Shepherd

Psalm 23 is probably the best known and most popular chapter of the Word of God. It is no surprise that this is so, since everyone enjoys the theme of the shepherd who cares for his sheep.

Let us consider some of these aspects. First of all, this matter of rest: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” It is very significant that the psalm starts with resting in God, because that is how the Christian life begins. We are so restless. Isaiah says in the fifty-seventh chapter, “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest” (v. 20). When he talked about God’s ability to provide rest, Saint Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”

As you know, in the Christian life there are areas that seem ambiguous. We do not know which way to go. We do not know the right road to take. We do not know the proper direction to turn. We need a guide. We need somebody who knows the way, who has been over this course before. In fact, we need somebody who knows us and knows what he wants to do with us. That is precisely the kind of guide we have in Jesus Christ. He guides us in paths of righteousness.

Have you noticed how the psalm changes at this point from referring to the shepherd in the third person he (used in the early portion of the psalm) to the second person you (in this section)? Read it with that in mind: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

Finally, we find that the one who has the Lord for his shepherd is not going to lack a heavenly home. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (v. 6). We desire to have a home. We are like pilgrims. We know that this world is not our home, and we are looking for a home. Well, the good news is that we have one. Our home is there at the end, prepared for us by the Lord Jesus Christ.