Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 1 of 2

     The 23rd Psalm is famous.  Most people either have heard it or can recite it from heart. I heard this psalm in Sunday School when I was in 1st or 2nd grade.  For most of my life this psalm just conjured up pictures of a kind shepherd leading his flock through lush green pastures to a pristine lake.  That's all I would still be thinking if it weren't for chapter 11 of the Life-Study of Psalms.  I learned from reading this chapter that all the imagery of this psalm actually depicts five stages of the Lord's shepherding us. Who would have thought?!

     In the first two verses of this psalm  I learned that the contented sheep signify the 1st stage of the Lord's shepherding that occurred when we first got saved.  Instead of feeding on the dry stubble in the world, we are now feasting on the rich pastures in God's word and drinking the refreshing life-giving water of the Spirit. What a difference! 
 
     In verse 3 David speaks of the shepherd restoring our soul and guiding us on the paths of righteousness; this is the 2nd stage of the Lord's shepherding. This causes me to picture a shepherd using the crook of his staff to bring back any wayward sheep on the path.  In this section Witness Lee says to restore is to revive, renew and transform. 

    So this showed me that in this stage the Lord's shepherding is more personal.  I've found that as I'm feeding on the word and drinking the Spirit every day, the Lord within me will point things out that are taking me off the path of righteousness. 

     I learned from reading the Life-Study of Matthew that righteousness means being right with God and man. Like you I'm not always right with God or people in my life.  Inside my heart the Lord kindly reproves me, and that's His way of correcting me so I can return to the path of righteousness. 

      The 3rd stage of the Lord's shepherding of us is seen in Psalm 23:4 where David talks about walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  This includes all the sorrows that are part of our Christian journey. I got a lot of help from brother Lee's fellowship on pages 144-145  about knowing the Lord's shepherding in the valley:

 When we are in the valley, the best way for us to deal with it is to rest.  The tests in the valley always tempt us to do something so that we can come out of the valley.  But the more we do, the more the valley extends. We just need to be quiet, to rest.  Our resting in the Lord will shorten the valley, reduce the shadow, and remove the death. We should not talk about our being in the valley. The more we talk, the wider the valley becomes. The best way is for us to forget that we are in the valley, because we have the Lord with us. We do not fear evil, because He is with us....If we have had the proper experience in the valley, we can testify that it was a place for us to enjoy the Lord's presence in such a close way (Lee, Witness. Life-Study of Psalms. Anaheim: Living Stream Ministry, 1993, Print).

        Through such beautiful imagery, David leads us through all the stages he had experienced of the Lord's shepherding him. Every day we can know Him a little more as our shepherd!   Next time I'll post  the last two stages of the Lord's shepherding.
 
You can listen to excerpts of Witness Lee's speaking the Life-Studies of Psalms on Life Study of the Bible  with Witness Lee.   You can also read the online Life-Study of Psalms and check out other resources available to enhance your study of the Bible on Living Stream Ministry's website.


Others Posts on the Life-Study of Psalms:

What is the Focus of the Psalms?
How Does Psalm 8 Show Us God's Purpose in Creating Man?
Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 1 of 2
Taking a Closer Look at Psalm 23 - Part 2 of 2
Why is God's House Important in Psalms 25 -41?
Seeing the Divine Romance in Psalm 45
What Did the Psalmist Perceive in Psalm 73?
What are the Highways to Zion in Psalm 84?
Why Did the Psalmist Delight in God's Law in Psalm 119?