VERSE 1
But now we return to our beautiful Psalm; and it may be we shall find that however early we were taught to repeat, "The Lord is my shepherd," we have yet to learn its meaning and application.
“THE LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." This is surely the expression of a heart that is filled and occupied with the Lord Himself. It may be the expression of one who only knew the Lord as Jehovah, revealed to Israel; or, of one who knows Him as Jehovah Jesus, who saves His people from their sins; but it is evidently the language of one who is truly godly, whether Jew or Christian, and who makes the Lord his only trust. The soul, under all circumstances, is here viewed as resting on the unfailing care and quietly enjoying the varied resources of the well-known Shepherd of the sheep. And that, not only for the present time, but for all times and forever.
This is most precious faith! Mark it well, O my soul, and patiently meditate thereon. It is most practical; "the Lord is my shepherd." It rises, observe, above what He gives, what He does, what He promises, blessed as these are, and calmly rests on what He is Himself. As the eye of Abraham rested not on the promises, when he put forth his hand to slay his son, but on Him from whom the promises came; so here, with the eye resting on the Lord, the pilgrim can say, "I shall not want." When such confidence fills the heart, peace and quietness will characterize the life.
But knowest thou, my soul, the secret spring of such a blessed state? How is it that so few rise to this measure? Hast thou? Hast thou this rejoicing and confidence in the Lord, in the midst of wilderness circumstances? "The Lord is my shepherd" sounds like the voice of one rejoicing; "I shall not want" like that of quiet confidence.
When we have learned the deep lessons of the twenty-second Psalm and the resurrection triumph of the twenty-first Psalm, we shall understand the path of the twenty-third Psalm. And further, we shall rejoice in hope of the twenty-fourth Psalm. The four psalms are linked together. It was because of the joy that was set before Him that He endured the cross (Heb. 12:22Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)): so we see the twenty-first Psalm, the resurrection psalm, comes before the twenty-second Psalm, the psalm of the cross. But the twenty-second and the twenty-first must be learned first. To know the grace that shines on the pilgrim's path in the twenty-third, and on the pilgrim resting in glory in the twenty-fourth, we must know the grace that shines in the sufferings of Christ in the twenty-second, and the power of His resurrection in the twenty-first.
The grace and the glory are due to Him who suffered there, and to all who own Him in the day of His rejection. We must travel in faith through the twenty-first and twenty-second to reach the twenty-third; there is no other path to it; and, when there, we find that the next thing is the glory. The Christian is thus, in spirit, between the sufferings and the glory—the cross and the crown. He looks back on the one, and onward to the other. Sin, death, judgment, the grave, the world and Satan are all behind him. Victory over every foe is stamped on our life in resurrection: a life we may know in measure even now down here.
The three grand aspects of the Lord's Shepherd-character, as revealed in the New Testament, teach the same blessed truths. (1) As the "Good Shepherd" who laid down His life for the sheep. (Compare John 10 and Psa. 22.) (2) As the "Great Shepherd" risen from the dead He takes charge of the sheep as they journey through "that great and terrible wilderness." Deut. 1:1919And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. (Deuteronomy 1:19). (Compare Heb. 13 and Psa. 23.) (3) As the "Chief Shepherd" who will give a crown of glory to all His under-shepherds at His appearing and kingdom. (Compare 1 Peter 5 and Psa. 24.) Surely if we know the Lord thus, our confidence in Him must be without a question. We shall know His love, care, power, grace and goodness as the Shepherd of the sheep. And having gone through the wilderness Himself, He knows all the dangers and difficulties of the way.
The immediate occasion of the blessed Lord taking this place of care and responsibility is also worthy of special note. In John 8 He is rejected as the light and the truth. In chapter 9 He is rejected in His work, and He formally takes His place in chapter 10 outside the Jewish fold, as the "Good Shepherd." Now, He gathers the "poor of the flock" (Zech. 11:77And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. (Zechariah 11:7)) around Himself, as the new Center. "They shall hear My voice; and there shall be one flock [flock it should be, not fold], and one shepherd." John 10:1616And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16). They are a "little flock" (Luke 12:3232Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:32)) with Himself, outside the Jewish fold. They have been cast out of the synagogue, but they have all blessing in Him. Appearances may be against them, but His Word assures them of a present salvation and happy liberty. "I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9). How unlike the narrow limits of Israel, the place of bondage!
Now they have the full assurance of salvation; and, also, they can "go in" to the sanctuary of God's holy presence to worship and "out" in service to a perishing world. But this is not all: grace abounds; His heart overflows with deepest interest and tenderness for those who leave all and follow Him—who follow Him in His rejection; or, as the apostle expresses it, who "go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb. 13:1313Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:13))—sharing His rejection. For all such that wonderful revelation of grace was especially given. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." John 10:27-3027My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30I and my Father are one. (John 10:27‑30).
These verses will be read with tenfold more interest when we understand the circumstances in which they were first uttered; and still more if we are in similar circumstances ourselves.
But it may be said by some that since David, the writer of the Psalm, lived long before the humiliation and cross of Christ, he could know nothing of these things. True, so far; but he knew what it was to be rejected by man and cast upon God, even after he was the Lord's anointed. David and his companions in "the cave of Adullam" (2 Sam. 23:1313And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim. (2 Samuel 23:13)) typify Christ and those that gather around Him. But we doubt not that "the Spirit of Christ" (1 Peter 1:1111Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. (1 Peter 1:11)) in David so guided him in writing the Psalm that it applies to both Jew and Christian and may be the truthful expression of the experience of both; only, in a much higher and more spiritual way with us.
“The Jews' religion" (Gal. 1:13-1413For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. (Galatians 1:13‑14)) had its place and day before the cross; Christianity after it. This makes all the difference. We know not Messiah after the flesh but a risen Christ in glory. We are associated with Him there. Judaism was earthly in its character; it had "divine service" and a "worldly sanctuary." Heb. 9:11Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. (Hebrews 9:1). Christianity is heavenly. Christians are seated together in heavenly places in Christ. (Eph. 2:66And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6).) Our place is to be outside the camp with Christ as witnesses (Heb. 13:1313Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Hebrews 13:13)), and inside the veil with Him as worshipers. (Heb. 10:19-2219Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21And having an high priest over the house of God; 22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19‑22).) And now, from this heavenly point of view, it is our happy privilege to meditate on the rich experience of this delightful Psalm in the full light of gospel truth.
“My Shepherd is the Lamb,
The living Lord, who died;
With all good things I ever am
By Him supplied.
“He richly feeds my soul
With blessings from above,
He leads me where the river rolls
Of endless love.”