Who is the LORD Merciful

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Mercy Is My Shepherd

What if misunderstandings have shaped your entire view of God? The opening line of Psalm 23—“The Lord is my shepherd”—isn’t just comforting; it’s confrontational. It asks: Do you really know who this “Lord” is?

David wrote those words while on the run—likely hiding from his own son Absalom, who wanted him dead. In that moment of fear and betrayal, David didn’t just believe in God—he knew Him. And not as a distant force but as someone deeply personal and trustworthy. That’s a far cry from how many of us see God: we say He’s good, but deep down, we wonder if He’s disappointed in us or just waiting for us to mess up again.

The Hebrew text helps clear the fog. When you see “LORD” in all caps, it’s translating Yahweh—God’s personal name. The name He gave Moses at the burning bush: “I AM.” Not I was, or I will be. Just I AM. Unchanging. Not bound by time. Not swayed by circumstances. This means Psalm 23 could just as well read: “I AM is my shepherd.”

Let that sink in: The eternal, self-sustaining Creator of the universe has made Himself your guide, protector, and caretaker. Not out of obligation. Out of choice.

And here’s the most revealing part: when God defined Himself to Moses in Exodus 34, the first word He used wasn’t powerful, holy, or just. It was merciful. Before anything else, God wanted us to know: I’m full of mercy.

This is the same heart we see in Jesus’ story of the prodigal son: a father running full speed toward his broken, shame-filled child before a single word of apology is spoken. That’s God. That’s Yahweh. His mercy outruns your failure, your fear, your shame. He loves with more tenderness than a mother nursing her newborn.

That flips Psalm 23 on its head. We don’t just have a shepherd. Mercy is our shepherd.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve blown it as a parent, a partner, a believer, or a human being. Mercy is still walking with you through the valley.

So here’s the question: When was the last time you let God tell you who He is—instead of projecting your past experiences, guilt, or doubts onto Him?

Take this truth with you today: Mercy is your shepherd.

Let it rewrite the way you see Him. Let it change the way you walk through your life.

Key Takeaways:

• Psalm 23 centers on who God is, not on what we do.
• “LORD” translates to Yahweh, meaning I AM—eternal, unchanging, self-existent.
• When God introduced Himself, He led with mercy—not power.
• His love is more dependable than even a mother’s love for her child.
• We often assume God is like human authority figures—but He isn’t.
• The prodigal son story shows a God who runs toward us, not away.
• “Mercy is my shepherd” reframes how we read and live Psalm 23.
• God doesn’t need us, but He wants us—purely out of love.
• Mercy doesn’t abandon us when we fail—it stays, leads, and heals.

Let that truth lead you today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Well, psalm 23 starts with two words the Lord.
And that's the question I wantto delve into a little bit with
you today.
Who is the Lord?
The whole psalm revolves aroundthe Lord.
You've probably never paidattention to it because you know
, you say it out of memory andyou think about it and you don't

(00:23):
think about it at the same time.
It says the Lord.
Then in verse 2, he, he, verse3, he, he, verse 4, thou, thou,
thou, verse 5, thou, thou, verse6, the Lord Starts with the
Lord and ends with the Lord.
Who is the Lord?

(00:43):
The psalm revolves not aroundyou, hands of the Lord.
Who is the Lord?
The Psalm revolves not aroundyou, but around the Lord.
That's important.
Now, as we've discussed this,david is probably on the run,
fearing for his life because hisson Absalom is trying to kill
him.
And he knew something.
He knew who the Lord was, andI'm afraid we don't know that so

(01:07):
often.
We don't know God.
We intellectually know God, butwe don't know him in our heart.
When we're terrified, weactually think God might be a
little bit angry with us, alittle bit bothered with us.
So I want to take you throughwho is the Lord?
And I just want you.

(01:27):
You got to know him.
He is your Lord and he is yourshepherd.
The Lord is shepherding you Now.
In the Bible, when it has Lordin all caps capital L, capital O
, capital R, capital D that'sreferring to Yahweh.
Yahweh is the proper name ofGod.
That's the name that God toldMoses.
That's who he was At theburning bush.
When Moses says who are you, hesays he's Yahweh.

(01:52):
He says I am.
So we'll deviate just a whilefrom Psalm 23, because we want
to understand who the Lord is.
And the Bible says in Exodus,chapter 3 and verse 13,.
And Moses said unto God behold,when I come unto the children
of Israel and shall say untothem the God of your fathers has

(02:12):
sent me unto you.
They shall say to me what ishis name?
What shall I say to them?
God, they're going.
I'm going to tell them, you'resending me.
I'm going to tell them thatit's about you, but I don't even
know your name.
I want to know your name.
I want to know that I know whoyou are and I want to be able to
tell them.
And God responds in verse 14,.

(02:34):
And God said to Moses I am that, I am.
I am that I am, what a name Iam that I am.
And he said thou shalt say untothem I am.
What a name I am that I am.
And he said thou shalt say untothem I am the I am.
That's who he is, I am.
Has sent you.
God said to Moses thou shaltsay unto the children of Israel
the Lord, god of your fathers,the God of Abraham, the God of

(02:57):
Isaac, the God of Jacob, hassent me.
This is my name forever.
This is my name forever andthis is my memorial unto all
generations.
Now I just want you to considerwith me what he said his name
was.
He said my name is I am.
Now, what does I am mean?
Well, I am means that he iseternal.
He's eternal, see, he is.

(03:19):
I am Not, I was Not, I will be.
He's not changing, he'sself-existent, he is independent
.
He says I am, I don't need youto be I am.
And he's unchanging.
He's the creator and sustainerof all life.
He doesn't need us.
You need to mark this down.

(03:40):
He doesn't need us, but hewants us.
So his name is I am.
So you could read Psalm 23 likethis the Lord is my shepherd.
Or you could change it toYahweh is my shepherd.
Or you could say I am is myshepherd?
The great I am, that I am is myshepherd.
That's who he is.

(04:02):
Now, you know, I'd like to knowwho he is.
You know, people have anopinion of who you are, who I am
.
They don't know you, they don'tknow you, but they suppose they
believe, they hear, they see,and that's who they think you
are.
But I know who I am.
I can tell you who I am andGod's like.

(04:27):
I know y'all have this thoughtof me as being a righteous,
indignant judge and somebodywho's ready to throw lightning
bolts at you.
I know that you feel like allthis is going on, but can I tell
you who I am?
Would you let me have thechance to share with you who I
am?
And so he does that.
He talks to Moses, and this hasgot to thrill your soul.

(04:49):
In Exodus 34, 5 through 7, hesays and the Lord descended in
the cloud and stood with him,moses, and proclaimed the name
of the Lord.
He proclaimed the name of theLord, and the Lord passed by him
and proclaimed the Lord, theLord, god, the Lord.
God merciful, gracious,long-suffering, abundant in

(05:14):
goodness and truth, keepingmercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression andsin.
That will by no means clear theguilty visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the childrenand upon the children's children
until the third and fourthgeneration.
He says I am, I am God, I amthe Almighty, I am God, but let

(05:36):
me tell you who I am.
Now I want you to stop a minuteand I want you to just kind of
put your church mind on hold.
I want you to put yourreligious mind on hold.
I want you to put on hold allthe things your parents have
said.
I mean, you kind of have theidea that God may be a policeman
and he's watching you, or thathe may be a judge and he's

(05:59):
criticizing you, or he may be ateacher and he's kind of after
you.
You may have all these weirdopinions going on in your mind
without meaning to, because it'swhat we've been taught.
We suppose this is how God is.
We take our feelings about ourown dad often and put them on

(06:20):
God or our parents or ourteachers or our policemen, and
we don't ever let God tell uswho he is.
And so I want to take the timeover the next several days for
us to understand who the Lord isbecause Psalm 23 won't make
sense until you understand whohe is.
He says I am is shepherding me.

(06:42):
The Lord is my shepherd, yahwehis my shepherd.
Who is Yahweh?
And the very first thing hesays in the whole thing is I am
mercy.
Now listen to it.
The Lord passed by before himand proclaimed the Lord, the
Lord, god merciful.

(07:02):
Do you understand what God is?
He's merciful.
When he chose to explain to youand to explain to me who he was
, the very first thing he saidwas Now, how do you get any
better than that?
I am merciful.

(07:25):
Now, what does that mean?
What does that mean I ammerciful?
It means that I amcompassionate.
It means he genuinely caresabout us.
He holds a tender attitude ofconcern for us.
I am merciful, I am merciful.
It's kind of explained in thestory of the prodigal son when

(07:47):
in Luke, chapter 15 and verse 20, it says the son arose and came
to his father, but when he wasyet a ways off, his father saw
him and had compassion that'sthat word, mercy and he ran and
fell on his neck and kissed him.
The old man, who shouldn't berunning, took off running and
grabbed his son and hugged himand kissed him and had

(08:09):
compassion on him.
The old man, who shouldn't berunning, took off running and
grabbed his son and hugged himand kissed him and had
compassion on him.
He didn't wait to hear a wholelitany of things that the son
knew he had done wrong.
The son did wrong, without adoubt he was wrong, but the
father wasn't saying I amjudgment, I am going to punish
you.
He didn't put any conditions.
He said I have compassion.
Can I tell you what it means tosay I am merciful?
It means he said I will notabandon you, I will not destroy

(08:34):
you.
You are my people, you're mysheep, I will not destroy you.
When he said I am merciful, hesaid I love you tenderly, I love
you fondly.
It's saying I love you tenderly, I love you fondly.
It's saying I love to caressyou.
I love you like a mother lovesher children.

(08:54):
I am merciful, I am merciful.
Now, this will shock you alittle bit maybe, but in Isaiah,
chapter 49 and verse 15, thisis what God said Can a woman
forget her sucking child?
Could a mama forget her babywho is on her breast?
That she wouldn't havecompassion on the son that was

(09:14):
born from her womb?
Yeah, they might forget.
They might forget, but I willnot forget.
He's basically saying let'sthink about it.
When a mama's got a baby on herbreast that came forth out of
her womb, you can almost beassured she will not forget.
God says they're sooner toforget than I am.

(09:35):
They will more likely forgetthan I will.
I don't forget.
I am merciful.
I am mercy, I have sympathy.
I feel compassion.
Have mercy, I have sympathy, Ifeel compassion.
He said in that verse I protectand preserve life like a mother
does the life.
You know, sometimes you kind ofthink a daddy has been

(09:57):
judgmental and harsh, but mamabeing sweet, god said I'm
merciful, I show favor.
I'm not here to punish.
I show kindness, benevolenceand goodness.
I am merciful.
That's who our God is.
So I want you to think with metoday.

(10:19):
I want you to spend the daythinking this boy.
He loves me.
I am is my shepherd.
Change it.
I am is merciful, so put I amis my shepherd.
I won't change it.
See, I am is merciful, so putthis.
Mercy is my shepherd.
Did you get that?
Mercy is my shepherd.
I don't deserve anything.
I have really messed up.

(10:41):
I have not been a good father.
I've not been a good husband.
I mess up as a Christian.
I messed up in business.
I messed up.
I've not done what I ought todo, but mercy is my shepherd.
You take that with you today.
You meditate on that.
Mercy is my shepherd.