The Lord is my Shepherd

"The Lord is my Shepherd."

Anyone who has ever heard the Scripture passage above can usually tell you how comforted they are when they think of the portion from which it is quoted. And it is a comfort and solace to many. The whole Psalm speaks of being cared for, guided, guarded, commended, elevated in front of enemies. It speaks of being in God's favor, having a position of particular identity with Him, and of having an intimate relationship with the God of the Universe. What a wonderful place to be.

One might think that God had bestowed special status on the writer to the extent that He will carry out the writer's requests at a moment's notice.

The supposition is that God is passively involved with His creation. His presence is required only for answering prayers favorable to the petitioners so that life can continue pleasantly. When not needed, God can be off somewhere doing something else for anyone else. As such, God has been portrayed as being a distant parent - uncaring, uncommunicative, whimsical - anything but engaged with His creation. Since being cast out into the world, man is left to fend for himself, making progress by his own efforts. God has abandoned His creation.


The first five words of this psalm resolutely disagree with this presupposition.  The Lord is my Shepherd. A shepherd is often the owner of the sheep and therefore has a personal interest in the well being of the flock, both collectively and individually. Let me say that again: the shepherd owns the sheep. The owner may let his children tend the sheep, but the outcome is the same: namely, that the shepherds have a personal stake in the welfare of the sheep. As a result, the sheep are cared for. They find enough water and pasture in their grazing because the shepherd knows where to find both.

But more than that, David is saying something else quite specific: The Lord is my all. I am my Beloved's and He is Mine. David was declaring an unswerving devotion and commitment to the Creator of the Universe, One Who would lay down His life for the sheep of His hand. I pray each of us develops this same devotion and commitment to Him.