“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1).

To keep a car running properly for the long run, it needs more than fuel. It needs regular maintenance. It needs minimally regular oil changes and tune ups. It needs these regular service because the running of the car makes things get out of calibration.

Our daily reading of God’s word and prayer is like fuel for cars. This is what keeps us going.

But we need a regular check in for recalibration and for remembering. The race of life has a way of getting priorities, goals, and hopes out of whack. The race of life has a way of making us forget about purpose and meaning.

Rest. Respite.

Sounds good, right?

The key to resting in the shadow of the Almighty? Dwelling in the shelter of the Most High. You gotta get yourself to the house of God. This is the place of worship, the place of recalibration, the place of remembering.

God calls us to worship, not because he needs to be worshiped, but because we need to worship. It’s in the context of weekly worship that God both sets us right and helps us to remember who we are because of who he is. We need this recalibration and remembering every week because the race of life makes us forget.

This is why worship for the Christ-follower is a non-negotiable. We worship because we need to worship. We need a regular tune up and oil change. We need to remember.

The Lord’s people spend the Lord’s day the Lord’s way.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

By this, we are told.

“This” is the identifying marker of Christ’s disciple.

So, what is “This”?

That you love one another.

It’s not that truth doesn’t matter. It’s just that truth matters when it is revealed, told, and shared in love.

There’s a huge difference. Leonard Sweet says, “Too many Christians want to change the world not because they love the world but because they hate the world.”

If the people we are trying to share Christ’s truth with know and perceive that do so because we hate who they are and what they are, truth may be uttered but that truth will never change anyone. Such truth will only revile and repudiate the very Christ we’re trying to share.

As I listen to the ways Christians speak about BLM, gun control, mask mandates, Trump and the elections, I can’t help but wonder if Leonard Sweet is right.

It’s not that truth is not important. It’s just love is even more important.

Love doesn’t cancel out truth. Love comes alongside truth to make truth even more compelling.

As many of you know, there were multiple Greek words that are translated as love in the English. Out of all the words, the word agape – unconditional love – is a love that we are only capable of living when Christ enables us to do so. Agape is the way God loves us – unconditionally, steadfastly, sacrificially.

Guess what word for love is in our verse of the day. Yup. Agape.

Of course we share Christ’s truth. And, we share Christ’s truth in Christ’s love.

When the church is known for the way she loves, the people who don’t know Jesus and people who disagree with us are ready and open to receive Christ’s truth.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

“And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

We come to the last entry in the study of Psalm 23. There’s good reason why this is one of the most beloved psalms and passages in all of the Scripture. What makes this psalm so great has nothing to do with the sheep and everything to do with the greatness of the LORD who is our Shepherd.

There is nothing more important to sheep and their well-being than who their shepherd is. Whether the sheep will be well taken care of, fed, led, and kept all depends on their shepherd.

Who is our Shepherd? None other than the LORD!

The Hebrew for this last entry literally reads, “And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh for a never ending day.”

The key to experiencing the Shepherd’s provisions, guidance, protection is proximity. Get near the Shepherd. Stay close to the Shepherd. Keep your eyes on the Shepherd. Keep your ears attentive to the Shepherd’s call.

Jesus declares in John 10:15, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

In the hills that surround Israel, multiple shepherds allow their herds to graze on the hills. Each herd knows the voice of their shepherd. They will not follow a stranger’s voice. They will only heed their shepherd’s voice.

If you’ve been a parent, you know how this works. You take your toddler to the playground and there are dozens of kids playing. And even though there are dozens of kids playing, giggling, talking, a parent is able to pick out their own child’s voice without even listening for it. The moment a child falls and cries out, a parent is able to pick out not only their child’s cry, but they can tell what kind of hurt cry it is.

So it is with the Good Shepherd and his sheep. Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Do you know the Shepherd’s voice? The only way to get to know his voice is through the daily reading of the Shepherd’s words in the Bible, and to weekly hear God’s word in worship.

The LORD is our Shepherd. As we stay near his presence, we will dwell in his house forever – for a never ending day.

Amen.