Do you need to understand Psalm 23?

Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and David from the Bible, who is the writer of Psalm 23, helps us understand what a good shepherd does. Psalm 23 tells us that God is always with us and will comfort us.

Psalm 23:

The LORD is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

for the sake of His name.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

The Lord is my shepherd

If you are going to say the Lord is your shepherd, you must first know who the Lord is to you. God is three in one; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He is the creator of everything. He made the galaxies and all that is in them.

Look at the stars and planets in the night sky. Psalm 147:4 says that God knows all the stars by name. Can you imagine? There are over 100,000 million stars, and HE KNOWS THEM ALL BY NAME.

The Lord is all-powerful and all-knowing. He cares for you just as he provides for the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26).

The Lord calls us his sheep. Who leads sheep? A shepherd does. Similar to sheep, we need a shepherd, and that is why God calls himself our shepherd. We require a lot of attention. We need someone to take care of us. That is what God does for us.

I shall not want

David took care of his sheep, and they didn’t lack anything. If we make Jesus our Lord, we shall not lack anything we need; this does not mean that God will give us everything we ask. It means that we must entirely trust God and believe that he will provide us with what HE KNOWS we need.

We may still face disaster in our lives, we may even lose loved ones and material possessions, but through all of it, we will have an unsurpassed peace that only God can provide.

He makes me lie down in green pastures

Sheep will not lie down unless they feel safe, whether from their enemies (inside or outside the flock), pests, or anything else. They also cannot sleep if they are hungry. When something scares us, or a situation has us concerned, we do not know how to find rest. That is why God must make us rest. He says he makes us lie down in green pastures.

Get to know God, so you begin to feel his presence in your daily life. He has everything under control, and when you are in God’s presence, you can’t help but feel this. When we know everything is under control, only then will we find rest.

When we know God is near, we relax and trust that he will handle everything while we rest.

If we have pain from losing a loved one or an illness, we have the Holy Spirit living inside us to comfort us. The Holy Spirit lives inside every believer from the moment they accept God as their Lord and Savior. When we are comforted, we can rest. The same thing happens when we surrender our problems to him instead of handling them on our own.

If we trust God, he will provide green pasture for us to rest. But sometimes we try to make our own place to rest. These are not green pastures; they are places full of stress and pain. It’s when we trust God we can rest in his green pasture where there is perfect peace.

He leads me beside still waters

David made sure to find water for his sheep that was not contaminated. There are a lot of parasites and diseases that can live in water. A good shepherd is always aware of his sheep’s safety and makes sure to supply their water needs.

Just like our physical bodies need water, our soul needs replenishing by the Holy Spirit. We need to crave more of God by wanting to know him better. We should try to make our bodies Christlike in character and conduct. To do this, we must daily surrender ourselves to God.

Often, we do not turn to God to replenish us when we have a need. We try to satisfy ourselves. God doesn’t want us to do this. He wants us to lean on him entirely. It’s when we trust him completely that he can provide us with still water.

We should read God’s words daily and get to know him; this is how we become Christlike. It’s our quiet time alone with our creator listening for his voice so he can lead us to quiet waters.

He restores my soul

David always kept his eyes on his sheep. He counted them every night, making sure that none of them went missing. When one of the sheep went missing, David was relentless until he found the sheep and restored it to the fold. God knows where we are and what we need at all times. 

Temptations, frustrations, and hopelessness are everywhere. We always end up in one of these situations when we take our eyes off our heavenly father. The Lord gently nudges us, when this happens, to get us to turn back to him. He wants to restore our soul because he does not like it when we suffer, whether by our own hand or by the free will of others who have chosen to hurt us. God uses our suffering to transform us. Even Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered (Hebrews 5:8).

Our God is a God of love. He does not condemn us when we do wrong; instead, he wants us to turn from our sins and repent so he can restore our souls. God gave us a new life when we became a Christian by asking him to come into our hearts, repent of our sins, and make Him Lord of our life.

There are occasions when we succumb to temptation and revert to our old selves. When this happens, we need to redirect our thoughts to God. If we don’t turn back to God on our own, sometimes he will have to discipline us so that he can restore our souls. But even in the discipline, God is with us and will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5).

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake

A shepherd’s job is to constantly lead the flock to fresh ground, precisely what David did. Had David not done this, the sheep would go hungry since they are in the habit of staying in one place and eating until the roots of the grass are damaged, never to return again. David made sure this didn’t happen by constantly changing the pasture where the sheep ate.

Once we learn a bad habit, we tend to act on our terrible learned habit repeatedly. It is hard to change, but God wants us to let him lead us because he knows what is best for us. We need to plan so that we are prepared when one of our bad habits rear its ugly head. Ultimately, it’s our faith in Jesus that makes us righteous, not the things we do.

We prepare by doing our devotions; we read the Bible daily and pray. Listen for God’s voice every time you pray so that he can provide direction for your life.

I know it seems a lot easier to do the same old thing that you always did, but we need to remember that the paths of righteousness are the best paths for us. Isaiah 53:6 says that we, like sheep, have gone astray and have turned to our old ways. Start by praying daily that this doesn’t happen.

Do you need to understand Psalm 23? In your dark days, God is with you.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me

Out in the country, David experienced isolation. There was danger everywhere. There were rockslides, floods, and predators. David made sure the area he was taking the sheep to was free from danger before taking them there. The sheep did not need to fear anything because David was with them.

Similarly, a valley of death is something we all go through, too, some more than others. There are different reasons we go through these valleys. If you are going through a valley now, remember that God has permitted you to go through this valley. Nothing can touch you without God’s permission.

Remember, God is in control.

There is a lot of evil in this world since God allows us to have free will. God is still ultimately in control, but certain valleys sometimes seem like we won’t make it to the other side.

When someone murdered my son, this was one of my valleys. Romans 8:28 says that God will use all things for my good since I have been called for his purpose. I knew that even though I was suffering terribly, something good would come from my valley; I have had many valleys in my life.

Remember to thank God when you are going through your valley. I know that is the last thing you want to do when you are suffering, but it is imperative. If we don’t experience any valleys in our life, God cannot restore our souls.

God never abandoned me when I had to live through all of the pain, trying to continue living without my precious son. But I felt God’s power in me, and I felt stronger every day. God also uses our experiences so we can look back on them and remember how he brought us through our valleys.

John 16:33 says that we will have trouble in this world, but we need to remember that God has the whole world in his hands.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me

Since David was a shepherd, he had a rod, staff, and oil to use as tools to help his sheep. They each had their purpose. He used the rod to fight off predators, the staff to lead and guide, and oil to keep bugs away from his sheep. David used all of these tools to protect his sheep, and this is how God protects us.

His rod and staff are referring to his word, the Bible. We can use the Bible when we are afraid and when we need comfort. When we use the Bible as our guide, it will give us direction, so we do not fall into sins snares. It protects us when the devil tries to tempt us because we can refer to God’s principles to see how we should proceed.

No one is beyond temptation; the devil even tempted Jesus in the desert. Jesus used the word of God to battle the devil. God’s word is always better armor than anything we can come up with on our own.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

David was always leaving the sheep and looking for the best place to move his sheep to so they had plenty of food and a safe place to sleep. He also checked to make sure that there weren’t any poisonous plants in the fields so that the sheep didn’t make a bad decision and eat something that could harm them.

Likewise, God is preparing everything for us, so we don’t make bad decisions when situations challenge us. Any problem we get ourselves into, we need to remember that God knows the way out. He also knows how we could have avoided most situations in the first place since we create a lot of our problems.

God is already there whenever you find yourself in a situation and don’t know what to do. For him to give you direction, you must read your Bible every day, pray and listen for God to speak because the more you do, the better you will be able to hear God and follow his direction.

God cares about us so much that he sent his only son, Jesus, to earth to die a horrible death on the cross at Calvary so that we can spend eternity in heaven with him. All we have to do is repent of our sins, pray and ask him to come into our hearts and make Him Lord of our life. Then we will spend eternity in heaven with him that he has prepared for us.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows

Flies, mosquitos, gnats, and other insects constantly tortured the sheep. But David knew that if he put oil on the sheep’s head, it would stop the torment. The sheep were immediately at peace.

In the same way, God anoints us by the Holy Spirit living inside of us. He continually helps us when we need it, helping us deal with stress or making us Christlike. The Holy Spirits’ job is to make us look like Christ so that any non-Christian who sees us wants to be like Jesus.

People should see that we exhibit the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). We shouldn’t let our earthly minds control our actions but instead exhibit Christlikeness. Although it is a struggle for many of us, we need to be aware of our decisions each day.

When Jesus died on Calvary, his blood overflowed for us. He is there for us and will help us through every crisis we face. Jesus faced the worst pain possible when he died on a cross for us. Won’t you accept his overflowing cup of grace and ask Him into your heart today?

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life

Because of the shepherd’s care, the sheep knew that they would experience goodness because they were in David’s excellent care. What a privilege it was for them to have a shepherd who cared for them.

Do you believe that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life? Believing this takes complete trust in God. God cares for you, and you are in his competent hands. You must believe that he loves you and wants what is best for you. Do you believe that he wants to bless you?

Even if you don’t believe it, he does. He wants all of these things for you. You need to have faith that he will provide them.

I know it’s easy to worry and stress about bad things that may happen to you. I lost my only child, and I still trust that God will provide me with goodness and mercy, and he has. Every day he blesses me with them, but he does this because I believe he will do what he says. If I doubt him, do you think he will still give me goodness and mercy?

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever

Davids’ sheep are so content that they are happy to stay with him forever. He provides all they need and ultimately knows what is best for them.

God knows what is best for us, and Jesus is the only way to be with God forever. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” If you want to be with God for all of eternity, you need to make him your Lord and Savior. You need to repent of your sins before it’s too late.

Prayer of salvation:

Dear Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you are the Son of God, that you died for my sins, and that you were buried and rose again as written in the Bible. Please come into my heart so I can have eternal life. Please fill me with the Holy Spirit and help me live the way you want me to live. Forgive me for my past sins. Guide me in my future so that I can live my life for You. Amen.

Do you now understand Psalm 23?