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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s message will be a blessing to you and your family.

Well, I want you to take your Bible and look there in Psalms 23. You know, whenever you have a funeral You have a funeral or something like that. Most people, they like to read the 23rd Psalm. And the reason is because it’s such a comforting Psalm. You’re just troubled and distressed. It’s a good Psalm to read. The 23rd Psalm. It’s a Psalm of David. I just want to read it to you and I want to make a few little comments.

But from a different perspective, perhaps, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He made it me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the steel waters. He restored my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for his namesake. Yea, though I walk to 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 the table before me, and the presence of mine enemies.

Thou anointed 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 on the house of the Lord forever.” Isn’t that a good Psalm? That’s really pretty. You just sit and read it, and you can go back and read it again and again and again and it’s really very, very comforting. I believe that Psalms 23 is like a psalm that’s preparation for life, preparation for life.

When you look at the psalm and you realize what you’re going through in life and you’re the sheep and he’s the shepherd and he’s leading and guiding us through life. And so maybe kind of look at just a little bit different. And we look at it only as a momentary situation, a problem, an incident, a crisis. You just lost a level and now that really fits that. Or you went through this problem and that really fits that. But I believe it’s more than just that.

You see, it took David’s life of living to put all of this together as God wanted him to see. And when he said these things, I believe that the inspiration is that God gives them every word to put down, every word. And so even to express it is the way that God wanted it expressed. And then when you look over your life and you realize what God has done in your life, and you pull it all together, and if you could put it down into one little, you know, couple paragraphs or something like that, could you condense your life down into something so small?

But if you’ll notice there when he says, the Lord, the Lord is my shepherd. And you and I are supposed to know and believe that the Lord is my shepherd. Now I didn’t say the pastor is my shepherd, though I’m a shepherd. It doesn’t say the church is my shepherd or your husband or your wife. But the most important thing for every individual to understand is the Lord should be your Shepherd. We want to teach the Bible in such a way that you grow closer and closer to the Lord so that whenever you’re not in church, you’re at home, you’re on the job, whatever you do, you’re trusting the Lord to lead you and to guide you.

Don’t you think that’s the way it ought to be? You’ll lose people. And circumstances change, but the Lord doesn’t change. He’s always there. When he says, lo, I am with you always, and he’ll never forsake you, never leave you. That’s such a wonderful thing. When he says, I shall not want, and is one person, put it one for what if the Lord is your shepherd? What is the purpose of the shepherd with the sheep? He supplies all the needs of the sheep.

All the sheep have to do is follow. that’s all the sheep has to do, just follow. And the Lord, as the great shepherd, is going to take care of all these things. And so in times past, whenever I have taught the 23rd Psalm, I like to tie it in with chapter 22 and also Psalms 24. Because you have in one, you have Jesus in chapter 22, where he is the good shepherd, and he is a good shepherd. their scriptures that talk about Jesus as the good shepherd like in John chapter 10.

And then you have here in Psalms 23 where Jesus is the great shepherd. So he’s a good shepherd, but he’s the great shepherd. And then when you read the next chapter, we talked about Christ as the chief shepherd. And the chief shepherd shall appear. So in chapter 22, yes, You’ve got it where it talks about Mount Calvary. And there’s a whole Psalm there talking about Christ and the crucifixion and Him coming back from the dead. And about you and I shall see some great things.

But just look at this very quickly. When he makes a statement down here in verse 25, my praise shall be of the, this is in chapter 22. I pray shall be of thee and the great congregation. I will pay my vows before them that fear them.” Then Nilquity says, “‘The meat shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that seek Him. Your heart shall live forever.'” That’s eternal security. That’s God telling you in advance. This one that died on the cross that paid for your sins is coming back from the dead and that you will live forever, those that believe in Him.

And then he makes this statement there in verse 29. See the last part of verse 29, when he makes this statement, that none shall keep his soul alive. You can’t keep yourself from dying. You just can’t do it. And I’ve seen people, you know, they say, but you know, the person’s in the hospital and they’re on their death bed. Boy, he’s really fighting for his life. He’s really fighting there. He’s a struggle. He’s tough. He’s wrong. If God wants to take him, God’s gonna take him and has nothing to do with how strong as well is.

Now, we know that a person should want to live and desire to live, and the body naturally fights dying. It doesn’t want to die. And so we’re thankful sometimes for that. But when the Lord is ready, all the struggling in the world are not going to stop it. No doctor is going to stop it. No medicine is going to stop it. The Bible says it’s appointed unto every man wants to die. If that wasn’t true and there’s not an appointment, I guess we’d have people walking around here five, six hundred years old, thousand years old.

Well, they really fight. They don’t want to die, and they speak now. It’s not just always within the will of man that can determine him. How much on your own did you determine when you were born? None. And sometimes you may not get the choice of them when you die or even how you die. But the thing is, is we’re going to die. And so he makes statement here and I want you to see that. See there in verse 31, they shall come and shall declare his righteousness.

And see this is what he talks about in the book of Psalm, somebody mentioned just while they go the 40th Psalm, to declare his righteousness. And you find that also over there in the book of Philippians in chapter 3 verse 9. But declaring his righteous to get this unto a people that shall be born.” So you live long enough and you see that. And to declare onto the next generation his righteousness. And to say that he hath done this.

But you see, when you look over there in verse 16 where he makes the statement, for dogs have compost maybe assembly of the wicked, having clothed me, they pierced my hands and my feet. So this is declaring what Christ did on the cross and what He’s done. So, yeah, you have that in Mount Calvary and then you have in chapter 24 Mount Zion where He comes back as the king. And in between these two mountains is a great valley.

You see, a valley lies between two mountain peaks. And so, therefore, we have in your life and my life. We were born, and when we were born, we were born under the law. When we die, we pray that we have accepted Christ as our Savior, and because of Mount Calvaryt, we know we’re going to heaven when we die. But we have to live in this valley. And that’s why he says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we’re always living with the fear of death because we know that it could happen at any time.

greatest laid plans of all the things you and I want to do, we’d love to see, accomplish, go, to be. May all come short by just one little heartbeat, not taking place. You and I have no clue what’s going to take place down the road. We live in the shadow of death. Now I want you to hold your place right here, but look over there with me in the book of Hebrews in chapter 2. book of Hebrews in chapter 2.

Hebrews chapter 2. Now look down there with me in the verse 14 because this is talking about when Jesus Christ tasted death for every man he did that in verse 9 says that. But down here in verse 14 for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. That is the devil. And delivered them, now get this statement, delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject of bondage.

We always lived in fear of death. This is why knowing where you’re going when you die can take away that fear that you’re not afraid to die. Now we may not want to die, but if we know we have eternal life, know that we’re going to heaven and really believe that. I don’t believe God’s children should have to live in fear of dying. We all know that we’re going to. We had a funeral service yesterday. And now he’s not here, he’s in heaven with the Lord.

Who’s it going to be next? It could be any one of us. True. And all of your best laid plans about what you want to do and how healthy you want to be and how wealthy you want to be can all be cut short. If God says, hello, tonight thy soul shall be required of thee. Yes, but God I got things I want to do Yeah, and God may say you should have done them Do what you can why you can because it’s come the time when no man can work and So we don’t have to live our lives in fear But we have the shadow of death where we have to live at this time and this old life Now go back here to the book of Psalms in chapter 23 Psalms 23 when he makes the statement, he make it me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters. You see, just in something simple, he make it me to lie down. That means he gives you rest. In green pastures, that means he is beneath me. He leadeth me beside the still waters. That’s for refreshment. He restored my soul. That’s within me. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness, because you can’t lead you no other way. How do you find this path of righteousness? Well, if you just took them, put all the things you know to do that’s right, and start doing them, that becomes a path.

Just start doing all the things you know that’s right, because He will lead you in the path of righteousness, and be willing that if you make a wrong turn, that was a wrong turn. God says, get over here. Yes, sir. And stay teachable and pliable in his hands. And he can always lead and guide you because he will lead you only in the path of righteousness. God never leads you to do wrong. The Holy Spirit within you never leads you, contrary to the Word of God.

And so then he makes a statement here in verse four, Yea, though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death. I will, and what’s that next word? I will fear no evil. That means nothing that could produce the death. Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, always knowing that I could die at any time, at any moment. I’ll not be afraid because I’m going to trust the Lord. He gave me life. He can sustain life and he can also take life.

and to trust the Lord to get done in your life what needs to be done. And trust that the Lord, when He’s through with my ministry here, then God can… Feel free to take me home without any objections from me. I think that’s a better way to have it. And he says, for thou art with me. So that means he’s with you. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me, knowing that he can provide and protect and supply. And verse five, thou prepares to table before me.

So he is before me. He is behind me. He is beneath me. And he is within me. He is above me. All this. I love it. And he says, now I’ve known it’s my head with oil. Now in 1 John chapter 2 verse 27 it says, that we have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. When you trusted Christ as your savior, the Holy Spirit came and dwelt within you. You are now a child of God. You are a priest of God.

And we shall be one day like kings and priests in the kingdom of God. I don’t understand it all. All I know is that I belong to Him and God has appointed me to something great even down the road. I don’t know exactly what it is but I can wait and trust Him and keep serving Him until then. When He makes a statement, Thou prepared as they table before me in the presence of my friends. Isn’t that way we’d like to have it, that everything is prepared where I have no problems, no troubles.

Nothing going wrong, everything just wonderful. Well, it doesn’t always happen that way. God wants you to have peace in the midst of the storm. I told you this before they asked this artist if they would draw a picture of beautiful peace, something that really showed peace. And so they had several artists and draw some pictures. And the one had a beautiful sunset. And one had another beautiful picture of a flowing brook and the cows out there and all that and some deers.

And this one guy, he drew a picture of a wild wicked storm, thundering and lightning, and on a limb of a tree that was, you know, the leaves were all blown back, the wind, and they’re set a little bird with a headbouting closed, and he’s sleeping in the midst of the storm. That’s picture of peace. We think peace should be when everything is going my way. When I don’t have all those heartaches and troubles, well, then you don’t need peace then, do you?

You want peace in the midst of the storm so that whenever, regardless of what happens, his trust the Lord and keep getting up. And then he makes a statement, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell on the house of the Lord forever. I told y’all the story years, a couple years back, about this woman that came up to iron side. And she was a little touched, you know, she just a little off, you know.

Says, um, it’s two men been following me. and he was having a revival. So he says, just pray and talk to the Lord about it. She came back the next night, those two men, they keep following me. Well, he realized that something is wrong, no, upstairs. He says, man, those must be the two friends of David following you. She says, what do you mean? She says, well, the Bible says that in verse six, and he opened the Bible and showed her Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

He says those two men must be following you too Those are the two friends of David surely goodness and mercy And she didn’t have no problem never come back come again The peace of God that knows that as I serve God goodness and mercy shall follow me those are results of you following the Lord you want a lot of goodness and life and a lot of peace and joy and all those things. In the midst of the storm, learn to trust the Lord and to walk with God.

But I also wanted you to see something else from this. And I just wrote these little words down, my preparation for life. I’m so glad that when God created the heavens and the earth made this wonderful, beautiful world, supplied all the things in the world that you needed. But you know, with all the beauty of this world, there’s one thing that I got, and that’s the Lord. He provided Himself to me. He revealed Himself to me. In preparing me for life, He came my way.

He found me. He bought me. He saved me and he has prepared more than what I ever thought or ever dreamed. So the Lord has prepared me for over 50 years of my life because the world itself was not enough. All the people in the world was not enough. I needed something more. the beauty in the world, all the supplies of the world, I needed something more than that. The Lord provided me himself. I have something better than help, better than wealth.

I have the Lord. And that’s why when he says, the Lord is my shepherd, I have something better than anything else in the world. Don’t you have him? I have him. I belong to him. He belongs to me. And so he has provided what I needed. And that was himself. The Lord is my shepherd. When it says, I shall not want because I know that if my father really loves me, He knows what I need. He even knows what I want.

And I can trust Him to fulfill all my needs. And I believe He supplies even my wants when they are within the will of God. Because God has given me the freedom see to choose all lot of things. And I think it’s a wonderful thing. When He makes it made to lie down, did you know sometimes He makes us lie down. You ever get so busy doing things and you don’t have time to stop and just rest and just talk to the Lord?

Did you know that sometimes God knows how to put the breaks on you? I told you this before, and Betty’s dad, he told me this, Yankee. You know the Lord could lead you if He could ever get out front because I had such Impatients. I just couldn’t stand to wait. And when I want to do something, I do it. Have you noticed even around here in four years, if I want to get something done, I don’t usually wait too long.

I want to get it done. Some things I wait on and I’m patient so far, but when I really want to do it, I try to push because I want things to get done. Well, the Lord says, He makeeth me to lie down. But where does He make you lie down? He says in green pastures. That means He had to supply the green pastures. He prepared that for me. If He can prepare my starts, He can prepare my stops.

You see, it’s one thing to have the faith to begin something and the faith to continue something. But the Lord may close the door and have the faith to stop something. I have had time in my life when I’ve seen God close certain doors. Then I watched him open up other doors. The hardest thing you’ll ever learn is learning to be patient while God is opening up a door or when you see him closing the door and you don’t understand.

So he leadeth me beside the still waters. Well, who produced those still waters? He provided the still waters for me. The times of refreshment in your life. Isn’t it wonderful that sometimes in life God will give you some unplanned on your part? Surprises. Little things that happens in life that you didn’t make happen but it just happens. God knows what it takes to refresh you. Sometimes it’s a phone call, sometimes it’s a word of encouragement. But don’t forget, the devil is out there too.

And he knows what he’s doing. And he’ll always work on the negative. But look what he says here. He restored my soul. Who does that to Lord? In other words, he can be the one that can get you back to where you ought to be. Sometimes we’re not where we ought to be, but God can restore you, get worn down. Sometimes you just get so weary, get so tired. And not only the refreshing of the body, and you don’t have to give it some rest, but learning how your soul can rest in the Lord when it seems like you just can’t go on.

And the Lord makes things possible for us. As Paul says, his grace is sufficient for me. God’s grace is sufficient. I may not have all the other things that I want at times, but his grace is sufficient. desire and power to do the will of God. And the mist of everything that seems to be going wrong, it will be worth it all. So he says here in verse 4, yea, though I walk to the valley of the shadow of death, does God know where I am?

Does he know that I’m walking to the valley of the shadow of death? Does he know my fears? Does he know my joys? He knows how I think, how I feel. He knows all my emotions. This is what’s so good about this 23rd Psalm. It reaches all the way to the soul of man. And let you know that God knows how you think and how you feel. He knows what you need. He can prepare all these things in advance for you.

What do I have to do? Just follow the shepherd. You ever hear people say, well, when you can’t sleep at night, just count the sheep. No? Talk to the shepherd. Don’t sheep can’t help you. But the shepherd can. And he says, I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thou art with me. Why should I be afraid when thou art with me? If I knew I had the Lord walking with me, and I was to go through the darkest of neighborhoods and enemies on all sides, if I knew and I could see him and I could say, okay, get him.

And I would not have to worry and he could protect me. Now, there is a verse that talks about, do not tempt the Lord thy God. You know, like jumping off the Empire State Building, and said, well, if the Lord doesn’t want me to hit the ground, he’ll catch me before I hit the country. Okay? I think you’re tempting the Lord thy God. You just liable to have an appointment with the country. You’re not to be stupid and foolish.

And it says in verse 5, look what he said, stop, preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. In other words, in the midst of this world, with the enemy of the flesh, the enemy of the devil, and death, staring us in the face at every moment, God can prepare you a feast that you can have me to eat they know not of. Enjoy that he can give that no man can take away. And to walk with the peace of God because you know you’re right where God wants you to be in the center of as well.

And then you’re supposed to have the peace and confidence that surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. The goodness and mercy is not always just good things happening to you. Did you know something that’s good in your eyes might not be so good? But it becomes good because God is able to work all things to the good, to the benefit of those who love the Lord. To those who are called according to his purpose, let’s pray.

Father, we thank you again for the opportunity. I’m so glad you put this in your word just so we can read it and study it. Get such great encouragement from it. And we thank you for blessing us. You’re our shepherd. We know you lead and guide us, as your word says. And Father, no doubt, even this morning, some have probably heavy hearts. Things are worried about, concerned deeply about, or health problems or finances or whatever it may be. And I pray, Lord, that you’d be close to them and help them.

And they let them learn to walk a little bit closer. Knowing the surely goodness and mercy shall follow them all the days of their life. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen. What another great message from Dr. Arnold. Friends, we hope more than anything else that you know you’re saved by believing Jesus died for your sin, and that Bibleline is helping you grow stronger and stronger in the Lord. Would you know how to witness to an atheist? What do you start with if a person doesn’t even believe there is a God?

For this month, all who send in a financial donation in any amount, we will mail to you Dr. Arnold’s DVD teaching lesson on how to witness to an atheist. You’ll gain some great insight on reaching people who may just need someone to explain the truth to them. This DVD series is yours for this month only with your financial donation in any amount. Again, we’re so grateful to those of you who support this ministry. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634.

And don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4081 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now, a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.