Running To Win

Dave McAllister: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Deep valleys—we've all been there, seeing obstacles on all sides and noting that little light reaches the bottom where we are. But believers running life's race have a good shepherd who knows all about valleys, and they know he will lead them safely no matter what.

From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running To Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. We're in Psalm 23 for another message in the series, "The Good Shepherd." Pastor Lutzer, as you speak on the shepherd comforts his sheep, tell us why a sheep would need comfort.

Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer: Well Dave, you've already implied that because of the deep valleys, they of course need comfort. They may come to places where there is very little grass, but I'll tell you what I'm thinking about. Sheep need to be kept from wolves, and the only one who can do that is Jesus Christ. And by the way, today is Good Friday. What a wonderful day to celebrate the fact that the good shepherd gave his life for the sheep.

Today is the last day we're making a special resource available for you. It's a book entitled "The New Birth." Now maybe you are born again and you might ask the question, "Why do I need to read it?" Well, the answer is, it will clarify what the new birth is, but also it will give you a test to make sure that you are born again, that you are one of God's sheep.

Here's what you do: you can go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now at the end of this message, I'm going to be giving you this contact info again, but remember, this is the last day we're making this resource available for you. And also remember that today we celebrate the fact that the good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep.

I suppose that during this past week, you probably have experienced both hills and valleys, both some sunshine and some storms. Both come to us, usually in mixtures. I want you to take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 23, and we're going to pick up the text today in verse four.

But I want you to notice in Psalm 23, verse four, that there is a difference now in the way in which the sheep are talking. You'll notice up until now, the sheep has been bragging about the shepherd: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." But when you get to verse four, you'll notice that now the sheep begins to talk to the shepherd.

"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." What I want you to notice in the text is that there are three promises that comfort the sheep. Three promises that we can hang on to in our own lives. Three promises that will carry us all the way to dwelling in the house of the Lord forever.

First of all, I want you to notice that the shepherd protects his sheep. He protects them. When I memorized Psalm 23 many years ago as a child, I didn't realize that when it speaks about the valley of the shadow of death, it is talking about an actual valley in Israel. And even though I was in Israel a number of times, not until the last time did we actually see the valley of the shadow of death, just close to the city of Jericho. A deep valley, hundreds of feet down to the bottom, and a very rough valley, a rocky valley. I don't understand how anyone could get through the valley.

Here's what David may be referring to. In the spring, when the snows begin to melt on the hilltop, it's necessary for the shepherd to take those sheep and to lead them through the valley and then up the other side so that they might be able to get to the pastureland that is developing on top of the hill.

And so you can imagine the steep paths, the narrow paths, the rocks, the serpents, the vultures by day and the hyenas at night, and the shepherd has to take his sheep all the way to the plateau, to the higher ground. And there's only one way to do it, and that is to go through the valley.

But I want you to know that this Psalm has blessed many people, and many believers have died quietly and successfully and serenely because of this verse, because we interpreted it in terms of actual death. And certainly, it has that application.

Notice that it does not say, "Yea, though I go through the valley of death," but the shadow of death. All that is left of death really is the shadow. And when there is a shadow, you always know that there is some light shining or there would be no shadow, and there is the light of Christ, the light of immortality that shines even when we walk through that fearsome valley.

But a shadow cannot hurt you. The shadow of a wolf never bites. The shadow of a sword never draws blood. It cannot do that. But I want you to notice that Jesus Christ has taken out the sting of death. He has taken out its substance and he has left only its shadow, and that's why it cannot hurt us. Just like a bee whose stinger has been taken out, in the very same way, Christ has taken away the fear of death. The shadow alone is left.

The question is, how does the shepherd get the sheep to follow him through this precipitous path all the way up to the other side, when they don't want to go and when they are afraid of the rocks and the streams and the narrow paths? Sometimes a shepherd will actually take a lamb and carry it in his bosom and begin to walk, and then the mother begins to walk, and when she begins to walk, others begin to follow her and soon everybody goes.

And that's the way God sometimes prepares us for heaven. Sometimes the Lord reaches down and takes a lamb, and I'm speaking to some of you today who have experienced the death of a child, and you have stood at that grave and your precious little lamb is already on the other side, and that makes you more anxious to follow, and it reminds all of us how close heaven really is.

Sometimes also, though, by letting us know that there's an adult lamb that has been taken. Billy Barrows—you know Cliff Barrows' wife, her nickname was Billy and she died some time ago. Last week, Rebecca and I spoke to some friends who know Cliff Barrows, and this woman told us, she said Cliff says that even though Billy has been gone now for quite some time, the hurt and the loneliness is just as deep and he's not getting over it.

Well, God never really wants us to get over it, because it is a reminder of the fact that heaven is coming and the assurance is there that some lambs have already made it to the other side. And all that we need to do is to have confidence that the shepherd knows the way.

And we learned already in this Psalm that the good shepherd never expects us to go where he himself has not gone, and that's why the Bible says with such certainty that when we die, we also shall live because he lives. He has gone through that tomb called death and he has come out triumphantly, and so he says to you and to me, "Come, let us walk together, because I want you to know, I know every single step of the pathway all the way."

And how does he get us there? Well, notice what the psalmist said: "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." The rod was a thick club that was used at close hand fighting, fighting off animals. It could also be thrown by the shepherd who practiced throwing it with very great accuracy to ward off all of those beasts that would devour the flock. That was the rod.

The staff was more tender. The staff had that hook and it was used by the shepherd to keep the sheep in line. It was used sometimes also if serpents were going to strike at the sheep. And David says, "Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. They may be fearsome to the enemy, but to me they are the means of comfort and thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward thou shalt receive me to glory. I will make it home. 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 shepherd protects his sheep.

But second promise that we can hang on to is that the shepherd provides for the sheep. They've made it to the other side now, getting back to the valley in Israel. They've made it to the pastureland where the snow has dissipated.

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over." There in the presence of hyenas and vultures and snakes, the shepherd has made this meadow. He is protecting the meadow and right there in the midst of enemies, the sheep are enjoying themselves.

If a soldier eats with enemies, he does so quickly, but the sheep are able to graze there contentedly because the shepherd provided a place for them. "Thou anointest my head with oil." It's a repellent against all the insects that are there.

"My cup runneth over." Sheep do not like to get their wool wet. They don't like to drink from running streams. They would much more prefer to drink from a quiet place, and sometimes the shepherd would take a bucket, a bowl in those days, and then would take it and would actually give the sheep water and fill it to overflowing so that he could drink contentedly.

Those are the special things that God does for us. It's the extras that he throws in. God sometimes pays attention to detail. There are things in my life that God has done that I look back and I just smile because I can see in it the finger of God over and abundantly what I could ever possibly expect, and God gives it.

Jonathan Edwards was one of America's premier theologians. I will say that he is America's premier greatest theologian that this nation ever produced. Also the great revivalist of the 1740s in Massachusetts, preaching to large crowds "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," you know his sermon. Many of us would like to just go to his grave and say I was there where Jonathan Edwards is buried.

I have used this to comfort many a pastor going through difficulty, not the least of which just recently, a young pastor being edged out of his church, not because of immorality, not because of doctrinal deviation, but because he released a staff member who had been a problem in the church. It's a complicated story. But here this young couple's going through all these trials and I shared this with them.

Jonathan Edwards was actually voted out of his church because he believed that only those who gave evidence of being born again should be members, and that disagreed with his famous grandfather and so forth. So there was a person in the church who stirred up opposition to Edwards and had him kicked out. I think the vote was something like 230 to 30 against him.

Well, how do you take it? You're the great revivalist, you're a great theologian, and here's this congregation that says, "You know, we don't need this guy." I mean, we'd give anything to have Jonathan Edwards here, and they kick him out. How did he handle it? Listen to the words of his biographer. His biographer said of Jonathan Edwards that his happiness in God was beyond the reach of his enemies.

Did you get it? His happiness in God was beyond the reach of his enemies. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over." Oh God, you're so good to me.

Well, notice that the Lord protects his sheep, he provides for them, and he even plans for them. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Jesus said, "I'm going to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am, there ye may be also."

Now get the imagery. Here is the sheep that is following the shepherd, and behind him there are two watchdogs, goodness and mercy. Goodness is going to take care of all my needs. Mercy is going to blot out my sins. And then I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

What does it say in Psalm 27, verse four? "One thing I have sought from the Lord and that I seek after, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord and that I might see the beauty of the Lord and meditate in his temple." I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Two very important observations. Number one, sheep are never asked to fight their enemies. Did you know that? Sheep are never asked to fight their enemies. They are asked to stay close to the shepherd. Jesus said, "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." What could be more defenseless than a sheep in the midst of wolves? What if the sheep all got together and said, "Well, you know, we've got a problem here, we're going to take care of it by getting together and we're going to fight these wolves"? Not a chance.

I frequently have met Christians, and it comes to me all the time that sometimes I think we fight battles that God never intended us to fight, and the reason is we're taking responsibilities that really rest with God. And our responsibility is to stay close to the shepherd and say, "Oh my beloved shepherd, the wolves are encompassing around me, they are circling the wagons. Lord, you are mine, you are my shield, you are my defender, take up my cause."

We live in a very litigious age. I don't get a chance to use that word often, so I'll say it again: it is litigious. Everybody suing everybody else, everybody's going to an attorney. Well, there may be a place for that. We've got some attorneys here today, and so I need to tread very, very kindly as I walk through this valley of the shadow of death. But I want you to know something today, that there are some things that are would be better just left with God to sort out.

Sheep are not required to fight their enemies. Number two, there'll be no path that the shepherd will ever take us but that he himself goes with us. You are never separated from the shepherd. There was a young woman who was giving birth to a child, and she gave birth to the child and became very clear to everyone that she was going to die.

And she was weeping and she was she knew she was going to die and she kept saying, "I want to take my baby with me, I want to take my baby with me." And the doctor said to her, "You know, you really can't because the gate through which you are passing, you're going alone. Your child, we promise you, will be well looked after."

But "I don't want to go alone, I want to take my baby with me." G. Campbell Morgan, a pastor, overhearing this, goes to this precious woman and says, "I want you to know, you don't have to go through the gate alone. The good shepherd goes with you."

We have some friends who found their mother dead in an apartment, and they felt so badly because she had been there for a day or two, that she died alone. But when you stop to think of it, if you're a member of God's sheep, nobody ever dies alone. The shepherd says, "Every step you take, yea though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you will fear no evil for I am with you. Step for step, moment for moment, the good shepherd walks with us through the fearsome valley and we come out on the other side in the light of immortality."

I found it difficult to preach on Psalm 23. I'll just share with you very honestly and say that the first two messages I preached were some of the most difficult I preached here. You wouldn't have known it. Some of you maybe even were blessed. God is gracious.

But this week I was meditating and saying, "Why is Psalm 23 so difficult to preach on?" You just came off a series of the book of Job and now Psalm 23, you're struggling. Why why are you struggling so much? And it dawned on me that the reason that I was struggling was because it seems so unrealistic. That was the reason. It seems so idealistic.

You know, the Lord is my shepherd, he takes care of everything, he fills the bowls with water, he makes me to lie down in green pastures, he takes care of all of my need, and I just go through life sticking close to the shepherd and everything is sweetness and light. And I know that life isn't that way.

And that's why I was struggling so much. And then it dawned on me this week that what we ought to really do is go back to the author of the Psalm and ask him some questions and dialogue with David who wrote it, whose life was anything but sweet and serene. And we ought to ask David, "David, how did you take Psalm 23 and relate it to the nitty-gritty of your experience and your life? How did you pull that off, David?" So we're going to end this message on Psalm 23 with dialoguing with David.

David is writing, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." So I interrupt him and I say, "David, come on. Fine for you to say that today the sun is shining, everything seems to be right with the world. But David, what do you do when Saul pursues you for 10 years and you go from cave to cave and from stream to stream and you live that way for 10 long years?

And David, what do you do when your family rejects you? You were considered the runt of the family. When Samuel was supposed to find a king among the sons of Jesse, you weren't even allowed to attend. How did that hurt you, David?" And David was hurt by that, you can see it in the Psalms. "What have you got to say, David?"

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters."

"Oh David. David, what do you do when you commit adultery with Bathsheba and then kill her husband to cover your sin? And despite the fact that you've tried to cover it so well, the whole kingdom knows about it. In fact, even God says the heathen knew about it. and everybody is whispering behind your back and it is recorded every day in the gossip column of the Jerusalem Post. And David, everybody knows it. And how do you go on from there?"

"He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

"Oh David. David, what do you do when the child that Bathsheba bore to you whom you love dies, and Nathan the prophet says that the reason it died is because of your sin and your crime? David, how do you handle your grief? How do you bounce back from an experience like that?"

"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."

"But David. David, you had a son by the name of Absalom and Absalom rebelled against you and Absalom turned his face away and he caused an insurrection and because of that he undermined your authority, he told lies about you, he committed immorality with your wives.

and then you had to go through the Kidron Valley and over the Mount of Olives in great humiliation as you were running away from the civil war that was there. David, how do you manage when in embarrassment your own child wants to kill you?"

"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies."

"But David, how do you handle it when the whole nation is angry at you for grieving over Absalom, who was killed against your wishes and you're grieving so much and you're supposed to run the country and Joab has to come and talk some sense into your head? And everybody is saying, 'What's wrong with King David, did he lose his marbles?' David, how do you bounce back from such humiliation?"

"Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over."

"Oh David. David."

Dave McAllister: Well my friend, you certainly are going to have to listen to Running To Win next time to find an answer to the question. But at the end of the day, the most important thing about us is whether or not we are one of God's sheep. Jesus Christ died for us, the good shepherd gave his life for the sheep and that's of course what we celebrate today.

But also today is the last day we're making a special resource available for you. It's entitled "The New Birth." It's written by Peter Mead, who is a Bible teacher in England. Now what this will do is, it will help you to crystallize what the new birth is and the fact that it is a miracle.

We're not talking about self-help. We're not talking about trying to do better. We're talking about an act of God within our hearts that changes us forever and gives us eternal life which begins right now. And of course it prepares us for the eternal life that is still to come.

Now for a gift of any amount, it can be yours. I hope that you take down this info because I think as I've frequently have mentioned that this resource will help you run all the way to the finish line. And by the way, it's a great book to give to a friend who is searching for truth.

Here's what you do: go to rtwoffer.com, rtwoffer.com, or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Now because this is the last time we're making this special resource available, I'll give you that contact info again. Go to rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. For a gift of any amount, the book can be yours, entitled "The New Birth." And today we get to celebrate the good shepherd.

You can write to us at Running To Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. If we face life with just our emotions, we're up one day, down the next. But if we face life with our hand in the hand of God, we've got an anchor. We need to know that the good shepherd will bring us safely through the storms of life because he knows what's ahead.

Next time, more on the comfort our good shepherd provides. Running To Win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running To Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.