As I have been in England these last couple months I’ve found my time with the Lord richly blessed.  At times the circumstances I was in weren’t super great, in fact they have been pretty challenging and I’ve found myself often wiped, worked, and wondering when I might have a chance to recover.  In the midst of all the challenges, decisions, and demands of day to day life I found myself back with an old friend…Psalm 23.  This powerful 6 verse punch of a psalm has been my refreshment, restoration, and reminder as I have been sifting through the things that life has been throwing at me.  My prayer is that as we study through Psalm 23 the next two weeks that you too will be refreshed, restored, and reminded of God as our King, Shepherd, and Caregiver. 

God bless you

-Dan

“The Lord is my shepherd…”

Psalm 23:1

Just above the first words of this psalm is the introduction, “A Psalm of David”.  As I was soaking up this psalm I found that I never really gave a whole lot of thought to the fact that I’m reading the passion and ponderings of a shepherd.  When considering all the great biblical characters most of us have a picture painted in our minds of what that character looked like.  John the Baptist is often sporting some type of gnarly animal fur and throwing back some type of bug as a snack, Jesus has these wonderful blue eyes, lush long hair, and a nicely trimmed beard, David is often wearing a crown on his head remembered as King or a sling in his hand remembered as a giant slayer, but more often than not people don’t think of him as the shepherd.  That’s because being a shepherd has never really been a job of glory and fame but a job of grace and shame.

A Shepherd in ancient times wasn’t the most socially acceptable position.  Most of them were considered the low lives of society due to their image.  As a shepherd, stepping in pasture patties wasn’t something uncommon, having some poop stains on your robe was normal, and smelling like sheep was just another thing that came with the job.  They tend animals that don’t have the sense to tend themselves.  Often lost, hurt, or hunted, sheep had need of a capable, gracious, and faithful caretaker, and the same goes for you and me. 

In the Bible God is often referred to as The Shepherd, and we are the sheep.  He is the leader and the caretaker and we are those that need leading and taking care of. 

Why?

Because we too get lost in sin, get hurt by this world, and are hunted by the enemy.  So the Lord, our Shepherd, came to be with, provide for, and take care over us, His sheep.

Why would one be a shepherd though? 

Why take a job that stinks and is looked down on by others?

The answer is not “Someone’s got to do it” but “Someone gets to do it”

You see a shepherd doesn’t sign up for the status boost or the working conditions, He signs up because he has a relationship to the sheep, he loves them and wants see them live abundantly well.  His reward is them, in their life, their growth, their abiding.  Just as a Shepherd’s joy is in his sheep, so too the Lord’s joy and reward is in us.  God cares for you and me, He desires to see us not only live life but to live it abundantly well, without being stolen from, without being beat up, without being annihilated. 

“Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.  He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.”

Isaiah 40:10-11

So how do we get to that place with the Shepherd? 

How do we receive abundant life? 

We abide with the Shepherd, we draw near and intimately remain with the Lord…we stay in the pasture of His will, we drink from the water of His word, we eat up the feast of HIs blessings, and we receive the outpouring of the oil of His Spirit. 

As we continue to look deeper into Psalm 23 may we continue to draw nearer to the Lord and enjoy as he draws nearer to us (James 4:8).