WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.520 Well, thank you for tuning back in as it were. 00:00:04.520 --> 00:00:08.120 We had a remarkable series of coincidences this morning, 00:00:08.120 --> 00:00:10.880 technologically, and our service was interrupted. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:14.120 So I'm going to preach from Psalm 23, 00:00:14.120 --> 00:00:16.359 and I pray and hope that it blesses your soul 00:00:16.359 --> 00:00:18.039 and the Lord will draw near to you 00:00:18.039 --> 00:00:19.440 and speak to you through it. 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:21.800 So the title of the sermon is 00:00:21.800 --> 00:00:24.199 Personal Reality with a Living God. 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:25.800 And that's a phrase that I heard, 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:27.960 or I read a pastor in the States use 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:29.240 in an article recently. 00:00:29.239 --> 00:00:32.000 And it just got ahold of me. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.640 Personal reality with a living God. 00:00:37.199 --> 00:00:41.439 We can be incredibly good at impersonal reality 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:42.960 with a theoretical God. 00:00:43.839 --> 00:00:44.679 Do you know what I mean? 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:49.200 We can go through the motions of spirituality. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.039 We know our Bibles, we can say our prayers, 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:55.200 but we can do all of that without the risen Christ 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.959 actually entering into our experience 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:01.640 and grabbing ahold of our hearts and our emotions 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:05.960 and our perceptions with all of His goodness and power. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.599 And it can begin to feel a bit empty sometimes. 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:14.799 So what would it even be like to live moment by moment, 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:19.799 day by day, fully aware of God with us and God for us? 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.439 What would it be like to move through this new year 00:01:26.439 --> 00:01:31.039 with all of its unknowns, fully conscious 00:01:31.039 --> 00:01:34.879 of God's smile in Christ on us? 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:39.840 Well, personal reality with the living God 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:42.599 is what Psalm 23 is all about. 00:01:42.599 --> 00:01:44.920 There's just, there's nothing theoretical, 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:46.719 nothing impersonal here. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:48.959 So let's read the Psalm together. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.079 Psalm 23, a Psalm of David. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.159 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.799 He makes me lie down in green pastures. 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.479 He leads me beside still waters. 00:02:00.479 --> 00:02:02.399 He restores my soul. 00:02:02.399 --> 00:02:06.099 He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:09.919 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:13.359 I will fear no evil, for you are with me. 00:02:13.359 --> 00:02:15.680 Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:20.280 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:24.359 You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:27.620 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:30.720 all the days of my life, and I shall dwell 00:02:30.720 --> 00:02:32.400 in the house of the Lord forever. 00:02:33.800 --> 00:02:35.320 That is the word of the Lord. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.000 Now let's notice a couple things first, 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:41.380 because it's good when we come to any passage of the Bible 00:02:41.380 --> 00:02:43.200 to just spend some time noticing. 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:46.040 Noticing is a great habit to get into. 00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:49.160 Just keeps our eyes open to what God is doing. 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.300 So let's notice first how incredibly personal 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:55.640 this Psalm is. 00:02:55.640 --> 00:02:57.740 If you look at the first line and the last line, 00:02:57.740 --> 00:02:59.820 you'll see the only two instances in this Psalm 00:02:59.820 --> 00:03:01.060 of God's name. 00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:06.360 Every other instance of referring to God is He or you. 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:08.600 But here we have the Lord is my shepherd, 00:03:08.600 --> 00:03:10.960 and at the bottom I shall dwell 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:13.720 in the house of the Lord forever. 00:03:14.640 --> 00:03:18.400 Now, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:22.320 of course underneath that, when you encounter all Cap Lord 00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:25.199 in the Old Testament, what lies below that in Hebrew 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:28.639 is the name of God, Yahweh. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:32.039 It's His covenantal name, and a covenant 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:35.519 is a deeply relational, deeply personal thing. 00:03:35.519 --> 00:03:38.959 And so using His covenant name at the beginning and end 00:03:38.959 --> 00:03:43.400 is like putting two personal relational bookends 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:45.959 around this Psalm as if to say everything 00:03:45.959 --> 00:03:50.959 that comes between is about personal reality 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:52.480 with your God. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:00.600 Of course, reality is an objective thing, right? 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:05.240 So reality is out there, it just is. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:08.920 Whether or not we like it or not, 00:04:08.920 --> 00:04:11.760 we can't change what just is. 00:04:11.760 --> 00:04:14.080 We can't change the objective reality. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:16.540 So when I'm talking about personal reality, 00:04:16.540 --> 00:04:20.120 what I mean is when the objective reality breaks 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:24.920 into our subjective existence, our experience, 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:28.560 our emotions, our perceptions in our heart, 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:31.800 because sometimes we go through this Christian life 00:04:31.800 --> 00:04:36.800 and our subjective experience, the way we feel, 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.079 doesn't line up with what's actually true. 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:44.959 So three points tonight or today this morning, 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:46.360 whatever time it is. 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:48.579 Number one, what is the reality? 00:04:48.579 --> 00:04:51.680 Number two, how can I be sure? 00:04:51.680 --> 00:04:54.279 And number three, where is it going? 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:58.599 Because reality has a trajectory, it's going somewhere. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:01.360 Number one, what is the reality? 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:05.519 In Psalm 23, all of the hopes and all of the comforts 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:07.759 of this Psalm, which are many, 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:12.219 they flow out of its first statement of reality, 00:05:12.219 --> 00:05:17.219 right at verse one, the Lord is my shepherd. 00:05:17.220 --> 00:05:18.740 And if that weren't true, 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:21.540 none of the rest of it would be true either. 00:05:23.820 --> 00:05:26.860 It's actually, this is a Psalm about journeys. 00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:30.100 Sheep journeying through from one pastor to the next. 00:05:30.100 --> 00:05:32.860 We're a traveler's journeying in foreign lands, 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:36.180 being taken in by a host, as we'll see in a little while. 00:05:36.180 --> 00:05:41.180 And life is often, so often, by poets and songs, 00:05:41.940 --> 00:05:44.340 it's likened to a journey, isn't it? 00:05:44.339 --> 00:05:48.419 And our journey through this life is a guided one. 00:05:49.619 --> 00:05:51.019 Now our life as Christians, 00:05:51.019 --> 00:05:54.619 our life is not guided by impersonal principles. 00:05:55.459 --> 00:05:58.699 And our life is not guided by our own fickle hearts. 00:06:00.779 --> 00:06:05.779 We have a shepherd, a personal, living shepherd. 00:06:07.419 --> 00:06:09.139 Now any other guide would leave us lost, 00:06:09.139 --> 00:06:10.819 lonely, and unsatisfied. 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:12.459 We would say, my heart is my shepherd, 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:14.459 I shall never have enough. 00:06:14.459 --> 00:06:18.539 But if the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 00:06:20.379 --> 00:06:21.620 Now it doesn't just say, 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:22.979 it's not just saying what the Lord is like. 00:06:22.979 --> 00:06:24.819 It doesn't say the Lord is a shepherd, 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:26.099 or the Lord is like a shepherd. 00:06:26.099 --> 00:06:29.740 It says, the Lord is my shepherd. 00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:32.579 And now, now we're doing real theology. 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:37.579 So a theology that just speculates about who God is, 00:06:37.579 --> 00:06:39.179 impersonally or theoretically, 00:06:39.179 --> 00:06:42.019 is just a half theology, really. 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:44.899 And an impersonal, theoretical God 00:06:44.899 --> 00:06:49.899 never comforted anyone, never saved anyone. 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:53.699 But true theology says, on the one hand, who is God? 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:56.180 And on the other hand, who is God for me? 00:06:57.419 --> 00:06:59.099 Now we're talking theology. 00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:03.419 It's one thing to know who Bill Gates is. 00:07:04.500 --> 00:07:06.419 And it's another thing entirely 00:07:06.419 --> 00:07:08.979 to know that Bill Gates has written you into his will. 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:13.540 That's the sort of difference we're talking about. 00:07:14.379 --> 00:07:19.379 And God is so determined to be a personal reality to you 00:07:22.060 --> 00:07:26.540 that he enrobed himself in flesh and blood. 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:31.740 Jesus of Nazareth, fully God, fully man, 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.140 stood up on the same earth that we stand on. 00:07:34.140 --> 00:07:37.060 And he called out in John's gospel, 00:07:37.060 --> 00:07:38.860 I am the good shepherd. 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:44.540 And in doing so, Jesus graciously put flesh and bones 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:46.699 to this psalm so that his church 00:07:46.699 --> 00:07:51.139 could sing for centuries later, the Lord is my shepherd. 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:54.500 And we mean Jesus, our good shepherd. 00:07:55.699 --> 00:07:58.620 So if you've received Jesus and his payment 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:03.259 for your sins by faith, then he has spoken to you 00:08:03.259 --> 00:08:05.899 through his spirit, saying to you what he said 00:08:05.899 --> 00:08:08.620 to his first disciples 2000 years ago, 00:08:08.620 --> 00:08:11.259 the same thing that every shepherd says to his sheep, 00:08:12.219 --> 00:08:13.179 follow me. 00:08:15.859 --> 00:08:18.299 And in so doing, made you part of his flock. 00:08:19.259 --> 00:08:20.819 The Lord is your shepherd. 00:08:21.739 --> 00:08:23.779 You shall not want. 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:26.579 He makes you lie down in green pastures. 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:29.899 He leads you beside still waters. 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:32.299 He restores your soul. 00:08:32.299 --> 00:08:35.379 This is personal. 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:39.979 And this is who God is and who God is for you. 00:08:39.979 --> 00:08:41.419 Because he's your shepherd, 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:44.899 he will meet all your deepest needs. 00:08:44.899 --> 00:08:47.579 I don't mean there won't be hard seasons in this life. 00:08:47.579 --> 00:08:52.579 I mean, for every hard season of this life on this earth, 00:08:52.779 --> 00:08:57.779 God gives you himself the thing we really need. 00:08:57.779 --> 00:09:02.779 All your peace and all your rest will come from him. 00:09:04.299 --> 00:09:07.899 And he leads you over those well-worn paths 00:09:07.899 --> 00:09:10.100 of the saints who've gone before you. 00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:14.179 So you can completely trust him with your future. 00:09:16.179 --> 00:09:19.500 Now there are two images in this poem, in this Psalm. 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:20.899 There's two metaphors. 00:09:20.899 --> 00:09:22.620 The first is shepherd as we've been looking at. 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:24.899 The second is host. 00:09:24.899 --> 00:09:27.379 Look at the second half of the Psalm. 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:29.700 He says, you prepare a table before me 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:32.460 in the presence of my enemies. 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:34.980 You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:40.059 The Lord is your shepherd and the Lord is your host, 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:43.179 which makes you his sheep and his guest. 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:46.939 Now in the days of King David who wrote this 00:09:46.939 --> 00:09:48.539 many thousands of years ago, 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:52.139 hospitality and travel went hand in hand. 00:09:52.139 --> 00:09:55.580 So nowadays it would be very weird 00:09:55.580 --> 00:09:57.740 if you went from Edinburgh to Glasgow 00:09:57.740 --> 00:09:58.940 and started knocking on doors 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:01.300 to see if someone would take you into their home. 00:10:01.300 --> 00:10:04.700 But that wasn't strange in the days of King David 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:06.220 in the time of the Old Testament, 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:08.620 even in the time of the New Testament. 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:11.420 And the image that David is painting for us here 00:10:11.420 --> 00:10:14.540 is of a weary, harassed traveler 00:10:14.540 --> 00:10:18.620 taken in graciously by a magnificent host. 00:10:20.460 --> 00:10:23.060 Now in those days, travel was absolutely 00:10:23.059 --> 00:10:26.539 the furthest thing from a leisure activity. 00:10:26.539 --> 00:10:30.379 Traveling was done out of dire necessity most times. 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:35.379 And only sparingly because it was very, very dangerous. 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:38.859 So the traveler would have to be very careful 00:10:38.859 --> 00:10:41.579 of wild animals, of bandits. 00:10:41.579 --> 00:10:42.859 They would have to journey often 00:10:42.859 --> 00:10:45.579 through waterless wastelands and deserts. 00:10:45.579 --> 00:10:48.179 There would be a tremendous scarcity of food. 00:10:48.179 --> 00:10:51.579 You would be sore and dirty and grimy and blistered 00:10:51.579 --> 00:10:52.699 and uncomfortable. 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:56.620 And you'd be going often through hostile territory 00:10:56.620 --> 00:10:59.940 of nations and people groups opposed to you 00:10:59.940 --> 00:11:02.140 because of what tribe you belong to. 00:11:03.540 --> 00:11:07.500 Travel was not leisurely in those days. 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:10.860 So this preparing a table before me 00:11:11.860 --> 00:11:14.980 is so much more than just a meal. 00:11:16.420 --> 00:11:18.700 This was a table amidst, 00:11:18.700 --> 00:11:23.460 this was a feast filled table amidst a famine. 00:11:23.460 --> 00:11:25.540 This was shelter and protection 00:11:25.540 --> 00:11:27.500 in the midst of your enemies. 00:11:28.660 --> 00:11:31.700 To every force opposing you and seeking to do your harm, 00:11:31.700 --> 00:11:34.940 your gracious host says, let them rage outside 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:37.540 and you come in here and you dine with me 00:11:37.540 --> 00:11:39.379 on the best that I have. 00:11:39.379 --> 00:11:42.820 You're in my house now and you're under my protection. 00:11:45.060 --> 00:11:47.900 That's the second glorious reality of this Psalm. 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:50.419 The Lord is your host. 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:54.100 Now before we move on, 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:56.620 there's something we need to see about this. 00:11:56.620 --> 00:12:00.179 We know this really well in these weird times 00:12:00.179 --> 00:12:03.939 of social distancing and isolation. 00:12:03.939 --> 00:12:08.939 And that is this fact that personal relationship 00:12:09.939 --> 00:12:12.899 requires personal proximity. 00:12:12.899 --> 00:12:16.740 In order to have a deep and lasting and joy filled 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:18.860 and life giving relationship with somebody, 00:12:18.860 --> 00:12:21.340 you need to be near them, don't we? 00:12:22.899 --> 00:12:26.019 We all feel that lack after so long. 00:12:28.659 --> 00:12:31.299 Well, that's why in verse four, he says, 00:12:31.299 --> 00:12:33.299 I will fear no evil, why? 00:12:33.299 --> 00:12:36.980 For you are with me. 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:41.379 The shepherd has not left you to fend for yourself. 00:12:41.379 --> 00:12:45.539 He is there to comfort you and comfort you with his nearness 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:49.220 by protecting you, by disciplining you, by guiding you, 00:12:49.220 --> 00:12:50.820 by meeting all of your needs. 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:53.539 That's how you know that he's near. 00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:56.379 And the divine host hasn't just sent Uber Eats 00:12:56.379 --> 00:12:58.379 to bring some takeaway to your doorstep. 00:12:58.379 --> 00:13:01.379 He's lovingly prepared a feast for you himself. 00:13:01.379 --> 00:13:03.620 He's poured his bountiful wine into your cup 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:07.379 and he is personally seen to your refreshment and security. 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:10.820 That is the great thread that runs throughout this Psalm. 00:13:10.820 --> 00:13:14.820 God with you personally. 00:13:15.820 --> 00:13:17.820 Isn't that what we really long for? 00:13:19.379 --> 00:13:23.379 Isn't the real and felt presence of God 00:13:24.379 --> 00:13:26.860 what we really deeply need and want 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:30.379 when we feel spiritually dull and listless? 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:34.860 I was listening to Sarah Groves' 00:13:34.860 --> 00:13:37.580 album, I don't remember the name, 00:13:37.580 --> 00:13:39.860 but there's a song on it called To the Dawn 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:41.860 and this line struck me. 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:45.860 There's a hush of expectation and a quiet in the air 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:49.860 and the breath of God is moving in the fervent breath of prayer. 00:13:49.860 --> 00:13:53.860 For the suffering, dying Jesus is the Christ upon the throne 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:57.860 and the hearts of men are stirring 00:13:57.860 --> 00:13:59.860 to know they're not alone. 00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:04.860 We want to know when all else fades that we are not alone. 00:14:07.860 --> 00:14:09.860 We who suffer, we who are anxious, 00:14:09.860 --> 00:14:14.860 we need to know there is a Christ for you on the throne. 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:20.860 Us poor sheep need to be able to take our anxious gaze 00:14:20.860 --> 00:14:22.860 off of our unknown tomorrows 00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:25.860 and fix them on our mighty head. 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:30.860 We need to take our anxious gaze off of our unknown tomorrows 00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:33.860 and fix them on our mighty shepherd instead 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:38.860 and then just breathe and follow. 00:14:38.860 --> 00:14:39.860 We can do that. 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:40.860 He'll help us. 00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:45.860 Personal reality with God begins with knowing 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:49.860 the Lord is my shepherd, my host 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:51.860 and he's right here, he's so near. 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:56.860 If you are a follower of Jesus, that is objectively true 00:14:57.860 --> 00:14:59.860 even when you don't feel like it is. 00:15:02.860 --> 00:15:04.860 Number two, how can I be sure? 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:06.860 Fair question. 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.860 If that objective reality about who Jesus is for me 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.860 doesn't break into my experience, 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:15.860 if I don't feel it, how can I really know? 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:20.860 Well, thank God that our comfort, 00:15:20.860 --> 00:15:24.860 our hope is rooted in something so much deeper 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:28.860 than our emotions and our perceptions. 00:15:28.860 --> 00:15:30.860 Our emotions just do this. 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:32.860 They go up and down all the time. 00:15:32.860 --> 00:15:35.860 We're about as emotionally stable as me trying 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:38.860 to walk up Blackford Hill the other day in the ice. 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:42.860 But God is who he is. 00:15:42.860 --> 00:15:47.860 He said to Moses that his name is I am. 00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.860 God is the one who is. 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:53.860 He's steady. 00:15:53.860 --> 00:15:57.860 So personal reality with God is not rooted in how we feel 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:02.860 or in what we perceive but is rooted in the bare facts 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:06.860 of who God is for us. 00:16:06.860 --> 00:16:09.860 And in that objective reality we can find, 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:13.860 we actually can find some certainty. 00:16:14.860 --> 00:16:16.860 Two things to notice here. 00:16:16.860 --> 00:16:19.860 First, it says that the Lord provides for us 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.860 and leads us for his namesake. 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:29.860 Which means when it comes to God giving himself to you 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:34.860 as the solution to all of your deepest needs, 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:39.860 what's at stake is the glory of his name. 00:16:41.860 --> 00:16:44.860 It's his reputation on the line, not ours. 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:51.860 So he's as committed to you as he is to himself. 00:16:54.860 --> 00:17:01.860 Second, the first verb of the Psalm is in the present tense. 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:03.860 That is important. 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:06.860 The Lord is my shepherd right now, present tense. 00:17:06.860 --> 00:17:10.860 But what follows is in the future tense. 00:17:10.860 --> 00:17:14.860 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want in the future. 00:17:14.860 --> 00:17:18.860 And even though it would make a clunky English translation, 00:17:18.860 --> 00:17:24.860 but all the verbs that follow that first verb are future tense. 00:17:24.860 --> 00:17:27.860 So David is actually saying, 00:17:27.860 --> 00:17:29.860 because of who the Lord is right now, 00:17:29.860 --> 00:17:31.860 I can know what the future holds for me. 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:34.859 I will be provided for, I will be refreshed, 00:17:34.859 --> 00:17:38.859 I will be given rest, I will be protected. 00:17:38.859 --> 00:17:41.859 If this is who God is for us now, 00:17:41.859 --> 00:17:46.859 then he will continue to be for us forever. 00:17:47.859 --> 00:17:51.859 Furthermore, we have the great benefit of looking back now 00:17:51.859 --> 00:17:55.859 to the New Testament, to the life of Christ on earth, 00:17:55.859 --> 00:17:57.859 and we can get even more certainty. 00:17:57.859 --> 00:18:01.859 You can be certain of having green pastures in Christ 00:18:01.859 --> 00:18:06.859 because he was hungry in the wilderness for you. 00:18:07.859 --> 00:18:11.859 You can drink from the quiet streams of the Spirit of God 00:18:11.859 --> 00:18:14.859 and get true rest because Jesus croaked, 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:19.859 I thirst from across for you. 00:18:19.859 --> 00:18:21.859 Unbelievable. 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:25.859 You can enjoy the cup of God's good wine 00:18:25.859 --> 00:18:29.859 flowing in your heart because Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath 00:18:29.859 --> 00:18:33.859 down to the dregs for you. 00:18:33.859 --> 00:18:37.859 And you can know, you can know, 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:40.859 that he will lead you through the valley of the shadow of the death, 00:18:40.859 --> 00:18:43.859 not leave you down in that darkness 00:18:43.859 --> 00:18:47.859 because he went into that shadow of death and he died there, 00:18:47.859 --> 00:18:52.859 and then he came out the other side more alive than we could ever know. 00:18:52.859 --> 00:18:54.859 Praise God. 00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:57.859 Now, that phrase in verse 4, the shadow of death, 00:18:57.859 --> 00:19:00.859 I want to talk about for just a moment, it's really interesting. 00:19:00.859 --> 00:19:04.859 It's one little Hebrew word, and it could mean deep darkness, 00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:08.859 or it could mean the shadow of death as most English Bibles translate it. 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:12.859 Now, deep darkness, it does fit the imagery quite a lot. 00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:16.859 You know, the idea of just a deep dark valley being a place of fear 00:19:16.859 --> 00:19:20.859 and uncertainty and how God is with us, 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:23.859 even in those dark times to protect and lead us. 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:27.859 I think David did intend that meaning for us here, 00:19:27.859 --> 00:19:31.859 and David knew the word he was using. 00:19:31.859 --> 00:19:35.859 The other understanding of this word that would come into the reader's mind 00:19:35.859 --> 00:19:38.859 was the shadow of death itself. 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:43.859 And there's something beautiful here, but forgive me for using a sad story to illustrate it. 00:19:43.859 --> 00:19:48.859 Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was almost hit by a truck, 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:52.859 and at the very last moment, his mother ran out into the road 00:19:52.859 --> 00:19:57.859 and threw her child out of the way, and she was hit by the truck instead. 00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:05.859 That heroic mother was struck by the truck itself. 00:20:05.859 --> 00:20:13.859 That little child was only struck by the shadow of the truck as it passed. 00:20:13.859 --> 00:20:19.859 Jesus Christ was struck by death itself for you, 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:24.859 and because of his death on the cross, if you trust him, 00:20:24.859 --> 00:20:28.859 he will only be struck by death's shadow. 00:20:28.859 --> 00:20:32.859 That's why in the New Testament, after the resurrection of Jesus, 00:20:32.859 --> 00:20:37.859 the writers of the New Testament almost exclusively use this phrase. 00:20:37.859 --> 00:20:42.859 When they talk about people, Christians who have died, they call them this, 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:46.859 those who have fallen asleep in the Lord. 00:20:46.859 --> 00:20:51.859 That's why Paul can quote the poets of Israel and victoriously write, 00:20:51.859 --> 00:20:56.859 where oh death is your victory? Where oh death is your sting? 00:20:56.859 --> 00:21:05.859 Jesus Christ really died, and Jesus Christ was really raised from the dead. 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:08.859 In Acts chapter 2, Peter says this in this marvelous sermon. 00:21:08.859 --> 00:21:12.859 He says, God raised up Jesus, loosing the pangs of death, 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:18.859 because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:21.859 So how can I be sure? 00:21:21.859 --> 00:21:27.859 You can be sure that all the comforts and hopes of Psalm 23 are yours in Christ, 00:21:27.859 --> 00:21:33.859 because it is sealed as a promise with the death and resurrection 00:21:33.859 --> 00:21:40.859 of the very Son of God, your shepherd and host. 00:21:40.859 --> 00:21:44.859 Number three, where is it all going? 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:49.859 Well, like anyone else, David had seasons where he longed for personal reality with God. 00:21:49.859 --> 00:21:55.859 I think that this Psalm is very likely his own heart cry for that reality 00:21:55.859 --> 00:21:58.859 to become apparent to him. 00:21:58.859 --> 00:22:02.859 He starts off with the image of shepherd and then moves to the image of host. 00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:04.859 He starts out speaking about God. 00:22:04.859 --> 00:22:08.859 I don't know if you noticed, he says, he makes me lie down, he leads me. 00:22:08.859 --> 00:22:12.859 But it shifts to talking to God. 00:22:12.859 --> 00:22:14.859 You are with me. 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:17.859 You prepare a table before me. 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:23.859 So by the end, it's almost like he's speaking to his own soul. 00:22:23.859 --> 00:22:24.859 Here's what I think happened. 00:22:24.859 --> 00:22:28.859 I think David started out saying, I don't feel that the Lord is my shepherd, 00:22:28.859 --> 00:22:32.859 but I'm going to just preach to my own heart and declare what I know to be true, 00:22:32.859 --> 00:22:35.859 that the Lord is my shepherd. 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:38.859 I shall not want. 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:44.859 And by the end, he's rejoicing in the felt presence of the Lord. 00:22:44.859 --> 00:22:51.859 Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue after me all the days of my life, 00:22:51.859 --> 00:22:55.859 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 00:22:55.859 --> 00:22:58.859 Surely is an exclamation of certainty. 00:22:58.859 --> 00:23:00.859 In Hebrew, it's this little word, ach. 00:23:00.859 --> 00:23:03.859 Ach, goodness and mercy will follow me. 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:05.859 Do you hear the vigor in that? 00:23:05.859 --> 00:23:07.859 The certainty in that? 00:23:07.859 --> 00:23:11.859 Jesus got real to him. 00:23:11.859 --> 00:23:13.859 Then he says a curious thing. 00:23:13.859 --> 00:23:17.859 He says, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 00:23:17.859 --> 00:23:21.859 So up in verse three, I think, or in verse four, he discovers this truth. 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:23.859 He says, for you are with me. 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:26.859 So God with me. 00:23:26.859 --> 00:23:32.859 But by the end, me with God forever. 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:39.859 If the Lord is your shepherd, you can know that he is leading you to eternally green pastures. 00:23:39.859 --> 00:23:43.859 If the Lord is your host, you can know that his feast is eternal, 00:23:43.859 --> 00:23:50.859 his kingdom is unshakable, and his home will be your home. 00:23:50.859 --> 00:23:57.859 Hospitality in the ancient Near East was a very, very important thing. 00:23:57.859 --> 00:24:02.859 Unbelievably important, much more so than any Western culture. 00:24:02.859 --> 00:24:05.859 And every culture has its own rules of hospitality. 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:08.859 It has expectations on the host. 00:24:08.859 --> 00:24:14.859 So when we moved from the Pacific Northwest in Seattle to Nashville, Tennessee, 00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:17.859 we had to learn about Southern hospitality, y'all, 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:23.859 which means expectations on the host is all about, you know, sweet tea and porch swings. 00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:26.859 Then when we moved from Nashville to Edinburgh, Scotland, 00:24:26.859 --> 00:24:29.859 we had to relearn new rules of hospitality, 00:24:29.859 --> 00:24:35.859 where the expectations of the host are more like hot pots of tea and a tray of biscuits. 00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:40.859 Well, in King David's day, there were expectations on the host as well. 00:24:40.859 --> 00:24:47.859 It was the host's honor to provide the very best of what he had for his guest. 00:24:47.859 --> 00:24:49.859 No stinting. 00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:51.859 Pull out all the stops. 00:24:51.859 --> 00:24:55.859 The best lamb, the best calf, the best wine. 00:24:55.859 --> 00:25:06.859 And it was the host's honor to offer absolute protection to the guest for two or three days. 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:10.859 So the host would say, please come dine with me, weary traveler. 00:25:10.859 --> 00:25:12.859 Stay in my house. 00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:14.859 All that I have is yours. 00:25:14.859 --> 00:25:17.859 And, you know, for perhaps two or three days, 00:25:17.859 --> 00:25:23.859 I will protect you from anyone that would wish to do you harm. 00:25:23.859 --> 00:25:26.859 Once a year, we usually go to Kansas. 00:25:26.859 --> 00:25:33.859 Before we moved to Scotland, we would go to Kansas and spend about three days with my wife's grandmother 00:25:33.859 --> 00:25:35.859 in the old family farmhouse there. 00:25:35.859 --> 00:25:39.859 And we would never stay for longer than three days, 00:25:39.859 --> 00:25:45.859 because Marlene is known to often say, guests are like fish. 00:25:45.859 --> 00:25:49.859 They start to stink after three days. 00:25:49.859 --> 00:25:51.859 Here's what's remarkable. 00:25:51.859 --> 00:25:53.859 The Lord is our host. 00:25:53.859 --> 00:25:55.859 He shelters us from our enemies. 00:25:55.859 --> 00:25:58.859 He provides us the rich feast right here in the presence of our enemies. 00:25:58.859 --> 00:26:04.859 And how long does that offer of protection extend? 00:26:04.859 --> 00:26:07.859 Three days? 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:11.859 I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 00:26:11.859 --> 00:26:14.859 Length of days. 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:18.859 Jesus doesn't get tired of you. 00:26:18.859 --> 00:26:21.859 Jesus is not bored with your company. 00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:27.859 You cannot encroach on the hospitality of the risen Christ. 00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:31.859 You will never stink to him. 00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:34.859 And that's where this is going. 00:26:34.859 --> 00:26:38.859 If the Lord is your shepherd now, this is your future. 00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:44.859 This is the trajectory of ultimate reality being with God. 00:26:44.859 --> 00:26:50.859 God with me now, me with God forever. 00:26:50.859 --> 00:26:53.859 You'll never be alone. 00:26:53.859 --> 00:26:56.859 And one day this foggy existence will fade away, 00:26:56.859 --> 00:27:01.859 and you will be face to face with Jesus. 00:27:01.859 --> 00:27:03.859 And you'll stand tall. 00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:04.859 No shame. 00:27:04.859 --> 00:27:07.859 He bore that on the cross. 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:09.859 No sin to come between you. 00:27:09.859 --> 00:27:19.859 Just eternal, unfading, personal reality with the living, resurrected God. 00:27:19.859 --> 00:27:22.859 I love how Gandalf puts it in Lord of the Rings. 00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:27.859 The gray rain curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silverglass. 00:27:27.859 --> 00:27:30.859 And then you see it, white shores, 00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:34.859 and beyond a far green country under a swift sunrise. 00:27:34.859 --> 00:27:37.859 Better still, and we'll close with this, 00:27:37.859 --> 00:27:42.859 this is how the apostle John puts it in Revelation chapter 7. 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:46.859 Therefore they, that's you, Christian, 00:27:46.859 --> 00:27:50.859 therefore they are right before the throne of God, 00:27:50.859 --> 00:27:53.859 and serve him day and night in his temple, 00:27:53.859 --> 00:27:58.859 and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 00:27:58.859 --> 00:28:02.859 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. 00:28:02.859 --> 00:28:05.859 The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, 00:28:05.859 --> 00:28:10.859 nor the lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. 00:28:10.859 --> 00:28:13.859 And he will guide them to springs of living water, 00:28:13.859 --> 00:28:18.859 and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. 00:28:18.859 --> 00:28:36.859 Amen.