Psalm 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.… What the Lord is to the believer is here set forth in a poem peculiarly Oriental in imagery. Two figures are employed, the Shepherd and the Host. The one is expressed, the other is implied. Two figures are employed because either alone is inadequate. Each is complemental to the other. The second uniformly is an advance upon the first. Seven suggestions are very prominent. 1. All wants are met in God. 2. All energy and joy are supplied in God. 3. All needed guidance. 4. All blessed companionship. 5. All security. 6. All comfort in sorrow. 7. An abiding place for homeless souls.All this depends on our faith, whether we can appropriate god and truly say, "my shepherd." it is curious to notice how the second figure is left to be inferred. Why did not David, in introducing the second part, say, "Jehovah is my Host"? Perhaps because the feelings of this relationship waited to be revealed (John 1:11, 12). God is in Christ more than host, and we are more than guests. He is our Father, and we are His sons and daughters. Hence our welcome home, and our dwelling place there. He is ours and we are His, and all that is His is ours, To the Jew He was Shepherd, to the Christian believer He is Father. (Arthur T. Pierson D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Psalm of David.} The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. |
    |