The Lord Is My Shepherd

I just want to say how thrilled I am that we are studying Psalm 23 together. My connection with this Psalm began in my early childhood when at my public elementary school in secular Australia we sang Psalm 23 together every Wednesday morning at school assembly. It is forever engraved in my heart, is my favorite Psalm, and as I’ve probably told you many times before, other than people, sheep are my favorite of God’s creatures.

Phillip Keller begins his book, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” by saying that divine revelation is irrevocably bound up with the basic subjects of the natural world. Jesus continually used natural phenomena to explain supernatural truth.

The word “shepherd” (sometimes translated “pastor”) occurs about 80 times in Scripture. “Shepherd” is used figuratively to represent the relation of rulers to their subjects and of God to his people.

The Hebrew word for “shepherd” is ra-ah, which has among its meanings to pasture, tend, graze, break, keep company with, devour, make friendship with, to rule, to associate with as a friend.

The duties of a shepherd in David’s time and locale were very demanding, and accompanied by many hardships and dangers. In early morning the shepherd led the flock out to the place where they would graze. The flocks were not fed in pens or folds, but, summer and winter, depended upon foraging for their sustenance. Goats hunt out the best feeding-grounds, but sheep are more helpless and have to be led to their food. Numbers 27:15-17 (NLT) – “Then Moses said to the Lord, ‘O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.’”

At the first sound of his call, which was usually a peculiar guttural sound and hard to imitate, the flock followed off to new feeding-grounds. Even if two shepherds called their flocks at the same time and the sheep were intermingled, they never mistook their own master’s voice.

The shepherd watched the sheep all day, taking care that none of the sheep strayed. If any did wander off, he had to diligently seek until he found it and brought it back. Sheep do not have an instinct, as some animals do, to be able to find their own way home. Ezekiel 34:6 (NIV) – “My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.”

In the part of the world where David lived, sheep have to be supplied regularly with water. The shepherd had to guide them, either to some running stream or to a well with troughs. The nearest water was often hours away. Sometimes water could be obtained by digging shallow wells. The shepherd carried a pail with him from which the sheep could drink when the water was not accessible to them. On the mountain tops the melting snows supplied water. In other districts it was drawn from deep wells.

The birth of offspring in a flock often occurred somewhere remotely, perhaps far off on the mountain side. The shepherd attentively guarded the mother during her helpless moments and picked up the lamb and carried it to the fold. For the few days until it was able to walk, he carried it in his arms or in the loose folds of his coat above his belt.

At night the shepherd brought the flock home to the enclosure or fold where they were kept. He counted them as they passed under his rod at the door to be sure none were missing. A good shepherd had much tenderness towards the young and the feeble. His work didn’t always end with sunset. Often he had to guard the fold through the night from wild beasts or thieves.

In large establishments there were various grades of shepherds, the highest being styled “rulers” or “chief shepherds.”  In a royal household the title of abbir (“mighty”) was bestowed on the person who held the post.

Let’s look at what the Bible says about God – in regards to being a shepherd.

Isaiah 40:11 (NLT) – “He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.”

John 10:1-16 (NLT) – “’I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.’ Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.’”

1 Peter 5:4 (NIV) – “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Hebrews 13:20 (NLT) – “Now may the God of peace–who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood . . .”

Let’s examine today’s phrase, “The LORD is my shepherd”, piece by piece.

The LORD

Who is the Lord?  The LORD is Yahweh, the incarnation of whom is Jesus Christ, God with us. The greater, the wider, the more majestic our concept is of the Christ – the more vital our relationships with Him will be. Our view of the Lord is often too small – too cramped – too provincial – too human. And because it is, we are reluctant to give Him authority or control, much less outright ownership of our lives. But when we pause to reflect on the person of Christ – on His power and His achievements – suddenly like David we will be glad to state proudly, “The Lord – He is my Shepherd!”

I want to read you a passage from a very rich book that I’ve been studying for several months, David Bryant’s “Christ is All!”:

When Peter answered Jesus’ question, “Who do you say that I am?” and declared in Matthew 16:16, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, based on what many Scriptures teach about the meaning of those two titles, “the Christ” and “Son of the living God”, Peter’s response was equivalent to saying these things – let’s declare them together and I’ll comment on each one as we go:

• Lord Jesus, You are the Superlative One.
  • You defy all human categories. No language is adequate to describe You. No analysis can fully record all the roles You must play to advance God’s ever-expanding Kingdom.
• Lord Jesus, You are the Incomparable One.
  • You remain in a class by Yourself – no duplicates, no clones. Your importance will continue to eclipse all others, outranking every other being in Heaven, Earth, or Hell. You will reign ‘world without end.’
• Lord Jesus, You are the Exalted One.
  • For eternity, You will hold the primary focus of our praises, a position of unrivaled distinction, prestige, and majesty in the universe. You will be the joy of all peoples, worthy to receive every treasure, every dominion and every ounce of praise.
• Lord Jesus, You are the Preeminent One.
  • In time, in space, in history and throughout eternity, You forever lay claim to the universe. As You held the primacy at the beginning as firstborn of creation, so You will hold it at the End as firstborn from among the dead. All things to come are Your possession, to do with as Your Father pleases.
• Lord Jesus, You are the Sufficient One.
  • Nothing can ever exhaust Your power and resources. You require no ‘outsourcing.’  You will forever prove totally adequate for all our longings, fears, needs, heart cries. You are the final inheritance of each of God’s children.
• Lord Jesus, You are the Triumphant One.
  • None of Your enemies will prevail. You will defeat all foes unconditionally – both human and demonic – to emerge forever unthreatened, unhindered and victorious over all opposition, permanently and forever. You are the everlasting Overcomer.
• Lord Jesus, You are the Unifying One.
  • Bringing all things under Your feet as Lord, You will permanently redeem and reconcile to the Godhead innumerable sinners from all the ages and all the nations. In the Consummation, all creation, as well as the Church itself, will be held together in perfect harmony by Your irrevocable decrees and Your indestructible might.

I’ve come to realize that the more we see Jesus for who He is, the more we know Him as He is in all of His unfathomable facets, the greater the impact and transformation not only on each of us personally but also on our families, our church, our neighborhood, our workplace, our city, our nation, our world!  The best choice we can make on a daily basis is to seek to know Christ more. Lord, give us a bigger vision of who you are. Christ is ALL!

Is

Some time ago I had signed up online to receive weather alerts for Gwinnett County by email. Early this past Monday morning I received a wordy email that told me that a flash flood watch is in effect, and I quote, “through Tuesday morning, the flash flood watch continues for much of north and portions of central Georgia. Through Tuesday morning rain with isolated thunderstorms will continue across north and central Georgia as the remnants of Lee move northeast from the Louisiana coast and interact with a cold front drifting southward from the Ohio-Tennessee valley region. The rain is expected to become heavier this afternoon and continue through the night . . .” It went on for 3 more paragraphs, leaving me feeling like we were presently in a dangerous weather situation. Then I looked out the window. There had not at this point been a single drop of rain in our area. We went on with our home school day, and at lunch time sat on the front porch, wondering when the torrential downpour would begin. That evening I went on my usual neighborhood walk, cell phone in my pocket in case I needed to be rescued should a wall of water come chasing me down the road. No rain yet. The next morning I waited for dawn so I could inspect the damage that must surely have been wrought by the floods I slept through. Nope, everything was bone dry. Not until 5pm Tuesday did we get any rain at all, and then it was only for a few minutes. I’m making an exaggerated point here!  We all know how in our relativistic age so many words have changed meanings even in our lifetimes. Even the little word “is” is an at-risk word. When David penned this Psalm, he didn’t say, “The LORD might be my shepherd”, “the LORD will one day be my shepherd”, “The LORD was once upon a time my shepherd”, “The LORD statistically speaking seems likely to be my shepherd”, or “The LORD is in another dimension my shepherd.”  He said, and meant, “The LORD is my shepherd.”  “Is” meant “is.”  The LORD is my shepherd – this is true for every person who calls on His name for every time, place, season, moment, situation, and circumstance. It is important that we know, as certainly as David did, that we belong to the Lord. There is an undertone of confidence in this sentence. There is no “if”, “but,” nor even “I hope so;” but he says, “The Lord is my shepherd.”  We must cultivate the assurance of and dependence on the fact that God is our shepherd.

When we use the word “is” we’re making a declaration – here is something true!  Here is something certain!  Here is something we can rely on!  In your handout is another declaration that I’d like for us to read one at a time around the room –

• The LORD is my shepherd
• On 9/11, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I struggle with anxiety or depression, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I feel lonely, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I am afraid, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When temptation comes against me, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When anger has a hold on me, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I’m in bondage to my past and need to forgive, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I need hope and joy in my heart, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I am burdened by guilt and condemnation, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I’m in need of deliverance and restoration, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I need victory over my enemy, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When tough times overtake me, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When my heart is weak and in need of strength and comfort, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When relationships are difficult, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I don’t know my purpose or my future, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I long to be closer to God, the LORD is my shepherd!
• When I want to remember who I am in Christ, the LORD is my shepherd!

“Is” is linguistically known as a linking verb, linking the subject with the predicate or complement. The LORD is the subject!  My Shepherd is the predicate. Predicates and subjects agree in number – the LORD is one; there is only one Shepherd for us. More than one will attempt to shepherd us – but there is only one Good Shepherd, the LORD. The phrase is in the present tense. No matter what happens, we are now and presently and forevermore under God’s pastoral care!

My

The word “my” is a simple, short, two-letter pronoun. But it is deeply personal and signifies ownership. Phillip Keller says that one of the calamities of Christianity is our tendency to talk in ambiguous generalities. E.g. “bless you!” [from whom are we asking a blessing?], “in God we trust” [which God?], “you just need to have faith” [in what or in whom?  For what purpose?]  David, the author of the poem, himself a shepherd and the son of a shepherd, later to be known as the “Shepherd King” of Israel, didn’t speak in general terms. He stated explicitly, “Yahweh, The Lord is my shepherd.”

Notice what David did not say. He didn’t say the Lord is “their” shepherd, or “his” shepherd, or “her” shepherd, or even “our” shepherd, but the Lord is my shepherd. David doesn’t say, “The Lord is the shepherd of the world at large, and leads forth the multitude as his flock,” but “The Lord is my shepherd.”  This is deeply personal. The Lord is a Shepherd to me – he cares for me, watches over me, and preserves me.

When we introduce a loved one to someone that we hope will love them as we do, there’s a lot of honor, joy, and pleasure associated with saying – “this is MY mother”, “MY father”, “MY husband”, “MY son”, “MY daughter”, “MY brother”, “MY sister”, “MY pastor”, “MY friend” . . . the word “my” implies belonging and connection. The LORD is MY shepherd is a statement of honor, joy, pleasure, even pride. My dad is bigger than anyone else’s dad kind of pride. He’s MY shepherd!

David spoke with a strong sense of pride and devotion and admiration. It was as though he literally boasted aloud, “Look at who my shepherd is – my owner – my manager!”  The Lord is!  David knew from firsthand experience that the lot in life of any particular sheep depended on the type of man who owned it. Some men were gentle, kind, intelligent, brave, and selfless in their devotion to their stock. Under one man sheep would struggle, starve, and suffer endless hardship. In another’s care they would flourish and thrive contentedly. When we know the character and ability of the Lord, we can boast with David – look at who MY shepherd is – the Lord is!

Shepherd

We talked earlier about some of what it involved to be a shepherd. The beautiful relationships given to us repeatedly in Scripture between God and man are those of a father to his children and a shepherd to his sheep. It’s important that we remember that these concepts were first conceived in the mind of God our Father. They were made possible and practical through the work of Christ. They are confirmed and made real in us through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

So when the simple – though impressive – statement is made that “The Lord is my shepherd,” it speaks of a profound yet practical working relationship between a human being and his Maker. It links a clump of common clay to divine destiny and diligent desire. This thought alone should stir our spirits, revive our awareness of who God says we are, and give us enormous dignity as people. To think that God in Christ is deeply concerned about you and me as particular individuals immediately gives great purpose and enormous meaning to our brief time on planet earth.

There are three reasons why we are obligated to recognize that God is our master, our owner, our shepherd:

1. God created us as the special objects of His affection and attention (Genesis 1:27)

• It is staggering to realize that Jesus Christ, God the Son, the Creator of such an enormous universe of overwhelming magnitude, humbles Himself to give Himself the name of my Shepherd and invites us to consider ourselves His sheep. From the most gigantic galaxy to the most minute microbe, all function flawlessly in accordance with definite laws of order and unity which our finite minds can barely begin to comprehend, let alone master. When we consider Creation honestly, we must admit that God’s ownership of us as human beings is legitimate, because it is He who brought us into being; no one is better able to understand or care for us. We belong to Him simply because He deliberately chose to create us as the objects of His own affection.

2. God purchased us with His own blood (Acts 20:28)

• We truly belong to God simply because He has bought us again at the incredible price of His own laid-down life and shed blood. Therefore He is entitled to call Himself the Good Shepherd. When a shepherd purchases sheep, they become a part of him and he a part of them. There is an intimate identity involved which, although not apparent on the surface to the casual observer, makes those sheep exceedingly precious to the Shepherd.

3. God lays Himself out for us continually (Hebrews 7:25)

• Purchasing sheep is only the first step in a long, lasting endeavor in which their Shepherd has to continually lay down his life for them if they are to flourish and prosper. Sheep do not just take care of themselves. They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care. It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep. Our mass mind, mob instincts, fears, timidity, stubbornness, stupidity, and perverse habits are all important parallels. Yet despite these adverse characteristics, Jesus Christ chooses us, buys us, calls us by name, makes us His own, and delights in caring for us. He literally lays Himself out for us continually. He is always interceding for us, always guiding us by His gracious Spirit, always working on our behalf to ensure that we will benefit from His care.

Psalm 80:1 (NLT) – “. . . Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock . . .”  God, who is the shepherd of Israel and of the whole church in general, is also the shepherd of each individual believer. He takes us into His fold, and then takes care of us, protects us, and provides for us, with more care and faithfulness than even the best shepherd can. Matthew Henry reminds us that if God is as a shepherd to us, we must be as sheep – inoffensive, meek, quiet, silent before the shearers, and before the butcher too, useful and sociable; we must know the shepherd’s voice, and follow him.

Countless people in our world have not known what it is to belong to the Good Shepherd – they live in bondage and suffering under sin and Satan. We forget how good we have it to have a Good Shepherd. When we think about it, it’s amazing that anyone would refuse or reject the claims of Christ on their lives. Christ has been misrepresented in the world many times, but an honest look at His life shows us that He was a man of enormous compassion and incredible integrity, traits that are valued in every culture and in every time period. Jesus was the most balanced and beloved being ever born. Though he came into the world amid disgusting surroundings, the member of a modest working family, He always carried Himself with great dignity and assurance. He had no special advantages as a child, either in education or employment, yet as we saw in studying the Sermon on the Mount, His entire philosophy and outlook on life were the highest standards of human conduct ever presented. Though He had no vast economic assets, political power, or military might, no other person ever made such an enormous impact on the world.

Some of the ways Jesus Christ has impacted our world (taken from “Under the Influence” and “What if Jesus had never been born?”):

• countless changed individuals
• value of human life
• elevation of sexual morality
• freedom and dignity for women
• hospitals and health care
• compassion and mercy for the poor
• education for everyone
• economic freedom
• work ethic
• science
• justice system
• civil liberties
• abolition of slavery
• beauty in art / architecture / music
• great literature
• holidays
• words
• symbols

Because of Jesus Christ, countless millions of people across two millennia have come into a life of decency and honor and noble conduct.

It is this One who insists that He was the Good Shepherd, the understanding Shepherd, the concerned Shepherd who cares enough to seek out and save and restore lost men and women.

He never hesitated to make it quite clear that when an individual comes under His management and control; there will be a certain new and unique relationship between Him and them. There is something very special about belonging to this particular Shepherd. There is a distinct mark upon the man or woman that differentiates him or her from the rest of the crowd.

Each shepherd has his own distinctive earmark which he cuts into one of the ears of his sheep. In this way, even at a distance, it is easy to determine to whom the sheep belongs. It is not the most pleasant procedure to catch each sheep in turn and lay its ear on a wooden block, then notch it deeply with the razor-sharp edge of a knife. There is pain for both sheep and Shepherd. But from their mutual suffering an indelible lifelong mark of ownership is made that can never be erased.

For the man or woman who recognizes the claim of Christ and gives allegiance to His absolute ownership, there comes the question of bearing His mark. The mark of the cross is that which should identify us with Him for all time. The question is – does it?  A person exchanges the fickle fortunes of living life by sheer whimsy for the more productive and satisfying adventure of being guided by God. It is a tragedy that many people who say that “The LORD is my shepherd” have never really come under His direction or management. It’s false hope to think that by merely saying that Jesus is our Shepherd that we can just enjoy the benefits of His care and management without paying the price of forfeiting our own fickle and foolish way of life. We can’t have it both ways. Either we belong or we don’t. Jesus Himself warned us that there would come a day when many would claim to know Him because of things they did for Him, but He will say He never knew them. It is a serious and sobering thought that should cause us to search our own hearts, motives, and personal relationship to Him. Let me close with some questions for personal reflection (reflect quietly during the song below). God’s heart is that each of us can, with genuine gratitude and exaltation, exclaim proudly, just as David did, “The Lord is my shepherd!” We can rejoice that we belong to Him, for in His care we will flourish and thrive no matter what life may bring to us.

Questions for personal reflection:

• Do I really belong to Jesus?
• Do I really recognize His right to me?
• Do I respond to His authority and acknowledge His ownership?
• Do I find freedom and complete fulfillment in this arrangement?
• Do I sense a purpose and deep contentment because I am under His direction?
• Do I know rest and repose, besides a definite sense of exciting adventure, in belonging to Him?