The Lord is my Shepherd
by Heather Perrin
I love Psalm 1 and its description of a person who is deeply rooted in the life-giving Word of God, and it gives us the key to that kind of life:
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3)
The law the psalmist is delighting in is a shorthand for the full revelation of God’s Word. Psalm 119 is famously the longest psalm in the Bible and is itself a meditation on and a celebration of God’s Word, describing how the psalmist “meditates,” “delights in,” and “fixes [his] eyes” on it. When Moses is recording the law for the first time before the people enter the promised land, he tells them what to do with it:
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Because “it is no empty word for you, but your very life.” (Deuteronomy 32:47).
According to these writers, the Bible is life-giving, and the act of meditating on it causes us to worship, adore, and obey the God it reveals to us.
But still, what does meditation mean?
Simply, meditating on Scripture is thinking, considering, mulling over the words slowly, thoughtfully, and prayerfully. It doesn’t require a specific method or technique, just a slow and thoughtful consideration. Starkly different from Eastern or modern secular expressions of meditation that seek to empty the mind, Christian meditation is dwelling thoughtfully on the Word of God. Resisting the urge to fly over familiar words and slow down to consider:
What does that word mean?
Where else does that image show up in Scripture?
Why did they use that metaphor or image? What is that thing like?
Who is that person? What do I know about them?
Meditating just means dwelling on the words, considering them carefully, and asking the Holy Spirit to teach you. It is also a natural way to lead into the unceasing prayer we read so often about. As we think about the words, we are often prompted to talk to God about them, ask for His help, confess sin or unbelief, or praise Him for His goodness.
I am also aware that meditation isn’t a stand-alone discipline. I am able to make connections between passages because at other times I’m reading longer portions of Scripture. And I am able to draw some good conclusions as I meditate because I have practiced studying and interpreting Scripture with good methods. I don’t trust whatever thought or interpretation pops into my head, but I measure them against the character of God I have seen in His Word. We need many good tools to approach God’s Word over a lifetime, but meditation is one we can implement in any season.
Meditation is also an immensely practical tool. I am expecting our third child in just a few months, and I know those newborn days will be full of sleepless nights, weary days, and a foggy brain. But the practice of meditation is something I can do as I nurse a child at 2 AM, change a diaper, or start another load of laundry. It is a means of grace for carrying God’s goodness and mercy with me throughout the day. It is a way to grow more deeply rooted in that river of life Psalm 1 describes, even when I don’t have the capacity to sit and study as much as I used to. I can let my mind wander over truth rather than submit myself to whatever the algorithm might serve me.
So what does meditating on the Scriptures look like?
Like the passage in Deuteronomy, meditating on Scripture looks like repeating it, talking about it, teaching it, memorizing it, and sharing it as we go about our days. This regular dwelling on a passage gives us the opportunity to think deeply about it.
I’ve been mulling over Psalm 23 lately, a familiar passage that has given comfort and hope to generations of believers, and want to use it to illustrate what this practice could look like in our lives today. Often meditation is solely internal, but I find that it helps me tremendously to write as I think. Below you’ll read a sort of stream of consciousness as I think through the first few verses of Psalm 23. I could do this for a passage I am working to memorize, one that I have read or studied recently, or have a few verses written on index cards throughout the house to prompt me as I go about my work. This is nowhere near exhaustive, just an example of how my mind might linger over the words and delight in the God they reveal.
The Lord is my shepherd. Who is my shepherd? The Lord. Who is He? What do I know about Him?
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Exodus 20:2)
“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6)
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Deuteronomy 6:4)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11)
My Shepherd. Why that metaphor? What is a shepherd? What does a shepherd do? Whom does a shepherd take care of?
A shepherd protects the sheep from danger. A shepherd feeds and waters the sheep. A shepherd makes sure none of the sheep get lost. A sheep doesn’t know what it needs on its own. A sheep follows the voice of the shepherd. A sheep can’t defend itself against wolves and bears. A shepherd knows this and provides.
So the Lord (Yahweh, the covenant-keeping, rescuing, gracious God, Jesus who laid down His life for me) is my shepherd. He cares for me. He protects me. He provides for me.
I shall not want. I won’t want. I don’t have any wants. I lack nothing. I have everything I need. If Yahweh is the one who provides for me, how could I lack? There are things I feel like I am lacking. But this psalm is teaching me that because the Lord is my shepherd, I can trust that He has given me what I need. I don’t feel that way right now, but I will rely on that truth rather than my feeling.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. Why? Because I need to rest. In green pastures, places that are green because water is nearby. Places that have food to eat (if you’re a sheep). When I want to keep walking, he makes me, causes me, instructs me to lie down in a safe place. Yeah, I need someone to make me rest. I don’t do that well on my own. Thank you, Lord.
He leads me beside still waters. He knows I need to drink, so he takes me to the place where I will find water. Still waters - not dangerous rivers, places that will provide what I need.
He restores my soul. If my soul needs restoring, that means it is at times worn out, weary, withering. He knows this. And he does not leave me this way. He sees me when I am weary and He restores, revives, renews, makes new, my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Leads me, He does not simply let me wander into whatever path I might find. He leads me into paths of righteousness. Righteousness - right-ness, right relationships with Him and with others. He leads me into a life of full, healthy, holy abundance.
For His name’s sake. What does that mean? He wants me to walk in paths of righteousness because of who He is. Because He is perfectly righteous, He never does the wrong thing, He wants me to walk that way too. I am aligned with Him and His character. I want to think about this more. Make a note to look for help interpreting this.
I could go on and on, but I hope that gives you an idea of how this practice can lead you to dwell on the character of God that we see in Scripture. Sometimes another verse will come to mind that I can’t quite place, so I will google “Jesus, shepherd, verse” and see if I can find what I’m looking for. Or I will use an internet thesaurus to find synonyms for a word in the passage to deepen my understanding. You don’t have to have all of this in your head, you just have to let your mind wander to the question and then go looking for the answer.
I hope this serves as another tool in your life as you seek to be a person deeply rooted in the life-giving Word of our God.