Psalm 23 - "The LORD is My Shepherd"

Whenever you see all the letters in the word LORD capitalized in the Bible it always is our English translation for the Hebrew word, “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”. Who is the Lord God of Israel. Jehovah is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 10 when Jesus said, “I Am the Good Shepherd”, He was saying, I Am Jehovah Rohi. Before we can fully understand and claim that “The LORD is my Shepherd” we need to know what it means that Jesus has said, “I Am Jehovah Rohi”, I Am the LORD your Shepherd”. Our view of Jesus the Christ is often too human and too small, and because it is we are unwilling to allow Him to have authority or control, or much less outright ownership of our lives. First, we need to know and believe that the Bible teaches us the Jesus, the Christ is creator of all things including us. Colossians 1:15-20 tells us that Jesus “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.” When we really acknowledge that we were created in His image and that He made us, and we are not our own but His, it is then we can truly say that “The LORD is my Shepherd”. We are the apple of His eye. He created us to have a relationship with Him. It is not about religion, rituals, and ceremonies. It is about a personal relationship and intimate fellowship with Him through the blood of His cross! When the LORD is my Shepherd, “it immediately implies a profound yet practical working relationship between a human being and his Maker. It links a lump of common clay to divine destiny. It means a mere mortal becomes the cherished object of divine diligence. And the greater, the wider, the more majestic my concept is of the Christ, the more vital will be my relationship to Him.” When we say with confidence, the LORD is my Shepherd, we are proclaiming with a strong sense of pride, and devotion and admiration, “Look at who my shepherd is, my owner, my manager! He is the LORD Jesus Christ! He created me, and He loves me so much that He paid the price for my sin to reconcile me back to His Father God! Many of the above statements are quotes from Phillip Keller’s book, “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”. I highly recommend this book as it has greatly helped me to better love and understand the fuller meaning of this beautiful Psalm. I will be using it to help me share these chats on this Psalm over the next few days. Phillip Keller ends his first chapter with these questions. Do I really belong to Him? Do I really recognize His right to me? Do I respond to His authority and acknowledge His ownership? Do I find freedom and complete fulfillment in this arrangement? Do I sense a purpose and deep contentment because I am under His direction? Do I know rest and repose, besides a definite sense of exciting adventure, in belonging to Him? I trust that you can begin to answer all the above questions in a positive way today! God bless!