"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD" (3)
The Sufficiency of This Shepherd to His Sheep
Psalm 23

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In the preceding two messages we set forth "The Identity of This Shepherd" and "The Description of This Sheep". Now we will set forth "The Sufficiency of This Shepherd to His Sheep" by expounding what is meant by the phrase "I shall not want."

"I shall not want" may be considered in two ways: what one desires, and what one lacks. Both are satisfied in and by Christ the Shepherd. He who has Christ for His Shepherd will have the one great desire of his soul fulfilled in the Shepherd (see Psalm 27:4). And he who has Christ for His Shepherd will have all his lack supplied by the Shepherd, because "God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). Christ's sheep therefore say, "I shall not lack."

I. I shall not lack rest (v.2a): "He makes me to lie down." To "lie down" is to find rest. This rest is found only in Christ the Shepherd, and by believing Him when He says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). It is to cease from performing works of self-righteousness in the vain hope of finding rest in them, and to repose the soul in Christ alone. It is to say, "I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8).

This rest will not be experienced by any who will not come to Christ. Rather, "He is driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world" (Job 18:18).

II. I shall not lack food (v.2b): "He makes me to lie down in green pastures." Christ provides many "pastures" because, although He possesses but "one flock" (John 10:16), it is congregated in various places across the earth. He must ascertain that each sheep in every place is able to "go in and out and find pasture" (John 10:9), and that each under-shepherd in every place is enabled to "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2; cp. Acts 20:28; John 21:17).

Christ provides "green pastures" because they are both "good [or "beautiful"] pasture" and "rich [or "plenteous"] pasture" (Ezekiel 34:14), ever living and ever fresh, never brown because of drought or searing heat. These are "pastures of tender grass" (as in the Hebrew text), not the dry tough weeds of false religion. These are "lie down-pastures", in which the sheep may graze while resting, so that they need not wander from place to place in search of blades. These are also "large pastures" (Isaiah 30:23), with ample grass for all the sheep, because the Lord has a flock so great in number that none can count them (Revelation 7:9).

These "green pastures" may represent the fullness of Christ, for He says, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ..." (John 6:53-57). To "lie down in green pastures" is to believe that He – very God of very God – has come in flesh and blood as "God manifest in the flesh", and has given His flesh for the life of His people and shed His blood for the forgiveness of their sins. It is to find in Him everything the soul needs: salvation, redemption, peace, justification, sanctification, glorification.

"He makes me to lie down in green pastures" not by physical coercion, but by graciously permitting me to do so, and by making me willing and able to do so (as in Psalm 110:3). And He makes me to see that I would be a fool to do otherwise!

But whereas Christ says of His sheep, "I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down," He says to of the self-righteous, "I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment" (Ezekiel 34:15f) - "with wormwood, and ... water of gall" (Jeremiah 9:15).

III. I shall not lack drink (v.2c): "He leads me beside the still waters." Christ provides many "waters" because, as with the afore-mentioned "pastures", He ascertains that each sheep in every place has not only food to eat, but also water to drink. He says, "I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen" (Isaiah 43:20).

These "waters" include three things. First is Christ, "the fountain of living waters" (Jeremiah 2:13) and "a fountain ... opened ... for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1), "waters [that] burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert" so that "The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water" (Isaiah 35:6f). Second is the Holy Spirit, who causes "rivers of living water" to flow from the heart of a believer (John 7:38), and is "in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" so that he "will never thirst" (John 4:14). Third is God's eternal love and grace, "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1), "a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God" (Psalm 46:4).

These are "still waters", and therefore deep - is it not true that "Still waters run deep!" (It is said that sheep will not drink from disturbed water.) These are deep waters because "the river of God is full of water" (Psalm 65:9): "full of majesty" (Psalm 29:4), "full of the goodness of the LORD" (Psalm 33:5), "full of righteousness" (Psalm 48:10), "full of compassion" (Psalm 78:38), "full of Your mercy" (Psalm 119:64) - full of everything His sheep need. And these are "waters of rest" (as in the margin and Septuagint). Christ does not lead His sheep to wadis that often are bone-dry, but during flash floods become valleys of torrents that sweep away all who in their way (as in Judges 5:21); such dangerous places are for those who follow false shepherds.

"He leads me beside the still waters" because He is a leader of sheep, not a driver of goats. And He is not like the Judas-goats of false religion who lead their sheep to the slaughter.

"He leads me beside the still waters", not into them. If sheep are led into water, their wool becomes so saturated that they are in danger of drowning. When they must cross the troublesome deep waters of this life, He carries them while assuring them, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you" (Isaiah 43:2).

IV. I shall not lack restoration (v.3a): "He restores my soul." The basic meaning of the Hebrew word translated restore is "turn about, return". Here the emphasis is on "refresh". There is an analogy to sheep whose wool becomes so great that they become top-heavy, and become cast on their backs so that they are unable to get up (see Psalm 42:5f). How does Christ restore?

First, Christ converts the soul in regeneration (Psalm 19:7): "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul" (the Hebrew word here translated convert is the same as that which in our present text is translated restore). Second, Christ revives the soul when it becomes sorrowful – as He did for the psalmist when he prayed, "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God." (Psalm 42:5f, 11). Third, Christ cleanses the soul when it becomes sinful – because "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9; see the psalmist's account in Psalm 51). Fourth, Christ reinvigorates the soul when it becomes weak – as He did for the body of Samson in his last mighty feat (Judges 16:28ff). Fifth, Christ returns the soul when it strays - as in the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 1:3-7).

V. I shall not lack direction (v.3b): "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." These "paths" are well-worn tracks, because Christ the Shepherd uses the same paths for all His sheep in every age.

We here will consider three "paths of righteousness". First is "the path of Christ our Righteousness", the path of salvation. He is identified as "Jehovah Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6), and He declares "I am the way .... No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6). Second is "the path of imputed righteousness", the path of justification, in which the righteousness of Christ is charged to the account of those who believe in Him (Romans 3:19-4:8). Third is "the path of practical righteousness", the path of sanctification, in which the sheep are taught the precepts of Christ's law by which their lives are to be governed (as in Psalm 119:97). Every such path is a "right path" (Proverbs 4:11) and the "path of the just" (Isaiah 26:7). The righteous confess of Christ, "Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway" (Psalm 85:13).

Christ leads His sheep in the paths of righteousness "for His Name's sake": so that they may magnify Him as a gracious and merciful God; and so that they may rightly be identified by the name "Christians" (as in Acts 11:26).

But on the other hand, "those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness" will find that every such path "leads down to death" (Proverbs 2:13, 18).

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