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Voice Of Prophecy

H.M.S. Richards

The Twenty-third Psalm


From Los Angeles, California, we present the program of The Voice of Prophecy, A voice crying in the wilderness of these latter days, prepare ye the way of the Lord. ♪ Coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming again. ♪ We invite you to listen to our broadcast today and share with us the mutual blessing and inspiration of this hour together. Speed away, speed away, over mountain and sea, To the hearts that are waiting with welcome for thee. There are eyes that will gleam with the glad gospel light.

There are feet that will walk in the pathway of right. There are voices to sing praise to Jesus the King. Praise to Jesus the King. Speed away, speed away, speed away. Speed away, speed away, with the love of thy Lord, With the glorious tidings revealed in His Word.

Bear the Bethlehem story with gladness to men. Feed the world to prepare for His coming again. Free salvation proclaim through Emmanuel's name. Speed away, speed away, speed away. O Lord, our almighty King O Lord, our almighty King and Heavenly Father, We beseech thee to so guide those in authority and command thy watch care over those in national service, that freedom and happiness may be multiplied in the earth.

And thy gospel of the kingdom preached in all the world unto all nations. O Lord, the strength of all who put their trust in thee. All we like sheep have gone astray, but now We return unto thee, the shepherd of our souls. Mercifully accept our prayers and grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee both in will and deed, and be brought at last to thy heavenly fold, through Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

A quiet rest near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest, Dear to the heart of God. Amen. Greetings to our friends everywhere. In our mailbag we find hundreds of letters from mothers and fathers requesting us to mail Voice of Prophecy sermons to their sons and daughters in military service, and we are happy to comply with these requests.

Whenever a free sermon in printed form is offered by the Voice of Prophecy broadcast, be sure to ask for a copy for yourself or some loved 1. Not every sermon is available, but at least twice a month, special radio messages are mailed to the field. Here's a letter from a mother in Massachusetts. She writes to us very enthusiastically, Thank you for sending my son James the sermon. This morning's letter from him states that he has received the sermon, read it and enjoyed it.

He is in a hospital for the detention of patients in England. Well, we are happy to provide these free gospel radio talks to our servicemen, hospitalized or otherwise. Write to us, giving your name and address, or that of some friend or relative, and we will gladly mail the sermon absolutely free. But remember to listen for the announcement each week as only 2 printed sermons are offered to the public each month. It is our prayer that these Christian messages of hopes, the sermons of the Voice of Prophecy, will draw many of God's sheep nearer to the Good Shepherd.

I feed in green pastures, safefolded I rest. Ye leadeth my soul where the still waters flow, When wonders flow. Restores me when wandering, Redeems when oppressed. Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God, Still follow my steps till I meet thee above. Till I meet thee above, I seek by the path which my forefathers trod, Through the land of their soldiers, the kingdom of love.

And now, the voice of prophecy. Let us all repeat together the beautiful 23rd Psalm. The 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 will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod, thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a 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 will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." This twenty-third psalm is the most widely known scripture. It is memorized and repeated in all lands. It is the universal psalm, the chief psalm, the pearl of psalms. It holds the central place in an unbroken Trinity formed by the 22nd, the 23rd, and the 24th psalms, which present our Lord Jesus Christ in 3 positions.

In the 22nd Psalm, the so-called Psalm of Sobs, he is the good shepherd who gave his life for the sheep. In the 23rd Psalm, he is the great shepherd, who in resurrection power leads his sheep. And in the twenty-fourth psalm he is the chief shepherd, who will return in glory. Only a shepherd could have written the twenty-third psalm, and David was a shepherd. The Lord is the shepherd of his people, and they are his sheep, so David said.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. The Lord is my shepherd, no want shall I know. I feed in green pastures, safe folded I rest. Healeth my soul where the still waters flow, restores me when wandering, redeems when oppressed. In eastern lands the shepherd goes before his flock, he leads them.

They know his voice, and follow him. So the sheep in this beautiful psalm, the flock of the Lord, are those who follow him. Jesus said, as we read in John 10, 27, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Are you a child of God? Then you can repeat the twenty-third Psalm, and know that it's yours.

It was written for you. All believers can say, We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100, verse 3. We do not naturally belong to the Lord's flock. We are orphans and need to be brought into the fold of the true shepherd.

Some time ago 1 of our national magazines carried the story of a young lady from the south who had married a Western sheep rancher. 1 of the incidents that she relates is the adoption of an orphan lamb by its foster mother. When a mother sheep dies, leaving a lamb, the shepherd must find another mother that will adopt it, or accept it. First, she looks for a sheep that has recently lost her own lamb. Then he skins the dead lamb, being careful to remove the skin as whole as possible.

Puts it over the little orphan like a coat. This strange-looking baby is put with a foster mother, who, when she sniffs it, thinks she smells her own lamb, because of the coat that the orphan is wearing. So she accepts it, and cares for it as her own. We too were orphans, then. We did not belong to God's flock, but through the death of His Lamb, we are clothed in the robe of His righteousness, and are able to enter the true fold.

Our Saviour is not only the Lamb, He is the Shepherd too, the Good Shepherd, who giveth His life for the sheep. John 10, 11. The picture of the divine shepherd leading his flock fills the first 4 verses of the 23rd Psalm. There is a sort of double progress in these verses which rises from memories of his care in the past, the experiences of God's present care for us, and our hope for the future. In other words, what was, what is, and what will be.

The other part of The picture in these 4 verses gives the different methods that God uses in leading his flock. Or we might say the various regions through which he leads them are described in order. They are 3, rest, work, and sorrow. Rest, strange to say, in the past, work in the present, and sorrow, the valley of the shadow, still to come. First God leads his sheep into rest.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalm 23.2. The psalmist puts rest and refreshment first, because this is the way God deals with us so often. His blessings span the years.

When we look back over life, the trials are outweighed by his love. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning. No 1 can rest in mind and heart until the weight of a guilty conscience is removed. But God heals the troubled soul when He forgives our sins. In spiritual communion with Him the hungry heart finds food that satisfies.

It feeds upon the word of God, and the thirsty soul drinks deep from the cool still waters. And by these blessings to which the great Shepherd leads us, we find our souls restored, the natural life invigorated, the spiritual life reborn. The restored soul is then led on to another stage in God's plan for his life, "...he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." That is, God leads us into work, into service for him. Rest in the green pastures and refreshment by the still waters are to fit us for work. In the gospel plan, works do not precede, but follow rest.

The restoration of the soul comes first, then the works of righteousness. We are not saved by our works, but we work because we are saved. We are justified by works. We are not justified by works, but for works. As the Apostle Paul puts it in Ephesians 2.10.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them. Faith in the Good shepherd does not make void his law. On the contrary, his death for the sheep makes it forever sure. Do we then make void the law through faith, ask the Apostle to the Gentiles? Then he answers his own question, God forbid, yea, we establish the law.

Romans 3.31. The fact that all the 10 Commandments, not 5 or 8 or 9, but all of them, all 10 of them, are repeated in principle in the New Testament, and are taught by both Christ and the Apostles, sustains the word of the psalmist. The good shepherd leads his sheep in paths of righteousness to the very gates of the beautiful city itself, and on through the gates into the eternal fold, for it is written in Revelation 22.14, Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. And now the shepherd leads on, not only beside the still waters of rest, and the righteous paths of service, but through trouble and sorrow. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.

Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. The heavenly Shepherd does not always keep his sheep from sorrow, but he is with them in sorrow. When the 3 young men of Babylon found themselves in the fire for conscience' sake, the form of the fourth walked with them in the flames. When the apostle Paul stood before bloody Nero, he was not alone. He says, The Lord stood with me.

So, friend, Do not worry about the future. Whatever brings to you trouble, whatever comes to you, remember, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. The Good Shepherd is with you. His rod and His staff comfort us. His law and his gospel contribute to our correction and support.

We may not always be able to understand or to see, but we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8.28. We may not know the why of many of our experiences, but we know that our shepherd knows, and that's sufficient. A father was once holding his little blind daughter on his knee. A friend who had called took her in his arms suddenly.

The child didn't cry or resist. Aren't you afraid, darling?" the father asked. You don't know who has you. No, I don't know, but you do. She didn't have to know.

Her father knew that was all right. Her faith in him took away fear. In Santa Cruz, California, some years ago, a reunion was held of the survivors of that first band of pioneers to cross Death Valley in 1849. Among them was a woman, ninety-nine years of age. All the others admitted that had it not been for her words of faith and cheer, they never could have endured the terrible 52 days crossing the burning sands of the Mojave Desert, and never to reach the land of the Golden Gate where the Pacific breezes blow.

The whole human race longs for God's promised land and the gates of gold beyond the valley of the shadow of death. What encouragement do we have to press on to the West? Listen to Christ, our great Shepherd, who has crossed death's valley, conquered it. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." John 5.24. In the last 2 verses of the twenty-third psalm we read, I prepare as to 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 will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Remember, the sheep are men, they are people, they gather round the Lord's table here in this world. The next time we sit at the table of the Lord, let us brush aside any thought it is the table of the church. It is His table. The Shepherd supplies all our needs in the presence of our enemies.

Now it is more than rest or work, it is conflict. He provides for us here in this world, its wilderness food, the manna of his presence, water out of the rock. We eat it as the Israelites did, in haste, staff in hand, ready to march on. But the day is coming, and the Good Shepherd will call us to the great supper in his kingdom. Then we shall lay aside the pilgrim dress, and the sword we shall put on the royal robe, and sit down with him, and all enemies will be gone for ever.

Read the picture of it in Revelation 7.16. They shall hunger no more, thirst no more. At feasts in Bible times the heads of distinguished guests were anointed with perfumed oil. The woman in the gospel story poured the box of precious ointment upon the head of our Lord. Remember that.

So too the very sheep of the Lord's pasture are to be oil-anointed guests. Notice the next sentence in the text, My cup runneth over. God's blessings here and hereafter are more than we can receive. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. As the ancient shepherd led his sheep, his 2 shepherd dogs guarded their rear to keep straying sheep in the path.

So through life, like 2 angels of God, goodness and mercy, will follow us and encamp round about us. Then we shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. O Shepherd divine, I know thou art mine, thy search in the night was for me. The world is a storm, but thy fold is warm. My shepherd, I follow thee.

The beautiful lamp shineth bright o'er my way, Thy glorious light unto thy perfect day. O pastures serene, through valleys of green, O Shepherd divine, I know thou art mine. I fear thee say, follow thou me. Thy message today illumines my way, By the spirit of prophecy. By the spirit of prophecy.

I freely let thy marvelous love to thy sheep, The way thou dost lead to the still waters deep. 1 staff and 1 rod, 1 fold and 1 God. My Shepherd, I follow Thee. May that be our prayer, my shepherd I follow thee. Will you promise God just now that you will follow the true shepherd?

An otherwise dark future will be made bright for every man, woman, and child that makes that happy choice now. Have faith in God, whoever you may be. Have faith in God on land and on the sea. Have faith in God. He cares for you and me.

Have faith, dear friend, in God. O say To the rock that is higher than I, My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly. So sinful, so weary, thine, thine would I be. Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee. I am hiding in thee.

How often the conflict when pressed by the foe, I have fled to my refuge and breathed out my war. How often On trials like sea billows roll, have I hidden in thee, O thou rock of my soul? Of my soul. Hiding in thee, hiding in thee, thou blessed rock of angels, Thou blessed rock of angels, I'm hiding in Thee. The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And give thee peace. Amen.

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The Twenty-third Psalm

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