1/12/2012 9:09:24 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The Great Shepherd who cares for His sheep
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 23
Message of the verses: “1 ¶ «A Psalm of David.» The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even 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. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
This is one of the most beloved portions of Scripture in the entire Bible, but Dr. Wiersbe points out that the psalm has been primarily used at funerals but Psalm 23 focuses on what Jesus does for us “all the days of our lives” and not just at death.
“This is a psalm of the Great Shepherd who cares for His sheep and equips them for ministry (Heb. 13:20-21), the ‘great High Priest’ (Heb. 4:14) who ‘ever lives to make intercession for us’ (Heb. 7:25).”
This psalm was probably written when David was old as he looks back at how the “Great Shepherd” had cared for him throughout his life, and not written when he was a young lad tending his father’s sheep as many think. Dr. Wiersbe thinks that this psalm could have been written when Absalom was trying to take over the kingdom. Dr. Wiersbe writes: “While people of all ages love and quote this psalm, its message is for mature Christians who have fought battles and carried burdens.”
Let us briefly take a look God is seen as Israel’s Shepherd. “Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day (Genesis 48:15 NIV).” “But his bow remained steady, his strong arms stayed supple, because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel (Gen. 49:24 NIV).” This continues throughout the Bible (Pss. 28:9; 80:1 95:7; 100:3; Isa. 40:11; 49:10; Jer. 31:10; Ezek. 34:11-15; Matt. 10:6; 15:24; Mark 6:34). We can also see the Jesus; the Promised Messiah was also seen as a shepherd (Eze. 34:16, 23; Mic. 5:4; Zech. 13:7; Matt. 2:6: 26:3; Mark 14:27; John 10).
I believe that one of the reasons that there is so much written about the Lord being the Shepherd is because people are a lot like sheep. In John MacArthur’s message on 1Peter 5:1-2 which he entitled “Shepherding the Flock Part-1” he tells the story of when he and his family went to New Zealand and visited a sheep farm. Before going he said that he read a book on shepherding that was written by a shepherd from New Zealand and the reason for this was to know about sheep and what he found out was that sheep are like humans and said that perhaps that the Lord created sheep for spiritual points.
As long as we are on the subject of sheep I have to say that I believe that when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and found out that they were naked and then they put on some fig leaves to cover their nakedness. God is said to have killed and animal in order to cover their nakedness, but the Bible is silent as to what that animal was that was killed. I believe that animal was a sheep as it would picture the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
One more thought and that is that I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was born in the cave that was where the Passover lambs were born, for Paul writes that Jesus is our Passover. Jesus died when the Passover lambs were slain and so I think that it would be fitting for Him to be born where these Passover lambs were born.
In the Pasture—Adequacy (vv. 1-3): “1 ¶ «A Psalm of David.» The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”
Dr. Wiersbe writes: “’The Lord’ is Jehovah God, the covenant making God if Israel. The compound names of Jehovah in the Old Testament reflect the contents of this psalm:
‘I shall not want’—Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide (Gen. 22:14)
‘still waters’—Jehovah-Shalom, ‘the Lord our peace’ (Judg. 6:24)
‘restores my soul’—Jehovah-Rophe, ‘the Lord who heals’ (Ex. 15:26)
‘paths of righteousness—Jehovah—Tsidkenu, ‘the Lord our righteousness’ (Jer. 33:16)
‘you are with me’—Jehovah-Shammah, ‘Lord is there’ (Ezek. 48:35)
‘presence of my enemies’—Jehovah-Nissi, ‘the Lord our banner (Ex. 17:15)
‘anoint my head’—Jehovah-M’Kaddesh, ‘the Lord who sanctifies’ (Lev. 20:8)”
When we read “the Lord is my shepherd” it means that the Lord is shepherding me and this can be seen in the shepherds that are in and near the Holy Land, for their practices are not much different than they were in the days when David was a shepherd. This involved in taking care of the sheep in ways that we see are portrayed of a Pastor caring for his flock, the flock that God had given to him to care for as seen in 1Peter 5. (The sermon mention above is a wonderful way to understand how the shepherds care for the sheep and how Pastors are to care for their flock).
In John 10 we see that Jesus is the “Great Shepherd” and as mentioned this psalm is a picture of how the Lord Jesus Christ cares for His flock today. “11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 "He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’” “Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord.”
In verse two we see the word “lead” and the word means to lead gently. Cattle are driven, but sheep are lead. A Pastor who has a flock is to lead it and not drive it, for he is called by God to lead his flock and to teach them and to care for them like a shepherd cares for his sheep. To find a Pastor who will do this is not as easy as it use to be but when you find a pastor like that they you know that this is a good place for worshiping the Lord.
The word “paths” in verse three means “well-worn paths, ruts.” “When sheep start to explore an exciting new path, it will lead them into trouble. ‘Do not be carried about by varied and strange teachings’ (Heb. 13:9). God cares for us because He loves us and wants us to glorify Him (‘for His name’s sake”. The shepherd cares for the sheep because he loves them and wants to maintain his own good reputation as a faithful shepherd.” (Warren Wiersbe)
Spiritual meaning for my life today: We will try and look at the rest of this psalm in the next SD.
The thought of having the God of creation as my Great Shepherd who will lead me and guide me through the good and difficult times of my life gives me confidence and increases my faith and also teaches me contentment knowing that He is always there to gently lead me.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. With the help of the Word of God and the Spirit of God I desire to not stray onto a “new path” but be lead by the Shepherd.
2. Continue to learn contentment.
1/12/2012 11:02:40 AM
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