A study on
Psalm 23:1-6. Part Three
The Shepherd and the sheep.
Psalm
23:1-6. A Psalm of David:
“The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Yes,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil.
For You are with me.
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.”
Let us look at Psalm 23, the most familiar passage in the Bible the Word of God.
No portion in writing of any time or of any work has been so widely circulated.
Jews, Christians of all denominations are familiar with this psalm. The world
has caught its beauty.
Much has been written about this psalm,
although its six verses are short and simple. Psalm twenty-three has few words. There was a business executive
years ago who had a little motto on the wall of his office for all to see. It
said, “if you have anything important to say, say it in five minutes.” Well, it
only takes about one minute to read Psalm
23. It is that brief.
Before we look at the text itself, there are
some things we should consider about this psalm. It is agreed that David is the
author, but the question has always been: Did he write it when he was a shepherd
boy or when he was an aged king?
The old king on the throne remembered the
shepherd boy.
1.
Life
had beaten, battered, and bemused, this man.
2. He was a hardened soldier, a veteran
who knew victory, adversity, and hardship.
3. He knew song and shadow.
4. He was evaluated and tried.
Therefore, in Psalm 23 we do not have the imagine of immaturity, but fruit and
the mature judgment born of a long life.
This psalm begins by saying, “The Lord
is my shepherd.” By what authority do you say my shepherd? Is this psalm for everybody? I do not think so.
Since Psalms 22, 23, and 24 go
together and tell one story, you have to know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good
Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep before you can know Him as the Great
Shepherd.
You must know the Shepherd of Psalm 22 before you can come to Psalm 23 and say, “The Lord is my shepherd.”
This is a “he and me” psalm. The emphasis is
upon the fact that there is nothing between the man’s soul and God. “The Lord
is my shepherd.”
Verse one.
“The Lord is my shepherd.
I shall not want.”
A. “The Lord is my shepherd.”
Verse one is a declaration and a conclusion.
It is one thing to say, “The Lord is a
shepherd”—many people say that, and it sounds good. But can you make it
personal and say, “The Lord is my shepherd”?
By the authority of His redemptive work, His
death and resurrection, you can trust Him and call Him your Shepherd. It is
also easy to say, “The Lord will be my shepherd,” but David
did not say that either. He said, “The Lord is my shepherd.” This is his declaration.
B. “I shall not want.”
Notice that David does not say, I have not
wanted, but “I shall not want.” What
is it that I need? Well, I need safety. I am a sheep, a stupid little animal.
Therefore, my Shepherd sees to it that I will not want for protection. He
protects me. When a little sheep says, “I
shall not want” and “I shall never
perish,” it is because it has a wonderful Shepherd.
“I shall not want” looks into the future and gives
assurance to the child of God. The security of the believer rests upon the
Shepherd. And the believer’s deduction rests upon his declaration.
Verse two.
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads
me beside the still waters.”
A. “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”
Not only do sheep need safety, but they also
need sufficiency and satisfaction. “He
makes me to lie down in green pastures.” That is competence. Folk that knows
sheep tell us that a hungry sheep will not lie down. When sheep are lying down
in green pastures, it means they have their tummies full.
And Christ is our competence. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread
of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me
shall never thirst” John 6:35.
B. “He leads me beside the still waters.”
Sheep are frightened by turbulent water. And
they do not like stagnant water. They do not want to drink where the hogs
drink. All of this applies to the human family. We need rest in our day, not so
much physical or mental rest, but rest of the soul.
Remember what David said in Psalm 55:6: “Oh that I had wings like a
dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest.” He wanted to get away from
it all. But he found out that getting away from it all did not solve his
problems. He had to learn to put his trust in the Lord, rest in Him, and wait
patiently upon Him.
The Lord Jesus says,
“Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will rest you”
Matthew 11:28.
Verse three.
“He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.”
A. “He restores my soul.”
David knew what that was. David had sinned—he
was that little lost sheep that had strayed from the fold, and his Shepherd had
restored him.
B. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.”
He leads, but we must follow. The Lord Jesus
said to the religious rulers who were actually His enemies, John 10:25-27 “Jesus answered them, “I told
you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear
witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I
said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
Sheep will follow their own shepherd. That is
the way you can tell the one to whom the sheep belong. In Jesus’ day the
shepherd never drove his sheep; he led them. In the time of Christ, the
shepherd was with his sheep day after day. They knew him and they followed him.
Our Shepherd leads us in right paths, and it is up to us to follow Him.
Verse four.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death,
I will fear no evil.
For You are with me.
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
A. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death.”
Here is courage and comfort. Death is the
supreme test of life. This is not just talking about the deathbed. Our human
family lives in the shadow of death.
When a person is born, he starts down a great gully
and that gully is the valley of the shadow of death. You are in it constantly.
All of us walk in the shadow of death. As
someone has said, the moment that gives your life begins to take it away from
you. All of us are in death’s valley. The shadow of death is on us.
But all the while I walk through that valley, I
will fear no evil. This is the encouraging comfort He gives. If one of our
loved ones dies as a child of God, this is our courage and comfort.
B. “I will fear no evil: for You are with me.”
We can know that our Shepherd is with us at all
times, and even at the time of death. And I want Him with me when my time comes to die.
C. “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
1. A rod
was for defense, and a staff was for direction.
2. He gives
us gentle reproof and severe rebuke.
3. He has a
rod for our defense, but He also has a staff for our direction. 4. He has a
staff for the little old sheep that are bound to stray. That comforts me.
Verse five.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup runs over.”
A. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
These two verses reflect the
happiness and hope of the Shepherd’s heart. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Here
we have felicity, fruitfulness, and fullness. All of that is under girded with
joy. What is that table today? It speaks of the Lord’s table. At the time this
psalm was written it spoke of God’s promise to
B. “You anoint my head with oil.”
That oil speaks of the Holy Spirit. We need
that anointing today. We cannot face life alone.
C. “My cup runs over.”
This is symbolic of joy. We need to be under girded
with joy today. The Lord says, “I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”
John 10:10. The Lord wants our joy to be full. It reminds me of the little
girl who said, “Lord, fill up my cup. I can’t hold very much, but I can run
over a whole lot.” Oh, how this world needs Christians who are running over!
Verse six.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.”
This brings us to the final verse of this
psalm. Our Shepherd brings us all the way from the green pastures and the still
waters to the father’s house. “Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever.”
In John
14:2–3 the Lord says to us, “I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
You know, we are not pedigreed sheep, and sheep
are not worth much anyway, but we do have a wonderful Shepherd.
Can you say at this moment, “The Lord
is my shepherd”? If you can, all the wonderful promises of this psalm are
yours. If He is the Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep and He is your Saviour, this psalm is for you.
The Chief Shepherd
leads His own even as a shepherd tends his flocks. This is the pearl of the Psalms. No
other pastoral poem is loved so well and is as highly prized as Psalm 23.
The image of the
shepherd and sheep in
this psalm reflects our total dependence on God.
1.
A
shepherd’s chief concern is to do everything to insure the well-being of his
flock.
2. The emphasis of this psalm is trust
in God to meet our needs.
3. As the Good Shepherd, God provides
for our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being (see John 10:7-18).
4. He provides refreshment in the
difficult experiences of life.
5. His “rod” and “staff” lovingly
guide, protect, and discipline His sheep.
6. God’s “mercy” describes His steadfast love.
