Come Follow Me for Teens: "The Lord is My Shepherd" (Psalms 1-46)

Podcast Summary — “The Lord Is My Shepherd”

This week’s Come Follow Me for Teens episode begins our study of Psalms 1–46 and the theme “The Lord Is My Shepherd.”

Rather than only studying a few individual verses, this episode also helps teens learn how to approach the book of Psalms for themselves—how to read a psalm, how to make it personal, and how to find the psalm they need.

We begin in Psalm 1 with the image of a person who delights in the law of the Lord becoming like:

“A tree planted by the rivers of water.”

Psalm 1 contrasts a life rooted in God’s law with a life that is easily influenced and carried by the world around it.

We explore how God’s commandments can provide stability, protection, peace, and lasting happiness. We also use this psalm to model a simple way to study Psalms by noticing contrasts, images, repeated ideas, and the central truth the writer is trying to teach.

The episode includes a personal story from my father’s 75th birthday. When I asked him the most valuable thing he had learned during his life, his answer was simple: God’s laws and principles work.

Looking back over 75 years, he could see that following God had led to the most meaningful and beautiful blessings in his life.

We then turn to Psalm 23 and one of the most familiar declarations in scripture:

“The Lord is my shepherd.”

A shepherd leads, protects, nourishes, restores, and stays with the flock through dangerous places.