"THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD" (5)
Christ As Jehovah in This Psalm
Psalm 23

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"The Lord is my Shepherd." Each of the five words in our English translation is pregnant with meaning.

First, the Lord is my "Shepherd". This is the primary term for "feeding" domestic animals. The Lord's sheep are therefore domesticated, not wild animals, and He is their feeder (see v.2a). For example, the Father prophesied of Him, "I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them .... He shall feed them and be their shepherd" (Ezekiel 34:23). They therefore acknowledge Him as the "good [i.e. ideal] Shepherd" (John 10:11), "great Shepherd" (Hebrews 13:20), "Chief Shepherd" (1 Peter 5:4), and "Shepherd and Overseer of our souls" (1 Peter 2:25).

Second, the "Lord" is my Shepherd. A lord is commonly recognized as an owner-master. This Shepherd is the owner and master of His sheep. He therefore claims them as "My sheep" (John 10:14, 27) as distinct from those of whom He says "you are not of My sheep" (v.26), and they are recognized as "His own sheep" (vv.3, 4).

Third, "the" Lord is my Shepherd. We do not speak of just any lord, but rather of Him who is "Lord of lords" and "King of kings" and "God of gods" (Deuteronomy 10:17; Revelation 17:14).

Fourth, the Lord "is" my Shepherd. His sheep do not say with temporary Christians (a misnomer) who deny the eternal security of the sheep (as taught in John 10:28-30), "The Lord was my shepherd, but now He is not." Neither do they say with procrastinators who hope that in the future "The Lord will be my Shepherd." Neither do they ask with doubters, "Is the Lord my Shepherd?" Rather, in saying "The Lord is my Shepherd," they declare He ever is their Shepherd, not only in the present, but also in the past and in the future, because "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

Fifth, the Lord is "my" Shepherd. Is He yours?

This line of five words in our English translation is but two words comprising one name in the Hebrew text: Jehovah-Roi, meaning "The LORD My Shepherd". (Note that the word "is" in our translation is italicized, which indicates this word was added by the translators.)

The name Jehovah means "I Am Who I AM" (Exodus 3:13f), and is God's name par excellence. Jehovah-Roi is a Jehovah-compound name, or Jehovistic title, used to amplify what Jehovah is to His people. God has many such Jehovistic titles. And quite remarkably, intimations to almost every one of them is found in Psalm 23. Let us consider them.

I. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Elohay, "The LORD My God" (Zechariah 14:5). Just as surely as Christ's sheep acknowledge "Jehovah is my Shepherd," they also acknowledge "My Shepherd is Jehovah." They furthermore acknowledge Christ as Jehovah-Eloheka, "The LORD Your God" (Exodus 20:2, 5, 7), Jehovah-Eloheenu, "The LORD Our God" (Psalm 99:5, 8, 9), Jehovah-Elyon, "The LORD Most High" (Psalm 7:17). Deniers of Christ's deity are following false shepherds.

II. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Hoseenu, "The LORD Our Maker" (Psalm 95:6). This is true because the Shepherd of God's flock is also their Maker (Psalm 100:3): "Know that the LORD, He is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Christ's sheep do not join the self-righteous in vainly boasting of being self-made men.

III. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Tsabaoth, "The LORD of Hosts" (2 Samuel 7:8). Christ's sheep in their respective places are His earthly hosts, and He is the Lord of their hosts (John 10:3f): "He calls His own sheep by name and leads them .... He goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know His voice." In this psalm He is presented as gloriously leading His hosts in paths of righteousness all the way to glory. And they are presented as faithfully following Him all the way.

IV. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Meqaddeshkem, "The LORD Who Sanctifies" (Exodus 31:13). This is the title by which Christ identified Himself to His Old Covenant people. He had sanctified them by choosing them from all the other nations, and consecrating them to Himself (Deuteronomy 7:6): "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth."

Jehovah has done the same for His sheep. They are from eternity "sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ" (Jude v.1). They were sanctified in eternity by the Father, when He chose them out of the world and consecrated them to and in Jesus Christ their Shepherd (Ephesians 1:4-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). They are sanctified in time by their Shepherd, who seeks them in the places of the world where they are scattered and lost, and consecrates them to Himself in His own fold (Ezekiel 34:11-16). He who sanctifies His sheep calls them "My sheep"; the sanctified reply, "The LORD who sanctified me is my Shepherd."

V. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Shalom, "The LORD My Peace" (Judges 6:24). Christ was prophesied as "this One shall be peace" (Micah 5:5) and as the divine "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). He has fulfilled this prophesy so gloriously that His people acknowledge "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1) because "He Himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). Throughout this psalm His sheep are pictured as being in a state of peace, whether in this present life (vv.1-3), or in the valley of the shadow of death (vv.4-6a), or in the Father's house beyond the valley (v.6b).

VI. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Ropheka, "The LORD Who Heals" (Exodus 15:26). This is the name by which He called Himself when He told His Old Covenant people He would deliver them from the physical diseases He had inflicted upon the Egyptians. To His New Covenant people He is the "Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings" (Malachi 4:2). His people acknowledge "by His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). In this psalm they acknowledge Him as Jehovah-Ropheka when they confess, "He restores my soul" (v.3a).

VII. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Tsidkenu, "The LORD Our Righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:6). This is the name by which the Father Himself declares Christ shall be called. Christ's sheep therefore acknowledge they are devoid of self-righteousness (Isaiah 64:6), and confess Christ is their only righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30; Psalm 71:16; Isaiah 54:17; Philippians 3:9). And they in this psalm acknowledge "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake" (v.3b). He does so in leading them to Himself, and in causing them to walk in Himself. All who boast of their own personal righteousness are following a false shepherd in the paths leading to eternal doom.

VIII. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Shammah,"The LORD Is There" (Ezekiel 48:35). The city prophesied in this text is New Covenant Jerusalem, the church (Galatians 4:26; Revelation 21:2, 9 10ff). Christ is in her as Immanuel, "with us is God" (Matthew 1:23). In this psalm Christ as acknowledged as Jehovah-Shammah when it is declared that, even in the direst situation, "You are with me" (v.4a). This is true also corporately (Matthew 18:20).

IX. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Nissi, "The LORD My Banner" (Exodus 17:15). The Hebrew word here translated banner means "something which is conspicuous, easily seen." Christ is the divine "banner to the people" and "banner for the nations" (Isaiah 11:10-12) to which God's people are attracted, and under which they gather, and behind which they march. In this psalm is found an intimation to Christ as the Banner of His people in the phrase "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" (v.5). This reminds us of the declaration of His church, "He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love" (Solomon 2:4). Where is the table Christ has prepared in the presence of enemies? Under His banner! What is this banner? Jehovah-Nissi,"The LORD My Banner"!

X. Jesus Christ is Jehovah-Jireh, "The LORD Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14). This is the name given by Abraham to the place where God marvelously answered the question of his son Isaac, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Because God is Jehovah-Jireh, He provided what they lacked.

In this psalm, Christ's sheep acknowledge Him as Jehovah-Jireh when they confess "I shall not want" (v.1b). From that point on, this psalm recites what they shall not lack. The list of things not lacked is inclusive of all things throughout eternity.

Christ the Shepherd is to His sheep not only Provider (Philippians 4:19), but also Provision (Psalm 73:26). His sheep are therefore like the poor woman who, sitting down to a meal of only bread and water, exclaimed, "What! All this – and Christ too!"

Is Jehovah-Roi your Shepherd?

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