The Great Shepherd Psalms 23:1-23:6
All over this world there are any number of religions, people worship every thing from snakes to trees to cows, the moon, the sun, to satan himself, the list goes on and on of the objects people worship. They have prayer clothes, prayer beads, chants, cutting themselves on their chest, I suppose we could keep naming things that people do that they think is in some way are another going to help get them to what ever they think heaven must be.
But folks the real truth of the matter is, you cannot find peace while living away from the God who formed you. And you cannot have peace living against the laws of God, which are built into the universe. Isaiah 48:22 22There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked. Peace is found in knowing the True and only God and living for him, and accepting His Son as our Great Shepherd.
Listen as I read today’s text: the 23rd Psalm
1 The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Just reading this psalm brings a kind of peace and reassurance into our souls. The 23rd Psalm is talking about the Great Shepherd of our souls, and how he cares for us.
David reflected on God’s many blessings to him and concluded that God would continue
to be faithful to him and grant him fellowship in the future. This is a psalm of trust and
confidence in God’s goodness in the present and in the future.
The first thing that the psalm says about the Great Shepherd is that: He provides. 1 The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
David is saying that God is the Great Shepherd. And because the Lord is his Shepherd, he will not be in want. He has the sense that God is watching over him and providing for him. The Lord is always beside him and looking after his needs. There is great peace that has come into David’s life, in spite of his many problems, because he has this overwhelming sense that God loves him and cares about him.
God wants the best for him and leads his life in ways so that he will find God’s best. The Bible says, 1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Imagine what it would be like to live and not be aware that God loves us and wants the best for us, David had that assurance, and it was what kept him going through all the problems he faced in life.
David said that God was like a good shepherd that took his sheep to green pastures and led them to quiet waters. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. As his Shepherd, God provided David with spiritual rest and nourishment.
How wonderful it is to be in the care of the One who provides for us so graciously. Notice the shepherd does not take the sheep into barren places, but pastures that have sufficient supply.
This often means that the flock will have to stay on the move, and as the grass is eaten in one place, the sheep are led to another and then another. And when the sheep are thirsty, the good shepherd does not take the sheep to streams that are turbulent with rapids and rushing white water, because the sheep could be swept downstream.
He takes them to the quiet waters where they can wade in and quench their thirst without fear or danger.
Our Shepherd the Lord Jesus says to us: in John 7:37 If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. And as we drink from him, he restores our soul. We come alive.
Human shepherds may be different. There are various personality types. There are those who don’t really care for the sheep and are rough with them. They don’t care for the sheep they only care about themselves.
They don’t make life pleasant for the sheep; they only make life easy for themselves. And that’s tragic for the sheep, because sheep are slow-witted. They wander off and get lost. They are in need of constant care.
They cannot take care of themselves. If they walk head first into the corner of a fence, they are not smart enough to back up.
The shepherd has to come and lead them out. So you can see that if they were left alone they would die.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
The Lord also provides spiritual refreshment and restoration. These benefits come to us as we take advantage of God’s provision of the water of life, which is the living and written Word of God,
John 4:10-14 10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Eph. 5:2626That he might sanctify*and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word*
God renews our strength and cleanses us through these instruments.**
God also gives His sheep guidance in the proper path of life so we do not wander aimlessly. He does so in part for the sake of His own reputation as One who has promised to direct His people.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
And another thing this psalm tells us about the Great Shepherd is that he not only provides: He leads.
David said,vs. 3__ he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness The good shepherd guides or leads, he never drives. Cattle are driven, but sheep must be led.
What we notice is that the reputation of the shepherd is at stake here. He does this for “his name’s sake.” If he is not a good shepherd to his own sheep, there will not be many others who want to be a part of his flock.
The reputation of God is at stake, because he has promised to care for his flock and pledged himself to their welfare. He is the all-wise guide who takes the sheep where they need to go rather than where they want to go.
If he did not guide them they would wander throughout the countryside and get themselves into all kinds of danger. But he guides them in the paths of ----righteousness, or the way of rightness. He shows them the right way. And because he is leading, there is no fear of what lays ahead.
Even if he takes them through the valley of the shadow of death, they will fear no evil, simply because he is with them.
In the spring and most of the summer, the flock did not have to move about much, because the grass was plentiful. But when fall and winter came, the flock was constantly on the move.
Often, as the shepherd took the flock from one grazing area to another, the way would lead through a valley. These were sometimes referred to as “the valley of the shadow of death,” because predators followed the flock and waited for one of the flock to stray. But the shepherd carried a rod, or club, to beat off any predator that would attack the sheep.
If a sheep would begin to wander away from the fold, the shepherd would take his staff and move them back into the sheepfold.
What a comfort the sight of the rod and staff were to the sheep. And as the sheep would feed in those valleys, it was literally a table spread before them in the presence of their enemies.
Do you recall the story that Jesus told about the lost sheep? He said, in Matthew 18:12 12How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
This was a real life situation that shepherds back then could easily understand and faced on a daily basis.
Sheep, like us, are dependent creatures and demand constant care, because they are forever running into trouble.
Like us we need the Shepherd to come after us and rescue us. And we have the assurance that we are being watched and cared for by the Great Shepherd.
Jesus said,in John 10:11-1411I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Even at night the shepherd guards the sheep at great personal danger.
4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Notice that it is called the valley of the “shadow”” of death. Death is only a shadow. It is a valley we pass through in order to get to the land of the living — where those who love God live forever in God’s eternity.
Therefore, protection is another blessing for which David gave God praise.
The promise of the Lord’s presence assures us of His protection in times of danger.
Heb. 13:5-- for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
The shepherd’s rod (a cudgel worn at the belt) beat off attacking animals and his staff (walking stick) kept the sheep away from physical dangers such as precipices.
Likewise God comes to the defense of His people when our spiritual enemies attack us. He also prevents us from getting into spiritually dangerous situations that would result in our destruction Matt. 6:13 -- 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
In biblical times the sheep were placed in a cave at night, or inside a fence sometimes made of dense hedge with a single entrance. There was no gate to keep the predators out, so the shepherd became the gate as he laid down at the opening of the cave or hedge.
This is the imagery behind the statement of Jesus when he said,
In John 10:7-10 7Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly
We are all living in the valley of the shadow of death. We are a part of the land of the dying, until we enter the land of the living.
In another psalm it says, Psalm 116:7-9 7Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
So the Great Shepherd protects. Even though enemies surround the sheep, he protects them. He becomes the gate through which no enemy of the sheep can pass. He guards them from their enemies and from the greatest enemy of all — themselves.
We are often our own worst enemy. But when we wander, God comes after us to bring us home. We are the lost sheep, for the Bible says in Isaiah 53:6 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
The apostle Peter says this in 1 Peter 2:25 25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
There is always a foolish sheep that wanders off. And when they wander they get caught in the briars. They fall from a rocky precipice and cut themselves. But the shepherd is prepared. He searches for them and brings them home. He carries oil to pour in the wounds of the sheep and anoints their head. He ministers to their every need. He gives them a drink from a cup that is overflowing. His supply is endless, and he is always happy to give what he has to those he loves.
Sometimes people will say that living for God is hard. But when you feel that way, look at the people who are not living for God. Look beneath the surface and see if living for the devil is not much harder. If you think it is hard living for the Lord, try living for the devil. He will use you and abuse you. He will fill your life with shame and destruction. He will get you to do things that you will regret for the rest of your life
The writer of Hebrews said this in Heb. 13:20Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
