The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23)

CONSIDER THIS

Today’s post is from A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms by Timothy and Julie Tennent. Most recently, he served as president of Asbury Theological Seminary among other posts he holds across the global church. Julie is a gifted musician and was one of the driving forces that helped bring to fruition the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. We will share some of their writing on the Psalms on Sundays.

If Psalm 22 ultimately points us to the cross of Christ, Psalm 23 points us to Christ as the Good Shepherd. It is an appropriate reminder for us as Christians who engage this psalm that Jesus is the one who walked among us as the good shepherd of the sheep (John 10:11, 14). The peace of Psalm 23 is not rooted in outward circumstances or our passing emotions. The first verse of the psalm begins with an emphatic emphasis on the Lord. He alone is the source of all comfort and peace. He is the one who “leads me beside quiet waters” and who “restores my soul” (vv. 2–3). The psalmist is not living in a spiritual vacuum. He is walking through the “shadow of death” (v. 4), but even there the Lord is with him and guides him. Even in the presence of his enemies, the Lord spreads “a table before [him]” and anoints “[his] head with oil” (v. 5). When the psalmist declares that “goodness and love” (v. 6) shall follow him all the days of his life, he foreshadows not a sequence of circumstances, but the very presence of the Lord himself, who embodies goodness and mercy in our midst.

As Christians, we are reminded that we are his flock. We hear his voice even under the clamoring din of the voices of unbelief and skepticism that surround us. The psalmist can only point to the deepest truth of the Good Shepherd: namely, that he “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). The peace of the Christian, both now and in the New Creation, is not a mere emotional moment of stillness; it is an everlasting peace that has been purchased at great price. 

For the Awakening,
Timothy and Julie Tennent

THE HYMN

Sing Psalm 23 with the Seedbed Psalter today. I suggest the tune MORECAMBE (“Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart”). You can hear the tune played online by Julie Tennent here. If you listen to the podcast audio version, I will sing the psalm in this same tune. For your convenience, the words from the Psalter are printed below. 

1   The Lord’s my Shepherd; I have all I need;
2   He makes me lie down in the pastures green.
Beside still waters, He does gently lead;
3   Restores my soul when I upon Him lean.

He guides me in the paths of righteousness;
For His name’s sake, gives guidance unto me.
4   Yea, though I walk through paths of darkest death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me.

Your rod and staff give comfort unto me.
5   You serve a feast in presence of my foes;
My head anoint with oil for all to see;
My heart is full, and my cup overflows.

6   Surely Your goodness, and Your mercy, Lord,
Will follow me for all my days and more;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord,
Dwell in His house and presence evermore.

P.S. Get the Resources

If you would like to have the meditations and the metrical psalter in a beautiful two-volume set—which I highly recommend— you can order those through the Seedbed store.