The Lord Is My Shepherd
Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
The guiding presence of the shepherd keeps the sheep from running the wrong path to where he has planned for them to go. Many time we see this scripture and envision ourselves traveling the path of righteous for HIS name sake and justifying ourselves by some unseen righteousness of our own that we believe have earned or worked out. That as sheep we depend on Christ keeping us going the right direction and following the path that the Shepard has created for us to go to green pastures and drink of the cool waters of the stream. We expect a life of no harm, no troubles, not one trial coming to us because we are one of Jesus Christ saved by grace as the David the Psalmist wrote I see them falling around me but I am still here. Troubles came to David on all sides some by other forces out of his control some by his very actions but he still proclaimed that for not God I would have perished. Paul declares he is persuaded that nothing will sperate me from the God not life not even death. A shepherd is known by his keeping of sheep. They know his voice and when he approaches from afar to move them from pasture to pasture. If where to guide and make our own path we might find that we will head in the wrong direction and will need the Shepard guiding presence to navigate us back to the fold. In the end we all where or are sheep gone astray needing and depending on the Shepherd to be there. Hear the call, answer the call for angels in heaven rejoice over the finding of one soul as the shepherd rejoices of finding the lost sheep.
Not Judged, Just Loved 