The Shepherd's Psalms

Today we are going to look at a trilogy in the Psalms. A trilogy is three parts that are needed to tell the whole. We often think of books or movies when we think a trilogy. If you only see the middle one, then you don’t know what went on before, that got everything to that point. You don’t totally understand what is going on.

And if you don’t see the third one then you don’t know how it all ends. The middle story might be really good, but what if it doesn’t last. What if it turns out bad. So to really understand the story you need to look at all three.

So today we are going to look at the trilogy of Psalms 22, 23, and 24. The three are very closely related. Psalm 23 is most likely the most popular of all the Psalms, but it would be meaningless without Psalm 22 and the story would not be complete without Psalm 24. These three Psalms are so closely tied together that they are often called “The Shepherd Psalms.”

Psalm 22 is about Christ on the cross.

In the very first verse we have some of the words of Christ while on the cross.

Psa 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Verse one sets the stage for what this Psalm is about.

Then it give several details about Christ’s experience on the cross.

Psa 22:7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying], Psa 22:8 He trusted on the LORD [that] he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

Psa 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

Psa 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

Psa 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

Psa 22:17 I may tell all my bones: they look [and] stare upon me.

Psa 22:18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

Psalm 22 tells us of how the wicked treated him, how his bones were out of joint, and how they pierced His hands and His feet, how they stared at Him and gambled for His clothes.

Psalm 22 is clearly about the cross

In Psalm 22 we see: the cross, Christ is the Savior, He is the foundation, He dies, Psalm 22 speaks of the past He gives His life for the sheep.

In Psalm 23 we have a different picture of Christ.

In Psalm 23 we see the Shepherd leading us He is the Satisfier He is the manifestation He is living Psalm 23 speaks of the present We see him giving His love to the sheep.

In Psalm 24 we have yet another picture of Christ. In Psalm 24 we see the crown. The Kings Crown He is Sovereign He is the expectation He is coming Psalm 24 speaks of the future He gives us light when He shall appear.

What a wonderful picture we have of Christ in theses three psalms. We see his love in Psalm 22. What love you ask? The love of John 3:16 Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We see the love of Romans 5:8 Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

We see the love of the good shepherd. Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

We see his love in Psalm 23.

The love of a resurrected living Lord. We see the love of the shepherd. The love of the good shepherd and not an hireling that just takes care of sheep for money. Jesus taught about this in John chapter 10.

• Joh 10:7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.
• Joh 10:8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.
• Joh 10:9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
• Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.
• Joh 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
• Joh 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
• Joh 10:13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
• Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine.

In Psalm 23 we see the love of the great shepherd who takes care of His sheep and will not leave them.

• Psa 23:1 <A Psalm of David.> The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want.
• Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
• Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
• Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
• Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
• Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

In Psalm 23 we see the great shepherd of Hebrews 13:20

Heb 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

Heb 13:21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The great shepherd who will never leave you or forsake you.

In Psalm 24 we see the good and great Shepherd is coming back.

• Psa 24:7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
• Psa 24:8 Who [is] this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
• Psa 24:9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift [them] up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
• Psa 24:10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he [is] the King of glory. Selah.

He is coming back as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

In Psa 23:5 He prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies:

But one day He is coming back as the King and will destroy our enemy, and throw that old wicked devil into a pit.

Rev 20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And in Psalm 24 we see the love of the Chief Shepherd. The Shepherd who does not only want to save us from the penalty of sin, but one day will also save us from the presence of sin. One day He is coming back. And on that day we will be saved from the presence of sin. Our sin natures will be put away.

He loves us and He does not want us to have to deal with sin forever.

• 1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
• 1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
• 1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
• 1Co 15:55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?
• 1Co 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.
• 1Co 15:57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of the Love of Christ we have great things to look forward to.

1Pe 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

The Chief Shepherd of Psalm 24 is coming back with rewards.

What a wonderful three-fold picture we have of Christ in these three Psalms.

In Psalm 22 we have a backward look. Psalm 23 is a present look and Psalm 24 points to the future. We see the good shepherd, the great shepherd and the chief shepherd.

Psalm 23 starts by saying “The Lord is my Shepherd.

Many people claim this verse. Everyone would like to have the promises of the 23rd Psalm. I was witnessing to a man where I work about this. And he said everyone uses the 23rd Psalm. He said that at almost every funeral that he has went to, no matter what group it was, they used the 23rd Psalm in the funeral.

It seems that everyone wants to claim it. Years before I got saved I remember some wicked movie that I watched were some man was about to get killed by some monster and he started quoting the 23rd Psalm. I don’t remember much else about it except it did not work for him. The monster got him.

Everyone wants to claim it, but everyone can’t.

But by what authority can we say my shepherd. Can this Psalm be claimed by everyone? No it cannot.

Psalm 22,23,and 24 go together to tell one story. You have to know the Lord Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep before you can know Him as the Great Shepherd that provides and protects. You must know the good Shepherd of Psalm 22 before you can know the Great Shepherd of Psalm 23 or the Chief Shepherd of Psalm 24.

You have to know the Christ that died for you before You can know the Christ who protects and provides for you Or the Christ who is coming back with rewards for you.

The three are tied together into one story and they cannot be separated. You cannot accept the protection of Psalm 23 unless you accept the Provision for your sin that was made in Psalm 22.

With all that in mind lets take a brief look at Psalm 23. When I read Psalm 23 I am made to realize many things that I am very thankful for.

Psa 23:1 <A Psalm of David.> The LORD [is] my shepherd;

You know the difference between moving cattle and sheep? Cattle are driven. Sheep are led.

I for one am glad that it does not say The Lord is my driver. No The LORD is my shepherd. He leads us. Even after we are saved we still have a free choice to follow or not. How close we are going to follow is up to us.

The next thing it says is I shall not want. Now what does that mean? It cannot mean I will have everything that I want. For example I want to be able to finish redoing my wife's kitchen, but the project is stalled waiting for money. You can have things that you want that you do not get. And they can be good things. Many would say that having a floor is a good thing. And yet in God’s wisdom we are made to wait. Psalm 23 is not talking about wants as in what I want. But instead it is talking about wants as in needs. Your needs are not left wanting. I am very thankful that we have God’s promise that our needs will be taken care of.

Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Here is a picture of being led to a lush pasture where the sheep have plenty to eat and they become completely satisfied and have peace.

Another thing about sheep is that they will not lay down unless they have four things. 1 they have to be full. Hungry sheep will stay on their feet searching for another mouthful of food. Spiritual speaking Christ has given us more food in this book than we will ever be able to eat. No matter how long you have fed on this book, there is still plenty more.

2 A sheep will not lay down if they are afraid. Our shepherd is able to take away all our fears.

3 They must be content and comfortable. If flies or fleas are bothering them they will not lay down.

4 They must have harmony in the flock to lie down. If two of them are butting heads, they the rest simply cannot relax and lie down.

When it says that he maketh me to lie down, it is not talking about forcing the sheep to lay down as in knocking the feet out from under them and holding them down and forcing them to lay there. No. He makes us lie down by providing the right conditions. He leads us to the right pasture and the still waters. And I am very thankful for that.

Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: We all have times of trouble, times of hurting, but praise God He restores us.

he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

I am thankful that He leads us in the paths of righteousness. I can be assured that if I am walking where He is leading that I will not be led into anything that is wicked.

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

I am thankful that no matter where I am or what I am surrounded by that He never leaves me and that He is there is guide and comfort me.

Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

I am thankful that even with our enemies all around, He prepares a table for us.

Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

And of all the things that I am thankful for in the 23rd Psalm. Verse 6 is the one that I am the most thankful for.

We have His promise that we will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. You cannot loose your salvation.

What a wonderful set of promises that we have in the 23rd Psalm. But you can only claim them if you personally know the good shepherd of the 22nd Psalm.

You can only claim them if you have accepted the payment that Jesus made for your sins on the cross.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

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