Our most beloved Psalm can only be properly understood through the eyes of a Shepherd. Listen to what David was teaching us about God’s provision, protection, and care through this amazing Psalm.
Psalm 23 through a Shepherd’s Eyes
Today we continue our “Greatest Hits” series by focusing on the most popular of all the psalms – Psalm 23. This psalm is beloved and memorized by millions of Christians even though very few people of our century know what ancient shepherding was like. Even though we don’t understand all the imagery, we all love these verses that describe our relationship to God. My job today is to show you how all of Psalm 23 teaches us about God as our shepherd and what that means for God’s presence in our lives today.
Because I’m not an ancient shepherd, much of my material comes from the book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller. Keller grew up watching shepherds of East Africa and then became a sheep rancher himself. He writes about the intricacies of shepherding and how they relate to Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd.
The first point we must grasp is that David insinuates we are sheep – and that’s not a compliment! We’ve seen pictures of Jesus holding a baby lamb, but it’s not very glamorous to be called a sheep. Lambs are adorable and cuddly, but sheep are among the hardest animals to care for because they are foolish, fearful and fragile.
Foolish: Their herd mentality causes them to blindly follow the sheep in front of them, even into danger.
Fearful: As prey with few defenses, they spook easily and are known as fearful animals.
Fragile: Their thick fleece can get caught in thorn bushes, and they can’t free themselves. They can get tipped over and actually die because they can’t get back up again. They sometimes die from eating poisonous plants.
When David implies we are sheep, he is saying we, as humans, are foolish, fearful and fragile. We might not agree with this, but it is more accurate than we realize.
Foolish: We make foolish choices. A week later we can’t believe we ever thought one of our decisions was a good idea! Worse yet, sometimes we fall into a rut and keep making the same bad decision over and over.
Fearful: We say we trust God. Yet when adversity comes we often let fear and anxiety choke off the joy and peace God desires for us.
Fragile: Like sheep we are subject to circumstances that ensnare us, poison our hearts, and trap us in situations we can’t seem to get out of without help. We need more hand-holding than we would like to admit.
The next piece of this phrase is that God is our Shepherd. The concept of God as Shepherd began very early in the Bible, all the way back in Genesis 48:15, when Jacob speaks of “the God who has been my shepherd, all my life long, to this day.”
As New Testament Christians we must look at this verse a bit differently than David did because of the words of Jesus to His disciples in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd.” I think Jesus knew what it meant for Him to assume God’s Old Testament role of Shepherd. This was not a coincidence. God wanted us to see that it is actually Jesus who leads and guides and protects us. When we speak of the Lord as the Shepherd, let’s recognize this as the person of Jesus.
The next implication of “My Shepherd” is that this is a personal connection. Sometimes we relate to God in a communal manner, but in this case David points out the very personal bond we can have with Jesus because He knows each of us by name.
This verse also carries the idea of ownership. Middle Eastern shepherds cut sheep’s ears with specific markings to identify ownership of their own sheep. Good shepherds had strong sheep; bad shepherds had weak, frail sheep. However, all sheep have shepherds; all sheep belong to somebody. Sheep can’t make it on their own.
We might not like the idea of belonging to anybody. It’s popular in America to think we are all trailblazers and nobody tells us what to do. But that’s all a lie. I’m guessing this lie is sold to you by our culture, or Hollywood, or marketers who can’t deliver on what they promise. We all follow someone or something. You can say you don’t need Jesus to lead you; but if not Him, then who are you following?
For myself, I choose to be led by Jesus Christ, the noblest, purest, kindest, most gentle-hearted, and yet the toughest, fiercest Shepherd possible. He is willing to lay down His life for His sheep.
I shall not want.
Because Jesus is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. I am satisfied. I am content (not happy – content). Because our owner is Jesus, we will never have reason to look anywhere else for any provision. He told His disciples, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it” (John 14:14).
Unfortunately, we let our eyes wander. We look everywhere for the desires of our hearts. We think the grass is greener on the other side. And we are wrong. Isaiah describes this when he says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned, every one of us, to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6).
Even when we claim to follow our Shepherd, Jesus, far too often we peek into the fields of the shepherds of consumerism, status, lust and self-indulgence. We think those fields might satisfy in ways our Shepherd’s fields cannot. We are wrong. Only Jesus can truly satisfy; only Jesus gives us abundant life.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
Sheep are highly afraid and irritable. They won’t actually lie down unless they have four basic needs met: safety from intruders; right relations along the pecking order; freedom from bugs and insects; and food.
Imagine what it takes for a shepherd to meet all those needs for all the sheep! He must provide complete protection day and night from coyotes and cougars. He must discipline the headstrong keep to keep them from upsetting the pecking order. He must carefully inspect his sheep for bugs and parasites. And he must do all this while constantly moving the sheep to lush vegetation so they will not be hungry. This is easier said than done in the arid climate of the Middle East!
This is less about our getting a break and more about the non-stop toil of the shepherd in creating conditions for us to find rest. Jesus wants to offer us peace. He tells us His burden is light, but for some reason we keep trying to make ourselves over-busy and heavily burdened with things to do. When we trust that Jesus will take care of all our needs, when we let Him protect us, help us form right relationships, calm us from small everyday irritations and meet our daily needs, THEN we can find rest in Him.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
The Middle East isn’t like Minnesota, the Land of 10,000 Lakes! “Still waters” are hard to find in the Middle East. This verse speaks just as much about the effort and foresight of the shepherd as about the sheep drinking the refreshing waters. Sheep don’t feel safe drinking from loud, rushing waters. The shepherd knows where the still waters are, and he takes the sheep there to quench their thirst. Jesus offers to all of us the living water that comes through Him.
I love this analogy of still waters, especially in the hectic busyness of life. In a world of chaos and noise, Jesus offers us places of quiet refreshing. If we make the time to meet with Him in the quiet of Bible reading or prayer or reflecting on His incredible creation, He will speak to us and refresh our spirits. Because the shepherd of the Middle East leads his sheep to green pastures and quiet waters, they are restored. Because of Jesus’s work on our behalf, we are able to find rest and also be restored.
Sometimes when life gets chaotic, we tend to think about how badly we NEED some vacation time. Vacations are good and are a way Jesus gives us restoration, but we can’t go on vacation every time we get down or overwhelmed. We have to learn to rest because Jesus meets our needs. He allows us to lie down and brings us to places of refreshing. Even coming to church this morning, not out of duty but simply to find rest, is one way of accepting our good Shepherd’s care for us.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
In order to survive, sheep must be led from place to place in safe paths. A bad shepherd will allow his sheep to graze freely, but they are so foolish they will keep eating in the same place until all the grass is gone and they are destroying the roots. That land can never grow grass again. This is why they can’t stay by the still water; they will ruin the land around it. In the same way, our lives are not spent continually in one place, but moving along on a lifelong journey.
If the shepherd is not competent, the sheep lead the journey and run into all sorts of problems. They encounter predators, they fall into ravines, and they fail to find vegetation to satisfy their hunger. Left unattended, these sheep will never thrive.
With Jesus as our Shepherd, we don’t just sit in one spot, nor do we roam wherever we want. Jesus moves us from situation to situation, leading us in paths of righteousness. As we travel through our journey under the careful guidance and protection of our Shepherd, we grow in holiness; we become more patient, more loving, more active against oppression, more Spirit-led. This righteousness is for His glory.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
This is not simply poetic phrasing about the difficulties of life. Actually, as summer approaches every year, shepherds lead their sheep from the lowlands up to the higher altitudes where it is cooler and the grass is greener. This journey involves going through valleys hiding all sorts of possible dangers. But the sheep, even knowing danger is lurking, are not afraid as long as they are with their shepherd. They trust him to protect them.
Likewise, in our journey with God, we will at times walk through deep, dark valleys. We all have experienced these times – the death of a loved one, a lost job, health issues for us or our children. We feel we are caught between a rock and a hard place, and we want to panic. These are the times we must not fear, because even in the valleys we know our Shepherd is with us. He will get us through.
For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
The rod was a sign of authority and was used for protection. It sometimes had nails hammered into it and was used against predators when they attacked. The staff, a sign of compassion, was used to guide and assist the sheep, especially when they started going the wrong way or got caught in something and had to be pulled loose. Like the sheep that felt comfort knowing they were protected and cared for by these simple tools of the shepherd, we have God’s Word to warn and protect us, and His Spirit to guide and assist us when we get stuck.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
This verse is where I always thought this psalm turned to a dinner between me and God. Many commentaries on this psalm refer to having dinner in God’s house while my enemies are outside the house. But why would David make such an abrupt change from his main point at the end of this psalm? Is it possible this psalm is actually all about shepherding but our 21st-century American culture keeps us from seeing it? Here is where Phillip Keller’s experience helps us keep a single point for this psalm: The Lord is my shepherd.
Keller tells how shepherds all over various parts of the world refer to high flatlands as “tables” or “tableland” because of the abundance of green growth that comes with their higher altitude and cooler temperatures. This is where shepherds commonly led their flocks in the heat of the summer when the lower land turned brown. They had to traverse the valleys on their way up to these tablelands.
To” prepare the table,” the shepherd carefully went ahead to clean out the watering holes by removing the previous year’s sticks and leaves. He cleared away poisonous plants so the sheep would not eat them. The phrase about the “presence of enemies” refers to predators lurking at the edges of the wide open plateaus, searching for their next meal.
Our Shepherd, Jesus, goes ahead of us to prepare a place for us to dine. Regardless of the enemies that want to devour us, Jesus continues to provide and protect.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
As I mentioned earlier, one annoyance that will keep a sheep from lying down is bugs, especially nose flies. These flies like to lay their eggs in the mucus of a sheep’s nose, and then the hatched larvae crawl up into the sheep’s nose and burrow into the flesh. Trying to find relief, sheep will ram their heads into trees and rocks, causing injuries that can even lead to the death of the sheep.
Shepherds use an ointment on the sheep’s heads and noses to protect them from the flies and to relieve the itching. Within an hour after the ointment is applied, a sheep will relax, going from complete irritation to contentment and rest.
God offers the same kind of comfort to us. The irritants of life can make us bang our heads against walls and cry out in desperation. Jesus offers us comfort through His Holy Spirit, the Counselor. If we allow Him to, the Spirit brings us relief from our frustration and misery. It’s another way Jesus shows His total care for every aspect of our lives – even the little things that can become big things if we ignore them.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
In the hands of a caring Shepherd, why would we expect anything other than goodness and mercy? Reality tells us, though, that not all of life is good and easy. Does that mean God is not a good Shepherd? No.
Notice the word paired with “goodness.” Mercy. When life doesn’t go perfectly, when it isn’t what we would call “good,” – those are the times when God shows us mercy.
Even a perfect shepherd can’t prevent all dangers. However, a good shepherd is more likely to lead sheep to safe places and to be merciful and caring in the hard times. Our relationship with God is the same. Jesus offers us abundant life, but sometimes life does not feel abundant. Even in the light of all God’s provisions and protection, life gets tough and danger arrives. Then He offers us His mercy.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This psalm has walked us through the journey of a shepherd leading the flock to green pastures, to quiet waters, up the valleys of darkness to the mountaintops of green vegetation for the summer. It concludes with the sheep safely returning home for another winter. The sheep are content to be a part of that shepherd’s household because the shepherd is good. When our home is the house of the Lord, why would we not want to stay there forever? Our hope is to be cared for by the Good Shepherd for all of eternity.
Today we have covered a lot of information about shepherding. The most important thing I want you to remember is how much work the shepherd puts into the care of his sheep. Shepherding is not as easy as we think when we see a picture of Jesus holding a baby lamb. A good shepherd works tirelessly throughout the year, day and night, to care for and protect his sheep.
That’s the point Psalm 23 makes: as my SHEPHERD, my God, Jesus Christ, tirelessly works to care for and protect ME – to care for and protect YOU. He offers everything we need. He leads us to the life that will give us the greatest possible joy and abundance. Even in the hard times, He is with us – protecting us and helping us when we get stuck. Ultimately, one day, He will take us home forever – to His home, His Father’s house.
That is good news! Rejoice in the care your Good Shepherd gives to you!
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