Welcome to the fourth part of our series, "The Good Shepherd."

Text: Psalm 23

(A psalm of David.)
The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
    He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
    My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.

The LORD is our Shepherd. WE CAN FOLLOW HIM.

Overall Commentary: 🌎

One of the most significant issues we have when reading the Old Testament is ethnocentrism. The definition of ethnocentrism is:

Evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of one's own culture.

It is difficult for most of us to imagine ourselves back in that time and in the agricultural environment of sheep and shepherds. Understanding these cultural differences is a major key to truly understanding what God's Word says about God's characteristics. My hope is that we will have a fresh understanding of who God is by understanding what He reveals to us through this famous song.

Because the LORD is our Shepherd, we can trust Him to bring FRESH LIFE into any area of weariness.

What is RENEWAL?

While there are many definitions for this word, the best I have ever heard is the following:

Renewal is the act of bringing something back to a place of wholeness, purpose, and life.

Renewal, restoration, refreshing—all these words could be used in today's text. The idea is that as we follow Him, He refreshes us in every way.

Sheep Need Help Up... A lot!

Sheep can quickly get off track and get themselves into trouble. One way is when they can become "cast." This is literally when they fall over on their backs and cannot get up. If a shepherd does not come along to help them, they could die within hours. The three main reasons for this also have some parallels to areas we can struggle with.

They can look for a comfortable spot.
1. Parallel- We can become too quick to stop growing in our relationship with God. When we do, we can quickly fall backward into sin.
They can become weighed down with a heavy coat.
1. Parallel- There are many things we pick up along the way. Also, the cares of this life slowly start to weigh us down.
They can become lazy.
1. Parallel- We do the same. We decide to coast for a while and decide good enough is good enough.

These are reasons why they need a Good Shepherd to lead and guide them.

Commentary

Verse 3a. He renews My Strength.

"He..."- The verse before tells us the "He" is the LORD. (Yahweh) In this verse, David tells us how the Lord provides for all our needs. The Psalmist comes back over and over again to tell us that we cannot bring this to ourselves. It only comes from the Lord.

"renews"—This word is used in the New Living Translation. In other translations, we read "restore" and "refresh." The Hebrew word for this is a phrase that means to restore, to bring back to wholeness, and to return to a place of peace. The point of this phrase is that when we follow God to green pastures and quiet waters, the end result is that we are slowly healed from the inside out and find the renewal our hearts long for.

He renews us through His Word. (Psalm 19)

He renews us every time we FALL, every time we FAIL, and every time we FORGET who are in Him.

"My Strength"- The New Living Translation has "my strength." This is unfortunate because the translators tell us that His renewal strengthens us. This is true, but what is God renewing? Old translations say, "He renews MY SOUL." When we look at the most literal definition of the word used in Hebrew, we find it means all of our life, all of our being, all that we are. David wants to tell us that when we follow our Shepherd, He leaves nothing out. He heals us entirely and brings fresh life to every weary place.

Bottom Line.

God's Promise:

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18) That is why we NEVER GIVE UP. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed EVERY DAY. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.