The LORD is My Shepherd

One of the most beloved chapters

in the New Testament

is John chapter 10. And the reason for

John 10 · chapter mention

that is because in that chapter,

John presents Jesus as the good shepherd.

He's the good shepherd who calls his sheep

by name,

he leads them,

he,

cares for them, he protects them, even being

willing to lay down his own life to

protect them from predators.

And it is good as we think about

that chapter and as we think about that

shepherd

to have that kind of shepherd, isn't it?

To know that our God is not a

God who is far removed from us,

who just sets the world into motion and

then lets it go,

but a God who actually shepherds his people,

who loves us so much that he sends

his son to be that shepherd for us.

It is good to have

Christ as our good shepherd.

And that image of God,

God's people, people being led and being protected

and being cared for and being shepherded by

the Lord is an ancient one, is one

that you find time and again

in the Old Testament.

And perhaps,

chief among those places in the Old Testament

where we see that image of that kind

of God is Psalm 23.

It's not just the most beloved of David's

Psalms.

It's not just the most

beloved psalm in in the psalter, in the

entire psalter, but it's probably,

as James Montgomery Boice calls it, the best

love chapter

in the entire Bible.

Even people who don't memorize scripture,

will memorize Psalm 23.

Only in fear and trembling when a new

translation comes out would any kind of, translator

or edition dare change a word in Psalm

23

because it is so beloved.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon called it the pearl of

the Psalms.

In Psalm 23, the reader finds comfort,

encouragement,

and hope. And as we consider Psalm 23

this morning,

notice that in it, God is represented in

2 ways.

He's represented as our shepherd

and he's also represented as a host of

a banquet.

This is interesting, of course, because David,

had experience

with both roles.

In first Samuel 16, for example, after God

has rejected Saul,

he sends the prophet Samuel to Bethlehem to

find

the the person who is to be the

new king.

And he goes to the house of a

man named Jesse.

And after Jesse presents

7 of his sons

the prophet realizes that none of these is

the one who is to be the king.

And so he asked Jesse if there is

perhaps another son.

And Jesse tells him that indeed there is

another son, the youngest of his sons, but

he's not there because he is tending sheep.

So we learn there that David, who is

to be the great king,

was a shepherd.

So when David is brought to Samuel then,

Samuel recognizes him as the one who will

be the Lord's anointed and so he indeed

anoints him in that moment and the rest

is history.

Now as king, of course, David had many

opportunities to host many banquets, as you can

imagine.

His table was always full. There were all

sorts of occasions to do that. One example

of that that you may recall is from

2nd Samuel 9 where David hosts Jonathan's son

to eat at his table, Mephibosheth.

You may recall that David is a gracious

host on that occasion,

and has Mephibosheth

at his table. Now, interestingly enough, in Psalm

23, it's not the speaker who is the

shepherd or the host,

God is.

And that's where the power of this psalm

lies.

It's not a Psalm that,

primarily

encourages you to trust in your own ability.

It doesn't invite you to rest in the

security of your possessions.

It doesn't embolden you to face your adversaries

with renewed self confidence.

It's not a call to arms. That's not

what it is,

1st and foremost.

It is a call to the arms of

your shepherd.

Now,

in terms of God being a shepherd in

this Psalm, we see that from the very

beginning. In the first line

of the psalm,

that we see that the Lord

is my shepherd. In fact, the first line

is a summary for the entire psalm. James

Montgomery Bose says this about the psalm. He

says, The psalm is a masterpiece throughout

but if ever a psalm could stand almost

on a single line,

it is this one. And the line it

can stand on is the first.

In fact, it can stand on only part

of the line, the part which says, The

Lord

is my shepherd.

Notice that the word Lord is in all

caps.

That's an indication

that in the Hebrew, it was the covenantal

name of God that was used,

represented by the four consonants, the four letters,

which often is read now as Yahweh,

y h w h in our English,

alphabet.

So those four letters, whenever you see

those four letters show up in the Hebrew

Old Testament, it is represented in our English

Bible with the word Lord in capital letters.

The point there is that it's the covenantal

name of God that is used. It's the

name that God revealed to Moses in Exodus

3.

When God spoke to Moses from the burning

bush

and God tells him,

tell the people of Israel

that the Lord

has sent you.

It is the Lord that binds himself

to deliver his people

from

their enemies.

It's the covenantal name of God that is

used here in Psalm 23. Now you might

recall, what was Moses doing in Exodus 3

when God speaks to him from the burning

bush? He was shepherding the flock of his

father-in-law,

Jethro.

So this name is is what's used here.

The first word, in fact, of Psalm 23

in Hebrew is Yahweh.

Yeah In fact, it says, Yahweh, my shepherd.

Yahweh, my shepherd. Lord,

my shepherd.

Notice the intimacy that is conveyed by those

words.

Yahweh, the God who made a covenant with

Israel,

he is my

shepherd.

He's not just Israel's shepherd.

He's not just my parents' shepherd.

He's my shepherd.

Dear Christian, do you know that Christ is

your shepherd?

Children, do you know

that Christ

is your shepherd? He's not just your parents'

shepherd,

He's your shepherd.

Do you hear his voice, dear Christian, in

his word

as he shepherds you? Do you obey his

word?

Do you submit to it?

Is your faith nurtured

by the word of your shepherd as it

is given to you in his word? And

are you nurtured also in your faith at

his table?

Do you follow wherever he leads you?

Do you trust him?

Do you rest in him no matter what

the circumstances of your life might present?

Or do you follow other shepherds? Because you

see, there are lots of shepherds.

Many would want to shepherd our lives and

they try. There's lots of voices that want

to speak to us and want to guide

us in all sorts of different ways.

Do you follow those other shepherds believing that

they will take better care of you, perhaps?

Do you listen to those other voices

believing that their wisdom and way are better

than the wisdom and way of God?

Is the Lord

really

your shepherd?

Look at verses 23.

We read, he makes me lie down in

green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. He restores

my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

He makes me. He leads me.

He restores me.

The emphasis is on the sovereign and providential

care of God. It is he who does

all these things,

and it's a caring thing that he does

for us.

Now, why does the psalmist affirm,

I shall not want which means

I shall lack nothing. It's not because sheep

are intelligent,

independent,

and self sufficient creatures.

No.

Sheep are dumb,

vulnerable, and needy.

Without the shepherds leading, the sheep will find

no pastures to feed on.

Middle Eastern studies professor Kenneth Bailey

comments that sheep won't even drink water

if it is running water

because they're too afraid to get near it.

It must be still water.

The shepherd must lead the sheep to still

water or they will not drink.

Without the shepherd's scare, sheep are very vulnerable

not only because it's hard for them to

find food on their own and find water

on their own that they would dare to

drink, but also because they're very vulnerable to

predators.

Sheep are not particularly good at defending themselves.

They don't run very fast so they can't

get away.

Without the shepherd's guidance,

sheep will wander off

and get lost.

In fact, where we read here, he restores

my soul,

it literally says,

he returns

my soul or he returns

my life. In other words, he returns me,

he finds me.

And perhaps,

that may recall images,

bring images into our mind of Luke 15

in the parable of the lost sheep and

how the shepherd leaves the 99 behind to

go and find the lost sheep. That's the

kind of shepherd that we have.

And he does this because his reputation is

on the line as a good shepherd. He

doesn't lose a single sheep.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

It's good for us to know that Christ,

our good shepherd, puts his reputation on the

line in his care for us.

So when we are undergoing difficult

things, trials, tribulations, we can know

that we will not be lost

because our Good Shepherd is the one that

is protecting us. Listen, sheep,

left to themselves,

lack everything.

But the psalmist affirms, I shall not want.

I

lack nothing

because the Lord

is his shepherd

and that lord is the one who is

in control of his nurture,

of his care,

and of his protection.

Do you know what God do you know

that God

cares for you in this way?

Children, this is one of the reasons that

God has placed you under the care of

your parents.

Your parents are to provide for you,

to protect you,

to care for you,

and they're to disciple you. They're shepherding you.

So whenever you practice family worship at home,

I know that that is your favorite time

of the day to do family worship. That's

how my kids are,

said no parent ever.

It ought to be our favorite time

because we are being conformed to the image

of Christ.

Your parents do this because they are being

obedient to their shepherd when they catechize you,

when you study the catechism together.

That's what we're doing we're discipling you. We

are shepherding you. When we do corporate worship

together that's what's going on and not just

you but your parents. We are all being

shepherded

as we do this, as we come together.

The good shepherd makes his sheep

lie down and feed on green pastures, David

tells us. Now, of course, that means that

he provides food for them just like God

provides our food.

That's why, we have that petition in the

Lord's prayer that we would that the Lord

would be the one who provides our daily

bread and he does that and we're thankful

for that. But it's not just physical food

that he provides, the green pastures also represent

spiritual food,

spiritual nourishment.

He gives us his word.

Charles Spurgeon comments,

What are these green pastures?

But the scriptures of truth?

Always fresh,

always rich,

and never exhausted.

Are you feeding

on the green pastures?

Are you feeding on scripture? Is it your

daily bread?

It is by contemplating and digesting God's word

and by allowing God's spirit to quench our

thirst with his grace that our soul is

nourished and refreshed

and as the Psalm says restored.

We are returned to life as we read

this word which is our life.

What a blessing that this psalm begins with

a reminder

that God provides us with rest

and restoration,

that he provides us with his word to

nourish us.

Now, are you availing yourselves

of this provision from God?

Are you submitting

to his care? Is it your priority to

always begin your week

with worship

and with rest as you are doing now

on the Lord's day?

This is why not only do we worship

on the lord's day but also we rest

on the lord's day. We have refreshment. We

have fellowship.

We need that. It is a way in

which our shepherd cares for us and so

we have to avail ourselves of such a

good care.

Look at verse 4

now. Even 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. Notice the pronoun change

that takes place here in verse 4.

We go from he,

he is my shepherd, to you.

During,

during summer and fall in Israel,

the weather is very, very hot

and the shepherd has to lead his flock

to find pastures to eat because the the

scorching heat of the sun will make all

the grass die.

And so this is why this can entail

going into,

dark valleys

where the shadows protect

the grass there from the heat of the

sun and really what they tend to feed

on is just weeds

but but the ravines in the in the

valleys also allow the grass to grow whereas

in the areas that are exposed, the grass

would not grow.

But valleys are places, of course, where predators

and thieves can easily hide because both of

the rugged terrain and because of the darkness.

Wickedness loves darkness.

Danger loves darkness. Doing things in secret.

Even though we are children of the light,

sometimes we have to deal with darkness, don't

we? And we can be sure that in

those dark places,

our Lord is with us.

Now flash floods also occur frequently in the

Middle East and valleys are particularly dangerous places

when that happens because without warning, they'll come

and and they will flood the valleys and

so,

it's a dangerous place.

So the psalmist indicates therefore

that not only are green pastures and still

waters part of God's provision and plan,

but so are dark valleys.

It's important for us to hear that.

It's not just that when things are good

we can say, oh, God is shepherding me.

He is caring for me.

Even in the dark valleys, he goes before

us.

He leads us into those dark valleys

and he does not let go.

Somehow,

because he is so great, he uses those

dark valleys to conform us more to him.

To make our prayer life better.

To remind us that he is the one

who provides all our security, and all of

our comfort, and all of our care.

Puritan Thomas Boston writes,

everyone knows what is most pleasant to him

but God alone knows what is most profitable.

It is during these dark and dangerous times

that he, as our shepherd, is closer

than ever.

Even though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, I will fear no

evil

for you

are with me, the psalmist says.

He doesn't say, for he is with me.

He says, no, you

are with me.

He's talking to his shepherd.

How good is that to know that he

is with us?

Your rod and your staff, they come for

me, says the psalmist. The rod,

and the staff were the tools of the

trade for the shepherd.

The rod was used to fend off predators.

The staff was a walking stick to guide

the sheep and even with the hook at

the end to,

to to bring the sheep back into the

fold whenever it would wander away.

Even in the valley of our life, we

must draw comfort in the fact that God

as our shepherd is our guide and our

protector.

It's even comforting to know that death itself

is now a mere shadow

because our shepherd has led the way through

death.

Look at what the author of Hebrews writes

in Hebrews 2 verses 14 and 15. He

Hebrews 2:14

writes,

since therefore the children share in flesh and

blood,

Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things,

that through death

he might destroy the one

who has the power of death,

that is the devil, and deliver all those

who through fear of death were subject to

lifelong

slavery.

Our shepherd has walked

this dark path before

and he has conquered it. He has swallowed

it up.

He has removed its sting.

Only its shadow remains.

And if there's a shadow, you can be

sure that there is light beyond it. Christ

himself

is our light.

It is in the hope of his light

that we now walk.

Now, what about this image of God as

host? In verse 5, that's where the metaphor

changes in this Psalm. He goes from shepherd

to host. Look at verse 5.

We read,

you prepare a table before me in the

presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil.

My cup

overflows.

Now,

in the heat of the ancient Near East,

it was customary that when you were hosting

a banquet,

you would, whenever you would receive guests, you

would anoint their head with oil. And the

reason you would do this is because it

would provide refreshment to their skin and also

would be oil mixed with,

with perfume and so it would provide a

pleasing aroma for the guests and for all

the other guests who were there.

And the overflowing cup that we see here,

is a symbol of the gracious

and abundant provision at the table

of this magnificent

host. So he's a host that takes care

of his guests in every way. In 2

Corinthians 4, Paul writes that we as Christians

have received the greatest gift of all and

that this gift has been given to us

who are mere jars of clay.

But these jars of clay

are overflowing

with this gift. Our cup

overflows.

The gospel rightly received

cannot be contained.

Our cup overflows so that others might taste

and see that the Lord, this great host

of the banquet,

is good.

William Secor, the Puritan writes,

why does the Lord make your cup run

over

but that other men's lips might taste the

liquor?

The showers that fall upon the highest mountains

should glide into the lowest valleys.

This is why we are

to, evangelize.

This is why we are to share the

good news of Jesus Christ with others. This

is why we are to invite people to

come to our gatherings

on Sunday morning to worship this great host

and even during the week so that they

can learn more as we study the Bible

together but not just study the Bible together

as we,

demonstrate the love of God, the forgiveness of

God, the mercy of God, the graciousness of

God to one another. That's how God shows

his love for people as we,

as his body, do the very things that

God calls us to do.

The fact that the table is prepared in

the presence of the psalmist's enemies is a

picture of total victory.

The hostess conquered

all of his and all of our enemies.

It was customary, of course, in antiquity whenever

a general would triumph to actually prepare a

feast and he would have the the,

the ones who were captured, those captives of

the enemies at the feast not eating but

watching the victorious army,

enjoy the spoils of their victory. So there's

a sense in which that's going on but

that's not all that's going on. Perhaps even

more important than that, it's a picture of

the host's steadfast love and loyalty.

He throws a banquet for the psalmist

in the presence of the psalmist's enemies.

The host is not ashamed

of his guest.

The host is willing to publicly align himself

with the psalmist

no matter the cost.

Now, we might be ashamed of ourselves when

we sin.

It's a grievous thing.

We say, how can we be sinning again

when we have such a gracious host, such

a good God,

such a pure Savior?

And there we are again,

sinning.

And so we feel shame from that.

And Satan, of course, reminds us of our

sin constantly.

How good it is to know

that our host is not ashamed of us.

He prepares a table

for us in the presence of our enemies.

He aligns himself with us. He says, He

is mine and I am his.

Remember that. It's not that our sin is

not significant it's not that we shouldn't,

turn away from it. We should, of course.

But know that our Lord knows everything about

us

and he loves loves us nonetheless.

While we were his enemies,

Christ died for us and he has adopted

us. We have that kind of gracious host.

The host is willing to publicly align with

the psalmist no matter what the cost is.

And the host treats the psalmist

in the presence of those

who hate him

as his honored guest

anointing his head his head with oil and

having his servants

always at the beck and call of the

guest, making sure that his cup

never runs out, that it always overflows.

Imagine if we treated our host with that

kind of loyalty.

He's not ashamed of us but are we

ashamed of him?

Would we honor him in the presence of

his enemies?

Those who would speak against him

no matter what the cost might be to

us. You know, a time might be coming

when we'll be called to do that very

thing.

There's a sense in which we are called

to do that now, of course, but when

the cost will be very significant,

will we will we be embarrassed of our

host? He's not embarrassed of us even though

he might have reason to.

We have no reason to be embarrassed of

him. May we not be embarrassed of him

when the time comes. So again, this message

is that those under his sovereign and providential

care will lack nothing. They shall not want.

The 2 images in Psalm 23, that of

shepherd and of hosts, both bear witness to

this fact.

Remember, according to Scripture,

the testimony of 2 witnesses is trustworthy.

And here we have 2 witnesses, that of

a shepherd and that of a host,

saying, you are mine.'

The scriptures

are 2 witnesses in one sense. The Old

Testament bears witness to the Messiah that will

one day come. The New Testament bear with

bears witness to that same Messiah that has

already come. Two witnesses

are worthy

of of trust.

And we have here 2 witnesses

to God, the shepherd,

and the host. This is grace upon grace.

It's a picture of the fulfillment of God's

promises,

which of course lead us to verse 6.

Look at what verse 6 says.

We read,

surely goodness

and mercy

shall follow me all the days of my

life,

and I shall dwell in the house of

the Lord

forever.

In the end,

under God's care,

the predators that seek to devour us will

fail.

The shepherd with his rod and his staff

goes before us.

And goodness and mercy, that is goodness and

steadfast love, like like 2 dogs that are

caring for the shepherd's flock are at our

rear guard.

The Hebrew for verse 6 actually reads, And

I will return to the house of the

Lord for the length of my days.

Which is a picture of fulfillment of God's

promise to sustain us, to per to persevere

us, to preserve us.

When we belong to the good shepherd,

we don't walk alone

and we don't lack a home.

In John 10, Jesus says, I am the

door of the sheep.

If Jesus is your shepherd,

that door never closes.

In John 637,

Jesus says, all that the father gives me

will come to me

and whoever comes to me, I will never

cast out.

John Bunyan, the Puritan pastor and author of

the Pilgrim's Progress commenting on this verse writes

he imagines this,

sinner before the shepherd, before Jesus Christ having

this conversation, the sinner saying,

but I am a great sinner, sayest thou.

I will know in no wise cast out,

says

Christ. But I am an old sinner, sayest

thou.

I will in no wise cast out,

says Christ.

But I am a hard hard hard hearted

sinner, sayest thou.

I will in no wise cast out, says

Christ.

But I am a backsliding sinner, sayest thou.

I will in no wise cast out,

says Christ.

But I have served Satan all my days,

saest thou.

I will in no wise cast out,

says Christ.

But I have sinned against light, saest thou.

I will in no wise cast out, says

Christ.

But I have sinned against mercy,

saest thou.

I will in no wise cast out,

says Christ.

But I have done no good thing to

bring with me, saest thou.

I will in no wise

cast

out, says Christ.

The grace, and mercy, and compassion, and steadfast

love of Christ our shepherd is so great,

so limitless for his flock that we can

rightly say, The Lord is my shepherd.

I shall not want.'

Of course, we know all of this is

true.

Not because of David

but because of David's son and David's Lord

and David's shepherd.

Jesus

fulfills

this promise.

All of these promises. After Herod Antipas

beheads John the Baptist,

the fame of Jesus grows.

His miracles and teaching are attracting many, many

followers, many, so many that they this crowd

gathers around him and they want to crown

him as king.

Now you can be sure

that Herod's court was closely following Jesus,

trying to determine whether or not he was

to lead an insurrection.

In Mark 6,

Jesus saw a great crowd that was following

him, looking to him in hope. And we

read that Jesus has compassion on this crowd

that was following him because they were like

sheep without

a shepherd.

So you know what Jesus does?

Jesus gathers them

and he sits them down in green pastures

and besides the waters of the Sea of

Galilee.

And he tends to their spiritual needs by

teaching them.

And then he miraculously, with just 5 loaves

of bread and 2 fish,

prepares a meal before them even in the

presence of Pharisees

and of Herod's spies.

And they eat until they are satisfied.

All 5,000 of them, their cup overflows.

In John 10, Jesus tells us that he

is the good shepherd who lays down his

life for his sheep.

In Hebrews 13 20, Jesus is called the

great shepherd of the sheep.

In 1st Peter 5:4, Jesus is called the

chief shepherd.

In Revelation 19,

we read of the wedding supper of the

lamb,

where Christ will be the lavish host

and where guests will lack nothing.

But I leave you with the words of

Revelation 7 verses 15 to 17 which present

Revelation 7:15–17

for us a picture of Psalm 23

fulfilled.

The Lamb of God, who is also the

shepherd of the sheep and the great host

of God's temple

whose inhabitants lack nothing. Look at what we

read there.

Therefore, they are before the throne of God,

and serve him day night in his temple.

And he who sits on the throne will

shelter them with his presence.

They shall hunger no more,

neither thirst anymore.

The sun shall not strike them, nor any

scorching heat.

For the lamb, in the midst of the

throne,

will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of

living water.

And God will wipe away

every tear

from their eyes.

Beloved, Christ is the good shepherd.

Is he your shepherd? Let's pray.