The Good Shepherd...Psalms 23...

This is my interpretation of this 'famous' chapter from the Book of Psalms. I wrote this a few years ago when I was going through some difficult times on a personal level. It is a message I shared at the street church when I felt that I needed to share my inner emotions and thoughts with others that are also going through tough situations on a daily basis.

The Lord is My Shepherd Psalm 23

How often do we feel abandoned, forgotten and sometimes rejected by others around us? Sometimes it seems like we have no where to turn, no one we can reach out to, no one who cares about us.

I remember when I went through my divorce, I felt like I was going to die, it was something I didn’t want, but it was something I couldn’t do anything about. I had some support but it wasn’t the kind of support I needed at the time…the last thing I wanted was to get involved with another woman.

What I needed was someone to listen to my feelings and concerns that were racing through me. I felt a lot of anger and at the same time I was wanting some pity, my emotions were all mixed up…I felt like I was going up and down like a roller coaster…having super highs then crashing down with unbearable lows.

I’m sure all of us have had experiences where we feel totally out of control and nobody seems to notice or care and we just keep spinning around going nowhere, usually in a tailspin to nowhere. I have shared with a few of the guys how I was really got carried away with the carousing (carrying on) for a couple of years (drinking, women, weed)… trying to find happiness in the world, thinking that parties, vacations, fancy life style would solve my emptiness.

As my life was self-destructing at that time, I also had some good experiences that eventually worked its way into my life and life style. I had different people reach out in friendly ways and offer some good advice, (which I sometimes listened to), they would ask me to join them golfing or boating, but without the party. I was invited to different events that were offering an alternative to the ‘trying to solve all your problems by yourself’ scenario. Good people were planting seeds (or ideas) about living a different life style. I was being introduced to what Christ had to offer. I was a little slow to catch on but eventually I started to get the picture, that there was people who really cared about me. I started to settle down because I knew I was going nowhere the way I was heading. It was one particularly rough period of my life and I survived. For this I Thank God!

In my home church we are going through the book of Psalms and I came upon a chapter that was important to me when I first started trying to figure out if this church thing was for me. It is some verses I’m sure many of you have heard at sometime in your lives, as it is as well known as 'The Good Shepherd'. This chapter was written by King David, who had gone through a lot of issues in his own life that were not acceptable to God but he did learn from his mistakes, he was up front and honest about his wrong doings, admitted them and asked God to forgive him. With this choice to follow God, he was blessed by God as a great king and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. Before I get into the book of Psalms (23) listen to what David says of our loving God in 2 Samuel 7:28,29

28 For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to me, your servant. 29 And now, may it please you to bless me and my family so that our dynasty may continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!”

God blessed King David and so David wrote this Psalm of comfort for us about following God and His commands. This is from the book of Psalms, chapter 23. I’m going to read from the King James Version of the Bible, which I think most of you would be more familiar with remembering how it went…

Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Isn’t that comforting, He, our Lord, is our shepherd. All we have to do is follow Him.
I’d like to share with you, verse by verse, what God, through His son Jesus Christ is offering to us. The comfort of knowing the Lord.

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Followers of God are often looked upon as sheep and sheep as we know, are followers of the shepherd. They put all their trust in the shepherd to lead them, provide for them and to protect them from any danger that may happen. Several places in the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the Good Shepherd, Great Shepherd or the Head Shepherd. So as Jesus is the Good shepherd leading us in the right way and to the right places, we are to be obedient followers, doing as Jesus shows us (demonstrates). The word ‘want’ here means that we will not be ‘in want’. That is, that we can trust God for the necessities of life.

2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

This is telling us that God will provide for us spiritually and emotionally. His loving care, like the shepherd, puts us at ease so we can be resting peacefully so we can be refreshed and strengthened to do His will. If we follow Him, we will develop a close, dependant relationship with God, doing the things that He wants us to do as we discover His will for us. We are to be obedient resisting the temptation of going our own way.

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

We can struggle and deal with pain, suffering, disease and other obstacles but with death we are helpless. Only our shepherd, Jesus, can walk us through the valley of death and see us to the other side, as He is the God of life. The rod and staff are used to guide the sheep and used to set boundaries for their own good. They are also used to guide them to safe places while fighting off enemies that might try and harm them, so the rod and staff would be comforting for the sheep, giving them protection. The Bible and its teachings can be looked upon as a rod and staff, helping us get through what life brings us each day.

5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

This is a description of God’s protection for us, even while the enemy is all around us tempting us to go against Him, God will be the perfect host and Shepherd, guiding and protecting us throughout our lives.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

God has prepared the way for us, He has given us the instructions and the invitation. All we have to do is accept the patient love He has shown us, accept His goodness and mercy and then we can be with Him in the house of the Lord forever.


So often we see paintings of Jesus with children, the sick and poor, people lost in this world as I once was…now I see Him as a shepherd guiding me, protecting me and watching over me. All I have to do is stay with the flock.

Thankyou Lord Jesus for being the Good Shepherd.