Meet The Good Shepherd

The LORD is my shepherd... – Ps 23:1

The opening line of Ps 23 in the Hebrew is “YHWH ra'ah” or literally “YHWH is the one shepherding (me).”

Some secular scholars contend that the idyllic image in Psalm 23 of a nice shepherd taking care of his young, bleating sheep is a western imposition on the Hebrew text. They claim that the original picture language of the Psalm was of a warrior-god staunchly defending his people from harm.

But if this were true, then it would be sort of a catch-22 since the “West” got that serene shepherd picture from … the Bible.

The Hebrew word “ra'ah” means to pasture, tend, graze, feed. The first mention of the word in scripture is in Gen 4:2 where it was said concerning  Abel that he was a “KEEPER (ra'ah) of sheep”... so we aren’t being overly imaginative in picturing a loving carer, are we? Indeed, apart from when it’s used as “shepherd/herdsmen” every other time “ra'ah” is used in the Hebrew it always means to either “keep” or “feed”.

But if these aren’t enough proof, then we need not look any further that the Christ Himself. In John 10 He introduces Himself as “the Good shepherd”; and what does the good shepherd do? He “gives his life for the sheep” (v 11).

That, Beloved, is the true picture of Ps 23. While the pagan image of a warrior – standing sword in hand that secular scholarship wants to impose on the text may sound harmless; it robs it of the intimacy and personal touch that the Holy Spirit wants you to know.

God’s not out ‘there’ protecting you, He’s right here with you. And, yes, that means you shall NOT want!

HALLELUIAH.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN