Psalm 23: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

David begins: Verse 1 -- "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want"

David is saying, because the Lord is my shepherd, I do not lack anything. He was satisfied with the Lord even though he was on the run for his life, being pursued by his son Absalom. I wonder could we be satisfied, in similar circumstances?

There are really only two options in life.

If the Lord is my shepherd, then I shall not want (be covetous, be unhappy, be unsatisfied). But if I am in want, then it is obvious that I am being lead or shepherded by someone else or something else.

If our vocation shepherds us, then there is restlessness, feverish activity and frustration. If education is our shepherd, then we are constantly being disillusioned. If another person is our shepherd, we are always disappointed and ultimately we are left empty.

But if the Lord is our shepherd, David says, we shall not want.

If the Lord is to be our shepherd, then we have to begin by recognizing that we are sheep. Let me say something about sheep:

Sheep are dumb and they are dirty. They are timid, defenseless, and helpless. They literally do not know enough to come in out of the rain. And then to have God tell me that I am a sheep, really hurts.

But if I am honest with myself, I know it is true. I know that I lack wisdom and strength. I know my tendency toward going my own way and doing my own thing. I know that is me. I am a sheep.

Isaiah said it best: "We are all like sheep who have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way,"

And if Jesus Christ is to be my shepherd, I have to admit that I am a sheep and need a shepherd. Once we admit that need a shepherd we discover the truth of what David is saying. We shall not want.

I pray you have admitted it & accepted Jesus as your Shepherd!

David now turns toward what the Shepherd does: Psa 23:2, 3 He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

1. The Good Shepherd meets the needs of the inner man.

The basic needs of a flock of sheep are grass and water.

Here is a picturesque scene of sheep bedded down in grassy meadows, having eaten their fill and now totally satisfied, and then being led by still waters. Sheep are afraid of running water; they will drink only from a quiet pool.

The counterpart in our lives is obvious.

God restores the inner man through his word. As we feed upon the word of God, we see the Lord Jesus there. We draw upon him and our inner man is satisfied.

John 6:35 Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.

2. The Good Shepherd gives direction in life.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Or, as the margin indicates, "He leads me in right paths."

That indicates again how stupid sheep are, because even when the trail is well laid out, they still need a shepherd. They are still inclined to wander away, no matter how obvious the path may be.

David says that The Lord will lead us in the right path. That is a promise! And he does this for his name’s sake. It isn’t our name that is at stake, it is his name. His name is Faithful, and he has promised that he will lead us in the right paths.

To me that is a tremendous source of encouragement.

3. The good shepherd provides protection.

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

Just what is death?—Separation from the Body. Paul tells us that In 2 Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent or separated from the body is to be in the presence of the Lord! At home in the presence of the Lord? How did we get there?

In verse 4, there is a very picturesque scene. The shepherd is leading the sheep back home at evening. As they go down through a narrow gorge, the long shadows lie across the trail.

In the Hebrew, this is a "valley of deep shadows." The sheep, because they are so timid and defenseless, are frightened by their experience.

But they trust the shepherd, and so they are comforted. They will fear no evil, because the shepherd is with them. When we trust our shepherd and follow Him through the valley of the shadow of death, we find ourselves eternally in His presence.

David then writes, "Your rod and staff comfort me."

The rod was a club that was used to drive off wild animals. It was never used on the sheep but was a heavy instrument used to protect the sheep from marauding predators.

The staff was a slender pole with a little crook on the end. It was used to aid the sheep. The crook could be hooked around the leg of a sheep to pull him from harm. Or it could be used as an instrument to direct, and occasionally to discipline the sheep, with taps on the side of the body.

Understanding how the shepherd tends his sheep has helped me so much in understanding the character of God.

When we go wandering away he doesn’t say, "There goes that stupid sheep, Phil, and—WHAP! Down comes that big club!

No. His attitude is, "Well, he’s, wandering away again. How can I help him? How can I move in to bring him back into line? How can I comfort him, and supply what he needs?" That’s how a true Shepherd operates.

He may have to discipline, but he always does it in love. He reproves, corrects, encourages, and instructs in righteousness, dealing with us firmly and gently. We must recognize this & learn from our mistakes.

4. The good shepherd becomes our gracious host.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Paul said it this way: "My God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus,"{Phil 4:19}.

· GOD IS A GOOD GOD.

You can’t believe God is blessing you if at the same time you believe He is cursing you. It is difficult to believe His promises if you can’t get your mind off the idea that He is afflicting you!

· GOD IS A MERCIFUL GOD.

Goodness and mercy are attributes of God. Goodness—meets our needs Mercy—forgives our faults

The word "follow," in Verse 6, literally means, "pursue." David says that God’s goodness and mercy shall pursue him; David’s desire was to go back to the house of the Lord and to worship Him forever.

God’s goodness & mercy follows us all the days of his life (even when we fail to recognize it). Because we know God as our shepherd and recognize His goodness & mercy—we will reside in the house of the Lord forever!