The Lord is My Shepherd!
Psalm 23 says “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in
green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: He leads
me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for 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 runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
This Psalm starts out in verse 1“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”: want
means to lack. If you are still wanting, you have to use your faith, to walk in all our
heavenly Father has given to us. The Bible says “Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). The reason you are not to want is because you
believe you already have been blessed. Now focus your mind to see those things you
want, believe you have them and you will see them. Thank God for them even before
you see them, cause in fact you have them in heavenly places in Christ.
There was a time when Israel was in the wilderness that the manna fell, God provided,
but when they came to the promise land, God told them to go in and possess it. Then
the manna ceased to fall. They had to proceed by faith, believing God to be with them
and protect them. In looking through the Old Testament you see many times even
when Israel had fallen away, when they called out to the Lord Yahweh their God, He
delivered them. David pens it this was in Psalms 107:8-14.
Verse 2 says “He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still
waters”: The Holy Spirit is our guide, who leads us through this life.
Verse 3 says “He restores my soul”: He did this at the cross, the blood of Jesus has
paid for our sins bringing us back into fellowship with the Father. “He leads me in the
paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”. God wants us to prosper and be in health
as our soul prospers (III John 3), people want what we have when we walk in His will for
our lives. That is why we can’t please Him without faith.
Verse 4 says “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil”: when you mix fear with faith, your faith is contaminated. “for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff they comfort me” The Word and the Spirit comfort us.
Verse 5 says “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You
anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over”. When we trust and wait on God, He
shows us which way to go, and protects us from our enemies. We are anointed (I John
2:27) “the anointing which you have received of Him abides in you”. Deuteronomy 28:2
says “and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall hearken
to the voice of the Lord your God.”
Verse 6 says “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I
will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Notice goodness and mercy follows me all
the days of my life, not when I get to heaven. The Bible says “Now, faith is”, so when
do you want it? (Now). The Bible says that God can not lie! And He calls those things
that be not as though they were. God speaks and things be; we are made in His image
and likeness. So when you are speaking what the Bible says, we are speaking the
truth. Just because it is not immediately seen, means nothing. Like Jesus, we are
supposed to be speaking with authority. When we do, as Ephesians 3:20 says “Now to
Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to
the power that works in us”. Let’s not limit God, by what we ask or think
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 28, 2006