The Nature of the Shepherd

Introduction:

Noted American pastor, Steven J. Lawson includes this quotation in his introduction to the 23rdPsalm: “It has sung courage to the army of the disappointed. It has poured balm and consolation into the hearts of the sick, of captives in dungeons, of widows in their pinching grief, of orphans in their loneliness. Dying soldiers have died easier as it was read to them; ghastly hospitals have been illuminated; it has visited the prisoner and broken his chains, and, like Peter’s angel, led him forth in imagination, and sung him back to his home again. It has made the dying Christian slave freer than his master.”

We see in this Psalm three characteristics of the Shepherd’s relationship to his flock that reveal the nature of the Shepherd.

I. The Shepherd Provides for His Flock (Ps 23:1–3)

A. Your shepherd makes sure you lack nothing (Ps 23:1; 84:11; Php 4:19)

Explanation: In ancient Israel, the job of a shepherd was considered the least of all occupations. A shepherd’s responsibility was to live with his sheep for 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Regardless of weather, a shepherd’s task was to nurture, guide, and protect his sheep. The shepherd was fully responsible for the safety of his flock, risking his own life if necessary. No wonder the Old and New Testaments are full of references to God being a shepherd to his people, for this is exactly what he has done.

Quotation: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: The Lord will give grace and glory: No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Ps 84:11)

Quotation: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:19)

Application: What I need more than anything else is whatever enables me to fulfill my calling to be a faithful steward of the earthly possessions God has given me and a faithful reflector of his character (Ge 1:26-28; Mt 6:33).

Quotation: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Ge 1:26–28)

Quotation: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6:33)

B. Your shepherd makes sure your physical needs are provided (Ps 23:2)

Explanation: David communicates this with two phrases: “he maketh me to lie down in green pastures” and “he leadeth me beside the still waters.”

Explanation: Sheep, like humans, need rest along with food and drink. Sheep are fearful animals who will not lie down to rest when panicked. A caring shepherd looks for a calm, grassy meadow, where a sheep can lie down to rest and can graze calmly to restore his strength.

Explanation: In the wilderness of Judah where David lived, calm pools of water or “waters of rest” as this Hebrew could be translated can be hard to find. Yet, our shepherd, is willing and able when necessary to take stones and dam up the swiftly moving waters to still them and provide a calm, safe place for his sheep to partake of a life-giving drink.

Quotation: Daniel Hillel writes, “‘Still waters’ are the dream of every dweller in an arid land, where water is either sparse or comes in the form of sudden, violent flash floods of short duration.”

C. Your shepherd makes sure your spiritual needs are provided (Ps 23:3; Heb 12:9–13)

Explanation: Though, strictly from the perspective of sheep, restoring and leading in the paths of righteousness can be interpreted in a physical sense, when these verbs are used elsewhere of human beings, the spiritual sense of repentance and restoration to fellowship with God seem to be highlighted.

Illustration: As sheep lack a sense of physical direction and can become easily lost, so we as human beings lack a sense of spiritual direction. We are easily led astray by our own sinful thoughts and desires. We are prone to wandering, and we need a loving shepherd who will pursue us and guide us back into the right path. This pursuit and patient guidance of straying sheep highlight the Lord’s love and longsuffering with us and bring honor to his name.

Quotation: “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.” (Heb 12:9–13)

II. The Shepherd Protects His Flock (Ps 23:2–6a)

A. Your shepherd walks before you (Ps 23:2-3)

Explanation: Not only does the shepherd walk ahead of you now to lead you, but the shepherd has already walked ahead of you to assure you of his leadership.

Quotation: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15)

Explanation: How comforting is it to you to know that the shepherd has already experienced what you are going through? He leads you with understanding of what you are going through, and you can therefore be sure that he will lead you along the right path. You also know that he will not lead you into raging streams that will sweep you away to your doom. While the tempest may be raging around you physically, your shepherd leads you to still waters that refresh your soul.

Quotation: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Co 10:13)

B. Your shepherd walks beside you (Ps 23:4)

Explanation: Notice that David moves into direct address here. Instead of “he,” David moves from describing the shepherd in the third person to addressing the shepherd in the second person. You can be sure that the Lord is not only up ahead blazing a trail for you, but he is walking beside you to protect and comfort you.

Illustration: After the funeral service of his first wife, the late Donald Grey Barnhouse, distinguished pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, was thinking about how he could convey to his young children the loss of their mother. As he tried to conjure up words of comfort, the shadow of a large van passed over their car as they were driving down the highway. Instantly, Barnhouse thought of the words needed for the moment. “Children,” he asked, “would you rather be run over by a truck, or by its shadow?” The children quickly answered, “Well, of course, Dad, we’d much rather be run over by its shadow! The shadow cannot hurt us.” Barnhouse, the master illustrator, quickly explained, “The truck of death ran over the Lord Jesus two thousand years ago so that only its shadow now passes over us. That is all that has happened to your mother. Only the shadow of death has passed over her. She is unharmed in heaven.”

Explanation: When you belong to Christ, death is merely a transition from one place to the next. Just as an airplane brought me from the United States to the Philippines, so death takes you from the body so that you may be present with the Lord.

Quotation: “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Co 5:1, 8)

Explanation: Your shepherd has a rod and a staff to guide and protect you.

Quotation: As Steven J. Lawson reminds us, “The shepherd’s rod was usually an oak club about two feet long. It was used to defend the flock against wild animals such as lions or bears, as well as for counting, guiding, and protecting his sheep. And the shepherd’s staff was his crook. Bent or hooked at one end, it was used to pry sheep loose from thickets, to push branches aside, to pull fallen sheep out of holes, to lead them along narrow paths, and to drive off snakes. Such tools were sources of comfort for fearful sheep and for David. He lived his life often surrounded by multiple dangers, yet God’s Word and loving hand were the most effective means of guiding and guarding his faithful servant David.”

C. Your shepherd walks behind you (Ps 23:6a)

Exhortation: We see that the faithful shepherd who walks before us and beside us also walks behind us. David paints a picture of God’s goodness and mercy pursuing us. And you may be sure that nothing can pull you out of their reach.

Quotation: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8:35–39)

III. The Shepherd Prepares for His Flock (Ps 23:6b; Jn 14:1–3)

A. Your shepherd prepares a way of salvation for you through this world (Ps 23:6b; Mic 5:2–4; 1 Pe 2:25)

Explanation: Your shepherd knows what is ahead of you in this world, and he has prepared a way before you to keep you safe through it; even if, like Israel, you need to be disciplined and it seems like he has forgotten you, you can be sure that is not the case.

Quotation: “But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, Though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. Therefore will he give them up, Until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; And they shall abide: For now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.” (Mic 5:2–4)

Explanation: Though the shepherd must leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness to come and find you, he will do it!

Quotation: “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” (1 Pe 2:25)

B. Your shepherd prepares a dwelling of salvation for you in the next world (Ps 23:6b; Jn 14:1–3; Re 7:16–17)

Explanation: What thought could be more comforting and more motivating than that we will spend eternity with the Lord?

Quotation: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (Jn 14:1–3)

Quotation: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” (Re 7:16–17)

Conclusion:

“How different life is for those who do not have the Lord Jesus as their shepherd or for the believer who forgets Jesus Christ is his shepherd. In her poem, Marcia Hornok captured the endless frustration and disappointment so many experience:

“Psalm 23, Antithesis”

The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest. It makes me lie down only when exhausted. It leads me to deep depression. It hounds my soul. It leads me in circles of frenzy for activity’s sake. Even though I run frantically from task to task, I will never get it all done. For my “ideal” is with me. Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me. They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule. They anoint my head with migraines. My in-basket overflows. Surely fatigue and time pressure shall follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever.

Thankfully this poem does not reflect the life of the one who walks with the great Shepherd of the sheep.” No, the good shepherd provides, he protects, and he prepares for you. That is the nature of your shepherd.