The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want…(Ps. 23:1)
Without question, the 23rd psalm is one of the most well known passages from the Bible. There was a time when almost every child in America had to memorize it, often in public schools. It reflected the belief in those days that the Judeo-Christian heritage of our country should be part of every child’s education.
It is by far the most well known of the psalms. It is a classic. And there is a good reason for that. Using an extended simile, King David compares his time as a shepherd with his understanding of God’s care and compassion. God becomes the shepherd, and we become the sheep. Let me point out three characteristics of God’s love that are highlighted in the psalm:
1. God provides. David begins by declaring that because YHWH (translated into English as “The Lord”) is his shepherd, has everything he needs. David knew that the quality of life of a sheep is completely dependant on the nature of the shepherd assigned to take care of it. Sheep need food and water. Without it, they die.
A good shepherd makes sure he gets the sheep to green pastures and healthy water. In the same way, God has committed to provide our basic needs. The great biblical illustration of this can be found in the record of the nation of Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, and the forty years they spent in the wilderness.
When the people left Egypt, we are told they plundered the Egyptians. Much of what they took when they left would eventually be used to construct the Tabernacle. But it would seem like they made off with enough food to last about 45 days. On the fifteenth day of the second month, God began to provide a supernatural food called manna. When the dew dried in the morning, there would be a thin wafer-like residue left behind. For six days a week, for forty years, every morning, there was manna. On the sixth day, there was enough for two days so that the people did not need to violate the Sabbath to have their needs met.
In a critical passage in the 8th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses explains that God humbled them (running out of food), then fed them, in order that they might understand that “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Regardless of how God provides (for most of us that is through work) ultimately, the source of our provision is God himself. Moses even says that it is God who gives us the ability to produce wealth (vs. 18 of the same chapter). Abraham called the place where God provided a ram to take the place of his son in sacrifice YWWH-yireh (sometimes pronounded Jehovah-jireh). It means “The LORD will provide”. He is a good shepherd.
2. God guides. David goes on to point out that God leads us in paths of righteousness. A good shepherd guided his sheep. He made sure they got where they needed to be. I’m told that sheep are not very intelligent. If one runs away and runs over a cliff, the whole flock will follow – unless a shepherd or sheep dog intervenes. God guides us. He does this by a supernatural combination of his Word and his Spirit. When we are one of his “sheep”, and come to faith in Jesus, God sends his Holy Spirit to come alive in our lives. The Holy Spirit inspired Prophets and Apostles to communicate the Word of God to God’s people. Those communications have been compiled into a book we call the Bible. When we interact with the Bible, the Holy Spirit makes it come alive for us personally. When we engage the Word and the Spirit, God will guide us. He will always guide us in “paths of righteousness” so that we have the best life possible. He is a good shepherd.
3. God protects. Sheep are not able to protect themselves. They are susceptible to the dangers of thieves and predators. Their only hope of protection is their shepherd. If the shepherd doesn’t care for the sheep, but is only doing a “job”, he might run when faced with danger. But the good shepherd protects his sheep. He carries a rod and a staff. The rod was often a small club. It could be used to scare off predators or whack a thief! The staff was the tool used to guide the flock to safety.
The psalmist talks about the valley of the shadow of death. When the flock had eaten the grasses at lower elevations, the shepherd often needed to take them to higher ground. Sometimes, this involved taking the sheep through a valley. The valley was the place where bad things could happen. It was where thieves hid and predators attacked. It is a great picture of how God uses tough times in our lives to get us to higher ground. We rarely grow spiritually in the good times. Don’t get me wrong, I would vote for good times every time. But life has a way of getting messy and hard. It is during those times that our shepherd is there to protect us.
Even when the predator is death itself, David writes that he would not fear evil. He knew that even in that valley, goodness and mercy would be right behind him, and that his ultimate destiny was to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This was a song that was sung in the Temple. I have to wonder if on his many trips to Jerusalem, Jesus didn’t sing this song. It makes sense that it might have been in his mind when he told his followers that he was the “Good Shepherd”. And even though the enemy, who he identified as the “thief” came to kill, steal and destroy, the Good Shepherd came that we might have life, and have it to the full. He is the Good Shepherd. Smart sheep follow him!
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