My Shepherd Is the Lord
Psalm 23:1
We send rockets to outer space, build skyscrapers, cure diseases, program computers, dive to the depths of the ocean, and accumulate great wealth, yet we’re still no better than a 5-yr. boy who thinks he’s a Marvel superhero or a girl who believes she’s a Disney princess. We view ourselves as far more capable and impressive than we really are.
For instance, if you had to choose an animal which you believed best represents you, what would it be? Would it be a tiger? A golden retriever? A stallion? An eagle? A dolphin? A gazelle? When answering this question, we tend to envision an animal with some extraordinary quality, like speed, flight, beauty, stealth, or an easy-going nature.
When God compares us human beings to an animal, though, he doesn’t choose a flattering one. His choice doesn’t highlight our strength, skill, or superiority. It highlights our helplessness, weaknesses, and flaws instead. In short, God’s choice reminds us that we are always helpless and desperately need him.
We are always helpless and desperately need him.
Main Thought
To flourish as human beings – esp. as a Christian – we must embrace this reality with all our heart. To thrive, we must stop insisting that we’re capable people and accept that we are helpless creatures. Only when we do that will we fully enjoy the blessing, peace, and security that God provides. So, to what animal does God himself compare us?
We are like sheep who need a shepherd.
Sheep are entirely helpless creatures. They can’t run well. They can’t hide well. They can’t choose food well. They can’t work together well. They can’t remember things well. They can’t choose directions well. They can’t communicate well. They can’t do anything well. “Left to themselves, sheep lack everything. They are the most helpless animals.”[1]
Sheep easily get lost and wander from their flock. They easily eat the wrong plants or drink polluted water. When they fall down, it’s hard for them to get up. They get confused or spooked quite easily, and they’re easy prey for predators.
We’re more like sheep than we realize and not just when we’re toddlers. Even the most mature believers among us are still like sheep. We’re weak, fragile, and helpless. We’re easily discouraged, doubtful, offended, and tempted by sin – including the sins of pride and self-sufficiency that threaten us when we think we’ve left our weaknesses behind.
What are some recent indicators in your life (behaviors, failures, weaknesses) that show you need a shepherd?
Key Question
Since we’re like sheep, we need shepherds. We need supervision, guidance, and care. And if you don’t feel like you need that anymore, then you’re behaving like a sheep who stubbornly thinks he’s okay and doesn’t need a shepherd. No matter how old or experienced a sheep may be, he always needs a shepherd – and so do you – because we are always helpless and desperately need God.
There is more than one shepherd.
Because we’re like sheep, we need shepherds – but not all shepherds are good. Bad shepherds do the following:
- They lead their sheep in the wrong direction. (Jer 50:6)
- They eat their sheep and don’t feed them. (Ezek 34:2)
- They allow their sheep to die. (Psa 49:14)
One experienced shepherd of sheep who later became a pastor of people (W. Phillip Keller) said this about bad shepherds:
“In memory I can still see one of the sheep ranches in our district which was operated by a tenant sheepman. He ought never to have been allowed to keep sheep. His stock was always thin, weak, and riddled with disease or parasites. Again, and again, they would come and stand at the fence staring blankly through the woven wire at the green, lush pastures which my flock enjoyed. Had they been able to speak I am sure they would have said, “Oh, to be set free from this awful owner!”
W. Phillip Keller
Bad shepherds take advantage of their sheep, but good shepherds care of them. That’s why Peter gave these instructions to shepherds (or pastors) of churches:
Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
1 Peter 5:2-4
Pastors are God’s shepherds for his people, but he insists they carry out this sacred task with integrity and selfless motives. They should be:
- Willing not reluctant.
- Enthusiastic not just doing as a job to get paid.
- Servant-minded, Christlike examples, not forceful, authoritarian executives.
Who are some examples of bad shepherds in pop culture? In your own life? And who are some examples of good shepherds in your life? How has God shepherded you through them?
Key Question
Pastors should carry out their role knowing that they answer to a superior shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, who is the Lord. He is observing whether their conduct exhibits the kind of example and care that he wants his sheep to have.
The Lord is the ultimate shepherd who is caring for us all. He cares for us through pastors as his under-shepherds and he supervises them, too. None of us escape from his care because we are always helpless and desperately need him.
Our shepherd is the Lord.
We’re so familiar with this oft-repeated, poetic-sounding phrase that we fail to grasp the significance of what it says. “The Lord” is an astounding detail here, and so is “my,” and so is, “shepherd.”
That our shepherd is “the Lord” is astounding because he is more than just another human. He is the eternal God who made the universe out of nothing, holds everything together today, and will judge the world in the future. There is no one greater than him.
That he is “my” shepherd is also astounding because this means that of all the stars, animals, plants, and details he is caring for today, he doesn’t just care for humanity as one gigantic group, he cares for you and for me individually with personalized care.
The he is my “shepherd” is also astounding because a shepherd isn’t a high-ranking position. Shepherds were low class members on the fringes of society, so being a shepherd was not a desirable aspiration. Yet throughout biblical history, God chose shepherds to lead his people, such as Abraham, Moses, David, and more. What’s even more astounding is that he has chosen to identify himself as a shepherd as well. The Lord over all is our shepherd.
This past week, how would remembering that “the Lord is my shepherd” have helped you to respond better and differently to: (1) temptation to sin, (2) a financial need, (3) a difficult decision, (4) the failure of another person in your life, or (5) a feeling of loneliness and despair? How can you respond to similar challenges in the week ahead by remembering that “the Lord is my shepherd” rather than giving in to selfish, sinful, or hopeless thoughts, words, and actions?
Key Question
So many unfortunate, unnecessary, and hopeless words, behavior, and decisions would be avoided if we would only keep this crucial truth in mind – “the Lord is my shepherd.” We need to keep this truth always at the forefront of our minds and at the center of our hearts because we are always helpless and desperately need God.
He meets all our needs.
As a shepherd, the Lord meets all our needs. Hearing this requires us to reevaluate how we view what he has provided.
- We look at our accomplishments and say, “I did that.”
- We look at our resources and say, “I got that.”
- We look are our relationships and say, “I worked this out.”
- We look at our knowledge and say, “I figured this out.”
- We look at how we’ve become a better person and say, “I’ve made a lot of progress.”
“Want” here doesn’t mean “wanting something” as in “having a desire” of some kind. It means “to lack” as in “falling behind or missing out” on something. David is saying that because the Lord is his shepherd, he will always have what he needs because the Lord will always provide for his needs.
In fact, the rest of this psalm describes all the ways that David believed God had and would meet his needs. He provides:
- Rest and peace in a noisy, turbulent world (v.2).
- The ability to live a godly life and do what is right (v.3).
- Safety and protection from evil, both without and within (v.4).
- All material and physical needs (v.5).
- A secure relationship with him for eternity (v.6).
Like David, we should live with the regular awareness that we’re entirely helpless and that the Lord is our shepherd who meets our every need. If we do not, then we may be in some serious spiritual danger because we’re safest when we’re most aware of our need:
- We drive most safely when we’re aware of the risks involved.
- We’re most careful with our resources when we have less to spend.
- Our wallet is safest when we’re aware of the potential for theft.
- We work most safely when we’re most conscious of potential hazards.
I’ve been told that in the lumberjacking industry, men who are new to using a chainsaw have less accidents than those who are veterans in the trade. Why is this so? Because newbies fear injuring themselves and take extra precautions, but longtime lumberjacks have become so comfortable and experienced at what they’re doing that they let down their guard.
This reality helps us appreciate the fact that David wrote this psalm. That David wrote this psalm is special because he himself had been a shepherd with the unenviable job of caring for his father’s sheep. It’s even more special, though, because though David had been a shepherd, he had become a king.
Even as a king, he realized his helpless condition and total need for the Lord to meet his every need. Though he governed an entire nation, with armies and wealth at his command, David didn’t let his elevated status remove his sense of childlike wonder that the Lord was his shepherd still. No matter how far he progressed in life by any measure, he remained as helpless as before. Though he wore a crown on his head and lives in a palace, he was a still helpless sheep, and the Lord was still his shepherd.
Have you grown comfortable in your Christian life? Are there ways that you used to feel helpless which caused you to trust in the Lord, but now you’ve grown self-reliant and complacent instead?
Key Question
A mark of Christian maturity is that you depend upon the Lord more – not less.
Why? Because we are always helpless and desperately need him, and the longer we believe on and follow him, the more we know that this is true.
So today, let’s renew our reliance upon the Lord as our shepherd. Let’s remind ourselves that the God of the universe is providing us with daily, personalize care and is ready to meet our every need.
[1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 208-209.
