In Genesis 1:1, the Bible begins with a simple but profound sentence. Most English translations of the Bible begin with ten words and end with ten words. In Genesis 1:1, we are told: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the final verse of the book of Revelation the Bible concludes: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). What these two verses tell me is this: We are alive and are here today because of God and by His grace.
In Psalm 23, we disco...
In Genesis 1:1, the Bible begins with a simple but profound sentence. Most English translations of the Bible begin with ten words and end with ten words. In Genesis 1:1, we are told: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the final verse of the book of Revelation the Bible concludes: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen” (Rev. 22:21). What these two verses tell me is this: We are alive and are here today because of God and by His grace.
In Psalm 23, we discover that it is by the grace of God that I am brought into the fold of His sheep, and it is for His glory that He has done so. The invitation to be included as one of His sheep has nothing to do with my performance and everything to do with His grace and glory, as John Piper put it: “God is the beginning and God is the end of all my righteousness. The path of righteousness has his grace as its starting point (for he leads me into it) and it has his glory as its destination (because his leading is for his name’s sake).”[1] What happens in the in-between is the messy part. After He finds us, it is His goodness and faithfulness that keeps us with no intention of letting go.
The 23rd Psalm sounds like a pilgrimage because it is. Remember that there are five images in this Psalm. We looked at the first image, which was: “The Abundant Life” (vv. 2-3a). God lets and makes me lay down in green pastures in that He causes me to do so. How does He cause me to lay down in green pastures? He does so by removing all that prevents me from doing so. I was made to lay down in green pastures by waters of rest, but without the Good Shepherd we blindly go astray; according to the prophet Isaiah we were both hopeless and helpless: “All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way...” (Isaiah 53:6). The next four images are as follows:
Image #2: The Secure Life (v. 3b)
Image #3: The Hard Life (v. 4)
Image #4: The Victorious Life (v. 5)
Image #5: The Everlasting Life (v. 6)
It is to the “Secure Life” that we now turn our attention. What is it that makes His guiding in paths of righteousness for His namesake that brings security to those who belong to Him?
Where Does the Shepherd Lead?
Where does the Shepherd lead and how does where He is leading relate to our security? For starters, it is in the nature of His guiding that brings His sheep security: “He guides me in paths of righteousness.” The nature of His guiding is that it does not end and that it is ongoing; it is not a onetime event where the sheep are guided by Him such as a prayer that is said or a decision that was made.
So, what are the “paths of righteousness” that He guides me into? We are given an answer through the nature of David’s prayers like the one we find in Psalm 5, “Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me” (v. 8). The answer to David’s prayer is Psalm 23:3, and those paths of righteousness are descripted for us in scores of verses in both the Old and New Testament. One such passage in the Old Testament is Psalm 1:1-3,
Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the Law of the Lord,
And on His Law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season,
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
The paths of righteousness according to Psalm 1 includes delighting in the Law of Yahweh and meditating on His Law day and night. The Law of the Lord is the Word of the Lord. That which you delight in is where you desire to spend your time. If you delight in a particular person you will want to spend time with that person. If you have a hobby or job that you delight in, you will look for ways to spend time participating in that hobby or job that you delight in. The evidence that you delight in the Law is seen in the amount of time you spend in the Law.
The one who delights in the Law of the Lord will thrive in the kinds of ways we were meant for. God wants you to thrive and considering the fact that it is His image we bear, thriving must include our Creator. Later in the Psalms, David wrote: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105).
Jesus said something similar to Psalm 1:1-3 and 119:105; He said, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31). The Greek word used for “continue” is menō, which, as you may recall from last Sunday’s sermon, can be translated “abide.” If you abide, if you remain, if you continue in My word... “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” The Greek word for “know” is ginōskō, which is the kind of knowledge that is much more than head knowledge. Jesus said, “If you remain, if you continue, if you abide in my word, you will really know [ginōskō] the truth, and the truth will set your free.” Let me say it a different way so that you get what is being said here: “If you take up residence in the word of the Good Shepherd, you are truly His sheep, and by listening to His voice, you will live!” Listen, the Shepherd’s guiding does not happen apart from our abiding!
I am not sure if you will find this as cool as I do, but going back to John 10 where Jesus identifies as the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, He uses the same Greek word for know that He used in John 8:31. In John 10:14-16, “I am the good shepherd, and I know [ginōskō] My own, and My own know [ginōskō] Me, just as the Father knows [ginōskō] Me and I know [ginōskō] the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become one flock, with one shepherd.”
Okay, so why does any of this matter and how does Psalm 1:1-3, John 8:31-32, and John 10:14-16 help you understand the 23rd Psalm better? So here we go: You cannot be led in the paths of righteousness if your knowledge of the Good Shepherd is only about filling your head without your heart being engaged. I will say it another way: If you are not abiding in the Lord of the 23rd Psalm then you are not finding in Him what you need. If you do not find in Him what you need, then you will not find in Him the green pastures and waters of rest that you were made for. If you do not find in the Good Shepherd the green pastures and waters of rest you that were made for, then you will find that the paths of righteousness that He guides His sheep on as displeasing instead of delightful.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, and it is He who causes me to lie down in green pastures because He is the green pastures that will never leave me hungry. It is He who leads me to waters of refreshment because He is the Living Water who satisfies the thirsty soul. Jesus restores the soul because He makes all things new! As the great Shepherd of your soul, Jesus guides those who abide in Him in paths of righteousness. There is no guiding apart from abiding in Lordof the 23rd Psalm!
Why Does the Shepherd Lead?
So, why does He do it? Why does the Good Shepherd guide his sheep in the paths of righteousness? He does it for the sake of His name! What does that even mean? It means that He rescued you from the condemnation of your sins, He gives Himself to you as the Great Shepherd of your soul to meet your need for Him, He provides the green pastures and quiet waters for your good, He renews and restores your soul, and He delivered you from your crooked paths of this world and set you on the straight path of righteousness that only Jesus can provide. God did it all, and He did it by putting His reputation on the line!
Our story is summed up in one verse from the prophet Isaiah: “All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all To fall on Him” (Isa. 53:6). “To fall on who” you ask? Ah... I am so glad you asked! The sins of us all... fell upon Jesus who is the Lamb, the Lion, and the great Shepherd of our souls! This is why the apostle Peter wrote: “...and He Himself brought our sins in His body up on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls” (1 Pet. 2:24-25).
In response to all that Jesus accomplished, Paul wrote those glorious words that ought to thrill every soul that belongs to His flock: “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things” (Rom. 8:31-32)? And He does so for His namesake! This is why, when you read Ephesians 1:3-14 regarding how and why God saved you from your sins that we are given three answers:
- The Father chose us before the foundation of the world and made us sons and daughters through His Son, and why did He do it that way? He did it, “to the praise of the glory of His grace...” (1:4-6).
- The Son redeemed us through His blood and now we have the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. Why did He do it that way? He did it, “to the praise of His glory” (1:7-12).
- The Holy Spirit made our redemption and salvation a guarantee by sealing us as God’s own possession. Why did He do it that way? He did it, “to the praise of His glory” (1:13-14).
He chose his lambs for the sake of His name, He redeemed his lambs for the sake of His name, and He marked His lambs as His treasured possession by His Holy Spirit for the sake of His name! Listen, if the Lord is your shepherd, it is only because you have turned to Jesus for the salvation of our soul: “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isa. 45:22). Listen to what Jesus said concerning all who hear His voice and come to Him for salvation: “My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).
Psalm 23:2 is a picture of the secure life because of who it is that causes us to lie down in green pastures, leads us to inexhaustible and quiet waters, restores and renews our soul, and leads us in the paths of righteousness. The Lord of the 23rd Psalm is the God of Isaiah 46:9-11,
Remember the former things long past,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things which have not been done,
Saying, ‘My plan will be established,
And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;
Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man of My purpose from a distant country.
Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.
I have planned it, I will certainly do it.
This is why Romans 8:1 is for you Christian: “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Conclusion
So, let me say something you may need to hear. Just because you belong to the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, does not mean that you will not struggle with sin. Just because you are abiding in Jesus and love Him truly, does not mean that you will never be tempted by the enemy’s lies of greener pastures and more satisfying waters. The enemy is a dragon and a thief who comes, “only to steal and kill and destroy...” Jesus, the Great and Good Shepherd, has come so that we would have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). There are no greener pastures or quieter waters than what can be found and experienced in Jesus.
The danger for some is that the less that you listen to His voice, the less you will delight in His Word and the less frequent you will want to abide in Him. Permit me to close with a warning from David Gibson:
Life is a journey, not a viewing gallery; we are always on the move, always traveling, and we’re going with either Jesus’s paths or a different shepherd’s paths. Maybe it’s what you’re consuming online. Maybe it’s the choices you are making with your money or your time. Two degrees of divergence this year might mean a mile’s divergence next year. Take time to consider the road you are walking, who is leading you, and where that path might end. In my experience I have found that wrong steps in life are nearly always the outworking of a prior neglect of listening to Jesus speak in the Bible. When devotion to hearing his voice begins to dwindle, then eventually, inevitably, departure from his paths begins to follow.[2]
There is no greener pasture outside of Jesus, for He alone is the Lord of the 23rd Psalm. Amen.
[1] J. Josh Smith and Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida, Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2022), 174.
[2] David Gibson, The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), 49.
