Every Word My Story (2)

A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Shepherd – Back to Paleo-Hebrew, the text David used to write this psalm.

Now that we know mizmor David is memorial and emotional instruction, we can look at the next key word in the Masoretic text, roi (shepherd). The first thing we must notice is that this isn’t a noun. The verse does not say, “the LORD is my shepherd.” It’s a verb, ro’i, a verb that is a Qal participle. The root verb, r’h, means, “to feed, to graze, to drive out to pasture.” This verse that we all know so well is a verb we don’t know at all. It doesn’t say that YHVH is something called a shepherd. It says, YHVH shepherding me (although it is technically a verbal noun). He feeds me. He drives me to pasture. He protects me. He instructs me with His staff. He guides and corrects and does everything a shepherd must do to make sure that I am one of the flock. He is not a shepherd. He is shepherding. That’s how I know Him—as the one who cares for and watches over me. And that’s how He expresses Himself, in actions, not static states.

In the Paleo-Hebrew text, the word “shepherding” consists of “Resh-Ayin-Yod.” The picture is “the person who sees deeds.” YHVH shepherds me by seeing my deeds. He knows who I really am because He sees everything I do. The Paleo-Hebrew is really the combination of Resh-Ayin and the contracted form of ani (“I, me, my”). So in its full form, this word would be, “The person who sees strength in the life of work,” a fuller sense of what it means to see my deeds. Since work is task completion, worship and service, the One who sees me sees all that I do in regard to my purpose—and, of course, all that I do in disregard of my purpose. The reason He is shepherding me is because He sees. God sees me. That either brings me great joy or devastating sorrow. But there is no escape from His sight, and no fear to let Him examine me if I am standing faithfully before Him. He sees and because He sees, He cares for me.

Finally we come to the two words I most need to hear today, lo ‘ehsar. “Not shall I lack.” One of the most fundamental principles of Scripture is that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. If I allow God to shepherd me, if I listen to His direction and pay attention to His prods and nudges, then He promises that I will not lack. He rewards my obedience. And He corrects and ultimately punishes my disobedience. I am capable of getting lost.   He may come to find me. He may carry me back broken and shamed, but He won’t drag me back kicking and screaming.

lo ‘ehsar is the picture, “strong control over the strength to separate support from the person.” In other words, “to lack” is to have strength taken from me. It is to be unable, to be weak, to be deficient. When hasar describes my life, I am desperately incapacitated. I am starving from malnutrition. I dream of food because I have nothing to eat. This mizmor david proclaims that YHVH’s shepherding means I will never reach the point of death from lack of His nourishment. He will feed. He will take me to the green pastures. He will give me drink. He will protect. When I am under His care, I will not fear.

But there are times when I run away from His shepherding. I get lost on purpose. I chafe at the bit and decide that my way is the better way for me. I gorge myself on undigestables. I starve myself with abundance. My soul grows faint and my body fat. I live in Sodom. I forget His mercies. I am consumed by insatiable desires. And one day I realize that food for pigs is all I have. Will He still sustain me? Will He still welcome me back? Will He still shepherd?

If I treat these questions lightly, I am probably already reprobate and lost. But if these questions penetrate the depths of my despair and still cause me to step away from the pig sty, then there is yet hope for me. Stinking, I try to walk home. He runs to meet me.

Topical Index: shepherd, sees, Paleo-Hebrew, Psalm 23:1, lo ‘eshar, not lack