The Lord is My Shepherd

INTRODUCTION

I. What is this Psalm about?

A. The Shepherd

1. This Psalm is a praise to the Shepherd. It’s acknowledging who’s behind all of the blessing of David’s life.

II. Why the analogy of Sheep and Shepherd?

A. Because humanity is just like sheep and is totally dependent on a caretaker.

1. Sheep:

a) They have no means of self-defense and no sense of direct: (Against Predators)(Ezekiel 34:5)

b) They can’t save themselves: (tipped over)

c) They will lead each other astray: (2005 BBC News: To jump off a cliff) (Isaiah 53:6)(1 Peter 2:25) (Prone to wander)

d) They can’t care for themselves: (Grooming)(Wounds)(Parasites-Head against tree)

e) They are easily frightened: (Darkness: 2016 BBC NEWS: Wander away from the shepherd) (Strangers) (Matthew 9:36)

f) Sheep are easily Stressed: (Sick)(loss of hair)(Die of stress)(with other sheep)

g) Sheep are helpless without a shepherd: (Show Video: Repeated mistakes)

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Ezekiel 34:5: So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts.

2005 BBC NEWS: 1,100 jumps off a cliff following one sheep.

1 Peter 2:25: For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Isaiah 53:6: All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

2016 ABC NEWS: 1,300 Sheep wandered in the streets of Spain at night because their Shepperd slept

Matthew 9:36: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

2021 Newsweek Video: Sheep jumps back into narrow ditch getting stuck once again shortly after having been freed.

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BODY

1 The (1) Lord [Yahweh] is my shepherd; I shall (2) not want (lack).

(1) The God of Israel / David Knew God / The Good Shepherd always be on the alert. / The Shepherd chooses the sheep / David Knew who his Shepherd is and that he can deliver (He experienced it).

(2) The Shepherd is the one who provides for all that the sheep needs.

2 He (1) makes [Causes] me lie down in (2) green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

(1) You can’t make a sheep lie down. It has to be voluntarily. When they have no lack. A sheep must have full trust on this Shepherd to rest. The Shepherd must be in the alert so the sheep can rest.

(2) Green Pastures are rare. Most of their walk is over rocks, where they find small patches of Grass. They must always be listening to the shepherd, because food is only for that moment.

3 He restores my soul.

He *leads me in (1) paths of righteousness

(2) for his name’s sake.

Whose Voice are we following? What paths are we walking?

(1) The paths of righteousness is the path that the shepherd leads them through. They are rocky and narrow. It leads them to water and food.

(2) The quality of life and the well-being of the sheep if totally dependent on the Shepherd / David trusted all of his life to God.

4 Even though I (1) walk through the valley of the (2) shadow of death[Darkness],

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

(3) your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

(1) The valley is not the destination

(2) Darkest places; Sheep are afraid of the dark.

(3) Rod: Weapon (Ps 2:7-9) Discipline (Prov 13:24) / Staff: Shepherd Tool (What Moses used)

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever. [1]

Isaiah 40:11: He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

III. 1 Peter 5:4: And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

IV. 1 Peter 2:25: For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

V. Psalm 2:7-9

The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” [1]

VI. John 14:18–27

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [1]

Psalm 103:14

14 For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass;

he flourishes like a flower of the field;

16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

and its place knows it no more.

17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

18 to those who keep his covenant

and remember to do his commandments.

19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all. [1]

Psalm 118:6

6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.

What can man do to me? [2]

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Psalm 34:10

10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. [3]

Hosea 2:16-21

16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’

17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.

18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety.

19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.

20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. [4]

[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 118:6. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ps 34:10. [4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ho 2:16–20.