Songs of Summer 3 | The Shepherd & The Sheep

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. 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. 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. (Psalm 23)

How the Good Shepherd tends, provides for, and protects His sheep—even in the valley of the shadow of death.

The Most Well-Known Psalm

Everybody loves good music, though everyone has a different opinion about what good music is—and your kids probably differ with you. This summer at Cross Connection we're taking time to look at some of the "top ten hits" of the Psalms, the songbook of the Old Testament. We've already considered Psalm 1 and Psalm 19, and you simply cannot go through the best of the Psalms without considering Psalm 23.

Even people who don't read the Bible—some who have never opened one—have heard a portion of Psalm 23, because it shows up constantly in pop culture, in music, in TV shows and movies, and in news articles. It is one of the most well-known passages in all of Scripture.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

The English word pastor comes from the Latin pastorem, meaning "to lead into pasture, to cause to feed." So when we read the opening words, "The Lord is my shepherd," we could read it, "The Lord is my pastor." In our culture, those in ministry are often given the title pastor. While you may call me, or Pastor Mark, or Pastor Jason by that title, it is exceedingly important to recognize that first and foremost the Lord is our pastor. He must be the one who is ultimately our Shepherd.

This is a psalm of David, the author of some seventy-five Psalms, and many consider this his greatest. David began his life as a shepherd. The concept of shepherding was not merely intellectual for him—it was experiential. Had God's call to be king never come, shepherding would have been his life and livelihood.

It is believed by many, myself included, that David wrote this psalm later in life. As an older man he sat back and reflected on his life—his early days tending the flocks of his father Jesse outside Bethlehem, then his rise as a soldier and general under Saul, his years fleeing a king who sought to kill him, and finally his ascent to the throne. Perhaps one cool spring morning the air reminded him of being a shepherd, and looking back over every stage of his life, he saw how God had led, provided, protected, and cared for him. So he said, "The Lord is my shepherd."

Do You Know God Personally?

Notice how David opens: "The Lord." In your Bibles this appears in capital letters—LORD—indicating the Hebrew name Jehovah, the personal name of God. David refers to God in a close, familial sense. That is point number one: David knew God personally.

He did not know God merely as the Creator of the heavens that "declare the glory of God," as Psalm 19 says. He knew God personally and relationally. This should cause us to ask: Do I know God personally, or is God just creator to me? Many people acknowledge God's existence. Some call Him "the man upstairs." Some visualize Him as a crotchety old grandpa with gray hair always telling you to get off His lawn. But not David.

It is one thing to know about God—many people know lots of things about God. The question is, do you know Him? Evangelical Christians often say, "I don't have religion; I have a relationship." What that expresses is that through the work Jesus came to do—dying on the cross for our sins, rising in victory over sin and death—He made it possible for us to have a restored relationship with the God who made us. Ephesians describes it as a father-son, father-daughter relationship; we are the children of God. David is called a man after God's own heart, even a friend of God. Do you know God that way?

Not a Shepherd, but My Shepherd

David did not write "the Lord is a shepherd," though that would be true—God who created all things also sustains and cares for them. Jesus said your Father cares even for the birds of the air. Nor did David write "the Lord is the shepherd," though that too is true. He did not even write "the Lord is our shepherd." David personalizes it: "The Lord is my shepherd." Looking back over all he had experienced, he could see God's provision, protection, and care at every stage.

That brings us to point number two: Is the Lord your shepherd? It is one thing to acknowledge He is the provider and protector; it is another to know Him as your provider and protector. Whether or not you think He has protected, cared for, and provided for you, He has. Have you acknowledged Him as your Shepherd—even during times you were unaware you needed protection, or unwilling to recognize His care? Or are you still a wayward, scattered sheep on the hillside?

Why You Should Want the Lord as Your Shepherd

If you have not yet acknowledged God as your Shepherd, I want you to know that you should want Him to be. For the reason why, listen to Jesus in John 10:11:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees... because he does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own... and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

There are a lot of things people say about Jesus—some true, some exaggerated, some outright wrong. It is important to recognize what Jesus said about Himself. You should want the Lord as your Shepherd, first, because He is the Good Shepherd. Second, He is not a hireling—not a contracted worker managing another's flock—but the owner. When danger comes, the hireling flees to save himself, but the Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

In Matthew 9, as Jesus went about teaching, preaching, healing, and casting out demons, He beheld the multitudes and "was moved with compassion, for they were like sheep scattered without a shepherd." You should want to move from being scattered and alone to coming under the care of the Good Shepherd.

How to Become Part of His Fold

How do you become part of His fold? In John 10, Jesus said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring; and they will hear My voice." And in verse 27: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." The Lord is speaking, calling you to come under His provision and care. All you have to do is respond and acknowledge Him as Shepherd.

King David wrote in Psalm 95:6:

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.

If you hear His voice calling, do not harden your heart. Respond and acknowledge Him as the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.

"I Shall Not Want"

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want." That sounds like a wonderful promise, but what does it mean? Does it mean I will lack absolutely nothing and have everything I want and desire?

Some teach exactly that—especially in our country: if you are a follower of the Good Shepherd, you will lack nothing you desire; just name it and claim it. But those who teach this have problems. First, a practical problem: if Christians have everything they want, why is that not the case for the overwhelming majority of Christians? When pressed, they qualify it—it's for the true Christian, the spirit-filled Christian, the one without sin.

They also have a biblical problem, found right in Psalm 23 itself. David says, "I shall not want," and then a few verses later speaks of "the valley of the shadow of death" and of "my enemies." I don't desire death, valleys, suffering, or enemies—and neither did David. So if those under the Good Shepherd always have everything they desire, why are there valleys and enemies in the very same text? It must not mean you will have everything you desire.

All That I Need

The New Living Translation is helpful: "The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need." The sheep in the fold of the Lord is not wanting—an older English word meaning to be wandering, looking for satisfaction elsewhere. The sheep in the Lord's fold is satisfied. They are not searching for other pastures or other shepherds, because they have found a Shepherd who meets their needs.

Psalm 34:9-10 says, "There is no want to those who fear Him... those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing." Psalm 84:11: "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 85:12: "The Lord will give what is good."

This brings us to an important truth: there are things we pray for that are not good. Be honest—you've prayed for things you later realized were not good for you. The Good Shepherd discerns what would not be good for us. If you knew what God knows, you'd say no to those things, or never ask. There's a song that says, "Thank God for unanswered prayers"—those times He said no, and years later you say, "Thank God He didn't say yes."

So if you are praying for something and God has not given it, it may be that He sees it is not good, or not good for you right now, and He says, "Wait." Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Often our prayers seek first the things rather than the kingdom. And Philippians 4:19 promises, "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." The sheep in the fold of the Lord will lack nothing of need.

For His Name's Sake

Verse 2: "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." Notice the four words that close verse 3: "for His name's sake." Underline them, because they are easy to miss. He does what He does for His glory and His fame—that His sheep would be cared for, their needs met, satisfied and not wandering. That is point number three: God lovingly cares for His own.

All humanity abides under what theologians call the common grace of God—sunshine and rain for their crops. But those in the fold of the Lord, having heard His voice and acknowledged His shepherding, He lovingly cares for as His own.

Even When I Walk Through the Valley

Verse 4: "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." The word "yea" isn't part of our everyday vocabulary. Some translations render it "even though," and a few say "even when"—and I like that. Just as we won't always have everything we desire, we will also, in a fallen world, go through valleys. You will experience difficulty and trial.

In a group this size, while some are experiencing green pastures and still waters, more than a few are silently walking through a valley right now. Last week I sat for a couple of hours with a brother in our church whose two adult sons were killed in an accident on Highway 76—he came to church that Sunday and few people knew. After this service I spoke with a couple sitting in the front with tears in their eyes; their 33-year-old son died of a heart attack the morning before. When they came in, they had smiles on their faces, but the passage ministered, and now there were tears. They are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

David says he will fear no evil, because it is the shadow of death, not the very substance of death. Circle the word "for" in verse 4: "for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."

From the Third Person to the Second Person

Notice the clear shift in language. In verses 1 through 3, David speaks of God in the third person: He makes me, He leads me, He restores me. Now in verse 4 he shifts to the second person: "You are with me; Your rod and Your staff." What happened?

It is in the valley that the follower of God moves from knowing about God—from a merely intellectual, theological understanding of who He is—to experiencing personally His care, provision, and protection. Why does God allow us to go through valleys? Why doesn't He simply stop it? I've sat with many people in great loss who ask, "Why didn't God stop this?" I told the gentleman who lost his two sons, "I can't even imagine what you're going through, but I do know this: you will know the presence of God like you've never known it before." When he came in on Tuesday, he said, "God has been with me. He's been with me." "You are with me"—even in the midst of the valley, when everything else seems to indicate God is gone, He is there.

We live in a fallen world, and death and sin are the result of that fall. But there in the valley God reveals Himself as He walks us through. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." Saul of Tarsus knew many theological truths about God, but after his conversion he longed to know Him. Yet you cannot know the power of the resurrection without first knowing the fellowship of His suffering and death. It is the death that brought the resurrection; the suffering that led into the death. You will never know experientially the power of the glorious resurrection apart from the experience of suffering.

A Path Through the Valley

Notice it is a path through the valley—the valley is not the destination. "Even when I walk through the valley," God is taking us somewhere. Sometimes the paths of righteousness He leads us in meander through dark valleys, but those valleys are not where we are headed. He is taking us through to greener pastures and more still waters.

The common denominator among believers who have suffered great pain is that they have come into an experience of the presence of God greater than they ever thought possible. If you meet someone who knows the Lord experientially, you have met someone who has known suffering. The presence of the Lord is often more sweet and tangible in the oncology infusion lab than it is sometimes in a sanctuary on a Sunday morning.

God as the Gracious Host

Verse 5: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over." David shifts from the metaphor of God as Shepherd to God as host, preparing a banquet in his honor. "I've made this for you; pull up to the table."

But notice—"in the presence of my enemies." Commentators offer many thoughts, but I think it means this: the one who has God as Shepherd and host is at absolute peace and safety even when surrounded by enemies, because He is with them, His rod and staff a comfort, and no good thing will He withhold. What does it matter if you are surrounded by enemies, if you have Him?

"You anoint my head with oil"—this was a greeting hosts gave when welcoming guests. Jesus alludes to it in Luke 7 at the home of Simon the Pharisee: "When I came, you did not anoint My head with oil." Here God, the Creator of all things, is the host welcoming you as the guest of honor. "My cup runs over"—like a diner where you order one cup of coffee and they keep refilling it before it ever gets a third empty, until by two o'clock you've had eighty-five cups. That is the picture: the Lord heaping abundance upon you. Point number four: the Good Shepherd leads His sheep into and through dark valleys, which are not the ultimate destination, and in the midst of them, surrounded by enemies, there is protection from the Lord.

Goodness and Mercy Forever

Verse 6: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Surely—certainly, absolutely, without a doubt. Even in the valley, even surrounded by enemies, goodness and mercy shall pursue you. The word "follow" carries the idea of pursuing to overtake. The unfailing love of the Lord shall pursue you all the days of your life.

One commentator pictures goodness and mercy as two twin angels escorting us, the Shepherd in front and these two behind. At a pastors' conference a couple of weeks ago, walking with Pastor Jason on one side and Pastor Mark on the other, I felt like I had bodyguards. Goodness and mercy are your bodyguards as the Shepherd leads you onward.

But where is the ultimate destination? "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Underline, circle, highlight, star that word "forever." It is not temporary. The valleys of this life are temporary; the enemy is temporal; but the house of the Lord is enduring. That is point number five: the surety of God's blessing remains upon the life and the path of His followers forever. This is the promise to those who have the Lord as their Shepherd—a promise worth memorizing and calling to mind, because a day of dark valleys will come for every one of us.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You for Your word. I pray for those undoubtedly in our midst right now who are in the midst of a trial, walking through a valley. Encourage their heart and mind with the reality of Your presence, that they would experience Your presence like they never have before. Help them see the temporal nature of the valley, and the death of the valley as just a shadow and not the very substance—because Jesus, You took on death, the substance of it. Lord, remind us that we will dwell with You in Your house forever. No good thing will You withhold; help us trust in Your provision, protection, and care as the Good Shepherd, and the blessing of You as the host. We praise You and thank You, in Jesus' name. Amen.