The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23:1
Do you have a favorite Psalm? Psalm 23 will always be near and dear to my heart. When I was a little boy and turned seven, I was allowed to serve in the altar. And it was on my first day serving in the altar that I heard the call to the priesthood. I started serving in the altar in 1979 and haven’t stopped since. Back then, altar boys needed to memorize Psalm 23 and say it when we put our altar boy robe on. It is the first Psalm that I knew. (My favorite Psalm now is Psalm 50/51 because as a priest, I pray it at every Divine Liturgy.)
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This Psalm, for me, is worth a thousand pictures. Because that is how many beautiful images come to my mind when I pray this Psalm. The first verse alone, “the Lord is my Shepherd,” makes me think of Jesus in long, white robes, guiding His sheep not with a staff but with His arms. If we call the Lord, “my shepherd,” then that makes us (me) one of the sheep. We know that sheep are not the smartest animals, and that the shepherd was needed in order to keep the herd of sheep safe. The shepherd, in many cases, was not a nice person. Shepherds were at the bottom of the social ladder. They were nomads, hired hands usually, who were paid little by landowners to tend to the flocks of usually unruly sheep. The shepherd carried a staff by which to force the sheep into line and to fend off predators who might come after the sheep. The shepherds were not loyal either. For what they were paid, they weren’t going to sacrifice a lot for the sheep. If a pack of wolves came to prey on the sheep, too many for the shepherd to fend off, or if the shepherd felt his life was in danger, he certainly wouldn’t hang in and defend the sheep at all costs. He would flee and save himself.
Jesus says in John 10:11-15:
“I Am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, see the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I Am the good shepherd; I know My own and My own know Me, as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Unlike shepherds who are hired hands and feel from predators who might not only destroy the sheep but kill the shepherd, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has willingly died to protect the sheep, us. Therefore, He can be trusted to lead us because He has already died for us. He has done the ultimate act of protection for us.
The hymns of the church call the followers of Jesus “rational sheep.” We are not dumb creatures, like the sheep of the pasture. We can think for ourselves. However, we still need a shepherd to lead us to the safe haven of the sheep pen, the Kingdom of Heaven. We still need a shepherd to lead us in difficult circumstances. Jesus is not here to prod and cajole us, but to lead us. And we don’t follow because of fear, but because of faith and love.
We don’t know if sheep love their shepherds because they are the leaders of the flock, or if they fear them because they carry the staff. We don’t know if sheep trust shepherds to keep them safe or not. That is because sheep are irrational creatures, we have no idea what must go on in their small minds. In our rational minds, however, we can love our shepherd. We can also understand the need for a shepherd. We can acknowledge that while we are rational people, we are not all-knowing. We can acknowledge that there are gaps between us and feelings of safety and security. We can acknowledge the need to submit to a shepherd in order to allow ourselves to be led away from danger and into peace and safety. And we can trust our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, because He has died for us.
In the uncertain times in which we live, this Psalm continues to provide comfort to me. The wolf is not an animal that threatens me. Today it is the stress of trying to balance responsibilities, to stay faithful in a world that often discourages faith, to remain humble in a world where we are trying to get ahead, and deal with the associated worry and other stresses that all these things bring. I trust that the Lord will lead His flock through whatever crisis we face, individually or collectively. I trust that if I stay with the flock, under His leadership, I can pass through whatever danger lurks today. I don’t know what unforeseen challenges the day will bring, but I am confident that my shepherd can help me negotiate them. That doesn’t mean that I have no role in walking through the day. I have to do the walking, He is not going to carry me or beat me into submission. He is going to lead; I merely have to follow. But I have to follow, and that requires both my faith and my action.
If the Lord is my shepherd, and He is Almighty, then I can honestly say, “I shall not want.” And this is where the tension and challenge comes in as a Christian. I am a human being, of course I want—I want food, money, comfort, security and control, among other things. Faith is entrusting ourselves to our shepherd and trusting that He will lead us to the necessary amounts of those things, as He wills. Let the shepherd lead today!
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still water; He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23
Reflection question: Where do I feel most in need of guidance or reassurance right now?
