In the sermon 'The LORD is my Shepherd,' Pastor Steve Hopkins delves into Psalm 23, emphasizing the intimate and personal relationship between the believer and God as the Shepherd. He highlights the comprehensive care and guidance God provides, reassuring believers that they lack nothing in Christ. The sermon encourages meditation on scripture as a means to deepen one's faith and understanding, contrasting true biblical meditation with worldly misconceptions. Pastor Hopkins discusses the challenges faced by modern believers, particularly the younger generation, urging them to stand firm against societal pressures and to find strength in the Word. He reflects on the sufficiency of God's provision, both material and spiritual, and the peace and rest found in Christ despite external turmoil. The sermon also explores themes of suffering and faith, suggesting that while believers may face trials, God's presence ensures comfort and protection. The ultimate message is one of assurance, that God's goodness and mercy will follow believers all their lives, leading them to dwell in His house forever.

Thanks for joining us this week at Burnet Bible Church. Stay tuned as Pastor Hopkins gives his sermon, The Lord is My Shepherd, on the 23rd Psalm. Oh, good afternoon again. Praise the Lord. What a wonderful Lord's Day.

If you would turn in your Bibles with me to the 23rd Psalm. Everyone knows where that is. David's Psalm, the 23rd Psalm. Let's stand for the reading of the Word of God. We're gonna read all of, which is a whole six verses, of Psalm 23, But let's read together verses one through six.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.

He leadeth 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 thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.

Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Let's pray. Father, we humble ourselves once again before your God and ask that you would send your spirit upon your people to do a mighty work, Lord. That you would conform us in this time more to the image of Christ, that we would be different men and different women and different children than we were when we entered this building, or that our minds would be renewed, transformed by the renewing of our minds by your word, oh God.

It takes the work of your spirit, and we ask that your spirit, oh Lord, would apply these truths, open up the understanding of our hearts and apply these truths to us, Lord, and make us more like Jesus in the process and help us to be a more grateful people and a more humble people and a more loving people, O God, and a more obedient people. For we do ask it in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus. Amen. I sent a message out to the men of the church this past week. How many got it?

Everybody get it? Message to everyone to please this week meditate on the 23rd Psalm. Meditating is lost in the churches of modernity. We don't meditate anymore on the Word of God. You know, you say meditation out in the world, and what people start thinking about, you know, the Eastern, you know, people doing yoga and crossing their legs and putting their hands in funny positions.

That's not meditation. Meditation is to consider God's Word, to read it, to memorize it, to think on it, and to really to ask God to show us the meaning of His Word. I've been meditating on this passage for some months now, in the evening when the family is in bed, when the house is still and silent. And it's been my meditation before drifting off to sleep for close to a year now. Many of you have probably memorized the 23rd Psalm.

If you haven't, I recommend that you do. There may come a time when you find these words of David to be the God-breathed words of scripture that carry you through the trials of life that lie ahead for every one of us. I also sent out a message by Paul Washer to the young men. I said, please listen to this message. And He was saying something that I heard him say in a conference earlier this year, just a snippet.

He said, you know, I'm not a prophet and the son of a prophet. I am not claiming to have some special gifting from God. I'm not even saying that here's a passage of Scripture, and I'm going to bring it out of the scripture and say this applies to today. I'm just a student of history. And the one thing that I want you to understand, " he said, and I'm paraphrasing Mr.

Washer here, but he said, the one thing I want you to understand is that apparently your generation has been chosen to suffer. Apparently your generation has been chosen to suffer. Apparently your generation has been chosen to suffer. And he said, young men today, and this message that I sent out by him, it's about seven minutes, he said young men today, you understand that you are not being raised in a generation today where you are taught strength. You're being raised to be weak men, a weak generation.

You're not taught in this culture, this culture does not teach you to go against the tide. Whereas scripture and godly men of scripture, godly men of history, always were going against the tide. And you know, I remember this video, I don't know what it was, it might have been an advertisement for some product, I don't remember what it was, but the video stuck in my mind, little clip, and it was everybody on a sidewalk, a wide sidewalk going in one direction and one guy going in the opposite direction kind of going through them. Of course it irritated everybody, right? Everybody was irritated.

He was the only guy going in the opposite direction. That, My friends, is where you will find yourselves in your culture today if you are obedient to the Word of God. The entire stream will be running in the other direction. And you'll have to decide, am I going with the flow, am I going with the stream, Or am I going to risk possibly everything in order to go against the flow? Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, Jesus said, but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it.

In this psalm or song of David, the psalmist directs us to Christ. I want you to notice this. He directs us to the Good Shepherd in whom the flock of God lacks nothing. No matter what is going on without, outside of you, the sheep of Christ's pasture can have peace within. In the midst of a restless world the sheep of Christ pasture have a place of enduring rest in him amen No matter how dry the pastures are around us, the lambs of Christ's flock may feed on pastures of grain, which we're going to look at more as we go forward.

No matter how turbulent The waters about us, the waters within us are stilled by His presence. The text of the 23rd Psalm begins, the Lord is my shepherd. And the first thing we need to understand is that the Lord David speaks of is Lord over all. You understand this? When I'm preaching in the streets and we turn up the microphones and we're blasting out the gospel with a half-mile halo, I commonly say, I want to introduce you to the Jesus of Scripture, because I know you've been watching television and you've heard a lot of talk about a Jesus in the Bible, but you don't know the Jesus of Scripture.

The Jesus of Scripture is Lord over all. Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth. He is, the scripture says in 1st Timothy 6 15, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the King over all earthly kings and he is the Lord over all earthly lords whether they know it or whether they like it. He is the King of Kings and he is the Lord of Lords and they are accountable to him.

And, 1 Peter 5 verses 2 through 4 tells us he is the Chief Shepherd. He is the Chief Shepherd of the flock of God. He is the Chief Shepherd of the flock of God. The Lord Jesus is the Chief Shepherd of the flock of God. He is the Lord overall, the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords, and he is the shepherd of the flock of God, the chief shepherd of the flock of God, collectively, yes, but also personally.

The text here is more personal, isn't it? In the Lord's prayer, our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses.

Give us day by day our daily bread, etc. Etc. Here it's personal, isn't it? It's personal. The Lord is my shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd. If you're one of the sheep of Christ's pasture, united to Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, by faith in his person and in his work you can say with the psalmist the Lord is my shepherd the Lord is my shepherd the maker of heaven and earth is my shepherd Meditate on that one evening the maker of heaven and earth is my shepherd John chapter 1 verse 3 says all things this is referring to Christ all things were made by him and There was not anything made that he did not make and without him was not anything made that was made Wow Isn't it a great comfort It's a great comfort to me personally when I consider that he by whom the world's were framed is my shepherd The Lord is my shepherd He who made all things is shepherding me personally. And you personally, if you are united to Him by faith. Nothing, nothing should be able to unsettle the soul who understands that the Creator Lord over all is his shepherd. Amen?

Nothing should be able to move us. Nothing should be able to get us off track. Nothing should be able to shake us to the core. When we understand the Creator God, the Creator, He by whom all things were made, the Son of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who come to earth, took flesh, never sinned, died for his people on the cross, is risen, exalted to the right hand of God, coming again in the heavens with great power and glory this God this son of God this eternally begotten Son of God is our God and he is our shepherd and he is your shepherd personally who are in union with Him by faith. Nothing should be able to unsettle the soul who understands that the Creator and Lord over all is His shepherd personally.

If you're united to Christ, He by whom all things were made, And not only he by whom all things were made, but according to Colossians chapter 1 and verse 17, listen to this, he by whom all things consists is your shepherd. So what does that mean? He who holds everything together. You ever think of Christ that way? By him all things were made, through him all things were made, apart from him was not anything made that was made, and he's holding it all together by the word of his power.

This is the Jesus who is shepherding his people. If you are one of his people, you can say with the psalmist, the Lord is my shepherd. We who trust in the name of Jesus can say the Lord who made all things and sovereignly controls all things is my shepherd." I love the way R.C. Sproul talks about this. He says, there is not one renegade atom in the universe.

There is not one renegade atom, A-T-O-M, in the universe. He sovereignly controls all things. Apostle Paul, again, writes in Colossians 1, verse 13, for by him, speaking of Christ, were all things created that are in heaven, that are in the earth, that are visible to us, and that are invisible to us, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him. It was all made by him and it was all made for him. All things were made by him and all things were made for him and he is my shepherd.

And he is my shepherd. First Peter 2.25 says he is the shepherd and bishop of our souls. First John Chapter 10 refers to him as the Good Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd. And it tells us that the Good Shepherd knows his sheep personally.

And he is known by his sheep personally. We know him and he knows us. That's a personal relationship. And he loves us, we're told in that passage, and he gave himself up for us. I am the good shepherd, Jesus says, John chapter 10 verse 11, and the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. Ephesians 5 2. And of course Jesus said there is no greater love, there is no greater love known to man. In the Song of Solomon, there's a book that hardly anyone ever cracks anymore, right? Read it sometime and read it with a thinking as the ancient church used to read it.

Christ and His church, Christ and His church, Christ and His people. Song of Solomon chapter two, my beloved is mine, I am His. He brought me to the banqueting house, His banner over me was love, and His banner over me was love. This is the shepherd, this is our shepherd, This is the good shepherd. And because Jesus is my shepherd, I shall not want.

What's He saying? I shall lack nothing in Him. In Him I lack nothing. In Him you lack nothing who are in Christ Jesus. The sheep of Jesus' pasture lack nothing that is truly good for them.

Remember He knows us, And He knows us better than we know ourselves. And He knows us inside and out and He knows what's good for us and He knows what is not good for us. I give the example many times, you know, we've raised 16 kiddos, you know, and every one of them pulls a stunt like this, at some point in time they've got a little something, you know, metal fork or knife or whatever in their head for the light socket or the outlet on the wall. This will be fulfilling. My life will truly be fulfilling if I can just get this into that socket, you know?

This will make me happy. This will give me real happiness, you know? No, don't touch it. They don't know what's good for them, and you know what we don't know what's good for us And we're just like that before God He knows everything and he knows what's good for us He knows what is not good for us and many times we pray for things and they're not good for us right I've heard of stories you know of young people they pray they pray they prayed you know let me marry so-and-so and then they didn't marry me they got all upset they didn't marry that person they got all upset right you couldn't be around him for a month or whatever someone else married or something else happened, right? And they later on, they meet the spouse God has chosen for them.

They spend the rest of their life, maybe not the rest of their lives, but they they reflect and they think, Thank you God that you didn't hear that prayer. They're so grateful for the wife or the husband that God brought into their life. God knows what's best for us. And he supplies all of our needs. Sheep of Christ pasture like nothing that's truly good for them.

Philippians 419, the apostle Paul says, but my God shall supply all your need. All your need. All your need. According to his riches and glory. How?

By Christ Jesus. By Christ Jesus. All your need. All my need, both temporal and spiritual are provided according to His riches and glory." And again, He knows everything we need. He's omniscient.

He knows us inside and out. Psalm 84, 11 says, no good thing will he hold from them that walk up rightly. Okay. But you know, as I said a few minutes ago, just as he knows what we really need, he also knows that we do not need and what will be detrimental to our well-being and our walk. And so when he does not grant one of our requests, we can be assured that is what is best for us.

The Lord is our shepherd. And we should say, the Lord is my shepherd. I trust him with everything. The Lord is my shepherd. I trust Him with everything.

Yes, everything that's going on in your marriage, everything that's going on in your family, everything that's going on in your workplace, and everything that's going on in the world. Everything that's going on in the world. I spoke of this pastor from who was born in Iran, who was in now in England, and he said, Steve, we may have to flee England. I said, why? He said, you know, the government is now not only are they suggesting the the passports, and I know they had a protest erupt over the weekend over that, vaccine passports.

He said, but now they're talking about labeling parents who refuse to allow the government to inject foreign matter into their children's bodies as being child abusers. He said if that happens, he said that's the line. He said I can handle not being able to get on a plane, not being able to, you know, being a second class, rendered a second class citizen, what I cannot do is allow them to touch my children. Amen. And I said yes, well maybe you could get to America.

We'd love to have you. But I hope that doesn't, it doesn't come to that place. There's been a lot of, of uprising, I think, over this past week against that all over the United Kingdom. But again, the Lord is our shepherd. We can trust Him and must trust Him and do trust Him with everything.

And because He's my shepherd, I know He protects me. In 1 Samuel chapter 17, David speaks of his time as a shepherd boy, shepherding his father's sheep and how he slew both the lion and the bear. Why? Protecting the little lambs of the flock. That was a picture of Christ.

That's the picture of Christ. Guess what comforts us? His rod and his staff. Guess what he uses the rod for? Right?

Striking down wolves. Sometimes to give a nudge, a little chasing to the sheep to get them back in. But usually it's the crook, the staff for that, right? To bring them in. But he protects the lambs of this flock.

And our shepherd, the good shepherd, is continually protecting us. Listen to this. In ways that we cannot begin to comprehend. In ways we can't even begin to comprehend He is protecting us day by day, both physically and spiritually. We move on, He maketh me to to lie down.

Lying down is a posture of rest. It is a posture of rest. He puts me in a posture of rest when I'm by nature restless. When by so many circumstances of this life I feel uneasy. Even then it is He that makes me to lie down.

He gives me rest. His people can rest even in the most restless times. He gives rest to my soul. He gives peace to my spirit when I am overwhelmed. He's the Prince of Peace.

And rest and peace come from him. Spurgeon, The great pastor Spurgeon writes in the late 1800s in England, I am so weak that I even need God's help to enable me to lie down. Speaking of this passage, the rest of the soul is so hard to attain that nobody ever does reach it except by the power of God. Jesus says in Matthew chapter 11, take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy, my burden is light, and you shall find rest for your souls. Amen?

Rest even in times of restlessness like the time in which we now live. And understand something here, worldlings, I don't even know if that's in a modern dictionary, you'll find in Noah Webster's 1828 for sure, worldlings never experienced this blessing, They never do. They live in constant fear, not the people of God. Remember what the Word of God says in Psalm 46? Even if the mountains, you know, were cast into the sea, sounds like nuclear war.

And everything's shaking all around us and coming apart. Talks about trusting, trusting, trusting in the Lord. You've heard me quote Pastor Swanson before over in Colorado when he says, what do we do the day after the nuclear bombs drop? So people ask me, what do we do the day after the bomb falls? You know, assuming that someday people are gonna use the weapons of massive destruction that they always have, right?

He said you get up the next morning and you have family worship. We're not to be shaken. We don't live in constant fear of the future and of the unknown. The worldlings do. For them everything is unknown, right?

It's all unknown. But our shepherd knows all things and has ordained all things from the beginning to the end. And we trust him. Psalm 139 verse 12 tells us that the darkness and the light are both alike to him. To the one who shepherds us, the darkness and the light are all the same.

He sees everything just as clearly in the darkness and the light. He created them both And he knows all things. He sees all we're going through and everything that's going on over the entire globe and we can be assured that all things are proceeding according to his master plan. You know, people that get all unnerved, well they're doing this, they're doing that, they're doing this. Yes they are, and they're wicked and they're bad and they need to be opposed.

But He is the one who's pulling ultimately all the strings, all for His good purposes. What does He say in His word? I made even the wicked for the day of destruction. He made everything, even the wicked for the day of destruction. And so he makes us to lie down.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Green pastures are lush pastures. And we need to understand something. David wrote these words, and David was sometimes not in such lush pastures outwardly. He was at times being hunted like a partridge in the wilderness by Saul who sought to slay him and by his own son Absalom who sought to rip the kingdom from him and and destroy his own father.

David had to seek out food. Remember a couple times in scripture once he goes to the priests of Nob, who all eventually get slaughtered, right? That doesn't sound like a very lush pasture to me. He makes me to lie down in green pastures? Listen, in times of temporal lack, He did not lack, He did not want.

And God always provided. He says in another place, I have been young and now I'm old and I've never seen the children of the righteous begging bread in the streets. I trust him. He can be trusted. Our shepherd though causes us even to feed on the green pastures when they're all dry around us.

We've got to get more than just the physical, he gives me my food stuff out of this, right? We really, really need to comprehend this. He causes us to feed on the green pastures of himself, of his love for us, on the lush pastures of his word by grace, even in a barren wilderness. The believer can still be made to lie down in green pastures even when he is suffering in dry pastures. Do you understand what I'm saying?

Oh, and I want you to hear this. I want you to hear this. Even when the pastures of the temporal world are dry and barren all about them. I keep mentioning this pastor from England, you know, who was formerly Iranian He can't go back or he'd be he'd never come out of Iran alive Okay. Now he lives one mile.

His church is situated one mile from the very place where the martyrs, the English martyrs, were burned at the stake. One mile. It goes down to visit with their family. Here's this big pillar and the statues. Here's the guys they burned at the stake.

Here's the statue for it now. Here's the statue to remind us of it. They, the martyrs of old, fed on the lush pastures of God's pursuing mercies and of His love and His grace, even in their greatest trials. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, even when the pastures are not green. Even when the pastures are not all that green around us.

And he leaves me beside the still waters. When the waters around me are turbulent, sometimes they are, right? When the waters around me are turbulent, He leads me beside the still waters. When the floods are all around me, when everything in the world is just splashing and crashing down on me. He leads me into still waters of trust.

He leads me into still waters of trust. He leads me beside the still waters of trust. Trust in Him. He leads us beside the still waters. My good shepherd invites me to trust in Him with all my heart and lean not unto my own understanding." And he invites you to do the same.

Trust not in your own heart. Trust in him with all your heart. And lean not into your own understanding. He's going to direct your paths. He's going to bring you through.

And number three, He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. When I get off the path, He puts me back on the path. You don't have to raise your hand.

I'll raise mine until I touch the ceiling with it. Has anyone ever been off the path? He puts us back on the path. He brings me back to repentance when I stray from him. He works repentance in me and restores me to fellowship with him.

He restores my soul. He restores my soul. He restores my soul. Matthew Henry comments here, quote, he restores me when I wonder, when I wander. He restores me when I wonder.

Talk about wandering away. No creature will lose itself sooner than a sheep. So apt is it to go astray, and then so unapt to find its way back once it's gone astray. Look at the analogy. The best saints are sensible of their proneness to go astray.

There's a hymn about that, isn't there? To go astray like lost sheep, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, prone to lead the God I love. You know when it comes to that part, you know what I'm saying? Prone to wonder, Lord, I fear it. We have to be looking to Christ every moment of every day.

The best saints, Henry says, are sensible of their proneness to go astray like lost sheep. Psalm 119, 176. They miss their way, they turn aside into bypass, but when God shows them their error, He gives them repentance and brings them back to their duty again, he restores their soul. And if he did not do so, they would wander endlessly and be undone. You don't think the scripture is right that says that we need to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation.

And he that thinks he's standing, take heed lest he fall, prone to wonder. Lord I feel it. But he brings us back. He always brings his people back. We've been looking at this for weeks now, right?

The true doctrine of Scripture, the false doctrine of the modern era, he who began a good work in me will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus. He brings us back. He who began a good work in us continues it and he will continue it till the day that Christ returns. He works repentance in me. He restores me to fellowship.

Second Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 16 says, for which cause we faint not even though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. You're being renewed. If you're a believer in Christ, you're being renewed day by day. You're being conformed more and more incrementally to the image of Christ. You're becoming more and more like Jesus, and less and less like you.

And that's a good thing. That's a good thing. I know it is for me. I hope you all know it is for you. It's a good thing, right, to become more like Christ and less like me.

And he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Oh, listen, brothers and sisters. Christ is our righteousness, the scripture says. You're not righteous before God by any works of righteousness which you've done. The scripture is very clear all our righteousnesses are like a pile of filthy rags before God to merit any acceptance with him.

There will be no flesh saved by the keeping of the law, he wrote to the church in Galatia. Right? Christ is our righteousness. Now listen to this. And he who is my righteousness, he who is my only righteousness, he who is my only acceptance with God, he who kept the law of God perfectly in my place, He who knew no sin but became sin in the sight of God in the place of sinners.

He who suffered and died to put away all my sins. He who paid the penalty for every one of them. He who made satisfaction to the justice of God for the sins of his people, including my sin. He who atoned for all my transgressions by his blood. He whose righteousness is imputed to me, declared to my account, who has declared me faultless before the throne of God because of His righteousness, leads me day by day in greater holiness and obedience.

He who is our righteousness leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake, for the glory of His name. What are we talking about? One day at the judgment, look at what I did, God says, with Him. With her. Look what I did.

I made a new creation in my son. For his glory and for the glory of his holy name, he will lead us in the paths of righteousness. And of course, we've been talking for three weeks about the evidence of that. Trees known by his fruit, yes, If God has done this work in you, there's gonna be some fruit on the tree. But for His glory and for the glory of His name, He leads those.

He who is our righteousness leads us in the paths of righteousness for His glory, for the glory of His name. Four. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

Even though I'm staring death in the face, even though I stare death in the face, I will not fear. I will not fear. I will fear no evil. A shepherd is with me, and he will be with me to the end. Our shepherd is with us in life and he will not abandon us in death.

Our shepherd is with us in life, he will not abandon us in death. The day of our death, I say this, I preach this on the streets so many times. Nobody wants to hear about death. Nobody wants to talk about death. The Puritans talked about death all the time.

You can't open up a Puritan work and read a couple pages and they're not going to be talking about it. You need to be looking at eternal things because this life's a vapor buddy. It's here for a time and then it's gone. Death is coming, but on the streets I preach that X is already on the calendar for the day of your death. God knows the day of your death already.

It's already there on the calendar. And you're gonna die. Sometimes when they roll down their windows and they just can't for that part, you're gonna die. They're kinda like, what? You're gonna die!

Death is coming for every one of us. But listen to this, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. He is with us. And even when we are in the valley of the shadow of death, when we are staring death in its face, when we're dying, and all of us will be there one day, one of us in this room before the rest, and the rest will follow, unless we're here at Christ's return. He's going to die.

Our day of death is approaching, but he is with us even unto death. He's with us. Our shepherd is with us. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints, Psalm 116-15. But not so for the unbeliever, no.

His death is a bridge from death to death, eternal death. While ours is a bridge from maybe a life of woe or trouble or trials to a life of eternal joys, to life everlasting in the presence of our Lord. Again, Matthew Henry comments here, the wicked are chased out of the world. Don't you love Matthew Henry? The wicked are chased out of the world and their souls are required, but the saints take a walk to another world as cheerfully as they take their leave of this one.

As cheerfully as they take their leave of this one. And brothers and sisters, Jesus our shepherd will see us safely through to the other side. Do you believe that? He will see us safely through to the other side when our day of death comes. We're never told in Scripture.

Now Joel Osteen will tell you this but it's not in Scripture, right? You know we're never told in Scripture that we will never suffer affliction or adversity or sickness or persecution. On the contrary, we are guaranteed it in scripture. We're guaranteed it. In the world you shall have what?

Tribulation, right? You're gonna have trials and tribulation. But bless God, he's overcome the world. We are guaranteed that we will suffer. Everyone who is obedient to God, who attempts to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, The apostle Paul said, shall suffer persecution in one form or another.

But God is with us through it all. We are guaranteed that we will suffer in this life, but we're also guaranteed that through it all, God is with us. That's Jesus' name before he was born. Remember what they call him? Immanuel, God with us.

He shall be called Immanuel, God with us. And he's our shepherd. God is with us through it all, even unto the end of the world. When we look up from a bed of suffering through tear-filled eyes, we see our shepherd is right there with us, and we know that he will never leave us or forsake us. That's the promise of God.

He will not leave us and he will not forsake us. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Our shepherd has both in his divine hand. He corrects us with one, he strikes the wolves and lions, you know with one, he protects us, he corrects us. When we get off the path he uses that shepherd's crook and He gently draws us back to the fold.

And knowing that should be a great comfort to our souls. They comfort me. And He prepares a table before me in the presence of our enemies. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. What is he talking about?

David's saying, so I've got all these enemies out here and everything, and then I go and I just have a feast in front of all of them while they're making war with me. Christ prepares The table. Psalm 116 verse 7 says, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. He has delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from falling. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

I will take the cup of salvation. I will call upon the name of the Lord." There is a table that is set for every believer in Christ, a bountiful table, okay? That the world cannot eat of or from, that they cannot enjoy, but they see the people of God enjoying it. I want you to understand when he says my enemies here, you do a Hebrew study on this word enemies and you know what the word is? My persecutors.

My persecutors. In the presence of my persecutors. In the presence of those who bind me and tie me up. He prepares a table before me, a bountiful feast before me, in the presence of those who bind me and tie me up. And I feast in their presence.

And the wicked can't understand it. And we've heard of martyrs even in our day and time in China suffering horrific things like our brother Wong Yi who was taken into custody out of his church three years ago now for preaching the gospel and for calling the head of state to repentance Xi Jinping the tyrant And that their captors are our brothers and sisters who are in chains, who are bound for the gospel, they're persecutors. Those who tie them up and those who bind them, they can't understand it. And we read story after story after story from all over the world, whether their persecutors be Muslim fanatics or whether they be communists, the persecutors of Christians can't comprehend how it is that the Christian is smiling in the face of death, can smile at death. That even when he's being physically tormented, walking towards an unjust and a cruel death, he can be feasting within on Christ and have peace.

Peace within, real peace. Again I talked with this pastor friend from England, and the place is just a mile from his house where Bloody Mary killed those three pastors, burnt them at the stake, and they were not dragged to their deaths. They walked calmly for a table was spread before them by Christ in the presence of their enemies. A table that their enemies could not eat from and knew nothing of. He anoints our heads with oil.

Praise God, he fills his people with his spirit. He conforms them more and more to his blessed image. He anoints our head with oil, he assures us of the blessings of redemption and forgiveness and cleansing. He fills us up with himself in this bountiful feast that He prepares for us in the presence of our persecutors and He fills it up to overflowing. The Christian can say with the psalmist, thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overfloweth.

My cup runs over the brim with joy. My cup runs over the brim with gratefulness. My sins were laid on Jesus. He drank the cup of wrath that was due me. The wrath I deserved was poured out upon him.

We drink of Christ and our cup overflows. And out of our bellies the prophet said, flow rivers of living water. Why? The Lord is the portion of our cup. He is the portion of our cup.

The world's cup overflows though as well, doesn't it? It doesn't overflow like our cup overflows. It doesn't overflow with joy, no, but with the wrath of God stored up for them. Romans two verse five says, after thy hardness of heart, and impenitent heart, you treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Jesus said it similarly in John 3.36, he that believeth not on the sun shall not see life but the wrath of God abiding on him." Our cup should have overflowed with judgment.

You know that? Our cup should have overflowed with judgment, but it overflows with blessing. Our cup should have overflowed with judgment, judgment upon us, judgment in us, judgment all about us, but for the believer, for the sheep of Jesus' pasture, instead, goodness and mercy overflow because our shepherd drank the cup of God's wrath for us to the last drop in our place and there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in him he has killed the fatted calf says Spurgeon and robed you in the finest robe, the robe of Christ's righteousness now, surely without a doubt, goodness, God's goodness, and God's undeserved mercy, His constant mercy, His divine mercy, His never-ending mercy, mercy that endures forever to the flock of God shall follow me. Think on those words. You know what that means?

It's gonna pursue me. God's mercy is gonna pursue me to the end. And every one of us whose trust is in Jesus, all the love and the mercy and the grace and the favor and the forgiveness and the acceptance with God on account of Christ's person and work shall follow me, shall pursue me all the days of my life, all the days of my earthly pilgrimage, and this I know for sure, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I will dwell with Christ my shepherd in heaven forever. Praise his holy name.

Let your cup run over with thanksgiving if you