“The LORD is My Good Shepherd”
Readings:Psalm 23:1-6 (text); John 10:11-16
July 12, 2015 • Download this sermon (PDF)
Dear Congregation of Christ: I was raised in a church where we had annual Vacation Bible Schools. The little children memorized short verses, while the bigger kids memorized passages such as The Apostles’ Creed, The Lord’s Prayer, Ten Commandments, Beatitudes, and Psalm 23. So until today, I can still recite some of the Beatitudes. But I still have the others, including Psalm 23, fully memorized.
Sadly, this beautiful poetry is known as a funeral psalm. Why? Only because of the line that says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” which later, we will find out, is not the best translation. Psalm 23 is actually a psalm of a believer’s pilgrim life with God from beginning to end. This life is full of both joy in the Lord’s care and difficulties in the face of sufferings and enemies.
This psalm is a psalm of David expressing his trust and confidence in the Lord (Yhwh). The Lord’s providential care for his people is portrayed in two main themes. In verses 1-4, the Lord is a Shepherd leading, providing, and protecting his sheep, while in verses 5-6, he is a gracious Host who serves his people at his supper table as honored guests in his home.
A minister of the Word is commonly called a “pastor,” a Latin word that means a “feeder of sheep,” in short, a shepherd. A “pastor” then is someone who “leads to pasture, to graze, and causes to eat.” In the spiritual sense, a “pastor” is a “spiritual guide,” a “shepherd of souls” (“Online Etymology Dictionary”). Therefore, God is often portrayed in the Bible also as a shepherd.
So our theme today, then, is “The Lord is My Good Shepherd”: first, He Restores My Soul; second, He Comforts Me with His Rod and Staff; and third, He Prepares a Table Before Me.
He Restores My Soul
David begins with a summary statement, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” How is the Lord a shepherd? He provides food, rest, and protection for his sheep, his chosen people. Often, God as Shepherd is portrayed as gentle (Isa 40:11), wise (Ecc 12:11), his people’s savior (Psa 28:9), and he “will make them lie down” (Ezk 34:15).
But in many passages, God’s shepherding of his people refers to his authority and power in leading his people (Psa 95:7; 100:3). As Shepherd, the Lord is Israel’s mighty savior (Psa 28:9; 80:1-3), protecting his flock (Jer 31:10). If he was not leading Israel, they will be in danger, as “sheep that have no shepherd” (Num 27:17; 1 Kgs 22:17). The leaders of Israel were called “shepherds of Israel” (Ezk 34:2). Even the Persian king Cyrus was called by God “my shepherd” (Isa 44:28).
David is more than qualified to write this psalm since he himself was a tough shepherd. When he volunteered to fight Goliath, he told King Saul that being a shepherd prepared him well to fight, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father… Your servant has struck down both lions and bears…” (1 Sam 17:34-36).
But there are also shepherds who neglect and even abuse their flock. God condemned the “shepherds of Israel” for neglecting their duties, “The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them” (Ezk 34:4). Without a shepherd, God’s sheep “have become food for all the wild beasts” (Ezk 34:8).
The Lord that David trusts as his Shepherd is faithful in caring for his flock. He lists four duties that the Lord does for his people. First, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” God provides them with food. It is the shepherd’s task to find grassy land in the wilderness, “the pastures of the wilderness” (Psa 65:12). Sheep lying down after grazing on green pastures means that they are full and satisfied with good food; there is no need to move on to another pasture. It also means that they are secure, because the shepherd is with them. So the Lord says that he himself will feed his people, “I will feed them with good pasture… There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel” (Ezk 34:14).
Second, “He leads me beside still waters.” After satisfying their hunger, the Shepherd- Lord leads them to a place with ample water to drink. The shepherd guides his flock because sheep are weak, needy, and helpless when left to fend for themselves. They easily go astray without a leader. As a Shepherd of his flock, the Lord “will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isa 40:11). He will satisfy their hunger and thirst, “for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them” (Isa 49:10).
“Still waters” mean that the waters are not rushing water that is dangerous for the sheep. They are able to drink with ease because these are “waters of rest.” The shepherd knows all these watering places, so he leads his sheep to them. By these restful waters that are close to grassy pastures, the sheep lie down satisfied and secure, knowing that they can feed and drink as much as they wanted.
Third, “He restores my soul.” This means that by the food and drink in peaceful pastures and streams of water, the sheep are restored back to strength, and even to life itself. As God who “refreshed” himself by resting on the seventh day on creation week (Exo 31:17), so do his sheep after hours of walking in a dry, empty wilderness. Food and drink, peace and rest will refresh the soul. In the church, the Word and Spirit restores our soul. The Word of God also gives rest and refreshment, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psa 19:7). Jesus told his disciples that his Father “will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).
Fourth and last, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The Lord leads his people in walking in his ways and obeying his commandments. But this can also be read as “right paths” (NIV), since the shepherd knows all the paths that lead to grassy pastures and watering places. The sheep can go astray, walking on the wrong paths, where there is evil (Prov 5:21). Why does the Lord lead his people? Because he cares for them, but in caring for them, others can see that he is a good Shepherd, so his holy name is protected from slander.
Because the Lord does all these things for his people, they “shall not want.” Their hunger and thirst are fully satisfied. They lie down in peace and security in a beautiful place. So David can exclaims, “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Psa 34:9-10).
He Comforts Me with His Rod and Staff
The shepherd not only provides food and drink, peace and security, but also protects them. As sheep, David says in verse 4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Grassy land and water are probably more abundant in narrow valleys and canyons, where there is shade from the heat of the sun.
The “shadow of death” is better translated, “deep darkness,” so David says that even walking or resting in very dark places in the wilderness does not frighten him. There might be wild beasts, robbers, and even rushing water in those deep, dark canyons. So death could be lurking behind any bush, rock or cave. But even in those dangerous places, the sheep still feel secure, “for you, the Shepherd, are with me.” The Lord is mightier than any puny wild beast or robber, and is in command of the weather. If David, a mere man, can defend his flock from lions and bears, how much more can the Lord strike down any beast or man?
The shepherd’s weapons to defend his sheep consist of his rod and his staff. A rod is used to beat any threatening beast or man. As the mighty Shepherd, the Lord uses a rod to strike the nations (Psa 2:9), and even to punish his own chosen people Israel (Isa 10:5). A staff is for prodding and guiding stray sheep into the right paths, as when Micah pleads to God, “Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance” (Mic 7:14).
It is with his rod and staff that the Shepherd- Lord comforts his people. In their difficulties, fears, and temptations, it is he who encourages them. He promised Israel that their comfort, “the Consolation of Israel,” the Messiah, will come and bring them back from exile in Babylon. (Isa 40:1). He will “comfort all who mourn” their sin and exile (Isa 61:2).
So when Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, finally arrived, he brought comfort to his people, even in their sufferings, “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly incomfort too” (2 Cor 1:5).
He Prepares a Table Before Me
But Christ does not come only to comfort us who walk as pilgrims in these deep dark valleys of sufferings in this world. He also invites David to eat with him, so David rejoices as the Lord turns from a Shepherd to a gracious Host at his table, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (verse 5). Even when Israel was on her pilgrimage in the desert, God the Shepherd-Host “spread a table in the wilderness” (Psa 78:19).
As his enemies looked on with envy, the sheep of the Lord enter the house of the Lord where he pours perfumed oil on their heads to refresh and clean them after a long journey. Then he serves them rich food and the best wine in an overflowing cup. The overflowing cup also means that the flock of the Shepherd-Host are blessed, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup” (Psa 16:5), and saved, “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord” (Psa 116:13). This is why Paul calls the cup of the Lord’s Supper that believers partake as “the cup of blessing that we bless” (1 Cor 10:16). In contrast, the enemies who are oppressing the Lord’s sheep will not be given rich food and the best wine. Instead, they will eat unclean food and drink the cup of judgment and wrath, horror and destruction (Isa 51:17; Ezk 23:33) . It is this cup of God’s wrath that Jesus drank on the cross, because God poured out on him his wrath against his sinful people (Mark 14:36).
So at the end of the psalm, David rejoices at all the blessings of ample provisions, guidance and protection he has received from the Lord his Shepherd, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (verses 5-6). All of God’s goodness and steadfast love towards his people will “pursue” him not for one day, but for “length of days,” as long as he lives. In the Old Testament, eternal life is not yet developed as a concept. For us Christians, our “length of days” continue after death. This means that we will dwell in the house of the Lord, the new heaven and new earth, forever.
Beloved brothers and sisters, Christ is our Living Bread who came down from heaven, and “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51). He is also the Living Water who satisfies our thirst, so that we will never thirst again. Therefore, all of you who hunger and thirst for the righteousness given by Christ alone will enjoy his heavenly table forever.
He is the Good Shepherd who lay down his life willingly for his sheep. He is now gathering his flock, and not one will go astray and be lost forever. Are you one of his lost sheep? Are you sheep harrassed and helpless, without a Shepherd to feed you, to give you rest, to protect you with his rod, and to guide you with staff as you walk the deep dark valleys of evil? (Matt 9:36) If you are, he invites you who do not believe in him to trust in him as the Good Shepherd. He was stricken by God on the cross for his sheep who were scattered (Zec 13:7 ).
He invites you to ome to the rest and comfort he offers, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). When you do, you will dwell in his house in the heavenly places forever,
“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:17).
What comfort we have in Christ our Good Shepherd for this week and for all the days of our lives!
