The NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - The Shepherd Is Glorified Through His Goodness To The Sheep ｜ Psalm 23

00:00:00.000 Hey guys, real quick before we get started, I have a small request.

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00:00:18.100 Psalm chapter 23, perhaps one of the most well-known texts in all of the

00:00:23.060 scripture. Would you join me in standing for the

00:00:25.240 reading of God's word today? I'll read the text in its entirety.

00:00:28.340 When I finish reading the text, I'll say this is the word of the Lord, at which point I would

00:00:32.620 appreciate very much if you respond by saying thanks be to God. One more time, our text for

00:00:37.760 today is Psalm chapter 23, which says this, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes

00:00:45.540 me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in

00:00:53.140 paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow

00:00:58.200 of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

00:01:04.860 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup

00:01:11.280 overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in

00:01:18.380 the house of the Lord forever. This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated and join me

00:01:24.980 as I pray once more.

00:01:26.860 Father, we thank you for your word.

00:01:28.380 We pray that you would bless it to your people today.

00:01:31.080 We pray, Lord, that you would give us spiritual eyes to see,

00:01:34.460 spiritual ears to hear,

00:01:36.220 new hearts that are softened and malleable

00:01:38.340 and receptive to your word.

00:01:40.760 Father, I ask that indeed through the preaching of your word

00:01:43.280 that your people might be brought to a right knowledge

00:01:45.980 of who you are, what you've done,

00:01:47.960 and what it is you require from us as a right response.

00:01:52.520 Father, we pray that this knowledge would not be an end in itself,

00:01:56.140 but it would serve as the necessary means

00:01:58.540 propelling your people not merely to right knowledge, but right love.

00:02:03.620 Love, worship, adoration, and obedience

00:02:06.380 so that you might be glorified and so that we might be blessed.

00:02:10.940 We pray these things in the name of you might be blessed.

00:02:13.660 We pray these things in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.

00:02:17.720 By way of introduction, I've written the following in your notes.

00:02:20.220 Psalm 23 is an account of everything God has already done for David in the past as well as

00:02:26.220 everything David is confident God will do for him in the future. But the chief end of all God's past

00:02:32.620 provisions and future promises is found in the final phrase of verse 3 of our text. He leads me

00:02:39.020 in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. All that God does is for his name's sake. That is

00:02:46.980 all that God does is for his glory. See, the glory of God has been the dominant theme throughout our

00:02:53.220 study of the Psalter thus far. The reality is that the glory of God is the dominant theme in our

00:02:58.520 text today, Psalm 23, in all of the Psalms that we've seen thus far and that we will see, Lord

00:03:03.820 willing, but also the glory of God is really the dominant theme of all of scripture. It's the

00:03:08.920 dominant theme of all creation. It's the dominant theme of all of life and all of the universe,

00:03:13.820 the glory of God. And so I believe that the main theme, the header of Psalm 23, really is found in

00:03:21.500 the second half of verse 3 of our text. He does all of this for his glory, for his namesake. God

00:03:30.480 does good things for you for his own fame. God is good to his people for his glory. Now the reality

00:03:39.460 is that God does good to his people

00:03:41.480 and he also does that which is terrible for the wicked.

00:03:45.880 And the Bible uses that word terrible.

00:03:48.140 Terrible are the judgments of the Lord.

00:03:51.280 That great and terrible day when God will come,

00:03:55.060 he will return, Christ bodily on the clouds,

00:03:58.000 the clouds in Isaiah and other Old Testament texts,

00:04:01.080 it actually, it refers to, it indicates judgment.

00:04:04.980 That's what we see in Joel chapter two,

00:04:07.780 when he prophesies, he says,

00:04:09.140 In the last days, I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh.

00:04:12.620 Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

00:04:14.520 Your young men will see visions.

00:04:16.220 Your old men will dream dreams.

00:04:17.740 Even on your maidservants and mailservants, I will pour out my spirit in those days.

00:04:22.520 And then it immediately goes to this image, this imagery of clouds and billows and vapors of smoke.

00:04:30.200 Meaning that God is going to do something in the last days, namely pour out his spirit on all flesh.

00:04:36.240 Peter stands up in Acts chapter 2 and says that that's fulfilled at Pentecost so he says what

00:04:41.700 Joel prophesied about the last days the pouring out of God spirit on all flesh that they might

00:04:47.760 prophesy is happening right now in Acts chapter 2 at Pentecost after the death and resurrection

00:04:54.060 and ascension of Christ and the next thing to happen is clouds and billows of smoke clouds

00:05:00.100 Christ coming on the clouds, judgment.

00:05:03.440 Now what we know, this is the doctrine of partial preterism,

00:05:07.260 which not everybody's a fan, but I am.

00:05:09.300 So this would go with a post-millennial theology, eschatology,

00:05:12.980 our study or understanding of the end times.

00:05:14.780 What we know is this, that in AD 70, precisely one generation,

00:05:20.500 after the life and death and resurrection and ascension of Christ,

00:05:23.880 about 40 years, in Hebrew terms, in Jewish terms,

00:05:27.000 40 years indicated one generation in the same way that how long did the Israelites wander in the

00:05:33.460 wilderness 40 years so that one generation namely the generation that was led out of bondage from

00:05:40.620 Egypt but grumbled against the Lord so that they would perish but their their children their

00:05:46.280 offspring namely the next generation would inherit the land and so one generation 40 years wandering 0.96

00:05:53.080 in the desert, so too it was 40 years from the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ

00:05:58.020 to AD 70, which was what? The fall of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is sacked. The temple is destroyed.

00:06:04.220 And just as Jesus said, not one stone was found upon another. Now remember what Jesus says in

00:06:10.580 Matthew chapter 24, the Olivet Discourse, which ironically many atheists have actually used as a

00:06:16.560 proof that Christianity is false, right? Because if you can somehow detract, somehow poke holes in 0.77

00:06:22.700 the credibility of Jesus, the head of the Christian faith, then you can ultimately dismantle Christianity

00:06:28.660 altogether. And one of the things that Jesus says in Matthew 24, the Olivet Discourse, is this. He

00:06:34.260 says, truly, truly, I say to you that all these things will come to pass before what? Before this

00:06:40.380 generation ceases. Now, we've had to get cute with that text. If we're not partial preterists and

00:06:46.820 post-mill theologians, we've had to get cute and say, well, Jesus is saying there's a particular

00:06:51.780 type of generation. What he means by generation is not a literal generation, but he means a type

00:06:57.260 of people, a stiff-necked people, the type of people who are in the wilderness after they were

00:07:03.480 led out of Egypt, and the same type of people that Jesus came to in his earthly ministry who

00:07:08.460 rejected him. He came to his own people, but his people received him not. It's a type of people

00:07:13.840 that's grumbling, that's stiff-necked, that's stubborn, that's ultimately unbelieving. The people

00:07:19.320 of unbelief, the people that Moses was weary of leading, and the people that Jesus was rejected

00:07:26.960 by. This type of person, and in the metaphorical sense, generation will not pass away. But I believe

00:07:34.360 and other theologians that I trust that Jesus was actually speaking in literal terms. This generation 1.00

00:07:39.140 will not pass away until I come to them in glory. Well, that generation was still alive, many of them,

00:07:46.560 40 years later when what happened when when judgment came upon israel the the end of the

00:07:53.980 priestly sacrificial system it had already ended through jesus crucifixion his death and resurrection

00:07:59.100 and ascension but but there were many people in israel many jews who had rejected jesus as the

00:08:04.180 messiah who were still trying to find forgiveness of sins through the law of moses through the

00:08:10.440 priestly sacrificial system with the temple and jesus puts it to an end and what does jesus say

00:08:15.220 Another thing in Matthew 24 is all of that discourse.

00:08:17.960 He says this.

00:08:18.840 He says, flee.

00:08:20.960 He speaks to his disciples.

00:08:22.520 He says, flee Jerusalem.

00:08:24.620 One of the reasons, actually, it's not socialism,

00:08:27.420 as many liberals and liberal Christians would like to think, 0.94

00:08:30.320 but one of the reasons why Christians were selling their property,

00:08:33.060 remember Ananias and Sapphira who were put to death?

00:08:35.460 They weren't put to death because the Bible doesn't affirm property ownership.

00:08:39.580 No, they were put to death because they sold their property

00:08:43.060 and then only gave a part of the proceeds,

00:08:46.200 which it was theirs.

00:08:47.020 They didn't have to give it all,

00:08:48.220 but they pretended, right?

00:08:49.900 They acted as though they were giving all the proceeds.

00:08:52.860 So they were put to death ultimately for deceit,

00:08:55.240 not just lying to man,

00:08:56.660 but Peter says lying to the Holy Spirit

00:08:58.640 and trying to appear more generous

00:09:00.720 than they actually were.

00:09:02.120 See, they had gone before the apostles and said,

00:09:03.820 we sold this property and we're going to give 20%.

00:09:07.200 Peter would have said, fine.

00:09:10.040 And maybe he would have challenged them and said,

00:09:11.520 everybody else is being a lot more generous.

00:09:13.520 But they wouldn't have been put to death.

00:09:15.540 Now, they were put to death because they lied to the Spirit

00:09:17.400 and they were trying to appear more generous than they really were.

00:09:20.060 But the point is this.

00:09:21.480 Everyone was selling their property, right?

00:09:23.340 It says that everyone shared everything in common.

00:09:25.160 And one of the ways that they shared everything in common

00:09:27.040 was that they were liquidating all their assets.

00:09:29.560 So they were taking their tangible physical assets like property,

00:09:33.380 even livestock, they were selling it, liquidating it,

00:09:36.520 putting it at the apostles' feet for the clear purpose

00:09:40.420 that's explicit in those New Testament texts.

00:09:43.060 that is to share with one another, to meet the physical needs of those who were poor.

00:09:47.580 And not just the poor neighbor, but primarily the poor brother or sister in Christ, right?

00:09:52.800 So that no one had, the Bible says in the New Testament and Acts that there was no one in need.

00:09:58.040 Now, that doesn't mean that they eradicated poverty and hunger for all people in Jerusalem.

00:10:03.500 No, when it says no one had any need, it's speaking of the household of faith.

00:10:06.900 It's what Paul says elsewhere in, I believe, Galatians chapter 6,

00:10:10.880 where he says that we should be eager

00:10:12.720 as we have opportunity to do good to all people,

00:10:15.700 but especially, that is, prioritize the household of faith.

00:10:19.500 It's what Jesus says when he says,

00:10:21.540 whatever you've done for the least of these, right?

00:10:23.960 You give a cold glass of water in my name

00:10:26.180 or you visit someone when they're in prison,

00:10:28.380 you visited me, right?

00:10:29.800 Or you clothe someone who's naked, you've clothed me.

00:10:32.560 You feed someone who's hungry, you've fed me.

00:10:34.520 But notice Jesus uses one very important phrase.

00:10:37.460 He says, whatever you do for the least of these, my brothers.

00:10:40.880 meaning you did it for them on account of them bearing my name so it's not just visiting someone

00:10:48.020 in prison just because they're in prison no it's visiting the christian in prison because they're

00:10:53.460 a christian it's feeding the brother or sister who is hungry right because because it can't just

00:11:00.900 be feeding the poor in general because that would contradict other parts of scripture namely when

00:11:06.380 Paul says, if you don't work, you don't eat. So there's a righteous way in letting the poor go

00:11:12.380 hungry. So that the sloth might learn to be diligent with his own hands. There's a time where 0.97

00:11:19.300 we don't meet the needs of those who are poor. But for the righteous, the implication is that for

00:11:25.320 the righteous, if they are poor, it's not because of sin. It's not because of laziness. And so we

00:11:31.340 meet the needs of the righteous who are in prison, the righteous who are naked, the righteous who are

00:11:35.040 hungry because they're probably hungry or naked or stripped of their possessions by virtue of

00:11:40.520 persecution. Not by virtue of their laziness, namely sin, but by virtue of their righteousness

00:11:46.620 and obedience and a God-hating world persecuting them for precisely that reason. So all this being

00:11:52.960 said, whatever you do for the least of these, my brothers. So the point is that the early church

00:11:57.600 in Jerusalem was meeting the needs of one another. They didn't eradicate poverty in a universal

00:12:03.920 sense for everyone in Jerusalem, all of their neighbors, but they did eradicate need, poverty

00:12:10.140 for all their brothers and sisters in Christ, for the church in Jerusalem. So that's the first

00:12:15.060 explicit reason of liquidating assets. But here's an implicit reason. The implicit reason for why

00:12:21.860 Christians, the disciples of Jesus, in Acts, underneath the leadership and guidance of the

00:12:27.500 apostles, liquidated their assets was this. So they can more quickly flee to the mountains as

00:12:32.840 Jesus told them to in Matthew 24 when judgment came within that literal generation. And judgment 0.61

00:12:40.840 did come. In AD 70, with the fall of Jerusalem, it was the Christians who remembered the words 1.00

00:12:48.300 of Jesus and quickly got out of harm's way. And this caused Christianity to kickstart. And one 0.94

00:12:56.360 of the reasons why Christianity from its inception was so successful and spread so quickly was because 0.95

00:13:02.180 not only were they persecuted and caused to scatter and disperse and spread the gospel

00:13:07.080 other places, but they were also prepared. They were properly informed by the head of the Christian

00:13:13.360 faith, Christ himself, to flee quickly. If they persecute you in one city, flee to the next. So

00:13:18.840 Jesus appears, in a sense, as it were, the spirit of the risen Christ appears in AD 70 by virtue of

00:13:26.720 judgment. So when he says, I'll return, all these things are going to happen before this generation

00:13:32.100 passes away, there's a sense in which not Jesus' ultimate return, which we still await, but there

00:13:37.320 is a sense in which Christ returned. And the Jewish historian, Josephus, he actually says,

00:13:42.720 it's very interesting, he has an eyewitness account because he was there in AD 70, the fall

00:13:48.640 of Jerusalem. He was there in the city with the temple nearby. And he says, and he doesn't just

00:13:54.840 say his experience, but he recounts what many other eyewitnesses said they saw, that as the

00:13:59.980 enemies were sacking Jerusalem

00:14:01.540 and it was the fall of the temple,

00:14:03.280 the clouds were in the sky

00:14:05.100 and they could see angelic hosts bearing swords.

00:14:09.900 That's an eyewitness account

00:14:11.380 and there's more evidence for that account

00:14:13.980 than Caesar, Augustus, ever even living.

00:14:18.040 Just saying, post mill, get on board.

00:14:22.080 All right, so all that being said,

00:14:24.380 all that being said, the point is this,

00:14:26.660 it's the glory of God,

00:14:28.600 He does all things for his namesake.

00:14:31.000 That's the dominant theme of all scripture,

00:14:32.820 the dominant theme of the Psalms,

00:14:34.160 and the dominant theme of our text today, Psalm 23.

00:14:38.320 See, in Psalm 1, we saw that God gains glory for himself

00:14:42.600 by firmly establishing the blessed man

00:14:45.520 as he meditates on God's word day and night.

00:14:48.100 In Psalm 2, God garnishes glory for himself

00:14:50.280 by orchestrating the rebellion of the nations,

00:14:53.200 as well as the destruction of those who refuse to repent.

00:14:56.140 In Psalm chapter 8, God derives glory through his earthly creation, especially by crowning his image-bearing creatures, mankind, with unique dignity, even from the womb, from infancy.

00:15:07.620 In Psalm 16, we saw that God gets glory by being our safe refuge, supreme treasure, sovereign Lord, and sure counselor.

00:15:14.340 And in Psalm 19, we saw that God is glorified through at least two ways, through natural revelation, particularly the skies, and special revelation, particularly his law.

00:15:26.600 And now in Psalm 23, God gains glory for himself as he leads his people, as he's good to his people in the paths of righteousness.

00:15:36.940 Now that's how I got on the whole clouds and postmill thing.

00:15:39.380 The point was to say this, God gains glory for himself.

00:15:42.780 it's not as though God has two purposes.

00:15:46.960 He does, but it's not as though God has two purposes

00:15:49.340 and two means of accomplishing,

00:15:52.000 of achieving those purposes, right?

00:15:53.560 That God wants to gain glory for himself

00:15:54.960 and be good to his people,

00:15:56.060 and he does these two things in two separate ways.

00:15:58.560 Like as though it were two separate tasks, right?

00:16:01.180 I need to focus some attention here,

00:16:03.000 getting glory for myself,

00:16:04.080 and now I'm going to work on this separate task

00:16:06.340 of being good to my people.

00:16:07.360 No, God gets glory for himself

00:16:09.440 by being good to his people.

00:16:11.020 He leads me on the path of righteousness for his glory, meaning God gets glory.

00:16:17.840 His fame, his namesake is achieved by leading me on the path of righteousness.

00:16:23.580 The clouds and judgment is to say that technically God gains glory for himself by being good to his people, but also being terrible to his enemies.

00:16:32.160 Both.

00:16:33.360 It is both by the blessing and redemption of his people

00:16:36.920 and the judgment of the wicked

00:16:39.520 that God gains glory for himself.

00:16:42.120 There was a conference with a panel one time.

00:16:44.220 I believe it was a Ligonier conference.

00:16:46.000 Dr. Sproul, the late great R.C. Sproul,

00:16:48.720 was on the panel sitting up there on the stage.

00:16:51.120 They were getting questions in from the audience.

00:16:53.380 One of the questions came in.

00:16:54.640 You guys are probably familiar with this.

00:16:56.200 It's kind of a legendary story.

00:16:58.880 But one of the questions came in and said,

00:17:00.160 you know, why does God predestine people for hell?

00:17:06.220 And Sproul gets angry, right?

00:17:08.140 You think he'd be sympathetic,

00:17:09.860 but it's just, I mean, you have to take it into context.

00:17:11.600 The guy at this point has spent a generation,

00:17:13.800 about 40 years teaching this again and again

00:17:16.040 and again and again.

00:17:17.060 He's like, you guys should know by now.

00:17:18.880 So why does God predestine people for hell?

00:17:22.080 And Sproul says, are you serious?

00:17:24.320 Haven't we already had this question?

00:17:26.220 In this conference, not just over 40 years,

00:17:28.200 but in this conference?

00:17:29.800 And he says, my grandchild can answer this question.

00:17:32.580 And he says, what's wrong with you people?

00:17:35.540 My grandchild can answer this question.

00:17:37.740 Why does God predestine people for hell?

00:17:39.760 For his glory.

00:17:42.540 Because God is glorified in his righteousness, in his justice.

00:17:47.200 His justice is exemplified for all eternity as he punishes the wicked in hell.

00:17:53.720 and god is glorified his mercy and grace and loving kindness exemplified for all of eternity

00:18:00.920 as he bestows blessings upon his people so these aren't separate tasks it's not as though god is

00:18:06.500 committed to gaining glory for himself and being good to his people and judging the wicked no god

00:18:11.640 gains glory for himself precisely by being good to his people and judging the wicked now what we

00:18:17.000 see in psalm 23 particularly is not so much the judgment of the wicked but we're going to focus

00:18:22.640 our attention where the text emphasizes, where the text focuses his attention, which is God's

00:18:27.940 goodness, faithfulness to the righteous. So David says in verse three of our text, he says, he leads

00:18:33.440 me on the path of righteousness, which is good. It's not just the right thing. It's good. It is

00:18:37.940 a benefit for David. It's not just good for God. It's good for David. So God is doing something

00:18:43.000 very good for me, and he's also doing it for him. God's doing something good for me, for him. God's

00:18:49.180 leading me on the path of righteousness, which is to my eternal benefit for his namesake, for his

00:18:54.540 glory. That's the overarching theme of all the scripture, of all the Psalms, and certainly our

00:19:00.240 Psalm today, Psalm 23. God is gaining glory for himself by being good to David. And what is it

00:19:09.860 precisely? What precise good thing is God doing for David? He's leading him. He's leading him

00:19:16.880 on the paths of righteousness.

00:19:19.240 So let's delve into verse three a little bit more.

00:19:21.740 In your notes, I've written this.

00:19:22.980 God's leading of his people in the paths of righteousness

00:19:25.700 is not automatic.

00:19:28.500 It's not something where the Christian

00:19:29.940 can just go on autopilot.

00:19:31.880 It's not the default position or the default posture.

00:19:36.060 See, it's actually something that David had to work for

00:19:38.680 and particularly we know from other texts,

00:19:41.600 namely Psalm 25, it's something that David

00:19:44.000 had to fervently and diligently pray for.

00:19:48.960 See, in Psalm 25, verses four through five,

00:19:51.420 David prays this to the Lord.

00:19:53.540 He says, make known to me thy ways, O Lord.

00:19:57.700 Teach me thy paths.

00:19:59.900 Lead me, there it is, lead me in thy truth

00:20:03.900 and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation.

00:20:07.720 For thee I will wait all the day long.

00:20:11.180 So David, he's not just being led in the path of righteousness

00:20:14.280 for the namesake of God, for God's glory by default.

00:20:17.680 It's not something that comes natural or easy or automatic.

00:20:21.540 It's something that David is working at,

00:20:23.460 and even more than that, it's something that David is pleading,

00:20:26.580 petitioning, praying for.

00:20:29.040 How is it, though, here's the question,

00:20:31.240 that God answers this particular prayer?

00:20:34.180 See, David's being led by God.

00:20:35.700 God is doing good to David, namely leading him in righteousness,

00:20:38.720 and God's doing this for his glory, for his namesake,

00:20:41.900 but it's not something that happens easily.

00:20:43.960 It's something that David has had to pray for, ask for.

00:20:47.160 And so how is it that God answers the prayer?

00:20:49.600 David says, lead me in your ways.

00:20:52.020 Teach me your word, thy truth.

00:20:54.900 Reveal these things to me.

00:20:56.740 Enlighten me of the things that are good,

00:20:58.740 the things that are right, the things that are holy.

00:21:00.920 Keep me on your path.

00:21:02.740 Keep me, lead me in your ways.

00:21:05.260 That's David's petition.

00:21:06.600 That's his prayer.

00:21:07.440 How does God answer this prayer?

00:21:10.120 Well, he answers it by virtue of his word and his spirit.

00:21:14.520 First, his word.

00:21:16.300 Psalm 119, 105 says this,

00:21:18.220 thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

00:21:23.440 This is in regards to the law of God,

00:21:26.020 what we refer to as the third use of the law.

00:21:29.820 I've spoken of the, there's the three divisions of the law.

00:21:32.340 I've spoken of this before, the moral law of God,

00:21:34.520 ceremonial law of God and civil law.

00:21:36.140 there's also not just the three divisions of the law but the three uses of the law the first second

00:21:41.540 and third use the first use of God's law is easiest way to think of it is mirror shield and

00:21:47.620 compass mirror shield and compass first use the law use of God's law mirror we stare into the law

00:21:54.160 of God and it reflects back to us our own shortcomings failures and sin and thereby it

00:22:00.820 reveals to us the necessity for a savior that's where I use the quote from Charles Spurgeon right

00:22:05.640 A man cannot appreciate the beauty of Christ

00:22:07.420 until he first comes to see the necessity for Christ.

00:22:10.980 And how does he see the necessity for Christ?

00:22:13.360 Well, he sees the necessity for a Savior

00:22:15.120 by seeing the holiness of God and his own sinfulness.

00:22:17.960 And the law reveals that to him.

00:22:20.200 So the first use of the law is as a mirror.

00:22:22.800 It reveals to us our sin and God's holiness

00:22:24.960 and our need for Christ, our need for the gospel.

00:22:28.160 Second use of the law is more of a common grace use,

00:22:31.820 not just for the people of God in salvation,

00:22:34.380 special grace, but a common grace use, meaning the law has a benefit for all people, even the

00:22:40.760 pagan who hates him. So the law of God, it also serves as a blueprint, a guide for civil governments,

00:22:48.020 even governments that are not regenerate, civil magistrates that are not Christians themselves,

00:22:52.640 that are not actually born again. And yet, because they're made in the image of God,

00:22:57.260 through natural revelation and natural law, natural law, the law of God is written on their

00:23:03.300 hearts. That's what the Bible says. It's not just written on the hearts of the believer

00:23:06.800 by the work of the spirit and regeneration by having a new heart, but even for the unbeliever

00:23:12.460 because they're made in the image of God by natural revelation and what we call natural law,

00:23:18.260 the conscience, even the pagan has a general sense of morality. They have a general sense

00:23:24.340 of knowing right and wrong. And so even unbelievers ordinarily, not in all cases, but ordinarily will 1.00

00:23:30.840 set up civil governments to enact and legislate and enforce morality. Now, they're going to get 1.00

00:23:37.760 off track if they're pagan and not submitted ultimately to Christ, right? They're going to 0.99

00:23:42.440 deem that certain things are moral that God's word actually says are immoral. And they'll deem

00:23:46.840 certain things as immoral that God's word actually says are moral and righteous. But in a general

00:23:51.520 sense, there's a reason why our nation and many other nations condemn murder as wickedness,

00:23:57.420 right and and it's not just christian nations with christian kings or christian parliament or

00:24:03.620 christian you know uh supreme courts it's even those who are not christian not regenerate not

00:24:09.500 born again have a general sense by natural revelation god revealing himself and natural

00:24:14.460 law god revealing the blueprint for his morality on the hearts of men made in his image so there's

00:24:20.780 the second use, common grace element of the law of God that works to hold evil at bay as a shield,

00:24:28.820 which makes society and human life more livable, better. So the first use of the law is a special

00:24:36.920 grace use. It reveals the holiness of God and our sinfulness and our need for a savior. It brings us

00:24:42.420 to the gospel. It drives us to the cross, right? That's the first use of the law, mirror. Second

00:24:49.160 use shield that's a common grace use so even the pagan is benefited by the second use of god's law

00:24:54.720 natural law written on the hearts of men to where even pagan governments will set up

00:24:59.000 generally moral governments where their citizens are benefited by that and then the third use of

00:25:06.160 the law is precisely what we see in psalm 119 105 guide compass three uses of the law once more

00:25:14.040 mirror, shield, and compass. Three divisions of the law, moral, civil, ceremonial. We're not going

00:25:21.160 to talk about that today. We've talked about that before. So we've already seen the first two uses

00:25:24.660 of the law, mirror and shield, but this third one, compass. See, the law of God, it's not just the

00:25:30.400 mirror that reveals how far we fall short and our need for Jesus, our need for the gospel of Savior,

00:25:37.040 But the law also functions as a guide, as a lamp unto our feet.

00:25:43.000 It lights the way, the path.

00:25:45.120 That's what Psalm 119, 105 says.

00:25:47.280 Or a compass.

00:25:48.600 It directs us.

00:25:49.740 Meaning, the law doesn't say this is the way you should go to be saved.

00:25:54.020 Because Romans says that no man will be saved by works done unto the law.

00:25:58.280 We're not saved by our obedience.

00:26:00.220 We're saved by grace through faith in Christ's obedience.

00:26:04.980 But the law shows us where to go.

00:26:07.040 not as a means of meriting God's favor,

00:26:09.620 but as an act of love, right?

00:26:11.680 Because Jesus says, if you love me, you obey me,

00:26:13.700 as a response of love for the free favor

00:26:17.240 we already have by grace.

00:26:19.680 So the third use of the law as a compass,

00:26:22.020 as a lamp unto our feet, a guide,

00:26:24.560 is not that it shows us where to go

00:26:27.180 so that we might be saved.

00:26:29.100 No, it shows us where to go that is God's glory

00:26:32.540 and our good so that we might respond in love

00:26:35.240 for being saved freely.

00:26:37.040 already. That's another special grace use of the law, the third use of the law for the Christian.

00:26:43.620 It guides the Christian, the one who has eyes to see, the one who has spiritual ears to hear,

00:26:48.340 the one who has a new heart. Psalm 119 verse 9 says, how can a young man keep his way pure?

00:26:54.840 By guarding it according to thy word. In both verses, Psalm 119 105 and 119 verse 9,

00:27:01.940 The word is the instrument that God uses to guide or to lead his people.

00:27:08.440 So again, Psalm 23, our text for today, verse 3,

00:27:11.780 he leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake.

00:27:15.840 So God is doing something for his glory.

00:27:18.540 What is it?

00:27:19.360 Being good to his people.

00:27:21.200 Being good to his people how?

00:27:22.920 By leading us on the path of righteousness.

00:27:25.660 Is this automatic?

00:27:26.920 No.

00:27:27.200 it must be worked for and more specifically psalm 25 we see it must be prayed for when we pray and

00:27:35.280 ask the lord petition the lord to keep us on the path of righteousness to lead us on the path of

00:27:40.520 righteousness how does god answer this prayer what tool does he use it at his disposal what

00:27:46.060 what agency does he employ his word and his word works to to lead us on the path of righteousness

00:27:53.540 in at least two regards.

00:27:54.820 I want you to see this.

00:27:55.640 This is why I use both Psalm 119 and 105

00:27:58.100 and Psalm 119 verse nine.

00:28:00.720 See, in Psalm 119, 105,

00:28:03.120 the word of God answers our request

00:28:05.800 to lead us in the path of righteousness

00:28:07.840 by being a guide, by being a compass,

00:28:10.880 by being a lamp unto our feet,

00:28:12.620 showing us the way.

00:28:14.240 But in Psalm 119 verse nine,

00:28:16.580 the word of God answers the prayer

00:28:18.440 to keep us on the,

00:28:19.760 not just lead us on the path of righteousness,

00:28:21.480 but to keep us on the path of righteousness

00:28:23.640 by functioning as guardrails.

00:28:26.200 See, look at 119, verse nine, once more.

00:28:29.020 It says, how can a young man keep his way pure?

00:28:31.940 By guarding it according to thy word.

00:28:35.960 See, the word of God works as a lamp

00:28:38.060 revealing the direction to go.

00:28:40.600 It's a guide, a lamp, a compass.

00:28:42.900 So it leads us, but it also restrains us.

00:28:48.440 See, the word of God,

00:28:49.240 it not only leads us on the path of righteousness,

00:28:51.480 it keeps us on the path of righteousness.

00:28:54.440 The word of God is ultimately,

00:28:57.520 it's like if you go bowling with a three-year-old

00:29:00.980 and you get like the little rails

00:29:04.940 that you put the ball on

00:29:06.520 so you don't even have to throw it

00:29:07.540 and it rolls down

00:29:08.380 and you do the bumpers, right?

00:29:10.820 So that it can't go in the gutter.

00:29:12.440 That's what it's like for the blessed man,

00:29:14.580 the righteous man to be led by the law of God.

00:29:18.040 It's as though you can't fail.

00:29:20.440 You don't have to have the strength to roll this eight, nine, ten pound ball.

00:29:24.740 You just barely place it on this thing and let go.

00:29:28.020 And it rolls all on its own and then the bumpers are there.

00:29:30.520 So even if you didn't line it up correctly, it can't go in the gutter.

00:29:33.500 You're going to knock down a few pins whether you like it or not.

00:29:36.580 The law of God leads and the law of God keeps.

00:29:40.580 It preserves.

00:29:41.800 It protects.

00:29:42.400 It guards.

00:29:43.060 So the word of God is the answer to David's prayer in Psalm 25, verse 4 and 5.

00:29:49.840 He says, make known to me thy ways, teach me thy paths.

00:29:54.060 How does God answer? By his word.

00:29:57.820 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. It shows the way. It leads me.

00:30:03.280 And how can I keep myself from detours?

00:30:07.720 How can I keep myself from distraction?

00:30:09.640 How can I keep myself from deterring off of the path?

00:30:13.920 Thy word, it guards me.

00:30:16.600 I'm guarded by thy word.

00:30:19.020 It's the light unto my path leading me.

00:30:21.300 It's the guardrails on either side,

00:30:23.840 the left and the right of the path,

00:30:25.220 that keeps me and preserves me.

00:30:27.900 So, verse three of our text,

00:30:31.300 you lead me on the paths of righteousness

00:30:33.400 for your glory, for your namesake.

00:30:36.300 How does he lead us on the paths of righteousness?

00:30:38.500 Automatically, no.

00:30:39.640 we work for it and pray for it. And how does God answer this prayer? Through the agency of his word.

00:30:47.800 His word leads us by lighting our path as a compass or a lamp and his word, it restrains us

00:30:55.040 from going off the path like guardrails on either side. Continuing in your notes, I've written this,

00:31:01.200 although the Bible reveals the path, the Bible is not enough. Let me pause. That's a phrase you will

00:31:06.560 not hear come out of my mouth hardly ever. So soak it up, drink it in. In fact, I'll say it once more

00:31:15.420 just to humor you. Although the Bible reveals the path, the Bible is not enough. Now to clarify that

00:31:23.080 statement, certainly we affirm the sufficiency of scripture. But here's the key. In terms of the

00:31:29.580 sufficiency of scripture, we must ask this question. What is the Bible sufficient for?

00:31:35.740 When we say that the Bible is sufficient, what are we saying? What is the Bible sufficient for?

00:31:41.200 Well, see, the Bible is sufficient for revelation and revealing, more particularly, revealing the

00:31:47.560 way to salvation, life and godliness. So the Bible is sufficient for life and godliness,

00:31:54.660 for salvation. We always say that, right? The Bible is sufficient for life and godliness. It's

00:31:59.040 sufficient for salvation but what we implicitly actually mean when we say that is that the bible

00:32:03.840 is sufficient it's reliable it's it's efficacious for revealing life and godliness revealing the

00:32:13.820 way to salvation but the reality is because of man's sinfulness because of original sin and

00:32:20.020 fallen hearts revelation is not enough revelation is not the only thing that we require see the

00:32:28.280 problem with mankind is not simply a matter of ignorance that can be solved by mere revelation.

00:32:34.060 The root problem with mankind is moral, and therefore it can only be solved by transformation.

00:32:40.500 See, we must not only possess external revelation, a lamp unto our feet, that is the Bible, but we

00:32:48.060 must also possess internal regeneration, that is transformation, a change that comes by the power

00:32:55.020 of the Spirit. Let me say that again. This is important that we catch. We don't only need

00:33:01.440 external revelation, aka the Bible. We need internal regeneration or transformation, aka

00:33:09.640 the Spirit. It's both. It's the Word being used by the Spirit. It's the Spirit of God and the Word

00:33:17.800 of God working in conjunction with one another. See, the Word of God reveals the path, but it's

00:33:23.120 the spirit of God that makes us willing to follow the path and to stay on the path. Together, both

00:33:30.520 the word of God and the spirit of God lead us in the paths of righteousness. So verse three of our

00:33:36.540 text, again, he leads us what? It tells us that the overarching theme, the big idea, is that everything

00:33:43.600 God is doing is for his glory. God does terrible things to the wicked for his glory. But in our

00:33:48.960 text that focuses on the wonderful things he does for the righteous for his glory and what is the

00:33:54.840 primary thing that David has in view in his mind that God does that is good for the righteous that

00:34:00.360 garnishes glory for himself he leads us on the path of righteousness how does he lead us on the

00:34:05.720 path of righteousness not by default not on autopilot but we work for it we pray for it and

00:34:11.940 God does this by virtue of his spirit and his word. The word reveals the path, and the spirit

00:34:18.980 changes our hearts in such a way that we become willing to traverse that path. See, our problem

00:34:26.260 is not just intellectual, and that's what the pagan worldview says. Does it not? Is that not

00:34:31.940 what we see in every school, in every political campaign? Is that not what we see with the Black 0.99

00:34:37.500 lives matter movement all these different things what do we see we see that oh well the problem 0.97

00:34:42.100 with america the problem with culture the problem with the nation is what ignorance ignorance ignorance

00:34:47.020 so if we could just change the the curriculum in schools if we could just it's because people

00:34:51.800 aren't being taught history or they were being taught history incorrectly we don't need to do

00:34:56.180 the 17 what is 1776 but we need to do the 1619 project instead when america really began on the

00:35:02.780 backs of slavery you know and and slavery isn't the bug it's actually the feature and we need to

00:35:07.180 tear it all down. But either way, whether they're presenting wrong information or right

00:35:13.600 information, the general mindset is still the same. They think that ultimately the problems

00:35:19.340 of mankind can be solved by information, which indicates that they think the main problem with

00:35:24.380 mankind, all of his immoral deeds, stems from ignorance. That's not the problem. Our problem

00:35:31.960 isn't that we have bad people doing bad things

00:35:34.320 because they don't know better.

00:35:37.060 Our problem is that people know better

00:35:39.040 and they don't care.

00:35:40.980 That's our problem. 0.59

00:35:42.900 It's not that people are ignorant 0.98

00:35:44.560 and therefore because they're ignorant, 0.98

00:35:46.360 they rebel. 0.99

00:35:47.960 Rebellion doesn't stem from ignorance.

00:35:50.060 Romans 1 is clear.

00:35:51.380 Ignorance actually stems from rebellion.

00:35:53.800 It is first not a problem of the mind.

00:35:55.580 It is a problem of the will.

00:35:57.660 It's a problem of the will.

00:35:59.100 It's not an intellectual.

00:36:00.040 It's a problem of the will.

00:36:01.800 It's not an intellectual problem, it's a moral problem.

00:36:04.260 Because people ultimately hate God in their will, in their heart,

00:36:09.460 they therefore do what?

00:36:10.800 Suppress the truth of God in deeds of unrighteousness

00:36:13.540 and are given over further and further to ignorance. 0.81

00:36:16.360 See, people become ignorant the more and more they rebel.

00:36:20.700 So it's first the moral problem of the will being at enmity with God.

00:36:24.860 That's what Romans chapter 8 says.

00:36:26.280 The mind of the sinful man is hostile towards God.

00:36:29.860 It's not just indifferent.

00:36:30.620 is not just neutral or uninterested or uninformed.

00:36:34.820 The mind of the sinful man is lacking information.

00:36:37.060 No, the mind of the sinful man knows God

00:36:40.140 but does not bow his knee.

00:36:42.760 The mind of the sinful man is hostile towards God.

00:36:45.660 It neither submits to his law nor, Romans 8 says, can it.

00:36:50.520 Meaning it's not just that it's unwilling, it is unable.

00:36:53.840 It is not in its nature.

00:36:55.580 In the same way that 10 times out of 10,

00:36:57.580 If we had a cage with a lion and a cage with an ox,

00:37:01.300 and we put meat in front of the ox and hay in front of the lion,

00:37:05.860 they wouldn't eat.

00:37:07.160 And it's not that they physically couldn't chew.

00:37:11.500 It's not that the ox couldn't somehow chew the meat and ingest it.

00:37:15.420 It's not that the lion couldn't somehow break down and chew the hay.

00:37:19.700 But the reality is they're not going to make those choices,

00:37:23.600 a lion choosing to eat hay or an ox choosing to eat meat

00:37:27.320 because it's not in their nature.

00:37:29.280 That's the imagery, the illustration

00:37:30.960 that the late, great Jonathan Edwards used.

00:37:34.020 It's not in their nature,

00:37:35.620 meaning that for the pagan, for the unregenerate, 0.65

00:37:38.600 the choice of submission to God, right?

00:37:40.700 The mind of the sinful man does not submit to God.

00:37:43.860 It's hostile towards God.

00:37:45.200 It doesn't make the choice of submission to God and his law

00:37:48.400 because it's not in its nature to do so.

00:37:52.200 It's not in its nature to do so.

00:37:53.800 So what's the solution?

00:37:55.120 What's the remedy?

00:37:55.720 The remedy is a new nature.

00:37:59.320 It's not just new decisions.

00:38:01.400 It's not just better choices that come with being better informed.

00:38:04.940 It's not just new information leading to new choices.

00:38:07.620 No, it's a new heart.

00:38:09.720 It's being a new creature.

00:38:12.020 We can't just merely turn over a new leaf.

00:38:15.120 It's not a stronger resolution.

00:38:18.380 No, it's being a new creature in Christ Jesus by grace through faith.

00:38:22.360 So that the heart of stone is removed and replaced with a heart of flesh that actually desires to submit to the law of God, that actually desires to obey to God, obey God.

00:38:34.140 So the problem with mankind is not fundamentally, first and foremost, ignorance.

00:38:38.080 It is rebellion.

00:38:39.340 It's not a problem of the mind.

00:38:41.620 It's a matter of a problem of the will.

00:38:44.380 And so at the end of the day, the Bible is, we can say, with biblical, here's the irony,

00:38:49.960 we can biblically say that the Bible is insufficient.

00:38:53.700 Insufficient for what?

00:38:55.380 Not insufficient to do what it's meant to do, namely reveal God's truth.

00:39:00.440 It reveals God's truth sufficiently and infallibly.

00:39:05.220 But a mere revelation of God's truth for someone with a heart of stone doesn't do anything. 0.96

00:39:12.380 Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees, 0.94

00:39:14.260 the religious rulers of his day,

00:39:15.900 he said, you search the scriptures incessantly,

00:39:19.020 day and night, but you miss the big point.

00:39:21.960 It all points to me.

00:39:23.700 You hate me.

00:39:25.140 So the reality is that ultimately

00:39:26.860 what is pleasing to God,

00:39:28.640 the change that you and I so desperately need,

00:39:30.700 it does not come merely

00:39:32.600 through diligent study of the scripture.

00:39:35.600 You can study the scripture day and night

00:39:37.620 and ultimately still be displeasing to the Lord

00:39:40.320 because not only do you need the scripture to reveal the path,

00:39:45.460 but you need the spirit to change your will so that you will take the path.

00:39:50.440 Not just external revelation, a.k.a. Bible,

00:39:54.020 but internal transformation, a.k.a. the spirit, giving us a new heart.

00:40:01.640 Is this not precisely what Romans 12 verse 2 says when it says,

00:40:05.240 do not be conformed to this world, but be informed?

00:40:08.580 No.

00:40:08.800 be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God

00:40:16.720 what is good and acceptable and perfect now the second half of Romans 12 verse 2 is precisely

00:40:22.300 what we're talking about in Psalm 23 verse 3 Psalm 23 verse 3 says he leads me on the path of

00:40:27.640 righteousness and we've begged the question how how does he lead us on the path of righteousness

00:40:32.720 and we've answered that question by saying by both his word which shows us the way in his spirit that

00:40:38.160 makes us willing to go on the way. And that's what Romans 12 verse 2 says. It says, testing. By

00:40:44.220 testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable, and perfect. The ability

00:40:50.020 to discern what is pleasing to God, what the will of God is, what's good, what's moral, what's

00:40:56.900 perfect, all of that is the path of righteousness. That's what the path of righteousness is. And how

00:41:02.580 is it that we come to that point where we can discern good and evil and discern what's pleasing

00:41:07.540 to the Lord and be willing to do it by being transformed. Not just informed, but transformed

00:41:14.540 by the renewal of your mind. See, the Spirit has at least two primary works when it comes

00:41:20.080 to working in conjunction with the Word of God. The Spirit illuminates and inspires. See, the Spirit

00:41:27.820 inspired the writing of the Word of God long ago so that it's credible, so that it's reliable,

00:41:34.440 is sure and trustworthy, but the Spirit hasn't stopped working in conjunction with the Word

00:41:40.020 since the close of the canon. See, the Spirit is no longer inspiring the continual writing of

00:41:45.740 Scripture. The canon is closed. No new books of the Bible are being added. Revelation says don't

00:41:51.200 take anything away and don't add anything. But although the Spirit is no longer working with

00:41:56.600 the Word of God in terms of inspiration in its writing, the Spirit is still working in conjunction

00:42:02.120 with the word of God in terms of illumination,

00:42:04.580 that is, its reading.

00:42:06.660 See, the Spirit inspired the writing of the word,

00:42:09.900 and he even now, with all of those who have faith in Jesus,

00:42:14.020 still works no longer in the inspired writing of the word,

00:42:17.580 but the illumined reading of the word.

00:42:20.520 So that we don't study the scripture day and night

00:42:23.300 like the scribes and Pharisees and miss its point.

00:42:26.420 He opens our eyes.

00:42:28.280 He gives us ears to hear.

00:42:30.180 He softens our hearts.

00:42:32.120 So that we don't just see the way like a lamp.

00:42:35.120 The word is a lamp,

00:42:36.420 but the spirit is ultimately what changes our hearts

00:42:39.260 to where we'll actually follow the lamp.

00:42:42.160 We need both.

00:42:43.280 So that's how God answers the prayer.

00:42:45.640 So big idea, God is doing something for his namesake,

00:42:48.460 his glory.

00:42:49.420 He judges the wicked for his glory,

00:42:51.540 but particular to our text,

00:42:53.780 he's good to the righteous.

00:42:55.120 What's this very good thing that he does for the righteous?

00:42:57.600 He leads us.

00:42:58.940 He leads us on the path of righteousness.

00:43:00.840 How does he do it?

00:43:01.620 by his word that illuminates the path

00:43:05.320 and his spirit that makes us willing to traverse it.

00:43:09.240 Now, verses four and five of our text,

00:43:11.460 we see that not only does God lead us

00:43:13.360 for our good and his glory,

00:43:15.220 that was verse three, and that's the big idea.

00:43:17.720 But in verses four and five,

00:43:18.860 we see that God leads us through valleys and victories.

00:43:22.020 In verse five, God plays the role of the host

00:43:24.380 who prepares a banquet for us

00:43:26.140 in the presence of our enemies.

00:43:27.840 The presence of David's enemies

00:43:29.860 as he feasts at the table of the Lord

00:43:31.580 may indicate God's invincible protection

00:43:34.080 in the midst of battle.

00:43:35.620 Let me pause for a moment.

00:43:37.380 Or it may also indicate God's power

00:43:39.820 to defeat his enemies.

00:43:41.820 Now, you're probably familiar with the first one.

00:43:44.180 So let's deal with that first.

00:43:45.840 You set a table for me

00:43:47.640 in the presence of my enemies.

00:43:49.420 The imagery that most of us get,

00:43:51.080 and probably what you've heard preached

00:43:53.580 whenever this text is exposited or preached,

00:43:58.860 or if you've read any commentary

00:43:59.980 on this particular text,

00:44:01.180 In most cases, verse 5 of Psalm 23 is said like this.

00:44:07.340 You set a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

00:44:10.100 And most people use that as an opportunity to speak of both the provision and protection of the Lord.

00:44:16.820 Provision because David is being fed from the Lord's banqueting table.

00:44:21.540 He's providing for him food and drink.

00:44:24.000 You anoint my head with oil.

00:44:25.920 My cup overflows.

00:44:27.940 So you're feeding me.

00:44:29.220 You're giving me food and drink and allowing me to rest.

00:44:32.400 So there's provision, but there's also protection, right?

00:44:34.920 Because you're doing all this in the presence of my enemies.

00:44:38.760 And so the first imagery that most people would focus on

00:44:41.820 with verse five of our text is this.

00:44:44.340 It's this idea, this scene, if you will,

00:44:48.280 that there's a battle between David and his armies,

00:44:51.720 his men and his enemies that is currently being waged.

00:44:55.960 So the battle is actually currently going on.

00:44:58.640 And yet the Lord in his protection is so powerful and mighty that it's as though the Lord is holding as the battle still being fought.

00:45:07.380 It's not over. The battle is still currently waging.

00:45:10.260 And yet the Lord is so faithful in his protection.

00:45:12.720 It's as though the Lord is holding his enemies at bay to where in the heat of battle, where most of us would be terrified,

00:45:19.160 David is able to calmly sit down at the Lord's table and dine.

00:45:23.680 Right. So there's protection and provision.

00:45:26.740 And I think that's true.

00:45:27.920 I think that's absolutely true, that the Lord is able to protect his people in the midst of trouble,

00:45:34.060 as it's currently going on, and not only is he able to protect us in the midst of trial and

00:45:39.860 tribulation, but he's also more than able and willing to provide us, provide for us, so he can

00:45:47.380 protect us from our enemies and provide for us his banqueting table, choice meats, and his wine,

00:45:55.440 his drink that's flowing, overflowing out of our cup.

00:45:59.220 So the Lord's protection and provision.

00:46:01.020 But here's the second image

00:46:02.360 that some commentaries indicate.

00:46:05.840 It could indicate not only God's protection and provision,

00:46:08.620 but his infinite power to defeat David's enemies.

00:46:12.120 See, perhaps David has just conquered his enemies

00:46:14.200 and his enemies are now being held captive

00:46:17.280 and must look on in anguish

00:46:19.740 as David celebrates this victory.

00:46:23.800 Either way, here's the point.

00:46:26.100 Whether it's the enemies are present

00:46:29.000 because they're being held captive

00:46:31.140 and have already been defeated

00:46:32.360 and the battle has ended and David has won,

00:46:34.880 the Lord has produced a victory

00:46:36.260 and he's now sitting down to dine

00:46:38.640 to celebrate that victory

00:46:39.940 in the presence of his captive enemies

00:46:42.680 or whether he's dining at the banqueting table of the Lord

00:46:46.080 in the midst of the battle as it's currently raging

00:46:48.500 because the Lord is holding them at bay,

00:46:50.160 protecting and providing.

00:46:52.000 Either way, the big point is this.

00:46:55.220 God protects, provides, and conquers for his people.

00:47:00.280 I think we can say it's all of it.

00:47:01.940 It's all of it.

00:47:03.060 And the big idea that we don't want to miss

00:47:05.600 is that verse five of our text, as beautiful as it is,

00:47:09.340 we cannot give in to the temptation

00:47:11.160 to strip it from its context

00:47:12.820 and hold it up as the norm for all of life.

00:47:15.920 See, the leading of God in Psalm 23,

00:47:18.820 while beginning in green pastures and besides still waters,

00:47:22.140 verse one and two,

00:47:22.980 and ending with feasting and the house of the Lord,

00:47:26.560 which we see in verse five and six,

00:47:28.040 it also includes walking through the valley

00:47:30.880 of the shadow of death, namely verse four.

00:47:34.080 But throughout all of Psalm 23, God is leading.

00:47:37.940 See, God leads us by his spirit and his word

00:47:40.420 in the paths of righteousness.

00:47:41.820 That's verse three.

00:47:43.280 But even when we disobey God's spirit,

00:47:46.340 when we disobey God's spirit and ignore God's word,

00:47:49.440 God still is leading us by his providence

00:47:52.360 because he's sovereign over all things,

00:47:54.940 including even our sin.

00:47:57.520 So whether we find ourselves

00:47:58.880 in the valley of the shadow of death

00:48:00.280 because we got off the path of righteousness

00:48:02.420 through our sin,

00:48:03.980 or we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death

00:48:06.600 because we stayed on the path of righteousness

00:48:08.740 through our obedience,

00:48:10.300 God is still with us and God is still leading.

00:48:14.440 Let me break this down for you theologically

00:48:16.260 as quickly as I can.

00:48:18.440 Would you say that Job experienced

00:48:20.840 the valley of the shadow of death?

00:48:23.300 And every indication, yes, absolutely.

00:48:26.320 Every indication of Job as he's suffering

00:48:29.180 is that he was righteous.

00:48:32.400 Not just indication, but it's explicitly in the book of Job.

00:48:36.320 It's in the text.

00:48:37.260 It's written that Job did not sin.

00:48:39.100 He did not sin.

00:48:39.960 And in all this, Job did not sin.

00:48:41.600 He remained righteous.

00:48:43.560 He preserved his integrity.

00:48:45.760 And yet, if that's not the valley of the shadow of death,

00:48:48.140 I'm not certain what is.

00:48:49.940 So Job went through the valley of the shadow of death

00:48:52.120 without abandoning the path of righteousness,

00:48:56.580 which indicates what?

00:48:57.860 What can we conclude?

00:48:59.540 Logically, we can only conclude this.

00:49:01.520 There are times for the saints,

00:49:03.960 there are times for the saints

00:49:05.700 where the path of righteousness

00:49:07.280 actually goes through the valley of the shadow of death.

00:49:11.740 The Lord actually leads us on his path of righteousness

00:49:15.160 and it's not by going off of the path of righteousness

00:49:19.960 that we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death,

00:49:22.260 but precisely the path of righteousness itself

00:49:25.260 leads us into the valley of the shadow of death.

00:49:28.540 Not to stay there,

00:49:30.160 but through the valley of the shadow of death.

00:49:33.200 However, I think we can also theologically

00:49:37.460 form an argument from the whole of Scripture

00:49:39.840 that there are times where we're not by God's leading,

00:49:43.440 which we've already said is by His Spirit and by His Word,

00:49:46.380 God leading us on the path of righteousness

00:49:48.060 by his spirit and word takes us into the valley of the shadow of death, but there are also times

00:49:53.140 where by our own sin, namely our willful choice to get off of the path of righteousness, to forsake

00:50:00.900 God's leading, that we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death. Why? Because sin produces

00:50:06.080 sorrow. Sin produces hardship. So my point is this. You, saint, you, Christian, may find yourselves

00:50:15.060 in the valley of the shadow of death

00:50:16.980 in one of two ways,

00:50:18.600 because I believe both can be biblically supported.

00:50:21.840 You might find yourself, as Job did,

00:50:24.160 in the valley of the shadow of death

00:50:25.540 by your obedience,

00:50:27.560 by staying on the path of righteousness,

00:50:30.080 by following the leading of God,

00:50:32.760 because he led you into the valley of the shadow of death.

00:50:36.860 You also might find yourself

00:50:38.280 in the valley of the shadow of death

00:50:40.280 by getting off the path of righteousness,

00:50:42.920 by virtue of your disobedience and sin bringing about consequences and sorrow in this life.

00:50:50.200 But here's the reality. In both instances, the Lord is with you. And even furthermore,

00:50:57.300 in both instances, the Lord is still leading. Now, not in the same way. See, the Lord leads

00:51:03.600 first and foremost, primarily in his first sense. The Lord leads on the path of righteousness

00:51:10.980 by his word and spirit.

00:51:13.100 That's what we've already covered.

00:51:15.040 And our obedience to stay on that path.

00:51:17.840 But in a secondary sense,

00:51:19.360 the Lord leads not merely by his spirit and his word,

00:51:22.420 but by his sovereignty and his providence.

00:51:26.320 Meaning that even when we sin,

00:51:29.320 that does not mean that we are somehow

00:51:31.220 in an ultimate sense

00:51:32.600 outside of the sovereign leading of God.

00:51:35.000 Because the Lord, in Romans chapter eight,

00:51:38.020 the Bible says that God is working,

00:51:39.680 and that doesn't mean just fixing or salvaging,

00:51:42.560 but that means working, actively orchestrating

00:51:44.940 all things for his glory.

00:51:47.780 And not only his glory, but the good of his people.

00:51:51.540 The good of those who are called according to his purposes

00:51:53.740 and who love him.

00:51:57.060 And all things is a pretty inclusive term.

00:52:00.000 All things would include suffering.

00:52:02.160 And even more than that, all things includes sin.

00:52:06.180 So if you find yourself in the middle of the valley

00:52:08.960 of the shadow of death, it could be that you've been obedient and the path of righteousness led

00:52:14.700 straight through. It could also be that you've been disobedient, that the path of righteousness

00:52:19.900 was intended to go, in this particular case, around the valley of the shadow of death. And yet

00:52:24.820 you took a cheap detour and found yourself in the valley of the shadow of death due to your

00:52:30.060 disobedience. But even then, although God is not leading you in that first sense by his spirit and

00:52:36.840 word on the path of righteousness, God is still leading you in the secondary sense by virtue of

00:52:42.700 his sovereignty and providence because God is sovereign over all things, including your rebellion,

00:52:48.060 including your sin. So either way, if you find yourself in the valley of the shadow of death,

00:52:53.100 we can know that God is with us and we can know that God is leading us in the first sense or the

00:52:59.380 second sense, in a secondary sense, by his word and spirit as we stay on the path of righteousness

00:53:04.160 or by his providence and sovereignty over all things, including our sin.

00:53:09.740 Now, this is why I think the psalm includes both.

00:53:14.200 Because David says, in verse 4, he says one more thing.

00:53:18.880 He says, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

00:53:23.220 thou art with me.

00:53:24.460 And then he says, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

00:53:29.660 Now, you're probably familiar with this.

00:53:32.320 The rod and the staff, these two instruments of the shepherd,

00:53:35.700 were used for two separate purposes.

00:53:38.380 One, the staff is used as a defensive weapon

00:53:42.200 in order to fight against threats, dangers, enemies, wolves,

00:53:47.340 to protect the sheep.

00:53:49.020 But the rod is used to discipline the sheep.

00:53:52.960 And see, as I've exegeted this text and was working and studying

00:53:56.820 and praying about it all week long,

00:53:58.080 I think that the reason why David says both of these instruments, the staff that protects me by being used to vanquish the enemy and your rod that's actually used on me for my discipline, both bring me comfort because there are two ways that I might find myself in the valley of the shadow of death.

00:54:17.800 I might find myself in the valley of the shadow of death because I was obeying and you led me here on the path of righteousness.

00:54:24.700 The path of righteousness actually took me

00:54:26.920 into the valley of the shadow of death.

00:54:28.420 In which case, you hold a staff.

00:54:31.800 And you protect me from the wolves

00:54:33.660 and all the dangers in the valley of the shadow of death.

00:54:36.220 But I might also find myself in the valley

00:54:39.040 of the shadow of death

00:54:39.800 because I went off the path of righteousness

00:54:41.520 through my rebellion, through my sin.

00:54:43.720 In which case, I'm comforted by your rod

00:54:45.460 because you discipline me

00:54:47.420 and bring about repentance

00:54:49.260 to help me get back on the path of righteousness.

00:54:52.260 all right that being said finally God leads us we've seen now in verse three he leads us for

00:55:00.060 our good and his glory and he also we saw in verse four and five he leads us through valleys

00:55:05.000 and victories but we see finally in verse six the final ultimate end of God's leading

00:55:12.400 God leads us to himself in your notes I've written this David's final conclusion in verse six is this

00:55:19.300 because God has always been with him

00:55:21.340 and has lavished him with goodness in every circumstance,

00:55:24.980 David concludes that there is no logical reason

00:55:27.660 to ever doubt that God's goodness and mercy

00:55:30.780 shall follow him all the days of his life.

00:55:33.780 In other words, I like this.

00:55:35.820 When a man pursues God, God pursues that man.

00:55:42.080 See, the language shifts in verse six. 0.87

00:55:44.200 It's the only time.

00:55:45.380 What we've seen in verse one, two, three, four, five.

00:55:47.900 Now, we saw in verses 1 through 3, explicitly, I think it's implicit in verses 4 and 5,

00:55:53.240 and I've already made that argument, how God leads us even into the valley of the shadow of death.

00:55:57.920 He does it explicitly by the path of righteousness going into it, leading us through His Word and

00:56:03.340 His Spirit, but He also does it implicitly by His providence and sovereignty over all things,

00:56:07.920 including our sin and our choice to get off the path of righteousness. Either way, God is leading

00:56:12.480 us. So implicitly, I think in verse 4 and 5, with the banqueting table, and even with the valley of

00:56:18.240 the shadow of death, we still see implicitly God's leading. We see explicitly, no doubt can be had,

00:56:25.860 in verses 1, 2, and 3, God's leading. He leads me besides still waters, verse 2. He leads me in the

00:56:32.400 path of his righteousness, verse 3. So we see the leading of God all over Psalm 23, until we come to

00:56:39.720 the final verse. See, verse one, two, three, four, and five, David is following God as God leads.

00:56:49.200 But in verse six, after David has followed God, there is now a benefit, a promise, an attribute

00:56:56.700 of God that now follows David. David has followed God, namely God's leading. And now God's goodness

00:57:04.760 and mercy follows David. When a man pursues God, God's mercy and goodness will pursue him

00:57:12.460 all the days of his life. David is convinced, he is absolutely, completely persuaded that at this

00:57:21.440 point in his life, if the goodness and mercy of God have not failed yet, they never will. If the

00:57:28.160 goodness and mercy of God can be found in the presence of his enemies at a banqueting table,

00:57:33.160 if the goodness and mercy of God can be found in his staff and even his rod through discipline,

00:57:38.080 if the goodness and mercy of God can be seen even in the valley of the shadow of death,

00:57:42.620 then the goodness and mercy of God will follow him, pursue him everywhere he goes.

00:57:48.440 Like a tick on a dog, David can't get away from the goodness and mercy of God even if he tried.

00:57:54.440 When a man pursues God, God's goodness and mercy pursue him.

00:57:59.520 Almost like honing missiles.

00:58:02.240 It's just he can't outrun it.

00:58:03.780 He can't evade the goodness and mercy of God.

00:58:07.760 David pursues God.

00:58:09.460 God's goodness and mercy pursues him.

00:58:12.880 Lastly, notice that the ultimate reward for David and for you and I

00:58:17.340 is not the leading of the Lord as an end in itself, verses 1 through 3.

00:58:23.020 And it's not even the comfort of the Lord, right?

00:58:25.280 The staff and the rod comforting us, as we saw in verse 4.

00:58:28.480 It's not even the blessing of the Lord, his banqueting table,

00:58:31.020 his protection and provision that we saw in verse five.

00:58:33.880 It's not even the house of the Lord that we dwell in

00:58:38.100 that we see in verse six.

00:58:40.340 No, the ultimate reward for God's people

00:58:42.380 is the Lord himself.

00:58:45.080 See, Psalm 27, verse four, David says this.

00:58:48.660 One thing I have asked of the Lord

00:58:50.260 that will I seek after,

00:58:53.000 that I may dwell in the house of the Lord.

00:58:54.740 That's what we find in verse six.

00:58:55.940 I'm gonna dwell in his house forever,

00:58:57.320 all the days of my life.

00:58:59.420 But see, in Psalm 27, verse 4, David says, why?

00:59:03.340 That I may, this is the one thing I petition,

00:59:05.400 the one plea that I have.

00:59:07.040 I want this more desperately, more deeply than anything else,

00:59:11.200 to dwell all of my days in the house of the Lord.

00:59:14.080 For what end?

00:59:15.520 To behold the beauty of the Lord.

00:59:18.880 I want to dwell in the house of the Lord

00:59:20.960 all the days of my life.

00:59:22.520 Why?

00:59:23.260 Because that's where the Lord is.

00:59:25.980 It's not just because the house is amazing,

00:59:27.960 which it is. I don't want to just be in the house of the Lord forever because it's a good place to

00:59:32.620 live. I want to be in the house of the Lord forever because I know who lives there and it's

00:59:37.160 the Lord himself. It's not just to gaze upon the beauty of the house. It's the gaze upon the beauty

00:59:43.260 of the Lord who made the house. That's where true happiness is found. That's where my heart will

00:59:49.680 finally be satisfied. That's where all want disappears. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not

00:59:55.760 want. Why? Not merely because he provides green pastures and still waters. Not merely because he

01:00:01.500 wields a rod and a staff that comfort me. Not merely because of the Lord's table and the Lord's

01:00:06.080 banquet and his bounty. Not merely because the Lord protects me from my enemies or even that the

01:00:11.440 Lord establishes me in his house. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want because of the shepherd

01:00:17.880 himself. It's the shepherd. Not just what he does. Not just what he gives. Not just what he promises.

01:00:24.060 It's because the Lord is my shepherd and because the Lord dwells in the house of the Lord that I ultimately shall not want.

01:00:32.800 I have no need. I have no lack.

01:00:35.520 Every desire of my heart has been satisfied because I have him.

01:00:41.700 The Lord is my portion.

01:00:44.000 The Lord is my my provision.

01:00:46.480 The Lord is my great reward.

01:00:49.020 He makes my heart glad.

01:00:51.320 In conclusion, John Piper says this,

01:00:54.060 it occurred to me that all the paths of righteousness

01:00:56.960 are paths of love.

01:00:58.940 God is the beginning and God is the end

01:01:00.920 of all my righteousness.

01:01:02.800 See, the path of righteousness has God's grace

01:01:05.120 as its starting point, for he leads me into it.

01:01:09.460 And it has God's glory as its destination

01:01:12.000 because his leading is for his namesake.

01:01:15.820 The paths of righteousness are not merely

01:01:18.060 the paths of moral goodness, holiness,

01:01:21.820 doing the right thing so that God might be glorified.

01:01:24.280 Now, the paths of righteousness that glorify God

01:01:26.840 are synonymous with the paths of love that benefit you.

01:01:31.600 You are benefited.

01:01:33.520 And God is glorified.

01:01:35.300 And these are not two separate things.

01:01:37.660 No, God is glorified by your benefit.

01:01:40.620 God is glorified by keeping steadfast covenant.

01:01:44.720 I mean, that's literally what Moses uses,

01:01:46.320 as it were, against God when he's trying to convince God. Now, we know God's mind was already

01:01:49.920 made up. He's just having this dialogue with Moses, so it's not as though Moses was used to

01:01:54.520 actually change God's mind. God is not a man that he should change his mind, the scripture says

01:01:58.540 elsewhere. There's no variation or shadow in him due to change whatsoever. He's the same yesterday,

01:02:04.020 today, and forevermore. However, we see this dialogue between Moses and God, and God says,

01:02:09.320 I'm going to start over with you. Same thing I did, you know, with Noah, round two. I can't flood

01:02:13.540 the earth because I made a promise about that, but maybe I'll just consume it all with fire.

01:02:16.720 There's other ways, Moses. I'm going to kill everybody and start over with you, just like I 0.99

01:02:21.220 did with Noah. And Moses says what? He says he persuades, as it were, God from doing that, 0.99

01:02:27.680 against doing that by saying, but then the Egyptians and all the other nations,

01:02:31.800 they'll say that you only let us out here in the wilderness to put us to death.

01:02:35.940 and that you were not able to fulfill your covenant,

01:02:41.360 your promise, by guiding this people

01:02:43.640 into the land of promise.

01:02:46.580 See, Moses, what he does is this.

01:02:49.840 He says, you'll get less glory.

01:02:53.440 God, I mean, he knows what God loves.

01:02:57.020 God is a jealous God.

01:02:58.360 And that's not God being self-consumed

01:03:00.380 or selfish or arrogant in any way.

01:03:02.480 But God, see, you and I, we read the Ten Commandments every single week.

01:03:07.480 It's a sin for us to have any God before God.

01:03:10.300 Well, guess what?

01:03:10.900 The Ten Commandments, it's not just what God says we should do.

01:03:14.180 It's what God upholds perfectly himself.

01:03:17.080 God has no other God but God.

01:03:21.120 See, if God were to love any creature more than himself, he would be an idolater.

01:03:26.420 God would be committing idolatry.

01:03:27.660 It would be wrong.

01:03:28.620 It's not righteous.

01:03:29.960 It's not just.

01:03:30.700 It's not correct.

01:03:32.480 If God were to have placed more value

01:03:34.980 and more affection and more love

01:03:36.400 on anything in all creation besides himself,

01:03:40.800 he would be improperly attributing value and affection.

01:03:44.900 He would be loving something idolatrously.

01:03:47.440 God loves himself the most

01:03:48.900 because he's the most worthy of love.

01:03:51.360 God loves himself and therefore he loves his name,

01:03:55.300 his glory.

01:03:56.700 That's his reputation, his character, who he is.

01:04:00.220 And he's not going to compromise it ever.

01:04:02.920 And so Moses puts God's name on the line, as it were.

01:04:07.020 He says, if you don't fulfill your covenant,

01:04:09.320 if you're not good to your people,

01:04:11.760 then the other nations will say bad things about you.

01:04:15.580 But notice what Moses is doing.

01:04:17.020 And here's the beauty of it.

01:04:17.980 It's not that Moses is used to change God's mind.

01:04:20.320 God is condescending to speak to Moses

01:04:22.440 as a man speaks to a man.

01:04:24.020 God already knows what he's going to do.

01:04:25.860 But here's the point.

01:04:27.260 The point is not what Moses,

01:04:28.720 not Moses' brilliant strategy to persuade God.

01:04:32.100 No, the point is, though, that God affirms him.

01:04:35.360 That's the point.

01:04:36.080 It's not what Moses does, it's what God does.

01:04:38.180 Not what Moses says, what God says.

01:04:40.140 What God says is an affirmation.

01:04:41.680 He says, you're right.

01:04:43.280 Which means what?

01:04:44.260 What principle did God just affirm with Moses?

01:04:46.620 The principle that God gets more glory

01:04:48.640 by being good to his people than punishing them.

01:04:52.340 That's insane.

01:04:53.860 That is so encouraging.

01:04:55.580 That's so hopeful.

01:04:56.560 Moses makes this argument,

01:04:57.880 and Moses is probably not even sure about it,

01:04:59.340 but Moses says, if you do that, you would be just.

01:05:01.620 it would be just, it would be righteous

01:05:04.060 because we're a stiff people, we're grumbling,

01:05:07.200 we're complaining, you've already provided so much

01:05:08.860 and all these things and yet their hearts

01:05:11.380 are filled with unbelief.

01:05:12.480 You would be perfectly just and righteous 1.00

01:05:14.560 in putting all of Israel to death 1.00

01:05:16.840 and starting over with me.

01:05:18.300 But the other nations will say bad things about you.

01:05:21.960 The other nations will see this in a negative light.

01:05:24.840 They won't see you as beautiful, as glorious,

01:05:28.560 as if you fulfilled your promise

01:05:30.160 and had mercy on your people

01:05:31.920 and delivered them into the promised land.

01:05:34.360 And God responds by saying, you're right.

01:05:37.380 You're right.

01:05:38.200 I will be more glorified by being good to my people than bad,

01:05:43.840 by doing them good rather than doing them evil.

01:05:48.360 You see, the glory of God is really, it's like a mountain.

01:05:52.880 Many theologians have used this illustration,

01:05:55.080 so it's not unique to me, but it's like a mountain.

01:05:57.220 And in this mountain, we have all the attributes of God,

01:05:59.740 his justice, his judgment, his righteousness, his holiness, but the peak of the mountain is his

01:06:04.900 grace. The peak of the mountain is his grace. The reality is that no part of the mountain is really

01:06:12.000 better than the other, but the part that can be seen from miles and miles away, the part that

01:06:16.840 appears the most majestic, it's the same rock that makes it all up, it's the same essence, the same

01:06:21.000 substance, that the peak of the mountain wouldn't be as glorious if it didn't have the base of the

01:06:24.840 mountain, hoisting it up. So all the attributes of God are the mountains, the same dirt, the same

01:06:29.960 rock, the same substance. It's all glorious. It's all glorious. But what's seated at the top, the

01:06:36.000 peak of the mountain that can be seen from miles and miles away that causes your jaw to drop is

01:06:41.280 his grace. God gains glory for himself by his judgment of the wicked. But the way God gains

01:06:49.700 glory for himself, in his mercy towards the righteous, there's something special about that.

01:06:56.300 And that is what David asked, and that's what he exalts in, in Psalm 23, and we should too.

01:07:02.460 Thanks so much for listening, but real quick, before you go, do us a small favor, take a moment,

01:07:07.480 and leave us a five-star review if you enjoyed the show. This is undoubtedly the best way that

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The NXR Podcast - August 14, 2022

SUNDAY SERMON - The Shepherd Is Glorified Through His Goodness To The Sheep ｜ Psalm 23

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