The Lord is my shepherd – Psalm 23:1

The Psalmist (David) expresses his tranquillity and happiness under the gracious protection of the Lord God, his Shepherd. All his anxieties are calmed in the certainty of the watchful eye of the great Shepherd.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

The great Shepherd

The Lord God is all powerful. He is the great Creator of the heaven and earth. He is glorious in power and unlimited in strength. Yet besides this powerfulness he is a Shepherd. With tenderness He watches over His dependent flock. He has a loving concern that none of the sheep come to harm.

The prophets of the Old Testament often depicted their great and mighty God as the shepherd of Israel.

“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ Jeremiah 31:10

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 77:20

Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. Psalm 78:52-53

Isaiah gives more detail about the Shepherd:

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. Isaiah 40:11

David the shepherd

King David, who wrote Psalm 23, had plenty of experience of being a shepherd. He learned the principles of a shepherd’s life and character when he was caring for his father Jesse’s sheep. The name David means “beloved” and it was the character of David that made him suitable as a shepherd of sheep (and men – more on this later).

His early life as a shepherd would have been challenging as there would have been dangers. He wandered the hills of Judea, where his home town was situated. The hills were rough and difficult and inhabited by lion, bear and other beasts. So the young David would have always been on the lookout for the sheep under his care. There was the threat of beasts but also a danger that they would get lost in the terrain.

His guidance and protection of the sheep meant he had to learn the principle of faith in God. He put his trust in God that He would keep him safe and help him in his responsibility for protecting the sheep under his control.

He also leant the principle of self-sacrifice as he protected the sheep. This was demonstrated with his slaying of the lion and the bear. This was what David said about his experiences:

But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!” 1 Samuel 17:34-37

It was only a lamb from a small flock that was taken, so why did David risk his life to try and save it? It is unlikely he did it because of the value of that small lamb. David did it because he was thinking at a higher level than what one might normally think. He had devoted himself to feeding and guiding the sheep with the skills required. He would have disentangled them from any thorny bushes and rescued them from isolated ledges and inaccessible cliffs. When they walked through green pastures and past quiet streams he would have noted that they faithfully and trustingly followed him. David would have come to love those sheep because of their dependence and trust. Over time he also came to think the people of Israel were like those sheep – they were the flock of God. He had a responsibility to protect the people.

The flock of God

David knew that Israel were the chosen people of God. They were His people…they were his holy nation.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; Exodus 19:5

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6

“You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I detested them. But I have said to you, ‘You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples. You shall therefore separate the clean beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not make yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or by anything with which the ground crawls, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean. You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine. Leviticus 20:22-26

When the small lamb under his care had been threatened by a bear or lion, David did all he could to retrieve this single, tiny lamb from the mouth of the beast. In a similar way, when he became king he did all that was necessary to protect the people under his protection – they were the flock of God’s people. If the threat was from an outside enemy he would take action to protect the flock. If the threat was internally from sin, he would guide the people along the correct path to God.

Even in his later life David still saw the people as sheep that needed to be protected:

Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.” 2 Samuel 24:17

God the Shepherd and his servants

At a higher level, it is God who is the shepherd. Jesus was the Lamb of God and it was the chief shepherd who restored him. It was God who led the Lamb of God to “green pastures” and gave him to drink of the water of life. It was also God who led the Lamb of God (Christ) through the dark hour of death to the light of the day. He had experienced the crucifixion but was resurrected. This was done through the goodness and mercy of the chief Shepherd.

God in the ultimate sense has always been the Shepherd. But in times past he has delegated the authority to His faithful servants. Moses and Aaron had led the flock (the people of Israel) back in their day.

You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 77:20

Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit, Isaiah 63:11

Following the settlement of the people of Israel in their land, it became David’s turn to become the Shepherd.

He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the nursing ewes he brought him to shepherd Jacob his people, Israel his inheritance. With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand. Psalm 78:70-72

These shepherds had an important job and one of great responsibility. They were to be leaders over Israel that had the same qualities as the Chief Shepherd – they stood in God’s place and represented Him.

Christ the Shepherd

From the first century it has been Christ who took over the duties of being God’s Shepherd over His people. In perfection he has the qualities of his father.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11

The prophets had foretold of the coming of this Shepherd who would tend the flock. In Ezekiel chapter 34 it talks extensively about God’s sheep. It has a lot to say about the qualities of Shepherds. These qualities of God as the Shepherd are now found in His son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we read Psalm 23 we must think of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Shepherd appointed by God. When it says in verse one “The Lord is my shepherd” we must think of those few words as our words. When we say them we think not only of the Father, but also of the Son, as they are working together as One and are our Shepherd.

I shall not want

The second part of Psalm 23 verse one has the words “I shall not want”. They are amazing words written by David. When he was growing up as a young man he would not have lived a wealthy life. It might have been frugal. Yet with God as His Shepherd he was happy and felt comfortable. He did not want for anything. He had the great Creator as his Shepherd who had all power in heaven and earth. In relation to this he wrote in Psalm 34 and verses 8 to 10:

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger;     but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

What reassuring words for those who have God as their Heavenly Father.