Outside of John 3:16, Psalm 23 might be the most popular passage in the Bible.  Many have committed it to memory.  Preachers have used it to comfort those who are going through trials and tribulations, suffering from some type of illness, or even dying.  For some, the words of this Psalm have been the last words that they have ever heard.  Psalm 23 is not only an encouraging and uplifting passage, but it also tells us volumes about the nature of our God.

While the whole Psalm is edifying, I want us to focus on God being our Shepherd.  To know God is to know that He watches over us with a shepherd’s care.  To appreciate how blessed we are to have God as our Shepherd, we must realize how much we need His help due to our own feebleness.  Philip Keller, one who was a sheep rancher for 17 years, wrote a book entitled, “A Shepherd Looks at the Twenty-third Psalm.”   Listen to how he describes sheep:

“They require more attention than any other livestock. They just can’t take care of themselves.  Unless their shepherd makes them move on, sheep will actually ruin a pasture, eating every blade of grass, until finally, a fertile pasture is nothing but barren soil. Sheep are near-sighted & very stubborn, but easily frightened. An entire flock can be stampeded by a jackrabbit.  They have little means of defense. They’re timid, feeble creatures. Their only recourse is to run if no shepherd is there to protect them. Sheep have no homing instincts. A dog, horse, cat, or a bird can find its way home, but when a sheep gets lost, it’s a goner unless someone rescues it.”  

The point is we need a shepherd because we are all like sheep.  Isaiah said. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…”  Peter also reminds us of our tendency to stray like sheep.

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

We are like sheep in need of a shepherd.  Thank God we have one, for we can say with David, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”  It is not that the Lord might be, should be, or might someday be our shepherd; He is our Shepherd right now.  Like David, we should have confidence in this all the time.  On Sunday and Monday and all through the week, we should be able to say the “Lord is my Shepherd.”  In January and February and all through the year, we should be able to say “the Lord is my Shepherd.”  Whether we are at home or on the road, whether we are in a state of abundance or a place of poverty, we should all be able to say, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

What is the blessing of having God as our shepherd?  David said, “I shall not want.”  While we can make a physical application of this, seeing, as we found in last night’s blog, that God is a great provider for His people, a spiritual application of text is helpful as well.  Spiritually speaking, God gives us everything we need to be saved now, and go to heaven after a while (2 Peter 1:3).  When we do go astray, God, like a good shepherd, does not just leave us in the wilderness to perish, but has given us the means to have our souls restored.  He has given us His Word to guide us (Psalm 119:105), prayer to cry out in times of need (Hebrews 4:16), and, most importantly, an advocate to help us get back home safely (1 John 2:1).  We should be greatly appreciative that God, in all of His power and strength, is also a loving Shepherd who gives us all we need, both physically and spiritually.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.