Sunday 06 • 10 • 18

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. — Psalm 23

This morning, we're continuing our series on Christ in the Psalms. We're looking at different Psalms all summer and tracing out truths about Christ to celebrate and to bask in with one another. This morning, we're looking at Psalm 23. We're having a lot of different preachers throughout the summer, and let me just assure you this was a Psalm that was fought over. But I'm pleased to let you know that Russell McCutcheon is the winner of that fight.

Russell has been here to preach before. Russell is the pastor of Fellowship Germantown, which is in Memphis, and he's also someone we've identified as our next church planter. He'll be coming not this year but next year to come plant a church in Raleigh. We're going to try and have him from time to time come and preach so that we can get to know him and his wife, Toya, and their kids. I want to welcome back Russell. Russell, thanks for coming and preaching God's word to us.

Good morning, CTK. Good morning. I'm glad to really be here with you. My wife and I, who's with me, we counted it an honor and a pleasure to worship with you this morning, looking at this very familiar Psalm.

The Theme of the Sermon

This morning, we want to look at our great Savior from this familiar Psalm, Psalm 23. John Jawid, who is a minister at Cause Lane Church in England and later at Fifth Avenue Church, said that no sermon ought to be preached unless you can first state it in a sentence. So the purpose of this sermon is to see that Jesus provides direction and protection for his people.

Jesus provides direction and protection for his people, and because he gives us direction and protection, our posture towards him must be one of reverence and worship because he is central to our very existence. Now, it's easy for us to go about our lives and our days as if Jesus is not central. We want him as an add-on to the very things that we do on a daily basis. We want him to bless the things that we do, and if he does not bless those things that we have scheduled for our lives and our family, if he does not bless them in the way that we want him to, we think that he is not working in our lives like we want him to.

It's like we say this to him: "God, you got it wrong. This was not supposed to happen." But when we look at Scripture, we see all throughout that God leads his people where he wills for his glory. I will repeat that: God leads his people where he wills for his glory. He directs our lives. He never gets it wrong.

If you don't believe me, just look at Psalm 115:3 where the Scripture says:

Our God in heaven does whatever he pleases. — Psalm 115:3

I don't know about you, but sometimes it scares me because that lets me know that God can do with my life whatever he decides to do with my life, and I have no say in the outcome of it. You see, God's perspective is always right. He never gets it wrong.

Jesus is the one who has total authority and control over our lives. Why? Because he is the creator of all things, including our very existence. Look with me at Colossians chapter one, verses 15 through 20.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and before him. He is before all things and by him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross. — Colossians 1:15-20

You see how Jesus permeates everything here. Paul is talking about him as the centerpiece of all of history. Everything revolves around him. So in this Psalm, we want to see Jesus as the true Shepherd. He is the one who leads his sheep, his people.

Now, as we come to this Psalm, for many of us, this is the first Psalm we ever memorized.

We probably know this Psalm since we were kids, and because we are so familiar with it, it will be easy for us to check out in this moment. We say, "I know that." But I ask that you don't check out. Be attentive and pay attention. As Hebrews 4:12 says:

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. — Hebrews 4:12

I believe that for those of us who are very familiar with this Psalm, God wants to teach us something. Even if it's old news, He wants to bring to light in our hearts the very things that He has said in His word.

Let's look at Jesus, the true shepherd. Before going further, let's ask God's blessing on this time.

Father, Your word says:

All scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man or woman of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. — 2 Timothy 3:16

Lord God, I'm thankful that when Paul wrote that, he had in mind what we call today the Old Testament, which shows me that everything in Your word from Genesis to Revelation, we need. Lord God, You're speaking. I pray that You'll give us eyes to see and ears to hear—not just to be hearers only, but doers of Your word. We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Theme of Trust and Relationship

As we look at this Psalm, we see an expression of confidence in God's protective care. The theme we see here is one of trust. The Psalmist begins by saying:

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. — Psalm 23:1

We also see in this Psalm the idea of relationship. When scripture describes the relationship between God and His people, it often describes that relationship as a father with his children or a shepherd to his sheep.

Now, how does Jesus express this relationship? In John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus said:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. — John 10:10

Why? Because Jesus is the good shepherd. In the very next verse, Jesus says:

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. — John 10:11

Because Jesus is the good shepherd, He keeps His people secure. He protects them from the enemy and gives them life and life to the full. Just like the Psalmist, we can express great confidence in God because of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus, the Creator as My Shepherd

I believe that the beauty of this Psalm, as we look at Jesus, is that Jesus—the creator of this universe—is my shepherd. Note that I'm using the personal pronoun purposefully. He is my shepherd, and He invites me to be His sheep. Think of this: Jesus, the creator of the universe.

When I was a child, I had a telescope that couldn't see from here to that chair. Maybe I could see the chair, but now we have telescopes that are so gigantic and so powerful that you can see galaxies upon galaxies. We are in the Milky Way. We see our planets and we say, "Man, that's huge," but there is so much more out there. Scripture says that Jesus created it all.

In the vastness of all of this universe, there is a planet called Earth—like a speck. On this planet, there are humans. The Bible lets me know that Jesus pays attention to this little planet, this speck of a planet, and the humans on it. But let me make it personal: Jesus pays attention to me on this planet. That blows me away. He invites me to be His sheep.

Not only does He pay attention to me and care for me, but He died for me. One of my favorite preachers, Gardner C. Taylor, said it this way about Jesus as He came to Earth and died: "He came and he became time-trapped, death-eligible, pain-capable for you."

Because of His great sacrifice for me, I am now not my own. He has the right to lay claim on my life.

The Nature of Sheep and Our Dependence on God

When we think of sheep, we need to know that sheep cannot take care of themselves. I heard someone say that sheep are the dumbest animals on the planet. If you took all of the brains of all the sheep and put them in one sheep, you might have an intelligent animal. But sheep are dumb. And what does scripture call us? Sheep.

This shows that just like sheep need constant attention and care, we too need constant attention and care from God. Because we need this constant attention, Jesus is always interceding for us. He's right now at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and for me. He always makes sure that we are cared for. There is not one moment in my life when His watchful eye is not on me. Not one moment to care for me.

This truth became very real for my wife and me about a month ago.

We had the opportunity to travel to Africa and toward the end of the trip, we were in Nairobi. Within Nairobi, there's a very large slum called Kibera. If you've ever been there, Kibera has about a 1.5 mile radius with 1.7 million people in this small area. I was teaching at a church, and the pastor's name was Martin. His wife was named Mary. He comes to us and says, "You will eat with me after service." So we go to his house. Obviously, we're in the slum, so this is not a huge house. They don't have refrigeration, so they don't have food they can just pull out of a refrigerator. Whatever we ate probably got killed that morning.

As we were sitting down eating, Mary is bringing the food out to us. We're just enjoying fellowship with one another. I noticed as we got done, there were two little kids that would run in and out of the house. They let us know that they had two older kids. These two younger kids were orphaned. Both of their parents had died, and they were family members of Mary.

Then Mary began to tell us something. She said, "We know for us it's a miracle. We like surplus, right? We have savings. There's nothing wrong with that. We prepare for the future. We don't have savings. We don't know where our next meal is going to come from, but we trust God. We believe because his eye is on us that he is going to supply every single thing that we need—and more than that." We saw the joy in their eyes, and we were challenged. I started asking myself, "Do I trust God in that way? Do I trust him that way?"

Belonging to the Shepherd

So here are some questions for us to consider this morning, and make it personal. Do I really belong to him? Do I really belong to him? Now, I'm from the Deep South, and I know people in the South. We have what I would call a cultural Christianity. If we go and knock on someone's door and ask, "Are you a Christian?" the answer we're probably going to get is, "Yes, I grew up in the church" or something to that effect. I'm not asking if we are cultural in our Christianity. I'm saying, do we belong to him? Can I say I am his sheep? Do I recognize his right to my life? That he has a right to do what he wants with my very being? Do I acknowledge his ownership over my life?

Now, the way that we answer these questions shows if he is truly my shepherd. Because he is my shepherd, I can be content because I have what I need. What I need most of all is his expert care. We need for him to care for us.

The Shepherd's Provision

Now let's look at verses two and three.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life. He leads me along the right paths for his name's sake. — Psalm 23:2-3

When sheep are afraid, they will refuse to lie down. They will not lie down. Only the shepherd can relieve the sheep of their anxiety and fear. His presence makes it possible for them to lie down, to relax, to rest, and to flourish.

The Psalm says that the shepherd takes the sheep to green pastures and quiet waters. The shepherd makes sure that the sheep have something to eat and to drink. Now, it is here that we must understand what the Psalm is really giving to us. When we simply read this cursory, we think of green pastures. I don't know about you guys—maybe you're avid outdoorsmen. Some of you may be. Maybe you like the serenity of a lot of grass, right? Just grass for days and you just see sheep running to this grass and eating and eating to the full.

Now, I'm sure the Psalmist wanted the shepherd to get the sheep to where there's bountiful grass. But think of David as a shepherd. David would have understood that shepherds would actually lead sheep and pasture them on brown hills, rocky hills. If you've ever been to Israel, you know—man, they can look in some of those areas. It just looks like, "Where is any life, right?" It could just be brown and rocky, not a lot of water. And if there was some greenery, it would pop up here or pop up there. So the shepherd would have to take the sheep on migrations from one source of sustenance to another.

When Jesus told the disciples to pray in this model prayer, he said, "Pray this way, asking the Lord to give us today our what?" Daily bread. This means that the Lord gives us what we need for right now. I believe that the Lord takes us to a place of sustenance, gives us what we need—enough energy for us to take the next step in following him. It's not that he's going to give us mercies for tomorrow because we don't know if we're going to be here tomorrow. We can't go back to yesterday because yesterday is gone.

All we have is right now today. Lord, give me what I need to make much of you right now where I am. He supplies those needs. You see, what makes the sheep secure is not the green pastures or the quiet waters. That does not make the sheep secure. What makes the sheep secure is the presence of the shepherd. See, for Christians, there was no substitute for the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, I don't know how you guys feel about this but I so believe that Jesus Christ is so close to me and in me that if I sneeze, I should say excuse me. In other words, I acknowledge his presence in my life by the power of his spirit. You can call it spooky all day. I need his presence because his presence is what I need when I do struggle with fear and anxiety. I don't know what you deal with but when I have fear and anxiety, I need his presence because I know I'm gonna experience hardship and misfortunes. And when I go through those trials, I need his very presence so that I can relax and know that he cares for me. This is comforting for me.

Because of Jesus and his presence with us, our outlook on life changes. This became so true for me when I saw a guy who played in the NBA and coached in the NBA experience the tragedy that he experienced. His name is Monte Williams. Monte Williams got a call a couple of years ago that his wife had been in a terrible accident. In my mind's eye, I'm thinking, man, they woke up that morning. Maybe they said they loved each other. Maybe kissed. Maybe ate together and he never knew that that would be the last time he saw his wife alive. She was in a car accident and died.

I don't know what to feel or think about me losing my wife but I know people experience that. Maybe some of you in here. That's a real experience and I don't want to ever diminish that. That is pain. That is pain that I can't even give verbiage to but what I do know is that Jesus is with you in the pain and I saw that evident in Monte Williams because he stood up and he had to speak on behalf of his wife. I know the pain was not removed but as you heard him talk, he talked about the nearness of the Lord Jesus Christ and what his faith was anchored in. That became real for me because I realized that even in his anguish and his pain and the tragedy, he's holding on to the one who gives him life and that reorients the way that he sees that great tragedy.

Following the Shepherd's Path

Then verse three also tells us that the shepherd leads the sheep faithfully on right paths or paths of righteousness. Now, sheep are creatures of habit. Like, they will eat, walk, and eat on the same trail over and over and over again, eating greenery until there is no more greenery and they start eating dirt. The path becomes ruined, right? So the shepherd develops a plan of action to rotate the sheep from one area to another. He leads them to fresh areas almost daily because the shepherd knows what the sheep need to thrive.

See, you and I can be just like sheep. We will do the same things over and over and over again. Now I'm gonna ask a question. I'm not saying this is wrong, but how many of you drive to work the same way every day and come home the same way every day? And you will not change. Matter of fact, you may say that's the shortest route. I get home quicker. Right? We're creatures of habit. But some of our habits are dangerous to us but we've been doing it so long and it's so familiar to us. We just want to continue to do those things. It feels okay. Even though it can be detrimental to our very being. And even when we come to Christ, a lot of times, we want to do our own thing. We think Jesus says, come follow me but when you follow me, you can do what you want to do. I don't think the text says that because in Mark chapter eight verse 34, Jesus said:

If anyone wants to follow me after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. — Mark 8:34

See, I love what God did with the children of Israel. He rescued them and he led them by a pillar of a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. He called on them to follow him as he is leading them to the promised land because he knows the way. He called them to follow him, trust him, and he does the same with us. See, he wants us to move along with him and when we move along with him, it's just not for our benefit.

When you read the story of the Exodus, you realize that for forty years, these people walk in the wilderness and their shoes don't wear out because they didn't have luxury cars or buses or planes. They walked but nothing wore out. God even preserved them even in their sin. Like, if they just followed the Lord, they would be okay.

It does not mean that hardships are not coming, but it's in following him. When we follow him, it is for our benefit, but not just our benefit. I believe as we are faithfully following the Lord, it would be for the world on the outside—those who don't know the Lord, who are watching us to see what it means to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he does this for his name's sake. You see, God's name reveals his character. He acts in a way that's consistent with the nature that his name reveals.

So as his sheep, why worry? Why worry? See, he knows exactly where to lead us to get us to where he wants us to be. Why? Because he is the way. Jesus was saying in John 14:6, he says:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.

Jesus is the way. Now, it's a lot of folk in here, and I know if I say, "Pull out your cellphones," most of the cellphones in here are gonna be smartphones. Now, there seems to be a movement among some people who want to be minimalists who go back to the old flip phone. Be it not so in my life. I don't want a flip phone. But all of our cellphones—those smartphones—they have GPSs, right? So you don't really have to know the directions to anywhere. All you need is the address. Type it in, hit go, and something happens between our phone and the satellite to give us directions to where we need to go.

I'm old enough, though, and I see some other seasoned saints in here that are old enough to remember what life was like before GPSs. When if you wanted to go anywhere, you needed to study a map—a paper map. It may have been thick, it may have been small, but you needed to study that thing. And if you didn't study it, you know, you make a couple of turns and you're lost, right?

So I've gotten lost before, and maybe I'll stop over at a gas station or a store and I ask someone, "Could you please give me directions?" That person is happy to give me directions, and it may sound something like this: "Oh, yeah. You need to go down three stoplights. And at that third stoplight, you need to turn right. Now when you turn right, you need to go down two cornfields—not three, but two cornfields—and you're going to see a leaning tree. At that leaning tree, there is a dirt road you need to turn left on. Don't keep straight because that's going to add two hours to your trip. Turn left on that dirt road. That dirt road is going to take you to a paved road. When you get to that paved road, you need to turn right. Go down about two miles. There was a church on the right and a street right past the church that has no name. Turn right right there. You're going to make it to your destination."

Now straight up, most of us are lost right now. After the first turn, we're lost, right? But what if that person would have come to me and said, "Come. I'll take you there"? See, in this way, this person is the way for me, and I know now that I will make it safely to my destination.

So are you in a place this morning where you are worried that God will not get you exactly where you need to go? Have you made plans and you're worried, "Am I going to get to that destination?" See, Jesus knows the way because he is the way.

Are you worried you will not have the resources to pay a bill or to make any other purchase that you need to make? I want you to know this morning that God will provide. He knows the way to resources because he has resources. As a matter of fact, scripture would say also in the Psalms that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The God that disciples me would say it this way: God got cheese. He could get you what you need.

Are you afraid of what the lab results will show? I want you to know this morning that our God is a healer. He examines us and thoroughly understands where we're hurting, and he has that balm—that balm in Gilead—that he will apply to our souls to bring healing into our lives. Whatever you need, he knows the way, and he knows how to make sure you have what you need because he loves us and he cares for us.

Living in Dangerous Places

Now, as we continue to walk through the Psalm, almost to the end, we could maybe look at the first part of that Psalm and think, "Man, the sheep that belong to God, they're not going to go through any difficulty." But verse four flies in the face of that because this verse shows that God's people live in a world that can be dangerous. So the Psalm says:

Even I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger for you are with me. Your rod and staff, they comfort me.

Now, in studying this, I never knew this, but he says sometimes the shepherd would have to lead the sheep through deep wadis or these canyons that were made by winter rains. And so it's deep, and at the bottom it could be hot. And the size of that canyon could block out the sun—dark valleys. And so it's dangerous in there. The only thing the sheep could do is follow the shepherd.

Also, as they are coming out of these canyons or wherever they are in this wilderness, wild animals are lurking, hungry, ready to pounce on these sheep. Even though it was dangerous, the shepherd would make sure that the sheep were protected and that they made it to where they needed to go. The shepherd made sure. Jesus, likewise, takes care of those in his care even when it's dangerous.

While I was with him, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost except the son of destruction so that the scripture may be fulfilled. — John 17:12

The Psalm has also mentioned a rod and staff, and this rod and staff of the shepherd removed fear for the sheep. You see, the rod was an instrument for the shepherd for protection for himself and for the sheep. It conveys the idea of authority, power, and discipline. The staff was a tool, a wooden tool long that had a hook on the end of it, and it was a tool that was used to express gentleness, kindness, and long suffering. So when the sheep would get loose, the shepherd would lovingly use that staff, that hook to bring them back into the fold.

See, the sheep needed to see the authority and the tenderness of the shepherd. See, in our life's journey, we need to see God's authority. Right now, with everyone trying to diminish God's authority, everyone is authority unto themselves. We need by the word of God to see that God is authoritative. He has power. He tells us what to do, but he's not only authoritative in our lives to whip us and pounce on us. He's also tender and caring. See, there are times because of the decisions that we make that we can ruin our own lives where God would be in his right to just smash us, but he does not do that. Yes, he does let us know that he has authority, but he's also kind and tender towards us and he draws us near to him.

And the Psalm is what saying in the last two verses:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live. — Psalm 23

See, to have a table set is a symbol of honor and provision. See, the beauty of this Psalm is that God honors and affirms his people in the very presence of the enemy. See, life that is lived in the presence of God and by the power of God is a life lived in a world that is broken and not yet restored to the wholeness that God intends. However, in the midst of this brokenness, for his people, God can still lay out a wonderful spread in the face of our enemies.

Along the journey, the shepherd will have to encounter and deal with wolves, with bears, with lions that would try to attack the sheep. But the good shepherd knew how to stop those attacks. Just like the shepherd, Jesus knows the subtle attack of Satan and his demons. Not only does he know the attack, but he determines what even opposition looks like. The way I'm told, Satan is a dog on a leash. He can only go so far. He can't do anything that God does not allow him to do. If you don't believe me, just go read the book of Job and see that in the book of Job, God himself is the one that got at Job and said, "You can do this to him, but you can't do this to him."

Even though Satan is out there doing what he does, he's still kept in check, and this is important for us because it shows us that even as Satan is doing what he does, we need to stay close to Christ. We need to walk closely with him. When we drift from him, that's when we're in great danger. But even when we drift from him, he comes to us and he rescues us.

What man among you who has 100 sheep and loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, "Rejoice with me because I have found my sheep." I tell you in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don't need repentance. — Luke 15:4-7

The sheep was brought home to celebrate with the shepherd. See, the Psalm has desired to dwell in God's house forever. He wanted to be in God's presence and to have the opportunity to experience him intimately and on an ongoing basis. See, this coming to God was not an escape from enemies. It was an escape to the very presence of God.

Internal Enemies and God's Provision

We as humans know we have spiritual enemies—Satan and his demons—but I think there are other enemies that we struggle with also, and these enemies are more internal. What are some of those internal enemies? They could be fear, shame, guilt, and anger. So my question is, how can God provide a table before the presence of these enemies in my life, these internal enemies?

I believe that we see God's provision in the handshake of a friend. Never diminish the handshake of a friend. Someone who comes close to you at that critical moment you need. I don't know how many of you have ever received a phone call from someone who doesn't even know what's going on with you. They may just call and say, "Look, you were on my heart. I've been praying for you." And you may say something is right on time. Maybe tears start rolling down your face. I don't know how you knew, but I needed that comfort. Thank you so much for being a friend, because we see God at work.

I think we see it outside of our window at home and we just hear children playing outside, not having a care in the world. Often times I look at children and think, man, it must be nice. It must be nice not to have to pay bills, to eat food that somebody else gets for you. I see that in God's vision. I also see it in God's provision in meeting a guy by the name of Ralph a few weeks ago. My wife and I were going into Chick-fil-A. Ralph was outside just asking for money and food. He was homeless. Someone had bought him some food, but he was asking person after person after person.

I think we need to have gospel eyes when we see homeless people, because they are invisible to many of us. We cannot see them. As we were walking in the store, I could not see him. He's asking me for money and I gave him money. I also wanted to share the love of Christ with this young man. With Ralph, what I understood is that he did not know me, but he did know me. I did not know him, but I did know him, because he was someone made in the image of God. I was able to share Jesus Christ with him, and he looked me in my eyes and I could see the joy in his face just to say, "Thank you. Thank you."

For me, I see God's provision there. There are myriad of ways that God sets a table before us in the presence of our enemies, in the presence of our daily struggles.

God's Presence in Our Fears

Now, I know there are many people in here who believe in the mandate to multiply and reproduce because we have children. If you have children big enough, I don't know how many of you parents have been in that REM sleep, sleeping good, you don't hear nothing, and all of a sudden you feel this little body in your bed. Knees in your back, feet on you, and you said, "What? Where did you come from?" Well, maybe your children have had a nightmare or they are afraid of the thunder and lightning.

So when the thunder and lightning happens, they scream, run through the valley of their bedroom, run through the valley of the hallway, and find their way. Kids are brilliant. They will get right up under you. You open your eyes and look up and maybe they're crying. When they're crying, we want to just hold on to them and ask them, "Why are you crying?"

It is in the hugs that everything gets different. Now, hugging them does not stop the rain and thunder outside, the lightning outside. It does not stop it, but it does change the way that they face it. What they just want to do is know that with mom and daddy and embrace that everything is going to be okay. The fears and insecurities are then removed.

Brothers and sisters, we don't have to be afraid because God's presence is with us. His presence is with us. We have a wonderful Savior. We have a great Shepherd. We can enjoy the table that God has set before us because of the work of Jesus Christ. We know that there is a day coming where He is going to return. I can't wait for that day. However people's eschatology is, I know He's coming to get me. But until that day, He has left me here. Either He's going to come get me, or He's going to take me out of here through death. But until whatever He decides to do, I can enjoy life because of His provision and His protection.

Prayer

Lord, we do bless You and we thank You so much for the beauty of Your Word. I pray, Lord, it's a comfort to us. I pray for those who may not know the Lord Jesus Christ today. As the old pastor J. Vernon McGee said, the hound of heaven. I pray that the hound of heaven would not leave the unbeliever alone, that You would convict the heart, Lord God, based on John chapter 3, that You will take out their heart of stone. Ezekiel 36, take out their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

That they will put their trust in you, in you, Father. Thank you so much for your word. Thank you so much for being our shepherd, Jesus. We love you. It's in Jesus' name we do ask this. Amen.