Confidence in God’s Shepherding
Study Scripture: Psalm 23
Background Scripture: Psalm 22
Lesson #10 November 2, 2024
Key Verse
Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6
INTRODUCTION
How do we live the Christian life?
Is there an essential Text which guides you in difficult times, when the flood of troubled waters have washed out all the bridges, when as Psalm 69 states, “the waters have come up to my neck- and the floods sweep over me?
That Psalm 69 is blunt as it tells of our undesired experiences.
“I sink in deep mire
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God”
But note carefully that unlike that Psalm, this Psalm 23 is a Psalm of trust, as is Psalm 4, 11, 16, 27, 62, and 131 and is strategically placed after the lament at the personal crisis of Psalm 22 which began,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
And from the words of My groaning?
Know therefore that if you want to learn a lesson in Biblical psychology, this is the Lesson for you. It tells you who you really are, why you have a crisis from time to time, and why this is designed to open your eyes to the beauty and incredible character of God’s grace and love which is there all the time despite your tears which blind your eyes, and help you get your priorities straight.
You need this Psalm to revive your faith all the time and especially at the time of crisis and give you personal hope!
Why do you need this?
Let us look at the human being with unveiled eyes!
Yahweh will in this psalm address Israel (and of course you) now with three images.
The first as ‘shepherd”
-The second as “host”, and
-The third as “warrior”.
It is unusual for Yahweh to be likened as a “shepherd”, for “shepherding” was a lowly occupation, doing hard and dangerous work for long hours all by yourself in isolation, with modest pay.
A shepherd has to deal with animals which were not very smart, inclined to wander away on their own, defenseless against predators like bears and lions, easily stuck in fences by their thick hair, and if they ever fell down and rolled onto their backs, they could not get up by themselves and had to have someone lift them up and place them on their feet.
In this thankless job, and we note David was assigned to this job as shepherd, by his less than caring family, Jesus placed Himself as One who went out in front of “sheep”, facing the terrible dangers that awaited them, deciding which path was best for the sheep to take, lead them to the best resource for them to enjoy, and guard them from predators and evil beings.
In John 10:2 we see the extraordinary loving and kind Jesus calling Himself “the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep” positioned as
“the great shepherd of the sheep”
The Book of Hebrews calls Jesus, “the great shepherd of the sheep”.
1 Peter 2:25 calls Jesus “the chief shepherd”.
Note this is an unusual image for as David did this personalizes God. It then gives assurances in situations where the laments of Psalm 22 are detailed.
Why does Scripture depict human beings including believers as sheep? Can you see the similarities you have with them? One writer comments:
“A sheep is a particularly vulnerable creature especially when on its own. Sheep need a leader so as not to wander aimlessly, and will follow their leader even into certain danger.
Sheep have no defense against predators except for flocking, yet their instinctive flight in response to danger can cause panic and scattering.
Individual sheep are highly stressed when separated from their flock.
Indeed. Sheep must be able to see each other in order to graze without agitation, and the loss of that visual contact can lead to further panic and flight.
A lost sheep is, if you will, a sitting duck.
Texts in which the people of God are depicted as sheep arise from the experiences of vulnerable communities. The people are scattered and have fallen prey to those bent on Israel’s destruction.
Those passages offer assurance that their Lord is with them, to lead them as their shepherd (Psalm 95:7 and 100:3), to rescue the scattered and bring them to their own land (Ezekiel 34:11-16), and to gather lambs to God’s bosom and gently lead them home (Isaiah 40:11)”.
This Psalm of trust will therefore look at the “darkest valley of human experience”, the “deepest darkness”, and how God as host will not only care and guide to safety but will have them sit with Him in His banquet while they look at their enemies, knowing life in the presence of danger will be transformed.
This is a Psalm of David and it is significant as one writer points out to us David uses
“The first –person singular pronouns such as “I”, “me”, and “my” a staggering seventeen times in a mere six verses”.
This is an intensely personal psalm where there is no use of any word that does not relate to him.
This Psalm is one every believer must be required to learn and be able to speak the words personally, for crises times will come One pastor David Hanson tells this story and we hope you will come to understand the importance of learning and memorizing this Psalm for your benefit. He states:
“I visited an elderly gentleman in a nursing home for several years. He was not a member of my congregation, but as I visited members in his room we became friends.
One day I approached him with a smile and a handshake and he no longer knew me. He’d had a stroke.
I reintroduced myself from scratch, figuring we would just start the friendship over. The damage was more severe than that. He didn’t know who he was, he didn’t know his own name, he didn’t know he was strapped in a wheelchair.
So I just asked him if I could read the bible to him. I was surprised when he said cogently, “Yes, please do”.
I began reading psalm 23 slowly, “The Lord is my shepherd”. Pause. His head lifted slightly. He opened his mouth.
“”I shall not want”, he replied, clearly. I smiled and continued.
“He maketh me to lie down…” Pause. I’d seen this kind of thing before.
“In green pastures”, came the response.
We continued through the psalm. I prompted him with a line, and he gave me the next one. Near the end, when I said, “Surely goodness and mercy…” he rattled off the rest before I could interrupt him: “shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.
When we finished we both smiled and our eyes were not dry.
He still didn’t know who I was, and he hadn’t remembered his name; but in a profound sense he’d re-found himself.
By using a portion of the Word of God he’d memorized as a child and cherished his own life, we’d skipped around the damaged cells, and just maybe we found his soul”.
Learn therefore God as shepherd is intimately involved in our life. He cares and He knows us. So let us see what one writer recaps about what God knows:
“-He knows what is happening in our lives.
-He knows what trouble has come our way.
-He knows how weak we are in the face of temptation.
-He knows when we are, or depressed or upset, or guilt ridden.
-He knows when we are struggling with disease and ill heath, always fearing that death is just around the corner.
-We can say he knows every need that might have”.
So let us look at this Psalm which reminds us that in the face of danger and misfortune and the shadows of darkness that surround us, God will sustain us.
THE TEXT
Verse 1. The opening verse, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”, is written because God wants you to be independently dependent on Him, to need Him alone.
This verse points out to us that if God is your shepherd then you should not want.
If you are in want, obviously God is not your shepherd. When you look at yourself and you see only loneliness, frustration, emptiness, and frustration you must know someone else is shepherding you and you will never be satisfied.
If your education, your intellect, your job or vocation, or drugs or liquor or other substances is your shepherd you will always be doing feverish schemes and will be frustrated, disappointed, and left feeling empty. If the government is your shepherd the main and ultimate thing they can offer you is the ‘right to die” legislation prospects.
Note that it is unusual when David uses the phrase, “my shepherd” for he personalizes the role of God putting the relationship on him and on you, on a personal basis with you the individual. The word translated “want” must be examined for some translations record this as “lack”. A want can be a “desire” and does not have the other meaning of “want” which means you are content with what you have.
We know that “wanting’ is not necessarily bad for Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 22:15 He “earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer”.
The idea in Scripture of what David means shows in his approach which comes from Deuteronomy 2:7 for there Moses reminded the people of Israel that during the 40 years in the wilderness they ‘lacked” nothing.
Also, in Psalm 34:10 David gave us the word’s distinctively stress,
“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing”.
The idea therefore is if we lack nothing, we have everything we need for the Lord is our Shepherd and will give us everything we need, including knowing God.
One writer gives us the word meaning;
“The Hebrew word haser refers to something that is incomplete, insufficient, or empty. Using this same word, Moses spoke of the Israelites’ wilderness journey, saying, “these 40 yers Yahweh your God has been with you, you have lacked (haser) nothing. Deuteronomy 2:7). Even though the Israelites had traveled for so many years through a mostly barren wilderness God had provided food, water, guidance, and protection—everything they needed. They lacked nothing.
It is only logical that the one whose shepherd is the Lord should lack nothing”.
Verse 2. The shepherd meets the basic needs of the sheep. Sheep need grass and water, and green pastures provide sustaining food. Grassy meadows are so that sheep can eat and be satisfied. Green pastures mean food abounds.
Sheep also need water. This is a figure of speech, a metaphor for the satisfaction of spiritual needs.
Sheep are afraid of running water and will drink only from a quiet pool for only there can they drink without fear of being carried away by a raging current and drowning. The Good shepherd knows the sheep and so leads them to still water. He knows where in the arid deserts the good watering holes are. He leads where the sheep can feed, drink, and rest for their basic needs are met. They are in a calm and tranquil place.
Verse 3. “He restores my soul” (Hebrew nepes—soul, life) and this clearly means that for humans the divine shepherd leads in straight paths, into “paths of righteousness” . There is a moral quality in this leading for these paths are the way to life, not paths that lead a person astray.
God thus leads through His words which are the food of life. Feeding on His word restores the inner man. Even sheep sometimes get into physical and emotional trouble and they need the shepherd to restore their life.
Humans frequently have ups and downs in life and only the guiding hand of God can raise them up so that they avoid destroying themselves by “pride” and falling to sundry temptations and getting into the “down stage”. We often need our lives restored so that we live according to the ethical principles in the Bible for they show God’s will.
In John 6 Jesus warns:
Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set His seal……
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst”.
The divine shepherd knows we have souls and so He provides spiritual food and water to restore our souls. So let us be careful and heed the warning of Jesus as He quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Note that the good Shepherd gives good directions so that you can live and so He leads in the path of righteousness, a well- defined and marked out trail, so that even when we are foolish enough like the sheep to stray, the shepherd knows exactly into where to pull us back.
Note God’s identity lies in his name. He does the work of shepherd in a precise way for God is holy and He takes his holy name seriously. Psalms 106:8 states:
“God saved Israel for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power shown”.
And Exodus 20:7:
“You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name”.
We need to make sure we do not tarnish the name of God by doing wrongful actions and speaking wrongful words.
So ensure you submit to the leadership of the shepherd with your whole heart. Obey what you know to be His will, learning what He has said in His word. Pray and lean on the Holy Spirit to explain and guide you through what you do not understand, and provide help for you from godly servants of His.
Verse 4. The “valley of the shadow of death” is referred to in Jeremiah 2:7 and Job 10:21-22 and this can refer to illnesses or depression or anything that can threaten us with death.
We can imagine the shepherd leading the sheep at evening time toward home through narrow dangerous looking ravines, and the timid, defenseless sheep are frightened by this experience. But since they trust the shepherd they are comforted and since the shepherd is with them they fear no evil.
David is not afraid here of going through the “valley”, for that is not the final destination. He knows he will go “through” and come out from the shadows and finally come into the light. In Isaiah 43:1-3 God therefore told Israel and He tells us:
“Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you.
I have called you by your name. You are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned,
And flame will not scorch you.
For I am Yahweh your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior”.
The shepherd’s rods were sturdy and would be used to fight off all kinds of animals. They were a comfort to the sheep because they knew the rod and staff were in the hands of their shepherd.
When we end up in dark places and we become vulnerable to the lies of Satan we do not fear. We know we do not “lack”
We know as Psalm 139:8 tells us even “If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there”.
No matter where we are the shepherd is there and He promises He will protect us and push away any evil from us.
His comforting words are stressed by the Apostle John in 1 John 1:4:
“He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”.
Make sure you know your relationship with Christ. He comforts those in Him:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Verse 5. Now the shepherd is revealed to us as our Host. The shepherd has scouted and found a great safe place with good pasture so that the sheep will be eating luxuriously with no fear of poisonous plants and any predators.
God looks around and sees our enemies and He shows them to us. But He prepares a sumptuous banquet and engages in intimate table fellowship with us because He holds us in high regard and He knows the enemies are powerless.
The shepherd-King anoints the head of His invitee with oil indicating that God has marked him out as special. Anointing was used to mark out the king, the prophet, and the priest as special persons selected by God for His purpose.
In David’s experience God nourished him when he fled into the wilderness and so he comforts us and Israel, for as the Apostle Paul stated in Philippians 4:19,
“My God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.
The Hebrew word David now used states: My cup runs over for there is superabundance as the overflowing cup speaks of God’s generosity. God’s provision for our life is fully made.
Verse 6. David now declares proudly that, Surely, without a doubt, God’s goodness tob, and His hesed, God’s lovingkindness is so plentiful this this all will pursue him all the days of his life. God is so loving and kind that one should look forward to and expect God will bless His people all of their life. As one writer puts it:
‘In this case the divine warrior pursues, all right, but he pursues with the weapons of his goodness and loyal love, defeating our suspicions and winning us over.
If goodness and loyal love will pursue us “all the days” of our lives, then there is not one day when goodness and loyal love will not pursue us.
There will not be one day, no matter how dark, when you will not be able to turn around and see goodness and loyal love pursuing you”.