Psalm 23 Part 2
1. The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not lack…This whole Psalm is about God providing for all the needs of His sheep, his people: their physical needs, their emotional needs, their psychological needs, their spiritual needs and every other need you can think of. A human shepherd of real sheep can only do so much for his sheep. He can lead them and guide them and give them food and protect them from danger and fierce animals, but God who is his people’s Heavenly Shepherd can do so much more because He is God.
— The first phrase “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not lack” is a summary of the whole psalm and every statement that follows expounds on this statement and declaration.
— Each statement or declaration asserts what God is for His people or what His role is in relation to His people and each statement shows what we won’t lack and how God will supply our needs.
— So let’s look at verse two:
God is our Provider, our Caretaker. “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”
When sheep are made to lie down in green pastures, it means they have enough food to eat. The food sheep eat is grass. In other words, God is our Provider. He is Jahwe Jireh as Genesis 22 reveals. God makes His people, His sheep to get enough food to survive. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t ever get hungry or skip a meal or two, but it means that if God is your God, your Shepherd, He will take care of you. Even the apostle Paul tells us in the New Testament that he was hungry and without food and shelter at times. However, God’s child is God’s responsibility. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all else (these things– food and clothing) will be given unto you (Matthew 6:33). My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Note that God’s sheep will not only be guided to green pastures but that they will be made to lie down in green pastures. That indicates that God will give His sheep rest and peace. You will be safe in God’s hands, eternally save, because Jesus Christ came to break every yoke of sin by laying down His life for you when He took that cross and died for you 2000 ago on Golgatha! Jesus Christ spilled His blood to make peace with you! He absorbed and averted the wrath of God towards you so that you can have rest and peace with God! You can now lay down in God’s presence without being afraid of His wrath because of Jesus Christ! “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”
There is also the spiritual food side. To spiritually survive we need the word. Man does not live by bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Jesus the Good Shepherd feeds us with his word. We need that word every day. He is the Bread of Life. And we need to feed on Christ every day and the way we do that is by feeding onhis word. God makes sure that we get spiritual food. We need it every day and He supplies that to us.
INTERETHNICMISSIONS 