The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 NLT
Like many who were raised in the church, I grew up hearing this passage of the Bible, I even memorized it, but I grew so familiar with the surface meaning of this passage that I found I was bored as soon as I heard the first 5 words. Not something too many Christians would care to admit, I know. It was a real struggle, trying to read this passage with who I thought God to be. But then I found grace.
As a preacher’s kiddo, any time I had a problem or wasn’t sure what to read in my quiet time, I was told to read in the book of Psalms. I absolutely love anything poetic, so the book of Psalms was a great place to get lost in. But – anyone else notice that the author went from being overjoyed to being in the depths of despair like a ping-pong ball? It was like a game of trying to guess what mood the author would be in.
The back and forth of joy and sorrow, proclaiming trust in God to not knowing if God would strike him down or desert him, had me in a ton of twisted up knots in my spirit. While I was constantly hearing that God never changes, I didn’t understand that His covenant did. Well, open up the earth and swallow me whole – God never changing was meant to reassure me, but it instead instilled an unhealthy fear of God because I was filled with guilt, condemnation, and uncertainty.
But then I found grace.
I grew up in a household that didn’t have a lot of money. We ordered water if we ever ate out, we got 1 pair of jeans a year, most of my clothes were homemade, and we couldn’t afford cable. It’s pretty easy to guess that I had a lot of wants. I wanted cereal that had added sugar, I wanted to have soda when we ate out (or at least a lemonade or sweet tea), and Nickelodeon was awesome, but not found on any of our channels.
With the Lord as my Shepherd, I will need for nothing. Bring on the Kool-Aid (seriously – we had no money)! This doesn’t mean that I’m going to have everything I could ever possibly desire in this world, but it means that the desires He awakens in my heart He will freely provide for me. He will give me the protection I need, the guidance I need, and the sustenance I require. I heard a pastor once state that God wants to position us in a way that we won’t have to ask money for permission to do His will. Wow!
This Psalm was written by the anointed King of Israel, David. The anointed king – that sounds pretty darn plush. But he wrote this particular psalm when he was on the run from King Saul. David was anointed by God to take Saul’s place, but he wasn’t in the palace yet. Yeah, maybe not so plush. Because he was on the outs with the king, there were times that He wasn’t even safe among his own people. He had to set up camp in the land of his enemies (I Samuel 27:7). But David trusted that God was his good, good Shepherd.
David, having shepherd on his resume, knew a thing or two about the responsibilities of being, well, a shepherd. The sheep didn’t work a 9-5 in order to earn good grass to graze on, did they? What about trying to track down a good, clean watering hole? Protection from the predators? Shelter in storms? Being a shepherd was not an easy job. It required dedication, wisdom, bravery, and compassion – all attributes of what it takes to be a good leader.
Something about God punishing His kiddos always made me bristle. As a parent, I know that there are times that I have to discipline my kiddos for poor choices they make (I knew that before becoming a parent). But I still bristled at the rod and staff part of Psalm 23. When I wasn’t bored with the chapter from hearing and reading it ad nauseam, I was questioning it. For me, the word rod insinuated punishment. But then I found grace.
A shepherd didn’t use his rod and staff to beat the sheep. The staff was like a multipurpose tool for the shepherd. Sheep have what is known as a flight zone, so the staff was used to be like an extended arm so that the shepherd could stay outside that zone, while still being able to direct the sheep. The rod was used to defend the sheep from predators – again, not to beat the sheep… even when they went astray.
A beautiful picture in this chapter is when the Shepherd anoints His sheep with oil. This isn’t a new practice and is actually still something done today. Any good shepherd would do this for his flock. What amazes me is that God sees the importance of this practice for us.
When we lived in Alaska, every summer was filled with hatch after hatch of mosquitoes. There are not enough words to describe the clouds of mosquitoes that we encountered when venturing outside. But some relief could be found with a really good bug spray. Same for the sheep, but they weren’t plagued by mosquitoes. They had to deal with flies that would lay eggs in their nose! This sounds like a would you rather and I would just rather not.
A good shepherd would pour oil over the head, and it would offer peace from the irritants caused by the seasonal flies. It would also protect the sheep from the flies being able to lay their eggs. Another use for the oil is for mating season when the rams are being butt heads… I mean, when they’re butting heads. They would literally ram into each other, the oil would make them slip off to the side, and they would stand there feeling a bit foolish. The tension would usually be alleviated, and they wouldn’t get hurt.
The final 2 reasons have to do with disease and briars. Sheep like to rub their heads against each other and will share parasites because of it. These shared parasites would cause the Scab disease and oil was the only antidote. For some regions, shepherds would actually dip their entire flock in oil (completely submerge each animal) but would still oil the heads by hand. Biblically, it was understood that the sheep were to be blemish-free, and this was referring to the Scab disease.
The briars are my favorite. Sheep are not the brightest of animals, are they? They butt heads on purpose, they allow flies to lay eggs up their nose, they spread diseases through loving affection, and they tend to get stuck in briars. I’m starting to see some similarities.
When a sheep gets caught in briars, thorns, or regular old bushes and find that they’re stuck, they tend to try getting unstuck even to the point of death. The oil is to help them to not get stuck in the briars. That’s fantastic, but what I love is that the shepherd, finding the lamb stuck in the briars, will pour oil over its head to help get it unstuck.
I know that I often get caught up in the briars. I so appreciate that while I’m trying to wrench myself out, I’m not getting beat with a rod or a staff for getting stuck in the first place. Instead, my good Shepherd comes in with His soothing balm of love and forgiveness and sets me free.
The Lord, who is my good Shepherd, provides all that I could possibly need. He guides me to fields of prosperity, He protects and comforts me through the dark and scary seasons of the unknown, He restores and honors me when I’ve fallen, and His goodness and love will never stop pursuing me. Even in the briars, He is with me. But even better yet, He won’t leave me there.
Be intentional with your time this week and think about how God has been your Shepherd – how He’s pursued you. I’m not so bored with Psalm 23 anymore after taking a closer look. I pray that it will resonate in your spirit, too.