What a good, good shepherd

Ricky Ketchum

Jan 30, 2026

The Lord Is My Shepherd (Part 2)

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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4 (NET)

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Continuing on with the shepherding theme, we have this imagery.

David begins with a nightmare image, putting us in probably the worst-case scenario.

Then he radically declares that even then he wouldn’t fear any evil.

The only way to pull this off — to fear no evil even in the midst of death’s shadow — is by having complete trust in God.

An unrelenting faith.

(He said all this before the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us as part of the new covenant … amazing!)

I aspire to have a faith that strong. To be a man who walks so confidently with God that even if I were to walk in the darkest place of the earth I would still be calm.

This unshakable faith is because he knows — without a shadow of doubt — that God is with him.

David keeps the shepherding picture going by talking about the comfort he has in God’s rod and staff.

These were useful tools of the shepherd: to keep the sheep safe from predators, the environment, and, frankly, from themselves.

As you probably know, sheep are dumb.

Incredibly dumb.

They’ll wander into all sorts of bad situations, have little defense against a predator, and may even dehydrate next to a source of water if they aren’t guided to it.

Not to blow my own trumpet … but … I’m probably just as foolish.

🤣

We all are, yet God loves & protects us anyway.

What a good shepherd.

— Ricky Ketchum

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the ESV®Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright© 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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