This is a song written by David, the shepherd-king. Being a shepherd, he knew the sheep; and at the same time, being a sheep, he knew his Shepherd.
I think probably no one in the world appreciated the Lord as Shepherd more than David did—not only because of his experience with sheep, for he was a shepherd himself, but more because he experienced the Lord as his Shepherd. So, out of his experience of the Lord, he composed this song.
It is not just a beautiful song. It is real. It is living.
He begins:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He is a sheep. He knows what he is. But he is good because he knows a Shepherd, and he commits himself totally to that One. That is the reason why he can say, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
There are sheep who do not know themselves, who think they are wise, clever, able, and sufficient. They do not need a shepherd, so they wander away. They go their own way, and then end up in disaster.
But there are sheep who are conscious of their own weakness, who know that they are not self-sufficient. They realize their need of a shepherd and put themselves under the shepherding of the Lord. These are the blessed people.
So, on our part, there needs to be a total commitment. We need to commit ourselves to the Lord. If we commit ourselves to Him, we find that He is totally committed to us. In that way, we can say, “I shall not want.”
You know, we all have wants of many kinds and different sorts. But if we really commit ourselves to the Lord as our Shepherd, then we find that all our wants are met by Him. They may not be met in the way that we expect, but we find that they are always met, because the Lord is our Shepherd.
Now, in this matter of pastoral care, I think no one is qualified to be involved in pastoral care if he or she has not experienced the shepherding care of the Lord.
In other words, in engaging in the work of shepherding, we ourselves must learn the lessons of being shepherded by the Lord. We cannot take care of people spiritually beyond what we ourselves have been taken care of by the Lord.
It is because shepherding is not just a matter of giving out some counsel, principles, or teachings. It is actually sharing Christ.
We were in need before. We were in want before. We found that our Lord Jesus, being our Shepherd, supplied our every need and met our every want. Out of such experience, we are able to help our brothers and sisters.
In other words, it is not our bookish knowledge, secondhand information, skills, or formulas that we have learned that can really shepherd people. It is our experience of the Lord Himself as our Shepherd that can help our brothers and sisters.
We are not going to go into the psalm and try to see in David’s daily life how he found the Lord to be his Shepherd. I think it would be a very profitable study if we meditated on this psalm with the life of David before us.
Whatever he says in this psalm is his experience of the Lord as his Shepherd. It was not theory to him. You can apply every word in this psalm to some phase of David’s daily life and see how he found the Lord to be his Shepherd—or, to put it another way, how he found the Lord to be everything to him.
But what we would like to use tonight is a little different. Here David tells us what the Good Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, the Lord as Shepherd, has done in his life. In what areas has the Lord shepherded him?
We would like to use this to show the different things that a shepherd does. When we are doing shepherding, when we are doing pastoral care, what things are expected of us? What should we do? What is included in pastoral care?
After all, all pastoral care is patterned after the Lord’s pastoral care. Actually, it is He who is pastoring; it is He who is shepherding.
First of all, David says:
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
As we have already mentioned, the sheep has no knowledge of pastures. It does not know how to distinguish between a good pasture and a bad pasture. It is not able to distinguish between what is nutritious and what is poisonous. The sheep is totally ignorant of all the pastures.
It is the shepherd who finds the pastures for the sheep. The shepherd knows where the pastures are, and he knows where the green pastures are—not barren, withered spots, but pastures that are green, fresh, living, and nutritious.
He knows his sheep so well that He knows, at a certain time, what kind of pasture and what kind of grass they need. So He leads them to the right pasture—perhaps at one time to this pasture, and at another time to another pasture—because He knows that their needs differ as they grow.
It is not just one pasture, but green pastures. There are various needs at various times and at various periods of growth. The shepherd chooses the pastures and leads the sheep there.
He lets them feed upon the green pastures until they are so well satisfied that, after they have eaten, they are able to lie down in the green pastures. In other words, there is more than enough for them. It is so abundant that, after they have eaten, there are still green pastures remaining.
The shepherd makes them lie down. Now, “make them” does not mean forcing them to lie down. It simply means that they are so full that they lie down and ruminate, trying to chew what they have already taken in so that it may truly become nourishment to them.
That is what the Shepherd does. Now, brothers and sisters, apply it spiritually. What are green pastures?
Of course, we know that our Lord Jesus is our Shepherd. He is not only our Shepherd; He is also our pasture. He is the green pastures—the riches of Christ, the unsearchable riches of Christ.
He offers Himself to us. He leads us to Himself—not something old, not something merely traditional, but something always living, fresh, and green. That is what our Lord Jesus is.
Brothers and sisters, for those of us who are involved in shepherding and pastoral care, this is the first thing that we must do. We must find green pastures for the flock of God.
Think of the hunger, the starvation, and the undernourishment of God’s people today. It is very true that in the last days people are hungry—not for water and food, as it were, but hungry for the word of God.
And the word of God is the living Word of God: Christ, the living Word of God. It is not merely the word of God presented as doctrine, teaching, or traditional concepts.
When the word of God is presented in a living, fresh way by the power of the Holy Spirit—something that you have experienced yourself—you experience Christ in the Word. It is not merely a written word. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the written word becomes living and becomes green pastures to you.
In other words, you yourself experience the Lord as the green pastures. You know for yourself the riches, the unsearchable riches, of Christ. Because you know, you are able to lead the flock to these places.
That is why we can never shepherd or pastorally care for our brothers and sisters beyond what we ourselves know of the Lord.
Oftentimes we think of shepherding or pastoring in an external way. We imagine that if we have some bookish knowledge of the word of God—or, even worse, some traditional teaching—we are able to shepherd others.
We may not even have checked that teaching with the Word. We may have learned it from school, books, or other people, and then we begin to shepherd people in that way. In other words, we lead them to old, barren, scorched, withered pastures.
No wonder God’s people are hungry. It is amazing. Sometimes you wonder how people can be Christians for ten or fifteen years, even in so-called fundamental churches, and yet when you really come to the word of God, you find that they do not know even the basics.
They have been led to one pasture all the time. They have been feeding upon that one pasture, but as they grow, they need other pastures. No wonder they do not grow. They remain there for years and years.
The reason is that those who are pastoring them, those who are shepherding them, themselves know no better.
How important it is, if we feel the burden of functioning in shepherding or pastoral care in the body of Christ, that we ourselves need to know Christ more and more. He is the green pastures.
Not just the fundamental things—we need to know the Lord not only as milk, but as meat.
Only after we ourselves have been fed are we able to lie down, ruminate, and chew the cud. In other words, the truth must truly be digested in us.
Sometimes we hear somebody teaching about certain things and say, “Well, we have got it,” and immediately go out and teach other people. But we have not digested it yet.
Now, I am not saying that we cannot take what we have heard and pass it on to other people. No one is original. Even the apostles were not original, because it was all given. If people think they are original, something is wrong.
It is perfectly all right to pass on what you have heard or read. But remember, you cannot do that before you have really digested it.
If you have not digested it, you have not lain down in the green pastures, satisfied with the Lord in a certain aspect of Him. But when you truly chew, ruminate, and digest, and it becomes yours, then, brothers and sisters, it is perfectly all right—and I think it is the will of God—for you to share it.
It is not given to you only for yourself. It is given to you not only to feed you, but through you to feed other brothers and sisters.
So, we who are doing pastoral care must ourselves know the Lord as the green pastures.
Not only must we know the Lord in such a way that we can lie down—that the Lord has made us lie down in green pastures—but we must help our brothers and sisters in the same way.
We must not merely let them taste a little of the Lord here or there. We must help them and share the Lord with such riches that they are able to lie down, ruminate, and digest until Christ becomes part of their very being.
The problem today is that after a person is saved, we say, “Now you are saved. All right, put you to work.” Instead of helping that person lie down, we rush him here and there and get him busy and involved in Christian work.
I am afraid this is the way Christianity has been doing and is still doing. What will be the result? Starving Christians trying to feed other Christians who are equally, or even more, starved.
Nobody is ever satisfied. There is no rest. They put you to work as if work is more important than your being before the Lord, as if doing is more important than being. But what can you do if you are not what you should be?
So, in pastoral care, brothers and sisters, when we see our brothers and sisters, the first thing we need to do is lead them to Christ, that they may feed upon the Lord to such an extent that they can really rest in Him.
Now, rest does not mean that they simply go to sleep. Rest means that they ruminate, chew the cud, and digest. Do not rush a person who has been saved and seems quite zealous. Do not immediately say, “Now do this and do that. Run here and run there.” He does not even have time to digest what he has received.
So, in pastoral care, the first thing we need to do is make the sheep lie down in green pastures. Brothers and sisters, have we done that? Is this what we are doing?
Then David says:
He leadeth me beside still waters.
Drinking is as important as eating. As a matter of fact, you can fast for a number of days, but if you do not drink water for a number of days, you cannot continue. We need to drink.
Drinking not only quenches our thirst; it helps digest our food. It conveys nutrition to our whole body and purifies our system. Drink is so essential, so important.
After the sheep have fed upon green pastures and begun to chew, the next thing the shepherd does is lead them beside still waters and provide drink for them.
We are told that sheep dare not drink water that is rushing in a torrent. They are afraid that they will be drowned. You have to lead them to still waters, and by still waters they will drink.
By drinking, the food is digested, nutrition is brought to them, and the system is cleared. It is good. We need that.
Now, what are still waters? Spiritually speaking, still waters are the Holy Spirit. He is the river of the water of life.
When the Holy Spirit speaks, He speaks with a still, small voice. He does not come in an overwhelming, rushing, forcing way. He comes with such gentleness, stillness, persistence, and constancy.
I think that is the difference between the work of the enemy, the devil, and the work of the Holy Spirit. If it comes from the enemy, it comes overwhelmingly upon you and tries to wipe you out.
But when it comes from the Holy Spirit, it is gentle, soft, kind, and yet persistent. It is like an anointing within you. Suppose you have a wound and put some ointment on it. You find that it is soothing, and it heals. That is the way the Holy Spirit works.
Now, in pastoral care, we often find that we lead people to ourselves. When we are shepherding people, we give them the advice, show them the way, and tell them what they ought to do.
In one sense, it is simple—not only for them, but for us too. We are supposed to be in the know; we know it, and they do not. The easy thing is simply to tell them.
It is easy for us, and it is easy for them, because they do not need to pray. They do not need to go to the Lord. They do not need to go to the Holy Spirit and let the Holy Spirit speak to them, because they have already heard us.
In shepherding, the greatest temptation is to substitute for the Holy Spirit. We act as God. It is the greatest temptation.
That is the quick way; that is the easy way—easy for them and easy for us. But if you know the answer and restrain yourself from telling them, it is difficult.
You may be able to say just one word and solve the problem. Yet you have to hold it back and let that person go through the agony of waiting upon the Lord and waiting upon the Spirit of God to tell him what to do. It may seem as though you are making it more difficult.
Out of our good heart and good intention, we want to make a quick solution. But in doing that, we may solve his problem at the moment, while that person becomes a problem himself.
He never learns how to go to the Lord or listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit. He will have no communion and no understanding of the way of the Lord. He will depend upon you. His whole Christian life will be external; there will be nothing internal.
Brothers and sisters, whenever a brother or sister has a problem and comes to you, and you know the solution, do not give your advice too quickly. Try to lead that person to still waters. Let him be beside still waters. Let him drink of the Spirit.
The hart longs after the water brooks not only because the water quenches its thirst, but because it can look into the water brook and see its own face reflected. In the same way, when people are led to the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit reveals them, exposes them, and shows them what they really are.
By doing so, the Holy Spirit is able to transform them according to the image of Christ. Do not deprive brothers and sisters of this opportunity. Every problem a brother or sister has is an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to transform that person.
But if we step in, substitute for the Holy Spirit, and give them the solution, we actually do a disservice to the Lord and to that brother or sister. Unfortunately, it is the greatest temptation.
Lead them. One of the works of a shepherd or pastor is to lead. You lead them to the Lord. You lead them to the Holy Spirit. That is your work.
You are not to solve their problems yourself. That is not your work. You are to lead them to the One, and the only One, who can really solve them.
Unfortunately, today among God’s people, this is very prevalent: God’s people do not know the Holy Spirit.
Even among people who have received the so-called baptism of the Holy Spirit—and I say “so-called,” not because I am against it, but because the term is so wrongly used—even those who have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit may not know the personality of the Holy Spirit.
The person of the Holy Spirit is so important. This is the still waters. We need to be beside the still waters. We need to drink, to have the food digested, to be reflected by the Holy Spirit, and to be transformed.
This is most important. In pastoral care, or in shepherding, this is the second thing we have to do: make them lie down in green pastures and lead them beside still waters.
How anxious we are to advise people. If people ask your advice, of course that is your opportunity. But we forget the Holy Spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters, I do believe that from the very beginning of our involvement in pastoral care—caring for our brothers and sisters—we should lead them to the Holy Spirit.
Instead of telling them what to do, we should be with them and pray together. You may know the answer, but do not give it right away. Pray together, and after praying, see whether the Holy Spirit speaks within them.
Ask them how they really feel about the matter. Then you can either confirm what the Holy Spirit has shown them or help correct them, because they may misunderstand through lack of experience.
Help them hear the voice of the Spirit. That is what you need to do. But certainly, you are not to take the place of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, you have to lead them to Him.
Number three:
He restoreth my soul.
You know, sheep are very temperamental. We have our ups and downs. Sometimes we are up, and other times we are down. Sometimes we fall. Sometimes we wander astray. Sometimes we are wounded. Sometimes we are sick. We need to be restored.
“Restore” can also be translated as “revive.” Sometimes our spirit is down. We feel miserable, and we need to be revived. At other times, we have fallen away and need to be restored. This is a common thing with sheep.
Because this is common to sheep, pastoral care and shepherding must include restoration.
But, brothers and sisters, if we ourselves are down, how can we revive our brothers and sisters? If we ourselves have fallen away, we will be like the blind leading the blind, and both will fall into the pit.
That shows how important it is that we ourselves must know the reviving of the Lord. We are no better than any of our brothers and sisters. We have our own low times as well.
We have gone through falling away, weaknesses, and depression. We have gone through all these things, but we find that our Lord has revived us and restored us.
Because He has restored us, on the one hand we can sympathize with those who need reviving and restoration; and on the other hand, we can minister the Christ whom we have experienced as our Restorer and Reviver.
Our Lord prayed for Peter, and after Peter was restored, he was to help the other brothers. We cannot restore others if we have never been restored.
The problem in pastoral care is that some people, if I may put it that way, are too strong. They have never experienced the downs—not to say falling away, or at least they think they have not.
Such people cannot sympathize with those who are down, those who are out. Sometimes we even hear people say, “Well, if they fall, let them go. We just go on. Leave them behind.”
When people say that, you know they are not shepherds. A shepherd would never do that.
Jacob was a good shepherd. When Esau said, “Let us go,” Jacob said, “No, no, no. You go ahead, because you are all swift. But I have all these young cattle. We have to go at the pace of the cattle and the children.” That is a shepherd’s heart.
You are never really able to appreciate that until you have been down and low, and have found how the Lord restored you.
Sometimes I think some experiences you have to go through yourself. Other experiences you go through not because of yourself, but because God wants to use you.
If God does not want to use you, perhaps you do not need to go through such experiences. It is much easier. But if you really want God to use you, be prepared: you will go through much more than other believers.
You may not need it for yourself, but it is needed for your ministry. Otherwise, you do not have sympathy.
A shepherd’s heart is full of sympathy. If you do not have sympathy, you cannot do pastoral care. You simply cannot, because that is a basic quality.
To be a priest, a high priest, you need sympathy. Our Lord Jesus, being our High Priest, is full of sympathy. This comes out of His own experience.
Even though He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things which He suffered. Therefore, He is able to save us to the uttermost.
I do not mean that you have to fall in a bad way before you can help people who have fallen. In the case of our Lord, He never fell. But He went through temptation, and He suffered. Therefore, He is able to help.
So, brothers and sisters, this is another area of pastoral care: restoration.
We cannot always deal only with healthy sheep. We have to deal with disobedient, stubborn, fallen, wandering, and unhealthy sheep, because they are sheep. They are the Lord’s sheep, and there are many of them. We have to take care of them.
Just as the Lord said, the shepherd will leave the ninety-nine sheep and go out to find the one wandering sheep. Sometimes we think that He loves the wandering sheep more than the ninety-nine, and it may seem that way.
In a family, a parent may seem to love the child who is always sick more than the other children who are healthy and strong. It is not that the parent is partial, but that the sick child needs more care. That is natural, and that is the way with the Lord.
One aspect of pastoral care is to restore—to bring them back to the Lord.
Restoration means returning to the Lord. If a person is not restored to the Lord, it is not restoration. You may restore a person out of his predicament, but if he is not restored to the Lord, he is not restored.
Then David says:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
We must not think that restoration is a waste of time. We may say, “Let us take care of all these healthy sheep and make them very efficient. Why spend time with these sick, poor, and wandering sheep?” Sometimes we may think it is a waste of time. But with a shepherd’s heart, it is different.
You have to do many negative things in restoration. But after you have restored them to the Lord, then you have to lead them again. It is a continuous leading. You have to lead them in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
As we have mentioned several times today, in the Eastern way a shepherd always walks before the sheep. He does not drive the sheep; he leads the sheep.
Sometimes, in pastoral care, we try to drive people. But as Jacob said, if you drive them, they would die. If you lead them, they will follow.
In leading them, of course, you are ahead. In other words, you have walked in the paths of righteousness yourself. Because you have walked in the paths of righteousness, you can lead them in the paths of righteousness.
Righteousness is not only something that we receive when we believe in the Lord. The righteousness of God comes upon those who believe in Christ Jesus. Christ is our righteousness. We are clothed with Christ, and because He is our righteousness, we are able to stand before God because God sees Him.
Thank God for that. But in Scripture, righteousness is more than a standing; righteousness is a path. In the original, it is plural: “paths of righteousness.” In other words, it is very practical.
The righteousness here speaks of practical righteousnesses. It does not refer merely to our initial righteousness in Christ. God has made Christ our righteousness, and thank God we have that. But it refers to the righteousnesses of the saints, as you find in Revelation 19.
The bride is clothed with bright, pure, fine linen, which is the righteousnesses of the saints. This is the righteousness spoken of in 1 John 2. It is practical righteousness.
After we have been made righteous, then we have to walk in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Otherwise, if we do not walk in the paths of righteousness, the name of the Lord will be disgraced.
We are supposed to be righteous. We have righteousness in Christ, and if we do not walk in the paths of righteousness, people will say, “Now, what is this?”
We have to walk in the paths of righteousness not only for our own sake, though it is for our own sake. We have to walk in them for His name’s sake.
To put it very simply, what is meant by righteousness? What is meant by the paths of righteousness? It simply means that we give God all His rights. That is righteousness.
We believe in Him. He is our God, our Lord, our Majesty, and our King. He has rights. He has every right over our lives.
Do we walk in the paths of righteousness? Do we give Him His rightful rights in every daily walk? Or, to put it another way, are we doing the will of God?
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, His body was for doing the will of God. Here we are: we belong to the Lord, and we have presented our bodies as a living sacrifice. Are we using this body to do the will of God?
Do we give God His rights? Do we let His will prevail in our daily walk? If we do, then we are walking in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Then the name of the Lord will be honored. People will see and will glorify Him.
This is another area of pastoral care. We have to lead our brothers and sisters in the paths of righteousness.
Brothers and sisters, this is an unrighteous world, and people are becoming more and more unrighteous. We are living in this unrighteous world, and we have to walk in the paths of righteousness so that we may be a testimony to God. Otherwise, we fail in our testimony.
Many of God’s people do whatever worldly people do. There is no difference. You know you are saved, and God knows you are saved, but the world does not know. They say, “You are no different from us. You do the same things that we do.”
We need to help our brothers and sisters walk in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. But again, you cannot lead if you are not walking. You have to go before them. A shepherd is to be an example. You walk before them, and they will follow.
David continues:
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.
Brothers and sisters, not only do we go through times of low tide, depression, hurt, and wandering away, but in our spiritual life we sometimes go through the valley of the shadow of death.
I do not know how true it is, but I have read in some books that in Palestine there is a valley called the Valley of the Shadow of Death. When a shepherd leads sheep from one pasture to another, they go through a very deep valley into which the sun cannot shine.
I do not know how true that is. But, in any case, God has not promised that we will have no valley experiences. God’s people sometimes do go through valley experiences.
But remember this: it is the valley of the shadow of death. In other words, it is not death; it is only the shadow of death. It frightens, but it does not hurt.
Sometimes people go through such experiences. A family may suffer some tragedy. There may be death in the family, or someone may experience something traumatic. It is as though the sheep is going through the valley of the shadow of death.
Among brothers and sisters, there are many like that. When this happens, what is pastoral care?
David says, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil.” Why? Because Thou art with me.
In other words, pastoral care means that you are there in time of need. You are available. Your presence is important.
Sometimes, when people go through tragic experiences, you may not have words that can comfort them. Words cannot comfort them. But the very fact that you are with them—that you go and simply be with them—your very presence and availability will mean strength and comfort to them.
It will help them through that period of the shadow of death. So, in pastoral care, you have to make yourself available.
When there is a need, you are there. Do not say, “Well, it is already eleven o’clock in the evening. Call me tomorrow morning.” Just be present. That is pastoral care.
Do not think that pastoral care means you have to say something. Sometimes not saying is better than saying. Otherwise, you will be like the three friends of Job and make the situation worse. Just be there. Your very presence will comfort.
Of course, the rod and the staff, they comfort. In Scripture, the rod means several things. In Leviticus, you find that the sheep pass under the rod. In other words, you count them.
You remember that they are under your care. You make sure that they are there and not lost. You are with them, and in a sense, you protect them.
The rod is also protection against the lion, the bear, or the wolf. Sometimes the rod is used for a little discipline. There is a time when you need to use the rod—to count, to make sure that the sheep is there, and sometimes to apply a little discipline as the Spirit leads.
Do not discipline every time. You have to discipline as the Spirit leads.
The staff, we all know, is used to rescue. Sometimes a sheep falls away or wants to go away, and the shepherd uses the staff with its hook to bring it back. Sometimes you have to use a little staff to help them back.
Comfort means more than a comforting feeling. It really means strengthening—being strengthened. This is the work of a shepherd.
David says:
Thou preparest a table before me
In the presence of mine enemies.
Now, you have to forgive me for applying this in this way. It may not be the right exegesis, but that is the way I feel.
A shepherd prepares the table. The sheep do not prepare it. The shepherd prepares it in the presence of the enemy.
Perhaps physically speaking, a wolf may be hiding in the woods. But because the shepherd is there, guarding the sheep, they are able to feed upon the pasture without fear. It is as though a table has been prepared before the enemy for them. They have nothing to fear because the shepherd is there.
But I would like to apply it this way: our Lord Jesus, on the cross, so defeated the enemy and made the enemy His spoil that the enemy becomes our food.
You remember Caleb and Joshua, among the twelve spies. The others said, “We cannot go in, because they will swallow us up. They will eat us up.” But Caleb and Joshua said, “No. The Lord is going to give them to us, and they shall be our food.”
In other words, we will eat them up, and by eating them we become stronger.
To me, the victory of Christ on Calvary’s cross is so complete that we can sit at the table He has spread before the enemy and simply feed. In other words, this victory is our victory, and the enemy becomes our food.
As God’s sheep, we go through periods of ups and downs, the need for reviving, and the shadow of death. But we also have enemies. God’s enemy is our enemy, and the enemy around us tries to swallow us up and eat us up.
But, dear brothers and sisters, we need to experience the victory of Christ ourselves. Sometimes we go through a crisis. Sometimes the enemy tries to swallow us up. Yet we claim the victory of Christ and find that the enemy becomes food to us.
We are strengthened after spiritual conflict because of the victory of Christ and our experience of that victory. This is a table spread before us.
In the measure that we ourselves know the victory of Christ over the enemy, we are able to prepare a table for our brothers and sisters in the presence of the enemy. We can help them, comfort them, and show them that they do not need to be afraid.
They can enter into the victory of Christ. The enemy is a defeated foe. As they go through the conflict, they are strengthened, as though they have eaten from a table that has been spread for them.
Our brothers and sisters will go through such crises. We ourselves must experience the victory first, and then we can help.
David says:
Thou anointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
I was told that in the old days, when the shepherd brought the sheep under his rod and examined every sheep, if one had wounds—especially in the head, perhaps from thorns while feeding—the shepherd would have ointment ready and anoint its head with oil to heal the wound.
There might also be a bucket with water. If a sheep had fever, the shepherd would dip its head into the cool water. These may have been things done in the old days, but I would apply it spiritually.
Oil always speaks of the Holy Spirit. To anoint the head with oil simply means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
We need to help our brothers and sisters in this. It is part of pastoral care. You take care of the sheep not only to see that they have food to eat and water to drink, that they are restored, that they walk in the paths of righteousness, and that they can go through the valley without fear.
It is also the responsibility of those who shepherd and pastor to help brothers and sisters enter into the fullness of the Spirit.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit means to be constantly ruled by the Holy Spirit, that brothers and sisters may know a life under the rule of the Holy Spirit. You have to bring them to that point.
If you do not bring them to that point, you have not taken care of them completely. The care is not complete unless you lead them into a life ruled by the Holy Spirit. Then you know that that brother or sister is established.
Again, unless we ourselves are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are not able to help others in this way. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is not merely a one-time experience, or even an experience of a few times.
To be filled with the Holy Spirit should be a constant: constantly being ruled by the Holy Spirit. If we ourselves are such, then we are able to help our brothers and sisters.
You find that all these things are included in pastoral care. All these things are what the Lord, as our Shepherd, is doing for us.
When these things are done, what will be the consequence? The first consequence is this:
My cup runneth over.
The sheep is so satisfied, abundantly satisfied, that the cup is running over.
Secondly:
Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me
All the days of my life.
In other words, the sheep enters into assurance, knowing that the Lord will take care of him throughout his life. Every experience of the Lord strengthens our assurance in the Lord.
The Lord has been so faithful and so good that the sheep can say, “Now I know. The Lord is so faithful. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, because He has brought me to this point. He has proven His lovingkindness and tender mercy to me.”
When a Christian comes to that point, he is satisfied and has such trust and confidence in the Lord.
Thirdly, David says:
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
For ever.
You find that the sheep is happy to be in the house. There are many people who are not happy in the so-called house of the Lord because they have never really been at home.
But when people are taken care of in this way, they feel especially at rest in the house of the Lord. They are happy with their brothers and sisters.
They are satisfied, they have confidence in the Lord, and they are happy with the brothers and sisters. They rest in the house of the Lord. These are the consequences of pastoral care.
Dear brothers and sisters, as we go through this psalm, we see that the Lord is our Shepherd. Because He is our Shepherd, He has shepherded us in this way. Now He is calling me—He is calling all of us—into this pastoral care in the body of Christ.
It is not that we can do it in ourselves. He has done it to us, and He is able to do it through us.
Perhaps just a few words to conclude. In the New Testament, we often call 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus the pastoral letters. That is commonly accepted, because Paul was writing to two young brothers who were engaged in so-called pastoral care.
But to me, actually all the letters in the New Testament are pastoral letters. You can go through them one by one and see that every letter has something to do with pastoral care.
For instance, I feel that Romans undoubtedly speaks of being made to lie down in green pastures. That is Romans.
Then 1 Corinthians may surprise you. You find that the sheep there are in disorder, and Paul is trying to direct them through the still waters.
You can go on through the letters. I am not going to go through every one of them, but every letter gives us a phase, a certain aspect, of pastoral care.
So we know that the Lord, being our Shepherd, is so good. He expects us to take up this function of pastoral care in the body, so that the body may be satisfied, confident in the Lord, and a heavenly life may be expressed.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do want to declare with David that Thou art truly our Shepherd, and we shall not want.
We do praise and thank Thee for what Thou hast done to us. Thou hast proven Thyself to us as the Good Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and the Chief Shepherd.
Our Lord, Thou art calling us to join with Thee in this care of Thy flock. We do acknowledge that we are totally inadequate, but our adequacy is in Thee.
We thank Thee for what Thou hast done in us, and we offer ourselves to Thee that Thou mayest be able to do the same for our brothers and sisters through us.
Lord, we consider it such a great honor and privilege if Thou wouldst use us in that way. Keep us humble, knowing that without Thee we can do nothing, but with Thee all things are possible.
We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.