The Goodness of God in Scripture

What does it mean that the Lord is our shepherd, and how should this give Christians comfort today? In this message from Psalm 23, David Platt points us to the ways that Psalm 23 highlights the goodness of God and Jesus Christ as the good shepherd who has laid down his life for his sheep. When we realize Who is leading us through life’s dark valleys, we can be confident in his salvation and provision through every trial. 

Explore more content from Radical.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to Radical with David Platt, a
weekly podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
There's so much here and wecould spend days together in
this psalm, but let's just.
Let's move through it together,just word by word, phrase by
phrase.
So, starting in verse 1, theLord is my shepherd.

(00:23):
So maybe, if you haven'talready, maybe circle Lord there
and remember whenever you seethe word Lord, capital L, small
caps, o or D, like this this isYahweh in the Old Testament.
So that actually takes us allthe way back to something else
we read in our Bible readingrecently in Exodus, chapter 3.

(00:45):
So you can turn there or maybejust make a note Exodus, chapter
3, verses 14 and 15.
So it all goes back to themoment when God spoke to Moses
in a burning bush.
And God told Moses he was goingto deliver his people out of
slavery which they'd been in for400 years.
God was going to bring theminto a promised prosperous land.

(01:07):
God was sending Moses to leadthem.
And Moses asked God who will?
I tell this?
People sent me.
And this was God's response.
Exodus 3, verse 14.
God said to Moses I am who I am.
And he said say this to thepeople of Israel I am has sent
me to you.
God also said to Moses say thisto the people of Israel, I am

(01:27):
has sent me to you.
God also said to Moses say thisto the people of Israel the
Lord.
So there it is.
The God of your fathers,abraham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob has sent me toyou.
This is my name forever.
Thus I am to be rememberedthroughout all generations.
So this is when God revealedhimself to Moses and his people
as the Lord.
So that's Yahweh, right there.
Same word we're reading in samename for God.

(01:50):
We're reading in Psalm 23.
And it's based on the Hebrewverb for to be, which is what's
translated.
I am here in Exodus, chapter 3.
And basically, just to contrastthis, you see God mentioned
numerous times.
That's the Hebrew word Elohim.
So that's a more general namefor God.

(02:12):
But Yahweh is a more personalname for God, referring to how
he came to his people to deliverthem, to save them, to
personally bring them out ofslavery into the promised land.
And this name for God, yahweh,is used 6,000 different times in
the Old Testament.

(02:33):
That's over about three timesas many as we see Elohim
mentioned, which is awesome justto think about.
So now bring this back to Psalm23.
When David looks at God as hisshepherd, he says the Lord, the
personal, saving, delivering God, who loves his people and

(02:56):
brings his people into good land, he is my shepherd.
Now circle my there, isn't itinteresting?
I don't know how many of youmay have noticed how many times
do we see the first personpronoun in Psalm 23?
Let's just count them.
So go back to Psalm 23, verseone the Lord is my shepherd.

(03:17):
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths ofrighteousness.
For his name's sake, eventhough I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I willfear no evil, for you are with
me, your rod and your staff.
They comfort me.
You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.

(03:38):
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
Surely.
Goodness and mercy shall followme all the days of my life and
I shall dwell in the house ofthe Lord forever.
I think, if I count right, 17different times.
And the point is clear.
David is saying the Lord is notjust a shepherd, he's my
shepherd, like for me personally, which immediately leads me to

(04:03):
ask every person in thisgathering right now is this Lord
your shepherd, like personallywhere you're sitting right now?
Do you know the Lord Yahweh,the everlasting God, who was and
is and is to come, the I am.
Do you know him as the personalshepherd of your life?
And the good news of the Bibleis that you can know God like

(04:24):
this, like God, the Lord wantsto be your personal shepherd,
and not just like you can knowGod this way, like he wants you
to experience Him every day inthis way.
So now, what does that mean forHim to be our shepherd?
Well, one thing it means is Ishall not want.

(04:45):
Now.
That raises all kinds ofquestions, though.
Right, because there's allkinds of things we want all the
time, like we want better health, better bodies, better
relationships, better jobs, wewant good grades, more money,
more peace, more rest, we want avacation, we want an end to war
, like.
The list of things we want goeson and on.

(05:05):
And when you think about it,this psalm is clearly not saying
that every sense of want goesaway with the Lord as your
shepherd, because the psalmistwants still waters, restored
soul, help in the valley of theshadow of death with his enemies
.
He wants to dwell in the houseof the Lord forever.
And that's the point.
The Psalm's not saying I'llnever want anything again.

(05:26):
Instead it's saying with theLord as my shepherd, I have no
lack.
Some translations actually evensay that I have no lack Because
I have the Lord who promises toprovide for me no matter what I
walk through, which obviouslydoesn't mean God will give you
everything you want.

(05:46):
We know that would not be good.
What parent in this gatheringthinks it's good to give their
kids every single thing theywant?
No parent does, because everyparent knows that some things
kids want are not good for them.
We're talking about the all-wiseLord of all.
It's the everlasting,supernatural, all-powerful,

(06:07):
all-wise, perfect source of all.
That is good.
If he is your personal shepherd, what more do you need?
That's what this verse issaying.
If I have him, I haveeverything I need and want, no
matter what this world brings myway.
I have the one who made me toprovide for me, which leads into
all these things he does.
He provides food and greenpastures, drink and still waters

(06:30):
.
Keep in mind that for sheep,pastures and waters are not just
to look at, they're forprovision, and the fact that he
makes me lie down there andleads me to walk beside them
makes clear that his provisionis plentiful.
And then so here's one of thethings I saw this week that I've
never seen before.
So we've already seen how theLord is a reference back to

(06:52):
Exodus, chapter 3, when Godpromised to lead or shepherd his
people out of slavery into thepromised land.
Well, check this out.
Let me show you some otherconnections with the rest of the
Bible and specifically withthat Exodus story.
So in Deuteronomy, chapter 2,verse 7.
So you might just write thatdown Deuteronomy, chapter 2,

(07:13):
verse 7.
God's people are about to enterthe promised land.
It's been 40 years since theExodus because of the
disobedience of God's peopleafter they came out.
But 40 years later, moses sayswatch this these 40 years, the
Lord Yahweh, your God, has beenwith you and you have lacked

(07:33):
nothing.
That's the exact same phrase weread in Psalm 23, verse 1,
which makes you start to wonder.
Okay, wait a second.
I shall not want same phrase inDeuteronomy 2.7.
Is David viewing his lifethrough the lens of the Exodus?
You start to dig a littledeeper.

(07:53):
Check this out In Exodus,chapter 15, so there's another
one Exodus, chapter 15, verse 13.
So this was our Bible readingthis last week.
Once God's people came out ofEgypt, god leads them through
the Red Sea.
They sing a song of praise toGod.
And look at what they sing inExodus 15, verse 13.

(08:14):
They sing you have led in yoursteadfast love the people you
have redeemed.
And look at what they sing inExodus 15, verse 13.
They sing you have led in yoursteadfast love the people you
have redeemed.
You have guided them by yourstrength to your holy abode.
You see any language there thatreflects Psalm 23?
You lead me, you guide me.
And then this word abode hereis the exact same word that

(08:37):
David uses in Psalm 23, verse 2,that is translated pastures.
It's the exact same word.
Exodus, chapter 15, verse 13.
So then I start diving in evendeeper here, like, wait a minute
, what's going on here?
Because the whole Exodusnarrative is a part of the law,
which is the first five books ofthe Old Testament Genesis

(08:59):
through Deuteronomy, which Moseswrote.
The whole Exodus story is apicture, like a microcosm, of
God restoring people to himself.
When you go all the way back tothe very beginning of the Bible
, everything was perfect betweenGod and man before sin entered
the world.
So look at Genesis, chapter 2,verse 15.
It says the Lord Yahweh, god,took the man, put him in the

(09:21):
garden of Eden to work it andkeep it.
And the phrase that'stranslated, put him here, is
actually, if you dive in deeper,it basically means put him to
rest in the garden, a placewhere he would experience rest
in relationship with God.
And that's important because inthe very next chapter, genesis,

(09:42):
chapter three, man and womandisobey God and they're removed
from the garden and the restthey had in relationship with
God.
But then you fast forward to thelast book in the law,
deuteronomy, and you know howGod describes the promised land
he brings to them, brings themto Look at Deuteronomy, chapter
12, verse 9, right before theygo into the land.

(10:02):
For you have not yet come tothe rest and the inheritance
that Yahweh, your God, is givingyou when you go over the Jordan
and live in the land thatYahweh, your God, is giving you
to inherit, when he gives youwhat Rest?
Both of these words rest arethe same as we see in Genesis,
chapter 2, verse 15.

(10:23):
So I'll draw it here.
It's almost like there'sbookends in the Bible.
Here and in Genesis, chapter 2,we see a picture of rest in
relationship with God.
Then in Deuteronomy, chapter 12, we see this picture of God
restoring his people to rest andthe Exodus story is bringing

(10:45):
them to that.
So you say, well, why are youtelling all of this to us now?
Well, when David writes Psalm 23, watch this.
He talks about how God leadshim besides still waters.
And you're never gonna guesswhat word he uses.
That's translated still here.
It's the same word that's usedfor rest in Genesis 2.15 and

(11:11):
Deuteronomy 12.9.
Same word.
And he does all of this for hisname's sake, which we see over
and over again in the story ofthe Exodus.
How God's doing this for hisglory.
And just in case you're notconvinced that David's thinking
about the Exodus, when he writesPsalm 23 later in Psalm 78,

(11:32):
look at this.
It says, starting in verse 52,talking about the Exodus God led
out his people like sheep.
He led them like sheep.
He guided them in thewilderness like a what?
Like a flock.
As a shepherd, he led them insafety so that they were not
afraid.
I will fear no evil.

(11:53):
The sea overwhelmed theirenemies, prepared a table for me
in the presence of my enemies.
The whole point is, when David'swriting Psalm 23, he's saying
what God did for his people wayback then.
He does for me every single day, and I'm showing you this well

(12:15):
for many reasons, one of whichis I want to show you, I want
you to know right where you'resitting, for all who trust in
the Lord as your shepherd, thesame God who delivered his
people from their enemies out ofslavery in Egypt.
The same God who split the RedSea in half.
The same God who shepherdedthem through the wilderness,

(12:35):
gave them bread from heaven,water from rock, so that they
lacked nothing.
The same God who delivered themfrom fear and brought them to
rest.
This is the exact same God who,tomorrow morning, when you wake
up, will be your shepherd, yourshepherd.
Same God for you, and this sameGod, same Lord, your shepherd,

(13:00):
promises to lead you and guideyou and restore you and satisfy
you and provide for you in everymoment, in every way you need.
The same Lord is your shepherd.
Then, okay, I gotta show you onemore thing.
So if you have a Bible I wannaturn here.
You can go to Mark, chapter six.
Otherwise, I got to show youone more thing.
So if you have a Bible I wantto turn here.
You can go to Mark, chapter six, otherwise I'll have it on the
screen.
But, and I should add, Irealized what I'm showing you is

(13:22):
not like just super obvious.
Upon reading this Psalm, I'mnot guessing most of you were
like oh yeah, that's, that'stotally Genesis 2.15 and
Deuteronomy 12.9.
That's amazing, like I don'tthink it's like that automatic.
Which is why I would encourageyou might mention this last week
if you don't have a study Bible, I would encourage you to get a
study Bible.
I would highly recommend theESV study Bible.
It's basically just a Biblewith notes at the bottom that

(13:43):
helps make some of theseconnections for you.
And then if you notice in yourBible all those little letters
and references to the side,those are called cross
references.
The whole point of them is tokind of lead you to other places
to see the connections in theBible and to see how it all fits
together.
So you can always go there justkind of on your own and look
for stuff and then at the sametime you still won't see

(14:05):
everything that's there, whichis why it's so important to get
together with other brothers andsisters in Christ, open the
Word, be taught the word, and Ihope that in a setting like this
, you never come into a settinglike this here or anywhere else
to hear what some person on astage thinks about life.
Like the last thing you need todo is come on a Sunday morning
to hear what David Platt thinksabout life.

(14:27):
It would be a waste of yourtime.
But you come, you gathertogether in a setting like this
and somebody shows you not whatthey think, but what God has
said.
It's gonna bring life Becauseit's here.
So this is the power.
This is what I love aboutpreaching.
I don't have to make anythingup, I just have to open it and
tell you what it says, and theword does the work.
So, anyway, all that to say,let me show you this In Mark,

(14:50):
chapter six, so verse 31,.
In Mark, chapter six, so verse31, mark.
This is right after Mark tellsus a story about King Herod so
an evil leader, an evil shepherd, hosting a banquet of death for
John the Baptist.
So evil shepherd, banquet ofdeath for John the Baptist.
Right after that we see thesewords Jesus says to his

(15:12):
disciples come away byyourselves to a desolate place
and what?
And rest.
Okay, rest a while.
So Jesus calls his followers toa place of rest.
So they get into a boat, theygo to a place of rest, but when
they arrive there there's crowdswho followed in there.
So Mark tells us this aboutJesus in verse 34.

(15:33):
When he went ashore, he saw agreat crowd and he had
compassion on them because theywere like what?
Sheep without a shepherd?
Huh, that's interesting, sheepwithout a shepherd.
So what does Jesus do whenthese sheep without a shepherd

(15:53):
are hungry?
Well, verse 39 says or sorry,verse 39, where did it go?
Yeah, there we go.
Then he commanded them all tosit down in groups on the what?
On green pastures, huh.
So they sat down in groups byhundreds and by fifties and,

(16:13):
taking the five loaves and thetwo fish, he looked up to heaven
and said a blessing and brokethe loaves and gave them to the
disciples to set before thepeople and he divided the two
fish among them.
All I have.
Oh sorry, here we go.
And they all ate and weresatisfied.
And they took up 12 basketsfull of broken pieces and of the

(16:34):
fish.
That's interesting, they had nolack, they were overflowing.
I had not even seen this, likeMark 6, is pointing us to Psalm
23 and is telling us Jesus isthe Lord, he is the shepherd who

(16:55):
came to satisfy us to the pointof overflowing fullness.
It's saying here what John 10,10, 11 makes even more explicit,
where Jesus says I have comethat they might have life and
have it to the what Full.
I am the good shepherd, are youserious?
I am One of eight specifictimes where Jesus intentionally

(17:18):
makes an I am statement, meantto identify himself with the I
am of Exodus, chapter three,verses 14 and 15,.
Who's the good shepherd ofPsalm, chapter 23.
Don't you love how the Biblejust fits together.
I'm studying this this week andI'm like.
This is Psalm 119, 162.

(17:38):
I rejoice at your word, likeone who finds great spoil.
There's just spoil, there'streasure, there's goodness.
It's waiting for you and meevery morning, evening,
afternoon, whenever we open upthis word.
There's spoil here.
And just to make theconnections.
So the Bible is the voice ofour Good Shepherd speaking to us

(18:00):
.
John 10, 27.
Jesus says my sheep hear myvoice and I know them and they
follow me.
So how does God lead us andguide us and restore us?
How does he do that?
He does it through his word,through his voice.
This is Psalm 19, which we alsoread in our Bible reading
recently.
The law of the Lord is perfect,reviving the soul.

(18:22):
What revives restores our soul.
Psalm 23,.
It's the law of Yahweh, the wordof God.
It's the testimony of Yahweh.
It's sure.
It makes us wise.
Precepts of Yahweh are right,rejoice in the heart.
The commandment of the Lord, ofYahweh, is pure, enlightening
the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean,enduring forever.
The rules of the Lord are trueand righteous.

(18:44):
Altogether More to be desiredare they than gold, even much
fine gold.
This word is better than money.
It's better than money.
We're running after money inthis culture, run after this
word.
It's better.
It's better than gold, even alot of it.
Sweeter than honey anddrippings of the honeycomb,
better than the nicest food youcould taste.

(19:05):
It's better.
Moreover, buy them, as yourservant warned, and in keeping
them, there is not just reward,there's great reward.
Do you see this?
Where is the sweetness and thereward of the Lord?
Is our shepherd found?
It's found in his words.
These words are life.
This book is life.

(19:26):
This is how God, our maker,leads us, guides us, restores us
, feeds us, comforts us,protects us from fear, satisfies
us, brings us to reward inhimself through his word.
There's no way we're gettingthrough all Psalm 23,.
Even at this pace, alright, letme just walk through this last
part quickly.
Even at this pace.
So all right, let me just walkthrough this last part quickly.

(19:48):
There's so much here.
So verse four, verse four Didanybody notice or make a note
how, in the first three verses,david talks about the Lord as
his shepherd, but in verse four,there's a shift and David talks
to the Lord as his shepherd.
Did you notice that, instead ofhe does this, he does that?
For the first time, he uses theword you, for you are with me.

(20:10):
Your rod and your staff, theycomfort me.
Like things just went to awhole other level as far as
intimacy with the Lord asshepherd, when what happened
when he walked through suffering.
This is where we come to themidpoint of this psalm, like,
right in the center is thisconfession of faith no matter

(20:34):
what this world brings me, Iwill fear no evil, for you are
with me.
What a statement.
Because, let's be real, thereis a lot to be afraid of in this
world People who can hurt you,things that can happen to you
darkness that can overwhelm you.

(20:55):
This psalm, the Bible, neverglosses over those realities.
It's not a fairytale world.
This is a world of valleys thatlead you to wonder am I gonna
make it through it all?
And it's so interesting the waythis Psalm describes just let
this word soak in walkingthrough the valley of the shadow

(21:18):
of death.
Walking through darkness,because I don't know about you,
but I prefer to run throughdarkness.
I think about when I was a kidI'll draw this up here.
We used to visit my aunt anduncle.
They lived in one house andthere was this big field and
then next door to them, acrossthe big field, was my

(21:41):
grandparents' house.
So they were side by side Allday long.
When the sun was out, we wouldrun and play in all kinds of
ways in that field.
So they were side by side Allday long.
When the sun was out we wouldrun and play and all kinds of
ways in that field.
So many great memories, no fear.
But at night we'd be hangingout having dinner over here, my
aunt and uncle's house.
My dad would say, hey, wouldyou go over to granddaddy's and
get this or that to bring overhere?

(22:01):
And my heart would sink as Iwould slowly walk out this door
and look across that darkterrain.
During the day was a field ofdelight, but now, when it was
dark, it was a field of dangerfilled with I don't know what
monsters just waiting to get me.

(22:23):
Let me tell you as a kid what Iwould not do.
I would not like walk, justwhistle and take a stroll
through the darkness.
No, as soon as I mustered upenough courage to take the first
step, which took a while, fromthat point on I was Usain Bolt.
There is no question in my mind, those moments were the fastest

(22:46):
I've ever run in my entire life.
That was a all out sprint.
But do you know what would makethat journey completely
different?
If my dad was walking with me.
I felt no need to run.
If I was right beside my dad.
It's the only way I could walk.
How do you walk through thevalley of the shadow of death?
You know that he is with me,you are with me.

(23:10):
That's the difference andthat's the encouragement from
this psalm for so many of youtoday who are walking through a
dark valley right now, maybelike some people I know and love
, who are sitting in hospice athome in the valley of the shadow
of death.
And they know they're not alonein that hospital hospice bed.

(23:30):
We're in a hospital bed.
We were talking in our churchgroup this last week about
George who, I've mentioned, hada seizure one night.
Seizure one night led todoctors finding a massive brain
tumor that led to almostimmediate surgery.
Before surgery, george wassharing a room with another man
facing a similar diagnosis andthis man was as scared as he
could be.
He was shaking, he was cryingat the prospect of what this

(23:52):
might mean for him, how he mightdie.
Sitting right next to him wasGeorge with a piece that was
actually leading doctors to sayto George do you understand
what's happening?
And George is like I'm okay,because when you have the Lord
who conquered death with you ina hospital bed, you have no
reason to fear and open allkinds of doors to share the
gospel with this man over here.
I think about Wayne Fajito inthe hospital this last week.

(24:12):
Doctor, going through his chart, says I think you're gonna be
okay.
Wayne stops him.
Says with a smile on his faceDoc, I know I'm gonna be okay,
no matter what your chart says.
Yes, god, raise up peopleacross this church family who
know and who share the good news.
You can be free from all fearwhen the Lord is your shepherd
with you.

(24:33):
Whose watch this, whose rod andstaff comfort you.
So what's going on here Likerod and staff?
This verse makes me think aboutwhenever my family is having
that conversation.
Like okay, if you were alone ona deserted island, you can only
have three things.
What would you have?
And I'll tell you what myfamily always says.

(24:54):
Every one of us always says theexact same first thing.
You know what it is.
First thing everybody says isTodd Peters.
Every one of us will say, well,first I'd choose Pastor Todd.
So for those of you who don'tknow, our retired Navy SEAL
pastor out at our Prince Williamlocation, there is no question,

(25:15):
he's the first person we wouldall say we want, including my
wife, and I'm totally fine withthat because I know the best
chance of my wife getting offthat deserted island alive is
not with me on that island.
We would be stuck and die there.
No question, I want Todd thereto help her get back to me and
my kids.
So we all say the whole gamejust Todd, and then two things.

(25:36):
Okay, which two things inaddition to Todd.
So I joke, but this is what'shappening in Psalm 23.
It's the Lord and two things,his rod.
So don't think like walkingstick.
Like look at Psalm chapter 2.
Pretty sure it's verse 9.
Talks about the Lord wielding arod of iron to dash the nations

(25:59):
in pieces.
Like this is a weapon foroffense to defend you against
enemies, which again is Exoduslanguage.
We don't have time to turnthere, but go to Exodus, chapter
15, verses three through seven,and you see the Lord is a man
of war who fights for his people.
And then so you got a rod tofight for you.

(26:21):
And then you have a staff hereto steer and keep sheep from
going in the wrong direction,which is really interesting when
you think about these twotogether.
Like we, as sheep, need God toprotect us from enemies and to
protect us from ourselves, fromthe doubts that creep in the

(26:42):
temptations we all have towander.
We need both.
One writer, david Gibson, wrotean excellent book called the
Lord of Psalm 23 that I wouldhighly recommend.
He said some of us want Jesusto protect us from our enemies
with his rod, but we don't wantJesus to protect us from
ourselves with his staff.
We don't realize that ourgreatest enemy is oftentimes

(27:05):
ourselves, our own sinful heartsthat are prone to think the
grass is greener somewhere else,outside away from our shepherd
walking our own path.
You know what?
My favorite word, though, is inverse four.
Out of all this, I think myfavorite word, at least this
week, is through.

(27:25):
Just let that soak in.
When the Lord is your shepherd,you can know when you come upon
dark valleys and even the shadowof death itself.
You are just passing throughthose dark valleys, and death

(27:45):
itself will not be the end ofyour story, because you're with
the shepherd who died on thecross for your sin, and the
enemy thought he had conqueredJesus, but three days later
Jesus looked at the enemy anddeath itself in the face and
said I am just passing through.

(28:05):
So, no matter how dark it getsin your life, no matter how dark
it gets, with the Lord whoconquered death as your shepherd
, you can know, no matter whatthis world brings you this year,
you're just passing throughvalleys, you're just past.
They're not the end of yourstory, which leads to him
preparing a feast in thepresence of your enemies.

(28:29):
Like how frustrating would thatbe for an enemy to see you like
pass the filet, mignon, likewhat is what?
An image Anointing my head withoil, my cup overflowing, like
it's just pouring out.
There's so much here.
Maybe one day I can share more,but suffice to say today I

(28:53):
personally praise God for how hehas used people who have tried
to harm me to actually lead meto greater joy in him than I
ever would have experiencedotherwise.
He's prepared for me a table tofeast in ways that my cup today
feels overflowing and ways itnever has before.
That's what the shepherd does,which leads to the last verse

(29:15):
where we'll close Surely likemark it down, guaranteed, no
question, goodness, the goodnessof God and the mercy of God.
So we've talked about this wordbefore.
This is hesed, hesed, there'sno real English word that can
capture it.
It's like mercy and kindnessand goodness and sacrificial

(29:36):
love and loyalty andfaithfulness all wrapped into
one word.
And this Psalm says mark itdown goodness and mercy from God
shall follow me.
Now that word follow.
Don't get the picture here ofjust kind of lagging behind us.
Now that word follow.
Don't get the picture here ofjust kind of lagging behind us.
This word is an active, all-outpursuit, like think when I saw

(30:01):
Heather and decided I'm going topursue her.
And there were obstacles in theway, most notably another guy
that was not going to stop mefrom active, all-out pursuit.
So whenever she turned aroundfrom him she would see me right
there.
And this psalm is saying that'swhat God does with his mercy and

(30:21):
goodness for you.
They're running after you,they're not lagging behind you,
they're pursuing.
One translation says to pursueyou as if to capture you,
overtake you and picture.
This is the Bible says over andover every morning there's new
mercy just waiting for you,waiting to be poured out every
moment when you walk throughthat trial, know God is there

(30:42):
with new mercy for that trial.
In that moment, for everysingle moment, you can't get
away from the goodness and hassaid mercy of God.
I'm assuming there are maybemany of you today who, if you're
honest, you've been wanderingfrom God or you feel pretty
distant from God right now and Ijust want you to hear God

(31:04):
saying in his word he's pursuingyou right now with his goodness
and mercy.
He's brought you here even tothis moment, to hear God saying
to your heart right now.
You here, even to this moment,to hear God saying to your heart
right now, I'm running afteryou, you say, well, but I've
done this.
That's the whole point.
It's mercy.
It doesn't matter what you'vedone.
He's running after you becauseof who he is, not because of
what you've done.

(31:25):
And for all who realize this,for all who receive from the
Lord, your shepherd, goodnessand mercy, your shepherd,
goodness and mercy, you shalldwell.
Live in the house of Yahwehforever.
Like I just wanna circle it amillion like forever.

(31:46):
Like.
None of us deserve that.
All of us have sinned againstthe Lord.
All of us are foolish sheep whojust picture it, think we know
better than the shepherd what'sgood for us.
We wander into wolves, wewander into isolation.
We wander our own way.
And the good news of the Bibleis that God is a shepherd who

(32:08):
comes running after us In theperson of Jesus.
Who said John, chapter 10,verse 11, I am the good shepherd
.
The good shepherd lays down hislife for the sheep.
Jesus has laid down his life.
He's died on the cross for yoursin.

(32:31):
He's laid in a tomb and praiseGod.
He was just passing through.
He has risen from the dead sothat anyone, anywhere, no matter
who you are, no matter what youhave done, if you will turn
from your sin and yourself andtrust in Jesus as Savior and
Lord of your life.

(32:51):
He will restore you to the Lordas your shepherd, now and for
all of eternity.
Check this out.
One last place.
Listen to how the Bible just sohappens to describe heaven in
Revelation, chapter 7, verse 17.
For the Lamb in the midst ofthe throne, for the lamb in the

(33:12):
midst of the throne talkingabout Jesus, the Passover lamb
from Exodus, chapter 12,.
The lamb will be their whatShepherd and he will guide them
to springs of living water andGod will wipe away every tear

(33:35):
from their eyes.
Yes, do you know Jesus as yourshepherd, the Lord as your
shepherd?
If not, why not?
Why not?
The Lord wants to guide you tosprings of living water, today

(34:01):
and tomorrow, and forever.
Return from your sin yourself.
Trust in Him as your shepherd,today and when you do, and for
all who know the Lord as yourshepherd today and when you do,
and for all who know the Lord asyour shepherd, then listen to
his voice every day.
Why would we nod?

(34:24):
Why would it feel like a choreor a box to check?
To listen to the voice of theshepherd who loves us?
No, this is life.
This is guidance to springs ofliving water on a daily basis.
So open it up, meditate on it,soak it in and then walk with

(34:48):
the Lord as your shepherd.
We hope you've enjoyed thisweek's episode of Radical with
David Platt.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.