Because of My Shepherd... It Is Well With My Soul!

May 4, 2019

Worship in WORD:

Ps 28:6-29:1 6 Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. 8 The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one. 9 Save your people and bless your heritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever. A psalm of David. NIV

Ps 28:6-9 6 Praise the Lord! For he has heard my cry for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving. 8 The Lord gives his people strength. He is a safe fortress for his anointed king. 9 Save your people! Bless Israel, your special possession. Lead them like a shepherd, and carry them in your arms forever. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Ps 28:6-9 6 Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him. 8 The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed. 9 Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever. KJV

Ps 28:6-9 6 Blessed be the Lord! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. 8 The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!  Be their shepherd and carry them forever. ESV

I.  Minor Key: vv. 1-5

            A. Pleas (vv. 1- 3)

1.     Hear Me! - v. 1  

2.     Have Mercy! – v. 2a

3.     Help! – v. 2b

            B. Imprecation (vv. 4-5)

II. Major Key: vv. 6-9

            A. Praise (vv. 6-8)

            B. Supplication (v. 9)

    1. Preserve: Oh, save your people – ESV

    2. Pour out: bless your heritage! – ESV

   3. Provide

               4. Protect

  Shepherd

A modern-day shepherd in Israel guiding a flock of sheep and goats. Sheep are very dependent upon the care and protection of their shepherd. A good shepherd will provide his flock with green pasture and clear water, while protecting them from predators.

Photo courtesy of David Hawkinson  Photos of the Holy Land, Photo Copyright © 1993, 1994 Corel Corporation.

(Emphasis in bold is mine)

3. Provide: Be their shepherd – ESV

4. Protect: carry them forever – ESV               

We come to the second couplet and observe these reversals when compared to the first couplet. The former began with a negative and ended with a positive. Here David begins with a positive and ends with a negative. Now you might be confused here. How can being delivered and carried be negatives? They aren’t! I am not referring to them as negatives. I am referring to the situations that necessitate deliverance and being carried. I hope that clears things up.

Another reversal of order is that the first couplet moves from specific to general. The latter couplet moves from general to specific. In both, the general encompasses the specific.

Oh, save your people                   and                    bless your heritage!

            (Specific)                                                                   (General)

 Be their shepherd             and                    carry them forever.

            (General)                                                                  (Specific)

Let me elaborate a little more on what I am saying here. The phrase “save Your people” Is specific. They needed deliverance out of trouble. The phrase “bless your heritage” is general. The blessings are all-encompassing. They refer to all the promises of God, of which deliverance is one specific form of blessing. The phrase “Be their shepherd’ is general for it embodies all that a shepherd is and does to and for their sheep, of which carrying is one aspect of shepherding.

Because of these reversals, I have chosen to cover the second couplet together. One might scan this passage and assume that David was only saying, that as their “shepherd,” he wanted the Lord to carry them – whatever that means. However, I think, in keeping with the pattern laid out above, that he desired the Lord – metaphorically speaking – to be His people’s Shepherd. Their Shepherd in all the fullness of what a shepherd is and does, as I have said in the preceding paragraph.

The sub-caption below the picture above delineates two basic tasks of a Shepherd:

A good shepherd will provide his flock with green pasture and clear water, while protecting them from predators.

That certainly agrees with my outline, but the fuller contours implied in the use of this metaphor are not delimited* if we limit it to such a brief summation. For when we read or hear the word “shepherd,” our minds are immediately drawn to the 23^rd Psalm.  I spent 3 months in that psalm. (You can read all that I wrote about it in my blog. **)

In saying this, it implies that there is a fullness found in the word “shepherd” as it refers to the Lord. A fullness that cannot be given justice in this brief study. A plethora of meaning that books have been written about. So I have chosen to outline some of them as found in Psalm 23.

I. Refreshes & Restores:

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³ he restores my soul.
Ps 23:2-3a NIV

2. Routes:

He guides me in paths of righteousnessfor his name's sake.
Ps 23:3b NIV

3. Rescues & Reassures:

Even though I walkthrough the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,for you are with me;your rod and your staff,they comfort me.
Ps 23:4 NIV

4. Repletes:

You prepare a table before mein the presence of my enemies.You anoint my head with oil;my cup overflows.
Ps 23:5 NIV

[I realize many commentators feel that the picture changes from Shepherd to Host in verse 5, but even if that is so, the idea of shepherding is not totally out of the purview in this verse. *** There may be a mixing of metaphors here. It may be a way David transitions from the fields and valleys to a permanent dwelling in the “in the house of the Lord.” (Ps 23:6).]

A fifth and sixth point could be added which are not to be found (though perhaps implied) in Psalm 23 but in the Gospel of John chapter 10.

5. Relinquishes:

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:11 NIV 

6. Recognizes:

I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know meJohn 10:14 NIV

I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.John 10:16 NIV

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.John 10:27-28 NIV

As the Lord’s sheep, our responsibility is to listen and to follow and stay together (there shall be one flock and one shepherd - Jn 10:16). The Good Shepherd sees that this will definitely happen, for He knows us (chooses/ knows intimately), and rescues us (lays down His life, leaves the 99 – see Mt 18:12-13) when we stray as sheep tend to do sometimes. He also desires that we remain one flock in one pen (John 17:22 - that they may be one as we are one NIV – I realize the picture of one flock is not found in this passage, but the principle still is). He continues in these things even today.

A Sheep’s Prayer

Oh Lord may I follow You only.

For with You, I’m never lonely

In Your fields may I rest and feed.

The pastures where You lead.

At Your waters, I am refreshed.

Keep me from being enmeshed

In the bramble on the wrong path

That leads to destruction and wrath.

And when in valleys deep and dark,

Let Your voice be the one I hark.

In You, my needs are replete.

At Your table, You save me a seat.

In Your flock may I continually abide.

From none of Your sheep may I hide.

 — Baa-men

* delimit verb de·​lim·​it | \ di-ˈli-mət  , dē-\delimited; delimiting; delimits

Definition of delimit

transitive verb: to fix or define the limits of

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delimit

** My first entry was on August 28, 2015, and my last was on December 1, 2015

     Here’s a link to my first entry. You can follow from there if you desire:

     https://journal4christ.blogspot.com/2016/02/marvelous-grace.html

*** Wiersbe makes this observation:

Some students believe there is a change of metaphor here, from the shepherd and his sheep to the host and his guest, but this is not necessarily the case. "Table" doesn't necessarily refer to a piece of furniture used by humans, for the word simply means "something spread out." Flat places in the hilly country were called "tables" and sometimes the shepherd stopped the flock at these "tables" and allowed them to eat and rest as they headed for the fold (see 78:19).(from The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament © 2001-2004 by Warren W. Wiersbe. All rights reserved.) –
(This is part of a quote I included in my journal on October 27, 2015)

FF Bruce makes this comment on Psalm 23:5:

Certainly vv. 5, 6 do not maintain the sheep metaphor, but there is no need to assume the conscious introduction of another metaphor; the psalm is a unified expression of what God does for the psalmist.
(New International Commentary, General Ed. (revised edition) F.F. Bruce, Zondervan 1979 p. 572)(Ibid – September 11, 2015)

Worship in Witness:

Oh Lord I sit here with nothing to say

Nothing to write about my day

Empty in thought, devoid of feeling

With head spinning and heart reeling

Wondering when the storm will cease

The raging tempest, to calm and peace

And then I heard a glorious song

Singing a truth, I knew all along

It saved me from the ragged shoal

Yes Lord, it IS well with my soul!

Worship in Song: It Is Well With My Soul by Matt Redman

And here is the actual song I heard as I began to compose my poem above. I did not know how the poem would end. I just started to write down my thoughts and feelings in rhyme. Then this song began to play, and I began to laugh with joy as God reminded again (and again and again...) of His faithfulness in the calm and in the storm.

Our scars are a sign
Of grace in our lives
And Father, how You brought us through
When deep were the wounds
And dark was the night
The promise of Your love, You proved
Now every battle still to come
Let this be our song

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

Weeping may come, remain for a night
But joy will paint the morning sky
You’re there in the fast
You’re there in the feast
Your faithfulness will always shine
Now every blessing still to come
Let this be our song

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul

You lead us through battles (You lead us through battles)
You lead us to blessing (You lead us to blessing)
And You make us fruitful (You make us fruitful)
In the land of our suffering, God
And it is well, it is well with my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
I trust Your ways (I trust Your ways)
I trust Your name (I trust Your name)
And it is well, it is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul, my soul

© 2015 sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs / Said And Done Music (ASCAP) (Admin. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) / Thankyou Music (PRS) (admin. worldwide at CapitolCMGPublishing.com, excluding Europe, which is admin. by IntegrityMusic.com) // Chorus of “It Is Well With My Soul” Traditional Hymn, Public Domain / Words by Horatio G. Spafford, 1873; Music by Philip P. Bliss, 1876

Lyrics: https://life1025.com/songs/it-is-well-with-my-soul-3/

Video: https://youtu.be/dKi7dePvoK0?list=RD810qOvhkl7I