Psalm 23 (NRSV)

The Divine Shepherd

A Psalm of David.
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 right paths
   for his name’s sake. 

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I 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
   my whole life long.

Brother,

This is the Psalm appointed for next Sunday and so I thought I would do something different for this week.

The most prized gifts normally come in small packages! What I want to share with you is the smallest of words in the Psalm, but one that brings the most amazing blessing. It is the word ‘my’ … “The Lord is my shepherd …” It is not even a whole word in Hebrew, it is only a suffix.

As a philosophy teacher, I spend all my time asking the Big Questions. This week, in  lessons we will be thinking about the meaning of life! In the process, we also often look at the Universe, its existence and its being and we are often drawn back to the thought that it simply could not have happened by chance. Even the most ardent of sceptics, like Richard Dawkins, has had to acknowledge the possibility of a deity that kicked things off (Deism). We Theists hold to the idea of a personal God, because contingent things – those things that exist that do not have to exist, i.e. everything – must have been a result of a decision having been made, and deciding is a personal attribute. Christians refer to this creator God (in the Psalmist’s words) as a shepherd in the way that he relates to His creation. Most of the time, this image is used when speaking of the covenant relationship God has with His people and the image was also meant to be a type for the way kings ought to relate to the people.

Here the Psalmist introduced a notion that is as radical as it is beautiful: this great creator God is my shepherd.

God cares for me; he cares for those that I love. I can bring my everyday needs before him, I do not need to feel that I have no right to do so, because God has given me the right through His Son Jesus, to bring all our needs before him.

The Psalmist continues: “I shall not lack any thing that the Shepherd knows that I need.”

Oriental shepherds find green pastures for their sheep. This is difficult to find but he perseveres. He leads them besides waters of rest and through this rest and life-giving water he restores the sheep’s life (soul).

Arnold Rhodes comments:

“As God’s people we have our green pastures and still waters: the daily bread, family prayers and Bible Study, worship in the sanctuary, service in the market place, in fact, all the blessings of God. God’s blessings, material and spiritual – bring renewed vitality for the tasks ahead. He leads each of us in paths of righteousness.”

G A F Knight reminds us of an oft-told story coming from the last century. Two ministers went on holiday walking through the Welsh hills. High on the moors they met a shepherd lad and stopped to speak with him. They discovered that this boy had never been to school and knew nothing of the Christian faith. They explained things to him as best they could and then shared the 23^rd Psalm with him. To help him discover this personal faith, they got him to repeat the words “The Lord is my shepherd”. The following year they returned to the hills. They called in at a cottage to purchase a drink of milk. The lady of the house noticed them looking at a picture on the mantelpiece. “Yes,” she said, “that was my son. He died last winter in a snow storm while tending his sheep. But there was a curious thing about him, his right hand was clutching the fourth finger of his left hand.”

The ministers explained: “We met your boy last year. In fact, since he was a shepherd boy, we taught him to repeat the first line of the 23^rd Psalm to himself, to pause at the fourth word, and think ‘This Psalm was meant for me.’”

This Psalm was meant for me too … and you …

Be blessed,

As ever,

David