He Leadeth Me Series

He Leadeth Me!

Psalm 23:3b

Introduction:

Cf. Psalm uses the imagery of a Shepherd and his sheep to describe relationship of the Lord to those who belong to Him.

Lord = Shepherd

Saved = Sheep

Oh, sheep are such cute, fluffy little creatures… well when God compared us to sheep; He wasn’t flattering us. Sheep are helpless little animals that cannot survive on their own. Sheep need a Shepherd… Friend, you and I need the Lord!

Defenseless = they don’t have long horns, sharp teeth, or powerful claws to ward off predators. Completely dependent upon the care and protection of their Shepherd – look: v. 5

Directionless = have no sense of direction and are easily lost. A bee = hive; bird = nest; dog, cat, horse find its way back home but not a sheep. If a sheep strays 10 yards from its pasture it cannot find its way back.

They must be brought back – (v. 3a) “He restoreth my soul.” (lit) puts us back on the right path.

Just as a sheep struggles finding its way… so you and I struggle finding our way through life.

Life = maze… seems at every turn hit a dead end. God never intended for us to navigate life on our own. Ask David, how he made it through life? He would simply reply, “by following my Shepherd.”

Illust: Fanny Crosby was blinded as a baby by a man posing as a doctor… she came to know the Lord as her Savior and Shepherd as a young girl and became a prolific poet and writer hymns and gospel songs.

On one occasion Fanny had a financial need in her life. She did not know where she would get the money she needed, so as she had done many times before, she went to God in prayer. It was long until there was a knock at her door. A complete stranger was at her door and gave her the exact amount for which she had been praying.

Fanny said, “I have no way of accounting for this except to believe that God, in answer to my prayer, put it into the heart of this good man to bring me the money. My first thought was, it is so wonderful the way the Lord leads me. Moved by the thought she immediately wrote the words to the hymn, “All the Way My Saviour Leads Me.”

Frist Stanza:

“All the way my Saviour leads me –

What have I to ask beside?

Can I doubt His tender mercy,

Who through life has been my Guide?”

I. THE PROMISE OF HIS LEADING!

Look: v. 3 – “He leadeth me”

John 10:4,5 – Good Shepherd… “When He putteth forth His sheep, He goeth before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His voice.”

The Lord leads His Sheep; He doesn’t drive them!

Illust: I reminded of the story of some tourists driving through the English countryside when a flock of sheep come bounding down the hill and frantically ran across the road in front of them. Running behind them was a seemingly angry man waving a stick and yelling at the sheep driving them along before him. Confused the stopped the man and asked, Sir, I have always heard that a Shepherd leads his sheep. It seems sir you are driving them. The man replied you are right! A Shepherd does lead his sheep, but I am not the shepherd. I am the butcher!

John 10:10 – “The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. “

Satan like a butcher = drives the sheep

Lord Jesus as a Shepherd = leads His sheep!

John 10:9 – “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.”

He alone is the way, the truth and the life! No man comes to the Father but by Him! He alone is the way to a right relationship with God!!!

It’s at that moment, when we trust Jesus Christ as Savior… that we become one of His Sheep!

Just as a Shepherd walks before his… guiding them and directing them in green pastures, so the Lord desires to go before His sheep, leading us and guiding us through life!

Ps. 32:8 – “I will instruct thee and teach the in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”

Prov. 3:5,6 – “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; an dlean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

Prov. 8:20,21 – “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.”