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 – English Standard Version

I Shall Not Lack

One of the primary features of a shepherd is that he leads. We’ll see that as we progress through these first few verses of Psalm 23 together.

Middle Eastern shepherds lead up front. The flock isn’t driven from the back as though the shepherd is driving cattle. Instead, he leads the flock from the front creating a path that the sheep will follow, most often in a single file line.

The word that’s translated as “want” in verse one in the English Standard Version, is probably better understood by English speakers as the word “lack”. Therefore, Psalm 23:1 would read “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not lack.” This is a comforting thought that the psalm is communicating. It’s explaining that because the Lord is my caretaker, I won’t lack the things that I need. That’s a pretty huge statement. Because God is responsible for taking care of me, I don’t need to be concerned about having what I need! That’s a pretty powerful point. If many of us are honest, there are times that the things you need are a substantial source of anxiety. If that’s you, please consider reading Matthew 6:24-34 as well.

One of the beautiful things about God’s word is how it agrees with iteself in various different places. We that illustrated by the passage mentioned above in Matthew 6. In that text, Jesus is teaching on anxiety and he’s explaining how we need not worry about our needs. In fact, if you pay close attention to verse 24, he’s showing us that we have a propensity to actually worship money rather than God, if we’re not careful. If we’re treating money as God, that will cause all kinds of anxiety.

After reading what Jesus had to say in matthew and recalling what we just saw in verse 1 of Psalm 23, the Lord being our shpeherd means that he will take care of the things we need. Jesus was making the emphasis by showing us how God cares so well for things that mean so much less to him than what you and I do. I don’t know about you but that’s a really encouraging thing to know. Before we move on to the next point, let’s establish something. God doesn’t care for flowers and birds because they’re stellar specimens of creation. He cares for them because he is good and he is providencial. In the same way, God doesn’t care for us because we are getting everything right and have all of our ducks in a row. He cares for us because he is good and providencial. We can’t earn anything from God.

Green Pastures and Still Waters

One of the obvious main tasks of a shepherd is to lead the flock. Recalling what we said above, shepherds lead from the front. Interestingly enough, as the sheep begin to become more mature, they will walk in the exact footsteps of the shepherd. That too is an exciting thought.

As the shepherd leads the sheep there are some primary focuses he has to think of. The shepherd needs to make sure the flock is led to a place where there is plenty of green grass for them to eat. Green grass means good, hearty, nutritious food. Notice it doesn’t say the shpeherd leads the sheep to a dust bowl full of weeds and briars. The shepherd knows what the sheep need and what they like. Sheep don’t forage for food like some other animals. They need to be led into a place to eat. Sheep are also a little picky. They like lush green grass rather than dry and crunchy hay. Sheep also won’t drink from fast moving water. They are terrified of water that moves. Sheep are generally skiddish and fearful. Therefore, the shepherd needs to lead the sheep near still waters in order for them to drink. If the shepherd didn’t know his sheep, he might try to force them to drink fast moving water and in their fear they would die from dehydration.

The good shepherd knows these traits of the sheep and because he is good and he cares for them, he leads the sheep to what they need but in a way that he knows they will be relaxed enough to eat and drink, to do what is necessary to sustain life. It would be no good for the shepherd to lead the sheep to a rushing river, they wouldn’t drink the water. In the same sense, the shepherd builds a trust with the sheep that they are protected and provided for in his care. And because they feel safe they can freely eat and drink without concern that they’ll be eaten by a predator.

The final piece, then, of verse two is that the shepherd allows the sheep to rest. The safety we just discussed is what provides this restful state for the sheep. The rest part is also a normal part of the eating ritual of the sheep.

If the Lord is our shepherd, this is the kind of care we can expect from him. His care is personal and intimate. In his providential care, he not only knows the things we need, he knows, in our frailty how we need them as well. It’s important to note here, though this analogy is with sheep and material needs, this also applies to our spiritual needs. The Lord not only graciously provides for our body, he also provides for our soul. Let’s talk about that a little more as we progress to verse three.

He Restores My Soul

This kind of tender and intimate leading that we’re discussing is refreshing to our soul. As we observe the Lord’s care of us and of others we begin to incress in our trust of him and our relationship with him grows. As this happens our soul is refreshed. he heals our wounds and tends to our hearts. This is renewing and refreshing. Most importantly of all, the Lord gives us his Holy Spirit to comfort us along the way. The Holy Spirit will comfort us, guide us, refresh us, and restore us and our Good Shepherd leads us through the pathways of this life on earth.

Have you ever experienced pain your heart that you needed comforted or refreshed? God does this through his Holy Spirit. Which actually brings us to our next point and our final point for this writing.

The Lord leads us on good paths because when people know we’re following Jesus it is glorifying to his name. Let’s look quickly at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-16.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

📜 Matthew 5:14-16 – English Standard Version

When Jesus is our shepherd, we are a shining light in a dark world. When we are a bright light, it glorifies God! As the Lord leads us in paths of righteousness, his name is lifted high and shown worthy to be praised.

Conclusion

After seeing how the Lord leads us when he is our shepherd what’s left? What’s left is whether or not we’ll follow the lead of the shepherd. Perhaps today as you read this you don’t know Jesus. Or perhaps you do know Jesus but have fallen by the wayside a bit. There’s no such thing as online ministry. Ministry is a day by day moment by moment interaction between members of the body of Christ.

If you need to know Christ, please hit that contact link above and we will work with you to help you meet Christ and get plugged in to a local church. If you have fallen by the wayside and are disconnected from Jesus for some reason, hit that contact link above and we will do our best to get you back on the path and plugged in at a local body. Ekklesia at Hidden Creek is here to get people connected and reconnected to Christ. This is done by beginning to walk with Jesus amongst a gathering of his faithful followers in person. This cannot be done via the Internet. It takes face to face interaction. Allow the body of Christ to wraps its arms around you and care for you the way that Jesus intends. A local church body will hold you accountable and help you to stay the course of pursuing Jesus, the Good Shepherd, it a harsh a broken world.