Psalms 23:1

Everyone can say the Lord is a Shepherd. So all the significance of this statement hangs on the little word "my." To say "my" Shepherd is the language of faith. The word "my" is the doorway into the psalm... And what follows? "I shall not want." We shall not want, not because we are sheep, but because He is our Shepherd. This conclusion flows, not from what we are to Him, but from what He is to us. Many of us begin with ourselves, and as we see what feeble, wayward creatures we are, we fall into doubts. When we begin with the Lord instead, we gain a well-grounded assurance that we "shall not want." For surely it belongs to the Shepherd to provide for the sheep.

Every believer can say, "The Lord is my Saviour." But have we all truly submitted to His leading, so that we can each say, "The LORD is my Shepherd"? He has told us that He is "the Shepherd." But have we each told Him, You are "my Shepherd"? Have we accepted Him as our Saviour, who died for us to save us from our sins? And have we also submitted to Him as our Shepherd, to lead us home through all our difficulties?

Its subject is "Jehovah is my Shepherd" — the constant, unfailing care He gives. It is not what He gives which assures the heart, but Himself. Power, grace, goodness, interest in the faithful One — all assure. They assure in all circumstances, for ever and always. He has taken the care of His faithful ones on Himself. These cannot want. We do not have to think about what may come, or what means He may use.

But in Psalm 23 he cannot say, Jehovah is my shepherd, until he has been through all the power of evil... He counted on Jehovah, and learned to count on Him through all the difficulties of the way.

There are the daily needs of the body. How are they to be met? The Psalmist does not say, "I hold a good job, I shall not want." He does not say, "I have kind friends who will care for me," or "I have plenty of money," or "I have youth, and health, and abilities." The LORD may meet our wants in all these ways, and many others. But the Psalmist speaks of none of these means. He looks beyond all secondary causes and providential ways, and he sees the LORD.

If the sheep are hungry, the shepherd is there to guide them into green pastures. Are they foolish? He is there to keep their wandering feet. Are they weak? He gently leads his sheep and carries the lambs. Are they timid? He goes in front to lead them through the rough valleys, and to defend them from every enemy.

As the "Good Shepherd," who laid down His life for the sheep. (Compare John 10; Ps. 22) As the "Great Shepherd" — risen from the dead, He takes charge of the sheep as they journey through "that great and terrible wilderness." (Compare Heb. 13; Ps. 23) As the "Chief Shepherd," who will give a crown of glory to all His under-shepherds at His appearing and kingdom. (Compare 1 Peter 5; Ps. 24)

He is the Shepherd of each person who trusts in Him. He is also the Shepherd of Israel as a nation. The Patriarch Jacob spoke of this when he said, "the God which fed me," or, literally, "my Shepherd."