In my reading of the Bible, I am currently reading through the Psalms. And I have decided to spend some focused time on Psalm 23. It is such a well-known psalm that some of its truths can be overlooked due to familiarity. And to be honest, I’m not much further than the first phrase: The Lord is my Shepherd.

We don’t deal much with sheep and shepherds. Some of us may have a wool sweater, but that’s about the extent of our knowledge of sheep! But King David was the writer of this psalm, and he was a shepherd when he was a younger man. He knew the nature of sheep and shepherding, and his original hearers of this psalm knew about sheep and shepherding. It was part of their culture.

When David begins this psalm by stating that the Lord was his shepherd, he was certainly making a statement of fact. But he was also saying it in such a way that he was pointing the attention to the Lord as his shepherd. Really, he was boasting. “Look who my shepherd is! My shepherd is the Lord. The Lord, the covenant-keeping God, the one who loves me with an everlasting, sacrificial love, that is who my shepherd is! I don’t know who your shepherd is, but my shepherd is the Lord!”

And it is crucial that the shepherd be competent and able, that he knows what he is doing. If he doesn’t, then the sheep suffer. And I think that is my point. The care of the sheep is directly related to the character of the shepherd. That may be why David boasted the way he did. The Lord was his shepherd, and because of that he didn’t experience any needs (the next phrase). And what that tells me is this. Every experience of the sheep relates to the nature of the shepherd. So, when we fear, it means that we are uncertain of our shepherd. When we are anxious, it means that we don’t trust our shepherd. When we are proud, it means that we don’t think we really need our shepherd. When we are jealous, it means that we would rather have a different shepherd. When we are angry, it means that we don’t like what our shepherd is doing for us. But when we rest and are confident and secure, it means that we really believe that our shepherd knows what he is doing and that He can be trusted.

So, what do we do when we are fearful or anxious or proud or jealous or angry? The answer must be that we reengage with our shepherd. The more we get to know the Lord as our shepherd, the less fearful or anxious or proud or jealous or angry we will be. Why? Because we will be convinced that the Lord as our shepherd is good and kind and loving and trustworthy and in control of all things. Our shepherd has promised to work out all things for our good (Rom. 8:28), to never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5), to forgive our sins (Col. 1:13-14), to give us eternal life (John 3:16), to carry out a good plan for us (Jer. 29:11), to give us everything that we need to live life and to be godly (2 Peter 1:3-4), and to someday bring us to himself and wipe away our every tear (Rev. 7:17). Jesus told us that he was our Good Shepherd and that the Good Shepherd lays his life down for his sheep. If our Shepherd lays his life down for us, then he will certainly give us everything else that we need.