Forever: The Lord Is My Shepherd!
(Is The Lord Your Shepherd? (Part V))
1The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalms 23 KJV)
Our phraseology outline:
|1The Lord | |is my shepherd; | | |I shall not want. (2He) | |maketh me to lie down in green pastures: (He) | |leadeth me beside the still waters. (3He) | |restoreth my soul: (He) | |leadeth me in the paths of righteousness | |for his name's sake. |4Yea, though I walk through the valley | |of the shadow of death, | |I will fear no evil: (for thou) | |art with me; | |thy rod and thy staff | |they comfort me. (5Thou) | |preparest a table before me | |in the presence of mine enemies: (Thou) | |anointest my head with oil; | |my cup runneth over. | |6Surely goodness and mercy | |shall follow me | |all the days of my life: | |and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
- The Lord is my shepherd – Is The Lord your shepherd today?
- I shall not want – If The Lord is my shepherd my needs shall be met.
- He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake – When The Lord is my shepherd He restores my mind, will, and emotions through rest in green pastures, walks beside still waters, and has me following Him in the path of righteousness to bring glory and honor to His name.
- Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me – While The Lord is your shepherd He will never abandon you nor forsake you. You need not fear evil even though you have left the green pastures. God is with you.
King David has begun with a poetic analogy of The Lord as The Shepherd and His followers are His sheep. But suddenly, that analogy takes a turn when King David leaves the paths of righteousness and wanders off into The Valley of The Shadow of Death. And yet even in The Valley we find that we need not fear evil because God is still with us. And he is there to protect us and to correct us back into the fold. And now King David is going to take one more turn in the 23rd Psalm, and that turn is a prophetic one. We might even look at the 23rd Psalm in thirds. In the first third of the Psalm King David uses an analogy of The Shepherd and His sheep to illustrate how God takes care of us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. In the middle third of the Psalm King David speaks of a reality in his life that we all can relate to, at least somewhat: wandering off from the green pastures and leaving the paths of righteousness. And in doing so shows how God takes care of us physically by taking away our fear of evil through His protection and correction. And now we come to the bottom third of the Psalm where King David speaks to us prophetically and in doing so shows us that God takes care of us eternally.
Here is what King David has to say: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” In the very first phrase we can tell that we are no longer in the green pasture, nor are we walking beside the still waters, and we certainly are not in The Valley of The Shadow of Death. King David has led us somewhere entirely new. But where is this?
The very first phrase “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:” gives us a clue. Where do we usually prepare a meal for invited guests? It is usually in our homes. And I believe this is exactly what has happened here. King David is telling us that The Shepherd has brought the sheep home. But not just His own sheep, but all the sheep [and goats]. But look at what is happening here: King David tells us The Shepherd is preparing a table, setting a meal, for him. The Shepherd is getting ready to serve King David a meal at His table. And there in King David’s presence, but not at the table, are his enemies. All of those who were not part of the flock of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a very strange setting for King David to describe. It is prophetic because King David is telling us of a time yet to come, when we will sit down to eat at The Shepherd’s table, in His house, and it will be in the presence of enemies. And it is strange because two groups are there that are [apparently] enemies of each other. Those that have a seat at the table (along with King David) are the sheep of the shepherd. And the enemies are those who did not heed the call of the shepherd and refused to believe in Him, to place their faith and trust in Him for salvation. We might look forward to this time through the eyes of King David and those at the table might recall the words of Jesus Christ:
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48 KJV)
I believe there will be mothers at the table and fathers standing with the enemies. Brothers sitting at the table and sisters standing with the enemies. Husbands sitting at the table and wives standing with the enemies. It might be a time when a thought crosses the minds of those seated at the table as to whether or not they did everything they could to love their enemies so that their loved ones could see the perfect love of the Father through them. It might also be a time that those that stand with the enemies reflect in their own hearts as to the choices they made that led them to reject the love of the Father. The message from what King David is telling us here is that those seated at the table are secure in the love of the Father, and they should want that table to be full. Their desire should be to have as many in the company of The Shepherd’s sheep as possible. And if you do not have a reservation at The Shepherd’s table today. the message is you can have one. You only need to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ [Yeshua]. And we might note that The Shepherd’s love will extend to all. Because The Shepherd is perfect. And His love is perfect. And He made the world for the evil and the good. And His commandment is that His sheep love all even as He loves all.
Another thing we might note is that the Father’s house has a table. A table prepared for the sheep. Humanity is designed as creatures of replenishment. Spiritually, Emotionally, and Physically. We all need spiritual replenishment. Those that are dead in trespasses and sin need spiritual rebirth because they have not yet accepted the free gift of eternal life. And those that have accepted that gift need to be sustained in their faith by following The Shepherd in the paths of righteousness. We need emotional replenishment. The renewal of the soul. How many of us that are in a relationship kissed our spouse one time and thought we were good for a lifetime? How many of us received one (and only one) hug from our parents and walked away never needing another hug ever? Or how many of us saw a comedy at the movies and never need to laugh ever again? We need these things again and again in our lives because we are created to be replenished. And how many of us can go without eating, breathing, exercising, for years or decades? None of us. We all must eat. We all must breathe. Because we are created to be replenished. And in the Father’s house we will sit at His table and partake of a meal with Him. And I believe there will be many meals over eternity.
However, imagine the enemies that are present at that meal. Not being able to partake. Never knowing the pleasure or fulfilment of a meal ever again. For an eternity. That is the warning in King David’s message. Unless you are one of His sheep, you will not have a seat at His table. And you will face an eternity of separation from your Creator never to have a seat at His table. The good news is you can have a seat at the Lord’s table. You simply need to place your faith in Him.
Next King David tells us that The Shepherd “anointest my head with oil” which recognizes him as a guest of honor. The Shepherd does not merely prepare a table for His sheep; He welcomes them with the warmest of hospitality and recognizes them as guests of honor. It is a privilege to have a seat at The Shepherd’s table as He recognizes you as belonging there with an anointment of oil upon your head. And those that stand with the enemies receive no such recognition. The only way to receive The Lord’s favor [the favor of The Shepherd] is to first be one of His sheep.
And because The Lord Is his Shepherd, King David can now say “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:“. This is not to say that King David will only experience good things in life here on Earth, rather it is the goodness and mercy of The Shepherd that brings an assurance to His sheep that we will spend an eternity with Him as guests of honor at His table. King David is saying that The Shepherd is a good and merciful Shepherd who will watch over His sheep all the days of their lives until that day He invites them home to a table He has prepared for them with the greatest of hospitality.
And what does King David say is the finality of having The Lord as his Shepherd? He says: “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” When The Lord invites His sheep over to His house to a table He has prepared for us, we will never leave. We will reside in the House of The Lord for all of eternity. When The Lord is your Lord and Shepherd you have a place at the table in His house forever. That is the eternal life, the salvation, that Jesus Christ told Nicodemus about some 2,000 years ago:
16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)
Psalms 23: perhaps the most quoted passage of the Old Testament in the Bible. John 3:16: perhaps the most quoted verse in all of the Bible and of the New Testament. Two statements made about 1,000 years apart. Two passages intertwined through God’s great plan. What is the relationship between Psalms 23 and John 3:16? The former portrays Yeshua [Jesus Christ] The Lord as The Good and Merciful Shepherd who watches over His flock. And the latter portrays Yeshua [Jesus Christ] The Lord as the sacrificial lamb who died to remove the sins of the world and bring eternal life to all who place their belief, their faith, in Him. The relationship is God revealed as both the author and finisher of our faith. It is a revelation of God’s great plan. And whether or not we find ourselves in the care of The Shepherd, or having a seat at His table, is up to us. It is our choice. Consider the eternal cost of not choosing to be one of His sheep today.
Forever: The Lord Is My Shepherd!
