SPIRITUAL PROPITIATION
Psalms 23:1-6 tells us, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalm 23 is a picture of spiritual propitiation. Through God’s grace, we have been reconciled. Romans 5:1 (NKJV) says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Through our salvation and regeneration, we have become His children; His sheep. We are babes in Christ. Like babes, we are dependent on Him. We recognize that all things come from God (James 1:17). He owns all that we have, and He wants us to follow His direction. When we live in His will, He cares for our every need.
Psalm 23 is also a portrait of complete surrender. The sheep are completely dependent on the shepherd to protect and lead them. He watches over them and cares for them. The shepherd is unbending in his loyalty to them.
The first verse of the 23rd Psalm says: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The word “shepherd” is the Hebrew word Raah which means “to tend a flock.”[1] However, the word for Lord is YaHWeH. The word shepherd is descriptive of the word Lord and is, therefore, another name for God; literally, “The Lord is Shepherd of me” or “God, my Shepherd (Message). He is our Shepherd and we are His flock.
But who are his flock? All real penitents, all true believers; all who obediently follow his example, abstaining from every appearance of evil, and in a holy life and conversation showing forth the virtues of Him who called them from darkness into his marvelous light. "My sheep hear my voice, and follow me.[2] – Adam Clark
The phrase “I shall not want,” describes the state of the believer who is not only fully committed to Jesus our Shephard but has also surrendered completely to His Lordship. The recipient of God’s grace in this Psalm lives a life that is surrendered completely to Him.
He gives us spiritual pause (vs. 2a). The reward for our surrender is that God our Shepherd sustains us. His grace translates into rest. “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.” Psalms 62:5 commands the soul to find rest in the Shepherd when it says, “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.”
Green pastures are a place of perfect rest for the sheep. As children, after playing hard, we lay in the thick grass, feeling it’s warmth and comfort, the cool breeze moving over us, looking into the endless sky, we see the clouds slowly move by. Also as little children, there are only simple pressures. The world has not yet stained and saturated our lives with the cruelty of the pain and suffering associated with its stress, responsibility, and interpersonal relationships. God’s grace allows us to pause. We are His children and as such, we can give or place our burdens on Him.
He grants us spiritual peace (vs. 2b); “He leads me beside the still waters”. Peace is a grace gift from God. One that few too Christians exercise. In John 14:27 Jesus says this about our gift of peace from God, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Jesus says, don’t worry; don’t fear.” Our shepherd is there to guide us to the safe places.
Not stagnant waters, but waters not tempestuous and stormy; waters so calm, gentle, and still, as to suggest the idea of repose, and such as prompt to repose. As applied to the people of God, this denotes the calmness-the peace-the repose of the soul, when salvation flows as in a gently running stream; when there is no apprehension of want; when the heart is at; peace with God.[3]
The shepherd leads us to the quiet place where the stream has no rapids or swirls. It is where the sheep will not be frightened by the noise of the stream but be comforted by the occasional pools that the stream produces as it finds an area to spread and calm its fury. It is this peaceful water that allows us to drink deeply of the water that brings eternal life. Jesus describes this water in John 4:14, “…but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
(To Be Continued)
[1] James Strong, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, © 1890, Public Domain, Copy Freely, http://hopeinjesus.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Strongs-Exhaustive-Concordance.pdf
[2] Adam Clarke, The Adam Clarke Commentary on Revelation, Ibid.
[3] Barnes' Notes, Ibid.
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