Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Psalter, the book of Psalms. We are spending a week out of Titus to examine the precious truths found in the 23rd Psalm this morning. And if you have a Pew Bible, Bible under the chair in front of you, you can find our passage this morning on page 563. Page 563, The 23rd Psalm. And if you're a visitor this morning and you do not own a copy of God's Word and you would like to own a copy of God's Word, please take that Bible home with you as a gift and read it and know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Psalm 23, he asks the congregation to stand as God now speaks. A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. May God bless the reading and now the preaching of His perfect word.

Amen. Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. The past few weeks have been difficult.

The loss of children, the loss of our pastor, the death of Rhodi Bakum, the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk. So may it be that after our time together this morning that you go home singing this song with all that's within you and be glad today. It is difficult for me for the past few weeks to be glad and yet the command from scripture is to rejoice and be glad in the God of our salvation This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad. How?

Because Psalm 23 is yes and amen in Jesus Christ. That's how. Psalm 23 is true. So may this be a bong. May this be the song in your heart that erupts as you leave.

We're going to sing it before you leave. Lord, will they? May it be precious to you. It will be a bong for your chapped and wounded soul in the midst of a number of difficult weeks in Rome. And so to that end this morning, I have three precious yes and amens that I want you to see in Psalm 23.

I think there's more than three precious yes and amens and I'm going to say more than three precious things but I have three headings Number one The first precious Yes, and amen Psalm 23 is for you Psalm 23 is for you Now it may seem obvious but I want to make sure you see that Psalm 23 really is for you. It's not just some kind of thing that's ethereal. The Lord, verse 1, the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. He's our shepherd.

The Lord there at all caps. That's the one true triune God. The Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, Yahweh, He is your shepherd. Friends, one of the main things that the Psalms communicate is the preeminence of Yahweh, like his bigness, his rule over all things, his greatness, how he's to be feared above all things. That's preeminence.

How often in the Psalms do you read of the greatness of his power and the glory and the victory of his majesty. He's majestic, he is holy, holy, holy, he is huge, he's grand, It's all over the place. The Psalms, all of scripture declares that God is awesome. He's superior. No one is like him.

He is so far above us. And yet in Psalm 23, David tells us, David tells you, that in the midst of all of that, in the midst of all of these things about God being true, His preeminence, how great and awesome and big He is, in the midst of His loftiness, that this preeminent one, God, is your shepherd. He's your shepherd. If you belong to Jesus, the preeminent one shepherds you personally. That should blow you away.

This psalm is so personal because that is who God is. God is personal. Our preeminent God is also imminent. He's near. Our high and lifted up God is also near to us.

His care for you is personal. So I want you to hear that this morning. The same God who upholds the universe, the cosmos, by the word of His power. The same God who is eternal, self-existent, infinite in beauty, infinite in glory, full of wonder, who holds all power, He personally cares for you. The Holy, Holy, Holy One robed in splendor and majesty declares to you this morning in this psalm, I am your shepherd.

God calls himself your shepherd. So if you're a Christian, if you are repenting of your sins, you're trusting in Jesus Christ, you can say on the authority of God's word right here, God Almighty, I belong to him, I'm one of the sheep. And he is my shepherd. And he is shepherding every single detail of your life. He's caring for every aspect of your life.

He's caring for this church. In the midst of three, seems like, hard weeks. But in the midst of what has taken place in the midst of these past few weeks, you might be tempted to doubt verse 1. How can Psalm 23 verse 1 really be true? How can Psalm 23 really be true?

I mean, he's talking, the Lord is my shepherd, shall not want. He's taking away all kinds of faithful men. The warriors. I mean, MacArthur, Vody. Every single detail, pastor, you're saying every single detail, the sovereign one, he's shepherding every single aspect of my life, the life of this church.

I mean, we just lost our pastor. At a time when things got really difficult as a church, every single detail, pastor, come on man. The Lord is shepherding literally every molecule of my life and the life of this church. Doesn't seem like it. Is the Lord shepherding everything?

Yes. If you want proof of that, look at the incarnation. What further proof of God's sovereign shepherding over your life for your good? What further proof of that could be offered to you than to look at the Word became flesh? John chapter 1, Philippians chapter 2, God, the preeminent one, became flesh.

He dwelt among us. The holy, preeminent one emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, even death, on a cross. Consider Romans 8, 32. He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Himself up, but He who did not spare his own son, but gave himself up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? Reformed brothers and sisters, we need to hear this psalm.

We need to hear what God is saying here. We know that God is sovereign. We know that he is supreme over all things, we love it, and we should love it, but you need to hear this morning, this Psalm 2, that in the midst of God's holy set apartness, far above our sovereignty, in the midst of that, God is personally, intimately involved in your life. Like R.C. Sproul said, there's not an maverick molecule operating in your life and in the life of this church.

It's personal. Count the number of personal pronouns used in this song. My, me, and I. I did a quick count. I think I got it right.

17. In six verses that is almost an average of three personal pronouns per verse. Check me on the calculator. 2.83 repeating. That's a lot of personal pronouns in this small psalm.

This is a small psalm, listen to this. This is a small psalm about a big God ruling over even the smallest details of your life and the life of this church personally the Lord is my shepherd the Lord is your shepherd and so notice how he cares for you Christian notice how he cares for you verse 1 the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want Another translation of the end of verse 1, he gives me all that I need. That's yes and amen number two. You belong to the great shepherd and he will care for you And it's certain Peter tells you in second Peter chapter 1 that in Christ and his word You have all that you need for life and godliness and David declares to you all the more in Psalm 23 verse 1 that one of the things that Jesus has in mind in Matthew chapter 6 when he talks about the lilies of the field he has Psalm 23 in mind. I'm going to read it for you.

Jesus says this in Matthew chapter 6 for this reason I say to you talking to you Do not be worried about your life Don't be worried as to what you will eat or what you will drink Don't worry for your body as to what you will put on Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They don't sow nor reap nor gather in the barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil. They do not spin. Yet I say to you that not even Solomon, in all of his glory, clothed himself like one of these?

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow, is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you? You of little faith, do not worry then, saying what will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear for clothing, or Grant's words, what will we do when the warriors are all gone. For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things. For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. That was Matthew chapter 6. And one of the things that Jesus shows us in that passage, Matthew 6, is that Psalm 23 is true.

That Psalm 23 verse 1 was fulfilled, because Jesus is that great shepherd. Beloved, you need to understand that Psalm 23 is about Jesus. It is yes and amen. Psalm 23 is yes and amen in Jesus Christ. Jesus is your great shepherd.

And he came as a man and he obeyed when you did not obey. And he came and he died when you should have died. And He gave up His life so that you would have life. He paid for you with His life, Christian. You hear Him that?

How then will He not give you all things? I mean, he bought you with his own blood. You need not wonder if he cares for you. What more can he say than what has been said? He loved you and gave himself for you, how then will he not give you all things?

You've been bought with his blood. The Lord Jesus, he is your shepherd, and you shall not want in him. Listen to Charles Spurgeon on the wonder of belonging to God and not wanting. Spurgeon writes, I know that his grace will be sufficient for me. I may not possess all that I wish for, but I shall not lack.

Others may, far wealthier and wiser than I, but I shall not. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. It is not only I do not want, but I shall not want. Come what may, if famine should devastate the land or calamity destroy the city, I shall not want. Old age with its feebleness will not bring me any lack, and even death with its gloom will not find me destitute.

I have all things and abound, not because I have a good store of money in the bank, not because I have skill and wit with which to win my bread, but because the Lord is my shepherd." How else does he care for you? Verses 2 and 3. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Verses two and three tell you that he satisfies. In Jesus Christ alone you may find ultimate peace and rest. You know, I think of my own life And the ways I have tried to be happy and gain satisfaction and get joy from the things that the world supplies. And there is a way that if there's not your ultimate joy, happiness and satisfaction, that that's good and that's right.

He gave you children. He gave you creation. These are things that you can have joy in, but not ultimate. You've got to trace those joys to where they come from. Every good and perfect gift is from above, from him.

But when you begin to make creation your ultimate aim and satisfaction, you can never get enough. I'm never satisfied by what the internet provides. I'm never satisfied by the newest flick, the newest sitcom, even the newest sports game. I remember years ago watching a movie with my siblings before I was married. Now we don't have any time for movies.

Just kidding, we do. But after nearly three hours, I'm sitting there in a movie theater. I can't remember what movie it was, it was like close to three hours, so maybe Lord of the Rings or something, and the credits rolled, and I said before the movie, the movie wasn't even ten seconds gone, and I turned to my brother, and I was like, dude, I can't wait for the next one I just spent three hours vegging and my first reaction is give me more the craze there's more more more more more All the world that really provides in that sense just leaves you wanting more, craving, craving, craving until you're numb. The Bible calls that kind of looking for that kind of satisfaction, not rooted in Christ, broken, empty cistern kind of drinking. It's like drinking salt water and wondering why the more you drink, you just get more thirsty.

It can't satisfy you, but Psalm 23 says there is one that can. Remember that woman that Jesus goes and talks to and she wants some water and he goes, you know, I could give you a kind of water that you'd never be thirsty again. I'd like that water. Repent and believe the gospel. Repent and come to Christ.

His yoke is easy, His burden is light. He will give you rest. Drink deeply from the fresh water of God's promise in His Word here in Psalm 23. Drink deeply of His Gospel that Psalm 23 is pointing to. Think on the righteousness of Christ, beloved.

I want you to think on that. Drink deeply from the wellspring of joy. Think about this. When you go home today, I have Christ. I have Jesus.

He loved me. He gave Himself for me. Planning this before the foundation of the world was laid, knowing all of my faults, knowing all of my failures, knowing my sin, knowing the ways that I would not desire Him, He died for me. Knowing my sin better than I do, He forgave me. He atoned for my sin.

I am clothed in garments of salvation, wrapped in robes of Christ's righteousness that I did not merit, but were given to me solely by His grace. Drink on that. Think on that. Drink deeply from the wellspring of joy that is, I am a child of God. I once belonged to the kingdom of darkness, but now I've been transferred to the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the beloved son, Jesus.

I once was an enemy of God, but now I am his friend, no, no, no, not even his friend, his child, with an inheritance that's unfading and undefiled, reserved in heaven for you, gripped by the Almighty, never to be plucked away, no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand. I mean, all of these realities secured for me, secured for you because my Savior, Your Savior loved you. He gave Himself for you. When I wanted Him not. That's a really good drink.

That's the kind of water, that's the kind of drink that will leave you satisfied. That's the kind of drink you drink deeply from that wellspring of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You go out of here singing a new song. You sing Psalm 23. Drink deeply from the well of Christ.

That Richard Sibbs, that Puritan Richard Sibbs, he so perfectly described in his little booklet, Christ's sufferings for man's sins. If you wanted one Puritan to read, boy, he'd be up there. Richard Sibbs, let me just quote a long quote. This is the kind of stuff you just need to drink. Drink deeply of these quiet waters that restore your soul.

This is from Richard Sibbs. Oh beloved, when the soul is brought as low as hell almost, then this consideration will be sweet to you, that Christ was forsaken as a surety for me. Christ overcame sin, death, God's wrath, all for me. In Him I triumph over all of these. What welcome news is this to a distressed sinner?

Whenever thy soul is truly humbled in the sense of sin, Look not at sin in thy conscience, but look at Christ. If thou be a broken-hearted sinner, see thy sins in Christ thy Savior taken away. See what he hath endured and suffered for them. See not the law in thy conscience, but see it discharged by Christ. See death disarmed through him and made an entrance into a better life for thee.

Whatsoever is ill, see it in Jesus Christ before thou seeth it in thyself. And when thou beholdest it there, see not only the hurt thereof taken away, but all good made over to thee. For all things work together for the best to them that love God." Romans 8.28. The devil himself, death, sin, and wrath, all help the main. The poison and mischief of all is taken away by Christ, and all good conveyed to us in Him.

Amen. Drink from this well and be content. There is no lasting satisfaction. There is no lasting peace. There is no rest except for that that is grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.

Isaiah 26 verse 3, He will keep in perfect peace those who trust in Him. Friends, Jesus Christ has secured the promises of Psalm 23 for you. For you. So that you, Christian, can sing that glorious hymn. If we had more hymns to sing, we would have sung it.

You can sing that hymn, like a River glorious is God's perfect peace. Over all victorious is its bright increase. Perfect yet still flowing fuller every day. Perfect yet still growing deeper all the way. Hidden in the hollow of his mighty hand, where no harm can follow in his strength we stand.

We may trust him fully, all for us to do, for those who trust him wholly find him wholly true. State upon Jehovah hearts are fully blessed, finding as he promised, perfect peace and rest. Yes and amen, number one. By grace alone, God is your shepherd. He has granted to you Christian repentance and faith and has made you his own.

And by the way, if you aren't his children, I'm talking to you adults, I'm talking to you, if you do not name the name of Christ this morning. This day, this day is the day of salvation. Confess your sins right now to the thrice holy God. Run to Christ Jesus who bore your sins in his body on the tree and he will abundantly pardon and Psalm 23 will be yes and amen for you too go home this morning changed Go home this morning belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ. Go home as a sheep of His pasture.

That was number two yesterday. Men number two, go home satisfied. That's the promise of Psalm 23. Jesus Christ's sheep, they hear His voice, and they know Him and they follow Him. They follow Him in the paths of righteousness.

They obey Him. There is no dichotomy between faith in Christ and obedience to Christ. They're best friends. If you love me, keep my commandments, Jesus said. If you're one of my sheep, you'll hear my voice and you'll follow me and I'll lead you into paths of righteousness.

I will lead you beside quiet waters. I will lead you to where your soul will be restored. Yes and amen number three. It's the final thing we'll talk about this morning and that is that your great Shepherd Jesus Christ will never ever forsake you. The Lord Jesus will never leave you or forsake you.

Psalm 23, it's all about Jesus. Jesus fulfills Psalm 23 and so if you belong to the great Shepherd Jesus, He will be with you always. No height, no depth, no power, no principality, no bullet, no disease, no heart event where your heart stops working. Nothing can separate you from the love of your great Shepherd. Friends, this is a balm.

It's a balm to your pastor. A balm it is to belong body and soul to Jesus Christ. And so look at the second half of Psalm 23, verses 4-6. Let it wash over you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil.

For you are with me. You're with me. You're rotting your staff. They comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies you have anointed my head with oil my cup overflows Surely goodness Loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever forever your Shepherd will be with you always Psalm 23 here it talks about death Psalm 23 talks about enemies Psalm 23 talks about evil The promise is not that God will take you out of difficulties in Psalm 23.

You can't get that out of Psalm 23. There is no promise that God will take you out of difficulty. The promise is not that God will take you out of perils. The promise is not that God will remove you from crises. He does not promise to take suffering away.

If His son Jesus suffered, you too, belonging to that Jesus, will suffer as well. No, no, no. The promise is not that suffering goes away. The promise is that in the suffering, in the trouble, in the midst of that great enemy death, He will sustain you. He will hold you fast.

He'll not let your soul be lost. In fact, He'll so take care of you that one day that little seed placed in the ground with a tombstone next to it, he'll raise it up again. That's the promise. It's glorious. When your body is sick with cancer, When you grieve over the lost, over someone lost in your family or if you lose a family member.

When your spouse is gone. When you lose your pastor. When the baby in the womb doesn't make it. When you start to lose your mind, when you lay on your deathbed, God is there. For you Christian, I really want you to think about this.

I'm going to have to help you die or you're going to have to help me, one of us. I walk around with all the time. I really need you to understand this. All of the other guides in your life have to leave you at some point or another. Every single guide has to leave you.

They'll have to let go of that hand one day. All but one. Every other guide, every other helper, every other escort or shepherd, they all have some kind of threshold that they can't cross over with you. And so friends, when death comes for you, I promise that I will do all that I can to shepherd you, to pray for you, and to be available for you as your pastor. But I can't walk through that last door with you.

I can't. As much as your pastor wants to take your hand, maybe the first step into that door, I can't. It will fall limp in mine. It will fall limp in your spouse's hand. I can't cross over that threshold.

Your spouse can't cross over that threshold with you. Your children can't cross over that threshold with you. But Christ can. And Christ does. You do not travel across that threshold called death where all your earthly guides halt.

Christ does not halt. Nay. He carries you over that threshold of death itself. So children, do you know when you're scared of the dark? You ever been there, children?

If you're at our house, there's a really dark bay. You ever been there, children? Can you raise your hand if you've ever been scared of the dark at the top of stairs? Adults, can you raise your hands? Can you?

Pastor Grant standing at the top of the stairs. Carissa? It's a joke. Well, I can tell you children what my, I can tell you what my children do when they're at the top of those basement stairs almost every time when there's darkness below. They cry out to their father, daddy, daddy, may I hold your hand.

As almost you can just bet on it. And with you as a father, So what does your father do? When you cry out daddy daddy, your father walks over to you and takes your hand and he walks and steps into the darkness with you. Right? In fact, typically how it is is he goes in front of you, and most of the time puts his hand behind you because you shiver, and you just walk down together, but he's in front and behind.

He's got you. And you go down those stairs in the basement, even though it's really scary, don't you? It's really scary. Why do you do it? How come you can get down into the basement?

It's because you've got a hold of your daddy's hand. It's because actually, he's got a hold of you. And that makes all the difference in the world. Christian, children, that is the promise of Psalm 23, that Jesus Christ told you through the darkness of pain, loss, and even death itself. My grip is pretty good.

That's the way I first held my wife's hand was I convinced her that I wanted to try her grip out. My grip, when I grip my little girl's hands, children, when your daddy grips your hand, doesn't it feel good? Doesn't it feel good? It's firm. There's no fish grip with your daddy.

No, it's firm. Man, if we meet a monster down here, that monster's going to get it. You know what I'm saying? That's how I felt when I grabbed Charlie Brown. My dad's hand going down the steps.

Better watch out bad boys. Charlie Brown's coming down. You grab hold of your father's hand and you go, that's a good grip. My dad's got me. He's got me.

Do you know that the grip of the Almighty God is far stronger? Let me just put a hint. The grip of your earthly father is not even a dot on the canvas of the grip of Almighty God. So that though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you need not fear evil. Why?

Because God is there. He holds you. God doesn't turn back. God doesn't leave you alone in the valley. No.

Rather, his hands, called goodness and loving kindness, they hold you up. You are in his grip forever. And his grip is firm. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you.

Ever. And you might ask, you might ask, yes, I really want that to be true, but how can I know that this song really guarantees that in the darkest night of my life that God will be present? How do I know that God is fully committed to staying with me always? How do I know it? And I must simply point you back to verse 3 so that you get how committed he is to this.

You want to know is Psalm 23 really true? How committed is God to this Psalm? Verse 3, why does God do all of these things? What is God's aim in shepherding us? Look at the end of verse 3.

For His name's sake. So another way of saying for His glory. How do you know? How can you know that God is fully committed to your ultimate good? Because His name's on the line.

Psalm 23 tells you that one of the ways that God is glorified is in the way that He cares for you, his sheep. If one of his sheep were to be lost, God wouldn't get the glory. If he were to leave one of his sheep behind, just one, God's name would not be exalted. And so in God's almighty grip, you are held for the sake of the very glory of God. God gets the glory when he holds you fast in his hands and you get the result of God's glorious activity, joy, peace, and eternal security.

God is fully committed to His glory. What is the answer children to pretty much any question that doesn't... The answer is typically Jesus. But if it's not Jesus, why did God make you? Come on now kids.

That's a way. Who did it? That's good. Four of us go ahead and say it together. Why did God make you?

For His glory. He does all things for His glory. That's what God loves, and we should love it too, that God loves His glory. It's the best thing ever, for in His glory is the greatest joy. In His glory is the greatest happiness.

In His glory is the greatest peace. God is firmly committed to his glory and he gets glory according to Psalm 23 by the way he holds you fast. That's amazing. It is his glory to not let you be lost. I want you to notice also that your great shepherd has a rod and a staff in Psalm 23.

Do you see that there? He has a rod and a staff to guide you, to defend you, and even to discipline you. Proverbs chapter 3, Hebrews chapter 12, the Lord disciplines those whom He loves. So you know, it's kind of funny. I don't want to make too much light of it, but there have been a lot of times when my children have seen other children at a store or at a restaurant, something like that, and the child at that store or the child at that restaurant, he's throwing us a massive tantrum.

It's not obeying. And they're watching, and the parents do absolutely nothing. And then it's really funny, it is funny, I can't help it. My children are watching it, they're watching this disobedience and the lack of discipline with these eyes that just are huge. Their jaws are like unhinged up.

And it just goes on. And they have said to me on more than one occasion when no discipline happens and these children are just running wild. They said to me more than one occasion, sometimes they don't even say it to me, they say it to one another. I've heard it so many times that they feel sorry for that child. For that little boy or girl, I feel sad for him daddy, because she doesn't have a daddy that loves her.

My children have told that to me and that's coming from a couple girls that know the sting of the rock. They know it, They get it. I know that I belong to mommy and daddy because they spank me. That's a sign that I belong in the Brown House is that When I disobey, I get loving discipline. That's a mark of being a brown.

But this child, who does she belong to? She doesn't even know who she belongs to, Dad. If you've been disciplined by the Lord, and that has resulted in repentance away from sin in your life, praise God. He disciplines His own. He disciplines those He loves.

His rod and His staff, do you know that they can actually comfort you? Do you believe Psalm 23? Like, His rod and His staff can actually comfort you. When you're convicted of your sin, far from running away from Christ, far from going, I know I've sinned, far from running away and being realized. That is from the Lord.

He's even in conviction. There's discipline. There could be consequences that come. Discipline. This is not God angry.

This is God saying, come back. He poured out his anger on the cross. The wrath of God was satisfied. This is not God punishing you, but when He disciplines you, it is Him saying, hey, you're mine. You're mine.

And He uses that rod and that staff to comfort you, to bring you back. That's why we do church discipline, don't we? Church discipline is completely consistent with Psalm 23. It's the rod and staff of the Lord to say, if you keep going that path, you're demonstrating that if God doesn't discipline you, if God doesn't turn you around, if you're not going to turn around, if you're not going to listen to discipline, you didn't belong to Him. God will discipline those He loves, and He will bring them back.

So wake up! That's what church discipline is. His rod and his staff, they actually can comfort you. Well, Psalm 23, it ends with an amazing note. Psalm 23, the note that Psalm 23 ends with is just amazing.

It's a celebratory victory. It's a feast. You see that there at the very end? In the midst of all your enemies, the greatest enemies, the world, the flesh, the devil, even death itself, God has prepared a feast to celebrate their defeat. I mean just read it right?

I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death, I'm going to fear no evil, you're with me, you're robbing your staff to comfort me. In the midst of that, you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, all your enemies. They just mentioned death. That's the greatest enemy. The last enemy to be defeated will be death, according to 1 Corinthians 15.

It's the last enemy to be put under Christ's feet. In the midst of your greatest enemies, your sin, death, the flesh, the world, God has prepared a feast to celebrate their defeat. Satan, his head crushed by the crucified and now risen one and this ascended Savior, he's celebrating with you. Celebrating with you. Here at the end of Psalm 23, your great shepherd who's guided you all the way, he's not stopped at the threshold of death, he's gone there with you, he's anointed your head with oil, that's a symbol of blessing.

Your cup never empty, brimming to the top, your home, he's brought you safely home, That's how Psalm 23 ends. The Lord Jesus, think about what Psalm 23 does to your enemies. The Lord Jesus has turned your greatest threat, your greatest enemy in verse 4, death, into the greatest triumph in verses 5 and 6. Say that again. It's glorious.

The Lord, God Almighty, Jesus takes your greatest enemy death, that enemy that threatens you the most. In verse 4, He takes that enemy and in verses 5 and 6, He turns it into the greatest triumph. You want to talk about a triumphant Savior? Whoever Psalm 23 is talking about, that's a triumph. He's talking about Jesus.

He takes the death that you might live forever. So what promises, Psalm 23, they're all yes and amen in Jesus Christ. The Lord is your shepherd, yes and amen in Jesus Christ. He will care for you If you're his sheep, yes and amen in Jesus Christ. He will never leave you, he will hold you fast.

Yes and amen. So to conclude, to conclude, I want you to apply this passage. I want you to apply it by seeing what David does in Psalm 23. So there's a really clear application here. If it hasn't been any clarity yet, listen to this.

Okay? Very good. I want you to look at the first three verses of Psalm 23. What pronouns does David use in verses 1 through 3? Look there.

David uses the pronouns he and his to refer to God. See that? He and his. Every time he refers to God he says he and his. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not walk.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake. He and his to refer to God every time.

Now look at verses 4 through 6. What pronouns does David use in the second half of Psalm 23? Every time, you and yours to refer to God. Why the shift? Why the shift?

Why the change from the he his pronouns to you're yours? The answer lies in the reality of verse 4. What happens in verse 4? Verses 1 through 3 were all things that David knew about God. Verses 1 through 3 were things that David knew about God.

Facts, realities, truths about who God is. Then in verse 4, life got dark and painful. Death reared its ugly head and what happened? And David stopped talking about God and David started talking to God. How do you see that?

That's what you are to do with this song today, brothers and sisters. You know the truth about God. You know that he is the shepherd of your soul. You know about God. And in the times of green pastures and in the times of still waters, bathe in his promises.

Fill yourselves up with the precious and very great promises of God. Do that in the green pastures and in the still waters, learn to sing the Psalms. Learn them all. When Charlie Kirk was martyred, the next Sunday your pastors prayed imprecatory Psalms because we knew what they were for. You need to have those Psalms in your heart.

You need to have other Psalms in your heart when you grieve. Not just the Psalms of yes praise but also the Psalms of lament So that when the quiet waters you can't see anymore, when the green pastures, you're wondering where has it gone? When you find yourself in the valley of the shadow of death, you have Psalms to sing. So that when verse 4 hits, when hardships come, and when the winds and the waves start to batter against your heart and soul, and they start to squeeze you, if you've been hiding God's Word in your heart, These Psalms come out. These hymns come out.

The call for you, beloved, is to sing out to God. To cry out to Him with the Psalms. Things like Psalm 46 verse 1. God, you are my refuge and my strength, a very present help in times of trouble. Psalm 119 verse 50, this is my comfort and my affliction that your promises give me life.

Oh God, help me for I am cast down. Things like that. And He will. He will help you. He will not let your soul be lost.

For Christ is your shepherd and you are His sheep. And he will be with you always. So pray and sing accordingly. Let's do that together now. Let's bow your heads with me please.

Father, we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Lord this year word would go and produce what it ought to, that we would leave here in our hearts, comforted by the gospel of Jesus Christ, sure of its promise to us that Roman's aid is true, you work all things together for our good. And we would leave here, though our hearts are heavy with battles of sin, and losing loved ones, and deep requests in our hearts that you would raise up godly men to fill the shoes of those that have left, to pick up the baton that these men like Charlie and Vody and Carther and these men Lord that have passed away, that they've now dropped the baton, Lord that they've carried so faithfully. And we want men to rise up and grab them, grab this baton, and help me, Lord, help our church, so they maybe grab this baton and run faithfully with it. As long as you give us, with all those concerns, cause us to leave here with Psalm 23 coming out of our hearts, into our mouths, singing, you will do it, because you take even the greatest enemy death and you turn it into a banquet feast.

So let us feast. Let us feast at this table in just a moment and let us sing for joy. The God of our salvation, you the Lord Jesus Christ our great shepherd. Amen.