Small-group study
Psalm 23:1: The Lord Is My Shepherd
One page, about 45 minutes. Read it through before you meet, and feel free to skip a question if the conversation is already flowing.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.
1. To begin
What does the word "shepherd" bring to mind for you? Comforting, old-fashioned, something else entirely?
2. Read it again, and look closely
Have someone read the verse aloud a second time, slowly.
- The psalm opens with two short statements. What is the link between "The LORD is my shepherd" and "I shall lack nothing"?
- Whose shepherd is he? Notice the small but personal word "my".
3. What does it mean?
- David had been a shepherd himself. What did he know about sheep that makes this picture honest rather than sentimental?
- "I shall lack nothing" is a bold claim. Is it about having everything we want, or about something else?
- What does it say about us that the Bible so often pictures us as sheep?
4. What about us?
- Where are you tempted to believe you are lacking? How does "the LORD is my shepherd" speak into that?
- A sheep is safe because of the shepherd, not because of itself. What would it look like to lean more on his care this week, and less on your own arrangements?
5. To close, pray
Tell the Shepherd, plainly, where you feel you are lacking. Ask him to lead you to what you actually need rather than only what you want.