There are two things that we must know to serve our God diligently. One is to believe that God exists. Two is to know that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. We must be workers for the Lord and His church. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV).
The benefits of seeking God are evident in Psalm 23, which is quoted at many funerals because it is comforting. There is so much we can learn from these six short verses about our Loving Chief Shepherd.
God Is a Rewarder
Verse 1: David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The sheep have blessings as we also have blessings in the Lord. This is a day in the life of a shepherd. He was talking about taking care of sheep. They knew he would always be there for them. These sheep would follow always. We should be willing to follow our Great Shepherd.
Verses 2-6 teach how the shepherd cared and tended for his sheep. In comparison, these are blessings we have in Christ Jesus our Chief Shepherd. He provides for His sheep peace, safety, restoration, guidance, comfort, preparation, caring, a good life and eternal life.
Verse 2: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.” This speaks of peace. The sheep enjoy the peacefulness of the green pastures. We should enjoy the peacefulness of the blessings of being in Christ. We have a peace that passes all understanding. Our Lord’s sheep have security of being in Christ and having a heavenly home with our Father, our Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit.
“He leads me beside the still waters.” This gives the sheep a feeling of safety. Sheep are afraid of moving water. They have a fear of the current, so the shepherd takes them to still waters. We should be afraid of sin. Sin is so deceitful because the devil makes sin look fun. Have you ever heard people say it is so much fun to drink, to dance, to have a sexual relationship outside marriage? These are all sins that will cost us our souls. There are so many more.
What about our attitude toward others? Do we think we are better than non-Christians or those who are weak in the Lord? Are we really any stronger Christians when we have bad attitudes toward others? I do not think so!
This is one of my biggest fears as a Christian. I know if I go out and act riotously and dress immodestly, I will lose my soul. Yet, how many of us have this attitude as holier than thou? I am afraid more of us will lose our souls because we are like the ones on the left hand who did not think they had done anything wrong (Matthew 25:41-46). Do we want to be like those on the left hand of Jesus?
Verse 3: “He restores my soul.” A shepherd will pet, give love to his sheep and even play with them. They go away happy. How does our Shepherd restore our souls? He is beside us and holding us close all the time. We can talk to Him or let Him talk to us anytime, and we can go away restored and happy. In Isaiah 40:28, 31, we find, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither, faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. …But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” We need to run to our Shepherd.
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” The shepherd guides his sheep. We are guided by the Lord as our Shepherd. Our guidebook is the Bible, the Word of God. We all must follow the Word as sheep follow a shepherd.
How do you and I follow the Shepherd? Do we read and study His Word as we should? I don’t know about you, but I do not study as I should. We should study daily as the Bereans did. They were praised for being more noble than those of Thessalonica (Acts 17:11). Do we want the praise of God for studying more? I do!
Do we talk with our Shepherd so He can take our message to our Father? I do not know about you, but I do know about me. I know I do not study and pray enough! I am sure we all fit into this category. We must learn to study and pray more.
We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing.” Can we go around praying all day long? No, we cannot, but we can and should have a prayerful attitude. There are times I think and pray when I am in my kitchen cooking or cleaning up. I am thankful that I can do this for my husband, family and friends. We have so many blessings for which to be thankful.
Verse 4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.” This is comfort to sheep, and we are comforted by our Shepherd, too. If a sheep were missing, the shepherd would go hunting for him. He would hope his lost sheep would not be hurt or have been killed by a wild animal. God is the same with us. He wants to comfort us when we are hurting. Sometimes, prayer is all we have. There are times in our lives that knowing God is our best comfort. Of course, our family and friends will listen, but they are not our Comforter. In Romans 8:35, 38-39 we read, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. …For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So, you see, we need God as our Comforter.
Verse 5: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” The shepherd made preparation for his sheep. He made sure they had a place to sleep. When he had them all safely inside a sheepfold, he laid down in front of the door to sleep to protect them from their enemies. Christ made preparation for us by going back to Heaven to prepare a place for us. In John 14:1-6, Jesus said to the apostles:
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Jesus was not just talking to the apostles, but to all who obey Him.
Verse 6: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”Christ prepared a place in Heaven for us to have eternal life. The only way we can receive this reward is to follow our Savior. We must obey His commandments to the fullest of our abilities. We cannot say we believe and not obey the teachings of God’s Word.
My life if I diligently serve the Lord will be one of blessings, as though I were a sheep, for which the Chief Shepherd cares. These blessings will be temporal on earth and endless in Heaven.
