{"id":1169,"date":"2016-10-04T00:53:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T00:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takingeverythoughtcaptivetoobeychrist.wordpress.com\/?p=1169"},"modified":"2016-10-04T00:53:45","modified_gmt":"2016-10-04T00:53:45","slug":"exulting-in-the-shepherd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/exulting-in-the-shepherd\/","title":{"rendered":"Exulting in the Shepherd"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cThe 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/span> \u2013 Psalm 23<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Psalm 23 is a beloved Psalm of David. It shows us the tender, loving care that Jesus has for us as our Good Shepherd (as He says He is in John 10). However, it can be easy to fall into reading this Psalm in man-centered way. But Psalm 23 is not about us. I do not deny that there are many wonderful benefits that we, as God\u2019s sheep, receive in this Psalm. But we do not receive them on the merit of being good sheep. We receive them on the merit of the Good Shepherd.<\/span> You see, Psalm 23 is all about the Shepherd. It\u2019s not about the Shepherd in an ego-centric way, but rather in an exalting way. As sheep, we have good reason in this Psalm to exult in our Good Shepherd. Jesus simply holding the office of Shepherd is enough reason to exult in Him. But Psalm 23 gives us more. It reveals the way in which our Good Shepherd shepherds us, which is fuel for exulting.<\/span> I see three main reasons for exulting in our Good Shepherd.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Good Shepherd Fills Us with His Fullness<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

We have all that we need because Christ gives us all of Himself. We shall not want, not simply because our Good Shepherd provides all of our needs, but because we have the Shepherd. From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace (John 1v16). Our Good Shepherd doesn\u2019t merely provide for us physically, He provides our deepest needs. And He meets them in Himself. We find rest not in what the Shepherd provides, but in the Shepherd Himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Good Shepherd Comforts Us with His Presence<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Being filled full of Jesus isn\u2019t just for the gre<\/span>en pastures and still waters. It\u2019s for the dark valleys too. The valley is a place of dark terror that gives us every human reason to fear. Yet, David says that he will fear no evil. David\u2019s reason for having no fear doesn\u2019t come from the fact that he slayed Goliath \u2013 after all he\u2019s implicitly comparing himself to <\/span>a <\/span>sheep here<\/span>. His comfort<\/span> comes from the fact that the Shepherd is with him. If we\u2019re sheep, then the only reason we do not have to fear in the valley is if who we are with is greater than what we face. Everything we may be tempted to fear, Jesus has defeated. Take comfort.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Good Shepherd Lavishes Us with His Goodness<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

No matter how deep and dark the valley, there is feasting on the other side. <\/span>There is a table that our Good Shepherd has prepared for us where He will sit down and eat with His sheep. While the terrors of the valley may surround us for a moment, the goodness and mercy of Christ will pursue us forever. It will outlast the darkness. Our Good Shepherd ultimately leads us to the <\/span>house of the Lord \u2013 a sign of full protection and safekeeping. There our cups will continually overflow with Living Water. The ultimate goodness of our Shepherd is seen in the\u00a0<\/span>wonder of our Good Shepherd also being a slain lamb. Our Good Shepherd guides us to the house of the Lord where we will worship the Lamb that was slain for the sheep.<\/p>\n

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\u201cFor the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.\u201d \u2013 Revelation 7v17<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe 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\u2019s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[53,274,348,468,557,562,645,678,679,699,1001,1002,1125,1127,1235],"class_list":{"0":"post-1169","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-53","8":"tag-christ","9":"tag-david","10":"tag-exulting","11":"tag-god","12":"tag-gospel","13":"tag-in","14":"tag-jenkins","15":"tag-jesus","16":"tag-joshua","17":"tag-psalm","18":"tag-psalms","19":"tag-sheep","20":"tag-shepherd","21":"tag-the","22":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4637,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/human-citharas-and-singing-with-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":0},"title":"Human Citharas and Singing with Jesus","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"November 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction Today\u2019s message is an appendix, if you will, to the studies we have done during the month of October. Then Lord willing, we will be back in the gospel of John next Lord\u2019s Day. I want to set forth today a positive view of what it means to sing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Preaching"","block_context":{"text":"Preaching","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/category\/preaching\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/cithara.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4005,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/distressed-to-rest-psalm-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":1},"title":"Distressed to Rest; Psalm 4","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"December 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"To the\u00a0choirmaster: with\u00a0stringed instruments. 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