"The LORD is my Shepherd..."

Few passages in the Bible tug at the heartstrings like this one:

~Psalms 23:1-6~

The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even 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.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Amen.

This is a powerful appeal to submission. “We shall not want” means that we shall not seek.
If the Lord is our Shepherd, then we are sheep. This seems fitting, since Man is born of sin,
and is unworthy of the Grace that God bestows.

What does God expect of us? As lambs, our submission shall be expressed in silence.

a reply to: Diderot

“We shall not want” means that we shall not seek.

Literally, it says, "He shall not fail me."

What that means is that God will not abandon his sheep, as it continues on in the analogy to describe what He continues to do as the good shepherd.

a reply to: jmdewey60

"What that means is that God will not abandon his sheep, as it continues on in the analogy to describe what He continues to do as the good shepherd."

Dear jm, You point is well taken, but I have a problem with the first line of the psalm. I have no problem with God our Father, or God our Teacher, or God our Inspiration, but God our Shepherd puts us on the level of sheep, with no autonomy, or promise of our rightful domain upon the earth. The excellence of Humanity is no virtue to this God the Shepherd.

a reply to: Diderot

I have been in that valley... HE does comfort us. It has a much different meaning to me than it does to you apparently, but God reaches us where we are, and how we need reached at the time.

Good thread. Beautiful Psalm.

a reply to: Diderot

Oh Diderot, yes, yes it does.

See, you have to know shepards perhaps. But they care for the sheep of their flock, every single individual sheep is intimately cared for and looked after.

The rod is used to strike at anything that threatens the sheep, for the protection of the sheep, and it is also used to make sure there is nothing harmful (bugs and things) on the fleece and skin of the sheep. The staff is used to rescue sheep that may have fallen into any kind of hole...

if you know animal husbandry - you understand the intimate care of the shepard of his sheep.

It's not a mild thing here... and its a devotion and care of the flock that is second to none. God has an intimate devotion, according to this Psalm, of all his flock, His people...

originally posted by: Diderot
a reply to: jmdewey60

"What that means is that God will not abandon his sheep, as it continues on in the analogy to describe what He continues to do as the good shepherd."

Dear jm, You point is well taken, but I have a problem with the first line of the psalm. I have no problem with God our Father, or God our Teacher, or God our Inspiration, but God our Shepherd puts us on the level of sheep, with no autonomy, or promise of our rightful domain upon the earth. The excellence of Humanity is no virtue to this God the Shepherd.

Look at the world around you. The excellence of humanity? We spend billions and billions of dollars every year improving on our ability to kill each other instead of solving issues like disease or world hunger or poverty. We rape, murder, commit genocide, and pollute our planet. We have (in general) been an awful species and we have been doing these things for thousands of years.

It is my opinion that despite our best intentions, and our desire for self determination (perhaps out of an inflated sense of pride), we clearly are in need of a shepherd. If we haven't been able to stop this madness in 6000 years or more, what makes us think we can do so within another 6000 years?

I would gladly take 1000 years with the prince of peace at the helm than have humanity at the controls for another millenia. In the meantime, we will continue as we always have, in dire need of a shepherd but largely refusing to follow the right one.

a reply to: OpinionatedB

"but God reaches us where we are, and how we need reached at the time."

We are all children of this world, but we have different Fathers.

BUT, we are first cousins.

We are all family.

a reply to: Diderot

. . . I have a problem with the first line of the psalm. I have no problem with God our Father, or God our Teacher, or God our Inspiration, but God our Shepherd puts us on the level of sheep . . .

I'm reading the Septuagint version which was written in Greek.
There is another word, from the one used here, that literally means a shepherd.
The word in this verse is derived from that other word and means to care for as a shepherd would, so is the version you would use to indicate that you mean it figuratively rather than literally.

The same thing applies in the Hebrew, where this form of the word is the figurative variant that means a prophet or guide or leader.

a reply to: Diderot

We have the SAME father.... it is but different mothers.

He cares after us both, I'm sure.

a reply to: OpinionatedB

"God has an intimate devotion, according to this Psalm, of all his flock, His people..."

Dear Opie (please forgive me!), I won't argue with you. That is because I sense that you are one of the faithful
who truly honors the spirit of God's benevolence. Do you realize that there are atheists who would call you an
excellent human being?

a reply to: Diderot

It doesn't really matter to me what people think of me. Honestly. I am what I am, and that is imperfect to the umpteenth degree.

It's about trying to do better, each day... just a tiny bit better than the last. I do try to do that... but sometimes I fail.

We are all just people... doing our best. The only key, is to do one small thing better than you may have done yesterday...that is my motto anyway. My Lord and my faith helps me to do just that. Most days anyway.

a reply to: DeadSeraph

"It is my opinion that despite our best intentions, and our desire for self determination (perhaps out of an inflated sense of pride), we clearly are in need of a shepherd. If we haven't been able to stop this madness in 6000 years or more, what makes us think we can do so within another 6000 years?"

Do you measure the promise of Humanity by the transgressions of the last 6000 years? Such a trifling measure! We are primal animals, with one foot firmly rooted in the savage jungle. My life, and your life is but a blink of the eye in the measure of Humanity. The temporal horrors of our primitive nature will someday be a distant memory. Only a misanthrope could disagree.

p.s. I think that the DeadSeraph is only sleeping.

a reply to: jmdewey60

"The same thing applies in the Hebrew, where this form of the word is the figurative variant that means a prophet or guide or leader."

A Shepherd is not a prophet or guide or leader. I don't wish to argue etymological minutiae.

Having said that, I believe that you are a good Christian because you are a good human being.
To me, that is what matters.

originally posted by: Diderot
a reply to: jmdewey60



"What that means is that God will not abandon his sheep, as it continues on in the analogy to describe what He continues to do as the good shepherd."



Dear jm, You point is well taken, but I have a problem with the first line of the psalm. I have no problem with God our Father, or God our Teacher, or God our Inspiration, but God our Shepherd puts us on the level of sheep, with no autonomy, or promise of our rightful domain upon the earth. The excellence of Humanity is no virtue to this God the Shepherd.

We are beast of burdens to spirits. Just as the animals are beast to us.

a reply to: OpinionatedB

"We have the SAME father.... it is but different mothers.
He cares after us both, I'm sure."

I was never any good at arguing with my mother!

a reply to: Diderot

Yes, we submit. HIS will be done.

I go about my day and my business. I leave everything up to Him. I can't worry about things beyond my control. Those are His; sometimes, the things within my control are His, too. I trust Him to guide me, to see to me, to make sure that there will be a way for me.

Once I learned all that. My life got so much easier. He provides what I need; I have only to hold up my end of the bargain and do my best to live the life he desires of me. He takes care of the rest in His fashion.

So yes, I am in a sense a sheep, and He is the shepherd guiding my life. And I am grateful for that.

a reply to: Diderot

You make me laugh... and I 100% agree!

it is not literal, the bible is a SYMBOLIC story, the Shepard was at the time the 'Story' was written was symbolic of guiding the flock to better pastures, which the 'sheep' (they where probably actually goats) would do so naturally if they Shepard wasn't trying to herd them to USE for his own gain.

The PRIESTS created a STORY of greater comfort and certainty than the actual crap reality the people where living, disease, pestilence, Romans etc. These types of stories where repeats of other older stories, in fact the bible is predominately a copyright infringement.

Today we would say
The Lord is my CEO, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green fifties and one hundreds.

a reply to: Diderot

A Shepherd is not a prophet or guide or leader. I don't wish to argue etymological minutiae.

It's not "minutia".
In the English translation, there is not a word, "shepherd-like in a figurative way, being literally something else, who we would look up to as a leader or ruler" (where in Hebrew and Greek, there is), so the translators just used "shepherd", expecting at least the one reading this in church to get the metaphorical value, and to transmit that understanding to the congregation by way of exposition of the text (the sermon).

originally posted by: Diderot
Few passages in the Bible tug at the heartstrings like this one:

~Psalms 23:1-6~

The LORD is my CEO, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green fifties and one hundreds,
He leads me beside quiet cafes, He restores my internet connection.
He guides me in paths of corporate takeovers for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no lawful conviction, for You are with me;
Your military and Your nuclear arsenal, they comfort me.
You prepare a virus before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my corporations with oil; my pockets overflow.
Surely madness and hate will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Amen.

This is a powerful appeal to submission.

Sorry I just had to tweak it a little more......