Psalm 23:1
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” – English KJV
" יהוה רעי לא אחסר׃ “
– Hebrew Text
“yehovah ra‛ah lo' khawsare” – Hebrew Pronunciation
Before we continue I think we need to read through the entire Psalm 23:
Psa 23:1 (A Psalm of David.) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psa 23:4 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.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Most people do not truly understand the full meaning of God being called a shepherd. The reason is that times have changed since David wrote this.
If you look at your average sheep farmer today you will notice that they do not lead their sheep. Sheep are chased from behind with sheepdogs, confined with fences and their movement is controlled through gates.
In the time when David wrote this the shepherds actually led their sheep…
Shepherds in ancient times:
There were no fences or gates or chasing sheep from behind. The shepherd walked in front of the sheep and they followed him. If he decided to go east, the sheep would follow him east, even if the water to the West was closer.
Keep in mind that water is scarce in the Middle East. There are not enough watering holes for each flock, so many shepherds would share the same watering hole. The shepherds would lead their sheep to the watering hole and meet other shepherds there. While they wait for their sheep to drink the different flocks would mingle and get mixed. The interesting part is that when the shepherd got ready to leave he would call his sheep, which would recognize his voice. They would then leave the crowd and join their shepherd to be led wherever he decided to go next.
For protection some flocks would mix together during the night and in the morning they would get up and follow their master. When a shepherd found that one of his sheep did not come out of the mingled masses, he would call it by name until it emerged from the crowd. The sheep would know their master’s voice and only follow him.
Many people are unaware of this strange behavior, even though it is still happening in parts of the Middle East today!
Another difference between modern day shepherds and ancient or middle-eastern shepherds is that the shepherd spent most of his time tending the sheep. There would almost be a “friendship” relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. A shepherd would ensure that he leads his sheep to fields that could feed all of them.
Sheep are very fearful animals, so the shepherd would also take them to water where there are no (or very few) dangers. Sheep also dislike fast flowing water, so when he could, he would avoid rivers and rather lead the sheep to still watering holes (which also meant less crocodiles and other dangers). He would ensure that they go to the best fields and watering holes. The shepherds would know each of his sheep and lambs. If one was lost he would know which one it was and go out to find it.
If the small lambs could not keep up with the flock the shepherd would carry it next to his breast, inside the fold of his outer garment. If there was danger the shepherd would do everything he could to protect the sheep, even if that meant risking his own life. During such dangerous times the sheep would often group together and hide behind the shepherd, knowing that he would protect them at all costs.
Now that we have a better understanding of what the role of a shepherd was, read Psalm 23 again...
David understood this analogy because he was a good shepherd when he was younger. The same dedication David had towards his sheep he now had towards the people of Israel. Yet, even though he was in this place of power, he still looked at himself as a weak and defenseless sheep with a great need of God, his shepherd.
“The LORD is my shepherd…”
We need to pause here for just a moment… We cannot even imagine how great our God is. He who created everything we can feel, taste, smell, hear or touch…all of it created by the Almighty. He who holds the universe in the palm of His hand… The Lord of everything actually cares enough to be our shepherd, to take care of us, to lead us and to take our burdens upon Himself to give us comfort!
We are not worthy of being His sheep, yet, the Lord has chosen us to be His sheep anyway!
No man has a right to consider himself the Lord's sheep unless his nature has been renewed and he has been transformed from his old self to the new! Unconverted men are not pictured as sheep, but as wolves or goats. A sheep is an object of property, not a wild animal; its owner places great value in it, and frequently it is bought with a great price.
Even though we are not worthy, God decided to buy us at a great price!
There are two things to take note of:
1) There is no “if”, or “but” or “I hope” in this verse… David is confident when he says “The Lord IS my shepherd”. Therefore we must realize that we are and should be completely dependent on the Lord. It is He who protects us, it is He who provides for us and it is upon Him which we must place our hope.
2) Look at the word “my”. David does not say that God is the shepherd of a large percentage of the world population, or the shepherd of massive flocks or even the shepherd of many... David says “The Lord is MY shepherd”.
Firstly this shows David saying: “Even if no one else will follow the Lord, I will still follow Him”. We must have the same attitude. We must say: “Even if the entire world seems lose faith in God, I WILL NOT!”
Secondly we notice a personal relationship. It does not matter how many others are following God, there is a personal connection between David and God. So it is with us. There are many Christians around the world, but God still wants a personal relationship with you!
“…I shall not want.”
I shall not want… Without the Lord we might want, but when the Lord is our shepherd He will supply our needs.
Notice that this is not telling us that we will have everything our hearts desire; it tells us that we will not “want”. The word translated to “want” is “khawsare or chaser”, which means “to lack”, specifically in relation to the things that we NEED.
We could change this sentence to say: “I may not have everything I wish for, but I definitely shall not want.”
There are wealthier and wiser people out there that may still “want”, but we shall not. We will have all that we NEED.
The question is how to let God lead us.
God leads us in many different ways, but it is up to us to listen. Sometimes God will send a prophet, but the last thing we should do is sit around and wait until a prophet shows up! There are too many people that travel from church to church, looking for prophets and forgetting that the Holy Spirit is inside of us!
The Holy Spirit may prompt us to do things or go places. The Word may suddenly reveal something to us, or a sermon suddenly answers a great question we have been asking God for weeks!
Where the unsaved world will see only coincidence, we are called to see providence!
The challenge today is to start listening to God as a sheep listens to a shepherd. We must trust God as a sheep trusts a shepherd. We must follow God as a sheep follows its shepherd. We must cultivate an attitude where we listen for the voice of God and learn to follow His lead. Also ask yourself: Am I worthy of being called one of God’s sheep? Will you follow Him even if your flesh tells you not to?
Will you place all of your trust in God today?
