06142025 The Lord Is My Shepherd

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of our loving Shepherd. Over the past few years, I have spent a lot of time meditating on Psalm 23, and it has become much more precious to me. I had an idea about this psalm which has taken me a while to develop. I think I have reached the point of being able to flesh out the truths for which I have been gathering the supporting texts. Over the next few months, I hope to share with you what I am learning.

David, the shepherd boy, wrote the Shepherd’s psalm, about the LORD as his shepherd. But did he write the psalm as a young man? I have always tended to think of it in this way. That David, as a teenaged shepherd boy, wrote this psalm as he sat in the fields watching over the sheep. He wrote of God as a Shepherd because it was a picture that was very much a part of his life at the time. He understood what a shepherd was and what a shepherd did for those under his care.

As I have meditated much on Psalm 23, however, I have come to see it as the writings of a very mature man. Of a man who has passed through many things and has seen God as a Shepherd over a long and faithful life. As I have thought along these lines, I have pondered what it would be like to consider the psalm from the perspective of its author. What was David thinking about when he wrote his words? What is the background and the depth of belief behind the various phrases?

To answer this question, I went through the remainder of the psalms that are attributed to David and also through the historical narratives about David. I tried to identify passages that would give insight into David’s words of Psalm 23. Certainly, I have missed some things. At times, it is hard to know just which phrase from Psalm 23 to connect the supports with. And there must be some assumption or mental conclusion about the meaning and intent of each phrase from Psalm 23. My study is not perfect by any means, but it is my goal to see perhaps more clearly the significance of David’s words in Psalm 23 by supporting them with the rich and deep experience of his life and other writings.

“The LORD is my Shepherd.”

I take this to be David’s acknowledgement of both belonging to God and depending on God. There is a sense of origin and sustaining in God, of belonging to and being claimed by Him. David’s very life is staked on the fact that He has a relationship with God, with God who has determined for Himself a mighty role in the lives of His children, a role that defines how God and His children interact. God is the indispensable source of guidance and provision.

This belonging and dependence happened from the very beginning of David’s life. “I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother’s belly” (Ps. 22:10). “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13).

The Shepherd is the source of all that is good for David’s life. It is only because he belongs to God that he can survive. “O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, Thou are my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee” (Ps. 16:2). “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me” (Ps. 56:9).

Only the Shepherd can keep David and lead Him in the right ways. “The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy” (Ps. 145:20). “I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons” (Ps. 16:7).

David saw God as his Shepherd, the One who watched over him with favor and blessed his path. As individual as that relationship was, David also knew that it was not a relationship exclusive to him. This is how God interacts with all of His children. “Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee” (I Chr. 17:24). “Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed [shepherd] them also, and lift them up for ever” (Ps. 28:9).

When David said, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” he saw the One to whom he belonged, the One who watched over him from before his birth, the One who was on his side for all of life, the One who kept and guided him, and the One who committed Himself to claiming and watching over all His children in the same way He carried David.

May you find comfort and strength in the knowledge that your good Shepherd claims you, guides you, watches over and provides for you. You belong to Him, and that means everything!

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA