Five Powerful Words (psalm 23:1) - The One Year Book of Psalms

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1The LORD is my shepherd;

I have everything I need.

2He lets me rest in green meadows;

he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

bringing honor to his name.

4Even when I walk

through the dark valley of death,

I will not be afraid,

for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

protect and comfort me.

5You prepare a feast for me

in the presence of my enemies.

You welcome me as a guest,

anointing my head with oil.

My cup overflows with blessings.

6Surely 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.

All you need for eternity is packed into the first five words of Psalm 23:1:

The—He is the only God, as the first commandment says. He isn’t a Lord; he is the Lord.

Lord—This name emphasizes his amazing grace, love, and faithfulness to us.

Is—This present tense verb shows that God lives. He is the same today as he was yesterday.

My—God is not an abstract power. He wants to be your personal shepherd.

Shepherd—And what a shepherd! He loves and cares for his sheep, even dying for them.

A pastor visited a very sick child once and took him word by word through Psalm 23:1 to try and comfort him. With each word the child was taught to grasp a different finger, concluding with his thumb, which represented the word shepherd. The pastor didn’t really know at the time how much the child understood.

Shortly after the little boy died, the mother spoke to the pastor and said, “Just before he died, he held very tightly to his index finger, and he seemed to want to tell me something.”

The pastor knew that the boy had understood. He had been clutching his “my” finger. He knew that the Lord was his personal shepherd to guide him “through the dark valley of death.”

The king of love my Shepherd is,

Whose goodness faileth never;

I nothing lack if I am his

And he is mine forever.

HENRY W. BAKER

Bible Networking

For more about the Lord as a shepherd, read John 10:14-16.

Notable Quotable

“When this is said, all is said. Whatever may be added is only to help us understand the fullness of this great truth. . . . If we wander, we are not abandoned. In the darkest hours he is still with us. In our conflicts he upholds us.”

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN