Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. When David begins to write Psalm 23, he begins with a wonderful description of the Lord. The Lord is my. shepherd and the six short verses in psalm 23 David presents some basic spiritual truths. Which have sustained the people of God now for over 3,000 years.
Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. The life of David is a powerful example of what it looks like for the Lord to be our shepherd. And today we're seeing through the eyes of David as he reflects on his incredible journey. Sharing insight and wisdom in Psalm 23.
Now, with the series finale of our study on the life of David. Here's Pastor John Monroe. introduce today's lesson. Today is the last in the series on the life of David. In many ways, I'm sorry the series has come to an end.
On the other hand, I am excited to say that we will be returning to the Gospel of Matthew.
Next time we'll be looking at Matthew 24, the fascinating chapter where Jesus gives prophecies. But In today's lesson, we're looking again at Psalm 23, the best known and the best loved of all of the Psalms. This psalm is very well known in Scotland. We used to sing it at family get-togethers, at church, at weddings, at funerals, and it never fails to inspire me. In Psalm 23, David presents basic spiritual truths.
and some of the rich promises of God. Which have sustained the people of God for more than three thousand years. Don't want us to think of three. of the rich truths of this psalm. and to think of them in the context of David.
So if you have your Bibles, open it there to the Psalms. And we're going to read from Psalm Twenty Three. David writes, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie 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 walked 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.
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord. Forever. Versus and think of the rich, rich truths in these six Verses. I want to think, first of all, of the shepherd's provision.
Notice how David begins the Psalm by saying, The Lord is my shepherd. Shepherd.
Now because the Lord is our shepherd Therefore I shall not want. The New International Version says, I lack Nothing. I like Nothing. David experienced the Lord's provision throughout his life, didn't he? In the series, we've considered the ways in which the Lord provided for David.
In many, many ways. And here is the shepherd's provision: the Lord is. My Shepherd. Rejoice in that. Be thankful for that.
Though the Lord is your shepherd. Secondly, we have the shepherd's restoration. Verse 3. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
The shepherd's provision. Secondly, the shepherd's restoration. What's one of the great problems with sheep? Why do they need a shepherd? Worship love to stray.
They love to wonder. And straying sheep often get into trouble. And unlike a straying dog or even a straying cat, A sheep. Rarely will find this on way back to the fold. They're helpless.
They get into trouble. They're not the smartest of animals. And they just wonder. Drop a dog three miles from your home, and sooner or later that dog will work out, and it'll come barking at your back door and say, Here I am, not a sheep. You say sheep don't bark, I know there but won't bah at your back door.
Sheep stray. Sheep get into trouble, therefore. They need a shepherd. They need A guide. The Bible says, all of us, like sheep, have gone astray.
We've turned, every one of us. to our own way. That's why we need The shepherds. Restoration.
Now the wonderful thing is in God's grace that the good shepherd doesn't abandon straying sheep. Rather, the good shepherd comes and forgives us when we stray and restores us. And when David says here in Psalm 23, verse 3, he restores my soul. He's not talking just academically. Remember a few weeks ago we studied David's Great Fall?
David fell and fell very badly. Huge sins, scandals. Of adultery and murder and deceit and covetousness and a terrible cover-up.
So when David says, That of the things that the f Shepherd does. in leading and guiding. When he says he restores my soul, he's writing out of his personal experience. David knew The depth. of his own sin, and the wonder of the grace of God in restoring his soul.
Listen to what he says in Psalm 32 verse 5. I acknowledge my sin to you. And I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Remember, we studied Psalm 51, and you can read Psalm 32 as well.
He'd experienced God's forgiveness. He'd experienced God's restoration. The Good Shepherd forgives, the Good Shepherd restores us. And in the wonder of the gospel, When our Lord Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, forgives us and restores us, He doesn't do it grudgingly, but He does it joyfully. That's a difficult truth for us to grasp, isn't it?
See, sometimes when we forgive people, when they offend us. Our forgiveness is a bit forced. We we know as Christians we should forgive people. But We still want the person to pay for it, don't we? And we have subtle, and maybe not so subtle, ways sometimes of reminding people of the sins of their past.
God never does that, does he? That when God forgives us, We saw the Sun Sam 51. That our sins are blotted out. They're cleansed, they're purged. David says in Psalm 103: As far as the east is from the west, has he separated our transgressions from us.
And you remember the parable in Luke 15 of the lost sheep? of the man who has a hundred sheep and one Wanders away and he doesn't just ride it off and say, Well, that's 1% loss of my business. Who cares about that silly sheep anyhow? I've got 99 left. No, he doesn't do that.
What does Jesus say that the shepherd, the good shepherd does? He searches. and searches Until he finds it. He goes after that one lost sheep. And Jesus said, And when he has found it, He lays it on his shoulders.
Remember the next word? Rejoicing. Rejoicing. I think that's marvelous. Can you imagine?
spending a lot of time Searching and searching for that sheep. That has Wandered away, got in the ditch, got himself in trouble. It's called Hasn't eaten, hasn't had anything to drink, and it's in a miserable condition. And many a shepherd would have got the wretched creature. Put it back, hit it with his stick, kicked it, says, Get back to the fold, you silly sheep.
Don't you ever do that again. That's not what the good shepherd does, does he? You or I might do that. Not a good shepherd. He lays it on his Shoulders.
What a wonderful picture. of God's care and God's love For us, As we Ask for our sins to be forgiven. As we are spiritually restored. And Jesus says that all of heaven rejoices. There is rejoicing.
in heaven over One straying sheep being found. Rejoicing in heaven over one Repentant sinner. On one sinner that is saved, on one sinner that repents, on one sinner that is restored. Do you do that? Or or do you, when One of your brothers and sisters messes up.
And claims the forgiveness of God. You're harsh. You want to kick the guy when he's down. You want a reminder. Is that repentance really genuine?
I don't know about that. That's not what God does. That's not what the Good Shepherd does. That's not what happened to David. And so David writes: I think this is so marvelous.
He restores my Soul. Lovingly, graciously, tenderly, the good shepherd takes the sheep. Puts it on his shoulder. and personally carries it back to the fold. What a wonderful picture of salvation.
What a wonderful picture of spiritual Restoration. I don't know if you know this old hymn. In tenderness he sought me. Weary. and sick with sin.
And on his shoulders brought me back to his fold again. While angels in his presence sang, until the courts of heaven rang. or the love that sought me. Oh, the blood that brought me, or the grace that brought me to the fold. wondrous grace that brought me, to the fold.
We can rejoice at that, can't we? that we have strayed. that we've messed up over and over again. and the good shepherd has come. And we can say with David.
We praise our shepherd for his provision. And we also praise Him for His restoration. And to grasp this truth of forgiveness and restoration is to begin to understand the grace of God. That God demonstrates His love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That the shepherd searches for the sheep.
that the father runs when the prodigal comes home. That the restoration of souls is the speciality of our good shepherd. And God the Father has great joy and pleasure. That through the perfect work of his Son on the cross, sinners are saved and believers are restored. And that there is joy in heaven.
Over one sinner. That's saved. There's joy in heaven over one person. Who's restored? Through the grace.
of God. No wonder Paul who understood this rights. We studied it.
Some time ago in Romans 5, where sin increased, Grace abounded. All the More. Grace would not be grace if it were withheld from the sinner. And there is always more grace in the Lord Jesus than there is sin in you.
However deep your sin, And however far you have wandered, God's grace, God's restoration, God's love. Is far greater than your sin. And that's why. David writes, he restores My soul, are you away from the Lord tonight? You have never come to Christ.
Or you have Sinners come into your life and your hearts become hardened. Will you run quickly to the Good Shepherd? for forgiveness and restoration.
So the good shepherd longs to forgive you. Your enemy Our enemy is Satan. He wants to paralyze us, he wants to keep us in the grip of sin. He wants to tell us that your situation is hopeless, that you've blown it once too much, and that God won't forgive you this time. Don't listen to him.
He restores my soul. The good shepherd forgives and restores, and furthermore. Once again, verse 3, he will lead you. See, God not only restores us. David experienced this.
He leads us. in the paths of Righteousness. For his name's sake, See, if you grasp the grace of God, And if you understand The cost of your salvation. That as you repent and as you're saved by the grace of God, you will not, you will not. Continue to live as you once lived.
That's Paul's argument in Romans 6. It's unthinkable. Yes, God's grace is greater than your sin, but don't use that as an excuse to continue to sin. No, now the Good Shepherd, now that you're restored, now that you're back on the path, He's going to lead you. Will you follow Him?
He's going to lead you in the paths of Righteousness. For his name Sake. Those restored by the shepherd, the good shepherd. are guided to lead righteous lives. And to serve the shepherd, the good shepherd, as David did.
Finally, The obvious one, we have the shepherd's provision, the shepherd's restoration. the shepherd's presence now and forevermore. Verse 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. The shepherd's eternal presence.
is a reassuring comfort. And this great truth that the shepherd is always with David. Secures David provides an anchor to his soul and all of his life. He knew the Lord's presence in the past. Remember, he says to Saul, the Lord who delivered me from the pot of the lion and from the pot of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
He proved God's. Presence and power in the past, and he was confident that this same God would be with him as he fights the giant, as he flees from Saul in all the circumstances of life. He experiences the shepherd's presence in the present, and he's confident. of the future, even though he walks through the valley of the shadow of death. You found, as I have, that your fears and your worries and your anxieties are intensified in the dark, aren't they?
But it 2 20 AM When you wake up. That problem, that fear. Seems a huge mountain, doesn't it? That's true of physical darkness, but it's true of dark times in our life. Dark times come to all of us.
They often come suddenly. and they often come unexpectedly.
Some of you in the Dark Valley? The shepherd is with you in the dark. The shepherd is with you in that illness. The shepherd is with you when you go into the operating theater. The Good Shepherd is with you in your bereavement.
The Good Shepherd is with you in your loneliness, in your uncertainty, in your despair. There is no circumstance. No circumstance in which the Good Shepherd ever leaves us. He's always with us. And that, David is saying, dispels our fear.
In the greatest of all fears, what's that? The Valley of the Shadow of Death. I will fear no evil. How is it, David? that you can fear no evil.
How is it you were not afraid when Saul was about to kill you? Oh, I've learned this. He is with me. and his rod and his staff. They comfort Maybe.
I will never leave you. Nor forsake you. But a promise. We sang that. We never Walk.
Lord. If you're married, your spouse is not always with you. If you're a child, your parents are not always with you. Your best friend is not always with you. You can be in circumstances where those that you normally depend on are not there.
And you see him alone. And you seem very vulnerable. And you feel very afraid, remember this. the shepherd's presence.
Now And Forever, David walks through the valley of the shadow of death. Why is that? The good shepherd has conquered death. and is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. In the darkest of all hours.
Yes. In death itself, he is with us. Your rod. and your staff They Comfort me. Derek Kidner writes: Only the Lord can lead a man through death.
All other guides turn back. and the traveller must go on alone. You hear that? Only the Lord can lead a man or woman through death. All other guides turn back.
And the traveler must go on alone. But here is the Good Shepherd who will never leave you. In life, and through death. Not only is he with us, But his blessings pursue us. We have the comfort verse 4 of the shepherd's rod and his staff.
The rod is used by the shepherd to protect the sheep. The staff is used to guide the sheep, to care for the sheep, to help the sheep. Sinclair Ferguson writes, Christ's rod and staff are his cross and his word. With the first he entered into mortal combat. with undefeated death.
Praise God. With the second, he guides us Through life. The rod And the staff. And verse six. Surely.
goodness and mercy. Steadfast love, loving kindness. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord. Forever. As you go through life, the Lord is with you, and you have goodness and mercy following you.
One commentator says these are the names of the two sheepdogs. The shepherd often has the sheepdog. One's called Mercy. And one's called goodness. They're with us.
In other words, God continues to shower his grace and his blessing On us. And these will accompany you right into the Father's heavenly fold. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. All of this. And heaven more.
What?
So as David looks back Over his very eventful life, what does he see? the shepherd's provision. I shall not want. The shepherd's restoration, he restores my soul. The shepherd's presence, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, and your rod and staff, they comfort me.
Some of you are in the valley at the moment. You feel you're in the valley. The valley of darkness, the valley of failure. The valley of despair, uncertainty, loneliness, and fear, and these things crowd on us. What are we to do?
We're to trust the good shepherd. He cares for you. He loves you. He provides for you. He's with you.
He restores, he guides, all that you need is found in this all-sufficient Christ, the great I am. Psalm 23. You know the psalm, but do you know the psalmist? Many a person has sung Psalm 23. Many a person has memorized Psalm 23.
Many a person has heard Psalm twenty three read, but Can you say? As David says. Is in the grace of God I can say the Lord is My Shepherd. Can you say he is my shepherd? But he died for me.
that he was buried for me. that he rose for me. and that I am eternally united with him for all of life. Through death. and into the glory of heaven.
If you don't know the Good Shepherd, He's also the lamb. Who takes away your sin? Look to Christ. Draw near to him. Turn from your sin.
and call upon him for salvation.
so that you with us can stand and see in all of life. The Lord is my shepherd. This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe, and the end of a message titled. David looks back. And as we wrap up our study on the life of David, we want to remind you there's still time to get your free copy of the valuable study guide that goes along with each of these lessons.
Offering bonus content and exclusive notes from John, this printable workbook will challenge you with engaging questions and inspiring prompts so that you can review and apply what you've learned in this study to your day-to-day life. Just go to our website to download your free copy of the Life of David Listening Guide. You'll find it at the verdict. org. And while you're on our website, you'll have the opportunity to play a part in what God is doing through the verdict.
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So if reaching others with the gospel is something you are passionate about, consider giving a special gift to support this ministry. You can easily give whatever amount you feel led to by visiting theverdict.org. And then don't forget to subscribe to the Verdict podcast. In addition to these programs, John presents a weekly podcast called Avizandam. Where he shares his personal thoughts on relevant topics like church and politics, the uniqueness of Israel.
and how to engage the culture for Christ. You can hear it all by subscribing to the Verdict Podcast. And now. Here's Pastor John Monroe with his final thoughts on our study.
Well, what's your verdict? Can you say The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord Jesus told his disciples, I am the Good Shepherd. the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, Not only does he provide for us and restore us, He died for our sins.
So place your personal faith In Jesus as the good shepherd. And don't miss the next program. as we begin our new series, Encountering Jesus. and see our Lord Jesus meet. and transform people from all walks of life.
Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
