The Lord Shepherds Us His Way

The Lord Shepherds You His Way

When we look to the animal realm, we find that certain animals have been designed to provide protection for themselves and their families. Some have horns or antlers to keep predators away. Elephants arrange themselves around their young to protect them. Ducks are designed so the males distract predators, sacrificing themselves to keep their families safe.

But domestic sheep are rather helpless when it comes to protecting themselves. Sheep function best under the protection, care, and provision of a shepherd. Even after the fall in Genesis 4:2, Abel was a keeper of sheep. In a fallen world, sheep need a shepherd to care for, protect, and provide for them.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

That's the purpose of this Psalm: to see the role God takes as shepherd and our role as sheep. Our entire design as sheep is to be cared for, provided for, and protected by the Lord himself. The Lord shepherds us in his particular way—the way he wants to shepherd us.

William Plummer comments that as the shepherd guides his flock in ways that he thinks best, so God guides his chosen in ways that he approves. In the first three verses, there is much activity from the shepherd: the Lord is shepherding me, leading me, making me lie down in green pastures, restoring my soul. David does only one thing: he lacks nothing.

When the Lord is your shepherd, true contentment is experienced. The shepherd's duties result in satisfied, content sheep who live righteously. God's actions create a quality of life, even in spite of suffering or hardships—content sheep who live the right way.

God shepherds me and I have no need because I lie down in green pastures, beside quiet waters, with my soul restored. The Lord makes me lie down, leads me, restores me. David spends time with the Lord—and the Lord spends time on David. The Lord sovereignly works to produce contentment and righteousness within us.

Yet we may not always feel content or live righteously. Isaiah 53:6 says,

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 53:6

Sheep go astray—that's why we need the shepherd. Our good shepherd became a lamb for us, crucified as the lamb.

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29

Isaiah 53:7 says,

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

Isaiah 53:7

Christ lived as a perfect sheep and became our perfect shepherd. In John 10:11,

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:11

Unlike a hired hand, Christ is sheep-focused, laying down his life for us. Because of this, when the Lord is our shepherd, we lack nothing. We walk in paths of righteousness because of what Christ did. Even when we stray, he shepherds us back, correcting us to green pastures where we say, "I have no need."

God shepherds us his way so that we lack nothing—and for his name's sake: "He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

The Lord Shields You His Way

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

Psalm 23:4-5

These verses show Hebrew parallelism: two awful situations followed by awesome experiences that make no sense in those contexts.

First, walking through the valley of the shadow of death—yet fearing no evil, comforted by rod and staff. This valley may refer to Wadi Qilt, a dangerous gorge from Jerusalem to Jericho, but more intensely, the Hebrew term evokes Job's descriptions of a place of death, terrors, even the afterlife—gates of Hades.

David says with brazen confidence: even through the gates of Hades, I fear no evil—for you are with me. How? Because our shepherd, Jesus, walked through it in the days of his flesh, entering the grave. He knows our need for divine presence in trials and death. Matthew 16:18 promises the gates of Hades will not prevail against his church.

Howlick Montier says, "The darker the shadow, the closer the Lord."

Second, a table prepared in the presence of enemies—facing those who hate us, yet anointed with oil, cup overflowing. God allows enemies because he leads us for his name's sake, for his glory.

If we knew God only in positive blessings, our knowledge would be limited. He enables us to know him in pain, sadness, sickness, loss—through his comfort. In the valley, we experience fearlessness. Before enemies, rejection maximizes God's acceptance—like a diamond shining brightest against black.

Anointing with oil means, "I accept you." Overflowing cup means poured joy—keep drinking. Thus we know God deeper. What kind of God hides his comfort? Paul in Philippians 3:8,

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ... that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

Philippians 3:8, 10

The Lord Secures You His Way

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 23:6

"Surely" is a sigh of relief in Hebrew. After horrors, goodness and mercy pursue like hunting a lost sheep. Our destiny is anchored in God's house.

God can give relief now, but if not, he will finally, bringing us to his house with no more pain—replaced by pleasure, joy, the fullest experience of himself. A resurrected body designed for maximum joy with God.

In Ezekiel 34:11-13, God promises,

I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock... so will I seek out my sheep. And I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered.

Ezekiel 34:11-13

Nothing prevents him. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18,

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

John 14:1-3,

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms... I go to prepare a place for you... I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

John 14:1-3

Don't lose heart. When the chief shepherd appears, he gives an unfading crown of glory. God guarantees ultimate relief, drawing praise from you now for eternity.