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Voddie Baucham - The Lord's Protection in Psalm 23 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Aside from the shepherd's provision, we see in the next
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: movement the shepherd's protection. The pronouns change here, and we
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: go from he, third person, to you, second person. Look
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: at the second part of the psalm. Even though I
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: will fear no evil for you are with me. Your
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a
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  Speaker 1: table before me in the presence of my enemies. You
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. You, you, you.
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  Speaker 1: The pronouns have changed, but the direction is the same.
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  Speaker 1: We're still talking about the Lord. We're talking about the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: shepherd and what the shepherd does. We've identified the shepherd
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  Speaker 1: and now we're speaking to the shepherd. and speaking to
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  Speaker 1: the shepherd about his protection. You are with me, your
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  Speaker 1: rod and your staff, they comfort me. So here in
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: this valley of the shadow of death, there is the
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  Speaker 1: rod and the staff. The rod and the staff refer
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: to his means of fending off enemies and his means
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: of guiding us even in the most difficult times and places.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: This idea of the valley of the shadow of death
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  Speaker 1: taken from the shepherding theme is an idea, some commentators say,
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  Speaker 1: and I believe it's the best explanation, And if you
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  Speaker 1: think about sheep being moved from one place to another,
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  Speaker 1: and basically you have to move sheep to find green pastures.
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  Speaker 1: And sometimes when you are moving to find green pastures,
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  Speaker 1: it's interesting. Predatory animals know where their prey is coming
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  Speaker 1: from and where their prey is going to. And if
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  Speaker 1: there's no more green grass over here, But there's now
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  Speaker 1: green grass over there. They know that their prey has
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  Speaker 1: to come from there to there. And here is a
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  Speaker 1: good place to wait. The valley of the shadow of
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  Speaker 1: death is the hiding place for our adversary. It's the
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  Speaker 1: dangerous place that we have to go through to get
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  Speaker 1: to the next green pasture. And the psalmist says, even
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  Speaker 1: though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...
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  Speaker 1: I fear no evil.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because you've made me strong enough to defeat. No. You
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  Speaker 1: are with me. Your rod, your staff, you prepare a table.
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  Speaker 1: You anoint my head. You, you, you. I don't fear. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because of you. Not because of me. when we look
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  Speaker 1: toward difficult days, this doesn't mean that we never have
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  Speaker 1: moments of apprehension. It means that those moments of apprehension
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  Speaker 1: are ultimately overshadowed by the protection of the shepherd. I'll
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  Speaker 1: say more about that when I look at the second perspective. Thirdly,
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  Speaker 1: there's the shepherd's promise. What's the promise? Surely goodness and
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  Speaker 1: mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
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  Speaker 1: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, surely you will cause goodness and mercy
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  Speaker 1: to follow me all the days of my life. Not
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  Speaker 1: I will achieve, I will attain, I will acquire, I
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  Speaker 1: will earn, but they will follow me. As Spurgeon says,
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  Speaker 1: like two bodyguards. walking behind you for the remainder of
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  Speaker 1: your days. So here are the three movements. And the
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  Speaker 1: first perspective is to look at these three movements from
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  Speaker 1: the perspective of the shepherd. But if you flip it
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  Speaker 1: on its other end and look at these same three
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  Speaker 1: movements from the perspective of the sheep, you see something
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  Speaker 1: quite different. There are three I statements. I shall not want.
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  Speaker 1: I shall will fear no evil, and I will dwell
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  Speaker 1: in the house of the Lord. First, I will not want. Why?
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  Speaker 1: The good shepherd will supply his sheep with all that
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  Speaker 1: they need. I will not want. Why? Because the Lord
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  Speaker 1: is my shepherd. The Lord will provide me with everything
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  Speaker 1: that I need. Well, what happens when I come to
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  Speaker 1: a point in my life where I don't have something
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  Speaker 1: that I need? You didn't need it. Amen. Amen. You
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  Speaker 1: didn't need it. Yes, but I did need it. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: you might have wanted it. And in your mind, things
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  Speaker 1: might have worked out a lot more conveniently for you
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  Speaker 1: if you had it. But if God didn't give it
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  Speaker 1: to you, then you didn't need it. Think about the alternative.
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  Speaker 1: The alternative is That my theology says there was something
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  Speaker 1: I needed that God either was unable or unwilling to supply.
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  Speaker 1: That's not God. The other question is, you needed it
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  Speaker 1: for what? I needed it in order to accomplish what
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  Speaker 1: I think would have been best in that circumstance. Good
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  Speaker 1: for you. But life for the Christian is not about
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  Speaker 1: accomplishing what you think is best in any given circumstance.
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  Speaker 1: It is about trusting the shepherd to accomplish that which
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  Speaker 1: he knows is best in any given circumstance. If I
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  Speaker 1: had had X, that loved one wouldn't have died. So
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  Speaker 1: now I'm believing that people die because I don't have
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  Speaker 1: what I need to prevent death. Who do you think
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  Speaker 1: you are? God is the giver of life. This does
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  Speaker 1: not mean what the prosperity gospel says it means. Listen
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  Speaker 1: to the apostle Paul. I rejoice in the Lord greatly
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  Speaker 1: that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
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  Speaker 1: You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for
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  Speaker 1: I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
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  Speaker 1: I know how to be brought low and I know
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  Speaker 1: how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have
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  Speaker 1: learned the secret of of facing plenty and hunger, abundance
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  Speaker 1: and need. I can do all things through Christ who
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  Speaker 1: strengthens me. Talk about a misused passage. This is an
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  Speaker 1: FCA favorite. I can do all things through Christ who
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  Speaker 1: strengthens me. I can win this battle. I can win
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  Speaker 1: this race. I can win this game. Because Christ strengthens
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  Speaker 1: me to win. Paul says... I've learned to be content
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  Speaker 1: in all circumstances that's what this means why because what
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  Speaker 1: we need is Christ failure to grasp this will lead
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  Speaker 1: to frustration and confusion listen to Calvin's comment here we
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  Speaker 1: ought to bear in mind that our happiness consists in
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  Speaker 1: this that his hand is stretched forth to govern us,
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  Speaker 1: that we live under his shadow, and that his providence
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  Speaker 1: keeps watch and ward over our welfare. Although, therefore, we
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  Speaker 1: have abundance of all temporal good things, yet let us
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  Speaker 1: be assured that we cannot be truly happy unless God
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  Speaker 1: vouchsafed to reckon us among the number of his flock.
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  Speaker 1: That's what you need. See, part of the reason that
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  Speaker 1: we miss this is that we're misguided about the journey.
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  Speaker 1: Part of the reason that we miss this is that
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  Speaker 1: we miss the end of the psalm. What do I
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  Speaker 1: mean by that? Well, I'm going along in my life
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  Speaker 1: and I remember that the Lord is my shepherd. I
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  Speaker 1: shall not want that he provides for me, that there
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  Speaker 1: are these physical needs and these spiritual needs that God
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  Speaker 1: provides for me. And because I think that my life
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  Speaker 1: is all about going through my days with plenty and
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  Speaker 1: not in want, anytime that I feel a hunger pain
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  Speaker 1: or anytime I feel a physical discomfort, I look to
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  Speaker 1: God as though God somehow has forgotten or forsaken me
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  Speaker 1: because my perspective is right here. My entire existence is
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  Speaker 1: going from that green pasture to that green pasture. Newsflash,
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  Speaker 1: the death rate is one per person. You're not only
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  Speaker 1: going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to die. Coming to Christ doesn't mean that
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  Speaker 1: we live in ease and never face hunger, hurt, want,
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  Speaker 1: or death. Secondly, I will fear no evil. First one,
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  Speaker 1: I will not want. The second one, I will fear
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  Speaker 1: no evil. This one is amazing. Why? Because remember where
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  Speaker 1: this is? In the valley of the shadow of death.
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  Speaker 1: I will fear no evil. The Lord is my shepherd.
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  Speaker 1: But even though the Lord is my shepherd, I sometimes
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  Speaker 1: walk through the valley of shadow of death. And in fact,
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  Speaker 1: I will someday die. Otherwise, the end of the psalm
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  Speaker 1: makes no sense. I will dwell in the house of
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  Speaker 1: the Lord forever. We'll get there. even when I walk
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  Speaker 1: through the valley of shadow of death. There are dark
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  Speaker 1: days for those who belong to God. Listen, there are
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  Speaker 1: dark days for all of us, but what's the difference?
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  Speaker 1: The difference is when you and I, as followers of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we
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  Speaker 1: fear no evil because his rod and his staff, they
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  Speaker 1: comfort us. There are things in here that can devour me.
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  Speaker 1: It's a good thing I'm not depending on me.
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  Speaker 2: Amen?
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  Speaker 1: There are things in here that are stronger and more
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  Speaker 1: powerful than I am. It's a good thing I'm not
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  Speaker 1: relying on my power. Amen? That's the picture of the shepherd.
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  Speaker 1: This means that we have to have an eternal perspective. Again,
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  Speaker 1: listen to Spurgeon. Yea, though I walk, as if the
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  Speaker 1: believer did not quicken his pace when he came to die,
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  Speaker 1: but still calmly walked with God. To walk indicates the
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  Speaker 1: steady advance of a soul which knows its road, knows
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  Speaker 1: its end, resolves to follow with the path, feels quite safe,
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  Speaker 1: and is therefore perfectly calm and composed. The dying saint
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  Speaker 1: is not in a flurry. He does not run as
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  Speaker 1: though he were alarmed, nor stand still as though he
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  Speaker 1: would go no further. He is not confounded nor ashamed
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  Speaker 1: and therefore keeps to his old pace. I love that.
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  Speaker 1: I pray for that. That the Lord would cause heaven
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  Speaker 1: to grow so much in my esteem. That the Lord
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  Speaker 1: would cause Christ to grow so much in my esteem
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  Speaker 1: that when I come to the end of my life,
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  Speaker 1: I am no longer holding on to this world as
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  Speaker 1: tightly as I do today. But I keep my pace,
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  Speaker 1: even walking through the valley and the shadow of death,
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  Speaker 1: toward the end to which we all come. The final one.
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  Speaker 1: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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  Speaker 1: This is the last movement. Now he has prepared a
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  Speaker 1: table before me. We have moved beyond just this shepherding thing.
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  Speaker 1: We've come to something else. Because you don't prepare a
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  Speaker 1: table for sheep. This idea is that he's prepared a
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  Speaker 1: feast before us. There is the oil that pours over
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  Speaker 1: our head. There are some that press. The shepherding theme,
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  Speaker 1: and talk about the use of oils with sheep, I
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  Speaker 1: don't think it's appropriate to press the shepherding theme here.
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  Speaker 1: The oil that's spoken of here is not the kind
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  Speaker 1: of oil that's used for medicinal purposes. The oil that's
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  Speaker 1: used here is the oil that's used for celebration. These
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  Speaker 1: are fragrant oils at a feast. You come to a
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  Speaker 1: feast and there are fragrant oils poured on you. Your
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  Speaker 1: cup overflows. This is joyful feasting. We are at a table.
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  Speaker 1: But listen, you prepare a table before me in the
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  Speaker 1: presence of my enemies. Just because the Lord is my
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  Speaker 1: shepherd doesn't mean that I don't have enemies. It means
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  Speaker 1: that he prepares a feast for me right there in
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  Speaker 1: the presence of my enemies. Oftentimes, believers, because we misunderstand
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  Speaker 1: this psalm, when we have enemies and when enemies are
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  Speaker 1: encamped around us, we say, God, where are you? How
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  Speaker 1: could you let these enemies encompass all around me? I
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  Speaker 1: thought you were my shepherd. Why would my shepherd lead
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  Speaker 1: me here where enemies are encompassed all around me? And
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  Speaker 1: God looks at us and says, sit down and eat.
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  Speaker 1: Right there in the presence of your enemies. What does
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  Speaker 1: this look like? We don't even have to guess. I
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  Speaker 1: was thinking, how do you illustrate this? You don't even
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  Speaker 1: have to guess. You don't even have to find something
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  Speaker 1: out there somewhere. This looks like, son, go slaughter the
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  Speaker 1: lamb and put his blood over the doorpost. Yes, sir.
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  Speaker 1: Did you do it? I did. Come inside and close
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  Speaker 1: the door. And sit down in front of this table
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  Speaker 1: with this unleavened bread and these bitter herbs. Because tonight,
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  Speaker 1: the death angel is going to pass through all of
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  Speaker 1: the land of Egypt. And there's going to be death everywhere.
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  Speaker 1: all around us in every house, but because the blood
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  Speaker 1: of the lamb is on our door, it will not
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  Speaker 1: touch us.
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  Speaker 2: Instead, we will feast at this table. That's what it
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  Speaker 2: looks like. You know what it looks like? It looks
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  Speaker 2: like Jesus on the night that he was betrayed at
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  Speaker 2: the same table, eating the same feast. while there are
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  Speaker 2: those who were hunting him down to nail him to
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  Speaker 2: a cross. You know what it looks like?
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  Speaker 1: It looks like you and me in just a few
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  Speaker 1: minutes in the midst of a world that does not
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  Speaker 1: understand us, that does not know or love our God,
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  Speaker 1: and that oftentimes hates and despises us because of the
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  Speaker 1: one whom we worship. And as they are encamped around
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  Speaker 1: us everywhere in a few moments, He will prepare a
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  Speaker 1: table before us in the presence of our enemies. That's
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  Speaker 1: what it looks like. The 23rd Psalm is not a
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  Speaker 1: picture of a life that is filled with only good
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  Speaker 1: all the time. Quite the contrary. The 23rd Psalm is
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  Speaker 1: a picture of of a life camped around by enemies.
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  Speaker 1: It's a picture of a life with peril and danger
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  Speaker 1: all over. It's a picture of a life that is
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  Speaker 1: ultimately moving toward death. But it's a picture of a
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  Speaker 1: life that says in the midst of it all, I
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  Speaker 1: will not want because the shepherd will provide me with
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  Speaker 1: everything that I need. I will not fear because the
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  Speaker 1: shepherd will protect me from everything that comes between me
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  Speaker 1: and that which he has in store for me. And
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  Speaker 1: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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  Speaker 1: So even when I come to die, I will still
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  Speaker 1: be shepherded even into the life that is truly life.
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  Speaker 1: That's what the 23rd Psalm is all about. It is
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  Speaker 1: about the one who died in Psalm 22 so that
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  Speaker 1: we might live in Psalm 23 and enjoy the goodness
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  Speaker 1: and mercy that will follow us all the days of
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  Speaker 1: our life until we dwell in the house of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord where he has gone to prepare a place for us.
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  Speaker 1: That's the shepherd's song. That's the comfort for the shepherd's people.
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  Speaker 1: Let's pray. Father, we bow before you as humble, weak, fearful, sinful,
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  Speaker 1: useless sheep. confessing to you that the only good in
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  Speaker 1: us is the good that is found in being made
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  Speaker 1: in your image and being remade in the image of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: We bow before you rejoicing at the privilege of being
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  Speaker 1: led by the Good Shepherd. We bow before you acknowledging
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  Speaker 1: that we get scared in the valley of the shadow
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  Speaker 1: of death, but we're grateful for the reminder that we
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  Speaker 1: don't need to be. And we bow before you humbled
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  Speaker 1: by the privilege that is ours to sit before the
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  Speaker 1: table you prepare for us in the presence of our enemies.
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  Speaker 1: We rejoice in the good shepherd. Grant by your grace
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  Speaker 1: that those here under the sound of my voice, who
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  Speaker 1: have not yet come into his fold, will do so
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  Speaker 1: by turning from their sin and turning to Christ. Grant
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  Speaker 1: by your grace that those who are here trusting and
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  Speaker 1: depending on anything other than the good shepherd to see
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  Speaker 1: them through this life would abandon all other hopes and
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  Speaker 1: and hope only in Christ. Grant by your grace that
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  Speaker 1: any other thing in which we trust would be forsaken,
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  Speaker 1: that we might trust only in Christ, our good shepherd,
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  Speaker 1: in whose name we pray and ask all these things. Amen.