Jehovah Raah - The Lord My Shepherd
Psalm 23:1 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
C. H. Spurgeon writes: Give me ten million dollars, and one reversal of fortune may scatter it. Give me a spiritual hold on the divine assurance that “the Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” and I am set for life. I cannot go broke with this stock in my hand. I can never be bankrupt with this security … Do not give me ready cash; give me a checkbook and let me withdraw what I need. This is how God works with the believer. God does not immediately transfer the inheritance; He lets us draw what we need out of the riches of His fullness in Christ Jesus. “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” What a glorious inheritance! Walk up and down it. Rest on it. It will be a soft downy pillow for you to lie on … If you disregard this truth—“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”—you know nothing about its preciousness … I often think of that great promise—I do not know where there is a larger one—that “no good thing will He withhold from those that walk uprightly”(Psalm 84:11) “No good thing!” It is a mercy that the word good is there. If it had said, “He will withhold nothing,” we might ask for many things that would be bad for us. But it says “No good thing!” Spiritual mercies are good. They are more than good. They are the best, and you may well ask for them. If no good thing will be withheld, certainly the best things will be given. Ask then, Christian, for He is your Shepherd, and you will not want. He will supply your need. He will give you whatever you require. Ask in faith, never doubting, and He will give you what you really need.
What more could I add? Everything from my feeble mind will be anticlimactic to what the great Charles Spurgeon has said, but I will offer some thoughts, mostly Scripture. Let’s look at what God’s Word says about the Shepherd. First Old Testament prophecies: Genesis 49:24 speaks of “the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)” – an early prophecy that God would come down as the great shepherd. Isaiah 40:11 describes Christ’s love for His sheep, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” Ezekiel 34:23 says, “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them,” and 37:24, “And they all shall have one shepherd.” Zechariah tells of the Shepherd’s death in 13:7, “Awake, O sword, against my shepherd … smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.”
New Testament passages: Christ Himself in John 10:11 says, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep,” and in verse 14, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” In Hebrews 13:20, Paul calls Him “that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” – Just to name a few.
What more could we ask of our great Shepherd? But you notice, in this passage, He is even more personal – He is MY Shepherd – this denotes a personal relationship with each one of His sheep. “I shall not want” – this denotes a providing relationship with each one of His sheep – He provides for all our needs. The rest of this psalm gives us a beautiful picture of the shepherd relationship Christ has with His sheep – He cares for us – He provides for us – He calms us – He leads us – He comforts us – He houses us.
Yet the most important fact is not in this chapter – the Shepherd becomes the Lamb for us. John the Baptist declares in John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” And Isaiah 53:7 tells how He would go to the slaughter for his sheep, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and … openeth not his mouth.” Revelation 5:12 sings His praise, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”
Quote – “My soul has sometimes fed upon Christ till I have felt as if I could receive no more, and then I have laid me down in the bounty of my God to take my rest, satisfied with favor, and full of the goodness of the Lord.” – C. H. Spurgeon
