Excessive fear is a thief which attacks in dark alleys and leaves us wanting and feeling insufficient. This avalanche of emotion attempts to bankrupt our belief, and we can lose our way, not knowing where to place our next step. We look in this lesson to the beautiful six verses of Psalm 23 written by the former shepherd boy, King David, which has given comfort to untold millions of people in uncertain times with its abundant promises. It lifts our eyes unto the One, Christ Crucified and Risen, who has gone ahead of us with His Shepherd’s rod and staff at the cross and cleared the way of all enemies so we can follow Him on safe paths (Psalm 119:105).
“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.” Psalm 23:1-6
In ancient times, the life of a shepherd or a sheep herder was intricately interwoven with the life of the sheep he tended to. In isolated areas and across all seasons, the shepherd was the only one who could lead the flock with surety to fresh pastures of nourishment and water supplies, to the protecting sheepfold enclosure in bad weather and away from deadly predators. He walked, ate, and slept with them and in so many ways was ‘one of them’, lying at the gateway of the enclosure at night. He covered himself with clothes of sheepskin and wool, and even smelt like them as he dwelt so intimately in their lives. When a single sheep lost its way, he settled the flock and went searching for the trembling one hiding in the shadows, the “one out of the 99” (Luke 15:4), and brought them out of harm’s way. When the sheep had their shepherd in their vision, they knew what to do and where to go to have their needs met, directed and comforted by the sound of his voice with unique and distinctive words that only the flock understood.
We are told in this passage that Jesus Christ is a personal shepherd to us: “my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1) and elsewhere in scripture it says that He is “our chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4), “the good shepherd” (John 10:11,14), “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:25), and “our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20). Have you contemplated the incredible mercy of God to give us His Son, the Chief Shepherd, to lead us to the fold of eternal safety by His own death, wiping away our fear of being lost forever? Have you considered Jesus’ death and rising at Cavalry as “a table” of nourishment and deep rest to feed upon right now when there are temptations to be anxious?
Psalm 23 invites us to linger in the work and promises of the gospel, enveloping us in lush blades of grass as we “lie down in green pastures…beside still waters” (Psalm 23:2), amongst refreshing sights, gentle textures, sweet aromas, restoring sounds and the heart experience of tranquillity. The waters are so still and restful that we are not disturbed in any way and we see the perfect reflection of God’s creation in the mirror of the water’s unmoving surface.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want .2 He makes me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” Psalm 23:1-2
A shepherd or a farmer spends weeks planning ahead for the care of his animals for the next season or for droughts or floods in the years ahead. He builds enclosures for shelter in storms, gathers medicinal resources for wounds and illnesses, and casts ahead for the next place for feeding or watering. His herd or flock does not have a single concern, resting in being tended and cared for, as it is the responsibility of the shepherd to lead and protect, and for themselves to keenly watch for their leader and to follow and receive. We look to Jesus and know “I… shall… not… want” (Psalm 23:1) because Jesus has gone ahead of us and accomplished our rescue and provision for eternity.
Do you fear that God might not meet your needs nor come through with provision for you and your family, or for a way out of darkness, sickness or bitterness? Do you struggle with a fear of surrender to lay down your needs before God’s throne of grace, preferring to clasp hold of the visible need in one’s own hands rather than putting faith in the unseen hands of God? These words: “I… shall… not… want” (Psalm 23:1) speak without a hint of doubt because Jesus has opened the gate at the cross and led us out from Satan’s domain by His death to the safe fold of God’s kingdom. We are in receipt of a rich inheritance due to a child of God (Ephesians 1:11-14), a spiritual wealth that can never be taken from us. Jesus now lays across the gateway protecting us against harm and foes for eternity by His shed blood.
“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:11
At the foot of a hill called Golgotha on the outskirts of Jerusalem, we follow our Shepherd’s scourged back, horrified by the blood staining His clothes, as He staggered and dragged the heavy cross of our punishment for sin: “Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down” (Isaiah 53:4 NLT). As Jesus collapsed to the ground at His place of execution, the Man of Sorrows (Isaiah 53:3) was stripped bare, thirsting for water and sustenance, His tongue pasted to His mouth. The Savior of the world (1 John 4:14) was forced to lie down, not in green pastures nor beside still waters, but was nailed to two planks of wood to die to pay our ransom and secure our redemption and “graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32) needful in our lives. Jesus emptied Himself, and wanted for everything so “I… shall… not… want” (Psalm 23:1).
We shall never want for blessing as Jesus took our curse for sin (Galatians 3:13). We shall never want for being in God’s good favor and right standing because Jesus was judged and condemned in our place (John 3:17). We shall never want for forgiveness and peace because Jesus’ blood has reconciled all things to Himself (Colossians 1:20).
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8
“He restores my soul” – “the God of all grace… will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10)
“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” Psalm 23:3
The word “restores” means to “change direction” and “to turn back to”. The shepherd’s task involved changing the sheep’s direction if any became lost or disoriented. We became separated from God after Adam’s fall at Eden through disobedience, and this sin sickness was passed on to Cain and Abel and through each generation. Only at the cross through Christs’ sacrifice could the direction of our souls, headed for eternal punishment, be changed to “paths of righteousness for his name's sake” (Psalm 23:3) and not on account of any merit in us:
“he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned — every one — to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:5-6
“For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25
For believers, as we consider Jesus at Calvary, suffering for those who are guilty to bring them to God (1 Peter 3:18), His strong arms of love lift us with power out of fear and unrest and “will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.” (1 Peter 5:10 AMPC).
“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.” Psalm 23:4
The ever-present tools and weapons of a shepherd, the rod and the staff, were used to guide, protect and free his sheep from the deadly paws of a bear or the jaws of a lion in those times in the East. The rod or shepherd’s club (according to the Lexicon), about 30 inches in length, had a knobby end studded with iron nail or flint, whereas the staff with a crook at one end, was over 6 feet long.
The shepherd’s heart yearned for not one of his flock to be lost. A sheep would often become tangled in the thorn bushes in the hills and he went into the thorns, sometimes tearing his flesh in lines as he set it free.
Jesus “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) wore a crown of deep thorns for us and had a rod of punishment, a whip with metal and bone fragments, applied to His flesh over 40 times.
His flesh was ploughed with the wounds of sacrificial love so we would be found and liberated (Psalm 129:3). Christ did not use a rod of correction to slay our enemies but humbly offered the tearing and piercing of the soft flesh of His body unto death as the means to rescue and protect us.
“I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” Isaiah 50:6
He was nailed to the immovable target of the cross to draw all Satanic danger and God’s wrath for sin to Himself instead of us. Not one arrow of wrath or spittle of evil hatred could fail to meet the crimson bullseye that had been painted, as it were, on Jesus’ chest from the beginning of time so that it would never…never reach us. Can you picture your persistent fear in the middle of the bullseye being destroyed by the arrow of God’s wrath aimed at Christ instead of you?
We now have an amazing supernatural peace that comes after a violent bloody battle has been waged, fought and concluded. The Chief Shepherd has given His all, so we could be equipped with every good thing, and made to lie down now in the lavish green pastures of His grace.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
“ Now may the God of peace [the source of serenity and spiritual well-being] who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood that sealed and ratified the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with every good thing to carry out His will and strengthen you [making you complete and perfect as you ought to be]” Hebrews 13:20-21 AMP
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Psalm 23:5-6
This verse beckons us to picture a battlefield of enemies coming at us from all sides. Then the focus is turned to the centre of this threatening scene to see a banquet table laden down to the point of overflow. Our royal divine host is pointing us to our seat with a gracious smile. Our head is anointed with God’s finest perfumed oil and our cup “runneth over” with the best wine.