good morning church how are you good all right yes we're going to finish up Psalm 23 today um and I've got the privilege of doing the very last verse in Psalm um start off by just reminding us Psalms is a collection of 150 ancient Hebrew poems songs and prayers that come from different eras of Israel's history many of these poems were used by Israel's temple choirs 73 of these psalms are connected to King David who is a poet and a harp player um I'd like Oh I'll get the
clicker i'd like us all to read Psalm 23 together because I think that's just what we've been doing every week and do we have to stand up because of that everyone stand up bit of enthusiasm come on guys all right get the clicker going where's the clicker on every line in this proverb uh in this psalm is rich with wonderful peacegiving words of comfort hope and a promise this is not a random person let me introduce you to Frank Silak he is a Croatian music teacher in January
1962 he was traveling on a train that suddenly derailed plunged into an icy river killing 17 passengers he escaped with only a broken arm and minor bruises the next year a blown out cockpit door on a plane forced him out in midair through although 19 others were killed in the accident he suffered only minor injuries landing on a hay stack in 1966 he was riding on a bus that crashed and plunged into a river four others were killed but Mr silak managed to escape unharmed
in 1970 he managed to escape before a faulty fuel pump engulfed his car into flames in 1973 his car caught fire forcing flames through the air vents only his only injury was hair loss in 1995 he was hit by a city bus but once again suffered minor injuries in 1996 he survived when he drove off a cliff to escape an oncoming truck he himself managed to land into a tree as he watched his car explode 300 ft below him true story and in 2003 he won a million dollars in the
lottery mr celich has cheated death seven times so he has been described as the luckiest person in the world why did he receive this title because of the extent to which and with the regularity with which he experienced abundance it was extraordinary abundance an abundance of protection an abundance of provision it just doesn't seem possible when you think of all these stories and things that happened to him and that's why people call it luck psalm 23 is only six verses long but where we
look where David goes in the first part of verse 6 he not only wants to stress that God gives us his plenty his abundance for today but also for the days to come dave writes "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Surely surely the first word this word emphasizes a certain and unwavering nature of God's goodness throughout all that King David had lived through and experienced in his life he would have known that God is faithful when he says "Surely goodness and
mercy." Goodness and mercy represents the abundant blessing of God that he provides other translations say love instead of mercy david expresses his conviction in this verse that the Lord's goodness will be with him throughout his whole life whether it's green pastures and still waters that lay ahead or if David is required to walk through the valley of the shadow of death God's goodness would always accompany him follow me follow follow is not a word that we really struggle to
understand it's a word that we use all the time so if we're going somewhere like a walk to the get coffee on the men's men's group um and if you don't know where you're going you will ask someone who's going and say "I'm going to follow you."
And in context of Psalm 23 I think we all assume that God's goodness and mercy is just going to follow us like it's always around and you know we're never far from it but that's not really what the text is saying the word that translates as follow in Hebrew is the word rad up it means to pursue or to chase down in other words God's goodness and mercy are not passively just hanging around behind us is actively pursuing us they are chasing us down david himself used these
words when he questioned Saul in Samuel why does my lord pursue after his servant for what have I done what evil is on my hands david knew what it felt like to be pursued by evil men to be pursued by wickedness and by wrath but I have no doubt that David endured that kind of persecution by reminding himself that his goodness and mercy God's goodness and mercy would pursue him all the days of his life like a lion hunting is prey so the goodness and mercy of God are hunting
you god is the hunter and is given chase and there's no escape we will find ourselves getting caught every single time we have a good and merciful God all the days of my life this signifies that God's love is constant throughout one's entire life we know David had days of incredible victory and days of incredible defeat days of humbling obedience and days of impassioned sin he had days of meditation on the word of God and days of running wondering and even brazen
unrepentance you could see this all through the Psalms but he makes no distinction between any of these days speaking of the relentless goodness and mercy of God god's unstoppable has been a constant through all the days of David's life and that's the same with us amen there's a um sheep farmer who turned to become a pastor and he wrote something about this verse his name is Pastor Philip Keller and he wrote this not only is this a bold statement but it is somewhat of a boast an exclamation of
implicit confidence that the one who controls his career and destiny how many Christians have actually feel this way about Christ how many of us are truly convinced that no matter what occurs in our lives whether it be whether we are being followed by goodness of mercy of course it is very simple to speak this way when things are going well but what about when one's body breaks down what is my reaction when my job folds up and there's no more money to meet the bills
what do I say when suddenly without good grounds friends prove false and turn against me these are sort of times that test a person's confidence in the care of Christ when my little word when my little world is falling apart and the dream castles of my ambition and hopes crumble into ruins can I honestly declare "Surely yes surely God's goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life." In light of what God has done for him David speaks confidently here god is confident in what God will do for him david knows the way God takes care of him and because God is faithful and not fickle we're fickle people double-minded go to and fro god's not fickle he's constant he's the same yesterday today and forever so that's the kind of care that he has for us and that will continue having for us do we have the same confidence in this second half of Psalm
23 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever to dwell means to live and reside to inhabit a place or to remain in a particular state or condition this is one of several times in the Psalms that we find the desire to dwell in the house of the Lord what does David mean by dwell in the house of the Lord in most cases when that phrase is used in the Old Testament it simply refers to either the portable Israeli temple called the tent of meeting it refers to or it refers to the
brick and mortar temple that Solomon built the other temple the temple in Jerusalem since David lived before the temple of Jerusalem because his son built it maybe he was talking about the tent of meeting like for eternity like what does that mean like he's just going to sit in a tent in the corner and grow a big long beard and just be there forever or maybe he could be buried in the tent you know who knows what does that mean is that what he meant by dwell i don't think it means that i
think it means a metaphor here's a few passages from the book of Psalms where he talks about that psalm 27 says "One thing I have asked the Lord that I will seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and inquire in his temple for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble he will conceal me under the cover of his tent and he will lift me high upon a rock i don't think off the top of my head that
there's a rock in the temple so what does he mean by that oh Lord I love the habitations of your house and the place where you where your glory dwells psalm 65 blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in the courts we shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house the holiness of your temple in Psalm 92 the righteous flourish like palm trees and grow like cedar in Lebanon they are planted in the house of the Lord and they flourish in the courts of our
God i don't remember there being palm trees in the temple so metaphor I believe that David's using a terms like the house of the Lord and temple and courts he's referring not to a physical location but he's referring to fellowship with God in God's presence with him under the old covenant the temple was where the God's special presence dwelt among his people it's a place where his people could come and find forgiveness and worship so David's confidence is that he
will dwell in the fullness of what the temple represents that he will dwell in God's presence forever in that place of forgiveness and worship where believers will reside and abide eternally the Psalms are filled with prophecies and chapter 23 world the 23rd Psalm is the 18th prophecy that will be completed and fulfilled in all who live in the house of the Lord forever for instance Hebrews 13 for here we have no lasting city but we seek the city that is to come that's heaven it's
to be with the Lord in his presence john 14 let not your hearts be troubled believe in God and believe in me also in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am you may be also psalm 23 means that God's goodness and unfailing love will always follow a believer it will follow a believer throughout their whole life assuring
them of continuous care and protection leading him to dwell in the house of the Lord forever it expresses deep confidence in God's unwavering commitment to his people in a sense the way that David ends the psalm adds a full a new fullness to the beginning of the psalm so you could think of it as like this the Lord is my shepherd forever i shall not want forever he makes me lie down in green pastures forever he leads me beside still waters forever would David describe himself as
blessed of course he would why because of the extent to which and with the regularity with which he experienced abundance luck has nothing to do with it if it did then this psalm would just be a waste of our time unless of course we're all the lucky ones david's the lucky one david must have been the lucky one no even Mr celic our Croatian friend who cheated death seven times and even won the lottery at the end of it all even he recognized that his life had
nothing to do with luck in an interview he once said "I know God was watching over me all these
years." The most amazing thing about Psalm 23 is not the poetry and it's not the timeless quality of it all the most amazing thing about Psalm 23 is the fact that anyone can know the same kind of care that David did everyone anyone can know this david experienced what he experienced in Psalm 23 is an open door an open door into the fields of the divine shepherd we don't have to imagine how David felt we can know this same blessing today through our faith we can be a part of his flock the
abundance that David experienced then was just a taste of what was to come david enjoyed just a sweet sip and we get to enjoy the whole cup how do we access this kind of abundance how do we enjoy God's plenty today every day and forever someone said this his name was Jesus truly truly I say to you I am the door of the sheep all who come before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not listen to them i am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and he will go out and find
pasture the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy i have come that they may have life and life abundantly i am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep how do we access this Psalm 23 abundance there's only one door and it has nothing to do with luck it has everything to do with Jesus Christ our savior jesus is the shepherd of Psalm 23 the shepherd in the flesh he's the same shepherd that David spoke about and the same shepherd speaking these words
in John 10 he also is speaking to people like us he's saying "I am the door the door to the pasture the pastures of abundant
life." Friends all of us are sheep unfortunately not very bright animals there's no escaping that we're all sheep but let me ask where are you grazing today are you wandering aimlessly in the wastelands of this world or are you resting securely in green pastures if you are a follower of Jesus this morning if you have entered the gate through faith then you need to remember God's plenty this morning we need to walk with confidence and goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our
lives savor the Lord's blessing thank him and praise him keep your eyes on the shepherd if you are not a follower of Jesus listen again to these words i am the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and go in and find pastures that pasture is only possible because the good shepherd laid down his life for us he was nailed to a Roman cross for you he took your place he took God's judgment and wrath against our waywardness and stubbornness and sin he laid his life
down and good news is that he rose again which side of the fence are you on who is your shepherd god wants you to know the extent to which you can experience abundance abundance that doesn't just seem possible but is possible now through the new covenant through Jesus Christ the gate is wide open you just got to come in conclusion to wrap up Psalm 23 I want to close by leaving you with this if you don't know Jesus yet make Psalm 23 your prayer for him today and
come through the door and dwell with him if you do know Jesus make Psalm 23 a prayer of gratitude thankfulness abundance goodness and mercy it'll get you a reminder to keep your eyes on the good shepherd going to finish with a song and I'd like you all to just close your eyes i want you to imagine 3,000 years ago after a long day King David decides to grab his heart maybe the one that he used to soothe King Saul he finds a quiet place to reflect and spend some time worshiping the
Lord so now let us stop and reflect make Psalm 23 your prayer make it a prayer of repentance spend this time worshiping God with this song just as David did 3,000 years ago