“The Lord is my shepherd
I shall not be in want
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside still waters
He restores my soul
He guides me in paths of righteousness
For His name sake
Even though I walk through the valley
Of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
For you are with me
Your rod and staff they comfort me”
Just the other day I said goodbye to some friends of mine that were leaving for the UK on a long term move. On the way I asked God, “Lord, what do you want me to encourage them with?” I was immediately reminded of this beautiful Psalm of David: a Psalm that so accurately and descriptively depicts the journey of life for the Christian, with the Grace of God as the source of it all. I hope to unpack it to reflect on some of my thoughts:
Verse 1 “The Lord is my shepherd”
AH! Can you see the grace of God right at the start of this Psalm? David kicks off the Psalm with a statement that must be trumpeted over our lives and one that’s should so resonate within the heart of every Christian. This truth that it is God who is YOUR shepherd encompasses the good news of the gospel. The fact that God is the one who watches over you, provides for you, protects you, leads you, disciplines you, loves you, nourishes and refreshes you: this is the good news! What a high privilege to have the creator of all to be your shepherd!
Jesus came “not to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many (Mat 20:28)”.
Jesus spoke of himself as “the good shepherd (John 10)”; adding that, “my sheep know my voice”;
He described himself as the shepherd that wouldn’t relent until he found the sheep that had been lost (Luke 15).
1 Peter 5:4 describes him as “the chief shepherd” who rewards the shepherds (pastors) that look after HIS flock.
Now at 1st glance, a flock of sheep look like a group of the same thing. I mean if you were to be drawing a picture of sheep, you could pretty much copy/paste a few times, and “walla!” you have a flock of sheep. They look all the same!
This may be apparent, but our shepherd knows us each individually by name, that is to say that he knows our characters totally. He is not just our shepherd collectively, He is MY shepherd. You can just imagine David calling his sheep by name: Errr.. there is “Grumpy”, “Lazy”, “Moody”, “Happy”. He knew how each one would respond in any situation, and although he had to look after them as a collective, he also knew their individual strengths, weaknesses, needs. He knew their character traits. He would know which one would run away at night, which were more courageous, which were more timid.
However, this wonderful statement is followed up with a wonderful conclusion. Surely if it is God who is shepherding your life, then it is only logical that you would never be in need? At first we usually doubt this statement, but just pause here for a moment. Its safe to say that God must be all that he says he is otherwise He ceases to be God; He cannot lie. As a perfect Father, He knows how to look after His children. (Mat 7:11, James 1:17, Hebrews 12). We need to know the one who is shepherding us in order to respond with full assurance of faith that He has promised good to us, and He WILL deliver!
We must get to the place as Christians, where we logically respond to the truth about God being our father with peace and rest in our hearts as we say the statement; “I’m going to be taken care of!” In the same way:
Romans 8 talks about us having been given Jesus and therefore being assured of, along with him receiving “all things.”
Ephesians 1:3 The Bible says that, “..we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.”
2 Peter 1 we read that He “has given us everything we need for life and godliness.”
In the beatitudes, Jesus pronounced blessing on those who seek after righteousness, that, “..they will be filled”.
Psalm 84:11 “No good thing will he withhold from those who’s walk is blameless”.
Those who know the character of God, (a God of grace/love/mercy, one who is faithful and slow to anger, etc) the people who know his personality, are the ones who logically conclude,“I will be safe and secure. I will lack nothing. I have everything I need”
Settle this in your heart:
The Lord is your shepherd- you will be looked after. PERIOD
Verse 2-3: God at Work! “He makes, leads, restores, guides”
Whenever I was asked to describe grace, I always used the acronym “God’s riches at Christ’s expense” but I remember one preacher saying that his definition of grace was “God at work.” I didn’t grasp it at first until I started seeing it all over the scriptures.
Here we see exactly that,“He makes, He Leads, He restores, He guides.” God is at work!
I don’t know if you have realized it by now, but Gods fingerprints are all over us! If we look over our shoulder, each of us can testify to numerous times where the work of God’s grace has been evident in our lives. It would be enough just to know that God is looking over us, but that He would be working in our lives, causing us to please him- this actually starts to make this gospel look like a full scandal. This salvation is truly all of God and all of grace.
I struggled to get over the word “make” in this verse, so I started looking at other translations for some help. The Message bible renders it beautifully as: “You have bedded me down in lush meadows.”
The connotation that God would “forcefully” make us lie down is not common in scripture. This action should rather be a likened to a father carrying a weary son to bed and “bedding him down” or “tucking him in.” Just imagine a sheep that has been walking through the heat of the day. Exhausted, it finally reaches the green pastures that the good shepherd has brought it to. Its not that we are forced to, but rather the fact that just at the moment when we feel exhausted, our good shepherd carries us to a place of rest and lays us down there gently.
Recall the times when you were “tucked in” by your parents at night. What a sense of safety and care it brought to your life!
The other interesting thing I find in this verse is that this is the first of the few lines that show this work of God in our lives. Interestingly, the posture of rest: to “lie down” is placed right at the start. This whole process of nourishment (grass), refreshing (water), restoration for our souls, and direction for life begins with an attitude of being “laid down.” It reminded me of a statement that Bill Johnson once made: “The Holy Spirit comes to rest on a heart that is at rest.” Bill was referring to the time when Jesus was baptized and He (described as a “man of peace”) had the Holy Spirit descend AND remain on him in the form of a dove (the symbol of peace). Its only from the restful, peaceful place of trust in the Shepherd, that God begins to work.
Furthermore, notice the progression: Makes, leads, restores, guides. We can see the pattern of scripture here. Jesus commanded us first to be with him before we are with others. Love God, love people. Thats the life of the Christian.
There is a progression here: active direction comes from a static place of rest:
- Jesus “grew in favor with God and with men (Luke 2:52)” as a young man years before he began His ministry. There was a progression in His life.God promises direction and movement to those who first learn to position themselves in a place of restful trust in Him.
- The bible says that God confides in those who fear him (Psalm 25:14) you can only hear someone whisper secrets when you pause to be close to them, and much in the same way, there is a “commissioning” for mission that comes from the place of waiting.
- We see an example of this in the book of Acts (Acts 2). The disciples were waiting for the promise, and then suddenly they found themselves on a co-mission from God. From the inert position of rest came the momentum for mission.
Lastly, we come to this line “for His name sake” and once again we see the place of faith that makes God’s unchangeable character a rock to stand on in an ever changing world.
Though it might sound odd, God’s motivation for caring for His people is not primarily for the well being of His people, but rather for His Glory. For:
Ephesians 3:10 “His purpose was that in now through the church His manifold glory would be made known to the spiritual realms.”
In Isaiah 42v8 “I am the Lord, that is my name! I will not give my glory to another.”
The greatest thing at stake should The shepherds sheep fail to be cared for is not the sheep themselves, but The glory of God. God has made an oath by his own name to us; an oath He cannot break. Meditate on this passage:
For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:“I will certainly bless you,
and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.
We must be careful when we think of God as our shepherd that we don’t swing to the extreme of making our own self centered religion. God is not your ATM machine, or your “get out of jail free card.” But yet, David seems to keep depending on God’s character of lovingkindness to pull him through tough situations. He understood the difference between God as a ATM machine, and what God is willing to do to uphold His glory. He knew that God couldn’t let him down because he had a heart of faith in God’s promises. Promises that God could never break, because they reflected His unchangeable character.
3. The uncertainty of life amidst the backdrop of the certainty of a Saviour. (Verse 4)
Sometimes our experience in life is the exact opposite to the start of this chapter. Its not always a place of rest in the cool of the day. Sometimes we go through dark times. We might go through the shadow of death: the Devil trying to intimidate us with a shadow, trying to cause us to loose our confidence in The shepherds character. Even Jesus experienced this in the wilderness, when He was led by The Spirit through a place of trial (Mat 4).
When I think of “the shadow of death” I think about all the weapons of our adversary: Fear, Intimidation, Facades, Lies, Doubt, Eye catching distractions. It is in these dark places where we feel our vulnerability the most, and where we struggle to keep our eyes on the Shepherd.
At night time Shepherds would carefully watch over their sheep. We see this in the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:8) where the shepherds were watching their sheep while they slept at night: probably their most vulnerable time against predators.
Just imagine how well a big fluffy sheep sticks out on a dark night: they might as well be luminous!!
God is described as the God “that never slumbers or sleeps (Ps 121:2-4)” and who “watches over our coming and going(v8).”Even in our most vulnerable times, God is looking over us, watching out for possible ambushes of the enemy.
Hear again the words of Your Shepherd, “..fear not, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)
Moreover, we read about the man in Psalms 34:19, who: “..may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” For the ladies out there, we also read about the famous “Proverbs 31 Woman” who “laughs at the days to come (v25)” and who “has no fear for her household (v21)”.
Recently I found myself talking with Christian friends who had been through super difficult times. I had to ask myself the question, “How do I encourage a Christian brother who has just experienced such great loss?” When life sucks, what can we say?
Well, lets look at a guy like the Apostle Paul for eg. He came to God with a “thorn in his flesh (2 Cor 12:7)” and asked God to remove it. God’s reply was “My grace is enough for you (v9).”
Although we don’t know what Paul was going through, we do know it must have been a very unpleasant situation because He asked God 3 times to remove it from him. So what do you do when you find yourself away from the pasture and in a valley of death?
...Hang on a minute here God, wheres the pasture gone?
This last verse provides the balance that prevents us from stepping into a religion of Roses without thorns. As Christians we are promised that “..in this life you will have trouble (John 16:33).” Jesus promised us tough times. He never said this Christian deal is a comfortable ride. In life, all of us will walk through a dark valley, but the good news is that there is a saviour who is ready to take us to the next mountaintop. We will have to walk through some scary situations in our lifetimes, but thats not the full picture, because we look at this in the light of the great back drop.
We know we have started our journey at verse 1: The Lord is my shepherd.
Are you lonely? The Lord is your shepherd
Are your afraid? The Lord is your shepherd
Are you ill? The Lord is your shepherd
Have you experienced loss? The Lord is Your shepherd
You see, David was so sure of the unchanging nature of the Saviour that when he was faced with an ever changing world, He knew that the eternal Good Shepherd would outlast the momentary dark valley of trials.
The book of Hebrews admonished us not to “miss the grace of God (Heb 12:15),” and encourages us to be those that, “..see Jesus (Heb 2:9)” in a temporary world where we everything is not picture perfect.
The grace of God is that Shepherd Jesus is with you in your dark valley, and this is what was the overriding factor for David. He was so persuaded that the Saviour was with him that he declared with unwavering confidence, “I will NOT fear!”
Secondly, we see the words “walk through” and we are reminded that this valley is just a temporary moment in time. We don’t belong here. We are merely passing through.
- We are travelling on a pilgrimage (Ps 84:5).
- We are strangers here. We are aliens on this planet (1 Pet 2v11).
- See our destination in the last verse: Our home is another dimension: the eternal house of our God. (Ps 23v6)
As Christians we should not be afraid of dark valleys, nor should we try shy from them. Rather, as people of faith we should be free from fear and be able to say, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom should I fear? (Ps 27:1).” Remember there is a overwhelmingly large backdrop behind the trials of life: The grace of God: Jesus is walking with you through it all. Don’t miss His Grace.
4. Application: If you want a Shepherd, you must first become a sheep.
Through most of this writing our eyes have been on The God Shepherd. And rightly so. But allow me to turn the spotlight for just a moment and put it on the lives of people like you and me. If this is really what God is like for us, then what should we be like for him? Its a logical response to grace. Actually the Grace will only come to those with a certain heart attitude. The Shepherd is only interested in looking after sheep. His eye is not searching for any other creature (1 Chron 6v9).
So lets look at what sheep are like then:
Incapable, vulnerable, easily distracted, easily misled. They follow the one in front. They have no defense system. They stand out like targets in the dark. They aren’t very intelligent. They are constantly at risk and constantly dependent on the care of the shepherd. Could it be that this is the type of person God is looking for?
Galatians 5v4 admonishes us that if we would want to be our own “shepherd”, then Jesus will be of no benefit to us. It is a very strong and true warning to us.
The bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11v6), and,
“..anything that is not born out of faith is sin (Rom 14:23).”
When you are at rest in your spirit: depending and relying on God to work instead of trying by your own means to fix your life, that this is the heart attitude that attracts the shepherding of God. He is not looking for those who boast about being capable and efficient on their own His eyes are looking for people who are dependent on him.
And rightly so, for the entry point of the Christian is a place of absolute surrender, “casting” ourselves on him (1 Peter 5:7) for he is the one that cares for us. God is actively at work in our lives, but He will not work while we work. He will only work when we rest and follow as we trust in His character and promises. Jesus will turn away from all that present themselves to him as “capable” and “independent” of Him.
“He gives grace to the humble, and he will appose the proud” (James 4:6).
“He looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar” (Ps 38:6).
Rom 9:23:"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
Mat 5:23 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I would like to suggest to you, that the only way David entered into this wonderful reality of knowing the shepherding of God is that he came to a place where he realized is own weaknesses and failures, his emptiness and nakedness, his hunger and his thirst, yet despite all of this he depended on the saviour to be his shepherd. Its only when he became aware of his true state, only once he was “poor in spirit” that he entered into the kingdom of the God Shepherd.
Friends, lets not fool ourselves and perceive ourselves as capable, independent and self-contained. Lets not be like the church in Revelations 3:16-18 who God rebuked for not coming to terms with who they really were. In their pride they fooled themselves to great when God called them for what they really were: hungry, naked, lacking.
Lets come before God as we really are: SHEEP.
And when the Shepherd sees His sheep he can’t help himself but to shepherd them.
Then and only then will we be able to say:
“THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD”
