“And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

We come to the last entry in the study of Psalm 23. There’s good reason why this is one of the most beloved psalms and passages in all of the Scripture. What makes this psalm so great has nothing to do with the sheep and everything to do with the greatness of the LORD who is our Shepherd.

There is nothing more important to sheep and their well-being than who their shepherd is. Whether the sheep will be well taken care of, fed, led, and kept all depends on their shepherd.

Who is our Shepherd? None other than the LORD!

The Hebrew for this last entry literally reads, “And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh for a never ending day.”

The key to experiencing the Shepherd’s provisions, guidance, protection is proximity. Get near the Shepherd. Stay close to the Shepherd. Keep your eyes on the Shepherd. Keep your ears attentive to the Shepherd’s call.

Jesus declares in John 10:15, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

In the hills that surround Israel, multiple shepherds allow their herds to graze on the hills. Each herd knows the voice of their shepherd. They will not follow a stranger’s voice. They will only heed their shepherd’s voice.

If you’ve been a parent, you know how this works. You take your toddler to the playground and there are dozens of kids playing. And even though there are dozens of kids playing, giggling, talking, a parent is able to pick out their own child’s voice without even listening for it. The moment a child falls and cries out, a parent is able to pick out not only their child’s cry, but they can tell what kind of hurt cry it is.

So it is with the Good Shepherd and his sheep. Jesus says in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Do you know the Shepherd’s voice? The only way to get to know his voice is through the daily reading of the Shepherd’s words in the Bible, and to weekly hear God’s word in worship.

The LORD is our Shepherd. As we stay near his presence, we will dwell in his house forever – for a never ending day.

Amen.

“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).

Because the LORD is our Shepherd, God’s goodness and love will follow us all the days of our lives.

To properly understand what the psalmist meant, I want us to pay attention to three words: goodness, love, follow.

Goodness

• The Hebrew word is towb – pronounced as tove
• This word means good, pleasant. But this word has a heaviness to it that the English word “good” cannot communicate. This isn’t just being happy. The good that this word refers to is a good that is not shaken for it is rooted down, it is heavy, it has substance
• This is a goodness that is unshakable

Love

• The Hebrew word is hesed
• This word means goodness, kindness
• When we learned this psalm as a young person we would have memorized it as mercy
• Hesed is one of the most important words in the Hebrew Bible. It refers to God’s goodness and love
• Unlike human love, God’s love is not finicky. God’s love is constant and consistent
• We call it steadfast love for there is nothing that can shake God’s hesed, love, goodness, kindness.

Follow

• The Hebrew word is radaph
• The English translation is way too tepid. The Hebrew word literally means to chase after, to pursue
• Follow is so weak compared to chase after or pursue

Putting it all together. The psalmist tells us because the LORD is our Shepherd God’s unshakable goodness and God’s steadfast and never-ending love will chase after and pursue us all the days of our lives. As long as the LORD is our shepherd, we will live in God’s unshakable goodness because God’s steadfast love for us. Our Shepherd will chase after us and pursue us to make sure this is our reality.

Wow! That’s great news! Don’t you just love God’s word?!?! It reveals God’s character and nature. And it’s awesome!

“You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5).

Sheep are terribly sensitive animals. In “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” by Phillip Keller, he writes:

Sheep are especially troubled by the nose fly. These little flies buzz about the sheep’s head, attempting to deposit their eggs on the damp, mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose. If they are successful the eggs will hatch in a few days to form small, slender, worm-like larvae. They work their way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head; they burrow into the flesh and there set up an intense irritation accompanied by severe inflamation. For relief from this agonizing annoyance sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, posts, or brush. They will rub them in the soil and thrash around against woody growth. In extreme cases of intense infestation a sheep may even kill itself in a frenzied endeavor to gain respite from the aggravation. Often advanced stages of infection these flies will lead to blindness.

A wise shepherd applies oil and ointment to keep flies away. But this isn’t a one time application. The shepherd applies oil and ointments to the heads of his sheep throughout summer.

What bugs you? There are irritants in life that keep us from living fully into God’s grace. Our wise shepherd gives us his Holy Spirit to keep irritants at bay. Just as with sheep, the application of the Holy Spirit is to be a daily exercise. We are to apply the Holy Spirit through God’s word and prayer so that we don’t allow irritants to drive us batty!

When we apply the Holy Spirit daily, our cup overflows. The reason why God doesn’t just fill the cup to the brim is because we are selfish. But because God fills our cups to overflowing all those around people who’s cups are overflowing benefit from the blessings of the Holy Spirit.

The key is the daily application of God’s Holy Spirit through the reading of God’s word and prayer. This is a daily exercise. And when we do, our cups overflow with the blessings of God and all those around us are blessed as a result.

You’re off to a great start! Get in God’s word and be a blessing to those around you!!!