Love Worth Finding

Narrator: What is the secret to satisfaction? Listen to Adrian Rogers.

Adrian Rogers: So many people think that the secret of satisfaction is having a God who can give you everything. That is not the secret of satisfaction. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. You will never, ever, ever, ever, ever have even a modicum of satisfaction until you can say it, mean it, "The Lord is my shepherd." It is only when you can say that that you can say, "I shall not want."

Narrator: Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated by pastor and author Adrian Rogers. We can have all the things of this world and yet still be dissatisfied. As we just heard, the secret of satisfaction is found in Psalm 23, verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. This short verse is packed full of promises that when correctly understood, can change our perspective. If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers shares more in part one of the secret of satisfaction.

Adrian Rogers: I want to ask you a question. How many truly, truly satisfied people do you know? You know, people can have all of the things of this world and not be satisfied.

John Muir, the great naturalist, was speaking to Mr. Harriman. Mr. Harriman was a railroad magnate and industrialist, a man of great wealth and great influence. And John Muir said to Mr. Harriman, "I am richer than you are."

He said, "Well, how is that?" He said, "Because you don't have all you want, and I do." So I am richer than you. And well, indeed, the Bible says, he that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver. But it is not just money that can't truly satisfy. There is nothing really that can satisfy apart from our Lord.

I heard about a little boy who loved pancakes so much, he sometimes made a glutton of himself over pancakes. And his mother thought that she would cure him one day, and she said, "John, I'm going to fix you all the pancakes you can eat." Well, he thought that was a deal, and she got the griddle out and began to fix pancakes. And he ate, and ate, and ate, and ate, and ate, and ate. Until finally, she said, "John, do you want another pancake?" He said, "No, ma'am, I don't want the ones I've already had."

That so well illustrates what I am talking about is that in the deepest recesses, whether it be in the stomach, or in the heart, or in the mind, there are hungers that people are seeking to satisfy that they can never ever really satisfy. And even when they think they're satisfied, even that satisfaction is a dissatisfaction.

What I'm trying to say to you, dear friend, is that there is a secret of satisfaction that is more than just a play on words, and it's found here in this wonderful 23rd Psalm. Now there's a danger. And here's the danger: that when we get into the 23rd Psalm, we're on such familiar ground that we say, "Oh, I know that," and the proverb familiarity breeds contempt may never be more true because we are all familiar with the 23rd Psalm.

It is perhaps the best known passage of scripture in all of the Bible. And well it ought to be. Because it's such a gem of literature. I believe it's one of the seven wonders of the literary world. But it is given by divine inspiration, and not only is it beautiful, it is magnificently true. It is no wonder that it has been quoted in the nursery school and on the battlefield. It is no wonder that it has been quoted at weddings and funerals.

It is no wonder that it's sweet to a little child, and yet perplexing to a scholar. You know, it's said of the word of God that the word of God is deep enough that the scholars can come and swim without ever touching bottom, and yet shallow enough that a little child can come and drink without fear of drowning. That is certainly true of the 23rd Psalm. A magnificent, a wonderful, wonderful passage of scripture.

And we know it by heart, many of us. It says, "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 and 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 forever."

A beautiful Psalm. We're only going to look at the first verse. And it will be a marvel, really, if we even touch on the truth that's in the first verse. We could take every word in the first verse and and just emphasize each word: the Lord. Not a lord, but the Lord. When David wrote this, the Egyptians had 360 primary gods, one for every day of the week. The Canaanites, in whose land the Israelite came to live, they had many gods.

But David knew there is but one God, the Lord. We could put the emphasis on the word Lord, the great sovereign, the eternal God, the one who rules over all. The Lord is. We could put an emphasis on the word is. When I was in Florida about 20 years ago, I heard the great preacher S.M. Lockridge preach on the Lordship of Christ, and he quoted this verse, and he stopped right there when he said, "The Lord is."

And he began to talk about that little word is. And he said this: "The Lord always has been is, and the Lord always will be is." I like that. He was talking about the eternality, the unchangeability, the immutability of our great God. He said, "You can't keep your tenses straight when you talk about our God."

The Lord is my. And then we could just pull over and park and talk a long time about that little word my shepherd. Not the shepherd, not a great shepherd, a good shepherd, he's all of that, but my shepherd. And we could talk about the personal relationship with our Lord. We could talk about the word shepherd and put the emphasis upon, "The Lord is my shepherd." And how he is the one who is responsible for every care that the sheep might have.

We're going to look in this first verse and find the secret of satisfaction. First of all, I want you to notice that phrase, the Lord. And I want you to think of our sovereign God, the Lord, our sovereign God. Now you notice, if you have a King James Version of the Bible, that the word Lord, L.O.R.D., is in all capital letters. You see, the reason it is there is to tell us that this word that is translated Lord is a translation of a Old Testament name for God that is the most sacred name for deity that the Jews had, and it is the word Jehovah.

Jehovah. And every time you see it in all caps, it means Jehovah. And you can say, "Jehovah is my shepherd." And the name Jehovah was such a sacred name. It was it was the self-existing one, the one who never had a beginning, the one who never has an ending, the great I AM. "Jehovah is my shepherd." That name was so sacred to the Jewish people that some Bible historians say it was only pronounced one time a year.

And it was pronounced at that time only one time a year when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies and whisper the name Jehovah. The Jews never spoke that name audibly. When a Jewish scribe was writing the scripture, when he would come to the word Jehovah, he would put down that pen and get a brand new pen, just to write the name Jehovah. The great, awesome, covenant-keeping God. The self-existing one, the great I AM. The Lord. The Lord. The Lord is my shepherd.

Now you have to understand what David is saying when he's saying, "Jehovah, the great one, is my shepherd." Evangelist Angel Martinez, he has a way with words. I want you to hear what he said about Jehovah. He said, "The Lord, the one who made the world and everything that is in it, the one who lit the taper of the sun and put the stars in their places, that's my shepherd. The one who threw a carpet of green grass upon the earth and tacked it down with the flowers. The one who scooped up the valleys and piled up the hills. The one who took the song of the seraph and robed it with feathers and gave it to the nightingale. The one who took the rainbow and wove it into a scarf and threw it about the shoulders of a dying storm. That's my shepherd. At evening time he pulls down the shade of the night and shoots it through with sunset fire. That's my shepherd."

So first of all, as we look at verse one, we see what I'm going to call the sovereign God. Jehovah. The great, great, great I AM. The one who rules the universe. Now notice, in contradistinction, what David is saying, "The great Jehovah is my shepherd." Now we move from the sovereign to the shepherd. Learn this: that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New Testament.

When we say Jehovah, we speak of his deity. But when we say shepherd, we speak of his humanity. In John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus unlocked the mystery of the 23rd Psalm when he said, "I am the good shepherd." You want to know who David was talking about? "I am the good shepherd." The sovereign, the shepherd, his deity, his humanity.

You see, in the Lord Jesus, oh, here's the wonderful thing about our salvation. In the Lord Jesus, we have sovereignty and sympathy. A king and a shepherd. Sovereignty and sympathy. A God who is able, a shepherd who is available. A God in the heavens and a shepherd in our hearts. The Lord, Jehovah, is my shepherd.

Three times in the New Testament, the Lord Jesus is described as a shepherd. He is described, first of all, as the good shepherd. Now in John chapter 10, verse 11, Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep." Now, any shepherd may lose his life for the sheep. That isn't what Jesus said. Jesus said, "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

Did you know that there's only been one person who ever chose to die? Only one. Oh, you're saying, "No, suicide pilots choose to die. Other people choose to die. People who die by their own hand choose to die. People who give themselves for others, they choose to die." No one has ever chosen to die but Jesus, because he was the only one who didn't have to die. All the rest of us are going to die sooner or later. Some people may just choose to die a little sooner. But nobody has chosen to die except one, and that was Jesus, who laid down his life for the sheep. He said, "No man taketh my life from me. No man can kill me. I lay it down."

It wasn't nails that held him to the tree. It was the silver cords of love and the golden bonds of redemption that held Jesus Christ to that cross. Now, we've often heard of sheep dying for the shepherd when he wants mutton, or when he wants food. But who ever heard of a shepherd dying for a sheep? Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd that lays down his life for the sheep." You say it's unthinkable that a shepherd would die for a sheep. It's more unthinkable that God would die for man.

Jesus is the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. Now listen, when as the good shepherd he laid down his life for the sheep, he dealt with the penalty of sin for the wages of sin is death. And that's what Jesus Christ paid, and your sin will be pardoned in Christ or punished in hell, but it'll never be overlooked. Unless there's a good shepherd who's died for your sins, you, sir, you, lady, are going to have to face the wrath of an angry God at the judgment with your sins unatoned.

He's the good shepherd. But now wait a moment. Not only is he shown in the Bible as the good shepherd in John 10, but he's also shown in the Bible as the great shepherd. Look if you will in Hebrews 13, verses 20 and 21. "Now the God of peace, the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ." What does that mean, "that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ?" That raised him from the dead. He's speaking of the resurrection.

"Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect, that is, mature, in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever."

Now in John 10, he's called the good shepherd. He died for the sheep. Hebrews 13, he's called the great shepherd. He rose for the sheep. I mean, listen, it speaks now of the resurrection. Now, the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep. What good is a dead shepherd? He's no good at all, except that he pays the penalty for the sheep's sin. All we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Yes, he carried our sins to the cross. Therefore, he took care of the penalty of sin. But when he rose from the dead, he now deals with the power of sin.

He not only is the good shepherd. He had to be good to die for our sins, but he's the great shepherd. He rose from the dead. That makes him the great shepherd. And the Bible says, "Now he's able to lead us in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." It's not just that he died for me. Dear friend, he lives for me. And that deals with the power of sin. But wait a minute. He's also called the chief shepherd. Now, in 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 4, the Bible says, "And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

And there you have the ministry of our dear Lord. As the good shepherd, he had to be good to do it. He died for our sins. As the great shepherd, he had to be great to do it. He rose to take care not only of the penalty of our sin, but the power of our sin. And then as the chief shepherd, one day he's coming to take us from the presence of sin. One day he's coming to take us out, folks, and I tell you, the more I read the papers, the more I listen, the more I look around, the more I believe it must be soon. I believe our Lord is at the door, and I believe that the chief shepherd is about to appear. I believe he's about to call his sheep upward. I believe he's about to say to us, "Come on now, I'm the chief shepherd, you follow me."

And you see, he, my dear friend, is King of kings and Lord of lords. Jehovah is our shepherd. He is the chief shepherd. You know, one of the things that is so beautiful about the Bible are the little signs of inspiration that you find that are really great signs when you see them. For example, you have here Psalm 22, 23, and 24 back-to-back, right? Well, that's obvious. Okay, that's not profound. 23 follows 22. Okay. And 24 follows 23. You have a trinity of Psalms.

But in Psalm 22, what do you find in Psalm 22? You find the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in Psalm 22. Psalm 22 is written as if a man were standing at the foot of the cross. The gambling for his garments, the words that he said on the cross, the piercing of his hands and his feet, the words of his enemies. All of this is found there in Psalm 22. Now, in Psalm 22, what do you see there for? The good shepherd dying for the sheep.

But in Psalm 23, what do you find? You find the great shepherd leading his sheep. The one who's alive, risen from the dead. And then in Psalm 24, what do you find? You find the chief shepherd coming for his sheep. You see, in Psalm 24, this is the Lord coming in. Look if you will in verse 7. "Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." "Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." "Who is this King of glory? The Jehovah of hosts. He is the King of glory."

Isn't that beautiful? In these three Psalms, you see the good shepherd, the great shepherd, the chief shepherd. The good shepherd, he died to pay for the penalty of sin. The great shepherd, he rose to take care of the power of sin. And the chief shepherd, who is coming again to appear in glory to take us away from the very presence of sin. I love this as we see this wonderful, wonderful Shepherd King that we have.

But now wait a minute. I said I was going to talk to you about the secret of satisfaction. That's what this verse is about. And this verse is the key to all the rest of the Psalm. You see, every passage of scripture has a key to understanding it. And in Psalm 23, the key is hanging right on the front door. The key is in this verse. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." You have the sovereign, that's Jehovah. You have the shepherd, that's Jesus. Jesus is the Jehovah Shepherd of our lives, and that, my friend, the sovereign plus the shepherd leads to the satisfaction. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

That's the only way that anyone will ever have satisfaction. You will never, ever, ever, ever, ever have even a modicum of satisfaction until you can say it, mean it, "The Lord is my shepherd." It is only when you can say that that you can say, "I shall not want." So many people think that the secret of satisfaction is having a God who can give you everything. That is not the secret of satisfaction. The secret of satisfaction is the Lord himself. Jehovah is my shepherd.

You see, your needs will never be met until they're met in him. Things will never satisfy you. Things will never satisfy you. So many people misunderstand Psalm 37, which says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart." They think that that means if I love Jesus, I can have a pink Cadillac. That isn't what that means. "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desire of your heart." What that means is, when you delight in the Lord, the deepest needs of your heart will be met. The desire of your heart is Jesus.

That's what your heart yearns for. That's what you were made for. For him. The Bible says it is in him that we live and move and have our being. In him. You'll never be satisfied apart from him. To you can say, "The Lord is my shepherd." Not what he gives me, but he himself. What did God make a fish to do? To swim in the sea. What did God make a bird to do? To fly in the sky.

Now you take a fish out of the sea and put him in a tree, he'll be an unhappy fish. You take a bird out of the sky and put him in the sea, and he'll be an unhappy bird, because both are out of their element. What is the element that you were created for? God himself. And until you know him, you will be like a fish in a tree, like a bird in the sea. You'll be out of your element. You'll be like a square peg in a round hole. Friends all around me are trying to find what the heart yearns