This post is Day 11 in a series of studies about “Psalm 23”. I strongly suggest you begin with the introduction to this study, please click here to read it.

Feel free to comment below with your own thoughts about each verse and how you will be acting on each thought. Also, if you haven’t yet signed up to receive the notifications of new studies, you can do that today (the form is at the bottom of the page).

Psalm 23 – Day 11

For David, the thief was the lion or bear, but in our day we recognise that the thief is the devil himself or one of his demons. The only solution for us is to follow the Good Shepherd who gave His life that we might live long healthy happy lives.

John 10:10-11

The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life to the full. I am The Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

The Thought

When he wrote the psalm we are looking at this month, king David was remembering how he himself had learned to be good a shepherd in the days of his youth when he had spent all his time in the fields tending his father’s sheep.

When he “boasted” that he could slay Goliath, and his brothers scoffed at him, he surprised them by ending up in front of king Saul. We read that he told the king how he had saved the sheep from predators such as a lion and a bear (1 Samuel 17:34-37).

Can you imagine how, in his youth, he was risking his own life in order to save his sheep? What a picture that is of what Jesus did for us. David had no idea that hundreds of years later, Jesus would be the ultimate example of this, giving His life for us all, His Father’s sheep!

In David’s day “the thief” was the lion or bear, coming to devour a lamb, but in our day we recognise that “the thief” is the devil himself or one of his demons. It is a demonic force that is real and trying to destroy society today causing divorce, sickness, and death. The only solution for us is to follow “the Good Shepherd” who has given His life that we might live long healthy happy lives.

Action

Praise Jesus today that He is your “Good Shepherd”.

Reflect on the ways a shepherd cares for his sheep and ask God to show you how He has done the same for you in protecting you from any and every enemy, in feeding you good spiritual food, and protecting you from danger.