23rd Psalms Christians: Going With God.
Lesson 2 The Lord My Shepherd, Psalms 23:1
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The LORD is
my shepherd; I shall not want. - Psalms 23:1
It is said
that many people know the 23rd Psalms, but not enough know the Shepherd of the
23rd Psalms. This lesson will introduce
us to the Shepherd that David knew and sung of in this famous Psalm.
David's LORD
The King
James Bible uses the word Lord in two ways.
You will notice in Psalms 23:1 that it is spelled in all capital
letters, LORD. This shows that the word
used by David in the original writings was the word Jehovah or Yahweh. Whenever
you see the word spelled Lord, not all in caps, it is translating the Hebrew
word Adonay. The word most often
associated as Lord.
Look at
Psalms 8 where both words are used in the same verse. Ps 8:1
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast
set thy glory above the heavens.
The Hebrew
word, Jehovah or Yahweh was first used of God about Himself when he spoke to
Moses from the burning bush. Read Exodus
3:14. What is God's answer to Moses
request for a name to place with his authority?
I am that I am. This phrase is
the literal translation of the word Jehovah.
It is the personal name of God.
The Jews of
later times held the name in such reverence that they would not speak it. The scribes who would copy the scripture into
new scrolls would stop before they wrote this name, change into clean clothes,
wash and select a new quill before writing the name of God. As soon as the word was written the quill was
destroyed. Why do you think they did
followed this procedure?
When David
used this name, he showed that he understood and believed God to be a
person. God to David was not an idea, a
concept or a myth but an almighty being who could be known on a personal,
intimate level.
My Lord
What is your
understanding of the Lord? Is he
real? Is he a person, with feelings,
thoughts and plans? Is he capable of
watching you and watching over you. Do you
understand the Lord as the ruler of all creation? Does all creation also include you? Read the
following passages and list how they describe the Lord.
Ps 8:3 As Creator
Ps 7:1 As Savior
Ps 7:8-11 As Judge
Ps 50:7 As God, our
God.
Can you relate these descriptions to your own life? Is God really only a concept, or an idea to
you? Can a concept save you? Can an idea
hear your call for help?
Illustration: Knowing parenting before and after having
kids.
Have you ever heard singles or perhaps even young married
couples talk about raising kids? They have all the answers. They know exactly
what to do and how to do it. You can hear them say, "My kid will never act
like that."
I remember one newlywed couple in our church that when
observing my kids or other kids in the church would of say, “My kid will never
misbehave like that.” Years went by and they moved but we visited them at their
house now with kids of their own. While were visiting I noticed that the family
cat had some really odd shaped ears, they were notched. I said something about
the cat must get in lots of fights to tear up its ears like that. One of the
parents looked sheepishly smiled and said, “Well actually our son got a hold of
some wire cutters and decided to work on the cat’s ears with them.” I immediately began looking for where my kids
were playing with their kids.
It turned out, as it always does, that they thought they
knew parenting but parenting can’t really be known until you are a parent. The same is true about God.
Knowing God as My Lord
Before I came to God I thought I knew Him. But when he touched my heart as Creator to
creature, when he spoke to my soul as Lord to servant, when He struck me down
as Judge to guilty, when he cradled me in His love as the Guardian of my soul,
then I really knew the Lord.
David's Shepherd.
When David calls God, "My Shepherd" he is
expressing not only knowing who God is in creation, but knowing God on an
intimate level. This is the sheep
looking up to his loving shepherd.
The shepherd is everything to the sheep. He protects the flock, provides food , leads
them to water and grass, guards them against predators, doctors their wounds,
comforts them in time of fear and searches for them when they stray. Together the sheep and his flock would walk
for many miles and share great peace and often great turmoil. No matter what was encountered it would
always be together. This was David's
relationship with the Lord, his shepherd.
How can you know the Lord as your own shepherd?
Read John 10:22-27
What did Jesus say is the mark of His sheep? They hear his voice and they follow me.
Why were these Jews not His sheep? They did not believe in Him. What does it mean to believe? Trust in Him, rely on Him, lean upon him,
cling to Him.
To be a sheep of Jesus' fold means I must....
Believe in
Jesus as my Lord and Saviour
Hear His
voice.
Follow Him.
Explain how each of these are to be done in my relationship
with God. How is each one an action or
series of actions?
Are there harmful "shepherds" also calling after
sheep? Identify some of these. How are they different from Jesus? What happens when I respond to their call?
David Contentment
The shepherd knows his sheep's needs and meets them. He also knows the sheep's mistaken needs and
curbs them. Many times the sheep will
drink polluted water or poisonous plants or wander away from the fold. These are harmful or fatal to the sheep and
the shepherd will gently or forcefully deter the sheep.
Who is meeting your needs? Are your needs being met by the
shepherd of this world? Are you
responding to the call of a false shepherd who is allowing you to drink from
pools filled with disease and eat from fields dotted with poisonous plants.
If you believe your needs are possessions, popularity, money
or status, then Satan, the shepherd of this world, will find a way of supplying
your wants. These things will never
satisfy and Satan's sheep are always starving and craving more. You can't expect a new car, new TV or a wad
of money to fill holes in the fabric of your soul.
However, if your needs are fellowship, food for the soul,
comfort when life makes no sense, and the assurance of someone who will always
love you, then respond to the call of Jesus, the good shepherd.
Listen to his invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Have you heard the call of the "Good
Shepherd?" If you read the above
passage you can hear it right now. Have
you responded? Will you respond before
it's too late?
Do you know the Lord as your Shepherd? Is He meeting the needs of your soul?
If you have given yourself to Jesus as Lord, then are you
following where he leads? Or are you
wandering in places where He is not?
Isn't it time to turn around and let the Shepherd take you home?
Conclusion
The following account is taken from the booklet, "My
Shepherd Life in Galilee" by Stephen A Haboush. The author spent his years as a boy tending
his fathers' sheep in the Galilean hills around Nazareth. He relates his relationship to Christ in his
experiences as a shepherd boy.
"It was not long before I got the first experience in
seeking a lost sheep. It came about at the end of the third week. After
counting the sheep as they entered the door of the fold, to my surprise and
dismay I discovered that Untar one of the old members of the flock was not
there. Twice I thought I had made a mistake in the counting, but the third time
brought the same result he was nowhere about. What must I do?
With pride in my pocket I called to Uncle and told him about
it. At first I thought he was going to be angry with me for allowing such a
thing to happen, but his kindly smile set me at ease. He drew me to his side
and said: "Too bad, my boy, that you should have an experience like that.
I, too, feel about it as you do, but our duty is not only to care for and feed
the sheep, but to see that no harm comes to them; and so, my boy, go out where
you were today and seek Untar until he is found. Take one of your cousins to
help you, and I will stay awake, waiting for your return."
It seemed that night that sky and earth were set against our
purpose. The whole heavens were covered with the blackest of clouds, and when
we approached the hills, we could not see ten feet ahead of us except for the
lightning that flashed before our faces. Here and there in the darkness, now
and then, we could see some of the wild beasts with eyes gleaming like jewels
of fire. First it was a young wolf that ran across our path, then another flash
of lightning and to our left a fox was seen running toward the valley, and a little
later against the skyline stood a fierce looking hyena. With well-aimed stones
from our shepherd slings at the latter, it scurried into the darkness, flashing
at us death dealing teeth.
Ascending and descending those hills that night, calling and
calling for the lost sheep, we repeatedly stumbled and fell, bruising our hands
and faces against the sharp flint rocks. Suddenly the storm broke upon us,
drenching us to the skin, and in addition, lightning nearly blinded our eyes
and thunder almost deafened our ears. Cousin and I became discouraged after
several hours of seemingly futile search for the lost sheep. So I turned to him
and told him that it was no use to go any farther, for I was at the end of my
strength, and that Untar was no longer alive or he would have heard my call and
answered. Cousin touched my arm gently and reminded me of Uncle's command,
"Seek him until he is found." With that ringing in my mind, I put all
my remaining energy into the call I gave a moment later. To our waiting ears, as
the echo of my voice died in the distance, there came a faint answer of a sheep
that seemed in trouble. The answer came from a little valley just below us.
Hurriedly we descended, and in our haste rolled many feet down the hillside,
the thorns piercing our flesh: but we did not care, for the sheep was still
alive. A moment later he would have been killed, for a few feet away there
stood a wolf with eyes gleaming like diamonds, with open jaws, ready to spring
upon the helpless victim. Seeing the
wolf, I uttered a loud cry to cousin to use his rod. After many minutes of struggle (I was
attacked by the wolf and still bear the mark upon my brow) the wolf was driven
into the underbrush and Untar was saved. But where had he been? Why did he not
remain with the rest of the flock? What was his reason for straying away? We
came to the conclusion that in the afternoon of that day, while he was eating
the tender grasses on the hillside with the rest of the sheep, he had got the
notion into his brain -what little he
had - that he could find more grass elsewhere and that he could find more
satisfaction by being away from the shepherd and the rest of the sheep. While I
was not looking, he had drifted into a field of brush down in the valley, where
his old long horns had become entangled in the branches. There he had remained
all that afternoon and night as if hands had tied him.
You ought to have seen him! Poor Untar He looked so worn and
ragged out! I believe he must have tried
to extricate himself, and the more he tried the more he became entangled. We
released him, and could you have looked into his eyes, you would have seen a
look of deep gratitude, for he seemed to know we had come just in time to save
him from the wolf. We started back to the village, and as we approached, we saw
the lights still burning in the windows of our home. I suggested to Cousin to
call, and Uncle, with relatives and friends, upon hearing his voice, met us at
the entrance of the village. When they saw us secure and the sheep safe and
sound between us, they set up shouts of rejoicing and singing, not only for our
own safety, but also for the sheep that was found.
At other
times we went out to seek the lost sheep, but instead of finding them alive we
would discover, to our sorrow, that they had been killed, the flesh torn, and
the bones broken. Too late! "
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