What the Lord As Our Shepherd Really Means (Psalm 23)

A Few Thoughts to Consider

Why have so many Christians spent so much time meditating on Psalm 23?

One of the ancient Christian practices is Lectio Divina (divine reading), which involves reading a passage of scripture slowly and attentively, meditating on its meaning, praying in response to it, and then entering into a contemplative state to listen for any insights or guidance from God. If you’ve never tried this practice, Psalm 23 is a great place to start.

As we read this passage slowly, we notice the focus is less on us and more on God as our Shepherd. It’s not a self-help passage to provide comfort when we’re feeling down. It’s a grand invitation to lean into the total sufficiency of God, our good shepherd. Unfortunately, As Paul Miller notes, “Our modern, secular world has removed the Shepherd from Psalm 23,”^[1] and this causes us to read Psalm 23 like the image posted above. Everything is about us.

But everything changes when we read Psalm 23 through the shepherd's perspective. In A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller provides valuable first-hand insight into sheep's connection with their shepherd. “Sheep do not ‘just take care of themselves,’ as some might suppose,” Keller writes, “They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care.”[2] He goes on to say, “It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep. The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways.”[3]

Sheep and humans like to think of themselves as independent without needing direction. As Keller points out, “A commonly held but serious misconception about sheep is that they can just ‘get along anywhere.’ The truth is quite the reverse. No other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detailed direction, than do sheep.”[4] The same is true for humans. We like to think we’re in total control of our destiny when the truth is we are entirely dependent on the goodness of God.

It's easy to use Psalm 23 as a cry for God’s help when what we really need is his presence. Psalm 23 teaches us that when we have the good shepherd, we have everything we need. As Keller says,

It is the sheep owner’s presence that guarantees there will be no lack of any sort; there will be abundant green pastures; there will be still, clean waters; there will be new paths into fresh fields; there will be safe summers on the high tablelands; there will be freedom from fear; there will be antidotes for flies and disease and parasites; there will be quietness and contentment.^[5]