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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's Word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in.

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We're going to begin with verse 1. Psalms 23. David says, by the Holy Spirit, the Lord is. Now there is. My Bible is in italics because it was inserted by the translators in order to help the verse read better. But in spite of the fact that it was not in the original text, its insertion has helped me because David begins, the Lord is. David did not begin with an explanation about why he believed the things he believed. There was no cosmological, no ontological, no teleological arguments. David just began with a statement, fact. The Lord is. And you know, for those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't believe, no explanation is ever enough. President Lyndon Johnson said this about his critics. He said, if one morning I woke up and walked on top of the water across the Potomac, the headline that afternoon would read, the President can't swim. This is something you need to understand. Critics do not see with their eyes. They see through their mentality and mindset. People do not see with their eyes or hear with their ears. They see and hear through their mentality and their mindset. So what I want to ask you, what is your mentality and what is your mindset in the midst of the things you're hearing and seeing in our world today? He said, the Lord is. Notice the present tense. The shepherd is not a once upon a time God. Neither is he an off in the future God. He is a right now on time God. Yes, he is. You remember the song. He said, the Lord is my shepherd. As I like to quote Billie Holiday, Mama may have, Papa may have, uncle may have, Auntie may have, Bishop may have. But God blessed the child that got his own relationship with a shepherd. You see, it's one thing to believe that God is a shepherd. It's a whole other thing to believe that God is my, my, my, my. My shepherd. It's one thing to believe that God can do it for others. It's a whole different thing to believe that God can and will do it for you. He said, the Lord is my shepherd. The term shepherd in the ancient world was a metaphor, was a term that was a metaphor for a king. In fact, the original king's scepter was derived from the shepherd's staff. And we first saw this in Mesopotamia and then we saw it in Egypt that the kings saw themselves as shepherds of their lands. But the first step to truly knowing the Lord as your shepherd is. Watch this. It's realizing you're a sheep. Now. I know nobody really wants to think themselves, think of themselves as a helpless sheep. You know, I want to be an apex predator. I want to be a lion, a tiger or a bear. But David was humble enough to say, the Lord God himself is my, my, my, my shepherd. David understood sheep because he himself was a shepherd. He understood how stubborn sheep could be at times, how stupid sheep can be. Sometimes sheep can also be downright ornery and mean. And he recognized when he looked at the sheep, he said, I see a picture of me at times in my God. He said, the Lord my God is my, or the Lord God myself is my what Shepherd? Now, like I said, we don't really want to be classified as sheep. But I do want to remind you, if the human brain goes without oxygen for just four minutes, if we go without water just for three days, if our body temperature just increases seven degrees or decreases five degrees or four degrees, game over. You know, just one ill advised word from a loved one can damage a child for life. Human life is fragile, so we must handle it with prayer. David said, the Lord is my shepherd. Modern translations say, I shall not be in one. Jesus, our shepherd, tells us in the Gospels that he feeds the birds of the air, though they neither sow nor reap. He clothes the lilies of the valley neither, though they neither toil nor they spin. And what Jesus was saying to us, and if we put it in modern parlance, he was saying the rat race is for rats. And I'm learning the older I get, I only want what the shepherd has provided for me. I don't want an ounce more or an ounce less. But I've also learned that contentment is not necessarily having everything. Contentment is being satisfied with everything you have. Let me say that one more time. Contentment is not when you have everything. It's when you're satisfied with everything you have. And I've learned in my life I can be satisfied with far less than I've ever imagined if I'm thankful to the God who's given it. And then he continues, he says, I feel like I need to camp out there a little bit. I'm about to turn 60. I know it's like I was just, you know, playing basketball yesterday, But a lot of my peers always whining about growing old. I'm glad I'm still here. I'm gonna do 60. I did 50. I did. I'm a do 60. I'm a do 60. I'm happy. I got life left. Okay, that was free then. He continues to talk about this shepherd. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. See if you know anything about sheep. Sheep will not lie down when they are afraid. Also, because sheep are social animals. They won't lie down when there's friction in the flock. Also, they won't lie down when there's. They have parasites and they won't lie down when they're hungry or thirsty. And what we see here is that the shepherd wants to come into our lives to take away our fears, to heal our strife, remove all the parasites in our lives that stealing our energy and feed us till we're strong. You know, some pastors over the years have gotten mad at me and sometimes they don't talk nice about me because of our growth. But my response to them always is, I never steal sheep. I just go grow grass and the hungry come. And maybe just, just may, if you fed your sheep with a steadier diet of God's word instead of all them politics and psychology and all that other stuff and stories, maybe the hungry would search you out too. Did I lose you? So we're talking about a shepherd. This psalm was not written just to be pretty. It wasn't written just to be memorized. This psalm is revelatory. It's giving us insights to the Lord as our shepherd. And this is what the shepherd does. He said, he also leads us beside the still waters, creeks, streams and tributaries that are not moving too fast. And what we see here is that God wants to bless you at a pace you can handle. A blessing given too quickly is a curse. If I have had any overnight success in my life, it was only after very, very, very long nights. Occasionally I have experienced some spikes and some spurts, but most of the time it's just been calm and steady. All God has ever required of me was just to stay at it. A gold medalist made this comment. It is the pace that kills the runners, never the distance. Don't be in a rush, slow down. That's a word from your shepherd. And then he continues saying, if you want to know what the shepherd wants to do in your life, here's the picture. He restores my soul. Am I the only one listening today in this room that has ever let lives, life's problems, ever get blown out of proportion? Am I the only one that every now and then needs the Lord to restore and kind of press reset in order for me to start seeing things properly? You know, I've discovered As bad as I might think things are at times, if the shepherd is by my side, it's never as bad as I think. I also learned that if the problem is too big for you, it's still the right size for God. And then he continues to give us revelation about this shepherd, this invisible leader that lives on the inside of us and wants to go before us and behind us. He leads me in paths of righteousness. You see, sheep follow its leader. And the closer we are to the shepherd, the further away we are from the wolves. But I want you to also notice he calls them paths. Paths only exist because others have walked that way before. And what God is saying, what I did with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I can do with you. But what I did 3,000 years ago, 2,000 years ago, 50 years ago, 10, two decades ago, I can still do with you. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. You see, the answer to our weakness is not self help or willpower. It's just staying close to the shepherd. And he knows how to lead us in the right path if we would just stay close. And what I've learned in my life, even when I get off the path, all he does is come get me and then bring me right back to where I was before I got silly. But then it says something important here. He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. First Peter 1:16 says it this way, be holy, for I am holy. You see, a real shepherd doesn't just point the way, he leads the way. But what I also need you to notice here, he leads us because of his name, not because of our name. Meaning it doesn't matter what people called you. It doesn't even matter what you think of yourself, as long as you learn to call on his name. That's above every name, even your own name. I'm preaching. Good. Then David gets excited and he feels a preach coming. He said, yeah. He said, yay. How many of y' all can say yay when you're about to walk through a valley? But he said, yay. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't intimidated, though. I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You see, in canyons, there are zigzags. There are crevices and caves in the walls. And a traveler can't always be sure who or what lurking in them. In a valley, the threat of death is very real because the walls very quickly hem you in. There's little room to escape. But someone walking with the shepherd, their security doesn't come from their location. Their security doesn't come from their circumstances. Their security comes from the presence of the shepherd. Never let the presence of a problem minimize the presence of God within you. He said, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Now here's the deal. This is not a choice someone can make for you. I've said many times to parents here, you may want your child to go to college, but if they don't want to go, I'm sorry. All your want to is not going to make them study. All you want to is not going to make them go to class. As much as God wants it for you, you cannot have this unless you make the choice for yourself. He said, yay. Matter of fact, say that with me. Say yay one more time. Yay. All right, all right. So. So this is how you know sports teams, you know, before they go into the game, they shout, they raise hands, they do it. They're onto something. Yeah, there's a valley in front of you, but if you have the right spirit in you, you gotta get a yay. On the inside of your heart. I'm not intim. Not afraid. I'm not backing up. I will fear no evil. President Abraham Lincoln battled depression much of his life. The 16th president was a great president, did many wonderful things, but many of you don't really, many of us don't really know this side of him. During one crisis in government, I don't remember if he was in the Senate or Congress or something was going on in the nation and it really hit him. And because of all the things that had happened in him, in his life, he lost his family early, his mother early, and, you know, people he loved died. It was just a thing with Abraham Lincoln. But during this one crisis in government, friends had to take all the razors, all the knives and all the dangerous things out of his room. And they put this man, who would become one of the greatest presidents of our country on a suicide watch. But later in life, Abraham comes to a well deserved realization. And he said this, he said, most folks, most people are only as happy as they make up their minds to be. You see, your happiness doesn't depend on your spouse, your children, your job. He said, ultimately, we are only as happy as we make up our minds to be. So we choose whether to be a victim or a victor. I choose Victor. As for me, in this house, we choose Victor. And then he explained the reason. He didn't fear. He didn't not fear because he thought he was all that. He just recognized who was with him. He said, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. When we realize how big, how great, how powerful our God is, even the shadow of death won't bother us much anymore. It is said that the French Queen Mary Antoinette was arrested and she was to be executed the next day. And she knew it. In the shadow of her execution, her hair turned white overnight. But Marie Antoinette forgot something. Yeah, fear may be real, but so is the presence of God. My Bible says God will keep him or her in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him. If you keep your mind on the shepherd. I recognize all the craziness going on on the left and to the right. But if you keep your mind on the faithfulness of your shepherd, that he will keep you, protect you, and guide you. And he says some other revelatory things here. He didn't just have a picture of just any old shepherd. And part of our problem at times is our image of God. We see him like the guy in the movies we see, etc. But not in the book we read. So the reason David was so bold was because how he saw the shepherd. He said, I fear no evil because you're with me. And let me tell you about this one that's with me. He says, your rod, a shepherd, wore a club in its belt to fight predators. So he uses his imagery to show us that the God we worship is no cupcake. He is locked and loaded. He knows how to deal with the situation you're facing. He said, I'm not afraid because the shepherd that's with me, he got a rod and a staff. Now, a staff was a walking stick. It was also used to discipline the sheep, but it also tripled as a weapon and would be used to defend against various animals. And he said all these things together. When I realized I worship a God that's locked and loaded. He knows how to handle every and any situation. He has all the weapons that are needed to win in the battle. They comfort me. I don't know about you, but I'm comforted knowing that my shepherd is armed with all power, all authority. It comforts me. Now pay attention to what I'm about to say. God may require us to turn the other cheek, but if you read the Bible carefully, he doesn't have to. So go ahead and mess with me if you want. Romans 12:19. This New Testament, by the way. This is New Testament. It says this. Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I will repay. Here's the deal. God knows where everybody lives. He knows how to make every crooked thing straight, and he knows how to do it without getting arrested. Pay attention to what I'm saying. Leave it in the hands of God. So you know the first part of the psalm, he's talking about Jesus as the shepherd. But then the second half, he starts talking about God as our host. He says, you prepare a table before me. Watch this in the presence of my enemies. He can't be talking about heaven, because we have no enemies there. There's no hating, there's no opposition. Everybody's loving and gracious and forgiven and washed and all the rest. So he must be talking about a table for each of us down here on earth. But here's something I want you to keep in mind. His ways are not always God's justice is not always served. You might expect sometimes the worst type of vengeance is for your enemies to see you happy. Just smile and show them the food. Or they got stuck in your teeth because you're eating such good, the collard greens you're eating at the table and just shoot them a smile. You see success at whatever God's assigned you to do, whether it's to be a housewife, a police officer, whether it's to be a business person, a school teacher, success at whatever the Lord has assigned you to do is always the best revenge. And he continues, you anoint my head with oil. This is what you did. When people came out of the hot sun to your house, you would give them oil. But I want to add another insight here. Summertime in the near east was called fly season or fly time. Because during this time, the blow flies, bot flies, warble flies, sand flies, black flies, heel flies, and gad flies would swarm. And the only defense was for a shepherd to mix equal parts oil, sulfur and tar. And they would pour the oil or anoint the ears and the nostrils of the sheep with this oil so it acted as a repellent. And what this repellent would do, it would keep the flies from laying eggs in these warm and moist, easy access areas. And if this oil was not poured, the shepherd would eventually find the sheep banging their skulls against rocks and trees, trying to do anything to dislodge and get the maggots out of their heads. But my Bible says, but you anoint my head with oil. Your good shepherd wants to remove everything that keeps you banging your head against the wall. But in order for you to experience this, you need to prioritize God's anointing. And it's not just how the message makes you feel. First question, Lord, is it True? Isaiah, chapter 10 and 27 tells us a secret. It says this. It's only because of the anointing that the yoke is destroyed. Now, the challenge is we go to a place where we get a lot of humor. We might even get some stories. We might get a principle and a point. But the anointing, it was said by, I think, a man from India. He came to the United States and he visited our churches. He made this comment. He said, you know, if the anointing of God, if the presence of God was removed, I don't even think they know. We select what we listen to, who we listen to, based on how tall they are. Eloquent, good looking. But how about the anointing that breaks the yoke? How about the power of God that can set you free? Now, I don't want to punish you as you sit here. And I try to be entertaining. I try to have fun, I try to enjoy myself. But ultimately, it's the anointing that will make the difference in our lives. He said, my cop runs over. This is important, not somebody else's cup. My cup. Notice the pattern. God leads us through the valley to bring us to the table so we can experience overflow. So if you're in the valley this morning, keep on walking with Jesus, because overflow is right around the corner. Just keep on one foot. Keep on. It's right around the corner. And this is the last verse. Let me take my time. We're almost there. He injects a Shirley and it sounds like he's just being poetic, but that's not what's happening. Just like that. Yay. Before he went into the valley, he has to inject a surely before he says the things he's about to say. And the reason why many of us are so depressed is because we don't have a surely, we don't have a certainly. We don't have an absolutely no doubt, no doubt, doubt in our hearts yet. But what I've learned is I gotta get into God's word until it gets into me. Second Corinthians, chapter 1 and verse 20 says, Watch this all I want every ounce of what Jesus died for me to obtain. I esteem what he did on the cross too much to let his blood be shed. And I miss any peace. It says all the promises of God are yes and in him. Amen. Now, here's the problem. Some of y' all are trying to get a yes without abiding in him. But if you would just stay with the shepherd on the path he has assigned you. All the promises of God are yes and amen. So be it, exclamation point in your heart. How do you get an amen in your heart? By just keep walking. And I can't explain how he does it, but the psalmist said, as the fire. As I meditated, the fire began to burn. As I mused, the fire began to burn as. And I don't know when it happens, I can't always say. But you listen, you listen, you listen. It's like I heard that before. I heard. But that one time you. Oh, my God. It's not just something you heard, it's something you know. It's not just a story about somebody else. That's my story. That's for me. I don't know if it's going to be the sixth time, the 16th time, the 600th time. But I do know if you keep watching, walking with them, you will get to the place where you get a surely in your heart, a confidence, a peace that passes, understanding that you just know everything is going to be all right. You can't explain it, but you just know it. He says surely. And when you have this type of surely in your heart, you think differently than other people. He says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. I'm not chasing after nothing. No more shall follow me all the days, every day of my life. You must decide how you're going to think about your life by the end of this psalm. Based on the faithfulness of his shepherd, he came to some conclusions. And we gotta stop saying things like, if it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck. You know, nothing ever happens for me. Everything goes wrong for me on and on. That was not the confession of this man that knew his shepherd. Because if you truly know your shepherd and stay on the path he's assigned just for you, nobody else, just for you, goodness and mercy. Brother Andre will track you down like a runaway slave. The hounds of heaven will be hunting you through rivers and streams and valleys and. But here's something you need to know. God is often a gentleman. He won't make you. And we can undermine, we can short circuit God's plan for our lives. Because Jesus says in Mark 11:23, you will have what you say. So if you say, if there wasn't bad luck, I have no luck. You will have what you say. If you keep saying, I'm never going to make it, guess what you're going to have. What you say Be careful about what you say about yourself because angels are listening and they might believe you. And then there's a rest and a confidence that comes by this last statement. And I will dwell. This will be my abiding place in the house of the Lord. If you want to change your life, change the places you call home. Stop being at home in the mud. Stop being at home with all that strife, all that hatred, all that friction. God has changed your nature. You know, a pig enjoys the mud because he's a pig. But when God changes your nature. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, watch this last statement forever. God wants to do something in your life that reverses your past, can't be reversed in the future, but can be started today. The shepherd wants to take you far enough to introduce you to the you you could never imagine. And sometimes that introduction doesn't happen. The first half mile, it doesn't even happen. Sometimes it's the second mile. But as we keep walking, we discover a stamina, we discover a strength. We discover, you know what, it's more than just me. There's Christ living on the inside of me. And I could be kind, I could be gentle, I could forgive, I could be strong, I could be decisive. There's more to me, but what I found is the older I get, the more I discover Christ on the inside of me. So for me, I don't want to go back to 20. Thank God for the 20 year olds. Love y', all, rooting for y'.