The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
What a beautiful psalm to ponder as we prepare to worship our God! While all of the psalms are precious in their own way, without doubt Psalm 23 is especially precious to us as God’s children. Or rather I should say, as His sheep. For in this psalm the shepherd king David reflects on the truth that Jehovah is our Shepherd. Every verse is a gold mine of truths founded on that truth. How many times haven’t we turned to these verses for comfort and peace when as God’s beloved sheep we felt ourselves badgered by burdens, agonized by afflictions, dreadful by death, wounded by wolves, and overwhelmed by oppression?! In all these experiences the Lord proved to be our faithful, loving, caring, and keeping Shepherd. Though we thought we lacked, in reality we did not, and never will.
The greatest proof of Jehovah’s loving shepherding of us is in His own Son, Jesus Christ. For in John 10 (and elsewhere) He told us that He is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. Yes, He took care of our greatest need – the blotting out of our sins! And if He did that, it is not possible that we should lack anything else! And so today we worship our great God again. With fresh reasons and motivations. How did the great Shepherd of the sheep show His love for and care toward you and me this past week? Then let us praise Him accordingly!
John Calvin has some wonderful thoughts based on v.1 for us to meditate on, and which ought to excite us to humility and gratitude:
Under the similitude of a shepherd, he commends the care which God, in his providence, had exercised towards him. His language implies that God had no less care of him than a shepherd has of the sheep who are committed to his charge. God, in the Scripture, frequently takes to himself the name, and puts on the character of a shepherd, and this is no mean token of his tender love towards us. As this is a lowly and homely manner of speaking, He who does not disdain to stoop so low for our sake, must bear a singularly strong affection towards us. It is therefore wonderful, that when he invites us to himself with such gentleness and familiarity, we are not drawn or allured to him, that we may rest in safety and peace under his guardianship. But it should be observed, that God is a shepherd only to those who, touched with a sense of their own weakness and poverty, feel their need of his protection, and who willingly abide in his sheepfold, and surrender themselves to be governed by him. David, who excelled both in power and riches, nevertheless frankly confessed himself to be a poor sheep, that he might have God for his shepherd. Who is there, then, amongst us, who would exempt himself from this necessity, seeing our own weakness sufficiently shows that we are more than miserable if we do not live under the protection of this shepherd? We ought to bear in mind, that our happiness consists in this, that his hand is stretched forth to govern us, that we live under his shadow, and that his providence keeps watch and ward over our welfare. Although, therefore, we have abundance of all temporal good things, yet let us be assured that we cannot be truly happy unless God vouchsafe to reckon us among the number of his flock. Besides, we then only attribute to God the office of a Shepherd with due and rightful honor, when we are persuaded that his providence alone is sufficient to supply all our necessities.
Finally, here is a versification of Psalm 23 (hymn) which James Montgomery wrote:
The Lord the Good Shepherd.–Ps. xxiii.
| The Lord is my Shepherd, nor want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe-folded I rest;
He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
Restores me when wandering, redeems when opprest. |
|
Through the valley and shadow of death though I stray,
Since Thou art my guardian no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, Thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall, with my Comforter near. |
|
In the midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;
With perfume and oil, Thou anointest my head;
O! what shall I ask of Thy Providence more? |
Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God!
Still follow my steps, till I meet Thee above:
I seek, by the path which my forefathers trod
Through the land of their sojourn, Thy kingdom of love.
The material for this post came from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org – see link on main page under “Bibles and study info”).
This is another prayer/devotion taken from the book The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, Arthur Bennett (Banner of Truth, 1975). It is titled “The Lord’s Day”. May it lead us into godly keeping of this day of rest and prepare our hearts for worship in God’s house.
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