Psalm 23 — A Psalm of David. 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 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 is probably the most familiar of all the psalms. The passage centers on the Lord as our Shepherd. A shepherd’s occupation was to tend to flocks of sheep, feeding, guarding and tending to their every need. The watchfulness and care of the sheep was a twenty-four-hour seven day a week task. This closeness created a mutual knowledge and awareness. The sheep were so well known that the Shepherd knew their every nuance, and the sheep immediately knew the shepherds voice and would follow. John 10:14-15, 27 The Shepherd/sheep relationship offers the perfect image of God’s loving care for His people. Psalm 23 has a comforting and simple message, ”The LORD is my Shepherd” and He is “The All Sufficient Shepherd.” In this beloved Psalm lies this treasured message.
The remainder of the passage defines the great care and attention that our Lord provides to His flock as the All Sufficient Shepherd. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Have you noticed “He makes me lie down”, “He leads me beside”, “He restores my soul”, “He leads me in paths”. Our Lord has an active participation in our every moment care. The All Sufficient Shepherd is tending and directing our every step at every moment. That leading leads us to trust in His all sufficient care. 4 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. As one author observed, “Perhaps there is no Psalm in which the absence of all doubt, misgiving, fear, anxiety, is so remarkable; and certainly no image could have been devised more beautifully descriptive of rest and safety and trustful happiness, than that of the sheep lying down in the deep, rich meadow-grass, beside the living stream, under the care of a tender and watchful shepherd.”[1]
The Lord as our Shepherd provides, green pastures and still waters, He restores, He leads, He goes through the dark places of life, He comforts fears with His presence, He confronts fears and enemies that cause discomfort. He anoints us with oil. In Bible times it was an act of great respect to pour perfumed oil on the head of a distinguished guest, as well as a refreshment, it was also a sign of blessing upon the person being anointed. In this Psalm there is not only the anointing, there is the additional super abundant blessing of our cup overflowing, indicating an overabundance of blessing and loving care for us. He gives the greatest of security by watching over us with the ever present and all-encompassing attributes of goodness and mercy, something that follows us through life, leading us to greater places of intimacy culminating in His glorious presence. I think the title for this Psalm “The All Sufficient Shepherd” is fitting because this Psalm is so comforting, so relevant, so all-encompassing in its affirmations, so exact in describing our Lord as “The All Sufficient Shepherd.”
We are reminded many times in Scripture of our status as sheep, Psalms 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. When we read Psalm 23 our hearts with one accord should fully acknowledge that we are “the sheep of His pasture.” That special status reminds us of how we fit into the big picture. He is God, He made us, not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. “The All Sufficient Shepherd” created us and placed us under His Pastoral care. While we remain in His pasture we are free from our own care, we have nothing to fear, everything is supplied as He sees fit, as He tends to our every need.
Unfortunately, in our hearts, we as sheep go astray, and start looking for “greener pasture”. When we go looking for “greener pasture” we begin to look, feel and act spiritually malnourished. We become spiritually emaciated because we are wasting away in a pasture of our own making. We are vulnerable and helpless; we have exposed ourselves to risk and opened ourselves up to being susceptible to dishonor and shameful responses to life. Depression, fear, worry and a host of other unhealthy responses to life quickly take the place of sheepfold comforts. Look at yourself my friend, look at yourself in the mirror of God’s Word, James 1:22-24. Do you see how thin and wasted you are becoming because you are in a pasture of you own making? Stop and look around you, the weeds have blossoms, they look good, but they have no nourishment, they are the weeds in the pasture you have entered. You have heard the expression, “the grass always looks greener on the other side.” The pasture of your own making looks fine, but there is no nourishment no protection, no satisfaction.
The “The All Sufficient Shepherd” offers green pastures, still waters to calm your troubled heart, sheepfold comforts, not the false comforts of your own pasture of your own making. You and I don’t have the answers to life, you and I don’t have the ability or wisdom or insight to tackle the hurdles that come our way, you and I are not sufficient enough in any category of life to live a life dedicated to our own agenda. Why don’t you think about the direction that you are taking, why don’t you stop for a moment and really ask yourself meaningful questions about the direction you are taking in life. What does the pasture you are grazing in look like right now?
Years ago I read where a little girl misquoted Psalm 23 and said: “The Lord is my Shepherd what more shall I want”. There is a short, but compact and powerful message to notice in this “misquote”. The message is that He is all I need and all I should want! His pasture is the one we must be satisfied with and seek nourishment from, “what more shall I want”!
The little girls “misquote” is actually a one sentence summary of the entire purpose of the Holy Spirits intention to preserve this Psalm in Holy Scripture. It is a purpose statement that catches the principle of the passage, “The All Sufficient Shepherd”. Everything else in this Psalm is directly connected to this principle, everything else is derived from this principle, and everything else in this Psalm is defined by this principle. Because our Savior is “The All Sufficient Shepherd”, we have His total care; we have His total attention to our care. His sheep, His pasture, His care, His all sufficient control and protection, what more shall I want.
We as the Sheep of His pasture, His people, need to reflect on these tremendous promises of security and eternal care. We must see ourselves as God sees us, His Sheep in His pasture. Is that too simple to accept? Is being a sheep in a pasture to humbling or unassuming? Doesn’t that thought really bring us back down to earth? Isn’t that where we should be anyhow? Safety and security and freedom from care are found in seeing yourself as God sees you, in the truest context of the spiritual life that He has revealed, I am His sheep, He is my Shepherd.
The power of the message of Psalm 23 is in the simplicity of the message, and that’s why the child’s unintended misquoting of Psalm 23 is so powerful and significant. It is simple, you are to be content in His pasture and pastoral care, you are to be humbly submissive and satisfied with the Loving Shepherds care. Your pastures are not sufficient enough, your care is not adequate enough. Your pastures are deceitfully greener, deceitfully more satisfying, deceitfully superior. When turmoil strikes and the blows are hard, the Shepherd leads us beside still waters. The waters of our own pastures will always run dry, they will only have temporary fulfilment. “The All Sufficient Shepherd” perfectly manages our lives, we are exceedingly safer in His fold.
Today, place yourself in His care. Accept the simple message of Psalm 23; make each word in each verse cascade over your troubled heart. Begin perhaps before you are stricken with trials and trouble in life to integrate the simple principles of the Psalm and truly see yourself in the passage. You are a sheep; you are in His pasture and you do have all of the many benefits of being a part of the “All Sufficient Shepherds” sheepfold. Remember Psalm 23 has a comforting and simple message, ”The LORD is my Shepherd.”
Then recognize this dear fellow believer, as we share the same sheepfold together, our loving Shepherd has only one eternal purpose in mind, to conform us into His image Romans 8:29, to perfect in us His works, working in us His good pleasure. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Hebrews 13:20, 21.
His sheepfold is the place where you and I are being conformed into the image of His Son. It is the place where we maximize showing forth thanksgiving and praise for His “All Sufficient Shepherding” for generations to come. But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise. Psalms 79:13. He has brought us into the safety of His sheepfold, the body of Christ. Jesus is the Good Shepherd John 10, and we are His sheep, He delights in leading, comforting and caring for us. Take comfort in the simple message of Psalm 23 and make it a daily meditation and prayer.
[1] J. J. Stewart Perowne, Commentary on the Psalms