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Psalm 23 Part 1

Power Point with Jack Graham

November 8, 2020

27:29

Dr. Jack Graham's mission is to glorify God by introducing Jesus Christ to as Lord to all people.

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Psalm 23 Part 1

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Hello everyone, and thisis a very special edition of
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PowerPoint. Typically, ofcourse, we in our pulpit at our
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wonderful worship center inPlano, Texas. But we thought we
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would take a few weeks to juststudy the great Twenty-third
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Psalm. And I wanted to lookright into this camera and right
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into your living room or yourhand-held device... however
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you're watching this, and justspeak with you and bring you
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messages from... well, theTwenty-third Psalm which, of
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course, is the classic psalm ofthe Bible. Most of us know the
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Twenty-third Psalm very well. Welearned it as children. I know I
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did; I'm sure you did as well.It's been quoted on
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battlefields; it has been sharedat funerals; talked about at
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weddings; and of course, at theend of life many people rely on
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the Twenty-third Psalm andespecially when we "walk through
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the valley of the shadow ofdeath". But what a great psalm
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this is! Six verses, and we'regoing to take them one by one
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over the next several weeks. Andit's been described as six
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strings on a harp. Of course,the psalms are songs. They're
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songs of the people; they'resongs that God has delivered to
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us, and particularly through thepen and the penmanship and the
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inspiration of the Holy Spiritthrough David. David who was
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himself a shepherd, grew up inthe shepherd fields outside of
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Bethlehem. He ultimately as ashepherd became a singer. I've
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often thought as to how Davidcomposed so many of these
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psalms... songs that are writtenin God's Word. No doubt as a
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young boy... as a shepherd boy,he looked out in the starlit
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nights on Bethlehem's hillsidesand he contemplated the
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greatness of God. He would saythings like [Psalm 8:4] "O God,
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what is man? What am I? Who am Ithat you are mindful of us?"
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And, of course, on and on... heexpressed his emotions and his
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fears, his anxieties, as well ashis hopes and his aspirations,
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and it's all worship. No wonderDavid is called "[1 Samuel
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13:14] "a man after God's ownheart." He wasn't a perfect man
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by any means, and he sinned andsinned greatly, but he was also
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forgiven in a great way by thegrace of God. But ultimately
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David the shepherd, the singer,became the sovereign, the
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shepherd king of Israel. He wasalso a soldier, fighting the
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great giant Goliath and, ofcourse, leading armies
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throughout battlefields in theMiddle East. And so David!
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What... what a man was this man.So when you consider his own
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heart for God... when youconsider how he contemplated who
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God is and he often did this inScripture, but ultimately he
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reflects on God as the Shepherd.And that's why Psalm 23, verse 1
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says: 1) The Lord is myshepherd; I shall not want...
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The Lord is my shepherd; I shallnot want. David, whom I believe
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was looking back as olderveteran now, believer, as he had
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followed the Lord, the heavenlyShepherd all of his life, and
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he's looking back. There's justno question in my mind that this
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was not written early in David'scareer. It's not even at
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mid-life, but looking back. Anexperienced, a mature man now, a
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great man. He's thinking aboutwho is God and what is God like.
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And of all the experiences oflife and the many trails that I
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have trekked with Him, who isHe? "The Lord is my Shepherd."
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And he said, "I shall not want."Amazing, isn't it? When
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God wanted to communicate thisbeautiful testimony of His care
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for us, He made it simple, Hemade it sweet, He made it short.
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Again, a harp with six strings.We need peace, protection,
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security, stability... We'vejust come out of a rough and
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tumble political campaign, anelection. The division... Of
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course, we've been going throughthis pandemic through these
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(this) year. People areconcerned about their future and
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the chaos that's going on allaround us. And if there was ever
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a time we needed some simplicityand some serenity, it is right
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now. So what... what animportant time to study Psalm
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23. Of course, we turn to Psalm23 when life is difficult, when
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life is hard. And we all knowthat life can be hard. We live
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in these chaotic times when itseems that everything is
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changing, but I... I'll tell youwhat hasn't changed; I'll tell
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you who hasn't changed, and thatis the One who is our Shepherd.
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And our Shepherd, according toJesus Himself, is the Lord our
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Shepherd, Jesus our Savior.Jesus our Savior is Jesus our
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Shepherd. And that is Good News!The Shepherd has not changed.
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This psalm was written 3000years ago! But it is as fresh as
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this morning. And our Shepherd,our Savior, according to Hebrews
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13, verse 8, "is the sameyesterday, today and forever."
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And what the Savior/Shepherd didfor David the king, He will do
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for you and me. "The Lord is myShepherd." He is again, looking
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back and remembering thefaithfulness of God, and the
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blessing of God. It's all aboutabundance; how God abundantly
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provides for us. Especially toknow that we can simply trust in
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a very simple way, a simplefaith. "Simply trusting" the old
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song goes... "Simply trustingevery day." I was thinking, it's
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sort of like floating in a pool.If you want to float in a
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pool... Remember when youlearned how to float in a pool?
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The way you float in a pool isjust to relax and let... and let
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the weight of the water carryyou. If you fight... if you
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resist... If you say, well, theway to float in a pool is to try
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really, really hard... That's noway to float! The way to float
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in a pool is to simply relaxyour body and let the water
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carry you. And you rest there.And to me that's a lot like
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trusting God. It's not justtrying. So many people think the
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Christian life is trying harderand harder and harder, and
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resisting and working harder.No, it's letting the weight of
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Christ hold you up; it's lettingthe Good Shepherd carry you
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through. Trusting is likefloating and it's just giving up
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and giving in. I'm talking aboutsurrendering and yielding our
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lives to the Lord who is ourgood and great Shepherd. Many
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say the Lord is my Savior; Ihope you can say that. At the
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close of this message I'm goingto give you an opportunity to
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put your trust and faith in theSavior. I hope there's been a
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time and a place in your lifewhen you've opened your heart to
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say "Jesus, be my Savior and bemy Lord." But this psalm is not
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so much about Jesus the Savior,but about Jesus the Shepherd,
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and how the Savior Jesus carriesall of us along, and leads us
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and guides us and guards us andprotects us and provides for us.
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All the things that we're goingto discover in this little
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study, this meditation of Psalm23. And one thing I would
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encourage you to do and that isto meditate on these words and
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also to memorize. Perhaps you'dwant to put them on your iPhone
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or your hand-held device andjust put the words there and
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look at them, or maybe writethem on cards, write them
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somewhere where you can seethem. If you haven't memorized
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these words or if maybe you'velet them slide and you're not
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remembering them all these days,I want to encourage you to
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meditate upon God's Word, and wedo that by memorizing and then
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turning it over and over andpersonalizing the Scripture and
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making it our own. "The Lord ismy Shepherd." And that reminds
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me to tell you that this is sovery, very personal. "The Lord
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is my Shepherd." Not a shepherd,not the shepherd, but my
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Shepherd. And you cannot say theLord is my Shepherd until you
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first say the Lord is my Savior.Then when Jesus is your Savior,
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He begins shepherding youthrough life. Now when you look
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at the very first verse, it says"The Lord is my shepherd" and
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you may note in your translationof the Bible that all the
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letters in LORD are capitalized.And that is because... and this
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is true in most authorizedversions of Scripture that the
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word LORD is capitalized becausethis is referencing the personal
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and covenant name of God, thesacred name of God, the eternal
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name of God. It was the name ofGod that was revealed to Moses
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at the burning bush, When Moseswas there in the very presence
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of God. And what did God saywhen Moses asked, "When I go
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before Pharaoh who shall I saysent me?" And God said to him,
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"Tell him, I AM sent me." Andthere it is... the I AM! That's
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the covenant name of God, that'sthe word which means eternal
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God, eternal Lord and Savior.That name is so sacred that
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orthodox Jewish people would noteven say it out loud except in
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particular times of the year. Ifthey wrote it in transcribing
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the Scripture... if they wrotethe name Yahweh or you may know
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it as Jehovah. I AM. They wouldthen throw away the writing
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instrument because they hadwritten the sacred name of God.
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It is precious, it is pure andit is powerful. I AM... It
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speaks of the eternal presenceof God. So when it says "The
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Lord is my Shepherd", the Lordis the Eternal One, the Ever
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present One, [Hebrews 13:8] "thesame yesterday, today and
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forever." And therefore, thisLord... the God of heaven... He
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is the one who provides for ourevery need, and shepherds us
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through life's wilderness andthrough life's mountain peaks as
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well. "The Lord is my Shepherd."The Lord is... and that just
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kind of says it all rightthere... The Lord is. He exists;
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He's eternal. There was a greatpreacher by the name S. M.
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Lockridge. His full name isShadrach Meshach Lockridge. A
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great name. He was a Baptistpastor out in the San Diego area
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and I heard him preach a messageone time. An incredible
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preacher, orator, great contentto what he said. But he preached
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a message just on three wordsright out of this passage. The
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Lord is... And then he saidthis. He said, "You know, the
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Lord is. He always is is; Healways has been is; and He
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always will be is." And then Hesaid, "You know that's not
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necessarily good grammar but youcan't worry about the grammar
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when you're talking about theLord." Ha, it's true! The Lord
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is I AM. And in one way, youknow, the idea of I AM ... and
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Jesus took the great I AM namefor Himself many, many times.
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This is what got Him in bigtrouble with the religious crowd
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in Jerusalem because when Hewould say I AM the Good Shepherd
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as He did... when He said I AMthe Bread of heaven... when He
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would say I AM the True Vine,when He would say I AM the Water
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of life. Again, and again, Heascribed to Himself this
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covenant name of God. This iswhy He was accused of blasphemy.
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The Lord is the great I AM. Andin one way it is a kind of fill
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in the blank. When Jesus waswalking on the... on the water
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and He came to them walking onthe water in the middle of that
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storm. You remember that storyif you know your Bible. Jesus is
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walking on the water and He saidto them, "Do not be afraid; I
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AM!" In the midst of the stormsJesus says "I AM." I AM what? He
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is totally God; He is God who isforever God. But He's also
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saying fill in the blank. Iam... whatever your need may be.
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You fill in the blank. I amstrength for your weakness and I
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am health for your sickness andI am... I am grace for your sin,
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I am love for hate. All thegreatness of God, the glory of
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God is in this little phrase.The Lord is ... the Lord is. And
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so therefore, we can know thatwhen He is our Shepherd, He is
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with us forever as we trust inHim. This is very, very personal
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as I was saying. And you need tobe able to say I know that I
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know that the Lord is myShepherd.
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[Music]
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I'm standing
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by this beautiful river in theColorado Rockies and reflecting
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on the goodness of God. As weare learning in the 23rd Psalm
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about the Good Shepherd I hopeyou begin to realize in order
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for you to truly break free fromfear, anxiety, you must admit
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something that is very humblingfor all of us and that is, we
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are sheep. You know, if a sheepwere dying of thirst and arrived
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at this river it would not evendrink from these pure, beautiful
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refreshing rivers due to thefear of moving water. But if the
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sheep were in the care of a goodshepherd that shepherd would use
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his bare hands or stones, acrook to divert some of the
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rushing river into a pool ofstill waters and this is the
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lesson for all of us: We'redying of spiritual and emotional
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thirst but our fear, so manyanxieties keep us from drinking
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what we so desperately need. So,if you are fearful and thirst,
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call on the Good Shepherd and Hewill quiet your fears and create
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for you still waters. Thanks forthe amazing support that you
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give us at PowerPoint. It'sgenerous friends like you that
00:15:59.515 --> 00:16:02.618
enable us to boldly broadcastthe gospel on air and online at
00:16:02.651 --> 00:16:07.089
a time when our world is well,filled with so much anxiety and
00:16:07.122 --> 00:16:10.225
fear. There is a solution to thefears you face and that is the
00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:14.930
power of God's word and the HolySpirit who comforts us from
00:16:14.963 --> 00:16:19.168
within. So, today I want to sendyou a resource to help you
00:16:19.201 --> 00:16:22.838
overcome your fears andanxieties, the things that
00:16:22.871 --> 00:16:25.941
you're facing in your lifetoday. It's my latest book
00:16:25.974 --> 00:16:28.877
called "Breaking Free fromFear." This book is a great
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resource to help you live yourlife and live out your life with
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faith and hope and courage. Socall the number on the screen or
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visit us online atJackGraham.org to donate to our
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ministry and receive "BreakingFree from Fear" today.
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Now
00:16:50.099 --> 00:16:51.300
here's an interesting thingabout Psalm 23. It's actually a
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part of a trilogy... threepsalms, back to back to back,
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22, 23, 24. And each one ofthese three psalms connected in
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the psalter, the psalms had todo with the work of the Lord,
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the work of Jesus Christ. Whenyou read Psalm 22, it is as
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though the writer is standing atthe foot of the cross because
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he's speaking... It even begins"My God, my God, why have You
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forsaken me?" And, of course,these are words that Jesus spoke
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from the cross. And when youread Psalm 22 it's clearly a
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portrait of the cross and aprophecy of the Savior's, the
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Shepherd's cross and Hissuffering on the cross for us.
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When you flip over to Psalm 24,that's all about the Shepherd's
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crown, the Savior's crownbecause it's speaking of the
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Lord's return and the Lord'sreign and how Jesus is
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sovereign. How Jesus suffers inPsalm 22 and how Jesus
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sovereignly reigns in Psalm 24.But right in the middle between
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the past... what Jesus did forus on the cross... and the
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future... what will happen whenJesus returns again and His
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throne is established. "Yourthrone forever and ever." In the
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middle of that is life, isn'tit? In the middle of this is the
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wilderness in which we walk.Like sheep we need a shepherd,
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and so this is the Lord. Someonedescribed it as the Lord's
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cross, the Lord's crook... theShepherd's crook, and the Lord's
00:18:35.804 --> 00:18:40.175
crown. So that's a very powerfultruth. When David says of the
00:18:40.209 --> 00:18:46.815
Shepherd, the Lord, that'stalking about Jesus because
00:18:46.848 --> 00:18:53.255
Jesus is the Lord. He claimedthis in John chapter 10. He
00:18:53.288 --> 00:19:00.362
said, "I am the Good Shepherdwho gives His life for the
00:19:00.395 --> 00:19:05.701
sheep." So when you're talkingabout God... when you're talking
00:19:05.734 --> 00:19:10.205
about the Lord, you're talkingabout Jesus right here and right
00:19:10.239 --> 00:19:15.677
now. [I] Know there's a lot ofGod talk sometimes. We hear it
00:19:15.711 --> 00:19:19.081
from people on the street.Sometimes we hear it from
00:19:19.114 --> 00:19:22.317
politicians. There's a lot oftalk, even God talk, and there's
00:19:22.351 --> 00:19:26.154
been debate about who said Godenough in certain conventions...
00:19:26.188 --> 00:19:28.924
political conventions and so on.And I'm always grateful for the
00:19:28.957 --> 00:19:34.529
name of God to be honored and tobe spoken publicly. I really am.
00:19:34.563 --> 00:19:39.468
I'm so glad that in the motto ofthis country it says: In God we
00:19:39.501 --> 00:19:44.072
trust. And in our Pledge ofAllegiance it tells us that we
00:19:44.106 --> 00:19:49.478
are "one nation under God, underGod." Because if we become one
00:19:49.511 --> 00:19:54.082
nation without God, we will nolonger be a great nation. We
00:19:54.116 --> 00:19:58.320
need to be a nation under God.So the name of God. I like
00:19:58.353 --> 00:20:01.156
[chuckle] the name of God, ofcourse. But really sometimes I'm
00:20:01.189 --> 00:20:04.693
not all that impressed whenpeople bounce around the name of
00:20:04.726 --> 00:20:07.729
God in a flippant way, or evenin a political way, and they
00:20:07.763 --> 00:20:12.334
never mention the name of Jesus.I tell what impresses me is when
00:20:12.367 --> 00:20:17.105
someone talks about Jesusbecause they're identifying
00:20:17.139 --> 00:20:20.175
their own personal faith inJesus Christ... their
00:20:20.208 --> 00:20:22.778
relationship with God throughJesus Christ. So if you're
00:20:22.811 --> 00:20:26.982
talking about God, if you'retalking about the Lord right
00:20:27.015 --> 00:20:30.218
here, the Shepherd, you'retalking about Jesus. David the
00:20:30.252 --> 00:20:35.457
sweet singer of Israel, ispraising God, our loving and
00:20:35.490 --> 00:20:41.897
living Lord, who supplies all ofour needs. As Philippians 4:19
00:20:41.930 --> 00:20:48.603
says, "according to His richesin glory in Jesus Christ." I
00:20:48.637 --> 00:20:53.809
really am glad that He said thatGod supplies our needs according
00:20:53.842 --> 00:20:58.680
to His riches in glory in JesusChrist, not out of but according
00:20:58.714 --> 00:21:04.086
to. You say, "well, what's thedifference?" Well, it's a big
00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.822
difference. If you asked me forsome money, a loan and I said to
00:21:06.855 --> 00:21:14.629
you, "Okay, I'll give you aloan" and I reach in to my
00:21:14.663 --> 00:21:18.633
pocket and I find a dollar billand I hand you a dollar bill,
00:21:18.667 --> 00:21:23.572
and say, "Okay, be blessed."That would be giving out of my
00:21:23.605 --> 00:21:30.645
riches because I got more moneythan that. Not a lot of money
00:21:30.679 --> 00:21:33.648
but I got more money than adollar. But if I was really
00:21:33.682 --> 00:21:36.752
going to give you according tomy riches, maybe I'd give you my
00:21:36.785 --> 00:21:39.621
debit card or a credit card andsay... We used to say a blank
00:21:39.654 --> 00:21:42.958
check, we don't write manychecks these days, do we? But I
00:21:42.991 --> 00:21:46.728
could just give you my debitcard and say simply, you know,
00:21:46.762 --> 00:21:51.566
"Here it is; whatever you wantis yours." Now that would
00:21:51.600 --> 00:21:54.436
generous giving; that would beover the top giving; that would
00:21:54.469 --> 00:21:57.005
be giving according to myriches, not just out of my
00:21:57.038 --> 00:22:01.343
riches. And God didn't just tipus a little bit when He promised
00:22:01.376 --> 00:22:06.047
to meet our needs. He said, "Allthat I am is yours. And all that
00:22:06.081 --> 00:22:10.385
I have belongs to you." When Iwas a kid at youth camp, we
00:22:10.419 --> 00:22:16.258
learned a song that said, "Ibelong to the God of the
00:22:16.291 --> 00:22:19.261
mountain; I belong to the God ofthe sea; I belong to the God of
00:22:19.294 --> 00:22:24.232
the universe, and He belongs tome." That personal note in that
00:22:24.266 --> 00:22:30.972
song is the personal note inthis great Shepherd song. The
00:22:31.006 --> 00:22:36.745
Lord belongs to us and we belongto Him. We are the sheep of His
00:22:36.778 --> 00:22:41.850
pasture. And He promises to meetour every need. "The Lord is my
00:22:41.883 --> 00:22:46.254
Shepherd; I shall not want." TheGod who created us and made us
00:22:46.288 --> 00:22:52.894
is our Shepherd and leads us inall the days of our lives, from
00:22:52.928 --> 00:22:59.034
the womb to the tomb. The Godwho made you, who created you,
00:22:59.067 --> 00:23:04.973
who formed you in your mother'swomb. Life is sacred. Life
00:23:05.006 --> 00:23:12.647
begins in the womb. And the Godwho made you there will be with
00:23:12.681 --> 00:23:17.219
you all the days of your lifefrom the womb all the way to the
00:23:17.252 --> 00:23:21.022
tomb when you follow Jesus theShepherd. The God who made you,
00:23:21.056 --> 00:23:26.995
loves you. The God who came tothis world, the Savior who so
00:23:27.028 --> 00:23:32.234
loved the world that He gave hisown life on the cross for us.
00:23:32.267 --> 00:23:37.606
[John 15:13] "No greater lovethan this: that a man would lay
00:23:37.639 --> 00:23:40.842
down his life for His friends."The same Savior-Shepherd who
00:23:40.876 --> 00:23:45.380
rose again on the third day andone day will return as King of
00:23:45.413 --> 00:23:50.085
kings and Lord of lords. That isthe Shepherd we're talking
00:23:50.118 --> 00:23:54.589
about. How do you know if you'refollowing the Shepherd? Well,
00:23:54.623 --> 00:24:00.395
you may want to take your Biblesand just turn with me to John
00:24:00.428 --> 00:24:03.398
10:27... John 10 and verse 27.And here Jesus is referencing
00:24:03.431 --> 00:24:10.939
Himself as the Shepherd. Andhere's what He says about the
00:24:10.972 --> 00:24:17.546
security and, yes, the serenityand the peace and the promise
00:24:17.579 --> 00:24:21.883
that comes from following Him.He says, "My sheep hear My
00:24:21.917 --> 00:24:27.255
voice, and I know them, and theyfollow Me." How do you know if
00:24:27.289 --> 00:24:34.296
you're a Christian? How do youknow if you are a believer in
00:24:34.329 --> 00:24:39.301
the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesustells us right here. "My sheep
00:24:39.334 --> 00:24:44.472
hear My voice." In other words,the Spirit of God through God's
00:24:44.506 --> 00:24:49.945
Word (the Scriptures) speaks tous and we listen. If you are one
00:24:49.978 --> 00:24:57.085
of God's sheep, you listen toyour Shepherd. And He is
00:24:57.118 --> 00:25:01.189
speaking and He is talking toyou. And He says, "I know them."
00:25:01.222 --> 00:25:07.929
A lot of people may say, "Oh, Iknow Jesus. I know God." But
00:25:07.963 --> 00:25:12.400
they really know about God; theydon't really know Jesus, because
00:25:12.434 --> 00:25:16.271
Jesus says, "I know My sheep." Ican tell you... I can try to
00:25:16.304 --> 00:25:20.642
impress you with celebrities Iknow. You know, famous people I
00:25:20.675 --> 00:25:25.046
know. I know such and such. Idon't really know them. The
00:25:25.080 --> 00:25:28.350
question is: Does that personknow me? I can say, well, you
00:25:28.383 --> 00:25:32.887
know, I... I know GeorgeWashington. Well, I don't really
00:25:32.921 --> 00:25:36.024
know George Washington; I knowabout George Washington. George
00:25:36.057 --> 00:25:39.394
Washington certainly didn't knowme. But I say that to say Jesus
00:25:39.427 --> 00:25:44.633
said if you're a Christian Iknow you... I know your name
00:25:44.666 --> 00:25:49.938
because you listen to Me, andhere's the key word: He said
00:25:49.971 --> 00:25:53.508
they follow Me. Believers followJesus. Follow the Good
00:25:53.541 --> 00:26:01.783
Shepherd, the Great Shepherd,the Gracious Shepherd.
00:26:01.816 --> 00:26:04.419
So who is yourshepherd? Who do you follow? Do
00:26:04.452 --> 00:26:11.059
you follow your partner... yourhusband, your wife? Do you
00:26:11.092 --> 00:26:14.729
follow your psychologist? Do youfollow a professor... what
00:26:14.763 --> 00:26:19.601
someone is teaching you? Do youfollow your parents? Do you
00:26:19.634 --> 00:26:23.405
follow your priest? Do youfollow your pastor? The question
00:26:23.438 --> 00:26:27.342
is: Do you follow Jesus? It'sgood to have the input and the
00:26:27.375 --> 00:26:32.313
influence of others who arebelievers in our lives, but we
00:26:32.347 --> 00:26:35.216
don't follow anyone but Jesus.Do you listen and follow your
00:26:35.250 --> 00:26:40.522
friends? So many people justlisten to the culture. What's
00:26:40.555 --> 00:26:44.626
the culture say? How am I tolive? And we've got all these
00:26:44.659 --> 00:26:47.362
trends and so-called truths ofevery generation. Are you
00:26:47.395 --> 00:26:51.599
following the latest trend? Thelatest truth that comes along?
00:26:51.633 --> 00:26:55.637
Or are you following Jesus? Areyou following what people say or
00:26:55.670 --> 00:27:01.342
listening to what God says?Psalm 23 reminds us at the very
00:27:01.376 --> 00:27:06.514
outset that the only one worthyour life... the only one worth
00:27:06.548 --> 00:27:10.885
following is Jesus the Savior,the Shepherd. "The Lord is my
00:27:10.919 --> 00:27:16.925
Shepherd." Can you say that? Canyou trust Him? Will you trust
00:27:16.958 --> 00:27:20.995
Him right now?
00:27:21.029 --> 00:27:29.010

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Psalm 23 Part 1

Psalm 23 Part 1

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Psalm 23 Part 1

Psalm 23 Part 1

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