Trilogy Psalms (22.23.24) Psalm 23 – The Superb Shepherd – His Care And Work As The Shepherd – Jesus Christ In Perfection Series

TRILOGY PSALMS (22.23.24) PSALM 23 – THE SUPERB SHEPHERD – HIS CARE AND WORK AS THE SHEPHERD – JESUS CHRIST IN PERFECTION

A Bible Study in Three Psalms – the Trilogy Psalms 22, 23, 24. Today we do the second one of those – Psalm 23

If you wanted a book with a detailed procedure on heart surgery, you would not go to one writ-ten by a pig farmer who tried to do some patching up of a pig’s heart. If you wished to seek the best advice on marriage counselling, you would not go to an outline written on celibacy by a Carmelite nun. If you wanted to know about raising sheep and caring for them 3000 years ago, you would seek out the expert. Who better to write about it than a youth who spent his time with sheep, studying the methods of shepherding? To make that even better, you’d seek a shepherd who also knew God’s care for the individual. That brings us to David, the shepherd of the sheep and the sweet psalmist of Israel.

There are too many professors around, self-proclaimed experts who are really full of hot air. They profess to know this and know that but in fact they know nothing useful. The Parliaments of the world are full of them. Sad to say, the churches also have their fair share of these pre-tenders who try to instruct others but themselves are in the kindergarten of instruction.

This Psalm has been the delight of all devout people for 3000 years and it might be stated, has been a comfort for bereaving people who have not been Christians. It is another of the Psalms that has come out of the daily experiences of David as he knew the faithfulness and care of God, and could testify of it in complete confidence.

It is one of those rarer sections of Scripture from the Old Testament that has equal relevance to the Jews of David’s time and beyond, and to all Christians of the Church era. We must always be careful with Old Testament writings to mark the exact relevance in context to the time it was written, especially in the prophetic books. There has been too much confusion and muddling of Israel and the Church. Both are totally, distinctively different! We will deal with that another time so we don’t get distracted from this beautiful psalm.

What makes this Psalm superb is the lovely flow and content contained in the 6 verses especially in the KJV. So much of relevance is packed into that short psalm. Many, many poems have been composed from its material. Some beautiful hymns have their inspiration in Psalm 23, and countless numbers of sermons and talks have been based on this joy of David’s experience. In my early Christian years I recall vividly the transcending beauty of singing this Psalm to the tune Crimond. “The Lord’s my Shepherd I’ll not want; He makes me down to lie . . .” etc.

At first look, the Psalm could be taken on face value as applying to the followers of God, Chris-tians for example, where we consider the Lord as our Shepherd. That makes it all about the rela-tionship between God and us. All that is very true and must be understood that way. However there is a higher application and it is that which makes it a Messianic Psalm. It demonstrates the dependent relationship that was the surrender of the Lord Jesus to the will and guidance of the Father in His life on earth. We need to see that double application as we work through it. Addi-tionally it will be the theme of the saved Jews during the Millennium. Let us now consider the content, the lovely teaching of this psalm.

VERSE 1

{{Psalm 23:1 “The LORD is my shepherd. I shall not want.”}}

The verse could well be at the end of the Psalm to summarise the points given in the other vers-es, but the bold affirmation at the beginning is such a positive knowledge, and continual experi-ence of David, that he wanted to shout it out and then develop the reasons for it. The shepherd in Israel had plenty of time to think and reflect on his own care of the sheep and from there, he would understand the care of the Master Shepherd.

There are many things in life that carry both joy and responsibility. Too many want the joy but not the responsibility. It is a joyful thing to see the work of your God-directed hands bearing fruit. David could look out over the flock on the hillside, or on the path, or eating or drinking at the waters, and he would be filled with satisfaction.

However that came because of being faithful to his responsibilities. There were many responsi-bilities. The day needed planning; the seasonal changes required decisions at appropriate times; the paths needed to be free from obstacles; he had to know the best places in the stream for drinking; and at all times he had to know where each sheep was. Alertness was required, for the wild animals were cunning and if the shepherd dropped off to sleep, he might wake to find a sheep missing. He had to ensure the day ended with all the sheep accounted for and properly housed such as being in a sheepfold.