The Israelites to whom this was written often feared not having water and food provided for them, but for you, that may not be your struggle. For some, you might be struggling with the Lord’s provision and care in other areas. This Psalm is a reminder that the Lord will lead and guide and protect and provide for his people in every situation.

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” This Bible verse from Psalm 23:1 is one of the most famous Bible verses in all of Scripture. This is a verse that encourages both believers and skeptics alike. But what does it mean that “the Lord is my shepherd?”¹

Overfamiliar Scars and Stories

It’s important to talk about this because when some things become overfamiliar, they lose their significance. I’ll give you an illustration.

When I was around 11 months old, I had open-heart surgery. As a result, I have a big scar down my chest. I don’t think about it much, it has caused me almost no complications, and it never affected me while playing sports. I have become so familiar with it that I don’t think about it much at all.

Sometimes when I go to the pool during the summer someone will stop me and point to my chest, and say, “What happened?” And I think, “Huh? What do you mean?” And then I look down and remember—there’s a scar there! I proceed to tell them what happened and why it’s there. Usually, the person who asked also has a scar of some sort.

The point is that I have become so familiar with the scar that I tend to overlook its significance.

The same is true with famous Bible stories.

We tend to read about the stories of Jesus feeding the 5,000 or Jesus walking on water and think, “Yeah, save that for the kids; let’s talk about something on parenting or marriage or work.” For those of you who have been in church your whole life, when a famous Bible passage is being preached, you can roll your eyes and overlook its significance. But if we stop to dive deeply into the passage and not just overlook it because we’ve heard it so many times, we’ll find deep edification.

The Lord is My Shepherd

The 23rd Psalm is one of those passages. The Psalms are songs. They’re not just meant to be read; they’re meant to be sung. The songs have been sung by God’s people for thousands of years. There are various kinds of Psalms, and Psalm 23 is called a Psalm of Trust or a Psalm of Confidence.

The Psalmist starts by saying, “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” When the Psalmist refers to the Lord as a shepherd, he is using a metaphor. This is metaphorical language. It’s not a surprise that the Psalmist speaks of the Lord as a shepherd. Kind David, who wrote this psalm, spent a lot of time around sheep, and no wonder he uses the metaphorical language of a shepherd to describe the Lord. By referring to the Lord as a shepherd, David is showing the intimacy of what a personal relationship with the Lord looks like.

In other places in Scripture, the Lord is referred to as King, Judge, and Deliverer. Here he is referred to something more gentle and tender: a shepherd. In the Bible, the shepherd-sheep metaphor is common. God is the shepherd, and his people are the sheep. What do shepherds do, exactly?

The Responsibility of a Shepherd

A shepherd is a leader of the sheep. He takes care of and tends the sheep. A shepherd feeds the sheep. He ensures their basic needs are met. The shepherd also protects the sheep from wolves, and the shepherd leads and guides the sheep where he wants them to go. So a shepherd protects, provides for, and leads his sheep. David is saying that’s what the Lord does for his people.

But this is not just any shepherd. No, he says my shepherd. Not their shepherd. Not our shepherd. My shepherd. Yes, it’s true that the Lord is the shepherd for all of God’s people, but here we see the personal and intimate relationship between one of God’s people and him. In fact, “My,” “Me,” “I” are saturated in this one Psalm. While strictly an individualistic way of relating to the Lord should be avoided, we cannot help but see the intimate relationship that God here has with one of his people. We sometimes refer to Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. And that’s appropriate; he is intimately involved in each of his children’s lives.

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