The 23rd Psalm Introduction
Written by
Sandra Dean
Good morning!
Joke of the Day:
Why did the sheep bring a pillow to the pasture?
Because the shepherd makes him lie down in green pastures.
Today’s Scripture is:
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His namesake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil
for You are with me.
Your rod and Your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil
and my cup overflows.
Surely, goodness, and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
—Psalm 23
Have you ever wondered why Jesus was called the Good Shepherd in the Bible? Well, obviously, He is good, but why a shepherd? That seems kind of demeaning. I mean, how smart do you have to be to tend sheep? It couldn’t be too complicated or hard.
Well, it turns out that sheep aren’t all that smart and they tend to do dumb things and get themselves into messes. Sometimes dangerous messes. The shepherd must keep a close eye on the sheep because they could wander off and get lost.
Can you begin to see the correlation between us (God’s children) and the sheep?
Sometimes we wander off into sin and selfishness and leave the path the Jesus has for us. We get self-absorbed and self-focused and forget that we need to be thinking about the needs of others. We too need a reminder from our Good Shepherd to think about others more than ourselves. I looked up several scriptures talking about this subject and will list just one here for you.
1 Cor. 10:24 says: Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.
So, what might that look like? Maybe when your friends come over and there aren’t enough snacks, you give them yours and you find something else. That is something that the Good Shepherd would be pleased that you did. You would be acting like Jesus, our Good Shepherd.
So today, ask Holy Spirit to remind you with His still small voice to lead you to follow our Good Shepherd because He knows what is best for us, even when we sometimes act like dumb sheep!
Let’s Pray Together
Father, Thank You for being our Good Shepherd and always leading us to where we should go. Help us today to hear Your voice and quickly obey knowing that Your ways are better for us and everyone. We love You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.