The Lord is My Shepherd

Psalms are songs written to express deep and powerful feelings. At times, those are feelings of worry, pain, fear, or frustration. Most often, however, those are feelings of joy and praise, giving thanks to God and expressing His goodness and glory. Psalms are a great place for us to go for encouragement, strength, guidance, and conviction. No matter what we are going through, we can go to the Psalms and find guidance and clarity for how we can grow closer to God and His peace in the midst of our situation.
Psalm 23 is probably the most well-known and most loved Psalm. It is written by David, the musician and king, who is also the author of many of our Psalms. We don’t know exactly when it was written, but it was likely in a time when he was in trouble and fleeing. Despite that likely setting of danger, David expresses great confidence and trust in God, and he does that by describing himself as a sheep, with God as his shepherd. Of course, this analogy would have come very naturally to David, who was himself a shepherd, but for us to understand what he is saying here, it is important for us to know something about sheep and shepherds as well.
Sheep are very dependent animals. They do not take care of themselves well, and they require far more care and maintenance than other livestock. A flock of sheep is also a significant investment to make, and for many shepherds, they are the most valuable asset that shepherd will own, often having invested everything he owned into that flock. That makes the sheep very precious and important to the shepherd and means that he has good reason to take great care with them.
Shepherds must have great ability to take care of their sheep. They need strength and stamina to physically endure the rigors of the job, and they need skill and knowledge to complete the many tasks required of a shepherd. They must also have strong character. Shepherds need to identify when their sheep are in danger and pay great attention to them. This requires care and empathy. Shepherds must also at times put themselves in harm’s way and being willing to undergo great difficulty and danger to protect their sheep. Sheep that have an unfit shepherd are to be greatly pitied, but a sheep with an able shepherd can be healthy and safe.
David has no doubts about his shepherd’s fitness since he recognizes that shepherd is God. Spending time in nature, David would have likely marveled at creation and recognized that if God can make and maintain the universe, then He is definitely strong enough to overcome any opposition. David also writes extensively in the Psalms of God’s mercy, faithfulness, kindness, and fairness. Thus, he is very confident that God cares for him and will not forgot him. Jesus would confirm that understanding in John 10:11 when He declared Himself to be the Good Shepherd. David’s praise here reflects that same goodness.