The sheep cannot rest on their own, they need the Good Shepherd.

Ps 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

 

The Lord is my shepherd, but who is the Lord? David uses the sacred Jehovah, so we know it is the Lord God of Israel.

 

Jesus Christ is the God Man, the unique one of the universe. He is undiminished deity and true humanity on one person forever.

 

This immediately implies a profound yet practical working relationship between a human being and his Maker.

 

The Lord, like any good shepherd, is deeply concerned about the sheep.

 

So the work of Christ doesn’t end at the cross, it’s continual.

 

The reason is that sheep can never take care of themselves. They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care.

 

Therefore it is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep.

 

The way sheep behave is similar in many ways to human beings.

 

Our mob mentality, our fears, our timidity, our stubbornness and stupidity, our perverse habits are all parallel and become very important to note.

 

And so in spite of us Christ purchases us, chooses us, calls us by name, and makes us His own, sharing everything that He is and has with us.

 

As it is intended to do in the word of God, this should make you rest and reflect on God’s grace.

 

 

In the east, each shepherd would mark his sheep on the ear by cutting into the ear in a distinctive way. This scar would be recognized even at a distance and could never fade away.

 

Though slightly painful, even to the good shepherd who cares for his sheep, once the pain was gone there was that indelible mark that would signify who it was that the sheep belonged.

 

If it was a good shepherd then that sheep was guaranteed a life of prosperity and peace.

 

In the OT a slave would be set free on the Sabbath year, however he was given the choice to remain with his master forever. If he chose to remain, the master would put his ear against the doorpost of the house and pierce the ear with an awl. This was the mark of his master that would never fade.

 

The only reason a slave would do this is obvious; he had a great master and being under his authority was better than freedom itself.

 

When you believed on JC you were marked forever. All you knew about Him then was that He gave His life for you and that was enough to know that He was a great master.

 

Then through doctrine you get to know Him more and know His character more and this gives you more peace knowing that being under His authority is better than freedom itself.

 

We must exchange the fickle fortunes of living this life by mere whimsy for the productive and satisfying adventure of being led by our Shepherd, our God.

 

We can say the Lord is our Shepherd, but only those who through humility and teachability, who have put themselves under the word of God can know that the Lord is their Shepherd.

 

God isn’t into lip-service, and in fact He will discipline it.

 

We can’t have it both ways. Either we pick up our cross and follow His leading or we don’t and choose our own way.

 

When David writes, “I shall not want,” he is saying that he is perfectly content with his lot in life at that very moment and he is not waiting for something to give him contentment.

 

Why is he so content? The Lord God is his shepherd and he is utterly contented in the good shepherd’s care and consequently not craving or desiring anything more.

 

Yet he writes with full confidence - “I shall not want.”

 

Christ warned His disciples before He went to the cross that in the world they would have tribulation, but He comforted them by saying,

 

John 16:33

"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

 

1 John 5:4

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world —  our faith.

 

When all is said and done the welfare of any flock is entirely dependent upon the management afforded them by their owner.

 

The believer who’s Master is the Lord may not have much materially and he may not be the CEO of the company, but he has a prosperous, healthy, and happy soul.

 

This is what the Lord enjoys to see in His sheep as the good shepherd - a prosperous soul.

 

Ps 19:8

The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

 

For those of us who have been positive towards the word of God we know how refreshing it is to be around people who have these healthy hearts and what a drag it is to be around those who don’t.

 

To say Ps 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, is to say:

 

I am completely contented and satisfied with His management of my life. He is the good shepherd to whom no trouble is too great. He cares for His flock. He loves His flock. He loves them for His own sake and takes personal pleasure in their prosperity. He will do whatever it takes; He will be on the job 24 hours a day to see that they are properly provided for in every detail. And above all He is very jealous of His name and reputation as the Good Shepherd.

 

However, in spite of this there are believers who are simply not content with the Lord alone and are constantly looking in the world for some happiness.

 

These are the ones who think the grass it greener on the other side of the fence or over the far hill and they stray from flock in search of something that they have fooled themselves into thinking can satisfy their hunger and thirst.

 

The Lord will continually warn us through warning discipline and if we don’t get it, eventually intensive discipline that we can’t have it both ways. We simply cannot have one foot in the cosmic system and one foot in the plan of God. We either follow the Shepherd or we don’t.

 

Ps 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

 

The strange thing about sheep is that because of their very make-up it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met.

 

1.    Owning to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear.

2.    Because of the social behavior within a flock sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind.

3.    If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of pests can they relax.

4.    Lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger.

 

The unique aspect of all of this when it comes to sheep is that only the Shepherd can provide these four requirements. The sheep simply cannot do it themselves.

 

A flock that is restless, discontented, always agitated and disturbed never does well. The same is true of all of us.

 

When a sheep is startled and runs a dozen other sheep will bolt with it in blind fear not even waiting to see what frightened them.

 

And funny enough, if the sheep are startled by a predator and the shepherd runs out with his rifle and the sheep see him they are calmed just by his presence.

 

See the shepherd reassured them and calmed them like nothing else.

 

Ps 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

 

In the Christian life there is no substitute for the keen awareness that my Shepherd is nearby.

 

And therein lays the key, our awareness. It is only through doctrine that we become aware of His presence and protection and diligence for us and without doctrine we quickly forget.

 

We never know from day to day what is going to happen in our lives and that’s why understanding brings peace no matter what today or tomorrow holds for us.

 

Listen to the comforting words of your Shepherd.

 

Matt 6:19-34

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 "The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.  25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body than clothing? 26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 "And which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life's span? 28 "And why are you anxious about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory did not clothe himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith? 31 "Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' 32 "For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

 

Have you ever been in the midst of great trouble and all of a sudden your eyes opened to the Lord who was there? No, not that you saw him physically in a stain or a potato chip, but in the eyes of your soul?

 

As a sheep, you have to see the Lord, you have to behold the Shepherd, no one can do it for you, and another sheep’s peace can’t be borrowed by you. And if you see the Lord, no matter what the circumstances of that day are, He will:

 

Ps 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.