Resting in the Shepherd
Psalm 23:1-6
By Andrew Cho
Good morning. If I haven’t met you yet, my name is Andrew and I want to thank you for having me. I count it a real privilege and joy to be here with you and to bring to you God’s Word, and I pray that through this conference, God has strengthened and encouraged you through His Word, through the fellowship of believers, and through the worship of His name.
Well, it’s early, isn’t it? I’m sure you’re tired. But since you’re all here this early, I’m sure you recognize that more than physical rest, what we most desperately need is spiritual rest. Rest for our weary souls. And so that is the topic I’ve been assigned, as well as the topic of this conference, so let’s turn to our text for this morning, which is Psalm 23. Psalm 23. And as we turn there, I want to acknowledge that we’re all probably very familiar with this chapter. It is perhaps the most well-known chapter in all the Old Testament, maybe even in all of Scripture. Some of us have it posted somewhere in our homes, maybe it’s our phone lockscreens. Many of us probably even have it memorized. But as we turn to this chapter, I want us to consider why this Psalm has been so beloved and cherished by believers across history.
As I was preparing this message, I came across the anti-Psalm 23. The anti-Psalm 23. It was written by a pastor and it goes down Psalm 23, line by line, and flips it 180 degrees. Rather than “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” the anti-Psalm 23 says, “I’m on my own. No one looks out for me or protects me. I experience a continual sense of need. Nothing’s quite right.” Interesting, right? Let me read to you my own version of anti-Psalm 23, and maybe you can follow along in your Bible to note the contrast:
v.1: I am my own shepherd; I am always in want. No one watches over me. No one truly provides for me. Nothing is ever enough.
v.2: I find no green pastures and no still waters. My soul is restless, chasing satisfaction that never comes. I am weary, anxious, and never truly at peace.
v.3: My soul remains broken. Left to myself, I wander down crooked paths of my own choosing. I cannot heal myself, and I cannot find my way home.
v.4: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am terrified, for I am alone. No one protects me, no one comforts me. I spend my life trying to outrun suffering, yet death waits for me at the end of every road.
v.5: There is no table prepared for me. I cannot fully trust those around me, nor can they trust me. I belong only to myself, and I am a lonely master to serve. My cup is never full enough; it always runs dry.
v.6: Surely disappointment, emptiness, and sorrow pursue me all the days of my life, and when this life is over, I remain forever apart from the presence of God. I am lost, homeless, and without hope.
Dark and depressing right? But more than just depressing, the anti-Psalm 23 is remarkable because we can all resonate with it. We all have the anti-Psalm 23 in our heads, in our hearts. It’s the Psalm that the world lives by. It’s the Psalm that we all struggle with and fight back against. The pastor who wrote it said that this anti-Psalm 23 is what happens when we lose sight of God. Restlessness, depression, isolation, disappointment, pressure, anxiety, worry, insecurity, fear, and death follow. “Live for yourself. Do it yourself. Believe in yourself. It’s all on you. You’re on your own. Save yourself.” is the message of the world and of self. Can you start to see why Psalm 23 is so well-known? Why it has been a favorite of the Church for thousands of years? Let me read Psalm 23 now and hopefully you can taste the difference. Read Psalm 23.
Will you pray with me? Pray.
I want to keep things relatively simple this morning, and try to let the Psalm really speak for itself, and so here’s the main point of today’s message: Because God is our shepherd, we have everything we need for life and eternity. Because God is our shepherd, we have everything we need for life and eternity. And as we go through the Psalm we’ll see three main points. We know David wrote this psalm and so first, we’ll look at David's confession, secondly, we’ll see his confidence, and lastly, we’ll look at his certainty. His confession, his confidence, and his certainty.
Let’s begin with his confession. Verse 1 begins with, “The LORD is my shepherd.” “The LORD is my shepherd.” Too often we breeze past this phrase, and we’ve become numb to this great truth. But let’s slow down and really think about what the
psalmist confesses. God, the Maker of everything visible and invisible, who holds the oceans in His hands, who measures mountains in scales, to whom the nations are but a drop in a bucket, He knows all things, He is from everlasting to everlasting, this infinite, immortal, eternal God, is your shepherd. He knows you. He cares for you. He is not so exalted and so transcendent to be beyond your needs and worries and cares. You know, sometimes I think we want to have a high and grand and supreme view of God, which I think is good and right, but oftentimes we do so at the cost of His nearness, His immanence, His love and His care. We think God is too busy, or has greater, more important things to think about or tend to, that He couldn’t possibly care about our measly little lives. And while I do commend having reverence towards the Lord, we ought to remember Psalm 8 which says, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” What makes this reality so amazing and hard to believe is held in two parts: that yes God is the Almighty, Uncreated, Eternal, Sovereign King of Kings, and yet, He cares for you. He is mindful of you. He is your shepherd. And this is the main point of the entire psalm. “The LORD is my shepherd.” And the rest of the psalm flows from this singular, great reality. Verses 2-6 are just an expansion, or elaboration of this single truth. The whole of Psalm 23 is encaptured here in this one phrase. Everything else simply fills in what it means to belong to a God like this.
And so, after confessing that God is his shepherd, David moves onto his confidence. Because God is his shepherd, what does he say? “I shall not want.” There is a logical flow here. Because the Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. If I have Him, I have everything. Another way to put it is, “The Lord is my shepherd, so what more do I need?” David is confident that God will provide for him. So he says in verse 2, “He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” He leads us to green pastures, as opposed to brown, sparse fields, meaning that God feeds us and nurtures us abundantly. And he leads us to still waters, as opposed to raging waters, implying safety and protection. And so we see here that God gives an abundance of food, water, rest, shelter, He’s got us covered from top to bottom. And so the psalmist says in v.3: “He restores my soul.” We’re talking holistic care. Nothing is neglected. God cares about us wholly and entirely. Every part of our lives is under God’s care. Sometimes we think God only cares about our spiritual lives. That He only cares about our faith. And yes, it’s true that God will often take material things from us, or discipline us with trying times to test and refine our faith. Yes, it’s true that we walk by
faith and not by sight. Yes, Jesus says “ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” But God does care about all of us, our whole beings– our spiritual lives, our physical bodies, our financial situation, our emotional well-being, all of it. He cares. Nothing is outside of His care. He will provide for all of our needs.
Verse 3 continues with “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” And here we have a verse of great comfort. You might think, “That’s weird. Isn’t God egotistical? He leads us for his own name’s sake? That’s selfish.” No, you’ve got it all backwards. This verse guarantees and assures us that God will care for us, because He does it for His own reputation. What kind of reputation would God earn for Himself if He were careless with those who belong in His charge? God’s name is on the line in your life. He wants to show the world that He is faithful to provide for all your needs and guide you in righteous paths, in a holy life. And so He personally guarantees to care for you, and to guide you.
But what if you feel otherwise? What if you feel far from God, or life has been hard lately, maybe things have not gone your way for a while? Is God still providing for you then? Is God still guiding you then? We know from personal experience that we don’t always get what we want. God has not met all of our desires. Maybe you didn’t get into your dream school. Maybe you didn’t land that job that you worked so hard for. Maybe you’ve been praying to have children, or for the healing of a sick loved one, or you’ve been praying for a wayward child to come to know the Lord, and still, God has not provided an answer to those prayers. What then?
We see that David still has confidence in His shepherd and he says this in verse 4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Even in dark, trying, hard times, filled with suffering– which David calls the valley of the shadow of death, He will still trust His shepherd. He will not fear. Why? He says, “For you are with me.” God, our good Shepherd, lays us down in green pastures, leads beside still waters, AND He also guides us through dark valleys. This is so important for us to realize. When life overwhelms us, we are tempted to believe that — if we were truly his — we would never travel into such places. But David thinks otherwise. When he writes, “I will fear no evil for you are with me,” David does not see a Shepherd scratching his head wondering where they took a wrong turn. David trusts that his Shepherd meant for him to pass this way. Do you know this peace?
Have you ever experienced this peace? When everything seems to be going south and nothing seems to be working out, to know that God is still leading you and guiding you. Listen to this quote from Charles Spurgeon: “Do you think God’s cloudy pillar would ever lead you to a place where God’s right arm would fail you? He who bridles the storm, and puts the bit in the mouth of the tempest, surely he can restrain my trial, and keep my sorrows in subjection. He who makes the Sun roll in dignity, and keeps its predestined orbit, can make a little atom like myself move in my proper course, and conduct me as he pleases. Christian! there is no sweeter pillow than providence.” And elsewhere he says, “The sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which the Christian rests his head.” Spurgeon and David knew the comfort that comes from the rod & staff of God, His guidance, His sovereignty, and His providence.
As the Psalm concludes in the last two verses, the image shifts from God as Shepherd to God as our gracious Host. David, who has been confident in God's provision and guidance throughout life, now teaches us that God will not only lead us through this life—He will lead us home. Consider one vital word back in verse 4. David says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death." He leads us through. The valley was never the destination. The darkness was never meant to be his permanent dwelling place. It was a passageway. A hallway leading somewhere far better.
And now David tells us where. Verse 5 says, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." What a remarkable picture. The enemies are still there. The circumstances have not necessarily changed. But David isn't fixated on them anymore. His eyes are fixed on the One who welcomes him to the table. God doesn't merely rescue His people from danger; He honors them in the midst of it.
In the ancient world, to invite someone to your table was to extend fellowship, protection, and friendship. And that's exactly what God has done for His people. He welcomes us, He provides for us, and He delights in us.
Notice the abundance throughout these verses. Green pastures. Still waters. Restoration. An overflowing cup. God is never portrayed as stingy with His children. He is generous beyond measure. Not because we deserve it. But because He is that kind of Shepherd.
Then David reaches his great conclusion in verse 6. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..." That word "surely" is the language of certainty. David isn't wishing. He isn't hoping things might work out. He knows. How? Because he's looking backward. He has watched God lead him through green pastures and dark valleys. Through victories and failures. Through seasons of abundance and seasons of sorrow. Through all of it, God's goodness and steadfast love have never left him.
It's almost a little odd when you think about it. Throughout David's life, he was pursued by Saul, chased by enemies, hunted like an animal. But David says there are actually two things that have been chasing him all along—not his enemies—but God's goodness and His mercy. You may not always see them in the moment. You may not always understand what God is doing. But one day, when you look back over your life, you'll discover that every step of the way His goodness and His covenant love were right there.
And then David finishes with these glorious words: "And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." This is the destination. This is the rest we've been longing for. Notice David doesn't say, "I will dwell in green pastures forever." He doesn't say, "God will make my earthly life comfortable forever." Good times may come. But God doesn’t make that promise. He doesn’t promise that all our lives will be nice, cushy, and easy, and comfortable.
No, the greatest promise of Psalm 23 is not ultimately green pastures. It's God Himself.
The Shepherd who walked with us through every valley will one day bring us safely into His house, where we will never again know fear, sorrow, suffering, or death. The Shepherd becomes our eternal Host. And there we will finally rest.
I think sometimes we read Psalm 23 as though its greatest promise is that God will make life easier. But that's actually not what David says. David still walked through valleys. He still faced enemies. He still experienced loss. What made David secure wasn't the absence of hardship; it was the presence of God. "The LORD is my Shepherd."
That's been the answer from the very first verse. And it's still the answer at the last. The Lord is with me. The Lord is for me. The Lord will lead me. The Lord will bring me home. And that's enough.
Of course, as Christians, we read Psalm 23 through the lens of the New Testament. When Jesus stood before the crowds in John 10, He said, "I am the good Shepherd." The Shepherd David knew by faith has now come in the flesh. And unlike every other shepherd, this Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. On the cross, Jesus entered the darkest valley imaginable. He experienced abandonment so that we would never be abandoned. He endured judgment so that we could be welcomed to the Father's table. He died so that we could dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
The reason Psalm 23 can be true for us is because Jesus first walked through the valley alone. So if you belong to Christ this morning, hear the comfort of this Psalm again. You are not on your own. You do not have to carry your life by yourself. You are not responsible for shepherding your own soul. The Lord is your Shepherd. He knows exactly where He's leading you. He will give you everything you truly need. He will walk with you through every valley. And one day, He will bring you safely home. That is where true rest is found. Not in easier circumstances. Not in a lighter schedule. Not in finally getting everything we've wanted. Our rest is found in the Shepherd Himself. Let's pray.
