Lead on Good Shepherd

Jon Barrett  |  Features  |  the ENd word
Date posted:  3 Aug 2025
Share Add       
Lead on Good Shepherd

A shepherd in the Middle East. Source: iStock

As a kid growing up in a Christian family I was always familiar with the 23rd Psalm, although for some while my young mind was confused about who “Shirley Goodness” was, or why she’d want to follow me all the days of my life.

I had a bit of a gift as a youngster for mishearing things, also spending time pondering what a “foggle” was after first hearing the song Bright Eyes – it wasn’t until I was in my 20s that I realised Art Garfunkle actually sang “there’s a fog along the horizon!”

Leaving aside my childhood confusion, we return to the 23rd Psalm which we started thinking about in the June edition of en. Last time we looked at the first three verses in which the psalmist guides us through the who, where, and why (the Shepherd/green pastures/for his name’s sake); today we move into the second half of the Psalm and a subtle shift of grammatical emphasis.

Share
< Previous article| Features| Next article >
Read more articles by Jon Barrett >>
Features
How questions about the resurrection are changing in 2025

How questions about the resurrection are changing in 2025

Alistair Begg recently said that preaching is often “less about telling them something new, but more about reminding ourselves what …

Features
How vulnerable was Jesus?

How vulnerable was Jesus?

One of the habits we’ve developed as a church staff team is to have a book that we commit to …

New here?

Register and get three free articles each month!

Register

Need to advertise?

We can help you reach Christians across the country

Find out more