Psalm 23 is probably the best known and most popular chapter of the Word of God. It is no surprise that this is so, since everyone enjoys the theme of the shepherd who cares for his sheep. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ describes Himself as the shepherd. Jesus declares in John 10, “I am the good shepherd” (v. 11). The author of Hebrews calls Christ the “great Shepherd” of the sheep (13:20). Peter, in 1 Peter 5:4, calls Him the “Chief Shepherd.” He is the Shepherd who is over the undershepherds. Indeed, Peter likens the church to a sheepfold, and its leaders are admonished to “be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care” (v. 2).
That is the point to which we come in the last verses, for these speak of the Messiah’s glorious victory. His death was not without effect. Jesus accomplished everything He came to accomplish. Notice verse 10b: “He will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.” There are three things here. First, He will see his offspring. “Offspring” is “seed,” and it is in the plural. It says He is going to see His seed. He is going to have spiritual progeny, and He is going to see them. In other words, His death would be fruitful. It would not be for nothing. Those for whom He died will be saved.
The third section deals with the Messiah’s exemplary life. “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.” I take this as pointing to the character of His life, because that is precisely the way Peter takes it in his first letter, chapter 2, beginning in verse 19. Peter speaks of this being an unjust world, and with the fact that there are always going to be times in life when Christians are going to suffer unjustly. The question is, how are we going to endure these injustices? Are we to take them mutely? Are we to rise up and fight them? Are we to complain? Peter asked, “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (1 Pet. 2:20, 21).
Beginning with verse 4, we have the Messiah's vicarious suffering. Vicarious means “in place of another.” It goes back to the Latin word vicis, which means “a substitute.”
Many of the phrases in verses 1–3 speak of the Messiah’s humble origins, but the one that strikes me particularly is in verse 2: “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground.” That is an unusual expression, is it not? A root out of dry ground! Growing up like a tender plant! That is not what one might expect to find.
