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SYNOPSIS
"Discovering The Shepherd" takes a deeper look at Psalm 23, one of the most popular and powerful scripture passages of the Old Testament. The study provides a scholarly overview of the scripture while offering spiritual nuggets to strengthen and inspire the reader. Modern believers will learn more about the ancient Hebrew text and discover revelation hidden beneath the surfaces of the verses. Excellent accompaniment to your regular bible study!
EXCERPT
Psalm 23, Verse 1
“The LORD is my
shepherd…”
“This psalm is
probably the best known passage of the OT. It is a testimony by David to the
Lord’s faithfulness throughout his life. As a hymn of confidence, it pictures
the Lord as a disciple’s Shepherd-King-Host. David… progressively unveils his
personal relationship with the Lord.” (Footnote from The MacArthur Study
Bible)
It is precisely with the same purpose as revealed by King
David that God is calling his people to reacquaint themselves with the 23rd
Psalm – to unveil and gain a deeper understanding of our relationship to God,
but more importantly His relationship to us. This Psalm is all about His vow
and commitment to His sheep - those that belong to Him and hearken to the
guiding voice of the Holy Spirit. It is a decree and a declaration spoken from
the mouth of David in confidence, and even in warfare, against those who
persecuted him under the power of evil influence. There are relationship
promises and revelation regarding the nature of God’s relationship to his
people hidden throughout each verse. Let’s begin with verse 1:
“The LORD is my shepherd…”
King David wastes no time in establishing who will be the
subject of Psalm 23 – the Lord. Much like anything that is established by Holy
Spirit, the Savior is placed first and properly positioned as the head of any
proceeding thing. He is the banner that waves and guides us into the Psalm,
then serves as the helm of the multi-compartmental vessel that is Psalm 23. I
use the term “vessel” to describe the scripture because of its ability to hold,
and store, the Truth and Mystery of the identity of God. It is multi-compartmental
because of its ability to hold very distinct pockets of revelation, yet
maintain the cohesion of one song or psalm.
The very first word alone – THE - unleashes a torrent of information
for the believer engaging in a study of this verse. First, it eliminates any
ambiguity regarding to whom King David is referring and establishes David’s
faith in the solo God of Israel. This is important because there were numerous
false gods being worshipped by the people at that time, several of which are
still in existence today. David does not leave it for us to figure out or debate
the deity to whom He is referring to in the Psalm. It is THE Lord – the one and
only God professed by David and his kingdom.
Second, the use of any other article would have altered the
reference to Lord in a way that could have subsequently rendered this scripture
ineffective. Imagine reading “A Lord is my shepherd…” or “That Lord is my
shepherd…” or even “My Lord is my shepherd….” One could easily insert a deity
of their choice, creating a perverted version of the Holy Word of God that was
intended.
David could have said “The Lord of Israel is my shepherd…”
if he had wanted to be super specific and not leave room for misinterpretation,
but the fact that he didn’t can actually be seen as prophetic. Though the
coming of Jesus would happen some nearly 1000 years after the beginning of
David’s reign over all Israel, David’s choice of “the” as a solo modifier of
“Lord” speaks to the coming Lord’s (Jesus) dominion over ALL people, not just
Israel and its descendants. Indeed Jesus would come to die for both the Jews
and Gentile people and be established as THE Lord over all people. (Romans
3:29-30)
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