Psalm 23
1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
One of the things that we want to be assured of in these FRIGHTENING times is the LOVE of God. Does God love us? If He loves us, what are the things we can EXPECT from Him? There are FOUR EXPRESSIONS of the LOVE of the SHEPHERD that I see here and they are as follows:
I. THE CARE OF THE SHEPHERD vv. 1 – 3
II.THE PROTECTION OF THE SHEPHERD v. 4
III.THE VINDICATION BY THE SHEPHERD v. 5
IV.THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE SHEPHERD v. 6
I. THE CARE OF THE SHEPHERD vv. 1 – 3
Ps 23:
1The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
The Hebrew word for shepherd is “ROHI”. One of God’s names is “YahwehRohi” which speaks of God’s care for His people.
Not only that, this verse teaches us that the Lord is OUR PERSONAL SHEPHERD as highlighted by the possessive determiner “my”.
(A)HIS PHYSICAL CARE
The first expression of the care of the shepherd is His PROVISION. He will provide for His children.
QUESTION: How does a shepherd do that for His sheep?
1. He gives them FOOD as signified in “He makes me lie down in green pastures”.
2. He gives them DRINK as signified in “He leads me beside quiet waters.”
Psalm 37:25 I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.
1 Ki 17:
1Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2The word of the Lord came to him, saying, 3“Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4“It shall be that you will drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.” 5So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook. 7It happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9“Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Mt 6:
25“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33“But seek first His kingdom
