The Good Shepherd

Psalm 23 is much loved. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.

Powerful imagery isn’t it? Even though the realities of shepherding and sheep are far removed from our suburban setting, it still resonates.

In the Gospel of John (chapter 10), Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd. The shepherd calls the sheep by name and leads them out… He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

He calls the sheep by name and they know his voice… 

There is an intimacy to that. 

I’ve never been to the Middle East, but I understand that outside of the fertile valleys, there is a lot of desolate rocky land. In the Bible, that desolate, rocky, dry land is referred to as the wilderness or the desert. And so you can imagine shepherds leading the sheep across the wasteland to find the green pastures for food, and still waters for drink. And I think about all the dangers along the way: wild animals, thieves, injuries. On top of that, sheep are notoriously dumb… and are prone to wander off. They clearly need a shepherd!

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself in the wilderness… Sometimes I’m there like the stupid sheep because I’ve wandered off in the wrong direction…. I find myself confused or lost. Made a bad choice. Made a bad turn.

And other times I’m there in that wilderness by no fault of my own… As life unfolds, we don’t have to travel very far to learn that much of it is completely out of our control.

One of the things I really appreciate about these passages of scripture is that they don’t deny reality. Yes, the Lord is our shepherd. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t still have to travel through dark valleys, face enemies, or find ourselves in the wilderness.

But it does mean that we do not face them alone…

Let us pray: Jesus, you are indeed the Good Shepherd. And you have laid down your life for us. We praise you. Lead us, and guide us, we pray, as we seek to follow you all of our days. Amen.