Discover a fresh perspective on one of the most beloved passages in the Bible with our latest talk, "The Lord Is My Shepherd". Join us as we take you on a journey through Psalm 23, revealing its profound insights about God's character and our relationship with Him.
01What If You Already Have a Shepherd
There is a word that gets thrown around as an insult these days. Sheep. Sheeple. The implication is clear: someone who follows blindly, who has no original thought, who just goes along with the crowd. Nobody wants to be called a sheep.
And yet Psalm 23, arguably the most famous poem ever written, opens with exactly that image. "The Lord is my shepherd." Which makes us, by definition, the sheep.
Before dismissing this outright, it is worth sitting with what that actually means, because the picture being painted here is far more radical than most people realise.
02The Metaphor We Get Wrong
Most people, even those who have never set foot in a church, can recite at least part of Psalm 23. It shows up at funerals, in films, on greeting cards. But familiarity can breed a kind of blindness. The words wash over us without landing.
The speaker in this talk made an observation that cuts through all of that: "I love to highlight what I call the God verbs. What is it that God does in this Psalm? He leads. He restores. He guides. He is with us. He comforts us. He prepares a table. He anoints us. He pursues us."
That is a lot of activity from God's side. And conspicuously little from ours.
This is where modern culture and Psalm 23 clash head-on. We live in an era that worships self-reliance. The narrative goes something like this: work harder, optimise more, take the best gym membership, book the best holiday to recover from the exhaustion, then repeat. As the speaker put it, "I feel exhausted just thinking about that way of living."
The psalm offers a completely different operating system for life.
03More Than a Hired Hand
The Hebrew word behind "shepherd" is worth paying attention to. The phrase "The Lord is my shepherd" translates as Yahweh Rohi, and Rohi means something more than the English word shepherd might suggest. It does not describe a hired hand clocking in and out. It describes a livestock owner. Someone with skin in the game. Someone for whom the sheep are genuinely valuable.
"Sheep are precious. They are valuable to their shepherd. You are valuable to God. Sheep are known by their shepherd. They are marked by their shepherd. It is about ownership, identity, value."
This is not a cold, transactional arrangement. It is personal. The shepherd knows each sheep, marks each one, takes responsibility for each one. In an age where so many people feel anonymous, overlooked, or reduced to a data point, that is a striking claim.
04The Effort of Surrender
Here is the part that makes most driven, ambitious people uncomfortable. The psalm describes green pastures, still waters, a restored soul. Beautiful imagery. But notice how the sheep gets there.
"All the sheep had to do was follow. All the sheep had to do was lie down."
The speaker called this "the effort of grace" and described it as surrender. Not passivity, but intentional yielding. Letting God be God. For anyone who has built their identity around being in control, around having all the answers, around making life work through sheer force of will, this feels deeply counterintuitive.
And yet the psalm does not shy away from reality. It does not promise a life free of difficulty. "Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death" is right there in the text. Dark valleys are part of the journey. The promise is not that you will avoid them but that you will not walk through them alone.
"You may be walking through a dark valley right now. You may feel darkness and effort casting their shadow over you. But there is a promise for us: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will be with us."
The rod and staff that the shepherd carries serve a dual purpose. One is protection, fighting off the wolves and threats that come for the sheep. The other is a gentle nudge forward when the sheep gets stuck. When despair sets in and it becomes tempting to just stop and pitch a tent in the valley of self-pity, the shepherd gives a prod to keep moving through the darkness rather than living in it.
05Feasting While the Battle Rages
One of the most arresting images in Psalm 23 comes in verse five: "He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies."
Not after the enemies have gone. Not once the coast is clear. In the presence of the enemies.
The speaker described a piece of artwork that was painted during a talk on this verse years ago. It depicted a family seated around a dining table, feasting, laughing, sharing stories. And all around them in the background were dark figures. Enemies. But those dark forces could not reach the family because they were surrounded by light.
"It is so defiant. So confident. As we do the feasting, God does the fighting."
There is something beautifully subversive about that. The response to threat and opposition is not to panic, not to scramble, not to devise a strategy. It is to sit down at a table and eat. To trust that the one who set the table is also the one handling the battle.
06The God Who Hunts You Down
The final verse of Psalm 23 contains what might be the most surprising word in the entire poem. "Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life."
The English word "follow" is tame. The Hebrew word is radaf, and it means something far more intense. It means to pursue, to chase, to hunt down. The first time radaf appears in the Bible, it describes Laban chasing Jacob, and later Pharaoh chasing the Israelites out of Egypt.
"God is pursuing you. He is chasing you. He is hunting you down with all of his goodness and his mercy and his love."
The Victorian poet Francis Thompson wrote about this in his poem The Hound of Heaven: "I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled Him, down the arches of the years; I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways of my own mind; and in the midst of tears I hid from Him."
God, according to Psalm 23, does not sit passively waiting for people to find their way to him. He goes after them. Relentlessly.
07The Sheep That Was Found
There is a story from New Zealand about a sheep that was lost for six years. By the time it was found, its wool had grown so heavy, so matted and dirty, that the animal could barely move. It could not see properly. It was weighed down, trapped by the very thing that should have been shorn away years before. When they finally sheared it, they removed roughly 35 kilograms of wool. And the sheep could move again. Could see again. Could breathe again.
"For some people listening to this, that is a picture of you. You thought that freedom, doing your own thing in your own way, was going to bring you into the life you wanted. But all it has done is weigh you down."
There is no judgement in that observation. Just recognition. The shepherd does not berate the lost sheep for wandering off. He goes looking for it, finds it, removes the weight, and brings it home.
08Something to Sit With
Psalm 23 is not a poem about religion. It is a poem about relationship. It describes a God who leads, restores, protects, feeds, and relentlessly pursues the people he loves.
The question it leaves us with is not really a theological one. It is personal.
If the shepherd is calling, what is keeping you from following?
Topics in this talk
View Full Transcript
explored hearts are inspired and everyone is welcome to discover the meaningful life Jesus brings us now this month this August we are going to be doing things just a little bit differently if you've been to one of our live streams before you all have seen host buzzing with energy and doing real-time engagement uh in the comments doing something that we call conversation streets oh yes we like live streaming we like conversation street but for this August our usual live stream we'll be taking a little sabbatical the members of the crowd team just like many of you will be taking this time to rest recover and recharge with our loved ones just as God rested on the seventh day we believe in the importance of Sabbath of taking rest I've taken time off to renew our spirits and regain our strength so during this time what's gonna happen well you'll still see a scheduled video going out each week as usual what we call the non-live live stream but instead of our regular real-time hosts you know the live thing uh we'll be taking a step back we won't be doing conversation Street mind you that said there is a chance we'll be joining you in the comments uh as each live stream goes on and to make this period a little bit more special we've invited four yes that's right four fantastic guest speakers who will take you on a unique Journey exploring their favorite Psalm each week now these Psalms have spoken into their lives and they're excited to share their insights and reflections with you now if this is your first time with us a huge welcome to you you can find out more information about crowd Church on our website at www.crowd.church so I hope you're excited we are looking forward to this time of renewal and hope that the powerful words of the Psalms will bring you peace comfort and a little Bill of inspiration for your life thanks for being with us thanks for being part of the crowd family we can't wait to reconnect with you live refreshed and ready to continue on the faith journey together in September but remember at Crown Church you are always welcome here and we will see you in the comments so let's get into the Psalms Psalm 23 it's a beautiful poetic powerful Psalm that helps us to understand something profound about who God is and something profound about Who We Are the Lord is my shepherd the Lord God he is my shepherd I love this Psalm it is a Psalm I committed to memory many many years ago it's a Psalm I often recite and pray through the day sometimes I pray in the darkest hours of the night it is a great Psalm to memorize and meditate on for example you could if you want to just go through the psalm each verse emphasizing a different word each time and see how God speaks to you through that the Lord is my shepherd the Lord is my shepherd the Lord is it's a certainty it's not a might be he is my shepherd Lord is my shepherd just an idea if you're wanting to meditate on the Psalms another thing I love to do when reading the Bible and the Psalms is to highlight what I call the god verbs verbs are doing words what are the god verbs what is it that God the Lord Our Shepherd does in this Samsung 33 he leads he restores he guides he is with us he Comforts us he prepares a table he anoints us he pursues us there's so much in this Psalm that God is doing but what I want to focus on today is how this Psalm helps us to understand our relationship with God because there are lots of ways of understanding and articulating God's relationship with us different metaphors that try and use our limited human vocabulary to try and express the relationship between almighty God and little old us for example some people think of God as like the big boss and themselves as the workers and so they're always trying to work out what they need to do for God a far better healthier picture is that of God as father and we're his children both in the Old Testament and New Testament when God wants to articulate his great love and passion for his people he is described as the groom and we as people as the bride the bride and groom a metaphor of loving Union there are lots of different ways we can think about who God is and how we relate to him but here in Psalm 23 we discover that God is the shepherd and we are his flock you and I are the Sheep of his pasture Jesus used that language all the time to describe himself as a good shepherd and us as his sheep just a couple of quick caveats here before we dig into this text more deeply and firstly anyone absolutely anyone can make God their Shepherd anyone can become one of his sheepish flock you simply need to ask him to cleanse you and forgive you of your sins God is holy God is pure and our unholiness separates us from him so we come to him and we come to Jesus and we ask him to cleanse us and forgive us and and that's what he does and then we get welcomed into his family into his flock we take on a new identity we belong to him that's the first little caveat anyone can be part of this flock secondly sometimes you hear people say oh well you know Jesus never claimed to be God he was just some nice moral teacher some Rabbi some Guru like everyone else uh yes he did claim to be God all of the time if you understand the language and the culture of what he's saying when he says uh for example he's the Good Shepherd the religious leaders were outraged because only God was the shepherd and just like C.S Lewis famously says of this he says you that Jesus is either God as he claimed or some madman or lunatic or liar they're the options so anyone can be part of Jesus's flock and Jesus is our Good Shepherd he's God just one example of how he talks about himself as God the final little caveat before we dig into the text is this that I've got teenage boys so I am well aware from their insults that to call someone a sheep is not a good thing it's an insult you sheep you sheeple it's meant negatively those who blindly mindlessly go with the flow and with the crowd and have no need to think for themselves but you know when we're described here in Psalm 23 and in the Bible as sheep and God is our Shepherd that is such a positive thing it's such a good thing it means we belong to him it means we are precious to him it means that he will look after us and protect us and provide for us all of those promises in Psalm 23 of guidance and restoration and rest are ours because we're his we are the Sheep of his pasture so you might think I'm no sheep I'm a free thinker I'm the master of my own destiny I do things my way well and good luck with that how is that working out for you I used to think of myself as some deep academic philosophical big thinker but that led me to the conclusion a there must be a god B such a God is good and loves me and see that God knows me better than myself and what's best for me and as I follow him and his pattern that's when life starts to work I'm so glad to be one of his sheep so we're thinking about God's relationship with us that he is the shepherd and that we are his sheep and and that actually means the Hebrew here it's the Lord is my shepherd is Jehovah rohi or Yahweh rohi wrote he is a bit more than Shepherd it's a bit more than a Hired Hand in an employee's sense it's about a livestock owner that's what it means when it says he's our Shepherd we belong to him sheep are precious they're valuable to their Shepherd you are valuable to God sheep are known by their Shepherd they are marked by their Shepherd it's about ownership identity value one way of living life one theory for smashing life for those who think they aren't sheep is to think well okay I've got to make my life work I've got to get everything sorted this this existential ambitious driven striving where it's all down to me and my effort I've got to work for this then I've got to take the best gym membership out for the best body then I've gotta have some amazing holiday to recover from all of it feel exhausted just thinking about that way of living but there is another way to live Jesus is our Good Shepherd just imagine being a sheep for a moment imagine you've got your head down your munching on grass you hear the shepherd calling in the distance you start to follow the voice of the shepherd as you look up you realize the shepherd has led you into Green Pastures the Hebrew for that translates literally as an oasis of vegetation and he makes you lie down beside Still Waters he begins to restore your soul you're refreshed you're nourished you're sustained and it's all he's doing all you had to do was follow all the Sheep had to do was to lie down this is the Christian Life this is the life of Grace I often say the effort of Grace is surrender the effort of Grace is to yield it's to lie down it's to let God be God to let God do what only God can do to rest in him there is an effort and an intentionality to that but that's how we find true peace now that does not mean that bad stuff won't happen in life it doesn't mean there won't be dark times God doesn't say we won't walk through dark valleys he says even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will walk through the dark valleys you may be walking through a dark Valley right now you may feel darkness and effort casting their Shadow over you but there is a promise for us his sheep Jesus our Good Shepherd will be with us he is with us in the valley and he has a rod and a staff in his hands are a rod and a staff people debate the meaning of those I I tend to think of one maybe the rod I don't know one he's using to keep me moving forwards when I get stuck in darkness when I get stuck in despair when I pitch my tent in the valley of self-pity I'm so thankful that my shepherd gives me a little nudge a little prod to keep me moving through it and not to live in it of course there's a rod and there's a staff because he's our Shepherd we are precious sheep to him that means he's fighting for you he's protecting you he's fending off the wolves and those things that might cause you harm because you're his sheep because he's your Shepherd at verse 5 then says that our Shepherd prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies he prepares a table in the presence of our enemies now a number of years ago I did a talk a series of talks on spiritual warfare and during one of those talks I asked an artist in the church just to paint whilst I preached on this verse that's what she did she produced an incredible piece of artwork of a table just imagine a dining room table and around this table there's a family they're feasting they're eating they're drinking They're laughing they're sharing stories now all around them in the background are dark figures they're enemies but the powers of Darkness can't get to them the powers of Darkness can't touch them because that feasting family is surrounded by God's light and I love that imagery it's so defiant so confident as we do the feasting God does the fighting again it's all about the effort of surrender the effort of yielding just to hold your ground the effort of Grace I want to finish with a final thought verse 6 says surely goodness and mercy will follow me on the days of my life some translations say surely blessing and mercy will follow others goodness and faithful Love Will Follow but the word I want to focus in on is the word follow the Hebrew word radaf radaf God our Good Shepherd follows us with his goodness his kindness his faithful love but radaf is more powerful than that it's better translated as the word pursue God pursues me in fact it's even stronger than that the first time the word radaf is used in the Bible it's used of Laban chasing down Jacob it's used a pharaoh chasing the Israelites as they escape Egypt it literally means radaf means to hunt you down God our Good Shepherd is pursuing us he's chasing you he's hunting you down with all of his goodness and his mercy and love the poet Thomas Francis wrote a poem about this called The Hound of Heaven he tried to hide from God how he fled from God this is how I fled him down the nights down the days I fled him down the arches of the years I fled him down the Labyrinth ways of my own mind and in the midst of tears I hid from him he goes on to talk about God's undisturbed Pace deliberate speed Majestic instances the The Hound of Heaven hunting him down God loves you so much you are so precious to him you're so valuable to him so when we stray when we go our own way when we get a bit lost in life he pursues us he goes after us such as his great kindness and mercy towards us I heard a story recently about a sheep in New Zealand that had been lost I think for six years I think the Sheep was called Barak I can't quite remember the details of the story Google it but because the Sheep had be had been lost and hadn't been sheared for six years the wool had grown so heavy that this poor sheep could hardly move it was weighing it down it it couldn't see properly for the wool over its eyes and they there were these before and after photos when when they found the Sheep I think they they removed like 75 pounds 35 kilos of dirty matted wool off the sheep and the Sheep Barack it could move again it was free again it was light again it could see again it could breathe again it was brought back into the fold now for some people listening to this that is a picture of you you thought that that freedom doing your own thing in your own way that thing you were pursuing was going to bring you into the life you wanted but all it's done is weighed you down today Jesus the Good Shepherd is calling you by name he's calling out so you come to me he is searching for you he's pursuing you he's chasing you after you with his grace and his mercy and his kindness and his love and as you come to him as for his forgiveness ask for his restoration he is going to lift all of that heavy matted stuff off you he's gonna pasture you besides the waters he's going to begin that work of strengthening and restoring your weary soul The Lord Is Our Shepherd he's your Shepherd they pursues you in his love and I pray that for every person listening to this watching this that right now you would know the Good Shepherd with you standing alongside you leading you guiding you restoring you comfort in you anointing your head to equip you to serve him in life fighting your battles for you and pursuing you with his great loving kindness mercy and Grace amen we hope you found today's exploration of the Psalms insightful and inspiring every Psalm has a unique message a distinct voice that speaks to the heart and to the soul now we would love to hear your thoughts what did you think about today's Psalm feel free if you haven't done so already to share your thoughts your Reflections and experiences in the comments below I really really look forward to seeing them it's always great to learn from each other on our journey of Faith so do get busy in the comments do share them now if you wish to reach out to us you can find out more information about us and how to reach us how to connect with us on the website at www.crowd.church and don't forget come September we're returning to our regular live stream Services resuming the origin series that explores the roots of the church through the book of Acts we are we're like part way through it we've got a fair bit to go it's an exciting Journey Journey so do make sure you are part of that by hitting that little bell uh subscription thing and notification thing if you haven't done so already on YouTube now remember at crowdchurch everyone including you is welcome and everyone including you is valued no matter where you are on your spiritual journey there's a place for you here thanks for joining us thanks for being with us today until next time be blessed stay inspired and keep exploring the beauty of Faith see you in the comments and see you back here next week bye for now
