The Lord is My Shepherd

Isaiah 40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm (z’roah in Hebrew), And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young.

John 10:10-11 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

I was reading an article written by an American living in Israel. He said they often see goats and sheep roaming the countryside and driving through rural Israel often involved sudden stops to allow a herd of sheep or goats to cross the road. But interestingly, he had never seen “sheep kill" on the side of the road in all the years he lived in Israel. It’s because sheep don’t roam without a shepherd.

The Lord is gathering His lambs with His arm, and carrying us to His bosom. This is not a distant relationship but one of loving care and intimacy with His sheep. He said, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me." [John 10:14]. Then He continued, "..and I lay down my life for the sheep."

The most vulnerable time for defenseless animals is at night when they need to rest. The sheepfold is where they are gathered by the shepherd each night; a stone compound, with rocks stacked high enough to keep out predators, but without a door. Jesus declared Himself to be the “door of the sheep” [John 10:7-9] because, as a Good Shepherd, He lies where a door would typically be so that nothing could go in or out, without passing by the Shepherd.

Fear and evil seems to be rearing their ugly heads in every facet of life these days. Greater darkness seems to be looming on the horizon; we need to truly realize the powerful and complete protection our Good Shepherd provides. Nothing can get to us unless it goes through Him! When the Lord laid down His life for us He also gave us a fortress of protection and safety which is impossible to break.

Knowing of the dark days we would be facing Jesus afforded us a profound sense of safety in Himself so that we absolutely need not walk in fear. Promising never to leave nor forsake us till the end of the age He gave us the security of intimacy with Himself, in and through every trial or danger. We need never doubt we can trust Him.

Our land is being ravaged by wildfires and flooding. Our countrymen are suffering many hardships and far too many people lead lives of desperation tainted with fear and suspicion. These folks do not rest in faith in the knowledge their Shepherd is watching over them. In the face of tragedy and heartache, our Shepherd sees our trials and though it may feel to us at the time we are alone, we are not. It is not the material possessions of this earth that bring us eternal fellowship with our God but the Shepherd Jesus that ushers us through the sheep gate.

The ‘thief’ mentioned in John 10:10 above is the enemy, satan, evil itself, that comes to steal our peace, kill our joy and to destroy our faith in the One, Jesus, our Shepherd. The other day I wrote about Psalms 23 and how much comfort it must have given David to think of God as his shepherd because he knew the love, care and total protection he gave the sheep he guarded was nothing compared to what he received from his Shepherd. The sheep rest well, not in fear, because they know their shepherd’s voice and his presence. That is the comfort offered us when we rest and rely on our Good Shepherd. “…Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thy rod and Thy staff comfort me….”

I pray today for each of us to lay down any fear and trembling which fills our hearts and minds as we see fires raging and flood waters destroying. Take heart in the knowledge of our Shepherd and His protection. We won’t become ‘sheep kill’ either.