You may be seated, kids.
You are now excused to your King's Kids class.
!
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He settles me down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
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, surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me,
shall pursue me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Amen and amen.
Name that movie.
Imagine a farm boy tumbling down a hill saying,
As you wish.
Princess Bride nailed it.
And we all know that as you wish is code for,
I love you, Princess Buttercup.
Okay.
So, the Princess Bride begins with the kidnapping of Princess Buttercup by three characters.
Vizzini, the Sicilian with a keen wit.
Inigo Montoya, a skilled sourceman with a daddy wound.
And Fezzik, a giant brute with a gentle spirit.
They are escaping, having kidnapped Princess Buttercup,
and they are escaping by boat,
and then they start to realize that they are being tracked.
They are being stalked,
relentlessly pursued by a mysterious masked man,
all in black.
The masked man eventually catches up to the three
and overcomes Fezzik's brute strength.
He outskills Inigo Montoya's swordsmanship,
and he outwits the Sicilian Vizzini.
What is driving this masked man's relentless pursuit of Princess Buttercup
is true love.
Spoiler alert.
For the man in black is no other than the farm boy, Wesley.
The true love of Princess Buttercup,
as you wish.
We come to the last two verses of Psalm 23.
I preached the first two verses a couple weeks ago.
Our shepherd before us.
He goes before us.
9-14.
I preached on the next two verses.
Our shepherd with us.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
And today, we're looking at the last two verses, 5 and 6.
Our shepherd after us.
Our shepherd who comes after us.
Our shepherd who pursues us.
And so here's what I want to convince you of.
Christian, your God loves you.
Your God loves you.
He lovingly provides for you,
and he lovingly pursues you.
And so I'm going to make two points.
Point number one is God is our loving super host.
And the second point is God is our loving super pursuer.
God loves you.
He graciously provides for you.
He relentlessly pursues you.
So let's look at this first point from verse 5.
Our loving super host.
Psalm 23.5 says,
It's a bit of a surprise.
It's a little bit of a twist.
Because up until this point,
there's been one emphasis in the way that God is being described.
Verse 1,
The Lord, Yahweh, the great I am, is my shepherd.
Right?
Verse 2,
He settles me to green pastures and leads me beside still waters.
That's shepherd stuff.
Verse 3,
He leads me in paths of righteousness.
A shepherd leads sheep on paths.
Verse 4,
Even though I walk through the valley,
even though our good shepherd leads us on his paths of righteousness
through the valley of the shadow of darkness, of death,
even though he does that,
we fear no evil for he is with us.
His rod and his staff, they comfort us.
That's shepherd talk.
And then in verse 5,
the picture changes from shepherd to host.
You prepare a table before me.
A host in the world of the ancient Near East
was known for the way he treated his guests.
In fact, showing hospitality to guests
was and remains a high cultural value in the Middle East.
It's something that we've somewhat lost here in the West.
A host took responsibility for his guests,
for their well-being.
And so when we read,
you prepare a table before me,
you've got to be thinking like holiday feast.
I don't know about you.
Thanksgiving's coming.
Do I have an amen?
It's the Thanksgiving in the Savadi household.
Here's what happens.
There is so much goodness,
one table can't handle it.
So we've got our table filled,
and then we use another table for the goodness overflow
to kind of experience the goodness of.
It is a table set,
full, overflowing goodness.
What we're seeing here is
God set a table for David.
Now, shepherds don't set tables for the sheep.
Sheep don't come to the table.
Hosts set tables for their guests.
And so what we're seeing here is
God is being portrayed as a host
who sets up a feast.
We also read,
you anoint my head with oil.
This is another ancient Near Eastern custom.
If you show up at a host's house,
he would anoint your head with a fragrant oil.
You might be a little smelly.
But it was also to communicate blessing
and that he would take care of you.
Has anybody been on a long international flight?
When you're coming in kind of descent,
oftentimes flight attendants will hand out
these kind of warm, moist cloth towels
to kind of wipe your face
and to freshen up
so you're smelling kind of good
when you leave the plane.
It's a similar thought.
It's this attentiveness to detail
of blessing,
of caring for people
entrusted to your oversight.
In fact, in Luke chapter 7,
Jesus has gone to Simon the Pharisee's house
sitting at table with Simon
and in walks this woman of the city,
a prostitute,
and she is just over the top
and showing her affection for Jesus.
He's forgiven her much.
In verse 46,
Jesus turns to Simon the Pharisee
and he says,
you did not anoint my head with oil,
but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Point being,
for our point,
for our case,
even in Jesus' day,
they're anointing heads with oil.
And could you imagine that?
The incarnate God of the universe
is a guest in your house
and you don't show him kindness.
Boy, has he been hospitable to us though.
My cup overflows.
Maybe even better understood,
it's you cause my cup to overflow.
We're still talking about God as host
causing your cup to overflow.
By the way,
shepherds don't anoint their sheep's heads
and shepherds don't fill their sheep's cups
to overflowing.
Hosts do.
You fill my cup to overflowing.
Have you ever been to a restaurant
or have you ever been to someone's house
and that host is so attentive
to your drinking needs
that there's not a single time
where your cup is half empty.
It's always to the top.
In fact,
there's a little puddle
at the bottom of your cup
because they're so generous
with whatever you're drinking.
It's overflowing.
It's a picture of overflowing goodness.
It's a picture of attentiveness.
Verse 5 is picturing God
as a hospitable,
attentive,
generous host.
When Jenny and I travel,
we tend to stay in Airbnbs
and when you go to an Airbnb,
you deal usually with the property's host.
But not all Airbnb hosts
are equally hospitable.
Those Airbnb hosts
who have like a pile
of five-star ratings,
they are designated a super host
known for their exceptional attention to detail.
They are the creme de la creme
of hospitable people.
Super hosts are known
for going the extra mile.
Your God is the ultimate super host.
He has promised to supply all of your needs.
We're not to be anxious
about any of the basics,
Matthew 6.
But God has gone the extra mile as well.
He has addressed in full
our greatest need,
the need for salvation.
And the way that Jesus talks about it
in the book of John is,
he'll talk about,
I am the bread of life.
You eat of me
and you will hunger no more.
You drink of the water I give,
you will be thirsty no more.
It's like we are completely satisfied
in Jesus alone.
He is our super host.
But there is another surprise
in verse five.
Did you see where this super host
is setting the table?
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
We don't know exactly
David's situation
in writing Psalm 23.
Maybe it was when he was being pursued
by Saul
or maybe when he was ousted
from Jerusalem
because of Absalom.
But he was obviously
feeling threatened.
To be talking about your enemies
means that you are aware
of someone who is not out
for your good,
but they're out to seek your harm.
And here we see David writing
that in the presence
of his enemies,
his super host God
has set a huge feast for him.
Attending to all the details.
Or maybe to mix metaphors
a little bit from verse four,
your super host,
he serves up a feast
in the midst of the valley
of the shadow of death.
We are provided for
in abundance by our God.
Maybe you're familiar
with the Wendy's commercial
from 1984.
The old lady
who asks a question,
where's the beef?
Maybe you are in a situation
right now,
it's hard,
you feel threatened.
Maybe it's your kids.
I don't know what my kids
are doing.
Maybe it's your health.
There's this kind of like,
I don't know what's going
to happen to me.
Maybe it's our country.
What's going to happen next?
And you're asking,
not where's the beast,
you're asking,
where's the feast?
God, where's the feast?
Where is this table set
before me
in the presence
of my enemies?
I'll tell you
where the feast is.
Here's the feast.
This book,
God's word,
it fills your soul.
He restores us daily.
It provides all
the necessary,
essential,
spiritual nutrients
for you today.
This is good for you.
Always,
always providing.
And if you are feeling
threatened,
you turn to your super host
and say,
feed me, Lord.
Feed me from this book.
When we gather together
on Sundays,
it is a corporate feast
in the word.
And there's coming a day
when we will gather
with our King Jesus
for the supper,
final supper of the Lamb.
Boy,
is he good or what?
He gives us feasts
in times of difficulty.
This is where
our souls feast,
this book.
And you know what?
You know what's behind
our super host?
You know what's driving that?
Do you know why
he would set all this up?
It's because he loves you.
He knows your circumstances.
He wants you to thrive
in your circumstances.
And so he's like,
I'll set a feast for you.
Just come to me.
Just open my book
and feast your soul.
He has what you need.
Where's the feast?
It's at your fingertips.
Open God's word
and open your heart.
Open your mouth
and drink your fill.
Eat your fill.
So the first thing
that we see here,
this evidence
of God's love
is he is our super host,
our loving super host.
And we move from
loving super host
in verse five
to loving super pursuer
in verse six.
As you wish.
In verse six,
we read,
surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me
all the days of my life
and I shall dwell
in the house
of the Lord forever.
Verse six
has something
really special in it.
And I think
what David is doing
in verse six
is actually moving back
from a host image
of God
to back to a
shepherding image
of God.
It's
the good shepherd
following him
all the days
of his life.
And you may wonder
why would he switch back?
Why would he even stop
in verse five
and switch these
kind of pictures
of who God is?
Well, I think in verse five,
he's emphasizing
God's loving care for us
when we're in the valley.
But here,
in verse six,
David is emphasizing
God's loving,
relentless pursuit
of us.
The God of the universe,
the great incarnate
I am,
is relentlessly
pursuing you
to do you good
because he loves you.
You're being stalked.
You're being tracked
by the God of the universe.
He's our loving
super pursuer.
First thing I want you
to notice is
what it means
that he's following us.
Surely goodness
and mercy
shall follow me
all the days
of my life.
I just want to
heighten something
in that word
follow.
You might,
when you hear
the word follow,
you may inadvertently
bring to it
this idea of
kind of follow
from a distance
like Peter
was following
Jesus from a distance
when Jesus
was arrested.
Kind of like hands off
from a distance.
Passive.
that's not
what we're being
talked about here.
Maybe a better word
would be pursue.
Surely goodness
and mercy
shall pursue me
all the days
of my life.
It carries
the sense
of purposefulness.
This carries
the sense
of intention
and intensity
that God
is actively
pursuing us
relentlessly
all the days
of our lives.
Like Wesley
pursuing
Princess Buttercup
relentlessly
because she is
his true love.
in Psalm 119
176
it's the last
verse of
Psalm 119
the writer says
I have gone astray
like a lost sheep
seek your servant
pursue your servant
track me down
this is
a pursuit
of us
just like
Jesus
the bridegroom
who gave himself
for his bride
he pursues us
the church
relentlessly
pursues us
he's our shepherd groom
Philippians 1 6
the good work
that he's began
in us
he will carry it
unto completion
all the way
until the day
of Christ Jesus
he is
he is purposefully
relentlessly
lovingly
pursuing
us
I
think
many of us
needs to hear
that
today
I think
you came
in here
many of you
thinking
there's a God
who's relentlessly
lovingly
pursuing you
and that's
what I want you
to see next
who it is
that is pursuing
you
surely
goodness
and mercy
shall pursue me
all the days
of my life
this isn't
a goodness
and mercy
from the universe
this is the goodness
and mercy
of God
this is
God's
pursuit
of his own
God
pursuing you
in his goodness
and mercy
all the days
of my life
we read in
Psalm 119
68
God is good
and does good
and when we
read about
God's
good pursuit
of us
to do us
good
we've got to
understand the idea
of good in a
particular way
it's to bless us
to do us good
but it is a
holy good
he's seeking
our holy
good
h-o-l-y
good
in Romans 8
28
and 29
we read this
and we know
that for those
who love God
all things work
together for good
what kind of good
for those who are
called according
to his purpose
what purpose
is that
for those whom
he foreknew
he also predestined
to be conformed
to the image
of his son
that's the good
God's
pursuit
of you
his holy
good
is to conform
you to
the holy
good image
of Jesus
to make you
like Christ
that you would
be holy
in a Christ
like way
that you would
bear all the
fruit of the
spirit
love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
gentleness
faithfulness
and self
control
it's a profile
of Jesus
God is
pursuing you
for your
good
why
why would
he do
that
why does
God care
why would
God want
us to be
like Christ
in how
we live
out our
lives
that's the
next word
mercy
and it's
the Hebrew
word
chesed
it's
commonly
translated
God's
steadfast
love
his covenant
making
covenant
keeping
love
and so
if you're
hearing it
right
you're
hearing this
surely
God's
holy
love
is
pursuing
me
all the
days
of my
life
for my
holy
good
out of his
love
he is
purposed
to do
you good
all the
days
of your
life
you're
being
pursued
you're
being
stalked
by the
God
of the
universe
he wants
to do
you good
because he
loves
you
you can't
stop
him
this
steadfast
unrelenting
love
for you
it's
unconditional
and
we have
a tendency
to fall
back
into old
ways of
thinking
so I
just
want to
remind
you
God's
love
for you
he doesn't
love you
because you've
earned it
God loves
you not
because you
deserve it
God doesn't
love you
because you're
so lovable
God's
love for
you does
not depend
upon your
obedience to
him
his love
for us
this
unrelenting
love
love that
pursues you
is
unconditional
God's
love for you
depends solely
on God
we love
because he
first loves
us
and we know
that Jesus
Christ is the
same yesterday
today and
forever
his
relentless
pursuit
of you
is tied to
his very
character
unchanging
eternal
set
he shed
his blood
for you
how much
will he
also
give you
supply you
everything
you need
you're being
tracked
you're being
pursued
and it's
good news
because God's
never going to
let you
go
your God
he's pursuing
you in a
holy love
how do you
respond to
that
David says
in verse
six the
first word
surely
it's
like
confident
assured
no doubt
yes
and
amen
my
God
his
goodness
and his
loving kindness
is pursuing
me all the
days of my
life
it's
not something
he's wondering
about
it's a
declaration
surely
his
goodness
and his
love
pursue
me
you see
this
this is
the result
of
of God's
promise
his
covenant
he had
made
to David
and
we
have
an
even
better
covenant
that God
has made
to us
through
Christ
a new
covenant
that was
established
through the
shedding
of Jesus
blood
that he
will never
leave us
nor forsake
us
and that
he
will
supply
everything
that we
need
to overcome
and see
it all
the way
to the
end
he will
supply
what we
need
what he
began
he will
complete
or maybe
maybe you
need to
hear this
for I am
sure that
neither
death
nor life
nor angels
nor rulers
nor things
present
nor things
to come
nor powers
nor height
nor depth
nor anything
else in
all creation
will be able
to separate
us from the
love of God
in Christ
Jesus
our Lord
amen
so we
respond with
a surely
surely
nothing can
separate me
from your
love
surely
because of
Christ's
blood
that
surely
of David
is now
your
surely
could you
imagine
that
lie
on your
bed
at three
in the
morning
in anxious
toil
your health
your job
your family
what
there's so
much
and you
put your
head down
on your
pillow
with a
surely
your goodness
and your
love
will pursue
me all the
days of my
life
see how that
works
you
you lay
claim to
the promise
in Christ
surely
God's
goodness
in his
unrelenting
love shall
pursue you
all the
days
regardless
of what
you're
facing
so you
can be
assured
yourself
and he
gets the
glory
there's one
more
thing I
want you
to notice
in verse
six
it's
where
he is
pursuing
us
to
and I
shall dwell
in the
house of
the Lord
forever
it's
more
confidence
surely
I'm being
pursued
by the
God of
the universe
in his
unrelenting
love
and I
shall dwell
in the
house of
the Lord
forever
I will
dwell in
his
presence
forever
the
presence
the
house
of the
great
I
am
Yahweh
he's
going to
relentlessly
pursue us
all the way
to the
end
to his
eternal
dwelling
place
he secured
your
eternity
and will
relentlessly
pursue you
until you
walk into
the new
Jerusalem
upon the
new earth
and you
will behold
him and
his ravishing
glory
and with
new
eyes
when you
have new
resurrection
body
eyes
he is
pursuing you
all the
way
there
until you
are with
God
with his
people
in his
place
fully
finally
and forever
that's
your loving
super
pursuer
today
when you
woke up
God was
operating out
of the
surely
when you
go to
sleep
tonight
he's
pursuing
you
when you
wake up
tomorrow
morning
he's
pursuing
you
when
you're
10
and
when
you're
20
and
when
you're
30
and
40
and
50
when
you're
single
and
when
you're
married
he's
pursuing
you
all the
way
to
the
end
all
the
days
of
your
life
we're
one
day
closer
to
the
house
of
the
Lord
forever
God
is
quite
a
God
and
he
loves
you
so much
he
generously
provides
for you
even
when
things
are
difficult
he
provides
he
loves
he
pursues
God
is our
super
host
spreads
a feast
before
you
in the
presence
of
your
enemies
God
is our
super
pursuer
he
relentlessly
pursues
us
for
our
holy
good
because
he
loves
us
be
assured
from
Psalm
23
our
shepherd
goes
before
us
our
shepherd
goes
with
us
and
our
shepherd
comes
after
us
I'm
going
to
close
with
a
poem
this
is a
risky
poem
to
read
because
it's
old
English
I'm
not
going
to
read
all
of
it
was
written
in
1890
by
a
man
named
Francis
Thompson
he
was
an
opium
addict
and
this
is
called
the
hound
of
heaven
the
poem
goes
in
between
Francis
speaking
and
his
imagined
God
speaking
to
him
imagining
God
speaking
to
him
I
Francis
Thompson
fled
him
God
I
fled
him
down
the
nights
and
down
the
days
I
fled
him
down
the
arches
of
the
years
I
fled
him
down
the
labyrinthine
ways
of my
own
mind
in
the
midst
of
tears
I
hid
from
him
in
under
running
laughter
a
down
titanic
glooms
of
chasm
fear
from
those
strong
feet
that
followed
after
but
with
unhurrying
chase
in
unperturbed
pace
deliberate
speed
majestic
instancy
they
beat
and a
voice
beat
more
instant
than
the
feet
all
things
betray
thee
who
betrayest
me
fear
wist
not
to
evade
as
love
wist
to
pursue
still
with
unhurrying
chase
in
unperturbed
pace
deliberate
speed
majestic
instancy
came
on the
following
feet
and a
voice
above
their
beat
nothing
shelters
thee
who
will
not
shelter
me
deliberate
speed
majestic
instancy
in the
past
those
noised
feet
a
voice
comes
yet
more
fleet
lo
nothing
contents
thee
who
contentest
not
me
how
hast
thou
merited
God
speaks
of
all
man's
clotted
cling
the
dingiest
clot
a
lack
thou
knowest
not
how
little
worthy
of
any
love
thou
art
whom
wilt
thou
find
to
love
ignoble
thee
save
me
save
only
me
all
which
I took
from
thee
I did
not
but
take
not
for
thy
harms
but
just
that
thou
mightest
seek
it
in
my
arms
all
which
thy
child's
mistake
fancies
as
lost
I
have
stored
for
thee
at
home
rise
clasp
my
hand
and
come
halts
by
me
that
footfall
is
my
gloom
after
all
shade
of
his
hand
outstretched
caressingly
and
he
closes
with
this
God
speaking
ah
fondest
blindest
weakest
I
am
he
whom
thou
seekest
thou
drove
away
love
from
yourself
who
drove
away
me
surely
goodness
and
mercy
shall
follow
me
all
the
days
of
my
life
surely
God
is
like
a
hound
of
heaven
pursuing
you
waiting
pursuing
even
causing
you
to
find
dissatisfaction
in the
things
that you
are
looking
for
life
so
that
you
would
come
to
him
or
in
the
words
of
Wesley
as
you
wish
let's
pray
great
God
in
heaven
we
are
so
amazed
by
your
love
for
us
that
you
would
provide
for
us
in
the
midst
of
our
enemies
that
you
would
feed
us
and
anoint
us
and
fill
our
cup
to
overflowing
day
after
day
supplying
our
spiritual
needs
God
thank
you
God
would
you
give
us
a
renewed
desire
to
feast
upon
your
word
and to
commune
with
you
through
your
word
and
God
we
are
so
grateful
that
you
are
a
loving
pursuer
a
super
pursuer
you
have
pursued
us
even
when
we
turned
our
back
on
you
keep
pursuing
you
don't
stop
you
are
a
good
shepherd
who
tracks
down
his
sheep
his
wandering
sheep
God
I pray
that by
your
spirit
you
would
fall
afresh
on
us
your
people
and
that
by
your
spirit
you
would
cause
Christ
to
dwell
in
our
hearts
by
faith
and
we
as
your
people
both
individually
and
corporately
we
would
know
with
all
the
saints
the
height
and
breadth
and
depth
and
width
of
your
love
for
us
in
Christ
Jesus
and
you
would
fill
us
with
the
fullness
of
God
your
fullness
your
loving
kindness
for
those
in
the
room
who
have
been
running
from
you
God
would
you
would
you
lovingly
bring
them
back
and
for
those
of
us
in
the
room
who
have
been
seeking
to
walk
joyfully
and
faithfully
with
you
in
paths
of
righteousness
you've
laid
out
for
us
God
would
you
convince
us
once
again
of
your
love
for
us
this
morning
God
we
are
very
aware
of
the
circumstances
surrounding
us
and
instead
of
distracted
by
threats
and
unknowns
we
trust
you
are
our
good
shepherd
lead
on
in
Jesus
name
amen
!
Amen