"Psalm 23 is one of the most well known and recited. Pieces of scripture in all of the Bible Penned nearly 3000 years ago. Its message still resonates and connects with audiences today. Pastor Matt Chandler has pointed out that it wasn't so much written as much as it was wrung out of the life of King David. David started out his life as a shepherd. He would go on to defeat Goliath save a nation and ultimately become king. But King David also spent time on the run for his life. He experienced the pain and the loss when he fell morally. He lost a child to early death and ultimately, he lost his kingdom to rebellion. You would be hard pressed to find anybody in scripture who experienced higher mountaintops or lower valleys than King David himself. Here in Psalm 23, we have a shepherd who became a king, writing about a king who became a shepherd max, Lucado in his book safe in the shepherd's arm, describe psalm 23 in this way, do more beloved words exist, framed and hung in hospital halls scratched on prison walls, quoted by the young and whispered by the dying. In these lines, sailors have found a harbor, the frightened have found a father and the strugglers have found a friend. I'm not sure where you are watching or listening to this message today, but this I know to be true that we have a good shepherd in the Lord, our God and our good shepherd loves us. He cares for us. He comforts us and ultimately he brings peace in the valley. Over the next six weeks, we're going to take a deeper dive into each verse, found in Psalm 23. And at the end of each message we are going to share with you a truth to declare and inaction to apply. So let's jump in Psalm 23 verse one states the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want in just a few short words, There is such incredible power. Commentators have noted that really all of psalm 23 is a description of those first two words of the Lord, The Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah. So many names found in scripture to describe the creator, King savior God. But here in Psalm 23, we have a picture of a shepherd. It reminds me of a similar picture found in the gospel of john the Apostle john shared the words of jesus, found in john chapter 10 verses 10 to 15, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy I came, that they may have life and have it abundantly I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me just as the father knows me and I know the father and I laid down my life for the sheep. So here in Psalm 23 and in John 10, we see the pictures of God being a shepherd and us being sheep 1st. What makes God a good shepherd? Anyway. Well, I believe there are four reasons that we can trust God and jesus christ as the good shepherd first, jesus is the good shepherd because jesus made us, God created the world, but specifically, he created us in his own image. The fact that God created us gives us identity. It's very common in pieces of art to find the signature of the artist somewhere within the painting. In the same way God has placed his signature on your heart because you were made in his likeness. So take comfort in the fact that your identity is secure because God, the good shepherd made you 2nd. We can trust God as the good shepherd because God bought us in the john 10 passage, the difference between the hired hand and the good shepherd is that one owns the sheep and one does not for the hired hand who doesn't own the sheep when trouble came he fled. But the good shepherd was willing to lay his life down because those sheep belong to him in the same way jesus bought us paying the highest price with his life. That means that you your soul, your being, your humanity is priceless because it was bought with the blood of jesus and the fact that jesus, the good shepherd bought you means that you immediately have belonging. He knows your innermost thoughts, your dreams, your longings. The fact that God knows you means that you have a purpose. 3rd, Jesus is the good Shepherd because Jesus knows you. The fact that Jesus knows you means that we have protection. God cares for you. He bought you with his own life. So why would jesus go so far to die on the cross? To make you his own to leave you hanging in times of trouble. The fact is, he wouldn't and we're going to find out more about that later in the series 4th We can know and trust that God is the good shepherd because he leads us. And if God is leading you, then that means that you have purpose, you were created on purpose and for a purpose. So, the fact that God made you that he bought you that he knows you and that he is leading you is evidence that jesus christ is a good shepherd. That's the first picture. But the second picture is that of us being sheep, sheep are the most helpless animals on the planet. They literally need help doing everything eating walking, sleeping. They need to be groomed regularly sheep when left on their own are gonna die sometimes by even crazy things like flies, we'll talk more about that later. And so when we get described as sheep, I don't get too excited about that, You know, nobody is getting a tattoo of a sheep. No college mascot is the sheep. Who are we playing this weekend, johnny, we're facing the fighting sheep baa Look, they don't even have a defense mechanism. Their sides, some animals are made of spikes, there's are made out of material which we make clothes and pillows, but yet the sheep are cared for and they are loved and they are protected and they are guided because we have the good shepherd. So this leads me back to verse one The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, here is the truth to declare this week. If you cannot say that the Lord is your shepherd, then you cannot say that I shall not want. Unless the first phrase is true, then the second phrase will never be true as we are sheep. All of us have a shepherd. So the question is, what is your shepherd? If health is your shepherd, what happens when you or a loved one gets sick? If wealth is your shepherd, well, that puts you in a lose lose situation, because if you attain the success and the wealth that you're searching for, your left feeling empty, but if you fail and you find yourself in poverty, you're left feeling broken and longing. And so if your shepherd is wealth, you will always be wanting more. What about relationships? Relationships are a good thing, but even good things placed in the God spot puts you in bad shape because if a relationship is your shepherd, what happens when you experience betrayal Or you lose a loved one you are left wanting and wanting more last. Maybe some of you have the shepherd of productivity, you're so goal driven and you want to do and you want to attack and see our world, especially in Western culture celebrates that the people who make productivity their shepherd often get promotions. The problem though is that most of life is out of your control. And so we are left facing and battling anxiety because we recognize that we cannot take care of ourselves. And so unless you can truly say that the Lord is your shepherd, then you will not be able to ever say that. I shall not want. That is our truth to declare. But here is our action to apply. No, the shepherd. The shepherd knows you. He made you he bought you, he protects you. He leads you. So the question is, do you know him when we are surrounded by circumstances and uncertainty and we are facing an unprecedented time in our society today. But we can have peace in the valley of our lives right now when we know the good shepherd, the key to contentment is knowing the shepherd. Do you know him? You see you were created for relationship with God. But all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that sin has separated us from him. We are all sheep who have gone astray as the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 53 verse six. But thankfully we have a shepherd who is willing to leave the 99 and to go after the one and to bring us back into the fold and into the flock. In fact, our God loves us so much that even while we were still sinners, he came down to earth, died on the cross, paid the penalty for our sin. And when he rose again on the third day, he not only conquered death, but he covered our sins and set us free. So when you admit that you are a sinner, if you believe that jesus christ is the good shepherd and that only through him we can have comfort and peace and eternal life and then we commit our lives to him, John 10 as we read today tells us that we can have abundant life. Eternity doesn't start the moment that you die. It starts the moment that you accept Jesus into your life. When you do that, your sins will be forgiven. The Holy Spirit will come and dwell inside of you and that you will have a renewed and refreshed spirit. You will understand what true peace really is. So don't settle for the hired hands of health or well. Ther even relationships instead choose to know the shepherd and you can do that right now. Will you pray with me? Dear Heavenly father, I know that I have gone astray that I feel anxious that I make mistakes that God I settled for hired hands and God, I want to know you the good shepherd God because you died on the cross and rose again. My sins are forgiven. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me life. I want to know you more. Each and every day may today start my spiritual journey with you. I commit my life to you God, it's in your son's name. We pray amen if you prayed that prayer with me right now. I want you to fill out our connection card found on our website or make mention on whatever platform you're watching this service in the comment section, we want to connect with you and in fact when you do that, we will reach out to you and someone will walk through with you what we have called, experienced jesus devotional, a four week experience to begin your spiritual journey of faith. I'm proud of you. If you've made that decision today and if you are already a christian but you've wandered a little bit, you're that sheep that has gone away. I want to encourage you to remember that if the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want the key to contentment is to know him as your shepherd. Come back to the fold, come back to the shepherd and start that relationship again. It's not too late. God loves you and I love you. God bless."