THE GOOD SHEPHERD (continued)
Continuing with the Twenty Third Psalm, let us look at each statement and apply to it, or it to, the teachings of Jesus. In doing this we can appreciate the timelessness of the Psalm as well as the consistency of the message. Beginning where we left off yesterday:
The LORD is my shepherd;
◊I shall not want. Though we did address this phrase yesterday we should add His words to the multitudes. After teaching them about being concerned with thoughts of things like clothing and food and drink, the sustenance of life, He said “…your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Luke 12:30-31). Is this not the same thing — seeking the kingdom and following Him as your Shepherd?
◊He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: Here, in the first few lines of this psalm, David plays the sheep to his Shepherd, the Lord. We too, if He is our Shepherd, play the part of the sheep and what more does a sheep want than to lie down in green pastures. For a sheep, it is all that they need and probably the all that they want. Now we can have the Kingdom for our pasture and we know that living in the Kingdom we will have all that we want and need here and now. He tells us “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32) calling us again His Flock and offering us the Kingdom of God. All we need to do is to follow our Shepherd.
◊he leadeth me beside the still waters. What shall we take from the term still waters. The literal translation of this is quiet waters which several translations use. To us, this would be peaceful waters or, since we are not sheep, that He leads us to peace. As followers of Christ, as followers of the Shepherd, we have the peace that He gives to us; the peace that He leads us to when He says: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth , give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled , neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). This is, according to the Apostle Paul that “peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7) which can fill our hearts if we follow our Shepherd.
◊He restoreth my soul: In the Old Testament as in the New the word soul is translated in many different ways. It is sometimes hard to tell the original intent because the meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words are so varied. We have here the Hebrew word nephesh translated as soul; this same word is also translated as life, person, mind, heart, creature, body and the list goes on. It is defined in the Hebrew Lexicon as all of these things and is used as any of them dependent on the usage that was perceived by the translators. It is also translated in Leviticus as beast. For our purpose here we will call nephesh life for we are working with an understanding that the Soul is that spiritual part that we are in this reality; that part that persists upon the death of the physical body. We will address this as a theme for a future post. Having said all this what is it that the Shepherd restores to us in the words of Jesus? Speaking in terms of Himself as the Shepherd and us as the flock He says: “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you , I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly“. (John 10:7-10). Here is our promise of restored life come alive. If we enter into His Presence, if we follow our Shepherd, then we shall have true life and have it more abundantly.
◊he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. We should see here that righteousness is not a gift and we already know that it is something to be desired and to be sought and strived after. What then do we have here? Simply the Lord leading us; with where to go and what to do being promptings that our spiritual nature, our inner man, places in our hearts and minds, our personality. Now much of Jesus teaching leads us onto the path of righteousness and He tells us to seek righteousness earnestly. In all of His “but I say unto” and “for I say” statements He seeks to show us true righteousness which comes from the inner man and through his heart as compared to righteousness of hypocrisy that pretends to do right. His teaching says clearly that to enter the Kingdom we must do the will of the Father: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Before this He tells us that those of true righteousness are known by their fruits telling simply to know that: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). He tell us to strive to right and good so we cannot be likened to the people spoken of by Esaias. Jesus quotes this: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8) to show the nature of true righteousness.
◊Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: What is the valley of the shadow of death? It can be interpreted in many ways and the pictures that this brings to one’s mind can vary wildly. It can mean death approaching or it can imply the fear of being in a deep valley with the steep cliffs on either side and with no way out except to forge ahead. In any case, it is the natural fears and anxieties that are presented to us by life; it is what ever we can imagine that can happen to us. Things that we are experiencing now or fear to be experiencing tomorrow. The message here is that whatever I dread and whatever bad imaginings may come my way, I WILL NOT FEAR. And this too is a message brought to us by the Master. In all His teaching He brings us the peace and calm of living without fear when we live in the righteousness of the Kingdom and follow our Shepherd’s words. He gives us His peace and tells us “Let not your heart be troubled , neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). He tells us that we are of great value in the Kingdom when He says “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). He quites our fears about the Kingdom by telling us “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). And He tells us all that in Him, in His words, in following Him that we shall have rest: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Rest in the Lords peace.
Note on the Quote of the Day
This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.
Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find ? (Proverbs 20:6) This is a testimony to righteousness. This quote of the day says to us that most men will say that they are good and are righteous but it is so hard to find one who is faithful to his claim; who really is good and is righteous. By their fruits ye shall know them.
