolish sheep. Now, I don't know if you know a bunch about sheep.

I mean, I haven't seen many sheep in Arizona since I've been there. I don't know if you know anything about sheep,.

But they are prey.

When you think of big, strong, scary animals, do you think of a sheep?

No.

They're pretty defenseless against their predators. They're naturally nervous. They're easily frightened. That's who we are. And here in this Psalm, God takes the role of shepherd. He is the provider.

He's the preserver, the director, and everything. And he is not like the world. He is a good shepherd. He is the shepherd, and we are the sheep. The next thing about this phrase that you need to know is that not just anyone has the right to call themselves the Lord's sheep.

Unless your nature has been renewed, unless you've become a new creation, unless you've believed the gospel, you're not part of his flock. The Bible actually describes you as something totally different.

It describes unconverted people as something else. It calls them goats, sometimes wolves. So not just anyone can call God their shepherd, but for those that have believed in Christ Jesus, you can say with David, the Lord is my shepherd.

There's a strong tone of confidence here in this phrase. There's no if, there's no but, or there's no even, and I hope so. He doesn't say, if the Lord is my shepherd, or I hope the Lord is my shepherd.

Every other religion hopes that they can be right with God. They hope that they can do enough good, and they hope that he'll be their shepherd. But for those of you who have trusted in God through the hope of the gospel, come a new creation.

You have gone from goats to sheep. And you can say with confidence that the Lord is my shepherd. And we must cultivate this spirit of assured dependence upon our heavenly father, our good shepherd. One of the sweetest words here in this little phrase too is that tiny little word, my.

Yes, the Lord is a shepherd, but he is also my shepherd. David does not say the Lord is the shepherd of the world, even though he is sovereign over the entire world. He doesn't say he leads his flock, even though he also does that.

He says the Lord is my shepherd. It's personal. So if you're here this morning, and you trust in Christ Jesus, he is your shepherd. He cares for you. He watches over you, and he preserves you. The words here in this psalm are in the present tense, and they are forever in the present tense.

Right now, if you are a believer, you are under the pastoral care of our amazing God. And nothing can change that. No one can snatch you from his hand. Nothing can snatch you from his flock. And so now I wanna share the benefits we see in this psalm.

What does life with our good shepherd look like? Number one, because he is my shepherd, I shall not want. And you'll see it right there on the screen. I shall not want. Verse one says, the Lord's my shepherd, I shall not want.

There might be some things I want in this life, but when the Lord is my shepherd, he is able to supply all my needs, and he's willing to do so. His heart is full of love for his sheep, and because of that, I shall not want.

I won't lack anything that I need. Matthew 6, 26 says, look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

If God feeds the birds, would he leave his own children to starve or be hungry? I might not have everything that I want, but when I know that my shepherd is good, and I know that he loves me, I shall not want.

The wicked always want, but not the righteous. A sinner's heart is far from satisfaction, and as humans, we're always looking and grasping at satisfaction. We're always looking for it. King Solomon, David's son, tells us that it can't be found in his book, Ecclesiastes.

He reminds us that there's nothing to be gained under the sun. Everything that we work for under the sun is ultimately not profitable for our souls, to satisfy our souls. His thesis statement in that book, Ecclesiastes, is vanity of vanities.

All is vanity. Solomon talks as the wise teacher who had every resource available to him. Solomon had everything. He had all political power. He had everything you could ever fathom. He had every pleasure available, and at the end of his life, he says, vanity of vanities.

All is vanity. The Hebrew word he uses is hebel. He says, hebel, hebel, everything is hebel, meaning breath or vapor. So in essence, he's saying the merest of breaths, the merest of breaths, everything is like a breath.

Here one second, and gone the next. Not fully satisfying. Like I said, King Solomon, he had everything. He spent his life wanting and actually getting. Some of us want and want, but we never get. But he had everything, and at the end of his life, he said, it's not worth it.

Chasing satisfaction here on earth is like chasing the wind. It's like trying to catch the smoke when you blow out a candle. Are you living trying to get some smoke for yourself? You know, you never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.

Are you living just trying to accumulate things for yourself that you can't take with you after you die? At the end of Ecclesiastes, he says, the end of the matter, all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

At the end of the day, you won't be satisfied with anything other than the Lord. Nothing fulfills man like fearing God and doing what he says. When the world offers me everything under the sun, I shall not want.

My good shepherd, he knows my wants, and he knows my needs. I shall not want. Not because I have all the money in the bank. Not because I have everything that I could ever want here on this earth. Not because I have this job that pays me so much, or because I'm married to so-and-so.

Not because I have this or that, but because the Lord is my shepherd. Because I have Jesus. When you have Christ, you have everything. He is better than anything that we could ever want, and he is more essential to our soul than anything else that we could ever need.

Verse two says, he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. We've all heard the phrase, the grass is greener on the other side. I mean, the grass is greener over here in Medford than it is in Phoenix.

But we always hear the phrase, the grass is greener on the other side. The world wants you to think that. They want you to think that the grass is greener over there. The world wants you to think that they have it better.

They want you to think that giving into your desires will be better. Do whatever you want. Do what feels right. Be your true self. They want you to believe that the grass is greener over there, but let me tell you, the grass is greener right here, next to the Savior, under his loving care.

Without Christ, your grass is dead. It's not even close to green, and I don't care what you do to that grass. You could paint it. You could Photoshop it like realtors do, but that grass is not green. Chasing your own desires always ends in disappointment, and oftentimes hurt.

There is no greener pasture than next to our good shepherd, trusting him and trusting his word. I have the joy of pastoring at Redeemer, like what was said. I pastor the student ministry, and I always tell them, God is not trying to keep you from good things.

He's not trying to keep you from enjoying your life. It's just that his things and his way of doing things are actually best, and they are actually good. Our problem is we like the wrong things. We like eating that dead grass, but life in Christ, life believing in Christ and trusting his word, that is the green pasture to live in.

Feasting on his word and resting in him is the best food for our souls. Just like how grass is natural nourishment for sheep. When by faith we are enabled by God to find rest in his promises and in his word, we are like sheep that lie down in the pasture.

We find peace. We find rest and refreshment and satisfaction. But like sheep, we sure love to wander. We love to leave. And you know it's true, we sing it all the time. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.

Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, take and seal it. Take and seal it, please, because if it's up to us, we're wandering. We're all some wandering sheep. Notice here what David says. We aren't just laying down calm and content.

He makes us lie down. It is our good shepherd who graciously makes us lie down and enables us to perceive the preciousness of his truth and to feed on it. How grateful should we be for the power to appreciate his promises, appreciate his goodness.

How grateful should we be to sing the songs we sing every week? Goats don't sing songs, only sheep. Verse three says, he restores my soul. When the soul gets weary, our good shepherd revives it. When it's sinful, he sanctifies it.

When it is weak, he strengthens it. And you notice who does it?

He does it.

Are any of you low in grace? Do you feel that your spirituality is fading? The God who came down to live and die and raise from the dead can surely revive your lowly soul. The God who knit your soul together and breathe the life into it can surely restore you.

Pray to your shepherd who loves you. Do you ever pray for him to restore you? You wanna know a way to 100 get what you pray for? You wanna know 100 of the time how to get what you pray for? You just pray in accordance with his will.

Well, how do I know God's will? Well, you read his word, you feast in his pasture. Don't you think he wants you to be restored and encouraged and trust in him more? Pray for that, you'll get it. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

The Christian loves to be obedient, but it is an obedience out of love. The Christian is compelled by the example of his master. The Christian is not obedient to some commandments and then neglectful to others.

He doesn't pick and choose, he yields to all of them. Whatever God gives us to do, we should do it because we are motivated and led by his love. Look what he's done for us. We are motivated by what he has done for us in the gospel.

And remember this, this is important. All of this is done out of God's pure and free grace. All of this is for the honor and glory of our great shepherd. It's all for his name's sake that we be a holy people walking the narrow way of righteousness.

We are so led lovingly and guided by him that we must not fail to adore our heavenly shepherd's care. Because the Lord is our shepherd and cares for us and knows our wants and our needs, I shall not want.

The Valley of the Shadow of Death and the Comfort of God’s Presence

Number two, because the Lord is my shepherd, I will fear no evil. Because the Lord is my shepherd, I will fear no evil. There's a reason that the Psalm is so famous. It is so full of rich, beautiful imagery and truths to dig up.

Verse four says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, even though he's going through the darkest of times, the darkest valley, what is he doing? He's just walking. To walk indicates the steady advance of a soul that knows its road and he knows where it ends.

It's resolved to follow the path. He feels safe and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. Even when death is looming over the Christian, we actually know that there's light at the end of the tunnel.

And we go through that dark tunnel of death and we emerge into the light of eternity. We emerge into the presence of our good shepherd. As Christians, we do not die. We simply go to sleep and wake up in glory.

Death is not the house, it is the porch. It is not the end. It is just the passage to our true home. Samuel Rutherford, a Scottish pastor from the 1600s once said, our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to heaven.

Our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to heaven. That's awesome. Even though all these things are happening, even though you may be going through this dark valley, even though you may have enemies, I will fear no evil.

Why?

Why is he just strolling through this valley of death? What does he say? For you are with me. He's not afraid because of who is with him. All of these hard times, shadows and enemies are nothing compared to the good shepherd with me.

David fought Goliath. Goliath would destroy all of us in here. The Israelites were afraid and popular Instagram pastors and guys on TV, they teach how we're David and we're going to slay the giants of our lives.

That's not true. Sometimes the giants win. If Goliath walked in here right now, I don't think anyone would really want to fight him. I mean, unless somebody has a gun or something, but we'd be scared.

No one. Now, who does that make us in the story? We're the Israelites afraid. And just like them, we forget about our good shepherd. Just like we forget our good shepherd cares for us and we want other things.

When trouble comes into our lives, we get scared. We forget who is with us. When trials come, do you forget that the good shepherd's with you? When we are in the valley, we must remember him. I will fear no evil for you are with me.

Now, did you notice that David doesn't say, I will fear nothing. He only says, I will fear no evil. Why do you think that is? Because there is something we should fear. It's the shepherd. It's God we should fear.

Who's the one who let Goliath get that tall? Who's the one who let Goliath breathe up until that day? Who created the universe with the word? Who's the one who holds the oceans in their place? Who gives orders to the sun in the morning and shows it where to set in the evening?

Who's the one who flooded the earth to wipe out all the evildoers? Who is the one who defeated sin and death? It is our God. It is our shepherd. I will fear no evil. I won't even fear the evil one himself.

I won't even fear the devil. I will look at him just as he is, a defeated foe, an enemy to be destroyed. The devil can't do anything that God won't allow him to. He had to ask God for permission to mess with Job.

And this isn't the way that Hollywood portrays God and Satan. God and Satan, they aren't in this big battle, Batman versus Superman, Godzilla versus King Kong. It's not a big bad guy versus a big good guy.

No, God is in total control and it's not even close. We often picture God in heaven and then Satan in hell ruling over it with a pitchfork, but that's not reality. That's not biblical. Just like the wicked are going to be met with judgment, Revelation 20 tells us that God throws Satan into the lake of fire, just like everyone else who doesn't put their trust in Christ.

So because he is my shepherd, because God is my shepherd, I will fear no evil. A little baby out at sea in a storm is not afraid like everybody else on the boat. The baby's asleep in his mother's arms.

And it is enough for the baby that its mother's with it. And it should be enough for the believer to know that Christ is with them. One day when Jesus and his disciples were out on the sea, a huge storm came and what were the disciples doing?

They were freaking out. We're going to die. Jesus, do you even care about us? And where was Jesus?

Asleep.

You know, if they realized who was with them, maybe they would have been asleep. But they went and woke him up saying, save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, why are you afraid? Oh, you of little faith.

Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea and the storm stopped. And the disciples marveled saying, what sort of man is this? That even the wind and seas obey him. What sort of man is this? It is our good shepherd.

Continues on and says, you're rod and your staff, they comfort me. Rod and staff are what God uses to govern, rule and keep his flock. He protects them from harm. David knows that. He fought a bear and a lion for a sheep.

God protects us as well. A lot of times, even from ourselves. God uses hardship and affliction as a means of discipline, as a means of training for his children, helping them mature in their spiritual lives.

Hebrews 12, five and six says, my son do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the ones he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.

We must realize that the rod and the staff here comfort the sheep. And there is a huge difference between God's discipline and his judgmental punishment. As Christians, we often have to suffer painful consequences for our sins, but we can take comfort in the fact that we will never experience God's judgment for them.

We are secure in Christ. Even though we deserve God's punishment, we will never have to face it because our good shepherd has already taken care of it for us on the cross. And neither God's love or his justice would ever allow him to require payment for what Jesus already paid for, paid for in full.

In discipline, God is not a judge, but a father. Like I said, we have a little girl named Quinn. She turned three recently in July. And we used to hear all the time when she was a baby, oh, you have such a good baby.

Quinn's so good. She never cries. You guys are so lucky. Well, she's getting older. And she's getting smarter. And she knows what she likes. And that sin nature is showing itself more and more. So when you tell her to do something and she knows she doesn't like doing that thing, she doesn't want to do it.

She's not always that little easygoing baby anymore. I mean, she's still a good baby, but you know what I mean? Sin nature's showing. And if I'm a loving father, I will discipline her like our good shepherd does to us.

Would I be a good dad if I always let her get what she wants? If I let her eat whatever she wants? She'd always want to eat treats. And that's not good for us. Would God be a good shepherd if he let you go off and do your own thing?

No, it's loving for God to not give us everything that we want. We don't want our theology to look like a Disney movie. We don't want God to make all our dreams come true because a lot of times our dreams are actually nightmares.

They'll be a nightmare for us. And our good and all wise shepherd knows that. And out of love, he helps us stay away from those things with a nice little rod. As we move forward, we'll see a peace here that is radical.

We see peace even in the presence of his enemies. How encouraging is this calm bravery here? He says, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. When a soldier is in the presence of his enemies, oh man, if he even gets to eat, he's eating on the run.

He has to survive, he has to keep fighting. But look, God prepares a table. Nothing is hurried. There's no confusion. There's no stress or disturbance. The enemy is at the door and yet God prepares a table.

And the Christian sits down and eats as if everything was in its proper place. Because it is. Nothing happens outside of God's plan. He is sovereign, meaning he is in complete control over everything.

As the great theologian, R .C. Sproul said, there are no maverick molecules. Every molecule is under God's control. All of history, the plan, the design, every, even sin and the devil, it is all the master plan of God.

There's no plan B, there's no plan C. There's only the unchanging wise plan A of God from eternity past. In the infinite wisdom of God, he has planned it all. He is the one who has ushered everything along from one generation to the next.

He's the one who raises up, he lowers others. He's not surprised by who's gonna win the election in 16 days, I think it was. He's the one who sets the boundaries for the nations. There's no such thing as good luck or bad luck.

There's no such thing as karma. There are no accidents. Things don't just happen. He picked the time and place of your birth. He picked your parents. He chose for you to be in Medford and not in Portland.

You can thank him or, I don't know. Your gender, male or female, your temperament, your IQ, where you live, your neighbors, and even your enemies. So when they're around, let's eat. Because they can't place one finger on us without our good shepherd's consent.

The peace God gives his people is incredible. Even in the middle of the craziest circumstances and trouble. He says, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. First Peter 2 .9 says, you are, but you are a chosen race and a royal priesthood.

Every Christian is a priest. But he cannot execute the priestly office without being anointed. And because of that, we must go day by day to God so that we may have our heads in the hands of God. And we may have our heads anointed with oil.

A priest without oil missed the chief qualification for his office. And the Christian priest isn't ready for service when he is devoid of new grace from God each day. And when it comes to grace, we don't just have enough.

Our cup is overflowing, it's full. He says, my cup runneth over. So because the Lord is my shepherd, no matter what I'm going through, I know he protects me and guides me and preserves me with more grace than my little cup can handle.

Eternal Life, the Cross of Christ, and the Call to Follow the True Shepherd

And so I will fear no evil. Number three, because the Lord is my shepherd, I will live with him forever. I will live forever. Verse six says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is a fact as undeniable as it is encouraging. These two twin guardian angels that will always be with me every day of my new creation, sheep life, goodness and mercy follow you always all the days of your life, the dark days and the bright days, the days of little and the days of much, cold days in Medford and the hot days in Phoenix, the bright sunny days of summer.

Goodness supplies our needs and mercy blots out our sins. God gives us grace for today. And goodness helps us see the Christ finished work on the cross when he looks at me, it's goodness. While I'm here on earth, I am a child of God.

And when I ascend into heaven, I will be with my good shepherd face to face forever. Because the Lord is my shepherd, I will live forever. You should know that the position of this Psalm should not go unnoticed.

It comes right after the 22nd Psalm, which is particularly the Psalm of the cross. There are no green pastures, no still waters without Psalm 22. There's no Psalm 23 without the 22nd Psalm. It is only after we have read, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

That we can come to the Lord as my shepherd. It is only because Jesus took the wrath of God on the cross for us that we can call him father. Jesus said in John 10, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

Do you know of another shepherd that would do such a thing? Do you know of another God that would do something like this? A Mormon God, Allah, Buddha, name one. What God sends their son to die for his people?

What story have you ever heard where the hero dies for the villain? Only the God of the Bible, only the one true God. This God is our shepherd. And so I shall not want, and I will fear no evil and I will live with him forever.

Brothers and sisters, we need to hold tight to this Psalm. We can't just overlook it because we've heard it so many times. We need to hold it close for the times that we are in the darkest valley and when we are on the mountaintops.

We must remember our shepherd. We must remember that it is he who provides, protects and gives eternal life. It is all from him and for him. And we are just the little sheep who get the benefit. If anyone is here this morning and they don't know this good shepherd, I pray today is the day.

Count on your own. Stop putting your trust in your own works. Life is full.

I'm sure.

Life is hard in a fallen world. Aren't you alone in the dark? Aren't you tired of chasing after things that won't last? Aren't you tired of trusting in other shepherds? Isaiah 53, six says, we all like sheep have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him, the suffering servant, Jesus, the iniquity of the soul. If you haven't come to Christ, you are still astray. And Ephesians two says that you are dead in your trespasses and sins, following the prince of the power of the air, the devil.

If you haven't put your trust in Christ, Satan is your shepherd. So stop wandering, come to Christ, come be with the God who came to us, wrapped himself in human flesh to live and die and rise from the grave so that for all who would believe.

So who do you follow? Who are you a sheep to? Who is your shepherd? I hope it's Jesus,.

Because he is the best shepherd in the world.