The Lord the Shepherd of His People Part 1

The Lord the Shepherd of His People
Psalm 23
1. The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want.
2. He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3. He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4. Yes, 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 runs over.
6. Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.



The most repeated Psalm in the book of Psalms, but yet do we dwell on it as we should? I keep a copy of it in my truck so that I can read it when troubled, but I confess I have never dwelled on it till today. This week I will devout my time to the study of this beloved Psalm and share my study with you. I pray we all come away with a better understanding of Jesus as a shepherd to His people.
In most of David’s Psalm we find complaints, and crying out for mercy, here David talks of comfort and of the tenderness of the Lord. He establishes a relationship to God, and that it is God who will meet his needs. He reminds himself of the comfort that God has provided for him and that he shall want of nothing. He talks of the goodness of God, not only being with him now but forever, and that he will be established as God’s child in His kingdom for all times.

"The Lord is my shepherd." Psalm 78:70,71; He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. It is God who has chosen our savior, for only God knows the needs of the sheep and the skills needed to shepherd His people. When I hired on with CCX, I went through a process where I was tested worthy to be an employee with this company. My application was reviewed to see if I had the experience to do this job. Christ fulfilled all the prophecies written about Him in the Old Testament, it was His resume. We have before us a list of the qualifications of our shepherd and in His life, death and resurrection we see them all fulfilled.
I was given a road test to see if I indeed had the skills needed to do the job. I was given a physical, drug test, and background check, all to see if I was the employee that they needed. By testing the scriptures we find that Christ was the only one qualified to become our savior, and that He passed every test put before Him. If God knew Jesus as Himself, why the test, was it to prove Jesus worthy to Himself? No, it was to prove to us that Christ was our savior.
John 10:11; “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Just as David faced the lion, to save his flock, Jesus was willing to go to the cross to save His sheep. It was the final qualification needed for the shepherd, that he was willing to face death for the sake of the sheep. Just as David knew that it was God who saved him when he faced death, Christ prayed for strength to endure what He was about to go through. Luke 22:42.
Isaiah 40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arms, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.
Jesus is not only a shepherd to the flock but a shepherd to the individual believer. Jesus cares for our every need, from the time we are new Christians, to the times we are hurting and carrying burdens that slow our walk. He will go after us when we stray from the flock and rejoice when we return to the fold.
"I shall not want." I feel this statement goes far beyond physical needs, to mean that if Jesus is my shepherd than I will not look for another. When God established the nation of Israel, He wanted to be their God and for them to rely upon Him. The people on the other hand wanted a king just like everyone else and failed to see that God was their king. In John chapter 11 and verse three, John sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if He was indeed the Coming One, or if they should look for another. John was in prison and needed reassurance from Jesus. When faced with trouble, we tend to cry out to God wondering if this is all there is, needing that same reassurance.
Or people want to deny the savior, thinking there needs to be more to salvation, or they want an active part in that salvation. Thinking themselves good people, and ignoring that scripture teaches that there is none good, but God.
Still others don’t want what Jesus has to offer and want to serve another who seems more aligned to their personal goals. These choices lead to temporary satisfaction, but leave us empty searching for more, not fulfilling that God given need to be with Him.
When we find the peace from trusting Jesus as our savior, and depend upon Him for our every need, we shall surely want for nothing nor search for another.
When David wrote this Psalm, he remembered that He begged for food twice before while chased by Saul, and that he did not have physical needs for himself and his men. David had an inner peace that is available to each of us from the Holy Spirit, which reminds us that God is indeed with us. Jesus is our savior, having fulfilled all scripture relating to the Messiah, and leads us with the sacrificial love of a shepherd, willing to lay down His life for the flock.