Five words in English render what Hebrew says with two: “I-AM is-my-shepherd.” My best advice is to ignore the rest of this article and roll those words over your tongue instead. I AM – the all-sufficient, self-existent, eternal, personal, covenant-keeping God – is my shepherd.
Who would dare make such a claim? As the superscription to Psalm 23 reveals, King David did. David was himself a shepherd, not just before he became king, but after, for shepherding was a stock metaphor for leading and ruling (Num 27:17; Isa 44:28; 2Sa 5:2). An Israelite could say, “David is my shepherd.”
But in Psalm 23, the shepherd is also a sheep. What thrills David’s heart is not the followers he has but the Shepherd he has. Here is a king preoccupied with being a sheep. He is leading others by pointing them to the One he follows. David is a sheep telling other sheep, “I AM is my shepherd.”
And even though our culture is far less agrarian and monarchical than David’s, the metaphor still fits. The world of social media and advertising is built on the reality that we are fundamentally followers. We instinctively look for cues and guidance from others, hence the rise of “influencers.” Ironically, it’s when we try hardest to define ourselves and strike our own path that we discover how impossible it is. To follow your heart is to follow the herd.
Everyone has a shepherd. We can’t escape following someone or something. But what if that someone was I AM? In Psalm 23 David is sharing an inside look; he’s throwing open the windows into the felt reality of what it’s like to have the great I AM as your shepherd. As Alec Motyer points out, three phrases in particular capture the benefits of such a relationship: “I shall not want” (v1); “I will fear no evil” (v4); “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (v6).1
Provision
To have I AM as our shepherd is to have all our needs met by the One with no needs of His own. He is completely self-existent and self-sufficient. He provides physically for His sheep, letting them lie down in pastures of green grass and leading them to waters of rest (v2). He can also provide for our spiritual needs, restoring our soul and transforming our character to reflect His ways (v3). It is impossible to encounter a need too great for I AM’s infinite resources to meet or too small to escape I AM’s infinite care.
Protection
I AM is not just the God of infinite provision but also unfailing protection. David shifts from speaking about I AM to speaking to Him: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (v4). As Paul put it centuries later, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).
There is no evidence in verse 4 to suggest that David has strayed from God’s paths. No, the divine Shepherd has led him into this dark and dangerous place. What matters is not so much where we are but who is with us. Oh what comfort, when we are walking through the valley of deep darkness, to know that the Eternal I AM is with us!
Hope
But wait – something is chasing David. Not to worry, says David: “Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life” (v6 CSB). Of course, goodness and faithful love are I AM’s attributes. Think of Yahweh’s famous self-disclosure when He made His “goodness” pass before Moses and declared to him His name: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Exo 33:19; 34:6). This is what it’s like to have I AM as our shepherd. He is before us, leading the way (vv1-3), beside us, protecting us from all harm (v4), and behind us, pursuing us with all His goodness and mercy (v6). I AM has His sheep surrounded!2
No wonder David can close the psalm with words of glorious hope: “I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (v6). As sheep-like creatures, we need not only provision and protection but also hope. We need someone to lead us home. And if I AM is our shepherd, He will get us there. In fact, Psalm 23 is part of a unit of psalms that traces the journey of the Davidic king.3 The unit begins in Psalm 15 with the question, Who will dwell on I AM’s holy hill? The answer is the Messiah of Psalm 16 who cries out in Psalm 17, is delivered in Psalm 18, treasures the Word of God in Psalm 19, and provides salvation for His people in Psalms 20-22. He is the One who will ascend the hill of the LORD (Psalm 24) and dwell in His house forever (23:6).
Mysteriously, the Shepherd-King who can dwell forever in I AM’s house is Himself I AM (Psa 24:7-10).4 Something similar is at play in Ezekiel 34. After condemning Israel’s shepherds for mistreating His sheep, I AM says, “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down” (v15). But then He says of the Messiah: “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David … he shall feed them and be their shepherd” (v23).
Our Lord Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He said, “I AM the good shepherd” (Joh 10:11). We can call I AM our shepherd because I AM calls us His sheep (v27). His Father gave us to Him. No one is able to snatch us from His hand, nor the Father’s hand, for He and the Father are one (vv28-30).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
2 David Gibson, The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), 125-26.
3 Carissa Quinn, The Arrival of the King: The Shape and Story of Psalms 15-24, Studies in Scripture & Biblical Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2023).
4 James M. Hamilton, Psalms, Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic, 2021), 1:308.
