Who is the LORD, keeping mercy, forgiving

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The Lord Is My Shepherd—And That Changes Everything

When the psalmist says, "The Lord is my shepherd," he boldly states who God is: someone who's always been about relationship, not distance. From walking with Adam and Eve in Eden to pursuing them after their disobedience, God's actions always showed His desire for connection.

Psalm 23 isn't just a meditation; it's an invitation to know the Shepherd for who He really is.

When God introduces Himself in Scripture, He doesn't lead with power or judgment. He leads with mercy, grace, patience, and unshakeable truth. And this: "I keep mercy for thousands." That's not just a line—it's loyalty. It's love that sticks around, whether or not we deserve it. Even when we fall short, "He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself. "We change. He doesn't. That's what keeps us steady.

What's wild is how God handles our mess. He doesn't sweep sin under the rug. "I am" doesn't pretend it didn't happen. He takes it on Himself. Think of it like this: when someone gets bitten by a snake, you don't hate the person; you hate the snake. That's how God sees sin. He's not out to crush the sinner; He's out to crush what's hurting us.

But many people get this wrong. They see God as this angry judge waiting for them to slip up. That's not who He is. "God is love. "And Jesus, calling Himself the Good Shepherd, backs that up with His life. He walked with us, lived among us, died for us, rose again, and still walks with us now. Not from a distance. Up close. Personal.

So here's the question: Who's your Shepherd, really?

He's not looking to catch you in failure. He's already carried your failure. His mercy doesn't run out because you've earned it—it endures because that's who He is. He's steady when we're shaky. He's faithful when we wander.

Today, wherever you are, remember this: You have a Shepherd who doesn't quit on you. He forgives fully, loves deeply, and never backs off. He paid the price. And He's still with you, every step, every season.

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Episode Transcript

Austin Gardner (00:01):
Well, I'm back with you talking about our
shepherd.
The Lord is my shepherd.
The Lord Yahweh I am, is ourshepherd.
He's a relational God.
That's who I am is.
From the very beginning, it wasGod who desired a relationship
with man.
He walked in the cool of theday with Adam and Eve.

(00:24):
That was a sweet, wonderfulthing, until they sinned and
they were separated from him.
And when they were separatedfrom him, he goes back to the
garden.
He says where are you Adam,where are you Eve?
What are y'all doing?
And it's not an accusing thing,it's a relational question,
because he wanted to be withthem.
That's who your shepherd is.
He loves you and he wants to bewith you.

(00:45):
The Lord is my shepherd.
And we have seen, because we'restudying, we're, you know, we
just meditate, and each day alittle truth to get us through
the day.
And so you know, we've alreadylooked at this.
But he said what's your name?
And he said to him my name is IAm, I Am, that, I Am.

(01:09):
And then he proclaimed and hesaid the Lord is merciful and
gracious and long-suffering andabundant in goodness and truth.
And then today, I just want youto think with me on this
thought he said about himself Ikeep mercy for thousands.
I keep mercy for thousands.

(01:31):
Now, isn't that funny.
I keep mercy, keeping mercy forthousands.
He says See, I am as loyal I am, protects you, I am has a loyal

(01:52):
love that preserves andprotects you I am, defends you.
You see, I am.
Keeps his word, he staysfaithful.
He said when I just tell youwho I am, I say to you, I am a
guy who keeps mercy, I keep onkeeping mercy.
And that's exactly what you seein 2 Timothy 2.13, when the

(02:14):
Apostle Paul writes out to us ifwe believe not yet, he abides
faithful.
He cannot deny himself.
That's who God is.
Do you understand that?
God says if you mess up, Idon't, if you start doubting me,
I won't quit on you.
If you don't do what you'resupposed to do, I don't change.

(02:38):
You may change, but I don'tchange.
He is the God who keeps mercy.
He cannot deny himself.
Now, what a beautiful thoughtabout the God that you have.
Today.
We've been seeing wonderfulthings.
He is merciful and he isgracious.
He is slow to anger.
He's abundant in goodness andtruth.

(02:58):
And he says and I just keep onkeeping on being that way.
And the next thing he says, andwhen he's describing himself,
he says to his people he said Iam the one that keeps mercy for
thousands.
And then he says and I forgiveiniquity and transgression and

(03:18):
sin, but I don't clear theguilty.
And I want you to consider thatwith me just a little bit today
, as you consider who God is.
And so you see, he says Iforgive iniquity and I forgive
transgression and sin.
That means he releases you, helets it go, he takes it off of

(03:39):
your account.
That's what forgiveness is.
Forgiveness is the same idea ofthe word divorce.
It's like God says I split youfrom your sin, I divorce you
from your sin.
I take away your guilt, I takeaway your shame, I take away
your wickedness and your sin.
He said I take your burden, theweight of your sin.
I take that on me.

(03:59):
He takes our sin on himself andhe pays for it.
And he's redundant here In theverse.
He takes away our sin, he takesaway our transgression.
I like to joke about how youknow different people, like my
wife, when she might be upsetwith me.
I'll say are you mad?
She said I'm not mad.
I said well, are you upset andare you angry?

(04:22):
What's going on.
And so God's like maybe youthink I don't.
I forgive sin, but I don'tforgive transgression.
So he starts naming it all.
He forgives your iniquity.
So he starts naming it all.
He forgives your iniquity, yourtransgression, your sin.
He forgives all your misdeeds,all your crimes, all your
wrongdoing, all your wickedness,all your faults.

(04:42):
He takes away the painfulburden or weight of wrong.
He takes away the offense tomorality that you might have
committed.
He takes away any action,desire, purpose or omission.
If you didn't do right or ifyou did wrong.
He takes that away everythingand nails it to the cross of
Calvary.
He says you messed up, youdidn't keep the law, but the law

(05:07):
was never given for you to keep.
It was given for you to knowyou need me.
You were missing the mark whenGod says I am the guy who
forgives.
He forgives in love.
He doesn't ignore sin.
Isn't that the beautiful thing.
Instead of ignoring sin, hecomes and says I'll take your

(05:28):
sin on me.
He doesn't ignore sin, he paysfor sin.
He does what it takes to fix it.
It's not like God said I'mgoing to save you and then I'm
looking to get you for your sin.
God says I saved you and Irescued you from all past sin,
present sin and future sin.
You see, you believe a lot oflies about the Lord.
You've kind of thought Godisn't interested in your life or

(05:52):
in you, but that's not true.
You've kind of thought maybeyou're on your own that's not
true.
You've thought maybe Godabandons you, not true.
You thought God only loves youwhen you're good, not true.
You thought God wants to giveyou rules and judge you.
That's what he likes doing, nottrue.
God can't wait to judge me.

(06:14):
You think that is not true.
You see, I am is love.
I am is love, and I need you tounderstand that.
The Lord is my shepherd, theLord I am, yahweh is love.
The Bible says in 1 John 4, 8,god is love.
Love is God.

(06:34):
God is love.
You can't get any more directthan that.
1 John 4.16 says.
And we have known and believedof love that God had to us.
God is love.
See, god's love.
I just need you to understandtoday, because we're going to
dive into Psalm 23, and I knowit seems like I'm taking forever

(06:55):
to get there, but if you justmeditate in the Lord, your
relationship will improve.
Already from the beginning heexplains who he is.
He explains who he is.
He is mercy, he is graciousness, he is slow to anger, he is
abundant in goodness and truth.

(07:16):
He keeps mercy.
And then what's he say here?
I forgive sin and transgressionand wickedness and all of it.
Iniquity I do, but I don'tignore it Because see, what he
did is he took sin.
Sin destroys you and sindestroys your children.
Do you realize he hates sinbecause it's hurting you.

(07:38):
You think God wants to judgeyou like the sinner.
When God wants to judge the sin, god doesn't hate you because a
rattlesnake bit you.
He hates the rattlesnake thatbit you.
The God of heaven loves you.
I need you to know today thathe loves you.

(07:59):
I am Yahweh.
The Lord is my shepherd.
You need a clear picture of whohe is before you go much
further.
Jesus takes that to anotherlevel.
When you get to the NewTestament, he says I am the
light of the world.
Jesus is the light of the world.
That's God.
In fact, jesus is so much thelight of the world that when we
get to heaven we won't need asun because the light will be
there.
Jesus said I am the door of thesheep.

(08:22):
He is the door of the sheep.
He's the one that opens thedoor for our salvation.
It's not you, it's him.
It's not you who saved you,it's him.
It's not you who saved you,it's him.
And then we know who theshepherd is Now.
Now, see, we haven't even gotteninto Psalm 23 yet.
The Lord is my shepherd.
Who is the Lord?
Well, the Lord is all thethings we've seen.
But Jesus said I am the goodshepherd, I am the good shepherd

(08:50):
.
Now, is he the good shepherd?
He said I am the resurrection.
He said I am the way, the truthand the life.
He said I am the true vine.
You see, jesus is all of that,and so I need you to know,
before you go on much further,that you are serving the
wonderful, sweet, beautiful I am.
Jesus is our shepherd, god inhuman flesh.
See, jesus is our shepherd, godin human flesh.

(09:13):
See, Jesus is God, come downfrom heaven, who became a man,
became one of us and lives amongus, died on a cross, was buried
and rose again, and still alivetoday as a man who understands
you and loves you.
He is your shepherd.
So, as you go through the daythinking about your shepherd,

(09:35):
think about this he forgives sin, but he took it on himself.
He keeps mercy because he paidthe price and he is a good
shepherd.
God bless you today.