Psalms 23; John 10:14
The Lord has made and does make Himself known to us in many ways, all precious to our souls, supplying our temporal and spiritual needs. He has made Himself known to us, first of all as our Savior, and the knowledge of His love to us, in that He died for our sins upon the cross, gave us much joy, and caused us to love Him. Those who believe in Him should be certain of having eternal life, of having the forgiveness of sins, of being complete and accepted in Him, and they may be sure of being with Christ forever in glory: (John 10:27-29; Eph. 1:6, 7).
This is a settled matter, and is now, and ever will be, our theme of praise. Besides this, it is blessed to know and to enjoy Him as our Shepherd, supplying from His fullness all our needs, and meeting us in all our varied states of soul. There are, at least, two things noticeable about the Lord as our Shepherd and His ways with us, “the sheep of His hand.”
First. The Shepherd’s loving care for His sheep.
Second. The Shepherd’s presence is with His sheep in all the circumstances of their whole journey through this world to their home with Him.
Perfect, gracious, and complete is the Shepherd’s care. We are all loved by Him with an eternal love, and He calls us, “My sheep,” and none but Himself can call us that and He forgets not the least nor the feeblest; in fact, the weakest are the especial objects of His care, for He gathers them with His arm, carries them in His bosom, and gently leads them. (Isa. 40:11; John 10:27; 1 John 4:10; Rom. 8:28-39). What confidence in Him it gives us to he assured from His own lips that He knows our names, and goes ahead of us, meeting every danger and every trial along the way before we come up to it.
“He calleth His own sheep by name.... He goeth before them.” (John 10:3, 4). Many a snare laid by the enemy of our souls to entrap us He has seen and thrust aside. Many a pitfall His watchful eye detects and carefully He leads us safely over them. Many a by-path, which would have taken us out of the way, He has conducted us past, and led us safely along “the straight and narrow way.” Such is our Shepherd’s loving and faithful care of us! With such a Shepherd we shall not want. He tends His sheep; He does not leave them to a hireling. We are His flock and not the flock of any man. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” These pastures are not an enclosure built on man’s opinions and doctrines; and neither the intellect and natural mind, nor the pursuit of worldly pleasures and pastimes are green pastures.
The Lord our Shepherd makes us to lie down where we can feed upon His love, His grace, His goodness and glory, yea, upon “the things concerning Himself” from the Word of God, which the Holy Spirit delights to show unto us, because we are beloved of Him. It is important to heed the exhortations, inspired by the Holy Spirit, of the apostles Peter and Paul, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” (1 Peter 2:2). “Meditate upon these things, give yourself wholly to them, that thy profiting may appear unto all. Take, heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.” (1 Tim. 4:15,16).
The place where the Shepherd guides His flock is “beside the still waters.” The Lord would not have us to be unhappy and restless, He would have us to enjoy His peace under all circumstances. “My peace I give unto you; let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” He has said. (John 14:27). In these perilous times how much we need that word. What restfulness of spirit, and what contentedness of mind it gives us to lean confidingly upon His love and care. Nothing can separate us from His love. And if, because of the sorrows and roughness of the wilderness journey, or by reason of the rapid progress of infidelity and worldliness, our spirits have drooped in sadness, and we have become discouraged, let us cheer up, there is enough in Him to make the heart rejoice. He is the same all-powerful, loving, gracious and tender Shepherd. His glory has not been tarnished a bit. He is the Brightness of Eternal Glory.
“He restoreth my soul,” or rather the meaning is, “He invigorates,” or reviveth, “my soul”; it is like a good tonic to a person whose health is run down, it invigorates. The Lord can do this when we get discouraged, as He revived the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, and restored their souls, first, by drawing out all that was on their heart, and then, in His love, removing their mistrust, and banishing their discouragements by ministering the Word and comforting them, causing their hearts to burn within them as He spake to them by the way. (Luke 24).
We have another instance of this when Paul was imprisoned in the castle, and in the stillness of night, “the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness of Me at Rome.” (Acts 23:11).
Occupation with our circumstances will not invigorate us, because they are variable, nor can we turn to ourselves, “for I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing,” and the heart, the Lord has told us, is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” (Jer. 17:9). Although all things, even the foundation of the earth and “the heavens shall perish and wax old as doth a garment,” the Lord, our Shepherd, is the Eternal and Unchangeable God.