Psalm 23 – The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 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 your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me  in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

    I have been offline on my Daily Bible Reading for over a month now…but what a great Psalm to get this blog off the ground again running! Probably the most famous Psalm in all of the Psalms. Most folks don’t know much at all about the Bible, but they can tell you the Lord’s Prayer and recognize the phrase, “The Lord is My shepherd; I shall not want.” This Psalm is used in many of the songs we sing and if you go to a funeral you will probably see this Psalm displayed somehow or read aloud.

   As you read this Psalm you cannot help but notice the deep and close personal relationship David has with God. The visual of a Shepherd speaks volumes about this. A good shepherd as to have constant contact with his sheep and know them and what they need even better than the sheep know themselves. I love that phrase in Verse 2, “He makes me lie down”, this is not some forceful act here. Sheep will only lay down if they are free from fear and are content. Think about what this says about David’s praise of God. God has provided richly for David. Even when life gets dark and scary for David he knows (verse 4) that God is still with him.

   I love this idea of the Lord is my Shepherd. In fact isn’t that how Jesus describes Himself in John 10? Jesus declares in fact that He is the “Good Shepherd” who laid down His own life for His sheep. How blest is the one that receives the Lord as His shepherd! What peace and comfort that provides the one that puts their trust in the Lord! Does that describe you? Are you one of his sheep? To make Him your shepherd you have to LISTEN to Him and OBEY Him.