PSALM 23 (part 1): Introduction to Psalm 23 (Psalm 23:1)
We introduce Psalm 23, the most popular of Psalms, which despite being short, speaks in poetic beauty to all our needs in life, as well as in facing death, imparting comfort & faith to our souls. It is a declaration of trust in God’s goodness, with no complaints or requests – a confident confession of faith. A great thing to do is to declare it boldly over your life. It has a close relationship with Ps 22, which describes the Good Shepherd, who dies for the sheep & rises again, and provides abundant life for His people (John 10). Then Ps 23 develops this theme in detail, describing this risen Shepherd, leading His sheep, who hear His voice and follow Him, into abundant & eternal life, purchased through His death. Through knowing & following Him, our Shepherd leads us into every blessing of the new covenant (Heb 13:20). We can only claim Ps 23 if we have come to Christ through faith in His death & resurrection (Ps 22). We must meet Christ in Ps 22, before we experience Him in Ps 23. It starts with an outstanding claim that "the Lord is my Shepherd" (v1). This describes His personal care for us, His commitment to us, to provide for us, protect us and lead us as our Shepherd. This is the translation of Jehovah Rohi - one of the 8 Covenant Names of God. God as the Shepherd of His people (sheep) is major theme of Scripture. We look at how Ps 23 fits into the wider biblical revelation of God as our Shepherd, and note the special place it has within this revelation. God is the Shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24, Ps 77:20, 78:52, 79:13, 80:1, 95:7, 100:3). Ps 23 is special because it emphases God is our personal Shepherd, as well as being the Shepherd of His people as a whole. The human leaders of Israel, including David, are also described as shepherds - His under-shepherds (Ps 78:70-71, Isa 63:11). These 2 concepts of divine & human shepherds come together in the God-man Messiah, who would be the good Shepherd of His people. The sinful leaders of Israel had failed to shepherd & feed His people as they should, and so the sheep were scattered (Jer 23:1-3, Ezek 34:1-10). In response, God declared He Himself would be their Shepherd, by personally coming to the earth a Man (the Messiah) to shepherd His people, saving, restoring, protecting and feeding them, leading them into peace, good pasture & abundant life (Jer 23:4-6, Ezek 34:11-16, 23-31). Other prophecies of the God-man Messianic Shepherd are Micah 5:2,4, Isa 40:3,9-11, Zech 13:7. This was fulfilled by Jesus (Matt 2:6, 26:31, Luke 19:10, John 10). Jesus said He was the fulfilment of these prophecies in John 10, where He claimed He was the true Shepherd, who alone entered through the door of the virgin birth (v1-3). He comes to call His people to Himself: "and when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice" (v4). He comes to save us and bring us into abundant and eternal life (v7-10). By claiming He is 'THE Door' into God's Kingdom (v7) and 'THE Good Shepherd' of Ps 23 (v11), He was claiming to be the true Shepherd prophesied in the Old Testament, the Messiah-King, even God manifested in flesh. This was a Divine claim: 'I AM the Good Shepherd' = Jehovah Rohi (Ps 23:1). Good (kalos) does not just mean moral excellence, but that He is excellent in His shepherding, in fulfilment of Ps 23. He repeats this claim in v14 adding: "I know My sheep, and am known by My own", the very feature unique to Ps 23. He demonstrated His selfless love for the sheep by giving His life for them (v11,15, 17-18), adding that He will also take up His life again in resurrection, another claim to Deity (v17,18). Thus, He will save His sheep through His death & resurrection. Now we can see why Ps 23 could only find its full fulfilment in Christ. For example: "Yea, though I walk through the VALLEY of the shadow of DEATH, I will fear no evil; for You are WITH ME” (v4). This only became fully true, when God became one of us, to identify with us (Immanuel: “God with us”) and personally lead us through the valley of death into Heaven's glory, so that we: "will dwell in the House of the Lord forever" (v6). This would not have been possible if God had not become a man to shepherd us to glory. Through taking on Himself a human nature, He went through death & resurrection for us, so that if we trust in Him, through our union with His humanity, we enter through the Door (Himself) into eternal life. Only true believers in Christ are His sheep, who receive the blessings of Ps 23 (v26). He calls them to Himself through the Gospel, and they enter into a personal relationship with Him, and they show their faith by following Him (submitting to His leadership) - v27, and He gives them eternal life & security in His & His Father's hands, in fulfilment of Ps 23:6 (v28-30). He gathers all these sheep into one Flock (the true Church), of both Jews and Gentiles (v16).
