3) It may help us still further to understand the relationship, as well as the privileges of the sheep, if we add to the foregoing considerations the teaching of Psalm 23.
The Lord (Jehovah) is my Shepherd. Everything depends upon the relationship, whether we can truly adopt this language. Everyone can say the Lord is a Shepherd; and hence all the significance of this statement is connected with the little word "my." To say "my" Shepherd is the language of faith. How blessed if we can then adopt these words as our own, and say He is our Shepherd. And what follows? "I shall not want." We shall not want, not because we are sheep, but because He is our Shepherd. This conclusion flows, not from what we are to Him, but from what He is to us. It is very strengthening to the soul to see this clearly, for many of us are apt to begin with ourselves; and consequently, as we discover what poor, feeble, wayward creatures we are, we fall into doubts and anxieties. B u t when we begin with the Lord, consider what He is—what He is in Himself, as well as what He is in relationship to us—we obtain the well-grounded assurance that we "shall not want." For surely it belongs to the Shepherd to provide for the sheep. How foolish it is even in children to question their parents as to how their wants are to be met on the morrow! Much more foolish would it be on our parts—when we have such a Shepherd. Enough for our hearts surely to know that He is ours, and in that sweet confidence we can leave everything in His hands, who "shall feed [tend] His flock like a Shepherd" (Isa. 40:1111He 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. (Isaiah 40:11)). He is ours, and we have everything in Him; and hence the heart can rest in perfect peace, in the full assurance of His unfailing love, omnipotent power, and unwearied care.
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters"- or, as we have it in the margin, pastures of tender grass, and waters of quietness. He thus provides suited blessings needed sustenance, and rest, and refreshment. But even this fails to convey the richness and bounty of the provision which He makes for His flock. The pastures are pastures of tender grass on which the sheep feed with appetite and delight until they are satisfied; and when they are satisfied—as with marrow and fatness—they lie down by the cool and refreshing waters of quietness. As it is said in John 10, "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." v. 9. What unfolding of the heart of the Shepherd-ministering thus to the need of His own, watching over them to minister to all their necessities. Happy are the sheep who are placed under such constant, loving, and faithful care!
"If e'er I go astray,
He doth my soul restore."
This belongs here also to His office of Shepherd. We need not say that the foundation on which He does this is His own finished work-the propitiation which He has made for our sins (1 John 2:1, 21My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1‑2)). But in the psalm this restoration is looked at as effected by the Shepherd. The sheep wanders, goes astray, and the Shepherd goes after that which is lost, and finding it, brings it safely back. Every sheep is thus under His eye, and cannot stray without His knowledge; and when any of us have strayed, we surely should never have returned, if He had not followed after and drawn us back again by the ministrations of His love.
And just as we are indebted to Him, for restoration, so also for being kept and guided into right paths-paths of righteousness—paths which are according to His own will. Mark, moreover, that He so lead s us "for His name's sake." It is again-it cannot be repeated too often-what He is-on account of. His own name. And therefore His own glory is concerned in guiding us into these paths of righteousness. We can thus ever plead with Him on this ground; and whenever we do so, our plea is irresistible. It was so with Joshua. When the Israelites were smitten, after the sin of Achan, before the men of Ai, Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord, and pleaded with God; and the whole burden of his cry was at last expressed in the one question, "And what wilt thou do unto Thy great name?" (Josh. 7:6-96And Joshua rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide, he and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. 7And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? would to God we had been content, and dwelt on the other side Jordan! 8O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! 9For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth: and what wilt thou do unto thy great name? (Joshua 7:6‑9).) Rising to this height, the answer immediately came. Let it always, then, be remembered that the Lord is concerned for His own name's sake, to lead us in the path which is according to His will.
The Psalmist now waxes more bold. He has told us what Jehovah is, and what He does. This gives him confidence, and he is consequently able to say, "Yea, 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." Psalm 23:44Yea, 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. (Psalm 23:4). The valley of the shadow of death is not so much passing through death, as the character of our pathway through this scene. We are passing through a judged world. Death hangs over it like a pall; and hence to the believer, who enters into God's thoughts about it, it is the valley of the shadow of death. But what is his antidote against fear? It is that "Thou art with me." This indeed is the source of all our security and blessing—the Lord is with us. And being with us, we have His rod and His staff to comfort us—His rod to direct, and His staff to support. Do we sufficiently enter into this? Is it as constantly present to our souls as it should be-that the Lord is with us? and that His rod and His staff comfort us? The scene may be never so dark and desolate, and we may be never so weak and weary, but we have boundless resources in the One who is our Shepherd—His own presence to cheer our souls, and His rod and His staff to guide in perplexity, and to support in weakness. Blessed be His name!
We have now another feature, as well as another character, of blessing. "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with 4 oil; my cup runneth over." v. 5. It is not only that the path may lie through the valley of the shadow of death, but enemies are around. But He that is with us is all-sufficient for this difficulty. They may rage, and seek to destroy, but, as David says, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." He will be the sustenance of His people, and cause their enemies to see that they are upheld, sustained, and provided for, by the Lord. As the Apostle writes, "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Heb. 13:5, 65Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. (Hebrews 13:5‑6). But we have more: "Thou anointest my head with oil"- the unction of God-the Spirit of power—and hence he adds, "My cup runneth over." Nothing is wanting; no, he is filled to overflowing with goodness and mercy, and in such a scene as this. This is all the result of having the Lord as our Shepherd, for all flows from Him-from what He is to us in this relationship. And let it not be forgotten that this is our present portion. These are not blessings which we shall have, but blessings which we now have. How we narrow the heart of God by our unbelief! And hence our need of learning ever more of Himself, that we may understand more fully the immensity of His grace, and the riches of His provision for us, while passing through the wilderness. Surely we may say, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want"!
The conclusion is as simple as beautiful. "Surely goodness and mercy shall [not have followed, but shall] follow me all the days of my life." How do we know this? Because of what the Lord is as our Shepherd. It is confidence in Him, and the knowledge of what is suited to Him, that enables us thus to speak. And yet more: "And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." All leads up to this. Blessed as we are now, and enjoying so much because of what Christ is to us as our Shepherd, we shall enter upon larger blessings and more perfect joys when He shall return to receive us to Himself, and we shall be forever with Him. But we must not miss the present application of the words. The effect of grace upon the heart is to draw us ever closer to Him from whom it flows, and to produce in us the desire to dwell in His house forever; yes, to dwell before Him, and in His presence, everlastingly. "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire [meditate] in. His temple." Psalm 27:44One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4). The heart is thus attracted to, and absorbed in the contemplation of, the One whose beauty had been unfolded in His ways of grace and love; and hence we can find no rest or satisfaction except in the presence of its Object. All-every blessing-is concentered in Him; and, therefore, the soul that knows it desires to be always with Him. Happy are they who have learned the lesson, that they want nothing outside of Christ—that He is enough their "hearts and minds to fill"!
May the Lord Himself unfold more and more to us of His beauty, as well as the unspeakable character of the blessings which are ours, because by grace we have been brought into relationship with Him as our Shepherd.
"I love the Shepherd's voice:
His watchful eyes shall keep
My pilgrim soul among
The thousands of God's sheep.
He feeds His flock, He calls their names,
And gently leads the tender lambs."