The Psalm Without Sheep
The Psalm Without Sheep
Reflections on Identity and Psalm 23
Jimmy Lemon
May 05, 2025
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Five years ago today, I posted my reflections on Psalm 23 in the midst of Covid. In reading the Facebook post again, it still hits close to home. Maybe it will for you too.
I’ve taken the opportunity to rewrite it a bit as well.
A few years ago, I heard a pastor point out that there are zero sheep mentioned in Psalm 23, and yet… we can’t help but picture sheep when we read it.
Why do we immediately picture sheep when we talk about Psalm 23? Because the Psalm talks about a shepherd.
His point stuck with me: You learn who you are when you learn who your shepherd is.
When I taught through Psalm 23 several years ago, the theme I kept coming back to was: don’t base your identity on something that can be taken away.
We base our identities on everything that can be taken away.
Our job titles. Our talents. Our bank accounts.
Try this sometime: answer the question “Tell me about yourself” without mentioning what you do for a living. It’s weirdly hard.
Back in 2020, a lot of what we do got stripped away. For many of us, so did our sense of who we are.
So here’s the question I had to wrestle with…and maybe it’s worth revisiting today:
Who are you?
Not “what do you want to accomplish?”
Just… who are you?
I started journaling my prayers for a while around that time. It was basically free-writing what I was thinking and working through it with God. One day I wrote this:
“I often greatly overestimate my ability while I greatly underestimate my worth.”
Oof.
The truth is, I think I’m good at a lot of things. But if I’m being honest with myself, I’m probably just average at most of them. Below average at some.
And that’s okay. Because my worth was never supposed to come from what I do.
Every skill or talent I have could disappear tomorrow. I’d still be just as valuable in God’s eyes.
The Lord is my shepherd. When I really know Him, that’s when I start to really know me.
If you’re feeling lost. If you feel like you’re not sure who you are without the classroom, the business, the stage, the sermons, the coaching, the field, the followers, or the memes (okay, we can always share memes ), you are not alone.
Those things might be part of your purpose, but they have nothing to do with your value.
You are worthy of being loved and accepted. Jesus proved that on the cross.
So maybe, just maybe, the best thing you could do this week is pause and ask yourself,
“How does my Shepherd see me?”
You might be surprised by the answer.
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