by Jilene Scherenske
This begins a series of articles on Psalm 23. I have found this study to be a great blessing to my soul and trust it will be to yours also. The reader should be aware that I have used Phillip Keller’s book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 as a resource. I refer often to his book and knowledge of the care of sheep. Then I take his insights, combine them with the Word of God and meditate thereon. This is the result of my meditations.
Psalm 23:1a
“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd…”
This psalm is positive from start to finish. It is read to those who are dying, to the combat soldier, to those who are burdened. It is sung when one is rejoicing or maybe sorrowing. As someone said, it is the nightingale of all the birds. It covers all the bases; whatever emotion we find ourselves in, whatever the situation, it ministers to that need.
This great psalm in a myriad of ways, as we shall see, causes us to reflect on the Person of Jesus and on what He does for us. It is important to realize that David is not speaking from the view of the shepherd, but he is seeing Jesus through the eyes of the sheep, as if he were one of the flock. He speaks with a great sense of pride as he proclaims Who his wonderful Shepherd is. From firsthand experience David knew how sheep fared. depending on their master. Some flocks did well because they had a caring shepherd; others were sickly, starving, and in endless hardship under a shepherd who was irresponsible in caring for them. As we shall see, our loving Shepherd feeds us with an abundant life.
“The LORD is my shepherd…” “The Lord” – so just Who is the Lord? What is He like? Why does He have the legal right to be my Lord, my Shepherd, my boss, my manager? The Hebrew name used here is Jehovah. It refers to the God of Israel, but, more than that, Jehovah means that He is self-existent and eternal. No one made Him. No one created Him. He is a Being that has always been and always will be. He depends on nothing and no one for His existence. He has no beginning and there will never be a time when He will cease to exist. He is The Lord. There is none other. There will never be any other Lord of lords.
The LORD is boss over everything that exists. Whether we acknowledge that or not does not change the fact that He is still in control and oversees everything that exists. Those who hesitate in allowing Him to be Lord of their lives, their supreme Boss, do so because they have a limited view of Who He really is. We look at Him through human eyes and human understanding and secretly assign to Him weakness of some kind, and therefore shirk from giving Him full authority over our lives. Think of it: if there is some area in your life where He is not Lord, not your Boss, is it not because you think you know better than He and therefore surmise that He is not qualified in that area, that He has a weakness in that area? Or perhaps you do not understand what He is doing and thus assume He really is not in full control or is not a truly good God. Either way He is being limited in your mind as Lord of your life.
So just exactly Who is He? Let’s think first of His power and might. Let’s view the heavens, the stars and let’s remember that only about 3,000 stars are visible to the unaided eye on a clear moonless night. About 100,000 stars can be seen using a small telescope. There are an estimated one hundred billion (100,000,000,000) stars in our own Milky Way galaxy, although some estimates range up to four times that many. A typical galaxy may contain anywhere between about ten million and one trillion stars. There are an estimated 200 billion galaxies, although science knows it has not discovered all of them yet. The Lord made them all and controls them all! Let’s look down upon the earth. In one cup of sand there are at least 2 million grains of sand. Imagine how many are on the earth! If I took a handful of soil and put it under an electron microscope, I would discover billions upon billions of micro-organisms so complex in their own peculiar cellular structure that only a fraction of their functions on earth have been understood! Such figures are unimaginable, yet we have a God Who created them all and sustains them all. Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: How great is His might! How great is His wisdom! How unimaginably great is His power!
If only we remembered that He created us! What a masterful task! But let’s not stop at His creative power and wisdom for that is only a small part of who He is. He is the God Who loves us! Loves us far beyond what we can really understand. Loves us so much that He gave His life for us, dying an extreme tortuous death. Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He took all of our sin upon Him. He died for us so we could live eternally in heaven with Him. Does that not give Him the right to be our Boss? Who loves like that? Loves us so much that He desires us to fellowship with Him as Friend to friend even though we continually reject Him daily by not yielding to His Spirit’s control. Sheep, as we shall see, cannot possibly take care of themselves. They were not given the capacity to do so by the God Who created them. They need constant care in every way. Like sheep, we too, need constant care. We tend not to think we need constant care; we tend to think we can do at least some things by ourselves! But the truth is that anything we do on our own is useless, it ends up in a mess. That’s why Jesus longs to fellowship with us, so He can give us the care we so desperately need. He chose us, created us, then bought us back. He chooses to seek an intimate relationship with us, and absolutely delights in caring for us! Wow!
Isa 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
Eze 34:11-14; 23 For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. 23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
He owns me and He has every right to own me. He created me and then He died for me that He might have me back. He deliberately chose to make me the object of His love. He intercedes for us minute by minute. Yes, He has every right to own me. Who are the sheep in this Psalm? They are those who have accepted Him as Savior. He owns everyone because He created them and then He bought them back, but He can be Shepherd only to those who call Him Lord. He will not force any to be in His flock.
Remember: He is THE Lord – there is only One. Whether I choose to make Him my Lord, is up to me; but He will always be Lord.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Ac 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
“The Lord IS…” – He is my Shepherd right now and He will always be my Shepherd! There is no “I hope so” in it; no “but”, no “if”, just simply “is”. It is a fact. It’s present tense and it will always be present tense. It was present tense yesterday and will be present tense tomorrow! It is present tense so that no one can claim Him as Shepherd one day and not another. He never abandons us! He is my Shepherd yesterday and today and tomorrow! Always….that’s a great word to describe Him – ALWAYS – for He is constant in all things. This very moment I am under the pastoral care of Jehovah God! He “…will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Heb 13:5. Again, everything about this Psalm is so incredible. Can I really comprehend what God’s continual presence means to me? I doubt it! But in what I do realize, I know it to be a blessing immense! What peace it brings me. What confidence in Him.
De 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
De 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
“The Lord is MY …” – Herein is perhaps the sweetest word of this psalm. He, Jesus, is mine! He is my Caregiver. He wants to be my Caregiver. There is no “He is the Shepherd of the world” in this paragraph. But rather, “He is mine!” He longs, yea, yearns, to be an intimate Friend with me. He cares for me as if I am the most valuable being that exists! He shepherds me as if I were the only sheep in His flock! Every moment I have His undivided attention. I am His possession; and He is mine!
He is mine! The Great God of the Universe, the Most High God, is mine! I can claim Him for my very own!! Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, I know I have the opportunity to stand before Him forgiven, loved, accepted. There is in me a desire to be accepted, especially by my authorities. I can’t stand it for even a minute when I have offended my husband and know that now there is a wedge between us. I apologize immediately because I long to once again be in harmony with him. I long for my pastor to accept me. I want my bosses to accept me. But greater than that, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the God of this universe has accepted me because of the cross! He is mine, and I am His. The words of the hymn I am His and He is Mine express it well:
1 Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Gracious Spirit from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so.
O this full and perfect peace!
O this transport all divine!
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His, and He is mine.
2 Heav'n above is softer blue;
Earth around is sweeter green.
Something lives in every hue
Christless eyes have never seen.
Birds with gladder songs o'erflow;
Flow'rs with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His and He is mine.
Since I know, as now I know,
I am His and He is mine.
3 Things that once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest.
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on the loving breast -
O to lie forever here,
Doubt and care and self resign
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His and He is mine.
While He whispers in my ear,
I am His and He is mine.
4 His forever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heav'n and earth may fade and flee;
First-born light in gloom decline.
But while God and I shall be,
I am His and He is mine.
But while God and I shall be,
I am His and He is mine.
One more thought as we venture into this great Psalm. If He has chosen to be my Shepherd, then I am to surmise that I am valuable to Him! When an earthly shepherd buys a flock, he has done so with great sacrifice, hard earned money, and those sheep are very valuable to him. Jesus gave His life for us – does not that define our value to Him? Isa 43:4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Ps 139:17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! Ex 19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: Mal 3:17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. 1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
“The Lord is my Shepherd…” – From here on out, the remainder of this Psalm describes Who the Shepherd Jesus is and what He does for us, His sheep. Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation we are described as His sheep. (I found 81 listings in the Bible for sheep.) In this study we will learn not only the wonderful love and wisdom and care of our Savior, but the characteristics of sheep as well, which, in turn, will expand our gratefulness for our great Shepherd and His wonderful care of us.
Shepherd – This great Lord of all lords, chooses to condescend in this analogy to the position of shepherd. In those days shepherds were the lowest of the lowest. They were stinky, going without baths for many days. They lived among animals. They were thought to be without wisdom….and yet Jesus, the Creator of the all, chooses to compare Himself to a Shepherd so that He can aptly describe His love for us.
If He is our Shepherd, then we are His sheep for a shepherd must needs have sheep! Sheep are owned, and so are we…double owned by the One Who created us and then bought us back at a very great price. We belong to Him. As a shepherd boy himself, David knew two things well: he knew the nature of sheep – their absolute helplessness to survive; and he knew how valuable he was to them. So now David sees himself as a sheep and the Shepherd as being as valuable to him as life is itself.
As a Great and Good Shepherd He cares perfectly for His sheep…and He is able to do that, not only because of His great power and skills, but because He knows us so well. He has numbered every hair on our body! But even better: He knows every thought that we think. Therefore He will never misunderstand us and act accordingly. What a relief! "I know them, and they follow me." Joh 10:27. If every hair of our head is known by Him, then how much more is He desiring to care for us entirely? He has that kind of intimate knowledge about us. Of course He cares for us! He created us! If I were to purchase a puppy and desired to give it goodly care, I would research that breed. Learn what its weaknesses were physically. I would research what was the best dog food to feed it. I would learn in every way I could, how best to care for him physically, i.e., food and exercise, etc. I would love him greatly, perhaps even sometimes to his hurt! But I would never know what he thought {if dogs have thoughts!) I would not be acquainted with every cell of his body so that I could custom design my care for him. But Jesus knows ALL ABOUT US! He knows every weakness we have, be it spiritual, physical, emotional. He custom designs our care in every way! And He has no limits to what He can do for us. And….He wants to care for us…the cross is proof of that!
Application
So we have in this Psalm a great analogy of how God cares for us! God began David’s life with the humble and common task of tending sheep. Often in a Christian’s life, God puts us seemingly away doing something mundane. But even then, He asks us to do the simple, the common task in a way that will please Him. And He never wastes a moment of our lives. Every experience we have will be used for His honor and glory, just as God used this simple employment of tending sheep to bring to scripture awesome truth!
Jesus is the Most High God. He is the Creator of everything that exists. That being true, do we acknowledge Him as Boss in our life? Or are there some areas where we think we can do better, thus creating the assumption that He has weaknesses? There is nothing sweeter than allowing Jesus to be the Shepherd of one’s life. Surrender to complete dependence upon Him today.
He is Your Shepherd every moment that you breathe. If you were the only person who existed, He would still be with you, caring for you. Rejoice in that!
If Jesus is a Shepherd to us, and He is, then we must be sheep to Him. Meek, quiet, trusting, obedient, useful, sociable, inoffensive. What kind of sheep are we? Are we the kind that follow our Shepherd in every way, in every moment, even when we don’t understand the path before us? Let’s aim to be so. Let’s beg Him for this enablement.
As we proceed through this Psalm you will be amazed at all the many ways Jesus our Shepherd cares for us! I can’t wait to share all the details with you. They will greatly lift Your spirit!