Psalms 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
A sheep's life is basically a simple life. Unlike the spider who hides in King's castles, sheep are not know for their cunning or their cleaver ways. Unlike the hippo they are not very strong. They need to be lead to water and safety, unlike the wild animals who survey without care. When God used the metaphor of the sheep in the infamous Psalm 23, we might not catch the full meaning of that animal. Some would even say that sheep are quite dumb. There has been much written on the sheep and a simply Google search can turn up multiple characteristics ... most of which easily apply to the believer in this life. In this opening verse of the twenty-third Psalm we is the essence of the Bible story. God is our shepherd and we are His sheep. That is the characteristics of our relationship with Him and He with us. The wolves can't say they have a Shepherd. We are the ones blessed with this Over-watcher. Notice what Jesus says of Himself of this truth:
John 10:11-16
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
We not only have a Shepherd we have a GOOD shepherd. Everything that God does for us Jesus is our Shepherd and it is done out of a character of love and goodness for us. Jesus laid His life down for us. Like sheep we wander off and like a good shepherd He seeks us out an rescues us ... time and time again. We don't always follow the Shepherd, even though we know where He leads is better for us than were we want to go. He some times has to use a rod or a staff to keep us in the path. Sometimes He might lead us through a dark valley and we wonder why, but despite death all around us, He leads us to a table of blessings and overfills our cups. We can fight that care when we are in the dark valley and doubt that His leading is correct. But, our wandering off to find our own blessing only serves to get us caught and eventually rescued by the Good Shepherd. We only want when we are out of His divine care and have wandered off on our own. Those who reject God and deny's His authority and rule have no shepherd. They wander about looking for what they can find. Sometimes, when we see them, they have blessings galore. Yet, they have no shepherd. The Lord is "MY" shepherd. What a blessed phrase to commit to memory.
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