One of the more common motifs in catacomb paintings is Jesus as a shepherd. It was a common Old and New Testament metaphor. In Israel, as in other ancient societies, a shepherd’s work was considered contemptible, the lowest of all works. If a family needed a shepherd, it was always the youngest son, like David, who got this unpleasant assignment. Jesus has chosen to be our shepherd, David says. How remarkable; the great God of the universe has stooped to take just such care of you and me. David knew this metaphor in a unique way, having been a shepherd himself. David uses the most comprehensive and intimate metaphor yet encountered in the Psalms, preferring usually the more distant ‘king’ or ‘deliverer’, or the impersonal ‘rock’, ‘shield’, etc; whereas the shepherd lives with his flock and is everything to it: comforter, guide, physician, and protector.

There are 7 descriptive affixes used in the Old Testament for Yahweh. The Lord is my: 1)Shepherd, 2)Peace (Judges 6:24) 3)Health (Ex 15:26), 4)Righteousness (Jer23:6), 5)Companion (Ezek 48:35), 6)Victory (Ex 17:15), 7)Provision (Gen 22:14). All of them are present in this Psalm. He ‘wanted for nothing’ because the Lord supplied all he needed. The implication of being ‘made to lie down’ is that the shepherd knows better than the sheep what is best, here described to the imagination by the loveliest image afforded by the natural world, a flock, feeding in verdant meadows, and reposing, in quietness, by the water running gently through them.

David’s soul was restored by the figurative ‘green pastures’ and ‘still waters’ the shepherd brought him to. In Hebrew the words ‘restores my soul’ can mean ‘brings me to repentance’ (or conversion).

The sheep didn’t need to know where the green pastures or still waters were; all he needed to know was where the shepherd was! The shepherd would guide the sheep to what he needed. To display the glory of his grace, ‘for His name’s sake’ and not on account of any merit in me. God’s motives for conduct towards the children of men are derived from the perfections and goodness of his own nature. He loves and cares for you!