"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

So begins the most quoted passage of scripture in the Bible and indeed the most widely quoted poem in all of literature. Sometimes familiarity breeds contempt - we are bored with familiar texts or lessons. We would rather hear something new.

On the other hand, sometimes we find great comfort in that with which we are familiar. This fall I wanted to take Vicki and Ben to Vermont where I was born and raised. There would be absolutely nothing boring about that to me. It would be most exciting. I hope this is the way we will look at this Psalm which we have heard quoted more than any other Bible text. Though it is familiar to us, we can find great comfort and solace in dwelling upon it once again this morning. I cannot say anything new upon this text, but if I can remind you of old and precious truths, this will not be an unprofitable topic for our meditation.

"The Lord is my Shepherd." But who is the Lord? What is his character, and does he have adequate credentials to be my Shepherd? The Lord is none less than God whose name is Jehovah, "I Am That I Am", the personal and eternal God who exists within himself and who is holy like no other, the Creator of millions upon millions of galaxies in a universe that never seems to end.

"The Lord - He is my Shepherd." He is not merely a Shepherd. That would have been a wonderful discovery. But the psalmist says, The Lord is my Shepherd, a more wonderful discovery still. David had been a shepherd, he knew what it meant to be a shepherd, and he was not ashamed to have been a shepherd. So it is with pride and joy that David exclaims, "The Lord is my shepherd. Look at who my shepherd is - He is the Lord!"

The Christian cannot read or sing this psalm without thinking of Jesus Christ who dared to reapply this metaphor of Jehovah to himself. It is He who is to us "the Good Shepherd," the "Chief Shepherd," and "that great Shepherd of the sheep" (John 10:11,14; 1 Peter 5:4; Hebrews 13:20).

Once I can say from personal experience that "the Lord is my shepherd," I can add with assurance the consequence: "I shall not want... I shall not be in want... I shall lack nothing." By this David does not mean that God’s sheep will never be poor or will never hurt or that we will be without problems. I know this is not what David meant because he himself was sometimes poor, throughout life he faced huge problems. Elijah, John the Baptist and even Jesus himself faced real physical deprivation many times throughout life. What David meant is that with the Lord as his Shepherd, God would take perfect care of him in the midst of whatever came his way.

God is the perfect Shepherd. For him no trouble is too great. He is on the job 24-7 to see that his sheep are provided for in every detail. If the Lord is my Shepherd, I am going to be satisfied with this. I should not want it to be any different. Indeed, I am not going to wish it to be any other way.

The Lord who is my Shepherd "makes me lie down in green pastures." I have read that sheep won’t lie down if they are hungry or afraid, and that there is nothing that so quiets and reassures sheep than to see their Shepherd in the field.

The Lord who is my Shepherd makes it possible for me to lie down, to rest and not be afraid. To every life comes various troubles and misfortunes. We are tempted to wallow in self-pity, to worry and feel afraid. But if Christ is our Shepherd in the midst of our misfortunes and we recognize his presence, it makes all the difference in the world. His presence throws a different light on the whole scene. Suddenly things are not nearly so black as they seem. The outlook changes and there is hope. I can find relief from my despair, worry and fear. I can rest in peace.

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." (Ps. 4:8) "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love and power and a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1:7) The idea of a sound mind is a mind at ease, at peace, not obsessed with fear.

"He leads me" which means He goes before me. We do not know what tomorrow holds, but God does. He has already been there. Whatever waits us beyond today, we may be sure that God is there. He always goes before.

"He leads me besides the still (quiet) waters." "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters... Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen to me... and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." (Is. 55:1ff) "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him..." (John 7:37-38) "He that comes to me shall never hunger and he that believes on me shall never thirst."

The God who made us knows best how we can be satisfied. God gives water that satisfies like nothing else. Neither knowledge, books, science, study, career, music, the arts, travel, sports, hobbies, alcohol or drugs can give the satisfaction that only God can provide.

"He restores my soul." We may wonder how anyone who could write such a grand psalm could ever become so distressed in soul as to need restoration. But David was thinking of the blackest days of his life. How great was his sin. First, adultery, then murder, not in the heat of passion but in cold blood. Yet, even then God did not give up on him. He never quit seeking him till he found the lost sheep and brought him back into the fold again. He restored the soul of David.

That gives hope for you and for me. We tend to think when we sin and when we fail, God is eager to destroy us. But the truth is, even after all our defeats and failures, God is there ready and eager to restore our souls.

"He guides me..." One of the greatest privileges of having the Lord as our Shepherd is that he guides his sheep... He leads and he guides. I say this is a privilege because we may sometimes not appreciate it as a privilege.

Many would rather not be led, many would rather go their own way, many would rather not have any restrictions or guidance to be offered to them. But what better arrangement and provision for my life can there be than for God to be leading and guiding me? There ought to be a desire on our part that God guide us, and we should constantly be consulting him about what direction to go. Otherwise, we shall constantly be making mistakes and getting ourselves into needless troubles.

In all stages of life we ought to welcome and seek God’s guidance. The young Christian ought to seek God’s direction in the important matter of marriage. The young worker ought to seek God’s guidance as to what and work should be. In every step of life, we act wisely when we say, "O Lord, what would have me say, what would you have me do?"

"Even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." "Even when I walk through the darkest valley" (alternate translation), whether that be death or some other sombre place, I have nothing to fear and I will not fear because my Shepherd is with me, protecting me with his club and guiding me with his staff.

The Good Shepherd leads us to green pastures and besides quiet waters. But sometimes there are deep and gloomy valleys to cross. But our Shepherd does not forsake us there.

For each of us life is so uncertain. Any hour can bring disaster, danger, distress from unknown quarters. Life is full of hazards. No one can tell what trouble may come on any certain day or in the future. We tend to spend much time worrying about it.

Too often, we say to ourselves, "What if such and such happens to me? I cannot imagine what I will do." Probably, we shall never be in such circumstances, but we often worry about what we will do if we are. And so the trouble we make for ourselves is often greater than the trouble God may allow to come my way. We who ought to be singing all day are instead consumed with tomorrow’s possible problems.

Jesus said, "Don’t worry about tomorrow" and he empowers his sheep to do just that. When we have David’s perspective, when we exercise confidence in the Lord who is our Shepherd, we too can face an uncertain future and come to say with power, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley (I admit I may), I am not going to worry about it. I will not fear any evil for you God are with me and will protect and guide me."

Our attitude is to be one not of fear and worry of the future, but of confi- dence that with God as my Shepherd, I will be able to face anything in the future.

Verses 5-6
The scene changes. I am no longer out of doors, but indoors, no longer a sheep in a flock, but a guest at a banquet. My divine host has prepared a table before me. It is not a secret feast, but it is enjoyed in the presence of even my enemies, because when God’s feast satisfies me, it cannot be hidden from the world. With God as my helper, people see how God ultimately blesses me.

His provision is wonderfully lavish - a table laden with food, perfumed oils to anoint my head and an overflowing cup. Morevoer, God’s goodness and mercy shall follow me. Just as God has gone before me to lead me, so shall he follow behind me with his goodness and mercy. He goes before me preparing the way, and he follows behind me protecting with his love and mercy. Thus, he will guard me before and behind all the days of my life and in the end, I will dwell - not on this earth or in the tabernacle of this body - in the house of the Lord forever. I am here for just a brief moment in history, but I shall be in the house of the Lord forever.

"The Lord is my Shepherd." Is he yours? If not, you are unable to truthfully say what David said, and this confidence is not presently yours. But it can be...