The Lord is my Shepherd

What’s your favourite song?

To be honest, I’m probably more of a Radio 2 man these days. However, I’m noticing that pop music today is dealing with some really important issues. People like Raye and Billie Eilish are facing weighty issues like abuse, corruption and hypocrisy that 20 or 30 years ago would only have been dealt with by indie bands and underground artists. Now though, those important issues suddenly seem to be in the mainstream.

But I’d say there are even more important issues than those that we need to face, and think about. And there is no more important issue than this one: how do we relate to God, and how does God relate to us?

So, for a few minutes, I want to tell you about one of my favourite songs from the Bible. Perhaps you didn’t realise there were songs in the Bible. There are loads! One of the sixty-six books in the Bible, the book of Psalms, is just 150 songs, back to back – each one an absolute banger.

And the twenty third Psalm is maybe the most famous of them all. This song, written about 3,000 years ago, was penned by a man named David, a shepherd who then became king. It’s often read at funerals, because it points to the certain hope that followers of Jesus have, of a home forever with God. But though we’re not at a funeral here today, this is still a good song to think about, because even today, those who put their trust in Jesus, and who follow him – have a home forever with God. And there’s not many things more important than where you will spend forever!

This psalm begins with these famous words: The Lord is my shepherd.

And I want to point out to you three ways that we can read that line, to think about how David related to God three thousand years ago, and how you and I too can relate to God today.

The LORD is my shepherd

That’s the first way to think about this line from the song. That David is able to say it is the LORD who is his shepherd! The One who made everything – stars and planets, oceans and mountains, badgers and beetles. In fact, according to the Bible, the Lord God made everything that we can see, touch, taste, hear, and smell – and everything that we can’t perceive with our five senses too.

And if God made everything – doesn’t that tell you what a powerful Lord he is? He is the One who is able to make everything out of nothing. And he’s the One who keeps this entire universe going, moment by moment.

Can you think of anyone better to have in charge of your life, than the God who made everything – the God who made you? King David couldn’t. I can’t either.

However, maybe you can recognise that having someone very powerful being in charge of your life might keep you out of trouble, but perhaps it isn’t very appealing; after all, there are plenty of world leaders who are very powerful, but we’re kind of glad they aren’t in charge of us, aren’t we? Well, that’s why the second way of reading this sentence is such good news:

The Lord is my SHEPHERD

See, when we emphasise that the Lord is a shepherd, we recognise that he isn’t only powerful, he is also loving. A shepherd cares about his sheep. He spends long, tiring days and nights out in the hills, making sure that they are safe from wild animals. Making sure that they are refreshed with the grass that they need. Making sure to lead them in good ways, even through scary terrain. That’s exactly what David says about the Lord in this psalm:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even 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.”

Perhaps when you think about God – either the God you believe in, or the God you reject belief in – you tend to think of him as powerful, but very hands-off. He might have all the strength in the universe and more, but he doesn’t care about you.

Well, that certainly isn’t the way that David thinks about the Lord God, is it? It’s obvious that David considers the Lord to be interested in tiny little him. It’s clear that David thought that the God who made the entire universe was also the One who kept him safe as he was chased down by enemy armies. That the God who kept all things going was the God who heard his prayers.

Did David just have a massive ego? Do Christians just have a hyperinflated sense of self for thinking that such a high and exalted being would be interested in them?

The definitive answer to that is: no! Here’s why: About a thousand years after David sang this song, people saw the truth of it like never before. Because God the Father sent his eternal Son, Jesus, to live in this world. And Jesus, who was able to still storms and receive worship: he is also the One who so clearly cared for people. Like a shepherd finding fresh grass for his flock, the Lord Jesus fed five thousand men, plus women and children, with loaves and fish. Like a shepherd gently and tenderly carrying an injured sheep, the Lord Jesus healed the sick, and gave sight to the blind. Like a shepherd guiding his flock in the right way, the Lord Jesus spoke to people of how they should live in God’s world; how they should live lives of love and purity, humility and service, not lives of hatred and bitterness, pride and conceit. And did you know this – Jesus actually called himself the Good Shepherd. John, one of Jesus’ first century biographers, records these words of the Lord Jesus:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

See sometimes, a shepherd in the middle east might need to go against a fierce wild animal that is looking to destroy and eat his sheep. And the shepherd would fight against that animal, to protect his flock. And the Lord Jesus is saying here, he came to take part in a far more violent fight than against a wolf. The Lord Jesus came to fight against sin, and against Satan, the devil himself. Because sin – our rebellion against God and his good ways – it wants to destroy us. It wants us to live lives of greater and greater selfishness, and unbelief. It wants us to live lives that simply grasp at what we can get for ourselves and don’t honour God, or the people around us. And the problem is, each one us naturally finds that way of living very attractive. Even when we know that we should love and serve others, we find it far easier to love and serve ourselves only. And at the end of a life lived in those ways – we will have been destroyed by sin, and we will be consumed by Satan. We’ll spend forever and ever outside of the good presence of the Lord, who gives us every good thing.

And despite the fact that the Lord who is perfectly good and upright. Who can’t allow any darkness to live with him; despite the fact that he sees our selfishness better than we see it ourselves. He still loves us. And he wants to rescue us from sin and its awful consequences. That’s why Jesus came! That’s why he lived the life that he did. And even more, it’s why he died the death he did. In his death, Jesus was fighting for his sheep. He fought against sin, and he fought against Satan. He did so in order to protect people like you and me, so that we wouldn’t be destroyed or consumed, but so that we might have life.

And Jesus defeated sin and Satan – you can know that for certain! Because the One who died on the cross also walked out of the tomb, three days later! And he lives forever!

And that brings us to our final way of reading this line from Psalm 23:

The Lord is MY shepherd

This hope is certain for all who trust in Jesus. regardless of background. The church I’m part of has people from every continent except for Antarctica. People from all kinds of different backgrounds. But people who have all recognised they have done wrong, and can’t get to God on their own. People who have come to Jesus. And they know him as their shepherd, guiding, leading, forgiving, protecting.

Can I ask: Are you able to read the line this way: ‘The Lord is MY shepherd’. Do you know him? Have you entrusted yourself to Jesus, the good shepherd?

See, he is the Lord who made you. He is the Shepherd who can protect you from Satan, and deliver you from your sin. He is the only One who can rightly guide you – now and always. Call on Jesus. He is the good shepherd. He is the Lord who made you. Turn from your sin, and turn to him. And if you do, all the rest of this song, Psalm 23, will be yours:

He will lead you and guide you in this life.

He will refresh you at all those times that you need that.

He will protect you even in the hardest times, and even against the fiercest opponents.

His goodness and love will follow you, all the days of your life.

And he will bring you into his house, to live in peace, for ever and ever – for all eternity, enjoying him, and delighting in him.

Don’t you want this Shepherd as your Shepherd?

Why not turn to him now and come under his protection. Speak to him; he will hear you, and will not turn you away. And why not read or listen to John’s gospel for free, where you can find out more about Jesus the good shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep.