The Shepherd

6 simple verses...

   "The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.

    He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet

    waters. 

    He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of

    righteousness for His name’s sake.

    Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I fear

    no evil, for You are with me;

    Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.

    You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have

    anointed and refreshed my head with oil; My cup overflows.

    Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of

    my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in

    the presence of the Lord." (Psalm 23, AMP)

Typically this Psalm is read at every funeral. I think it should be read at every baptism, 'presenting', and/or christening. Because at the start of our lives, we need some perspective and Psalm 23 does that. It also gives the parents the way to raise their children. I would suggest that this Psalm does a marvelous job of identifying all that the Lord does for His family.

Look again at the beginning: "The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me]. It is the Lord who feeds, guides, and shields but only when we realize that it is He who is doing this. Remember Luke 15:3-7 when Jesus tells the parable about the Good Shepherd? What is it that Shepherd does? He leaves the 99 in order to search for the 1 who is lost. To me that has always reinforced the belief that even if I were the only one, Jesus still would have done all He did... only for me. That's a sobering thought. But it also demonstrates just how important EACH of us are to Him. When the lost has been found, the Shepherd rejoices - actually he throws a party (v. 6). 

When you look at the acts the Shepherd does for His flock (us) the action words are: to feed/guide/shield, refreshes and restores my soul (our minds, wills, emotions), leads (in paths of righteousness), protect and guide, comfort and console, anointed and refresh. This is what is done for us... and I believe it defines abundance. Do you see any area of your life that isn't covered in these verses? Is there anything we need that we don't have - NO!

How do we know that He has done this for us? And/or, how do we know that it IS for us? Look at history. Look at His nature. Look at His acts. Look into His Word. It's all there, all the confirmation and demonstration you need. The Lord planned on this since the beginning of creation. He knew what we needed and provided it even before we asked. The problem is... He typically has to wait on us in order to provide for our need.

I especially like the end of this Psalm... 

   "Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days 

    of my life, And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and

    in the presence of the Lord."

The Lord has provided us with goodness, mercy and love IN THIS LIFE, which will console us in the desert times but promises us what will happen at the end of this life - we WILL dwell in the house and presence of the Lord... FOREVER. Knowing this at the beginning of our trials and remembering throughout gives a focus that can't be underestimated. The 23rd Psalm because it talks about Our Shepherd, is our guide, our hope, our conviction throughout our life.