The Lord is My Shepherd (Psalm 23:1)
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On Sunday mornings, we are in the midst of a study of John’s gospel. In , Christ declares himself to be the Good Shepherd. Most likely, many of us, when the shepherd motif arises, we think of , “The Lord is my shepherd.”
On Sunday mornings, we are in the midst of a study of John’s gospel. In , Christ declares himself to be the Good Shepherd. Most likely, many of us, when the shepherd motif arises, we think of , “The Lord is my shepherd.”
On Sunday mornings, we are in the midst of a study of John’s gospel. In , Christ declares himself to be the Good Shepherd. Most likely, many of us, when the shepherd motif arises, we think of , “The Lord is my shepherd.”
Also, in light of IDOP Sunday, I want to ask a question. How do believers, who live in countries with persecution, understand the idea of God is their caring, comforting, guiding, and protecting shepherd? How do believers that are destitute, poor, persecuted, killed, homes and churches burned, rejected from society . . . how do believers who are imprisoned and torn from their families connect with the statement, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”? How is comforting to them?
Open Doors, a ministry committed to supporting the persecuted church, offers the following information regarding some of the top persecuted nations.
North Korea. Number 1 on the World Watch List. Picture a professional football stadium for the big game on Sunday, filled to capacity. That’s roughly the number of Christians in labor camps in North Korea. Their crime? Believing in Jesus.
There are no parents in North Korea reading Bible stories to their young children. They simply can’t afford to for fear that the child may say something and reveal their beliefs.
Christian fellowship looks much different in North Korea. There can be no worship services. There can be no gathering. It might look like this: picture a Christian walking into a park and taking a seat on a bench. And then over some period of time, scanning the park to see if maybe there’s another believer to visit with for a moment.
And yet, it is estimated there are 300,000 believers in North Korea. They’re worshiping God wherever and however they can.
Pakistan. Number 5 on the World Watch List. Ambiguous blasphemy laws have been put in place, which can be used to throw any Christian in jail for a real or perceived slight against Islam. Any accuser can claim something derogatory was said about Islam or Muhammad, and the person accused can be arrested and sentenced to death. Often, the accusation is accompanied by a group of people eager to administer mob justice.
Pakistani children are educated in thousands of madrasas—Islamic schools—where they are often exposed to extremist messages and ideology. Additionally, women and children are abducted at an alarming rate; perhaps 700 of them last year, with some of them sexual abused, forcefully married to Muslim men and forced to convert to Islam.
Eritrea. Number 6 on the World Watch list. Eritrea is one of the most closed countries in the world. It’s often called the “North Korea of Africa” because of its brutal dictatorship.
No church operates without government direction. There is no public evangelical presence.
There may be more than 1,000 Christians imprisoned in metal shipping containers that function as prisons.
Nigeria. Number 14 on the World Watch List. In recent years, it was Boko Haram, a militant Muslim group that was the primary force attacking and killing Christians, particularly in the Northeast corner of Nigeria. Since the beginning of their insurgency in 2009, Boko Haram is responsible for at least tens of thousands of deaths, and over 2 million people were displaced through the destruction of their communities.
Nigeria has a huge population of Christian widows. When attacking church buildings, pastors and elders were targeted. When attacking homes, the fathers and sons were targeted. Over time, this has left the country with many widows.
And yet, the Nigerian church continues to follow Jesus and serve His Church. Churches are running trauma counseling centers, helping distribute relief aid and help with rebuilding efforts in villages that were attacked.[1]
YHWH is my Shepherd
YHWH is my Shepherd
YHWH the ever existent, present and personal God is seen in these verses as a Shepherd.
I don’t think it was mere happen stance that David used YHWH as his title for God. The distant all-powerful Elohim and Adonai may have reflected an impersonal feel in light of God being a shepherd.[2]
God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord [YHWH], the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. ().
Shepherd. We of course do not find it odd that David finds comfort in the idea of a shepherd. If David were to reflect on his life as a shepherd, he would be reminded of his care of his sheep. David watched carefully over his sheep. He defended them from the lion and the bear and anything else that might endanger them. He carefully found them plenty of pasture and water. All this and much more David experienced as God, his shepherd, led, directed, guided, protected and defended him throughout his life.
The root word for “shepherd” carries the idea of pasturing and tending but as well the idea of tranquility (calm, quiet, stillness). As the shepherd leads and directs, he brings a stillness and calm to his sheep. This tranquility describes a scenario in which two animals who are normally pursuer and prey, graze together (such as the bear and cow in and the wolf and the lamb in ). This tranquility allows for stillness and quite between two enemies. YHWH fills the role as shepherd, and we who are naturally his enemies are taken from a place of enmity into a place of stillness and quiet calm.
Two implications. (1) YHWH as shepherd implies that he cares, provides, calls, leads, defends, and guards his sheep. As of this point we see that David has experienced this loving kindness in his own life. Not only does the fact that YHWH is a shepherd imply his care and protection of His sheep, it as well implies (2) that those who follow are characterized by a tendency to go their own way, an inability to defend themselves, and an inability to provide for themselves.
Truly, some of Christ’s sheep hover close to him. They respond immediately to his call. They find great joy in his care and provision. They are in no danger of getting lost or attacked by wild beasts. However, sadly too large a portion, are consumed with the lures of the world. They seek their own pleasures and selfish interests. “They run from bush to bush, searching for variety or delicacies, and only now and then lift their heads to see where the shepherd is, or, rather where the general flock is, lest they get so far away as to occasion a remark in their little community, or rebuke from their keeper.” [3]
However, David emphasizes the beauty of the shepherd, not the foibles of the sheep or their inability to provide and protect themselves. But the implication is clear. If great solace and comfort are acquired through God’s protection and provision, it assumes an inability on our part to do those things for ourselves. This is not something to be ashamed of, so much as we ought to glory in the fact that God has offered himself as a shepherd.
My shepherd. A second and most beautiful point in the statement, “The Lord is my shepherd” is the personal possession stated in the word “my.” YHWH was not simply any shepherd. Little comfort comes from YHWH being someone else’s shepherd. David realized that the great provision found in the great Shepherd was poured out on him, and so David was comforted in knowing that the Great Shepherd was his own shepherd. We draw the same comfort.
Christ is my shepherd (). Christ is established as a shepherd in these verses. If Christ is your shepherd, there are some great realities presented in these verses.
Christ knows His sheep.
His sheep know Him.
His sheep will not follow anyone else.
His sheep follow only Him.
He leads His sheep.
He protects His sheep with His very life.
His sheep find all the provision they need under His protection and care.
You can find great comfort in the reality that Christ is your shepherd if you are one of His sheep, and you are only one of His sheep if you have entered through Him into the sheepfold. If you have placed your faith in Him as Lord and Savior.
David finds great comfort in the fact that YHWH is his Shepherd, and we as believers find great comfort in the fact that Christ (YHWH) is our Shepherd as well. As we return to we see the simple statement, “I shall not want.”
My needs are met in Christ
My needs are met in Christ
Understanding want. Two cautions. (1) God does not always supply our wants in the time and manner we think is best. (2) Be careful what you establish as a want.
People have at times taken this text and used it against God. They believe this text promises that God, as their shepherd, has promised to meet all their wants. They then establish what their wants are; and when those assumed wants are not met, they struggle trusting in God or think that God let them down or broke His promise.
This happens because we often wrongly define want.
If we were to understand “want” as it is commonly understood, we would likely struggle with this verse. I want a lot of things I don’t have. Yet, the real meaning of want is need. Both the CSB and NLT translate this verse as, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I have what I need.”
ESV (KJV, NAS) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
NIV (NET) The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
CSB (NLT) The LORD is my shepherd, I have what I need.
The saints were in need. Even this statement can be difficult to understand. (1) What are real needs? (2) Aren’t there a lot of godly people in need? We know that there were many times that Paul was in need.
And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. ().
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ().
[In referring to the O.T. saints, the author of Hebrews writes,] They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— ().
The word destitute means to be in need.[4] Therefore people who walked by faith with God were at times in need of some sort. What then does it mean to be in need?
Defining need. This concept of need refers to that which is required, essential, or necessary for a desired outcome.[5] A need must fit into a certain context. If I am to accomplish a certain task, I will need the following . . . If I am to eat, I need money to buy food. If I am to wear clothes, I need a job so that I can make money so that I can buy clothes, or at least I need material and the instruments to make my own. If I am to mow my lawn, I need grass and a lawnmower, and no snow. If I am to buy my wife a present, I need money.
Our greatest need. What is the greatest need? The psalmist tells us in verse 3. The Lord is my shepherd and provides all my needs. Why? “For his name’s sake” (). The greatest need is for God to be glorified. For God’s name to be exalted. For God’s reputation to be upheld. God is glorified as he does the things in verse 2 and 3. He brings rest to his sheep. He restores their broken souls. He clothes them in righteousness.
I cannot glorify God. As Paul writes in , constantly fall short of God’s glory. Therefore, my greatest need is for God to be my shepherd. In having that need met, I receive rest, my soul is restored, and I am clothed in righteousness.
What about persecuted believers? So then, how do believers throughout the world find comfort in this psalm? How do those who are destitute, poor, persecuted, killed, homes and churches burned, rejected from society, imprisoned and torn from their families connect with the statement that “the Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need”? They realize that their greatest needs are not temporal or physical. They are instead spiritual and eternal.
A call. I desire that you have a proper understanding of your preeminent need. If you think your preeminent needs are physical, if they surround your money or your home or your job or your relationships or your status at work or school . . . You will be disappointed in this psalm. The Lord is not your shepherd so that he can meet all your physical needs.
However, if you realize that you are spiritually destitute, if your soul longs and yearns for wholeness, if you ache over your unrighteousness, if you hurt for rest . . . Christ is all you need. As you hear him call and you respond in repentance and belief, Christ is your shepherd and he will supply all you need. You will never be in want. You will never be in lack.
And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. ().
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ().
Christ is my shepherd. I need nothing else.
[1] Open Doors, The Victorious Church, Thriving in Persecution, (Open Doors, 2018) Accessed October 23, 2019. https://www.opendoorsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/sermon-IDOP-final.pdf
[2] Both Elohim and Adonai are used in many cases that do not speak of God. establishes the name of YHWH as the personal name of God. TWOT tells us that it is used 5321 times. Others say that it is used over 6800 times. Either way it is used more than twice as much as Elohim (2,600 times)
[3] C. H Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, vol. 1 (Mclean, VA: MacDonald Publishing Company, n.d.), 359–60.
[4] Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller, eds., Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000), 394.
[5] Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson, eds., Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Need. [as a verb] (1) require (something) because it is essential or very important rather than just desirable. (2) expressing necessity or obligation [as a noun] circumstances in which something is necessary; necessity.