A Study on Psalm 23 – #2
Verse 1. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
The title ‘The Lord’ is in fact not a title but rather it is the proper name of God – Yahweh, Exodus 6:3 “He alone is the Most High over all the earth”, Psalm 83:18, “O God (Elohim), do not keep silent…..Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord (Yahweh) – that you alone are Most High over all the earth”. Psalm 83:1,18. ‘Most High’ is a title for the one true God, Psalm 7:10, 92:1 etc.
In Genesis 48:15 Joseph speaks of the God (Elohim) of his fathers, the God who has been his shepherd all his life. He uses a title for the Divine. In Psalm 23 David uses Elohim’s name, Yahweh. The use of the name speaks of relationship. The God with whom we have to do is not a distant, far off God, he is close at hand, he is present. This God, the Most High, Yahweh, is our shepherd – Yahweh Roi.
‘…is my shepherd.’ There is no doubt. I am my beloved’s and he is mine, Song of Songs 6:3(KJV). What wonderful confidence and assurance we can have in God.
‘…my shepherd.’ This is personal, he is your shepherd, all that follows in the psalm is for you!
‘…shepherd.’ Jesus is our shepherd. Consider Micah 5:2,4-5a with Matthew 2:6 – Jesus stands a victorious all powerful shepherd providing us security and peace. We will see more about this as we examine David’s psalm in the coming weeks.
‘I have everything I need’. (GNB 1994) Not everything I want. No, everything I need. Matthew 6:33 “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well”.
Philippians 4:19 “My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”.
2 Peter 1:3 “His divine power has given us all we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him”.
1 Timothy 6:6 “Godliness with contentment is great gain”.
Notice seek first, in Christ Jesus, through our knowledge of him and contentment.
What a wonderful shepherd our triune God is! Father, Son and Holy Spirit providing for us not from a distance but here present. The great I am, the same yesterday, today and forever. Our Elohim (God), Yahweh (The Lord) is his name, he is our shepherd. Amen.