What remains to be said about probably the most famous and well-known Psalm in the Bible - Psalm 23? And there is no doubt that so many have done the job much better than I ever could. Nevertheless, It is these six verses that have been speaking to my heart recently. The trouble with Scripture which is so well-known and familiar is that we can somehow look past it. The Lord often uses the same parts of his word in new and fresh ways, applying them to our specific circumstances in that wonderful way that His Holy Spirit has of speaking to our hearts. If I had to give this short and inadequate comment a more succinct title, perhaps it could be "A sheep's view of the Good Shepherd".
You see, I have tended to read these wonderful words with a kind of technical and analytical perspective. I am not a shepherd, neither do I have any natural knowledge of that world he would move in. And so I must enquire as to how what is said here works. First, to see it from the point of view of the man in that particular walk of life. Then to see how it reflects God's relationship with me. David, of course, grew up as a shepherd and knew all about it. What I attempt here is to see things from the sheep's view.
It is very special that shepherd David writes about his Shepherd. We know so much more about who He is - we see plainly the One who was promised. We have a fuller picture. So it is no surprise to find the Lord speaking of Himself in such a way, in John ch 10. We must remember that the chapter divisions are artificial. What has just taken place? A healed blind man has just been thrown out of the synagogue for the dreadful offence of having been healed on the Sabbath. It is to the Pharisees who have brought this about that Jesus begins to speak about shepherds. Oh, and of thieves and robbers and hired hands who care nothing for the sheep.
Think of this poor man, who is disfellowshipped because of his leaders' blindness. In the closing verses of chapter 9, we find Jesus speaking to him again and plainly telling him just who it was who laid His hands on his eyes. The man has been thrown out. But in the place of that flawed community, he has found ... the ultimate One to follow. The Good Shepherd. First, he has heard the Shepherd's voice, when he had no sight. Now, he looks on the One who had spoken to him.
How lost the people of our world are. Such busy lives, filled with all manner of things, all kinds of different voices, giving so many garbled messages - but no solace for the soul. What a lonely busy-ness that is! And what a thrill to discover the Voice of the Shepherd. "My sheep know my voice", He says. And He calls them. And they follow Him. Psalm 23 is all about the results of that discovery. The song of the sheep!
