Psalm 23:1

Lesson 3 -- The Shepherd

Psalm 23:1a 

“The LORD is my Shepherd…”

Albert Barnes wrote, “The psalm has always been regarded as one of exquisite beauty. The leading thought is his full belief that God would provide for him, and that he would never be left to want.”

The word “LORD” is the name Jehovah, Yah-weh, a name Jesus uses in the Seven “I AM” statements in gospel of John^[1] and the book of the Revelation.^[2]  Jesus literally means “Jehovah is Salvation.” When Moses needed to define who God was, God revealed Himself as Jehovah (Exodus 3:14), “the self-existent One” (Scofield).

Secondly notice that the Shepherd is mine. Spurgeon said that the sweetest word in the sweetest psalm is the word “my.” He is my Substitute, receiving the affliction we deserve. The word “shepherd” in a Hebrew dictionary is next to the word “friend.” When you read this psalm, do not read as a poem or as a mere work of literature. Read it as one who knows the Shepherd intimately.

Thirdly, Jesus is also God’s Shepherd. The phrase “my shepherd” is only used again in Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd … saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd...” God’s Shepherd is not a hireling who runs from danger. God’s Shepherd justifies me in His death, “The good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep,” (John 10:10), sanctifies me in His life, “that Great Shepherd of the sheep (will make) you perfect in every good work to do his will,” (Hebrews 13:20-21), and will glorify me at His return, “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear,” (1 Peter 5:4).

My shepherd and God’s shepherd met at Calvary, making Him “who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Let us look at perhaps the most beloved psalm and perhaps the most quoted chapter in all of the Bible, the 23rd Psalm.

“Shepherd, I submit to You as my Lord. Thank You for being the Good Shepherd, One who lives and gives His life for His sheep. I glorify you for loving me enough to die for me, living for me to sanctify me, and for never leaving me. Thank you for becoming God’s Shepherd for me.”

Lesson 4 -- The Satisfaction

Psalm 23:1b  

“…I Shall Not Want”

Baptist pastor F.B. Meyer said of Psalm 23 “Come hither, weary ones, restless ones, heavy-laden ones; sit down in this cool and calm resort, while the music of its rhythm charms away the thoughts that break your peace. How safe and blessed are you to whom the Lord is Shepherd! Put down this volume and repeat again, in holy reverie, the well-known words to the end, and see if they do not build themselves into a refuge on which the storms may break in vain.”

A little girl was quoting from memory the 23rd Psalm but did not quite get it right: “The Lord is my Shepherd, He is all I want.” She may not have gotten it verbatim, but she did capture the heart of David, “He is all I want.”

When I come to the Lord as my Shepherd, I am satisfied in Him. I may lack material things, I certainly will not be perfect, but I can find contentment in Christ, not because of material fullness but in spite of my lacking. Jesus said it also on the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6, ESV). I shall not be in lack or short of anything I need when I rely on God.

R.B. Thieme Jr. said that because the word “want” is in the Greek version of the Old Testament in the imperfect tense, it could be translated “I cannot want or lack for anything.” That can be true because if you are not wanting something you don’t have, you do not have any feelings of unfulfillment.

Hmm. That’s too many double negatives. Let me say it this way. If the only thing you want is what you have, you only have feelings of fulfillment.

Hmm again. Maybe I should say what Jesus said, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26). When John D. Rockefeller, one of the wealthiest men in the world, died, someone asked “how much did he leave?” His accountant answered, “all of it.”

The rich young ruler kept all the rules but missed the Shepherd. Jesus said, “One thing you lack: go your way, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven,” (Luke 18:22).

You know the rest of the story. He went away sadly because he loved the world which left him empty and left the Shepherd who loved him fully.

If Jesus is your Shepherd, what do you lack? If He is not your Shepherd, what do you have?

Father, grant me contentment today. Let me treasure you in my life and forget the things that I don’t have. Help me to find you as all I want and find fulfillment in that alone. Amen.