The Good Shepherd

#5. Feb. 2, 2015

2015 Devotional. These passages are taken from: “100 Verses Every Christian Needs to Know” by Freeman-Smith. All Passages are from the NIV.

Psalm 23: 1-3 ¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he restores my soul.
He guides in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

This Psalm may be the best-known passage of the Old Testament as John 3:16 is in the New Testament. Both of these passages bring us great comfort when we by faith believe that God loves His people (His creation) and has our best interest on this earth in mind but also, and more importantly, our salvation. God wants His people back so to speak. Ps 23 is David’s response to God’s care and love for him. The Psalm is a very personal description of God’s love for David. The last verse gives us the result of God’s love and David’s faith in Him: “ I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” John 3:16 projects this goal as well: “Whoever believes on Him (Jesus) will not perish but have eternal Life”. Here it is personal but also universal: “whoever believes”!

David understands the work of a shepherd: protect the sheep, sense and address the dangers to the sheep, feed the sheep, calm the sheep, and keep the sheep on the right path. The idea of God as a shepherd goes way back to Gen. 48:15,16 and the idea of a shepherd comes to full expression in Jesus Christ. (Jn. 10) Jesus is our Shepherd and we “will not be in want”. We who believe will have everything we need, but not everything we want and the wisdom to know the difference.

He will make us “lie down in green pastures”. A pastoral scene but finding good pastures consumes the shepherd judging from having lived and worked among herding people. Distance, time or weather is no object, what matters is that the herd/flock is fed. Jesus the Good Shepherd has given His life for us “the sheep of His pasture” (Ps. 100:3). Nothing more is required, “It is finished”! Praise the Lord! Life goes on and in that regard green pastures become very important. It is a metaphor for God’s written Word as well as His living Word now among us by His Holy Spirit. We are fed in so many different ways, God’s Word in Scripture, our involment in a church, a Biblical marriage, and a trustworthy and spiritual friend. Further, Jesus “leads us besides quiet waters”. We are fed and we are comforted. Comfort comes softly, over time by following the Shepherd and by spending time with the source of a quiet and restored soul.

“He guides us in paths of righteousness” or “along the right paths”. (Pr. 12:28) All that comes before are stepping-stones through the turbulent river of life on this earth. The path of God’s grace, God’s care, His Word, His Spirit in our lives, our faith, our submission and seeking His will, and our thankfulness in service, are the right paths. Practically, it comes down to how we ought to live and how we actually live as people of God. God leads us to good pastures and fresh water but He does not force us to eat or drink. When we respond in faith, life it as Pr. 4:18 tells us: “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” It is about quality of life, Amen and Amen!