There is perhaps no more familiar and beloved passage of Scripture than Psalm 23 – the Shepherd’s Psalm. David, the Psalm’s author, was a shepherd of sheep. When God called him in 2 Samuel 5, He said to David, “You shall be shepherd over my people Israel.” But in Psalm 23, David, the shepherd of Israel, confesses his own need for a Shepherd who was greater than he. In this statement David makes an analogy that is found throughout the Hebrew Scripture, and fully appreciated through the lens of the New Testament (John 10) where we learn of one Person, Jesus Christ, who uniquely expresses the qualities of a Shepherd to His people. Jesus calls himself, “The good shepherd.” But I pose this question to you today: Is He YOUR shepherd?
If Jesus is your shepherd, there is a very important effect which is brought out in verse 1; it is that we, His people, shall not want – that is to say, we will lack no good thing. He supplies all my needs and satisfies me completely. He has provided me with a complete salvation, to which I need to add nothing. He takes care of my life, so that I need be anxious for nothing; and even those things which are unpleasant in life, I can trust are in His hands. He will guide me safely to my final destination, whether it is through green pastures and still waters, or dark valleys and shadows of death. I need not fear, in fact I am comforted, by the fact that my Shepherd will defeat all of my fiercest enemies as He bears the rod and staff which He uses to protect me.
Beware of false shepherds whose voices compete with the voice of our Shepherd. Follow your Good Shepherd and you will be led safely home.
