Heritage Christian Fellowship
Sunday, August 23, 2026

      • Psalms 23:1-3ESV

      • Psalms 23:4-5ESV

      • Psalms 23:6ESV

      • Mark 6:33NIV2011

  • Great Is Thy Faithfulness

      • 1 John 4:10NIV2011

  • Man of Sorrows
  • Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor
  • All The Way My Savior Leads Me
  • Jesus Strong And Kind

  • Introduction

    Openning Illustration

    I want to tell you a story of young boy in Scotland. He was orphaned a very young age and taken in by his grandfather, a shepherd in the Scottish Highlands.
    By day the boy would follow by the old man’s side as he tended his sheep.
    And at night by the fire the old man told him the stories of the great Shepherds of the Bible, of Moses and David.
    And then he would tell him of the greatest story of all: the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who loved His sheep so much that He died for them and would never let them be snatched away.
    The young boy could not read in those early days, so the grandfather taught him five words from the beginning of his favorite psalm, one for each finger of his left hand: The… Lord… is… my… shepherd.
    As the boy grew older he was able to take the flock out to the highlands himself to pasture.
    But on one winter afternoon when the boy took the flock into the hills, a winter storm suddenly fell.
    The grandfather, seeing the dark clouds and hearing the brisk wind, realized the boy was in grave danger.
    He bolted from his house down the worn path. However the further he went the fiercer the winds and blinding snow became.
    He realized that he would soon lose all sense of direction, and so he resigned to turn his old and weary body back home to wait.
    And He spent the night by the fire, praying that the boy would remember what he had been taught.
    At first light he set out again. He found the place where he had showed the young shepherd boy to find shelter.
    He called. No answer. Then he saw a mound in the snow. He dug down and found the boy frozen to death.
    The old man began to weep as he begun to free the boys body from the snow.
    Then he noticed something…
    The child’s hands were clasped in a strange way.
    His right hand was firmly gripped around the fourth finger of his left hand.
    The man remembered how almost a decade earlier he had taught the young little boy by how to recite the words, “The… Lord… is… my Shepherd.”
    The old man lifted his eyes and thanked God.
    The young shepherd had known the Good Shepherd was his Shepherd.
    Dear friends, as I preach to you today about the wonders of trusting the Lord as your shepherd, what you must ask yourself is this:
    “Do I just know the words to this Psalm?”
    or “Can I say that I know the Shepherd of this Psalm…
    Can you say these words the way that boy died saying them—The… Lord… is… my …Shepherd?”

    Main Point

    If you have your Bibles please stand with me as we read this great Psalm of comfort…
    Pray with me.
    Father, thank You for every good and perfect gift.
    Be our Teacher. Give us understanding, help us to obey Your Word and keep it with our whole heart.
    Cause us to receive with gentleness the implanted Word that is able to save our souls.
    Teach us not only to know this psalm, but to know you the Shepherd.
    Grant me physical strength and spiritual energy to speak Your Word with faithfulness, clarity, authority, passion, wisdom, and humility, and may Christ alone be exalted as the Word is explained.
    Amen.
    The message of this psalm is simple and sweeping:
    Because the Lord is my Shepherd….
    I can trust Him all the way home.
    That confident assertion is what Psalm 23 offers every believer.
    Not the absence of shadows, but the presence of a Shepherd who watches,
    who provides,
    who protects,
    and who brings His sheep all the way home.

    Transition

    So In our text today, David gives us three clear reasons why we should trust the Good Shepherd,
    and the first reason is that He provides for His Sheep.

    1. He Provides for His Sheep (verses 1–3)

    A. My Shepherd

    David begins with a confession of personal faith in verse 1,“1 Yahweh is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
    In the ancient world, shepherding was lowly work.
    It meant long, lonely hours in the fields, braving every kind of weather, protecting the flock from predators, and leading stubborn sheep to food and water.
    When a family could not hire help, the task often fell to the youngest son.
    David himself had been that boy on the hills outside Bethlehem.
    Yet the same David who once watched his father’s sheep now dares to say that
    the King of the universe is *his* Shepherd.
    The name he uses is Yahweh—the sacred covenant name revealed to Moses at the burning bush: “I AM WHO I AM.”
    This is the self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal God.
    He needs no thing.
    He lacks no wisdom.
    He wields all power.
    He answers only to His own perfect character.
    He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
    And yet this Almighty God stoops to care for his sheep.
    The God who holds the galaxies holds you.
    That is the wonder of verse 1.
    “Yahweh is *my* shepherd.”
    Not merely a shepherd.
    Not the shepherd of the nation only.
    He is*My* shepherd.
    He knows my name.
    Jesus said the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
    David wrote in another Psalm that God records every time you toss and turn on your bed at night
    and keeps track of every tear that sheds from your eyes.
    This is intimacy of the deepest kind.
    Jesus takes this same language and applies it directly to Himself. In John 10 He declares, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.”
    The personal relationship David enjoyed finds its fullest expression in Christ.
    The Good Shepherd knows His sheep by name, and His sheep know His voice.

    B. I Shall Not Want

    And with that intimacy with the Lord…
    comes all our sufficiency:
    “I shall not want.”
    A sheep without a shepherd has nothing.
    It is helpless,
    hopeless,
    and defenseless.
    It will overgraze the same patch of ground until the grass is gone and the soil is bare.
    It will wander into thorn bushes and off cliffs
    and onto the paths of prowling predators.
    But the sheep that belongs to the Lord lacks nothing that it truly needs.
    The word “want” means to lack or to be deprived. David is saying,
    “With Yahweh as my Shepherd, every real need of mine is met—
    whatever it is, wherever I am, whenever I need it. I lack nothing.
    Because I have him, I have everything.
    He is my Shepherd what more do I need.”

    Application: Life filled with Want

    You see when we insist on being our own shepherd, life becomes a constant calculation.
    We measure what we have against what we think we need.
    We try to stay one step ahead of lacking,
    one decision ahead of failure,
    one plan ahead of fear.
    It is exhausting work.
    I’ve been there. Have you?
    When you have lived this way, tell me—
    have you ever gotten to the end of the road and felt satisfied?
    Have you ever been able to take a deep breath of real peace?
    Have you ever felt like you finally made it?
    Never
    But the sheep that belongs to the Lord is freed from that exhausting project.
    Do you see the peace the comes from letting Yahweh decide what it is that you need?
    Do you see the calm that comes from knowing that whatever it is, the King of the Universe will provide it?
    The Shepherd has already taken responsibility for the flock.
    The sheep’s job is not to secure the future;
    it is to stay near the Shepherd.
    That is the difference between a life of filled with worry and anxiety
    and a life that can finally say, “I shall not want.”

    C. He Leads Me

    In verses 2 and 3, we see how the Shepherd provides. Look at verse 2,
    “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”
    Phillip Keller, a pastor who spent years as a shepherd, explains why sheep can only lie down to rest under certain conditions.
    They will not rest if they are afraid.
    They will not rest if there is friction and rivalry within the flock.
    They will not rest if they are tormented by flies and parasites.
    And they will not rest if they are hungry.
    Here is his point,
    only the presence and wise care of the shepherd can create the conditions for true rest for the sheep.
    Jesus, the Good Shepherd, meets every one of those needs.
    He calms our fears by the promise of His presence and the proof of His cross.
    He brings peace among His people by teaching us to love one another as He’s loved us.
    He turns our eyes from the world’s distractions and fixes them on His glory and beauty.
    And He feeds us—not with the empty promises of this age, but with the green pastures of Himself, the Bread of Life.
    “He leads us beside still waters.”
    That is what the Lord does for the soul that trusts Him.
    He leads us to places of rest and refreshment that we could never find or create on our own.

    D. He Restores my Soul

    Then comes the deeper work, verse 3, “He restores my soul.”
    Sheep sometimes become what shepherds call “cast down.”
    A heavy or long-fleeced sheep lies down in a small hollow or depression, rolls slightly onto its back, and suddenly cannot get up.
    Its center of gravity shifts.
    Its feet no longer touch the ground. Panic sets in.
    It paws frantically, but the motion only makes things worse.
    Gases build up in the body.
    Circulation to the legs is cut off.
    In a matter of hours the sheep will die unless the shepherd finds it, turns it over, massages the circulation back into its legs, and restores it to its feet.

    Application: Cast Down

    Have you ever been cast down?
    The pressures of life, the weight of unresolved sin, the exhaustion of trying to manage your life your way—
    you find yourself on your back, unable to rise.
    Some of you are there right now.
    You are not dramatic about it.
    You are simply stuck—unable to get traction,
    unable to right yourself,
    quietly convinced that if you just try harder you will eventually roll back onto your feet.
    The longer you stay there, the heavier it feels.
    Hear the good news of this text: the Shepherd does not wait for you to fix yourself.
    He comes looking for the cast sheep. He turns you over.
    Sometimes the problem is not merely that the sheep is cast; it is that the sheep is rebellious.
    It keeps straying from the flock and the Shepherd must restore him.
    The shepherd in this scenario will often break the leg of the sheep—not out of cruelty, but out of love.
    He sets the leg, carries the sheep in his arms day after day, and keeps it close at night so it cannot limp away half-healed.
    By the time the leg is whole, the sheep has spent so much time near the shepherd’s heart that it no longer wants to wander.
    It has learned that safety and life are found only close to the Shepherd.
    There is a severe mercy in this picture.
    The Shepherd will not let you keep wandering just because you prefer your own way.
    He loves you too much to leave you to yourself.
    Sometimes the most loving thing He does is to take away the strength you were using to run from Him,
    so that you finally learn to stay close.
    The question is not whether the Shepherd is willing to restore you.
    The question is whether you will stop fighting the hand that is trying to heal you.
    Beloved, sometimes the Lord must break things in our lives to teach us that our survival depends on staying near Him.
    Our Shepherd restores the heavy soul.
    He cleanses the stained soul.
    and He strengthens the weary soul.
    Dear friends stay near the Shepherd and He will make you whole.

    Gospel Connection

    Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
    The restoration we need most is not merely comfort in hardship; it is rescue from sin and death.
    The Shepherd did not merely risk His life—He gave it.
    And because He laid it down and took it up again by rising from the dead,
    He is able to restore every cast down and wandering sheep who comes to Him.

    E. He Guides Me

    He restores our souls and he guides us on His way, middle of verse 3,
    “He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
    These are not random trails we invent for ourselves.
    They are right paths because the Shepherd Himself has walked them.
    He carved them with His own obedient life.
    And He leads us along them for the sake of His own name.
    His glory is bound up with the safe arrival of His sheep.
    He will not abandon the path, and He will not abandon you on it.
    As one pastor put it,
    “The path of righteousness has his grace as its starting point
    (for he leads me into it)
    and it has his glory as its destination
    (because his leading is for his name’s sake).”

    Application: Be a sheep

    Before we move on I want to press in one more time.
    Look down at your Bibles and notice the actions of the Shepherd.
    He makes his sheep lie down.
    He leads them.
    He guides them.
    The only way into rest is to stop competing with the Creator of the Universe.
    Stop living your life like you know how to lead better than the Shepherd.
    Admit you are a sheep.
    Then—and only then—you will discover that the Lord is enough.

    2. He Stays with His Sheep (verse 4)

    Transition

    The second reason David gives us for why we can trust the Good Shepherd is that
    He stays with His Sheep.

    A. Even Though I walk

    The path of righteousness does not always stay on glorious mountain tops.
    The path doesn’t end in the green pastures.
    It doesn’t stop by the still waters.
    That path the Shepherd leads us on…that Path that takes us to His home,
    also goes down through the valley of the shadow of death.
    Look at the beginning of verse 4,
    Psalm 23:4 “4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”
    Notice that David does not say “if I walk.”
    He says “even though I walk.”
    Valleys in this life are certain.
    If the Lord keeps waking you each morning,
    you will walk through seasons of loss, sickness, disappointment, relational pain, persecution, and the approach of death itself.
    But the valley is not always dramatic.
    Sometimes it is the slow kind: the diagnosis that changes everything,
    the relationship that quietly fractures,
    the prayer that seems to go unanswered for years,
    the steady erosion of hope that no one else even notices.
    It is the place where the path that once felt clear now feels dark, and you cannot see how it will end.
    David does not pretend those places are imaginary.
    The “shadow of death” describes a darkness so deep it feels as if death itself has extinguished every light.
    You cannot see the way in or the way out.

    B. Shadow of Death

    Yet notice the careful language of the text.
    The Shepherd does not take him to the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
    He leads Him through it.
    And David does not call it the valley of death.
    It is the valley of the *shadow* of death.
    Charles Spurgeon captured it perfectly: “The shadow of a dog cannot bite. The shadow of a sword cannot kill.
    The shadow of death cannot harm the child of God. Where there is a shadow, there must be light somewhere.”
    That light is Christ. He is the Light of the world.
    The darkness cannot overcome Him.
    He has already defeated the real enemies—sin, death, and the devil.
    Apart from Christ, those shadows are utterly terrifying and profoundly horrifying.
    But with Christ who is our Light, what remains in the valley is only shadow.

    C. You are with Me

    This is the message of the very middle and heart of this psalm,
    Psalm 23:4 “I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
    Do you notice how David changes how he speaks about God.
    In verses 1–3 David speaks *about* the Lord—
    “He makes me lie down… He leads… He restores… He guides.”
    In verse 4 he speaks *to* the Lord—
    “You are with me; Your rod and Your staff.”
    The valleys in life turn theology into conversation.
    The valleys move our faith from intellectual to relational.
    The darkness forces the sheep to talk directly to the Shepherd who is walking beside him.
    Notice that David’s courage doesn’t come from somewhere inside himself.
    I will fear no evil — is not a statement self-confidence
    This is God-confidence — for you are with me
    Faith in the presence of the Shepherd drives out fear.
    Dale Ralph Davis put it well: “It is not that the Lord is closer in the valley, but that we realize in the valley how close He has always been.”
    The God who stayed with His covenant people of old in famine, and in flight,
    in the pit, and in prison
    is the same God who stays with you.
    Listen to me: God’s presence does not thin out when the shadows deepen.
    Picture an airplane hitting severe turbulence.
    Adults grip the armrests.
    Faces tighten with anxiety. In the row beside you a small child sleeps peacefully in her mother’s arms.
    Why is the child not afraid?
    Because her mother’s presence, love, and protection are enough.
    So it is with the child of God.
    In the darkest valley the presence of Christ is enough.

    D. Rod and Staff

    Notice that David sees himself hemmed in by His Shepherd’s protection.
    “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
    The rod was the shepherd’s weapon—
    a heavy club used to drive off wild animals and thieves who came to steal or kill.
    The staff was the long crook used to guide the sheep and gently pull them back from danger when they strayed too near a cliff.
    In this we see that the Shepherd never travels empty-handed.
    He is present and He is prepared.
    He defends and He directs.
    He protects and He restores.

    Application: Fear Gets Loud

    Fear gets loud when God feels far away.
    Some of you are in this valley right now and you feel so alone.
    This reality that David speaks of seems so foreign to you.
    Like a dark storm cloud blotting out the sun, you have no idea where His light is.
    Like the disciples in the storm-tossed boat, you may find yourself crying out, “Does God really care?”
    If this is you, can I give you some pastoral counsel. You’re not alone. David himself felt the same exact way.
    He wrote in Psalm 13:1 “1 How long, O Yahweh? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?”
    But he doesn’t stop there and drown in his doubt.
    He cries out with his troubled soul, Psalm 13:5–6 “5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to Yahweh, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
    You see, David didn’t stop talking to God when He could see or feel His presence.
    So often we go quiet when the lights go out.
    We try to find our way out of the the dark on our own
    But friends, that silence and self-determination is unbelief.
    t’s easy to talk about God while we are in green pastures by still waters. 
    But you must learn to talk to God when He leads you through the valley of the shadow of death.
    Stop treating trust as a feeling you wait for.
    Treat it as obedience you choose.
    Not only in the crisis.
    trust him On the ordinary Tuesday when you still want control.
    When temptation says He leaves you lacking.
    When you would rather rehearse your fears than speak to Him.
    Do not be like the little child who’s shut her eyes in fear of the danger around her.
    Open your eyes of faith and see that your Good Shepherd is right beside you.
    The Shepherd has never failed His sheep.
    No one and nothing is able to snatch you out of His hand.
    No one and no thing will separate you from His love
    Stay near Him today.

    3. He Brings His Sheep Home (verses 5–6)

    Transition

    We can trust the Good Shepherd because He provides for His Sheep.
    We can trust the Good Shepherd because He stays with His Sheep.
    And in verses 5-6 David gives us the third and final reason:
    We Can trust the Good Shepherd because He Brings His Sheep Home.

    A. You Prepare a Table

    In these last two verse, David changes his metaphor and the Shepherd becomes the Host.
    Look at the first phrase of verse 5
    Psalm 23:5 LSB
    5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
    This is a victory banquet.
    In the ancient world a victorious king would return from battle and host a feast.
    The defeated enemies were forced to watch while the king’s people celebrated.
    They were not invited to the table as guests;
    they were present and they were powerless to prevent the enjoyment of victory.
    This is not some smug, pernicious, and boastful act.
    To the enemy it demonstrated that they were utterly defeated.
    But to the king’s subjects, to the guests at his feast,
    it showed that the Battle has been won and peace had been restored.
    Notice in this line that the Lord is not merely the host,
    but He does the work of preparation.
    Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
    The table is being set right now. The Host is getting everything ready.
    And when you arrive home, see that He will anoint your head with oil.
    In that culture, washing a guest’s feet was basic hospitality—a matter of cleanliness after walking dusty roads.
    Anointing the head with costly, perfumed oil was lavish welcome
    —an act of honor, acceptance, and generosity.
    Our God does not merely tolerate His people.
    He honors them.
    He pours out every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
    Having given us His Son,
    He has also graciously given us all things

    B. Cup Overflows

    David concludes verse 5 by stating, “…My cup overflows.”

    Gospel Connection

    Think about this divine exchange we receive from Christ.
    The cup Jesus accepted in Gethsemane was the cup of God’s righteous wrath against sin—your sin and mine.
    He did not sip it.
    He drank it to the bottom.
    Every drop of judgment that should have fallen on us fell on Him instead.
    Watch this…Because that cup was emptied at the cross,
    the cup He now places in the hands of His people is not a cup of wrath.
    It is a cup that runs over with mercy, with provision,
    with the steadfast love of the Shepherd.
    We do not drink judgment.
    We drink triumphant grace—and our cups keep overflowing.

    C. Goodness and Mercy

    Look down at our last verse,
    Psalm 23:6 LSB
    6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will pursue me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.
    I chose to preach out of the LSB this morning mainly because of its translation of verse 6.
    In most bibles it reads surely “goodness and mercy,” or “goodness and love shall follow me.”
    But that word follow is too weak.
    The original Hebrew word gives this idea of pursuit, chasing, hunting.
    Goodness and lovingkindness are not trailing behind, hoping to catch up.
    They are running hard after every one of God’s sheep.
    Like a lions chasing their prey you cannot outrun God’s goodness and love.
    They never tire.
    They meet you in the bright days and the bitter ones,
    in the seasons you feel strong and the seasons you feel emptied.

    Application: Help for Today

    Psalm 23 is often read at life’s end, comforting a dying saint or gracing a funeral. 
    But verse 6 holds a secret for living a blessed life every day until that end. 
    It’s not just about trusting God on your last day—it’s about trusting Him every day. 
    David gives us every day help. Each morning you wake up, tell your soul,
    “Soul, God’s goodness and lovingkindness will chase me down today.” 
    Goodness—
    God’s moral beauty—meets all your needs as your Good Father and Shepherd. 
    Lovingkindness—His faithful covenant love
    —heals you, helps you,
    forgives your sins,
    and reassures you that you are His forever

    D. Dwell Forever in Your House

    David makes three confident declarations in this Psalm.
    I shall not want - vs 1
    I fear not evil - vs 4
    And then in the last line of verse 6 he proclaims,
    “And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.”
    This is both David’s vow and God’s promise.
    The journey that begins with the Lord as Shepherd ends with the Lord as Host in His eternal house.
    At the beginning of verse 6 see the promise of God’s pursuit which tells David “I will never let you go…
    I will bring you home with my goodness and love…
    You will be there with me forever”
    And with this phrase it is as if David is saying,
    “You are so good.
    Why would I ever want to leave?”… (repeat and pause)
    There is no one like Jesus the Good Shepherd. 
    To be His guest isn’t a one-day invite; it’s to dwell with Him forever in His house. 
    This journey that starts with the Lord as your Shepherd ends with Him leading you home to His eternal glory. 

    Closing

    Illustration

    When I first preached this Psalm at Family Camp 2 years ago, I came across another story that I want to share with you as we wrap things up this morning.
    A famous actor named Richard Burton once returned to the little church of his childhood. The pastor asked him to recite Psalm 23. Burton agreed on one condition—that the old pastor would recite it after him.
    Burton stood and delivered the psalm with perfect diction and dramatic power.
    The people applauded.
    Then the aged shepherd of that little flock rose and spoke the same words.
    When he finished, there was not a dry eye in the room.
    Burton looked at the congregation and said, “I reached your ears and your eyes.
    My old pastor reached your hearts.
    The difference is this: I know the Psalm. He knows the Shepherd.”
    That difference is still the difference that matters
    —and it is possible to sit in church, love this psalm, and still only know the words.
    Some of us have grown comfortable with a Shepherd we admire from a distance.
    So I ask you plainly: Do you know the Psalm,
    or do you know the Shepherd?
    Like the shepherd boy at the beginning and the pastor in this story,
    knowing the Shepherd, having a relationship with Him, and following Him,
    lead to their deep trust.
    You cannot trust God like this without knowing Him as your Shepherd and Savior.

    Gospel Call to Unbelievers

    If you have never truly known Christ, hear His voice today.
    He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep, so that our sins may be forgiven.
    He is the door. If anyone enters by Him, he will be saved.
    Turn from your sin. Run to the cross.
    Put your faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and follow Him.
    As Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
    And if you already know Him, then say what this psalm has been saying all morning:
    Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I can trust Him all the way home.
    The Lord is my Shepherd.  
    I shall not want.  
    I will fear no evil.  
    I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

    Let’s Pray Benediction

    The King of love my shepherd is,  whose goodness faileth never.  I nothing lack if I am his,  and he is mine forever.
    2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.”

      • Psalm 23:1ESV

      • Psalm 23:2ESV

      • Psalm 23:3ESV

      • Psalm 23:4ESV

      • Psalm 23:5ESV

      • Psalm 23:6ESV

  • He Will Hold Me Fast

      • 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17NIV2011

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