He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful
streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor
to his name. Psalm 23:2-3 (NLT)
In his best-known hymn of praise, Psalm 23, Israel’s King
David refers to the LORD as a Shepherd (Verse
1), which term symbolically makes David a sheep.
David knew sheep.
Before David became Israel’s King, He was his father’s lead
shepherd for the family flock – he lived ate and slept with sheep and knew
every aspect of their character.
By nature, sheep cannot survive on their own. They
have limited survival instinct and must be supervised 24 hours
a day. Every aspect of their care must be provided for by a shepherd.
Sheep need direction and protection.
Sheep must be herded to safe grazing pastures and watering holes
and watched over while they eat and drink to forestall predator attacks;
rescued from thickets and fences where they are inclined to get themselves
caught; and taken into shelters from harsh weather.
Without the shepherd’s help, sheep
are unable to right themselves if they fall over onto their backs – they would
remain kicking and struggling in that position until they either starve to
death, or are killed by wild animals.
Sheep are the most defenseless of animals.
Sheep do not recognize their own helplessness and vulnerability
making them easy targets for predators of all types. Sheep are inclined to
stray from and sheep will blindly follow other sheep.
This animal is a magnet
for those with ill intent – their many weaknesses make them their own worst
enemies. Sheep are always subject to danger and so must always be under the
watchful eye of the shepherd.
GOD’s children are very much like sheep.
GOD, the Father knows all about His children’s sheep-like
tendencies and has provided us with full protection under, JESUS CHRIST, without
whom our spiritual survival would be in serious jeopardy!
- All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53: 6
- I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11
In both the Old and New Testament, those for whom JESUS
cares are symbolically “sheep.” For
these He has accepted the sacrificial responsibility of Shepherd, even unto death.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers states: He is the Shepherd who
is ideally good, fulfilling every thought of guidance, support, self-sacrifice
that had ever gathered round the shepherd’s name.
In CHRIST the Good Shepherd the children of GOD have
total protection from spiritual ruin and earthly lack. He is our shelter from the storms of life, our protection
from the fiery darts of the evil one, and our righteousness unto eternal life with
the Father.
Because we have the Good Shepherd to watch over us, we are
no longer defenseless but able to do all things through His strength, and to
the glory of the Father who loves us.
Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to
your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls 1 Peter 2:25
Prayer and Thanksgiving: Holy Father in Heaven. We thank and praise YOU
for YOUR perfect and eternal love by which YOU have provided all that we need
for life and godliness. Thank you, for the GOOD SHEPHERD who leads us to
luscious meadows and quiet pools that satisfy and refresh us in the natural and
the spiritual. Thank YOU for your WORD that promises peace and the assurance
that YOU will keep us from straying off the path of righteousness. Thank YOU
for protecting us from the attacks of the evil one and giving us a way of
escape from temptation. Thank YOU that we are no longer lost and wandering
defenseless sheep but have been rescued by the power of TRUTH and protected
unto life everlasting. We praise YOU, and honor YOUR SON, our SHEPHERD and the
GUARDIAN of our souls. In HIS NAME we pray. Amen!
Always by God’s Word and prayer,
Cecile
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