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The Divine Good Shepherd

Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23 is one of our beloved psalms. Many of David’s psalms are full of complaints, but this one is full of comforts. David delights in God’s great goodness and dependence on Him. He pictures the Lord as a Shepherd. He draws from his experience in tending to the sheep and trusting the Lord to be to him what he was to his sheep, a shepherd.

He who has a shepherd shall not be in want because the shepherd provides what he needs. Yet sometimes we worry and live in fear as though we are alone. Jesus calls Himself the good Shepherd. I highlight 3 instances He mentions in John 10 that makes Him great. #1. He is the door of the sheep, Joh 10:7. #2. He lays down His life for His sheep, Joh 10:11. #3. He knows His sheep and He teaches them to know Him, Joh 10:3.

From the very promises in this Psalm, David draws 3 very comfortable conclusions, #1. We are saved by hope, and that hope will not make us ashamed, because it is well grounded. #2. It is the duty of Christians to encourage themselves in the Lord their God; and #3. We are directed to take that encouragement both from the relation wherein He stands to us and from the experience we have had of His goodness according to that relation.