Perhaps of all portions of Scripture, the 23rd Psalm is the most universally known and loved, treasured in all lands where the Gospel is preached. There can be no doubt as to who wrote this Psalm; David’s autograph is on every verse. I have often wondered where these words were first sung—was it as the sheep grazed on the hillside, or was it sung to a pouting king on the throne? Personally, I believe the 23rd Psalm was written in the latter years of David’s life. These are among the first words from the Bible that we learn as little children at mother’s knees, and often the last words that fall from the parched lips of a dying child of God. This is both a confession of weakness and a declaration of trust. This psalm is the psalm for every age because it is here we understand the frailty of man and the omnipotence of a loving God.
Throughout the Bible, God refers to man as sheep. He also refers to the enemy of man as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour; thus we can explain the endless pain that plagues humanity through divorce, adultery, child molestation, child abuse, drug addiction, murder, war and suicide. These painful acts are the daws of the predator tearing at the soul of the helpless sheep. Dear reader, even as you read this article, is one of his deadly claws tearing at your very soul? What is the remedy?
David, the shepherd boy, explained it in his bold declaration: “The Lord is my shepherd* Humanity is in need of the loving care of a shepherd—the Good Shepherd that gave his life for the sheep. Not a hireling that will flee when you are faced with the guilt of your sins, but one that stands ready to plead your case when you confess that, as a sheep, you have gone astray. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray,* but the Psalmist declared, “He restoreth my soul.” Will you choose the tender restoration the Shepherd so graciously offers, or continue on the blind path of destruction?”