Key scripture- “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still water, He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me; Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup runneth over. 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).

This Psalm, which was written by David, is so familiar to us, it actually introduces us to one of God’s Names, Yahweh-Rohi, which means “The Lord my Shepherd.”

David was a shepherd before he became a king and he knew that God cared for him the same way he cared for his sheep. As a keeper of sheep, David understood both the needs of the sheep and the many cares of a shepherd. In this Psalm, David compares himself to a creature (sheep) that is weak, defenseless and foolish, and he shows that God is his Shepherd, because God is the Provider, Preserver, and Director. He is our Everything.

“The Lord is my shepherd.” Did you notice that these words are in the present tense? I want you to stop and say to yourself, “The Lord is a Shepherd to me; He cares for me, watches over me, and preserves me. No matter what is going on and no matter where I am, I am always under the care of Yahweh, my Shepherd.”

“I shall not want” means I shall not lack God’s perfect loving, protective care. We are His sheep and we need nothing else but Him because He will never forsake or abandon us. When the Lord is your Shepherd, He is able to supply your needs, and He is certainly willing to do so, for His heart is full of love, therefore, “I shall not want.” I shall not lack for temporal things. Does he feed the ravens, and cause the lilies to grow? (Luke 12:24,27). How, then, can he leave his children to starve? I shall not want for spiritual things, because I know that His grace will be sufficient for me. (2 Corinthians 12:9). I may not possess all that I wish for, but “I shall not want.” Others, far wealthier and wiser than I, may want, but “I shall not.” “The lions may grow weak and hungry: but those that seek the Lord lack no good thing.” (Psalm 34:10).�
It is not only “I do not want,” but “I shall not want.” Come what may, if famine should devastate the land, or calamity destroy the city, “I shall not want.” I have all things and I abound; not because I have a lot of money in the bank, not because I have skill and wit and intelligence, but because “The Lord is my shepherd.” The wicked always want, but the righteous never; a sinner’s heart is far from satisfaction, but the righteous dwells in the palace of contentment and joy.

When God make us “lie down in green pastures”, and He is “leading us beside the still waters” He is showing us that He will give us complete peacefulness and rest. God’s people, like sheep, do not have enough sense to go to the right pastures for food nor do we know how to find the still waters. Instead, when we act on our own, we find ourselves hungry and in the flood waters or rapids that take us under. So the Good Shepherd leads us, His beloved ones, to a place of sustenance and rest.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures.” What are these “green pastures”, they are The Word of God which is always fresh, always rich, and never empty. His Word is sweet and full. It is fit food for souls, just like lush tender grass is natural nutriment for sheep. You will never bite into the Scriptures and come up empty, just like Sheep don’t bite into gravel and dirt when they are in a lush green pasture. When by faith we rest in God’s Promises, we are like the sheep that lie down in the midst of the pasture; we find both provider and peace, rest and refreshment, serenity and satisfaction.

But don’t overlook this: “He makes me lie down.” It is the Lord who graciously enables us to perceive the preciousness of His Promises, and to feed upon them. We should be grateful for the wisdom and opportunity to put all our weight on His Promises. To be able to taste and see that The Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8).

“He leads me beside the still waters” but what are these “still waters”? They are the influences and graces of The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit attends to us like water cleanses, refreshes, and fertilizes. They are “still waters,” because the Holy Spirit loves peace. Our Lord leads us beside these “still waters” because we could not go there ourselves, we need His guidance, that is why it says, “He leads me.” He does not drive us, instead Jesus leads us by His example.�
He “restores my soul” because we need soul restoration. Our souls are restless because of our own carelessness, problems, difficult circumstances, our sins, others sins, and the world’s influence. Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. With our souls we process circumstances, we entertain our thoughts, we feel and express emotions, and we make decisions. The word “restore” means to bring back to an original state or condition. God will restore us by bringing us back to the state or condition we were in before we wandered from the good plan God has for our lives. When your soul grows sorrowful He revives it; when it is sinful He sanctifies it; when it is weak He strengthens it. “He” does it. Do you feel low in grace? Do you feel that your spirituality is at an all time low? Go before God, He can restore your soul.

“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The Creator of Heaven and Earth desires intimate involvement with His people, He wants to lead them, not just point the way. We need to have confidence in the fact that when God “leads me in the paths of righteousness” He leads us in the path that is right for us, a path that restores us and leads us into uprightness and right standing with Him. That is why we need to obey and follow whatever He wants us to do. The Christian is not obedient to just some commandments and neglectful of others; he does not pick and choose, but obeys all of God’s Word.

“The valley of the shadow of death” is not a state we live in or a permanent condition or an abiding place. Rather, it is a place we pass through with Jesus right there at our side. It is “the shadow of death” and nobody is afraid of a shadow, for a shadow cannot stop a man’s pathway even for a moment. The shadow of a dog cannot bite; the shadow of a sword cannot kill; the shadow of death cannot destroy us. As the apostle Paul said, the trouble we are going through is a momentary affliction. (2 Corinthians 4:17). Your problem will not last forever. It is temporary, it will be over soon.

Nothing can hurt us in the valley because His “rod and staff comfort” us. The shepherds used to carry a rod which was an oak club about 2 feet long to defend the sheep against wild animals and the staff was a long stick with a hook on it to pull the sheep out of trouble when they strayed. Any enemy who is trying to hurt us has to get through Jesus, our Shepherd, before they can get to us and that is absolutely impossible.

He also “prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. Even though our enemy pursues us we are safe in the shelter of the Shepherd’s tent. “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High find rest in the shadow of the Almighty”. (Psalm 91:1). While the enemy is outside The Good Shepherd feeds, nourishes and cares for us while our enemy looks on. He does this right in the presence our enemies and there is nothing our enemy can do about it. This means our enemy cannot and will not destroy us.

When God “prepares a table,” nothing is hurried, there is no confusion, no disturbance, even though the enemy is at the door God takes the time to prepare a table, and He has you sit down and eat as if everything were in perfect peace. God gives this to His Children, even in the midst of the most trying circumstances!

When He “annoints my head with oil; my cup runs over” He is pouring His joy over you and filling your cup with blessings. You must go to God daily and have your head anointed with oil, new grace from on high, as you receive a fresh anointing for each days duties. “My cup runneth over.” We don’t just have a cup that is full, but more than enough, a cup which overflows with blessings. This is basically saying, “What, all this, and Jesus Christ too?”

“I will fear no evil.” He does not say there shall not be any evil; but “I will fear no evil,” not even the evil one himself; I will not dread my enemy, I will not be afraid, instead I will look upon him as a conquered foe, because “in just a little while, the wicked will be no more.” (Psalm 37:10).

“For thou art with me.” This is the joy of the Christian! “Thou art with me.” The little child out at sea in the storm is not frightened like all the other passengers on board the vessel, because it is enough for the child that its mother is with it; and it should be enough for the believer to know that Jesus Christ is with him. “Thou art with me; I have perfect comfort and absolute security, for “thou art with me.”

Last but not least “goodness and mercy” chase after us. Goodness and mercy, are like God’s hound dogs. They are running after you and will not let you get away. They chase after you all of your life so that you always experience God’s goodness and mercy. They never leave you. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22). If you stop and listen you can hear them running after you!

“And I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever”. We will dwell eternally with The Lord forever, but we also dwell in His presence while we are here on earth. Like David, we dwell in the house of God right now as we walk along the path He is leading us on here on earth. Psalm 84:10-11 says it perfectly: “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For The Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, it is so comforting to me that You are my Shepherd, You comfort me, You carry my burdens, You carry me, You protect me, You lead me. I am never without Your care, love, protection, goodness, grace and mercy. Father, You are the Shepherd of my soul, thank You for restoring my soul. You are my Father in Heaven, You are my Lord. Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is my Shepherd. He knows me and I know Him. I know His voice, and I pay attention to and obey and follow Jesus, the Living Word, my Precious Savior. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.