Psalm 23 by Dr. John Phillips

please turn to Psalm 23 Lord is my shepherd I shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters he restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me thou prepareth the table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I dwell in the house of the Lord forever may the Holy Spirit add his blessing to the reading of his word now we don't know you see whether David wrote this Psalm when he was an old man or when he was a young man some people think he wrote it at the end of his life looking back over God's goodness to him on his pilgrim journey anticipating the day of his death it might well be I'd rather think however that he wrote it as a teenager when he was just a bit of a boy out there on the Judean Hills with his flocks around him looking at the sheep all of a sudden this tremendous this tremendous truth dawned upon him the Lord is my Shepard there's no reason you see why he couldn't have written it as a teenager when Isaac Watts was a teenager he came home from church one day and complained to his father about the stuffy old hymns that they sang in church well he said looking at his son he said well Isaac if you think you can do any better why don't you they said I will and he went up to his room and an hour later he came down with one of the greatest hymns that has ever been written when I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt on all my pride written by a teenager we've been singing it for 300 years if Isaac Watts could write a hymn that would last for 300 years I don't see why David couldn't write a hymn that would last for 3,000 I like to picture David you know as a boy going down into the Valley of Elah to come to grips with Goliath of Gath to destroy him that had the power of death and I see him as he goes down into the valley and as he goes he sings and as he sings he says yay though I walk in deaths dark veil yet will I fear no evil for thou art with me and thy rod and staff me comfort still he takes us first of all out onto the Glen you see the pasture lands dotted with his father's sheep but then he takes us down into the gorge towering cliffs on every side raging torrent far below and then he takes us on over into the glory in the first part of this lovely little Hebrew him David talks about our frailty in the second part of the hymn he talks about our foes at the end of the psalm he talks about our future some years ago my mother died here in Florida in a retirement home she'd been in to lunch on a Sunday and when she didn't show up for supper they went to see where she was and she'd had a massive stroke and was lying on the floor never recovered went on home from there to glory I didn't get to see her but I went into her room and it was just the way she left it the day she died and didn't know she was going to die that day by her bed table was a little missionary handbook she used to pray for missionaries every day and I noticed that it was the page was turned down for tomorrow all prayed up to date and by her bedside was her Bible and it was open at Psalm 23 and there was a little piece of paper there sitting on the page the open page of her Bible the day she died she was read right up to date - you see it said the secret of a happy life the secret of a happy death the secret of a happy eternity I'd like to preach my mother circle the secret of a happy life it has its roots in a magnificent spiritual relationship david says he says the Lord is my shepherd now that's one of the greatest names for God you see if you have a King James Bible you'll notice that the word Lord is written in capital letters that's just a typographical way of telling you that it's really the name Jehovah what he's actually saying is Jehovah is my shadow the Jews had such a ceremonial rev Reverend such a superstitious fear of taking the name of Jehovah their God in vain they changed the name to Adonai Lord or whatever you see that word Lord in the Old Testament in capitals it's just another way of saying it's really the name Jehovah I am that I am it's a composite word really it's the three tenses of the verb to be he hi he will be ho he was hiya he he was he he will be he is he was and they took the first syllable of the first word the the second word and then the last syllable of the third word and put them together ye whole vow the god who is the god who was the god whoever is to be the God who doesn't dwell like we do in three tenses of time he dwells in the eternal present tense you see when we express our mode of being we say I was I am I will be God doesn't say that God says I am I am I am he dwells in the eternal present tent and David just a teenage land he'd caught ahold of this tremendous truth he said he's the absolutely inescapable one he's always there and he the one who dwells in the eternal present tense of time he is my shattered magnificent spiritual relationship friend of mine was preaching in a town some years ago and who's staying with a man who took him on a trip through town and they stopped opposite a bank and the host said to his guest he said you know he said the interesting thing last week I happened by here a part by car in this spot and a Brinks truck pulled up he said a nice stature and watched them they put three million dollars in that Bank i sat and watched them do it my friend said he wasn't a bit impressed he said he left off the two most important words he said I could have got really excited about it if he'd said they put three million dollars in the bank here last week for you it makes all the difference doesn't it it's not sufficient is it to know that the Lord is the grey Shepherd of the sheep that he's the Good Shepherd it makes all the difference in the world when you can say the Lord is my shepherd magnificent spiritual a relationship has its results in a magnificent spiritual reality the secret of a satisfied life I shall not want the secret of a saved life he restoreth he brings back my soul the secret of a spiritual life he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness secret of a secured life for his namesake it's not going to let us down you know his name's tied up in it thinks too much of his name ever to let us down magnificent spiritual resources he brings back my soul said David thinking of the many many times he done just that for a poor lost sheep one day when DL moody and his song leader mr. sang ki were traveling together together across Britain on one of their great Crusades mr. moody was sitting in the train reading his Bible mr. Sankey was thumbing through a magazine he saw a poem it interested him he clipped it out and stuck it in his pocket he said to himself one day I'll write some music for that and make a new him that night DL Moody preached with tremendous power on The Good Shepherd that gave his life for the Sheep then he turned to mr. Sankey and he said now Sankey come and sing something for her does he was walking across the platform he suddenly remembered that poem he'd stuck in pocket and one of the great hymns of the church was born as he stuck that piece of paper up in front of him made up the tune as he went along and that vast auditorium rang to the tremendous words up from the mountains Thunder riven up from the rocky steep there arose a cry to the gates of heaven rejoice I have found my shade and the angels echoed around the throne rejoice for the Lord brings back his all the secret of a happy life the secret of a happy death for he says yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I'll fear no evil for thou art with me I'm sure you must have noticed the change in the personal pronoun up until now he's been talking about him he he maketh me to lie down he leadeth me beside the still waters he restoreth my soul it's for his name's sake he's been talking about the shepherd but when he comes into the valley he changes the personal pronoun it's no longer he and him its thou art with me you see he's no longer talking about the Shepherd he's now talking to the Shepherd's the Shepherd all of a sudden has drawn near in that dark valley of shadow he says how fear no evil for thou art with me you'll notice that of course that he calls it the valley of the shadow of death well a shadow can't hurt you the shadow of a sword can't kill the shadow of a dog can't bite the shadow of death can't hurt you it's only the valley of the shadow of death but you see where you have a shadow you must have two other things in order to have a shadow you must have a substance and you must have a light it is the light shining on the substance that casts the shadow so when David speaks about the valley of the shadow of death in Psalm 23 it's because he has already talked about the valley of the substance of death in Psalm 22 the substance of death something Jesus tasted on the cross of Calvary when he cried my God my God why hast thou forsaken me that's the substance of death to be finally abandoned by God forever for God to say at last you didn't want me you didn't want my son you didn't want my word you didn't want my people you didn't want my holy spirit have it your own way depart from me ye cursed I never knew you to be abandoned by God forever that's the substance of deaths that's what Jesus tasted on the cross when he who knew no sin was made sin for us that's the substance of death but you see where you have a shadow you not only have a substance you have a light can't have a shadow without a light some years ago when I first came to North America I was living in the city of Vancouver in the province of British Columbia one Sunday morning after the church service the pastor read a letter it was a letter written by a former medical missionary by the name of dr. Northcote deck he was one of God's choicest servants he'd served the Lord for many years he was a spiritual godly man he was dying of leukemia being a doctor of course he knew exactly at what stage he was he knew how little time he had left and he wrote this letter to this particular circle of churches where he'd had fellowship over the years he said brothers sisters of mine I'm dying he said I have come into what David calls the valley of the shadow of death but he said I have found no shadow on the contrary he said I have discovered that the path of the just is as a shining light that shine if more and more unto the perfect day that's just what Jesus said is now he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of Life that's the great difference between the death of somebody who can say the Lord is my shepherd and the death of somebody who never knew the chef when an unbeliever dies he goes out into the dark the Bible speaks of the blackness of darkness forever but when a Christian dies he goes out into the light Paul puts it like this absent from the body present with the law you open your eyes and gaze into the face of your loved one you close them you open them again and look straight into the face of Jesus thy rod and thy staff he said they comfort me now I often wondered what David meant when he talked about the rod and the staff comforting him in the hour of death he'd face death many times he'd face death at the hands of that lion he'd face death at the hands of a bear shortly he was to go down into the valley and face death at the hands of Goliath or he said thy rod and thy staff they comfort me I thought to myself however does a rod and a staff comfort somebody in the hour of death so I did what I suppose any normally intelligent person would do I went to the commentaries well hasn't that what you do and you found I'm sure when I found that when it comes to a tough text they conveniently pass it over in total silence that is all except the exploring books you understand thy rod and thy staff they comfort me one one commentator did have a go at it he said well you see the rod the Shepherd carried a rod to chastise the Sheep well I couldn't find any comfort in that sounded too much like a Protestant purgatory I mean when you tie there's the Shepherd he got a big stick to whack you of you before he let you into heaven I don't know if you find any comfort in that I don't you know we we should really feel very very sorry for our Roman Catholic friends the best the church can offer them you know is purgatory that's all when a man who has spent his life as a devout Roman Catholic has done everything that the church demands has been to confession has done his penance and now he's dying and he has the last rites and he's dying at what the church calls a state of grace the best the priests can offer him is a short stay in the fire imagine he's going into the fire when he dies at least that's what the church says he isn't of course really not unless not if he really loves the law some years ago a Prante a Canadian minister by the name of Ken Opperman had an opportunity to visit with Pope Paul the six it's very interesting how he came to have this invitation he had ministered on an aeroplane of all places to a very high prelate of the Catholic Church in Latin America and the grateful Cardinal had asked dr. Appleman what he could do for him he said would you like to have a visit with the Holy Father dr. Offerman said no thank you the Catholic priest was very surprised he said why why would you not be interested in having a visit with the Holy Father I said I shouldn't like to insult him well he said how would you insult him well he said in the first place I should refuse to call him father he said the Bible says call no man father and he said I never have never will well he said would you call him sir well yes he said I would have no objection to calling him sir well he said I'll see what can be arraigned and sure enough he got this invitation from a high place source in the Vatican inviting him to be their guest and setting up an interview with Pope Paul the six when he got there was very surprised it really was a high level contact he what came into the antechamber it was full of Cardinals and bishops and Archbishop's and I don't know what waiting to get in to see the Pope and he got precedent say soon as he came in they open the door assured him right in I heard him tell this story at Moody found this week some years ago when he got in he said the usual things you know that was supposed to be said and then the Pope said dr. Arum and he said would you like to ask me any question oh yes so he said I'd like to ask you a question well he said what is it dr. Offerman tell me sir he said are you saved [Applause] the Pope floundered around for a few minutes and came up eventually with some mystical experience he'd had as a boy of 10 or 11 it wasn't very satisfactory and then dr. opperman said well sir he said if you don't mind I should like to rephrase the question tell me sir when you die will you go to heaven the Pope looked at him for a moment and then he said ah dr. Otteman he said you have asked me a very hard question hard question to the head of the the Roman Catholic Church if you die sir will you go to heaven and he says it's a hard question it's not a hard question at all is it but it was for him you see because if he had said yes he would have demolished the Roman Catholic Church because the Roman Catholic Church doesn't believe that when people die they go to heaven it believes that when they die they go to purgatory they have to go into the fire to be purged and then said dr. Otteman he said all of a sudden a smile crept across the face of the Pope and he he took me by the hand and he said Bernard doctor op him and he said when I die I shall have 700 billion Roman Catholics praying for my soul could you think of anything darker than that thy rod and that it's not a Protestant purgatory thank God we don't have one [Applause] well what does he mean when he talks about dial rod and thy staff they comfort me well you see he's talking about his death isn't he and his mind has gone back to the Exodus the great Exodus he's thinking of his Exodus and he's he's thinking also of the exodus of the children of Israel and you remember how they came to the Red Sea and what does Moses have in his hand he has a rod and a staff that rod he waved with the rod and the waters parted than the the children of Israel three or four million of the march past him he stood there with the rod in the staff in his one hand and in his other and the the staff said you're a pilgrim people you're only passing through the rod was there for the enemy when the very last one was safely on the other side he took that rod and dealt with the enemy Paul says David thy rod and thy staff they comfort me [Applause] secret of a happy life the secret of a happy death the secret of a happy eternity yay he says though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod by staff they comfort me surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life Spurgeon used to say that they were God's footmen you know in the old days in Spurgeon's day wealthy people wealthy men when they they traveled in their coach horse driven coaches they had their footmen up behind and when they got to where they were going the footman hat would run down opened the door and and and run all the errands of bring in the bags and take care of everything and everywhere that wealthy man man went those footmen were right behind him on the coach you see and and Spurgeon says they're God's footmen and everywhere we go these two footmen follow us everywhere we go goodness and mercy everywhere we go then he says I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever aho just think of that I showed well in the Lord for a thousand years how do you mean oh it doesn't say that does it I shall dwell in the Lord for a million years you just began your harp in tune by then I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever I suppose one of the greatest preachers ever to be raised up in Scotland was John Knox brought revival to Scotland left his mark upon Scotland to this very day born in 1505 died November 24 1570 - it is said that Mary Queen of Scots was more afraid of John Knox that she was of all the armies of England man of iron one of God's champion he was dying and his servants and friends gathered around his bed and they asked him as he crossed over Jordan if he still had the hope of glory if it was well with him in the valley would he give them a sign and the poet tells us what happened grim in his deep death and wish the stern old champion lay and the locks upon his pillow were floating thin and gray and visionless and voiceless with quick and laboured breath he waited for his exit through life's dark portal death hast thou the hope of glory they bowed to catch the thrill that through some languid token might be responsive still no much they longed or waited for some obscure reply he raised a clay cold finger and pointed to the sky thus the death angel found him what time he came that way to loose the struggling spirit from hampering bonds of clay thus the deaf angel left him what time Earth's bonds were Riven a cold stark stiffening finger still pointing up to heaven a happy eternity every so often your friends wish you a Happy New Year the holy spirit wishes you a happy eternity

Channel: Twoedged Sword KJV

Views: 3,478

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Keywords: Psalm 23, Dr. John Phillips, Baptist, KJV, King James Bible, Bible, Preaching, Jesus

Id: cBIPhnfjPQc

Length: 34min 8sec (2048 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 23 2019