The Good

Shepherd!
“I am the good shepherd. The
good shepherd gives His life for
the sheep. 12 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; and the wolf
catches the sheep and scatters
them. John 10:11-12
The hireling flees because he is
a hireling and does not care
about the sheep. 14 I am the
good shepherd; and I know My
sheep, and am known by My
own. 15 As the Father knows Me,
even so I know the Father; and I
lay down My life for the sheep.
John 10:13-15
The LORD is
my shepherd,
I shall not
want.
Psalm 23:1
He makes me lie
down in green
pastures; He leads
me beside quiet
waters. Psalm 23:2
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the
paths of
righteousness For
His name's sake.
Psalm 23:3
Even though I walk
through the valley of the
shadow of death, I fear no
evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4
You prepare a table before
me in the presence of my
enemies; You have
anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5
Surely goodness and
lovingkindness will follow
me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the
house of the LORD
forever.
Psalm 23:4
The one who wrote
this psalm had an
intimate knowledge
of what it meant to be
a shepherd.
David spent all of his
growing up years
caring for his father’s
sheep in the
pasturelands of
Israel.
In those years he
had lots of time to
develop a deep
relationship with
God.
He also had the perfect
opportunity to develop
his musical talents. God
and Sheep are a great
audience to share your
songs with.
It is these earliest
experiences with God that
formed his life work. He
would be a shepherd not
only a flock of sheep but of
men and women as well.
He learned to
war protecting
his sheep.
David said to Saul, "Let no man's
heart fail on account of him; your
servant will go and fight with this
Philistine.” 33 Then Saul said to
David, "You are not able to go
against this Philistine to fight with
him; for you are but a youth while
he has been a warrior from his
youth.“
1 Samuel 17:32-34
But David said to Saul, "Your
servant was tending his father's
sheep. When a lion or a bear came
and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I
went out after him and attacked
him, and rescued it from his mouth;
and when he rose up against me, I
seized him by his beard and struck
him and killed him.
1 Samuel 17:34-35
"Your servant has killed both the
lion and the bear; and this
uncircumcised Philistine will be like
one of them, since he has taunted
the armies of the living God.” 37
And David said, "The LORD who
delivered me from the paw of the
lion and from the paw of the bear,
He will deliver me from the hand of
this Philistine."
1 Samuel 17:36-37
Our destiny is being
established from the moment
of our conception. If we
understand our
circumstances and if we are
seeking God all the events of
our lives we can find God’s
redemptive purposes for our
lives.
That is what David did. He
took what many would feel to
be a terrifying experience
never to be repeated and
instead saw it as an
opportunity for God to
demonstrate His power. God
loves this!
So it was with one of the
most beautiful poems in
the world. He drew on
some of the most difficult
and discouraging periods
of his life and saw God
faithfully caring for him the
whole time.
The LORD is
my shepherd,
I shall not
want.
Psalm 23:1
A good shepherd is a
constant caregiver. David
saw God’s heart in his
own. One who is always
protecting, providing One
who is always giving His
presence.
He makes me lie
down in green
pastures; He leads
me beside quiet
waters. Psalm 23:2
When David wrote
these words he was a
fugitive on the run from
a man who had
thousands of troops
and was determined to
kill him.
He was living in caves
and living from day to
day in absolute fear. So
where were the green
pastures he was led by
his shepherd to?
They were in his heart.
I have found that there
can be an absolute
difference between our
outward circumstances
and our inward
condition.
When we choose God
as our Good Shepherd
we are continually led
to a place of rest no
matter what is
happening outside us.
It comes down to
choosing which reality
we will live in. God’s or
ours.
He restores my soul;
Psalm 23:3 a
God’s restoration of
our soul is what
Jesus died for.
Our own wrong
choices, the world,
and the enemy of
souls continually eat
away at our inner life.
But as the Good
Shepherd Jesus
brings the restoration
of our souls he paid
for with his life.
He lays down his life
for his sheep so that
they might find life.
He guides me in the
paths of
righteousness For
His name's sake.
Psalm 23:3
David depended on
God to direct his life.
He did so in a very
specific way. He
prayed and believed
God would lead him.
And God did.
Far to often I find that
we pray without
expecting an answer.
David knew better.
His very life
depended on God
guiding him into safe
places.
He knew a good
shepherd would do
that.
And he believed that
God would guide him
purposefully and
specifically.
God delights in us
praying for His
specific guidance
and expecting him to
give it.
Seeing God act our
our behalf through
answered prayer is
such a delight to our
souls.
Even though I walk
through the valley of the
shadow of death, I fear no
evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4
David walked the valley of
the shadow of death often.
As he speaks of it here we
understand the secret to
the life he found in God.
He knew the reality
of God’s presence
with him.
Paul the apostle
found this same
secret:
What then shall we say to
these things? If God is for us,
who is against us? 32 He
who did not spare His own
Son, but delivered Him over
for us all, how will He not
also with Him freely give us
all things? Romans 8:31
In the midst of terrible trouble
David understood God was
as near. He was the good
shepherd that would never
leave him to the bears and
lions.
God’s nearness was what
gave David the courage to
move ahead. It was what
delighted him. God’s
presence was the quiet
waters and green pastures. It
was what restored his soul.
You prepare a table before
me in the presence of my
enemies; You have
anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5
The banquet set by God
for David did not remove
his enemy. But his enemy
could not hinder David
from feasting with God.
Nor should it ever hinder
us.
How often do we feel that
life keeps us from this
place of joy in our Lord.
Yet it is not true. It can
keep us from the table of
the Lord only if we focus
on the it as the enemy.
When we choose to live
our lives in the joy of God’s
presence we find that the
enemies of our life are
subdued inside us. They
can not harm us.
David ends the psalm by
affirming the reality of God’s
eternal care. These
“momentary light afflictions”
as Peter called them are
reminders that God’s
presence with us is the only
reality that matters.
His lovingkindness, his
mercy, being invited as a
special guest to be with him
in his home forever makes
everything else
inconsequential.
The secret that David wants
us to find as well is that
God’s presence can help us
to walk through anything. It is
the joy of life when all
outward joy has gone.
Surely goodness and
lovingkindness will follow
me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the
house of the LORD
forever.
Psalm 23:4
And it is so because Jesus is
our Good Shepherd.