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.
Psalm 23
The Shepherd & The Sheep
Sheep are not smart animals, and they are short-sighted and follow other sheep to do what others do. They are powerless and unable to protect themselves.
Shepherd is a difficult job (Genesis 31:40), because sheep are so weak, that shepherds have to take care of them in every way as mentioned in this great psalm.
Personal Relation with the Lord
I have never been a shepherd, as a matter of fact, I did not have too many pets in my life, I just do not know how to take care of animals. However, in this psalm, I can see David must have a very personal relationship with his sheep. This personal relationship with his sheep inspired him to understand and appreciated how the Lord has taken care of him. Are you mindful of the Lord when you are working and do you, through the details of your job, see how the Lord is caring for you? You may think that what can be discovered about the Lord has been discovered, this is simply not true. David was not the first one to see the Lord as his shepherd, Jacob was (Genesis 48:15, 49:24). Nor David was the only shepherd after Jacob, some very godly persons have been shepherds before, like Moses. However, David mediated deeper about what he was doing and saw a clearer picture of the ways that God is taking care of us. I hope that more psalms, essays, and other literature titled “The Lord is my ….” will be born through our jobs and daily experience.
More than We Know
While Psalm 23 is a great psalm and is beloved to many people, what David saw was not even close to what the true Shepherd did. He did not only take care of us, He died for us. No matter how much we think we know the Lord, He always surprises us because He is more than we know.
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