Psalm 23
As a young kid I saw a movie called “The Never Ending Story.” Later as a young Christian I realized they stole the plot from the Bible. Jesus Christ is the true “never ending story.” You couldn’t even find the first page because there isn’t a beginning.
Joh 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Psalm 23 is the “Shepherd psalm.” So let’s talk about “The Shepherd’s Never Ending Story.”
Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
David believes the LORD is his SHEPHERD and that he is ALL HE NEEDS. So he says “I shall not want.”
The LORD has a NEVER ENDING STORY with his…
BOTTOMLESS SHEPHERD’S BAG.
Just when you thought he ran out he pulls out something else. You used to think your mom’s purse was like that but it’s nothing compared to what the LORD has in storage. An innumerable company of angels couldn’t keep up with what he has in his bag.
1Sa 17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
That verse is about David(a type of Jesus Christ) loading up five smooth stones in his Shepherd’s bag. For any enemy the LORD has smooth stones to pull out just like he did on Goliath. He just wants you to reach in there and get them.
You can expect enemies. The world hates a Christian who acts like a Christian. In the Bible Egypt is a type of the world and in Genesis 46:34 it shows you the Egyptians considered it an abomination to eat with SHEPHERDS. The world obviously wants nothing to do with the true Shepherd, the LORD JESUS.
HIS BRIDGE KEEPS GOING.
There is a cool picture I saw once that shows a cross being used as a bridge to get across from hell to heaven. This is true. He made peace by the blood of his cross and the bridge keeps going after salvation. Jesus Christ is the way of salvation and also your ticket into being a part of the “never ending story.”
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
He laid out the bridge. As the Shepherd he knows where to lead you. He doesn’t lead you down the “way of a transgressor.” He doesn’t lead you to the house of the strange woman “whose steps take hold on hell.” He preaches the straight and narrow way. He wants you on the “path of righteousness.” As a New Testament believer you do this by “walking in the spirit.” You need to do it for “HIS NAMES SAKE.” Never bring shame to the name of the Shepherd by forsaking to the path of righteousness for the way of sinners.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
In the millennium the LORD will have Israel lie down. This has to do with being at peace and without fear.
Lev 26:5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
Lev 26:6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
If a man is “lying down” than this means he is at peace. He’s at rest and ISNT afraid.
Pro 3:24 When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.
God isn’t done with Israel. At the end of the tribulation they will get their land promised to their fathers.
Eze 34:13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
Eze 34:14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
Eze 34:15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
In the tribulation all green grass gets burnt up according to Revelation 7:17. Then the LORD comes at the second coming “in flaming fire taking vengeance.” However the same LORD that can destroy as much of his creation as he wants to can also restore it.
He also makes us to “lie down in green pastures..” When it comes to being saved or lost the “grass really is greener on the other side.” That is on THE BRIGHT SIDE. The devils yard is all growed up with a bunch of trees with shadey spots because the wicked like to be “snakes in the grass.” But when you take the bridge and “walk in the light as he is in the light” you’ll see that the grass is greener over here. Good enough to eat. The sheep eat where they sleep in the green pastures. If you have a King James Bible that should be where you eat and where you sleep. Have it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then listen to Scourby when you go to bed.
This is where he “leadeth me beside the still waters.” With the “washing of water by the word.”
In the tribulation time period he will preserve a faithful Jewish remnant and lead them beside “still waters.” He will suck up those waves the devil shoots out of his mouth in Revelation 12.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul:
Doctrinally Psalm 23 is about the nation of Israel being restored at the end of the trib.
Rom 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
Rom 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
The Shepherd’s Never Ending story has a bridge that keeps going. He has a bottomless Shepherd’s bag and his story is “never ending” because he has “been there and done that.”
Have you ever been around someone who has done it all? You say something you did and they already did it years ago and did it better than you. Well the LORD done did everything an eternity ago and did it better than them. The Shepherd is such a great Shepherd because he lived as a SHEEP himself. John the Baptist said “behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” You can’t trick the LORD and say life is too hard because “he’s been there and done that.” He lived a sinless life and faced death. He looked death in the eye and resurrected. He already walked through the valley of the shadow of death and was the only one to make it out a live. Since your on the bridge your the next to make it out alive.
The chief Shepherd guards the saints and will pull you out of the mouth of the lion.
Amo 3:12 Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.
The chief Shepherd guards the saints from all ages. He literally lays down his life for the sheep.
Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
When you walk through death it isn’t a fearful thing because the Shepherd has BEEN THERE DONE THAT.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
The good Shepherd gave his life for the sheep but he rose again
Heb 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Our Shepherd used his Rod and grabbed DEATH by the neck and laughed in his face. He thought that sickle looked like something you would buy from the dollar tree.
The good Shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. He rose again after he went through the valley of death himself and HES COMING BACK AGAIN for the sheep.
1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Why should you fear? All this world and the people in it can do is KILL THE BODY. If your like Paul than you have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better ANYHOW. The LORD is my Shepherd and he has a Rod and a staff. It can work more miracles than Moses and Aaron’s rods. The magicians wouldn’t stand a chance. Their WAND is just a copycat.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
The Rod is not only a weapon against wolves, lions, tigers, and bears. It is also to chasten the sheep.
He does this to make the sheep wiser..
Pro 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.
Pro 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Pro 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Heb 12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
Heb 12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Heb 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Sometimes the Shepherd must use the Rod on the sheep. Sometimes the rod is actually the enemy. Remember how Moses had a rod and it turned into a serpent? Sometimes the rod of God is the serpent. Sometimes men are “turned over to satan for the destruction of the flesh.” And the enemy becomes to the “rod of God” that is used to chasten the sheep.
Isa 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation.
Now, This “valley of the shadow of death” also refers to something in the trib.
Something the eye will be able to see. This isn’t far fetched if you consider how DEATH & HELL are personified in Revelation 6.
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
The “shadow of death” is associated with many negative things in the Bible.
In Job 3:5 it is associated with “darkness” and blackness.
Job 10:21 “the land of darkness.”
Job 34:22 it is associated with “the workers of iniquity.”
Psalm 44:19 associated with Dragons
Psalm 107:10 associated with affliction and iron.
Some Bible believers teach it is some type of “iron death cloud” or “mothership” like thing that covers over the land and forms a shadow. Something like what you might see on Independence Day. This thing would be associated with the “IDOL SHEPHERD” and not the “CHIEF SHEPHERD.”
The Shepherd has a Never Ending story and “His book Feeds innumerable saints.”
Think about all the saints through the years who have read the Bible over and over but never got tired of it. Jesus fed the 5,000 but he feeds even more than that with one book that has stood the test of time.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;(oil is a picture of the holy spirit) my cup runneth over.
Every born again believer is sealed into the day of Redemption by the holy spirit and Paul calls us “anointed.”
If your “cup runs over” than you have all you need and more. The Shepherd fills your plate and your cup.
In the millennium the LORD will be exalted in the presence of his enemies. Israel will dwell in safety. The CHIEF SHEPHERD will feed them
Isa 40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward iswith him, and his work before him.
Isa 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil;(oil is a picture of the holy spirit) my cup runneth over.
What is at the table God has prepared for you?
Pro 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
Psa 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
Luk 4:4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Goodness and Mercy will follow the saints because these are attributes of the Shepherd. He will “rub off on you.” You go wherever he goes and he goes wherever you go.
The “house of the LORD” is prophetically the tabernacle on earth that shows up in the millennium.
Today your body is the “temple”. He’s not dwelling in temples made with hands right now.
