The Lord is my shepherd I

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV Message version

The Lord is my shepherd

The Lord (God)

Pastor Jerry is an under shepherd not the true shepherd 1 Pet 5:2-4
Or the World?

Who is calling the shots in your life?
The newspapers, popular opinion, peer pressure, religious practices, our own subjective feelings, the Pastor, your wife or husband, your circumstances…?

Is – present tense, ongoing, alive

Was?

My – personal, possessive, literal, real, active

A – One among many? It doesn’t say (The Lord is A shepherd.) Or mine. Personal
Is he a possession to be treasured? Mine! Valuable.
Literal, real, active

In order for him to be MY Shepherd, I have to be HIS Sheep.

He is mine and I am his

“My” is not individualistic it’s corporate. When it comes to sheep” MY” is our. My fold (Church), my calling (To people) etc…

MARKING the sheep

When sheep are brought into the fold the first thing that happens is the sheep is given the mark of the shepherd. Their ears are usually notched.

Who are we listening to?

Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. NIV

Rick Warren says in “The Purpose Driven Life”. “You were made by God and for God---and until you understand that, life will never make sense.”

Shepherd

We need a shepherd

For guidance

Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. NIV

I had that experience last night as I talked with people that I have never met before.

Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. NIV

John 10:11+14 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me. John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. NIV

In the next weeks we will look at the benefits, safety and comfort of being under a shepherd.

Pray: Lord so many things are attempting to take the place of your lordship in my life. It is a war for my heart. But Lord I want to draw closer to your fold, to re-establish your right as my shepherd, to admit my need for a loving shepherd.

I shall not want(2)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

I shall not want. (If the Lord is my shepherd) o I (what is I?) Am I the sum of my desires?

Luke 12: 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. NIV (survival)

§ What is life if it is not just survival? Or self fulfillment?

§ An I for an I

· Are we in danger of trading our selfish lives before Christ for a selfish life with Christ?

· Show the video (ME Church)

· LIFE IS MORE!

2 Corinthians 5:16 So we have stopped evaluating others by what the world thinks about them. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, as though he were merely a human being. How differently I think about him now! 17 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! NLT

· Maybe the selfish “I” WILL be in want, but the unselfish one won’t!

James 4: 1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. NIV

(I – the new/real I) shall not want (I have everything, don’t need anything, have no lack)

Psalm 34:10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. NIV (Ps 37:4)

Will he fulfill all my wants?

Have we created a Gospel of measuring our closeness with the Shepherd by how much stuff we have?

Do we rate if we are in the will of God or not by our bank accounts, the car we drive, the size of our house…? * Can you imagine a sheep loaded down with stuff?

Sheep are not good pack animals. I check on the internet if I could find pack sheep. I found pack goats, but not sheep.

Will I become content and not have any wants? I shall not want… John 4:32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat (another life’s purpose) that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food (life’s purpose),” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. NIV

The disciples were caught up in the natural needs and didn’t see the spiritual ones.

Does that mean I will never be hungry, have no needs, never enjoy life? NO! It’s a priority and life balance thing.*

Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. NIV

Seek first his kingdom (not yours)!

Then all these natural needs (maybe less that you want if you are competing with the Jonses) will be met.

Remarkable testimony: “…for a year I begged on the streets for a living. One day I touched a man on the shoulder and said, “Mister, please give me a dime.”

“As soon as I saw his face, I recognized my father. “Father, don’t you know me?” I asked. Throwing his arms around me, he cried, “I have found you; all I have is yours.”

Men, think of it, that I, a tramp, stood begging my father for ten cents, when for eighteen years he had been looking for me to give me all he was worth!”

So the heavenly Father is waiting for us. Why not receive the unsearchable riches in Christ now?

He makes me lie down in green pastures(3)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

· He makes me

o Good parents make you do things that you don’t want to do.

o My parents disciplined me a lot.

§ I wish they would have been harder.

§ …spanking my daughters … we didn’t do it….

o Isn’t it great to have God as our Father and Shepherd?

o Ulli said to me that this Psalm is all about balance!

lie down (take a rest, lay on the couch)

This sounds strange because he is not making us do something strenuous, but yet it is difficult for us to do. (especially today) LAY DOWN AND REST

He is not as concerned about production (employer), he is more like a Father.

Sheep are wanderers, and unless the shepherd makes them lay down they will continue to move around till they get lost and forget where home is.

Jeremiah 50:6 “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. NIV

Their Shepherds (teachers)

1 Corinthians 4:15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. NLT

o 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. NIV

caused them to roam on the mountains

If we only look for what we want to hear, we will not only starve, but we will not find rest.

· in green pastures

o (Jer.50:6b) …forgot their own resting place.

§ Church is not as much a place to gather tools for work.

· Can you imagine you work all week and on the weekends you shop for tools?

· You can? Then you need to rest.

§ Church is not a place to work out (like a gymnasium)

· Regeneration is necessary.

o Is the grass really greener on the other side?

The original language suggests “choice pastures.”

Best for our need.
Why not the pastures of the past or future? This will not help us today.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

He leads me beside quiet waters(4)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

· he leads

o How does he lead us today?

o His Spirit v:7 his voice

Hebrews 3: 7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, 9 where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” 12 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” 16 Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? 18 And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

4:1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “And on the seventh day God rested from all his work.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience. 7 Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” NIV

o His word (all that we read before leads up to this portion of scripture.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active (is Jesus). Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. NIV

Me (?)

Does he lead me?

I hear and I obey ( I follow)
Following is not simply walking behind. Take up your cross and follow me.

beside quiet waters (to an Oasis of rest)

Last week we talked about making us lie down in green pastures. This is rest on our journey.

But do we have an oasis in our lives?

1 John 3:19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God NIV

Hebrews 4:11 Let us; therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. NIV

What is this place of rest? The place of his Grace. (He gives us what we do not deserve)
It is a place of entering into a relationship with Jesus that is real, alive, living and active Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

He restores my soul.(5)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Def. restore \ri-ˈstōr, -ˈstȯr\ transitive verb re•stored; re•stor•ing from Latin meaning to renew, rebuild, alteration of 1: give back, return 2 : to put or bring back into existence or use 3: to bring back to or put back into a former or original state : renew 4: to put again in possession of something

The Soul? = The difference between soul and spirit? Easiest for me to understand is that it is both. The spirit side of my soul is the part like God and the other is the part like myself. We exist as one. (with a body too)

Why would our souls need restoration? Because even if it were possible to know the ME side of my soul, I would still never know WHO I was without knowing the God side of my soul by knowing God.

Something only HE can do! (He restores my soul) (only the creator of something knows the true purpose and operation of what was created)

1. : give back, return (ownership)

a. Simple ownership

: to put or bring back into existence or use

Bring back into existence or use

i. How was our soul created?

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. KJV

A man who restores painting has certain challenges to overcome. Some highlights about the restoration of the Sistine Chapel, and the painting of Michelangelo.

Determine what the original looked like

Overcome the less than professional attempts at restoration (not the original artist)
Today there are technologies that can look under the surface to determine what was added later and what the original looked like. A form of X-ray and light refraction/Chemical analysis.

: to bring back to or put back into a former or original state : renew

Return to original state

i. God wants to give us back ourselves. Who we really are and who we are destined to be.

1. Without allowing God to restore our souls we may wander through our entire life letting everyone else tell us who we are.

ii. What was the original state of our souls? I don’t know…but…

1. Freedom from bondage

2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. NIV

Galatians 4: 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. NIV

Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— NIV

2. Innocence, childlikeness, purity, joy, awe, naked(transparent, real)…

3. When we came to the cross, did we lay down more than our sins?

Remove intentionally added substances

Protective coatings that have aged
16th century artists added and painted over certain elements that they did not like.
Remove unintentionally added substances
Soot from old fashioned lighting (the wear and tear of life)

: to put again in possession of something

Take back into possession (just because we own something doesn’t mean we really possess it. You don’t truly possess it till you have explored and experienced the purpose of something. i. You have a Porsche, a Mercedes s500, a Lamborghini,…but if you never drive them, see what they can do, experience the purpose of their creation, you don’t really possess it.

ii. Have we lost our souls? Do we need to get something back?

1. Who is in control of our souls? Flesh led instead of spirit led.

2. In Christ I can…

a. As I focus again on the creator, the one who gave me original purpose I can once again find my reason for living. What was in the heart of the painter before the first stroke.

Understand that restoration always takes more time and care than the creation itself.

Sistine Chapel took 13yrs to restore (2x the time it took to paint)

Overcoming the philosophical objections of people to restoring something.

The painting from Michelangelo today looks so new that it offends some people. They want to see the old worn out version.

1 Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. NIV

1 Pet. 2:25 You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls. MSG

Do you know who you are and why you are here? Is your life covered with things that cover up the original beauty? Have you allowed Jesus to save your soul? Let’s surrender today to the shepherd of our souls.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.(6)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

· He guides me (Shepherd)

§ Do I just say he guides me, or does he really?!

o All of us have seen the tours downtown right? A lady walking along with a red umbrella or a sick with a flag, guiding a group to different sites?

§ Jesus is guiding us…

· I have to watch him –

o keep my eye on him

· I have to keep pace with him –

o stay up with him , don’t wander.

· I have to remember there are others along for the trip too. –

o I am not alone and I have to consider others needs and pace.

o If we find ourselves on any path that is not a path of righteousness He didn’t lead us there, we left the fold to get there.

· How many times I have heard people say “The lord is leading me to do this or that, Go here or there” But I knew that he wasn’t!

o Be careful how you use the name of the Lord.

§ using his name is not a stamp of approval

· How can you be sure if someone is really being guided by the good shepherd?

o The path and where it leads!

· in Paths of Righteousness

John 14: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. NIV

o Jesus is the path that only goes to the Father.

§ WWJD (more than a bracelet) What would Jesus do?

· Modern day translation “He leads me in paths of selfishness”

1 John 3:10 Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test. The Message

· For HIS name sake.

o When we walk in this path we bring glory to his name. We make him look good to others. We give him a good name.

§ We represent him with our lives, for his name’s sake.

§ for the sake of his reputation.

§ We are his ambassadors, all we do will represent him to the world.

· Or For my name sake

o Bad names? Know any?

§ Adolf Hitler, Sadam Hussein, Monica Lewinsky

§ Have we the people of God given Jesus a bad name?

How do we get on this path of righteousness?

§ Faith in God, a walking faith.

Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” NIV

Simply truly let him Guide us, on the path of righteousness (WWJD) and aim at glorifying his name.

Romans 5: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (not ourselves).

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me;(7)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (death is not really mentioned here , it talks about the valley of darkness)

I wish as a Christian that there was the promise of only sunny hill tops, blue skies and the birds are always singing. But…
Reality is that hard times come, attacks come, dark days come.

Times when I can not see what is around me. Especially here and what’s up ahead.

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

I will fear NO evil…he world is full of it…

NO Evil from the very large: wars, catastrophes, economical collapse, and the like to the smallest bacteria, virus, ticks, microscopic evil…the list can be so long that it would take us days to talk about all the evil out there.
It is actually quite amazing if you are not being attacked and destroyed by these things.

SO WHAT IS FEAR?

The opposite of hope. Hope is an excited expectation of something good going to happen.
Fear then is the dread and expectation of something bad going to happen to us. I will expect no evil to happen to me…or my children, or my family, or my business…. NO Evil

Oh the flu season will come back soon and I hope that I don’t get it. I can’t let me children go outside they may get hurt…etc…

For you are with me is the greatest promise in the Bible.

I am not alone and my Lord is armed.
Jesus will use the tools of a Shepherd to show that he is with us.

your staff, they comfort me.

Sheep are not looking any further ahead than the next sheep that is why it is so important that the shepherd is leading them.

The Shepherd will go to the front and nudge the lead sheep in the direction that he wants the herd to go. The rest will usually follow. * The Shepherd always knows where we are going and where we need to end up.

Because they don’t look far ahead they can easily wander off.

Tap or pull him into the right direction

Your rod African – iwisi, Ireland – Knobkerrie, Middle east – shebet, Some call it a shepherds cudgel.

The rod

The rod of protection

This shows the willingness of the Shepherd to get between you and the enemy. To place his life on the line for you.

The rod of instruction / discipline

Set the boundaries and when they cross them and are too far away for the staff, throw the rod. * Momentary pain is better than death.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, NIV

Hebrews 12:10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. NIV

The rod of inspection

The shepherd would use the rod to count the sheep (hence the tern going under the rod) * But he would also use the rod to inspect the sheep for foreign object stuck or hidden in their wool.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. NIV

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies You anoint my head with oil; My cup overflows. (8)

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

Up till now the Lord has been portrayed by David as The Lord is my leader. But now we see a picture of the Lord as his provider as the Host of his house.

In the east once someone came into your house, you took responsibility for his welfare while he was there. Protection as well as meeting every need.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. (2Kings6)

You prepare

The God that goes before us. He knows what we need before we ask. * a table before me
he prepares food, provision, our most basic needs.
Overflow abundance?

Wealth is having what you need when you need it. Above that is overflow, there for giving away, sowing…

in the presence of my enemies.

God is not limited by our difficulties or circumstances. He can bless us in the midst of the worst situations.
If God is for us who can be against us?

You anoint my head with oil;

Refreshing

· But another analogy the Lord as shepherd. He would at the end of the day closely examine the sheep and if there were any cuts he would apply oil for healing and cleansing.

My cup overflows.

Overflow a cup at the dinner table was a way of showing honor to someone.
Extra portions of food as Joseph gave extra portions to Benjamin. When the wine glass was filled to overflowing it was for the same purpose.

As we get close to the end of this Psalm let me back us up for just a moment
(IF) The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want (a prophetic promise?)

These blessings are conditional, can you remember what those conditions are?
In fact all God’s grace is conditional. Not earned but conditional.

Condition#1 – faith – trust him with your life
Condition#2 – position – where he wants you to be.
Condition#3 – obedience – how he wants you to be

Submit to his Lordship
Submit to him as Shepherd, leader, guide,
Remove selfishness from the throne of our hearts
Walk in the paths of Righteousness for his name sake
Submit to his Rod and staff / correction and instruction
Do not fear / Trust in him
Then…

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. NIV

An Irishwoman approached the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray and asked for alms. When she saw him put his hand in his pocket, she cried, “May the blessing of God follow you all your life!” But when the author only pulled out his snuff box, she instantly added, “and never overtake you.”

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life

Surely - What confidence?!

His confidence is not empty, it is based on his walk with God. His integrity of heart.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” NIV

Goodness and love (merciful love and grace)

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I know where my help comes from, my help comes from the Lord.

I am not looking for a quick fix, a helper that will get me to my goals in life. * I will dwell where the Lord is. Home is where the Lord is.

2 Chronicles 1:7 That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 8 Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 11 God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.” NIV

Pursuing God

I just want to be with you forever – since this is your heart’s desire….