Sunday

         Psalm 23:1-6 (KJV) 

                                                          A Psalm of David

   The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.                                                                            2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.                 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.           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.                                                                              5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.                                                                                                 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in   the house of the Lord for ever.

           Today, we will start a short journey through one of the best-loved Psalms, the Twenty-Third Psalm. This Psalm is about the Great Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is presented from the heart of an elect sheep expressing his love for his Shepherd. Those who work with sheep know that sheep more than any class of livestock require endless attention and meticulous care borne out of the greatest love and compassion of their shepherd. David was certainly aware of these facts as revealed in the Twenty-Third Psalm. Before he became the shepherd king of Israel, David was a shepherd of four legged sheep himself.

One is well instructed that this Psalm is not about goats, who are some of the most self-sufficient animals on earth. Goats will eat most anything and seldom need any care from any others. On the contrary, a sheep is constantly in need of its shepherd and all of the provisions mentioned in this Psalm.

            I am very humbled and grateful to be called a sheep and to know that I have the Great Shepherd of the elect flock as my Shepherd. There are other shepherds spoken of and described in the Gospel of John in chapter ten. The Scriptures describe them as hirelings, who will desert the flock at the slightest provocation and who serve only when it will profit them for their own comfort and enjoyment. These hirelings only take from the sheep and make demands upon them.

The Twenty-Third Psalm is the reflection of an elect sheep pondering his blessings and the possessions given him by the Great Shepherd.  Only a fool would want to be in another flock and to be subject to the free-willism and works oriented faith of the religion of man.