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He Is Our Good Shepherd
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He says, “I guess I stayed too close to where I got in.”
What does that mean? He’s sleeping on the edge. Well, if you just move a little bit when you’re
on the edge, you’re going to fall out. What if you’re up in the middle of the bed, all the way in
the middle? Even if you moved some, you would still be in the bed. And if you try to see how
close to the edge you can stay, you are not smart, because there are wolves out there, and there
are grizzly bears and tigers. They all want you for lunch, and you cannot handle them on your
own. You’re not that smart, and you’re not that strong in your own strength.
Oh, but your Shepherd is. He whips that rod around and says, “I said get!” and they get. If you’re
smart, you’ll be right up against His pant leg saying, “That’s right, get!”
And you can be sassy and say, “Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, you can’t eat me!” But you best
not leave the Good Shepherd. You better stay close.
The Psalmist also said in 63:8, “My soul follows hard after you.” What does that mean? “I’m
right on You, Lord.” In other words, “If you stop, I’m going to bump into Your back.” If you’re
smart, that’s how you’ll endeavor to live, just as close as you know how, and just as committed
as you know how. Nobody can afford to do otherwise.
He said in 23:5, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou
anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” Again, that shows no lack. The table is fully
spread and prepared. There is abundance. It’s not an empty cup, not half of a cup, not just full up
to the brim, but overflowing. My cup runs over. That’s the God of abundance.
I thought about a question one time when studying this passage: Doesn’t God know when the
cup is full? Wouldn’t He know when you put the very last drop in that it would hold? Well, then,
why does He run it over? That’s a spill, isn’t it? When you run it over, the cup overflows, and
that means it’s on the table now. Now it’s off on the floor and maybe running out the door. Some
might say, “That’s wasteful.” No, that’s God. Why does He do that? He wants to remind you,
“I’m a God of abundance. I’m a God of excess. I’m a God of too much.” That’s why you do not
lack, and you do not want for any good thing. It is because your Good Shepherd is the God of
abundance.
Verse 6 continues, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will
dwell in the house of the L
ORD
forever.”
Can you see that this all flows together? “My cup runs over” prefaces goodness and mercy
following me all the days of my life. What does that mean? You come through like a blessing
ship or boat. What do you leave in your wake? Goodness. Mercy. You might say, “God’s doing
it.” Yes, but He’s doing it through you. What kind of goodness is it? Your cup is overflowing, so
you have abundance, and you have surplus to bless when you come through. Your cup runs over,
and because of that, you can leave goodness and mercy in your wake. Everywhere you go, you
can leave people praising the Lord. Why? Because the Lord is your Shepherd.