Easily one of the most memorized and thoroughly analyzed passages of Scripture, the Shepherd Psalm is still often misunderstood. It is seldom seen as a simple Hebrew parable. Here is King David near the peak of his dominion, when most of the surrounding nations are in decline and the reach of his power expands yearly. Yet he regards himself fortunate to be in the flock of the Good Shepherd. However, not every line of this song remains neatly inside that image.
If there’s anyone who understands what shepherding requires, it’s the seventh son of Jesse, the shepherd boy anointed as king fresh from the fields. Please don’t imagine that David worked alone; a noble son always had a retinue of servants. He did sleep out in the field with the servants, but they were his family’s flocks and he was overseer for several scattered herds. But David was quite obviously a hands-on manager. It’s his voice the sheep were taught to follow, while the other men ran along the edges of the flock to pick up stragglers, ward off threats and keep the sheep from wandering.
He knew that sheep primarily focused on two things: eating and making more sheep. The latter required the former, of course. So David speaks of how God takes care of all the shepherd’s worries and he can focus on the simple things of following the Lord. Sheep waste less energy chasing food if the pastures are green. Most of us have been told that sheep will not drink from busy, noisy water, but it requires the shepherd create a quiet pool along the edge of the stream.
Sheep tend to follow their one chief shepherd’s voice if he calls to them while hiking to the next pasture. In David’s case, the Shepherd of his soul sings and builds an atmosphere of joy and trust. It means the place where a sheep feels on top of the world, because it has no memory of bad times. By definition, the path of the Lord is the way of divine justice. You can’t go wrong following His commands. All you have to keep in mind is the very simple necessity of His glory. How hard can that be?
Sheep seldom noticed much of anything when pasturing except that next bite of grass. If the shepherd was really good, they’d never see the threats he killed or chased off. So in the proverbial Valley of Death, David was nearly mindless about fear, since God was so completely equipped to handle trouble. Please note that the words for rod and staff in Hebrew have no useful distinction in this text and there’s no point in getting hung up on the difference. The primary meaning is a symbol of power and authority, not as a weapon. It’s rather like saying staff in both senses of the word, because the Lord would have a retinue of servants, too.
There’s no experience in a sheep’s life that calls for a dining table. Thus, David departs from the strict sheep image and refers to serving as a retainer in God’s courts. How nice for your opposition to wait tables while you eat! And then he is anointed as their king. It’s enough to make a man giddy, almost drunk, with the unspeakable joy of God’s favor. The power and richness of that divine favor chases David wherever he goes. David has no doubt when he passes from this life it’s just entering an even better version of the same, for he will see His Shepherd face to face.
