Jehovah is my shepherd

Let's go to Psalm 23. Let's see if some of them know it, right? I know that there are some who are not going to take out their Bible, they are going to say I am going to repeat it by heart. Alright. Psalm 23. I felt the Lord reflect on this Psalm. This is going to be a little different. I said in the morning "We have had two or three sermons in these weeks!".

This is going to be more of a reflection on the Word, so let's go together to Psalm 23 which says:

Jehovah is my shepherd

Jehovah is my shepherd; I will lack nothing

In places of delicate pastures I

It will make rest;

Beside still waters will shepherd me.

It will comfort my soul;

He will guide me through paths of justice

For love of his name.

Although I walk in a valley of shadow

of death,

I will fear no evil, because you

You will be with me;

Your rod and your staff will infuse me

Breath.

You prepare a table before me in

Presence of my distressers;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup is overflowing.

Certainly good and mercy

They will follow me all the days of my life.

And in the house of the Lord I will dwell for

Long days.

Father in the name of Jesus. Thank my Lord.

Father is Your Word that already ministers, Lord. It is the reality that these words have to minister to the soul, Lord. I ask you to speak to us on this day, Father, that you be the one who speaks to us. Lord despite the fragile of this glass, I ask you to be your Holy Spirit, ministering to every heart.

I want to hear from You and I ask for divine revelation in the name of Jesus. Amen and amen. Jehovah is MY Shepherd, MY SHEPHERD.

You know what? I have a two-year-old son and he loves that word "mine", right?

Just today, looking at another child's toy, he says, 'my toy, my toy'. Everything is mine to him. But you know what? Sometimes God wants us to be like children with Him... God You are not a Pastor, You are MY Pastor, You ARE MY Pastor, I can trust you, my personal pastor who knows me by name.

Jesus said 'I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.'

Jehovah is your shepherd, he has every hair counted, he knows every detail of your life, every thought, he knows you better than you know yourself. Thank God, Jehovah is my shepherd today.

Did you know? Sometimes when we think of the image of a shepherd, we visualize a very calm scene and a very calm person with a little guitar, right? playing there in the field. And I believe - and there is a lot of tranquility and peace in this Psalm. Let's talk about it.

But the reality in the time of Jesus and of the Bible, of the Old Testament is that the shepherds were the most warlike people there were. They lived in the fields, day and night. They were ready to fight with any wild animal.

The shepherds are strong and reliable, they can be counted on. Our Jesus is not Jesusito, he is my shepherd, he is there to take care of me and to defend me. Let's reflect on that.

He says: "I will lack nothing."

What do you need? Did you know? This language of lacking something was used a lot at the time of the Exodus when Israel left Egypt.

God said, 'You lacked nothing in these forty years that you wandered in the desert.' learning this is...the desert.It's the desert.

It is the place where you have nothing, when you are in need and you do not know where the solutions will come from. It is in the desert that we know the shepherd more than ever. God did this for the people of Israel. They had no water, so He says: "I am going to teach you that I am able to draw water from the rock." There was no bread and God says "I am able to put some bread rolls in the sand every morning so that you can collect your bread."

When you were in danger, God said, "I am going to be a great giant with you. I am going to be next to the Glory Shakina of Jehovah to keep you from the wild animals. If you need shade in the day, I am going to be a column of cloud and there will be a great shadow covering you".

How nice to have the shadow of the Lord, right?! It is the shadow of the Almighty.

If you also need guidance at night when you don't see where you are going, God says "I will be a pillar of fire. The Glory Shakina so that you can see where you are going. I am not going to leave you alone. I am going to guide you".

"I shall lack nothing."

There are some who have learned this from experience, right? You have been through the desert, you know what it is like not having to pay the rent this month or not having food on the table and you pray 'Jehovah You are my shepherd' and there is a knock on the door and the Lord provides what you you need. Some have learned it, but now they are going through it again. God says, 'I am the best. Yesterday, today and forever. I dont change.'

Jehovah You were my shepherd and still are my shepherd. "I shall lack nothing." Thank God. What are the needs of your life? The Lord is there to provide. Thank God.

"In places of delicate pastures he will make me rest;

Beside still waters will shepherd me."

Oh how cute! Lord knows where to take you on a real vacation. The Lord knows and knows the delicate pastures where you need to replenish your soul.

You know how many times we associate rest and refreshments with being completely without doing anything, right? We already have too much work, I want to rest. For God it is not so. He had to move the shepherds at that time, the sheep, from one field... one pasture to another pasture because if they stay there in the same one they will eat all the grass and they will be left with nothing.

God knows that for your own good, you have to be in motion but it is possible to be active and resting inside.

Jesus says "Come to me. All of you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me that I am meek and humble of heart. And you will find rest for your souls."

This image is being yoked with Jesus, walking alongside. Being rested does not mean that I do nothing, but it means that I know who is walking next to me and I know that He has everything in His hands and I can walk in the things that God has given me and be active but do it without eagerness. I can rest because I know who is by my side and is sharing the yoke with me. Thank God.

Did you know? Many times we choose eagerness, we prefer to be anxious than to trust God. Brothers, forgive me for my country. I know that we are very busy here. Have you noticed, right, the difference here? As everyone is running, running, agitated. Studies have been done, that especially in Boston people talk faster, walk faster, drive faster. We still beat New York in some studies, right? busy.

God says it doesn't have to be this way.

Do you know that many times when children are busy in the middle of the night, when you want to sleep at two or three, and they are busy, someone is needed to make them rest?

That is why God says, -or the psalmist says-: "In places of delicate pastures he will make me rest".

I need someone to calm me down sometimes. I can't even calm myself down, but there is one who can; that if I leave it, it will calm my fears and my anxieties and my worries, but I have to stop and say "Jehovah, you are my shepherd; I will lack nothing."

In Isaiah it says: 'for thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, in rest and in rest you will be saved. In stillness and confidence will be your strength and you did not want but to say 'No' before we will flee on horses.'.

God says, 'Look there are two ways to live, you can be busy or you can rest in me. The choice is yours'. But it's the same, because God takes care of us or it can be easy or hard and God says 'Look, why be so worried? It's time to trust me, it's time to rest, because I know where the waters you need are.'

Studies have been done, I read a little about sheep and all that. I don't know much about sheep, the only animals I know of are at the zoo in Dorchester -which I love actually- but I'm from the city, right?

Some perhaps come from the countryside and know better than me. But the sheep if they can do what they want, they will drink any dirty water they find with all kinds of filth. And thinking about restoring or satisfying their thirst, they become contaminated with a number of parasites, right? They drink the ugly water.

Do you know how many times we contaminate ourselves by trying to refresh ourselves? We pollute ourselves.

I am convinced that a lot of sin that we have in life is not the cause of direct rebellion, but rather it is because we are looking for a way out, we are looking for refreshments, something to calm our nerves or I don't know what; and we look for easy solutions.

And God says, 'my son, it's dirty water, but I have the water you need. I can guide you to the proper waters for you.'

How Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman. I think there was no coincidence. Jesus was talking to a person who had had boyfriend after boyfriend after boyfriend after boyfriend and nothing was going right for him, because he was looking to fill this void in his life.

Jesus says "Look, my friend, I have water that you don't know; that will really touch this need that you have. Come to me. All those who are loaded and labored and I will give them rest."

Such that, when studying that, I began to think about the delicate grasses that we know, literally, and I thought about my trip in Latin America, in many beautiful places, right?

A lovely place for me is in Guatemala. There is a lake with volcanoes around it. What is that lake called? Will anyone know? Atitlan. I went on a little boat in Atitlán. That was nice! The sun going through those clouds, right?

Also there in Central America, in another country... in Honduras, there is another lake, right? yohoah? I'm sorry. You know what I'm talking about... And beaches in the Caribbean... Punta Cana, Fajardo... Jumps in El Yunque that I didn't think of.

In a field where I went where I went in the Dominican Republic. It's called Jarabacoa where I got cold there! It was so cool.

I have not traveled much in South America but I have heard about the south of Chile, I have heard... well I went, yes, to Cataratas, there in Iguazú.

I hear that on the coast in Colombia there are some beautiful beaches in Santa Marta and what is the other city there? Cartagena. That's the one! Wow! How cute no?! Now I'm making you sadder because here we are in the city, right?

My sister is an excellent mom and she has a beautiful son who is super, super sensitive. He is so sensitive that he has ups and downs, it is difficult for that boy. And he, when he was 5 years old, was at the beach here on Cape Cod. You see we have some beaches, right? Cold, I know but well... but they look at me like, that's not the beach! but well... And I was there looking and this boy, so cute, so poetic, he says: "Look, mommy, look at the sea..." and he even made a poetic gesture... "Look at the sea, look at the blue skies, look at the clouds -the 5-year-old boy- look at the sand, mommy. How cute it is!" My sister said something very wise: "You know, son? The next time you're sad or anxious, I want you to think about this moment because this moment doesn't have to stay here, it can go with you inside."

In other words, delicate pastures for us, this is not a physical place, it is a spiritual place, the place does not matter, the spiritual person who is by our side matters, it matters that I have a pastor by my side and He can take me to these pastures in the spirit even though it's on the corner of Harris and Northampton, right?

I love it, there is an electrical box here, that someone has painted with grass and clouds. Have you seen him on the corner? That's lovely! Because in any corner, in any situation, God invites you "My son, my sheep, I want to guide you with delicate steps. Let me do it! I have water for you that will really refresh you. Stop looking by yourself, I I'll help you with that"

"Jehovah is my shepherd, he will comfort my soul."

This entire section talks about God's ability to restore me on the inside when I'm dead tired. God can do it.

But you know what? I further studied this text in Hebrew and the word here for comfort uses the word "shuv" in Hebrew which means to turn or return. It's a very literal word, very physical. It usually means I'm on a street and I'm going to turn or I'm going to go back.

I think the meaning is that God makes us return our strength. But it is a strange word for this context and I began to think, is there another meaning of shepherds and sheep that there will be here? And I read in a book that it talks about a problem that happens with sheep sometimes. That sometimes, especially the sheep that are very heavy, that have a lot of hair or are on tape or just plain fat, they will lay down on the softer grass, more like swampland more like swamps, and they begin to lose their balance and their center. Gravity moves... wow! and they stay there upside down, lost, right? And they can't be untapped again. In English they are called "cast sheep or cast horses" that are lying down, that they are down and cannot be straightened up and they say that it is something so pathetic, so sad to observe how the little sheep goes crazy giving a tantrum with its legs, trying to move and they can't and the more they move the gas accumulates in the abdomen and they get worse than before in the sun. A lying sheep, a fallen sheep can die within a few hours. And beyond it is not only the shepherd who looks for the fallen sheep, there are birds of prey, there are wild animals looking for their easy prey and there they are fallen.

You know that I think of this scene, of a little sheep that cannot be straightened up, right?

My son once… I heard some screams -which is nothing new-, but some screams from his crib and I felt something different in those screams and I went in and I saw that the poor thing was stuck with his little foot there between the bars; and he, "ah, ah!" and I "Oh, my son!" Oh, and how it breaks your heart to see an innocent, weak creature that can't help itself looking at you with these eyes, right?!

That's how we are many times. We are fallen sheep sometimes that we got into trouble there we are already in trouble and we can't get out of it. We don't know the solutions. In other words, your pastor does not look at you with eyes of contempt, He comforts your soul, He turns you around, He turns you around to put you on your little feet again.

"Jehovah is my shepherd, he will comfort my soul. He straightens me when I am down."

Thank God, my salvation does not depend on me. We have to accept Christ but we do not save ourselves. It's like grabbing a life preserver. We are weak people in the flesh, naturally, and Jesus saves us. Our salvation depends on Him and thank God our sanctification also depends on Him, the future depends on Him. Thank God. He who began a good work in you is faithful to perfect it.

God will finish what he started with you. He's not going to give up. He knows what he is doing, he is an excellent shepherd and he will comfort my soul. Thank God, "he will guide me through paths of justice, for the love of his name."

There he speaks that the pastor teaches. He not only provides and cares, but teaches, guides as well.

Jesus, when he saw the crowds and felt compassion for them, from his heart, from his stomach, from his bowels. He felt compassion for the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd, they were lost. And Jesus began to teach them many things.

To be a sheep of the Lord, we have to be teachable.

Do you know what I love about discipleship? I like all the levels, but I especially like Level 1 because the people who have decided to be there are teachable people, who are there with their hearts ready for the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus, to guide them on the right path.

I love that attitude and God loves it too. It is the attitude that we have to have. Because you know what? there is a lot at stake with the path we use.

It says, "he will guide us in paths of justice, for his name's sake."

Did you know? fame, the good reputation of Jesus is at stake. When we use crooked paths or swampy paths there is another we are slandering... the Lord we serve. He is our shepherd and if you are going to be the Lord's sheep... you are going to be led to paths of righteousness, whether you want it or not... this comes with the package.

It cannot be... when we live in sin, when we take other paths, we are losing all the wealth that God wants to give us in this Psalm and He is a good shepherd and He is not afraid to use his rod. And we'll talk about that later.

And then he says "even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil because you will be with me. Your rod and your staff will give me breath." This is the darkest part of the Psalm, saddest in a certain sense, but it is also the part of the Psalm with the most intimacy with God because "you will be with me". It is in the valley of the shadow of death that we have intimacy face to face with the good shepherd.

When we are closer to Him, studying the shepherds and sheep, he says that in the summer the sun is so strong that to keep the sheep healthy one has to look for higher pastures in the mountains. So the shepherd grabs his sheep and they go on a journey. He and they alone 'in te wilderness', in the environment with nature and to reach the highest ground you have to follow a path there in the valleys, which takes things... paths that we would not have wanted to take. But the shepherd knows that to take you to the higher ground, where there are beautiful pastures, where the snow has melted, it is there, fresh water up there... I have to carry you up through dark paths sometimes. It does not mean that you have sinned, it does not mean that God is angry with you.

Sometimes when we go through suffering, we think "God, what did I do wrong that You are angry with me?" and it's not like that sometimes. Sometimes, yes, you looked for them and there are problems because you screwed up and there are problems and you have to solve the problems. But sometimes we suffer and there is nothing wrong, we have not done any sin; It's just that you have to go through the valley of the shadow of death. And God knows that if I take you down that path, even if it is a sad and dark path, on the other side there are greener pastures than ever and I will bless you there. You're going to be there high, high, high.

Brothers, we all know that in order to grow in Christ, if we want to be used by the Lord, we have to be polished, we have to go through the hard stuff. And it's not going to be easy. Christianity never promises that everything will be easy, it is not. God does not keep you from dangers in the Christian life.

The Apostle Paul said "Look, I'm in danger everywhere. Danger in the country, danger in the city, danger in the street, danger when I'm sleeping, danger... look, I want things easier than that", right? ? And some say 'I didn´t sign on for that'. But that's how it is.

But God says 'I am not keeping you from danger, but I will be with you there on that dark path and you will fear no evil.'

Did you know? Me speaking with a sister from the cult in English... her name is very pretty Gail, she is the one who preached here from Israel one day... an elderly lady. She said that one day she found herself in a car alone with a man, I don't know the situation, but the situation was a little dangerous. The man said "Aren't you afraid to be here in this car with me?", she said "Look there are two angels uglier than you behind so I'm not... you don't scare me" and our God is with us .

He has a rod that hurts if you mess with me, you mess with my pastor. I am not alone on this path, I have someone watching over me. The staff is what David used with all that he did... his slingshots to kill Goliath. A small thing, but it demonstrates the authority of the shepherd and is used to protect his sheep. "Your rod and your staff will give me breath."

But also the rod is used not only with the enemies, it is also used with the sheep themselves. When they're bad -thumping sounds- He uses that rod to give them the good...the thing that makes the coconut sound, right? I am not going to repeat it because in every sermon I use this word, I know. But give him that discipline that you need... the rod.

But the rod is also used for what is called in English 'passing under the shepard's rod' which is compared to passing under the shepherd's rod. The prophets use it to talk about the way God examines us, to know where He is going to work this year, right? I would not doubt that it would happen once a year, in the spirit, at night... God passes the rod. I don't know... but it's something symbolic and it's something interesting.

For sheep, they say, when their hair is cut it hurts, right? because it always leaves scratches like when you're shaving. In other words, removing that heavy hair so that they do not fall, this hurts. The sheep fights with this, it doesn't like it.

But when examining the sheep with the rod, he says that he moves all the hair with this rod to inspect very closely if there are any critters or fleas or ticks or things like that and "bam, bam" clean it. And they say the sheep like it. That the cattle feels good like a pastor's massage, or like a good... how many like to go to the salon to get their hair cut, right? The hairdressers here want me to talk about it.

Every hairdresser here... raise the.... right?

But the Lord does that by moving his hair, examining and he examines us. I think of the Verse that says 'search me oh God and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wickedness in my way and guide me in the way everlasting.'

The rod is used to protect, it is used to discipline, and it is used to examine us, to reveal what the Holy Spirit has to work in you. Our shepherd knows what he is doing and he is going to work the sheep so that they are healthy even if it means that they have to inspect them and see where, what are the fleas that have bitten us.

Where are flees that we are going to be picked off, I mean.

So He does it, the rod and the staff is, you know, in the other photo we have the staff that has the 'the crook, you know, this is used, they say to catch these little sheep and put them with their mother if they get lost so that the smell of the shepherd does not stick so as not to cause problems with the mother. If the smell causes rejection, I don't know what. Also to catch the sheep that are in the water when they have been lost and are in a tree there and they have to be removed.

They say that shepherds sometimes while walking touch the sheep with that staff, they touch the sheep to guide them on that path. And I love that image of a person walking alongside with this outstretched rod touching the little sheep along the way. He's not hitting it hard there, just touching it along the way, so they know 'that's where we're going. I'm here'.

Sometimes, have you experienced that, that you just need a little touch to remember that God is there, right?

One time I was having breakfast with a friend of mine, her two-year-old daughter... a year and a half, was sitting in a shirt there in the middle and she was looking at me and she had her hand on her dad's leg.

"I wanna be sure you're here. I want to be sure you're here to keep me from that bad 'gringo' who's here next door."

Sometimes we need a touch, right? I start to think he says in the Psalm 'your rod and your staff, they will give me breath'. There is emphasis on that, on that in the Hebrew. And I start to think... could it be that in the shadowy paths that you can't see -sometimes you can't see anything- and maybe they know that the pastor is there but they don't see him and it helps to know that he has a rod and it helps to feel the touch of the staff from time to time?.

Brothers, there are some that when you are going through the shadows, you are going through a difficult time, sometimes it is difficult for you to see what God is doing with you. But I want you to know that He has a staff and if you wait, your good shepherd can give you the little touch you need to know that you are not walking alone in this alley, that God is by your side.

"Your rod and your staff will give me breath." Thank God.

You know that Jehovah is your shepherd and He knows what he is doing. It's hard to think of us as sheep. I don't know if you've seen sheep? How many here this year have seen sheep? They're pretty... all white, all... they smell bad, they're silly, they eat anything you put in front of them and we're like that sometimes, right?

Sometimes we are not the most intelligent and sometimes there are not so beautiful fragrances of our life... but 'Jehovah is my shepherd and I shall not want'.

It says, "you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies."

Do you know that Psalm 23 isn't all about sheep and shepherds? You know that?

Only the first half talks about sheep and a shepherd, after that it's another analogy entirely. It is another image, another metaphor. And now he's talking about a table in front of us.

Do you know that in Hebrew the words "to set a table" are very special words? It is not just any table, it is a ceremonial table and "dressing the table" is not only preparing the food, it is preparing the ceremonial table just as God commanded it to be done. It is used mainly with the table in the temple or in the tabernacle.

A table, when you are entering -before entering the Holy of Holies- there was a table with bread on it. It was called 'bread of the presence of God' or 'bread of the face'. The language here is speaking of the Lord's table in the temple with the bread of the Lord's presence before King David.

He's saying "I think what's happening is that David is worshiping God in the temple" and we're going to talk more about the moment maybe, and there's a flashback when he's imagining the pasture with the sheep and he says "Jehovah is my shepherd. I will not want for anything" and he is thinking about all that.

It's back to the situation. Thank my Lord.

"You dress a table before me in the presence of my distressers."

Did you know? There were moments - and one moment in particular - when David was running like crazy because King Saul and other people were looking to kill him. They were chasing him to kill him.

How many have seen that Fugitive movie? It's a good movie, isn't it? He running from the authorities... David running from the authorities... they wanted to kill him and he arrives at the temple with his men, he exhausted, dead tired says to the priest "Do you have something to eat here?" and the priest tells him "Well, there is no normal bread, we only have holy bread from the table, bread of the presence." And, David says, "Okay, I'm going to eat and I'm going to share it with my men."

Was it bad that he did it? That is consecrated bread. Who has the right to eat the bread in the temple? Because this is not bread to be sacrificed, this is bread to be eaten but only by one person... it is only by the priest.

David says, "you anoint my head with oil", he knows 'I am not a fugitive running like a madman, I am Jehovah's anointed. I am a Priest King and even though it doesn't seem like I have the authority right now...it does.

I am a priest of Jehovah and I have the right to eat this bread that God has set before me.'

You know that? What are you not a normal person? Although it may seem different due to situations we are experiencing, we know that I am a king, a priest, a princess in the Kingdom of God, the oil of the Lord is on my life and you, the Lord, have set a table before me. And it is not bread to be sacrificed this time, this is bread given to me by Heaven.

In the very temple of God, David knew "in the presence of my distressers even with the fighting and war going on all around me, God has set a table before me and I can sit and eat with Him and enjoy the tranquility of a meal ”.

God says, "Behold. I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me."

Brother, sister, I don't know what is happening in your life... but I know that God invites you to the table as Christians we are washed by the blood of Jesus. We are clean. We have the right to enter into exceptional intimacy with Jehovah, with the Holy Spirit. When you come to the temple and when you know that the presence of God is here and you are worshiping him... it is a table that God has set before you. And you know what? This anointing is precious, this anointing changes us because God has anointed our head.

In Isaiah 61 he says the following -verse 3-, 'He must command that the afflicted of Zion be given Glory instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning, a mantle of joy instead of the anguished spirit and they will be called trees of justice planted by Jehovah for his Glory'.

Did you know? I have seen people experience pain, tremendous struggle in their lives and their faces are shining with joy because they are having an invisible dinner with God. They have a spiritual refreshment that they can receive at this moment and this does not take away their suffering, but inside there is joy because they have oil of joy on their heads.

I don't know, but I understand that they didn't bathe that much at that time and adding oil was like taking a good bath, right? ... and be fresh with this fragrance.

Sometimes I love to greet a brother and... the cologne, I can smell it... but it's because he's grateful to be with God and he's in God's house and it feels good that God has anointed my head although I believe that the meaning is spiritual. There is nothing wrong in knowing that God also helps you feel good about yourself, invites you to a nice and elegant dinner.

I think of Jesus sleeping in that boat even though there was a storm Jesus was able to sleep in the boat... and thus also invites us to enjoy the intimacy of a dinner with Him despite the struggles that are going on in life.

There are people sometimes that I hear say, 'I shouldn't attend church until I have certain situations in order.' They are suffering, they are having problems, maybe there are struggles with things that they are doing and they say, 'I don't want to go to church until I get ready and then I'll come.'

Did you know? God says "Look, come just as you are. There is a table prepared before you. I am going to anoint your head with oil and I am going to restore you here in this place. Come, come to the table. There are waters prepared for you. " Thank God.

God prepares this for us and there is that glow that God has. I think of David there in the temple with nothing. He was totally screwed at that moment that I described. He had no money, he was running like crazy running from people. But he says there in the presence of God 'My cup overflows.'

How many of us know that it is possible to have a lot of money and be empty inside? It is possible to have everything and be in extreme poverty because you are seeking to fill the thirst of your heart. And how many of us have known people who live with very little in this life, but are rich towards God? That they can say with their hearts shining in their eyes "My cup is overflowing, God has been good to me!".

Brothers, I want you to have a lot. I want poor people to have more and we fight for that. But what we want is for all of us to be able, in the presence of God, to enjoy what the Bible calls 'fullness of joy'. In your presence there is fullness of joy and you say, "my cup overflows."

I think of the last part of this Psalm, when David was being persecuted by his enemies. How could he be so calm? That at the end he says 'Do you know that I know that so-and-so and so-and-so are chasing me for bad, but there are two others who are chasing me for good and they run faster than me. And no matter where I go, are they going to catch up with me?’ It’s called good and mercy. They will follow me all the days of my life. And they are running, the image is that he's like running. Sometimes we run from the presence of God, we run from God, but God seeks us and reaches us with his goodness and mercy.

Thank Mr.

You are a persecuted man, a persecuted woman by the mercy of Jehovah. And you cannot hide because God will find you wherever you are hidden... God's mercy reaches you.

I think of the last part that says 'And in the house of Jehovah'.

Did you know? We are talking again about being in the Temple of God, that in the Temple of God, in the presence of God we enter these delicate steps, we enjoy all of that.

But you know what? Sometimes we cannot be in the Temple and now at this time the Glory of God lived in a building. I love this place and we must always preserve the sanctity and respect for this physical place.

Physical locations are important. Our God cares a lot about the world of matter, of flesh and blood. But I know that the Kingdom of God and the house of God is not a place. Now the house of God we are people. The house of God is to be with my good shepherd, it is to be... that Jesus is by my side.

There is a song by a singer many years ago sung to his wife that says, 'it doesn't matter where we are. We can be riding in the mountains of California or we can be in New York traffic. We can be on the beaches of Florida... But if you're with me, I'm at home.'

And I have felt the Lord at some time in my life say to me "Gregory, wherever you are, I am at home."

'In the house of Jehovah I will dwell long days.' No matter where you are going, no matter what you are living, Jehovah... if He is your shepherd, if He is by your side, I am at home.

He has set a table before me and has laid a delicate grass. Because I have him by my side. His rod and his staff give me encouragement and I don't know how he is going to resolve these situations and I don't have easy solutions but I know who is with me and I know that I am not alone in the situation.

Brother, sister, we are going to be the Lord's sheep. Let's enjoy this intimacy. Being in the house of God is not a place. It depends on who your pastor is and we have a good pastor.

I invite the musicians and I think about the words of Jesus in John chapter 10 when He spoke of Himself as our shepherd and He said "The enemy has not come except to steal, kill and destroy but I have come so that they may have life and life in abundance. I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd will give his life for the sheep". Thank God.

"I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and mine know me just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep."

Brothers, there is an invitation for us on this day to return to that intimacy with God. Some are new to God's ways and are struggling with all kinds of obstacles. I want you to know that you have a strong shepherd by your side.

Don't worry, He takes care of it, He takes care of you, He will make you reach your delicate pastures.

But beyond that, there are many who have been in the Lord for many years. God wants you to know 'You are still my sheep. I still know you, I still love you and I know what I'm doing with you.' Amen.

Let's stand up and let's pray.

Father in the name of Jesus we come before you, Lord. Thank you Jesus that You have come so that we may have life and life in abundance. Thank you Lord that in your presence, Lord, You have set a table in front of you, Lord.

Thank you, that You know how to guide us to the pastures that You have chosen for us even if we have to go through the valley of the shadow of death. I ask you in the name of Jesus for a new revelation of your Holy Spirit, that we can see you, Lord. And Lord, I ask you not only here in a formal cult, but I ask you, Lord, that tomorrow Monday at work, in the streets, at home, in the hospital, wherever we go that we know, that we know that our shepherd is by our side.

May we know, Lord, that there are delicate pastures for us there at that moment with you, Lord. Persecute us, Lord with your goodness and your mercy, Lord. Seek us until we find ourselves, Lord. Help us to live with this optimism, Lord, because you are good and your mercy is forever.