My Shepherd

I was given the opportunity to teach our online Bible study this week. The topic was Psalm 23. I have heard it over and over throughout my life, and so I thought, “this should be fun and fairly easy.” Wow. Little did I understand the depth of this brief, familiar psalm. We heard it as children and were comforted by it as adults. But there is SO much more.

I should also say: God is up to something with me. I have taught studies before. I’ve lead small groups, and given Emmaus talks. Each and every time, I memorized words and shared them with great anxiety, expecting judgement and being critical of any mistake or falter. I really didn’t like public speaking - even in small groups. I felt vulnerable and unqualified.

But our God is always doing a new thing. My pastor has been mentoring me for the past year and a half. She sees something in me that I’ve never seen - something I’ve never allowed myself to even dream of. Here is the simple (and profound) fact: I love teaching. I love the process of diving deep into a scripture passage or book, learning as much as I can about it, and then sharing it with others to educate and disciple. And I don’t have that familiar anxiety and critical spirit. I feel alive and fully myself. Double Wow.

God is moving me toward something, and I am still discerning what that means. But I am ready and excited and anticipating something beautiful. Because when I open myself up, with all of my gifts and passions and quirks, Spirit embodies me in a way I didn’t think was possible. And I can’t wait for a next time.

For the next few weeks, I want to share with you some my learning from Psalm 23. I am excited and energized by this psalm and all of its richness. So let’s start with verses 1-3. May we hear this familiar passage in a fresh new way.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul.

He leads me in right paths

for his name’s sake.

The psalm starts with Yahweh, the name God revealed to Moses. And spoiler alert: we will see the psalm end with Yahweh too. Its a little trick called inclusio that writers use when they begin and end with a particular word or concept. In this case, the God who revealed God’s self to us is the beginning and end of this psalm of thanksgiving. We are surrounded and encircled by a God who wants to be known. How beautiful is that!

We often visualize shepherds as cute kids in bathrobes because that is what we see in nativity plays during Advent and Christmas. And shepherding was often considered a lowly profession. But in ancient times, kings were also referred to as the shepherds of their people because they guided and protected them. So there is a royal connotation here too. So as the psalmist declares The Lord is my shepherd, they are declaring loyalty to God and an intention to live under God’s reign.

I think it is important to say here that sheep are completely dependent on their shepherd. But they are not frightened, passive animals. Instead they are obedient followers, wise enough to follow the One who will lead them in right ways and to right places. The psalmist doesn’t focus on the animal-like qualities of sheep but on the discipleship qualities of those who follow. I want to be wise enough to follow the One who leads me - because I love and trust God, but also because God knows how and where to lead me.

So God, Yahweh, is my shepherd. And because of that, I have everything I need. That is a lot of goodness right there in verse 1, but then the psalmist goes on to describe what he needs and how God meets those specific needs. The shepherd leads us into green pastures - a place where food and security is abundant - and beside still waters - where there is plenty of water to quench thirst and refresh our tired souls. The Shepherd restores our souls, renews our strength and keeps us alive!

This next part is my favorite! Our Shepherd leads us in right paths - to avoid danger and provide shelter, to lead us to that green pasture and still water, where we have all that we need. And why does the Shepherd do this? for his name’s sake - because that is who the Shepherd is! It is in God’s nature to care for us, to provide for us, to lead us. We are simply to follow our Shepherd.

And here is another cool piece: the 2 Hebrew verbs used here are the same verbs that were used in Exodus 15:13. It is a song celebrating the way God led the Israelites out of Egypt. The Hebrew people’s most significant story of being led and provided for by Yahweh uses the same language we see here. And that same language is also used in Isaiah 40:11, where God is portrayed as the Shepherd who lead the Israelites out of exile. God has been leading God’s people from the very beginning - and we can trust that God is still leading us today.

There is some cool foreshadowing here in the phrase for his name’s sake. We are going to find some language later in verse 6 that reminds us of 2 of God’s most fundamental characteristics. But for now, we simply trust. Trust that God is leading us in the right direction along the right paths. Trust that God is providing all we need. Trust that God is always restoring our souls. And we are trusting because God’s fundamental nature is to care for us.

Next week we are going to look at what happens in the dark valleys when we turn to the One who leads us. I can’t wait to share it with you - that is where scripture gets really personal for me.

My Shepherd is leading me, and I want to follow obediently. Where is Shepherd leading you right now?