Psalm 23: 1-6, “Jesus, my Shepherd, I lack nothing!
Today’s text comes from Psalm 23:1- 6, one of the most well-known
psalms. We will look at today’s text from the perspective of Jesus’
relationship with us as His sheep; Jesus Himself stated that He is our Good
Shepherd in John 10:1- 18.
Throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, there are many
passages about “shepherding,” depicting the role of leaders and kings if we
read Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It may be interesting to note that the idea of
likening a shepherd to a leader was not exclusive to the Bible. The royal
staff, or scepter for kings in the Ancient Near East, was itself a form of
shepherd’s rod. Shepherds commonly used long poles to poke around
crevices in caves to scare out scorpions and snakes. That was how the
shepherd’s rod came to be a symbol of protection, power, and authority.
Israel’s land and geography lend themselves to raising sheep and goats,
particularly sheep, which can endure a lack of water and grass more than
any other domesticated animal. So, shepherds and sheep have been well-
known subjects and images in the literature of the Israelites. As mentioned
above, we can find the characteristics of a good shepherd throughout the
Old Testament. If we study them, it becomes clearer that God chose the
shepherd motif, at least partly because His people are so much like sheep.
Isaiah. 53:6 reminds us that God’s people and sheep are very much alike in
negative ways. Sheep are defenseless if ferocious animals attack,
directionless and stupid, not to mention their poor eyesight, prone to
wandering, and unable to find their way back to the shepherd. Does that
sound familiar? We are defenseless if Satan attacks; we tend to wander
and get lost, not knowing how to return to God. Without God we are bound
to lack everything!
Yet, David shows us how to be content and not lack anything. Verse 1
says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” which can be read: I shall
not lack anything if the Lord is my shepherd. At this point, we might want to
ask ourselves, who is our Lord? Is Jesus our Lord? The Lord means
“master” to whom one belongs; everything one has, including one’s own
life, family, and possessions, belongs to the master. Serving the lord
means one follows and does the lord’s bidding without question or
argument. Who is your master? Is Jesus your master? Or someone or
something else?
According to the text today, vss. 2-5, the Lord, as a good shepherd, leads,
provides, guides, and restores. Obviously, if anyone wants to be provided,
led, guided, and restored to the fullest, not lacking anything, then one has
to be in the fold of the shepherd and follow him; if not, one is bound to be
lost like sheep.
However, many people conveniently overlook that it is their
job/responsibility to follow the Lord, stay where the Lord wants them to be,
and be fed with the food the Lord provides. Instead, they focus on, “I shall
not lack anything.”
Last week, at the hospital, around 9 a.m. I was called in to stand by at the
emergency room. A young man of 38 years came into the emergency
because of heart arrest, doing drugs with his girlfriend in the morning. He
died about 30 minutes later despite the resuscitating efforts of many
medical staff put onto him. I found out from his girlfriend, who came after
his death, that both of them were Christians. She let out her bitter pain,
wailing. I heard a testimony of a Christian who drank for over six months
every night after work at clubs, collapsed, and had major surgery,
complained to God, yelling, “What did I do? I just enjoyed and relaxed a
little after stressful work for the day!” A young Christian woman of 24 years
hung out with strangers at a club, drinking alcohol until late at night, and
became a victim of gang rape. They all cried, “Why did a good God let this
thing happen to me?”
Where are you now spiritually? Where are your children’s and
grandchildren’s feet standing? Are they in the fold of God? Are they in the
place of worship? Or are they out in the world doing their own thing, being
lost?
The good news is that our Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, makes His
sheep lie down in “green pastures” to be fed on the food He provides
(vs.2). One needs to sit down to eat, literally and figuratively. Our Lord
makes the sheep who do not eat but run and wander around without eating
lie down to be fed. Otherwise, they will die of malnutrition. Do we note the
connotation of being forceful here? God sometimes, if needed, makes His
sheep lie down forcefully. The person mentioned above, who yelled at God
for the collapse after drinking alcohol non-stop for six months every night,
ended up staying at the hospital for two months. He had to endure extreme
physical pain and suffering during that time, and he could not help but
surrender to God. He renewed his relationship with God, being fed on the
“green pasture,” eating, meditating, and digesting the word of God.
The second part of the verse, “He leads me beside quiet waters,” has the
same connotation, implying God’s intentional intervention in our lives. Our
Shepherd leads us “beside quiet waters” when we are thirsty, wandering
around the rocky hills away from the leadership of the Shepherd. God does
it for us when we are either unwilling to stop pursuing the mirage after
worldly illusions such as money, fame, and successes in life apart from
God, or we are blind to our need for spiritual, mental, emotional, and even
physical thirst for water. In Hebrew, the words for “still waters or quiet
waters” literally mean “restful waters.” Apart from the water God provides
for us, everything else one tries to drink that the world offers creates
‘restlessness’ in us. Saint Augustine, who wandered away from God for
seventeen years and found himself in God’s bosom owing to his mom,
Monica’s prayer for him, left a famous quote for us, “Our heart is restless
until it rests in You!”
Vs. 3, Our Lord, our Good Shepherd, guides us back to God by being the
right path, the only path to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No one can come to God but by me” (John 14:6). Recognizing
other religions as leading to God as well is not a cool thing but a way to
destruction. If anyone says that Islam or Hinduism has salvation, then that
person is not guided by Jesus, the Good Shepherd. In my previous church,
after I preached that Islam does not have salvation, a college student did
not come back to church. Again, who is your Lord? Who is your Shepherd?
Jesus or someone or something else out in the world? The truth does not
change; even after an eternity in time passed, the truth is the truth still,
which cannot change.
Lastly, our Good Shepherd, Jesus, laid down His own life for His sheep.
When Jesus preached about Him being the Good Shepherd, His audience
understood the sacrificial nature of the shepherd in His discussion of the
sheepfold. In their time, when sheep were penned in at night outside the
city, the shepherd himself would construct a makeshift fold. He would take
brush and bushes and make them in a “u” shape or some other formation,
depending on what was already at hand. He would then place thorny
branches on top of the brush to discourage the sheep from jumping out and
wild animals from jumping into the enclosure to kill the sheep, except for
robbers who would accomplish their goal by climbing over the enclosure.
The shepherd himself would lie across the opening, becoming the door in
and out of the sheepfold. The shepherd’s own comfort and sleep were
secondary to the comfort and safety of the sheep. In addition, a worthy
shepherd goes and searches for a lost sheep. However, no shepherd
would lay down his life for his sheep. Only our Lord Jesus Christ laid down
His Life for His sheep. Do we follow this Jesus? Do you lack nothing?