The Good Shepherd

Yes, David was a king, but he remembered his beginnings as a shepherd. In this psalm, he recounts God’s goodness, faithfulness, and kindness to him throughout his days.

“Probably the most important single word in this psalm is the little word my. You can know that the Lord is the Shepherd—the only One in the universe who can fully meet your need.

It is only when you have come to place your confidence in Him personally that you can sing with David of old, ‘The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want’” (Haddon W. Robinson, Trusting the Shepherd: Insights from Psalm Twenty-Three [Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 2002], 61).

Everything that follows in the psalm hinges on this statement: God is your shepherd. Just as the course of David’s life changed when God chose him through Samuel’s anointing (1 Samuel 16:1–13),

So the path of the believer’s life changes when God becomes our shepherd. Through the salvation of the Lord, we find ourselves the great beneficiaries of God’s kindness, care, sustenance, and provision.

2. God is our shepherd; we shall not want.

Well, that sounds easier on paper than in reality. Clint Eastwood’s western film Pale Rider opens with Megan, a young girl, burying her dog after it was killed by crooked men bent on destroying the local prospectors’ camps and families. She prays Psalm 23, adding in what many of us have felt when our own hearts are broken and searching for answers. She prays, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want—but I do want. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul—but they killed my dog. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil—but I am afraid. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me—but I need a miracle. Thy loving kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life—if you exist. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever—but I’d like to get more of this life first” (directed by Clint Eastwood [Warner Brothers, 1985]). Psalm 23 is often used during times of trial or sadness because for the believer it can bring comfort.

To know the shepherd does not mean that we will live lives without hardship or grief, but it does mean that God does not abandon us. He will sustain us. He may not provide all our wants, but he will provide what we need.

Through him we have reconciliation with God and the restoration of all things—many in this life and all in the life to come. Even when it feels like we are in want, we can trust in the Good Shepherd to see us through.

3. Make no mistake that David knew what it was to be a shepherd and he knew what it was to be a sheep.

Sheep have a reputation for being notoriously foolish, vulnerable, and unintelligent. Urban Dictionary says the slang use of the term sheep refers to “a waste of flesh and brain cells.” Ouch! Watch any clip of America’s Funniest Home Videos and you might be convinced that humanity is quite ridiculous! Like sheep, we need something, someone, outside of ourselves to help us and guide us.

The flip side to that is that recent studies have shown that “sheep are actually surprisingly intelligent, with impressive memory and recognition skills. They build friendships, stick up for one another in fights, and feel sad when their friends are sent to slaughter” (Harriet Constable, “Sheep Are Not Stupid, and They Are Not Helpless Either,” BBC, April 19, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170418-sheep-are-not-stupid-and-they-are-not-helpless-either).

This all seems to track with the humanity we know. We are keen, clever, resourceful, and relational—and we are definitely in need of direction, sometimes incapable of making good choices.

We can do many things all by ourselves in our own strength, but we are also helpless to overcome sin, to find sustained hope or joy, or to gain eternal life apart from our shepherd’s intervention.

4. The choice for the believer is whether or not to willingly become the shepherd’s sheep.

Will we allow ourselves to give up control and follow the wisdom of a good and caring shepherd who can meet our every need?

Can we truthfully say, “The LORD is my shepherd”? We do not always know what life will include when we submit ourselves to God’s authority. When Samuel showed up at David’s house, how could

David have known all that was to come?

Did David know that he would kill a giant?

Did he know that he would be on the run because Saul wanted to kill him?

Did he anticipate becoming a murderer?

Did he know he would fail, yet be restored?

Did he know that he would lose children to death and to rebellion? Of course he didn’t! Yet, through it all, David would remain an imperfect pillar of the faith and a man after God’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).

Like David, we will face hardship, and we will enjoy triumph. This only emphasizes the truth of Psalm 23: that everything we are, everything we have, and everything we need is found in the Lord.

Our Great Shepherd provides for us, restores us, leads us, protects us, comforts us, and sustains us, now and for eternity, as we dwell in his love and care.

We don’t know what will happen, but like David, we can reflect and know we are in the care of the Good Shepherd, and that can give us peace to face the future, regardless of our circumstances.

5. When faced with the choice to lay aside our self-reliance and independence, we would do well to understand that we find freedom by doing so.

William Martin notes that “the psalm has five parts, each affirming a major benefit of the psalmist’s relation to the Shepherd. …

These five freedoms—from dearth, decline, death, deficiency, and desertion—will meet all man’s spiritual needs and provide peace and security for his soul” (William J. Martin, “The Shepherd Psalm: Patterns of Freedom,” Christianity Today, March 15, 1968, https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1968/march-15/shepherd-psalm-patterns-of-freedom.html). Maybe being like a sheep isn’t so bad after all.

Week 1 - Questions

1. What is one thing that stood out to you from this week’s message?

2. Is God your shepherd? If so, share your story of salvation.

3. In what ways do you resemble a sheep? How can you be mindful to listen to your shepherd?

4. Which verse in Psalm 23 is most meaningful for you? Why?

5. Can you think of a time when you struggled with doubt in God’s goodness or provision? How did you overcome your doubts? How did God shepherd you during this time?