Children's Bible Ministry of Connecticut, USA

The Lord is my Shepherd

Do you know the Psalm in the Bible that begins "the LORD is my Shepherd?" Why that is Psalm 23, of course. Do you know why the Bible says the Lord is a Shepherd to us? It is because we people are like sheep.

I'm sorry to have to say that sheep are not too smart. God made sheep like they are so that we can learn from them. Sheep need a shepherd. Without a shepherd, sheep would wander away and get lost. The shepherd finds the lost sheep and keeps them with the others. Isaiah (53:6) reminds us that, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." The Lord Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" Luke 19:10.

Sheep also cannot easily drink for themselves. If they get into water moving too fast they get carried downstream and drown as the water soaks their wool. Sheep cannot find good food for themselves. Left to themselves they will sometimes eat poisonous plants. The shepherd must take them to still, quiet waters and must prepare the pastureland for them, pulling out the poisonous plants.

I am glad the Lord is my Shepherd. We people often do not know what is best for us. I know some people who would eat candy all day. I know others who would not eat their vegetables if left to themselves. But God has wisely given us moms and dads to care for us.

Some people would fill their minds with bad thoughts or read the wrong kinds of books or listen to the wrong kinds of music, or look at the wrong kind of things on the internet. The Lord can lead us away from these things. Some would fill their bodies with the wrong kinds of food and drink, but the Lord can make us wise to do right and avoid the wrong.

Yes, the devilish world has all kinds of poisons for our souls. It promises good life and fun, but it ends up in misery and death. The Bible says, "There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end of it are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). On the other hand the Bible says, "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters . . . he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Psalm 23:1-3).

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in your own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil" (Proverbs 3:5-7).

If the Lord is your Shepherd-you will not want or lack any good thing.