Psalm 23: Marked by the Shepherd Who Protects and Guides You

Introduction

"My Shepherd was already there two thousand years ago." With these words, Leo Bigger, pastor of ICF Zürich, opens a six-week series on Psalm 23. He observes that we live in a very particular time: a world on edge, one that can tip in either direction, full of chaos and sometimes of deep insecurity.

In the face of this, he likes to remind himself of one thing: his Shepherd has already been through many inflations and many rises in the price of diesel. He is still standing. "My Shepherd does not get nervous, because he knows the beginning and the end, and he will not leave me alone for a single hour."

In this first message, Leo Bigger looks at the sheep and its shepherd. He shows that the Shepherd walks ahead of you, that he has marked you as belonging to him, that he protects you and keeps you on the path, even when the pasture where he has led you does not appeal to you.

Message Outline

1. The Shepherd Walks Ahead of You

For Leo Bigger, this psalm has so many nuances that sometimes simply rereading it in the middle of a crisis is enough to make everything suddenly better. The first point is essential: the Shepherd walks ahead of us.
He describes four characteristics of the sheep. It sees only about seven meters ahead: you will never fully see God's ways. It is not intelligent, and he says so with humor: "You are my sheep, blind and dumb." It carries no burdens. But it hears the voice of its shepherd with great sensitivity.
If we are sheep, we do not need to see the path, nor to know it, nor to understand it. "The Shepherd sees the path and the Shepherd knows the path."
The Shepherd also knows you: your future, your desires, your thoughts, your feelings. No one truly knows their own deepest intentions. He knows you through and through, even in what you do not yet know yourself. He has engraved your name on the palms of his hands.
The pastor mentions that his wife worked for two years on Psalm 23 and is publishing, the very same day, a book of one hundred meditations on this psalm.

2. The Shepherd's Actions

There are moments when the Shepherd walks beside you with his staff and rejoices in everything you are living through together.
There are moments when he whispers something in your ear, things you had no idea about. Leo Bigger gives an example: God may tell you that your wife is going through a hard time and that it would be good for you to cook, clean the house and do the ironing. "God whispers in your ear things you have no idea about." This voice is only heard in closeness.
There are moments when the Shepherd stands in front of you and says to the enemy: "Stop, there is a limit here." You have a Shepherd who protects you, keeps you and fights for you.
And there are moments when the sheep wants to stay in its comfort zone. Then the Shepherd pushes it forward with his staff. This is God's pressure, not the pressure of a sermon: God pushes you toward your zone of blessing.
The pastor sums it up: "He walks with me, he protects me, he brings me back and he pushes me into what God has always planned for me."

3. Marked on the Ear: You Belong to His Family

Leo Bigger shows the image of a sheep wearing a mark on its ear. How can God be our Shepherd? Because he has redeemed us.
He replays a video recorded about fifteen years ago, when he had already preached on Psalm 23: Jesus says he is the good Shepherd. A good shepherd knows each of his sheep. He checks whether they are joyful, whether the fleece is beautiful, whether the legs and ears are fine. He takes care of each one, and they flourish in his flock.
A sheep is marked because it sometimes runs away. There are also Christians who deliberately move away from God. God can say to them: "You can do it, but you are marked." And if the devil steals you, he can try, but he will not remove the mark: he knows you are not his sheep.
The pastor quotes Romans 8:16: the Spirit of God gives us inner assurance that we are children of God. How do you know you belong to God? You have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, because Jesus gave his life at Golgotha for all your sins and all your failings.
This mark means two things: it is a seal of belonging and a seal of quality.

4. He Protects You, Even in the Invisible World

The sheep is fearful. The pastor acknowledges this is true of many people, and of himself. A sheep never lies down to sleep unless it knows the shepherd is watching over it against pumas, bears and lions. He asks: do you have this certainty that the Shepherd fights for you, for your family, for your children, for everything you have?
A sheep wears no helmet and carries no rifle. Many wonder what God could possibly be good for in their lives. But there are battles in the invisible world that we have no idea about. "We are Europeans, Swiss: we believe what we see." Yet the invisible world is very real.
He tells of a worship tour in Germany, for the launch of a new church in a city he does not name. He was traveling there by motorcycle. In a line of cars moving at 30, he turned his eyes toward a gas station, hit a car and was thrown. What annoyed him was not the accident but his scratched and bent motorcycle. He drew a conclusion from it: "Tonight is not an ordinary worship night. Tonight we are taking ground for Jesus."
Every time you raise your voice for your family, every time you stand up as a man or a woman for your own, in politics, in sports or for the name of Jesus, the invisible world opposes you.
But be careful: the message is not that nothing will ever happen to you again. God protects, and he knows the measure of what we can bear. He will never load us beyond it, but he allows certain things so that our faith grows, so that at the end of the day, the glory goes to him.

5. When the Pasture Does Not Please You: Lay the Truth on the Problem

There are outer battles, but also inner ones: "I am not sure the place where I am is the best one." Or: "If I entrust everything to Jesus, I will lose out." Sometimes God leads you into a pasture and you find it stupid. Not every season of life is spectacular.
A sheep may skip away because the situation does not suit it. But on its own, it dies: blind and defenseless, it does not know the way and cannot protect itself.
Leo Bigger gives a personal example. Two years ago, he felt he had to write a book about finances, which irritated him: he knew no one would thank him for it. He told God: "I am not doing it. It is your church, it is your problem. I am out." God answered him: "Since when is this a matter of your opinion?" He finally gave in and wrote the book in Asia, each chapter being a struggle, with migraines and bad moods.
How does God strengthen our trust? Through two things: truth and problems. God allows problems to reveal his truth. "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want" is not a slogan, it is the truth. So I lay the truth on my problem: it is not Goliath who wins, it is the Lord. It is not my sins that reign: I am forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me. What is broken, he renews.
When God gives you a pasture that does not suit you, it is not about your name or your honor, but about his name. For ICF Zürich, the pastor affirms that the spirit of Mammon is not the foundation of the church: "We are neither greedy nor petty."
Finally, he reminds us that God sends his angels: when you get up in the morning, you are surrounded by angels fighting battles for you that you have no idea about. One day, we will be speechless at the moments when God stopped the car at the intersection, or at the detour caused by a misread sign that spared you an accident. All that will be left to say is: "Holy, holy, holy."

6. He Corrects You and Keeps You on the Path

The second trait of the Shepherd: he corrects me, and I stay on course. Sheep are fearful, but they also jostle one another to find out who is important and who is not.
There are two carnal reactions. The first withdraws into a feeling of inferiority: "This fight is not worth it, I only received one gift anyway." The second fights for its position: "I will show them."
There is a spiritual way to react. Abraham and Lot had growing flocks, and there was no longer room for everyone. Abraham, the elder, lets Lot choose. Lot takes the best land. Abraham takes the other and trusts: Lot is not his provider, God is. That is what faith is: God always achieves his purposes.
But there are also times when God says: get up and fight. Do not hand your family, your children, your business over to the enemy. Take your place as a leader on the spiritual level.
The pastor also addresses jealousy among Christians. He notes how often we speak badly of the church and of others: this worship band supposedly makes music only for money, this preacher supposedly talks about only one thing, Leo would always say the same thing. For two years now, he has had a habit: when such a subject comes up, he replies that God is doing extraordinary things through that person. He does not want to hide faults. When people insist, he asks: "And what about you?"
His appeal: to develop a culture where we honor Jesus and are grateful for every person who proclaims the gospel, even if they think a little differently on the theological level. When Jesus is at the center and we pull together, we can change the world for him.

7. Lost Sheep, Found Sheep

Leo Bigger speaks of black sheep, the ones who get labeled for good in a family, and adds with humor: "If you have never seen one, it is you."
There are those who strayed little by little. The sheep sees a tuft of grass seven meters away, goes to it, then sees the next one seven meters away. After the second tuft, it says: "I can no longer see my shepherd." Many have drifted far from God this way, without even realizing it.
And finally there are those who have truly fallen in life.
The pastor tells how he struggled for almost a week and barely slept the night before offering, differently from usual, to let oneself be "marked" by Jesus. If you are not sure you are going to heaven, if you have never entrusted your life to Jesus, if you have done things you regret and doubt that God can forgive you, sometimes it takes a real step of faith and a lot of courage. He himself did it publicly at 18.
People come forward. He tells them: "You are no longer sinners, you belong to the family of this God in heaven. Welcome home." He recalls that heaven and all the angels rejoice when one person repents.
He concludes with an appeal to all those who would like to flee the pasture where God has placed them: "Do not do that. Do not run away."

Key Takeaways

You do not need to see, know or understand the whole path: the Shepherd walks ahead of you, and what matters is hearing his voice.
If you have entrusted your life to Jesus, you bear his mark: the Holy Spirit gives you the assurance of being a child of God, and the enemy cannot erase that belonging.
God protects you, including in invisible battles, but he does not promise a life without trials. He knows the measure of what you can bear.
When the pasture does not please you, do not run away: lay the truth of the Word on your problem.
The Shepherd also corrects jealousy and rivalry: honor those who proclaim Jesus, even if they think differently from you.

Personal Application

In what situation would you like to see the whole path before moving forward, when the Shepherd is only asking you to listen to his voice?
Do you have the inner assurance of belonging to God? If not, what keeps you from letting yourself be "marked" by Jesus?
What is the pasture today that does not please you, and what truth from the Bible can you concretely lay on that problem?
Faced with rivalry, do you withdraw into inferiority or fight for your position? What difference would Abraham's trust make in your situation?
Whom have you spoken badly of recently, and what could you thank God for instead concerning that person?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Leo Bigger compare the believer to a sheep?

A sheep only sees about seven meters ahead, is not very smart and carries no burdens, but it hears its shepherd's voice with great sensitivity. For Leo Bigger, this means you do not need to see, know or understand the whole path: the Shepherd walks ahead of you, and he sees and knows the road.

What does it mean to be "marked" by the Shepherd?

A shepherd marks his sheep on the ear. This mark is both a seal of belonging and a seal of quality. The preacher draws on Romans 8:16: the Spirit of God gives us inner assurance that we are children of God. Even a sheep that wanders off remains marked, and the enemy knows it does not belong to him.

Does Psalm 23 promise that nothing bad will ever happen to us?

No. Leo Bigger says it plainly: that is not the message. God protects, but he knows the measure of what we can bear and never loads us beyond it. He allows certain things so that our faith may grow and so that, in the end, the glory goes to him.