Psalm 23 is one of the popular psalms in the bible written by King David, but I recently took a deeper look at the Psalm and I was refreshed by the revelation I got from it and I will like to share them with you.

Only a good shepherd could have written that psalm. A good and experienced shepherd for that matter, a shepherd who knew how to take care of his sheep and David was obviously a good and experienced shepherd. He speared nothing, he killed every lion and bear that came and carried off a sheep and rescued the sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-35).

David had to be a shepherd before becoming a king. He knew how to tend a flock, he was committed to the job. As young as he was, being the youngest of eight sons (1 Samuel 16:10), his father’s heart trusted him most to care for the sheep, despite all the dangers surrounding the job, David ensured not one of the sheep was missing. This experience made him write Psalm 23 through the eyes of a good shepherd.

No experience is wasted. In fact, God speaks to us through our experiences. If David could take care of the sheep as much as he did, he knew that God who is greater can do much more. I think that’s why he started the psalm with “The Lord is my Shepherd…”  

I remember some time ago, after a long day’s work and taking care of the family, I lay in bed at night, thinking of those things I was trusting God for and wondering if He hears me as I drifted off to a deep sleep. Later that night, I heard my son call me from the next room, he called just once and I heard him from a deep sleep. As I woke up sleepily to attend to him, I heard a voice tell me “Todun, if you can hear that from a deep sleep, I can hear you. Besides I do not sleep nor slumber”. God used that experience to speak to me and I know we all have examples of how God used an experience or circumstance to speak to us.

And David’s experience as a shepherd came in handy when he wanted to face Goliath, he laid down his past victories and he conquered Goliath through the help of God.

Psalm 23 is the prophecy of what was to come in John 10:1-21. Jesus himself said He is The Good Shepherd and the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Please read John 10: 1-21.

There is only one shepherd and one sheep.  Have you wondered why David was the only one tending to the sheep out of all his brothers? That illustration speaks for itself! Jesus is the only good Shepherd! And do you know that the plural of sheep is sheep! Friends, there is only one Sheep, one body of Christ and one Church under God! John 10: 16b says “There shall be one flock and one shepherd”.

Yours in the Walk…