My Good Shepherd

Not to long ago, I posted about being God’s sheep. Since then, the Lord has been really been hitting me with how He is my Shepherd and what that means. Today, He pressed it upon my heart to study Psalm 23. It’s a very familiar passage to many, but it’s one I haven’t really meditated on too much until recently.

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.
    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.
    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

God uses the imagery of being the Shepherd of His people throughout the Bible (Psalm 100:3, Isaiah 40:11, Ezekiel 34:11-31, Matthew 9:36, John 10:1-18, Hebrews 13:20-21, 1 Peter 2:25, Revelation 7:17). A good shepherd provides for and protects and knows his sheep. Jesus is our Good Shepherd (John 10:11). He knows us better than we know ourselves (Psalm 139). He gives us everything we need (verse 1; Psalm 34: 9, 10). He protects us from every kind of danger (Psalm 91:14; 1 Peter 2:25). He does what is best for His sheep (John 10:15). Like sheep, we can sometimes be very disobedient, distracted, ugly (on the inside), needy, and naive. God is very kind not to leave us as helpless, lost sheep. Instead, He seeks us out and brings us into His fold (Psalm 119:176). Jesus said there is much rejoicing in heaven when a sheep is found and restored to the fold (Matthew 18:12-14).
While reading this Psalm, I was struck by how Christ is not only the Shepherd in this passage, but He is also the provision this passage talks about. He leads us to Himself. He is the one in whom we have no lack. He is the rest for which we long. He brings restoration to our wayward souls. He is the path of righteousness. He overcame the evil one and grants us peace in the valley of deep darkness. He gives us access into the house of the Lord. And what really hit me is that He is the table that was prepared.

“You prepare a table before me…” - One of the cross-references for this verse is Psalm 78:19, which quotes the Israelites asking, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?” The Israelites asked this as they were wandering in the wilderness. They were very hungry and thought they were going to starve do death. Now, remember, they had just witnessed God’s awesome power in delivering them from slavery in Egypt and they had just seen God give them water out of a rock when they were thirsty. Now they ask, “Can God save us again? Did He deliver us in order to kill us off in the desert?” God if faithful and does again meet their needs. After they had wandered in the desert for 40 years (because of their disobedience), the Lord told them why He allowed them to wander for so long:

And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Deuteronomy 8:2-3

God was teaching them that He was all they needed; that He would supply all their needs; that He was sufficient. Isn’t that the same lesson He wants to teach all of His sheep? So God wanted more for them that physical bread; He wanted to give them the bread of His Word. He wants the same for us. Jesus Christ is that Bread (John 6:35). He is the Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14) and His flesh gives us life (John 6:54; Matthew 26:26). God wants us to feast on Him. It is in Christ that the goodness of God overflows to us (verse 5; Ephesians 1:3). He is the table prepared.

Like before when I talked about two different masters (Jesus or sin), there are two different shepherds. You either have one or the other; there is no in-between. Jesus is the true Shepherd, but unless/until we know Him, Death is our Shepherd (Psalm 49:14). Psalm 49 describes our helpless state. We are wise in our own eyes and live as though death will not touch us. No one can help us because our life is costly (verses 7, 8). No man can save us. But God can and He did by becoming a man to rescue us from death. He is perfect and can pay the full cost of our ransom. He snatches us from the path of destruction – a path we are all on until Christ saves us. He does this by living a perfect life for us and then dying the death we deserve, taking our punishment. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep.