Am I His sheep, Yes

Dear Friends,

Psalm 23 is my favorite psalm and I memorized it when I was young, this is my guiding psalm in all the aspects of my life, so I would like to share my personal understanding of this psalm now. I understood that our Lord Jesus Christ is our shepherd then I have to be His sheep. In my childhood, I have seen people taking care of sheep and goats, I felt that goats are at least smart, sheep’s are beyond question. The most stupid animals on the face of the earth, they are dumb, timid and defenseless and helpless exactly like me. To be honest, I know that I lack wisdom and strength; sometimes I know that I am going my own way and doing my own thing. That is me. I think I NEED SHEPHERD, a good and humble, gentle and kind Shepherd.

Isiah 53:6 says that “ we are all like sheep who have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way”. How many times we have gone away from HIS will in our Christian life? I think, it is time for us to have a good Shepherd, Jesus Christ in our life.

Why do we need Shepherd? I think there are 3 reasons to have good Shepherd in our life. The first reason to have good shepherd in our life is to meet of the inner man, the basis needs that we have for nourishment within. It is our God who restores the inner man through His word. It is the word of God which brings us first to Christ. If we see verses 1 & 2, we see that Shepherd leads the sheep in the green pastures and the quiet waters, because sheep don’t drink in the disturbed water due to its physical features. In Psalm 34, we see that, “ .. those who seek the Lord will lack no good things”, Yes, he is our Jehovah who provides our needs. In Joel 2: 26, we see that, “And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed”. Lets cling to our good shepherd for our basic needs in our physical and spiritual life.

The second reason we need good shepherd in our life is to give direction . Verse 3 says, He leads me in the paths of righteousness which means well defined paths. This indicates again how stupid sheep are, because even when the path is right, they still need a Shepherd. They are still inclined to wander away, no matter how obvious the inclined path may be. This again confirms that I am His sheep, because I need Him in all the situations, confirming His presence in all narrow and crooked paths or even in righteous path to follow Him continually. In Psalm 37: 24 we see that “... For the Lord uphold him with his hand”. Yes, we have assurance that He holds us with His own hands when we have him as a shepherd in our life.

The third reason to have good shepherd is to have protection. “Your staff and rod comfort me.” Understanding how the shepherd tends his sheep is helping me understand the character of God, when we go wandering away, our Lord doesn’t say, there goes stupid sheep, NO, His attitude is, How can I help him/ her? How can I bring them back in to the line, how can I comfort you and supply what you need for? The rod and staff are used against 2 greatest enemies we have to face. The rod is for the enemy Satan, so our Shepherd uses club on him. But the other enemy us is, the enemy within us. The shepherd’s staff is used to chasten and subdue the enemy within us. Our Shepherd gives confidence not to fear either from the enemy without or from the enemy within.

What is our response to our good shepherd who feeds us and leads us and protects us? Our response ought to be worship. A word of thanks for what He has done for us on the cross. David found God, the good shepherd as a gracious host, was preparing a table before him in the presence of enemies. Lets invite our good shepherd and assure that we are His sheep available for His guidance.

May the dear Lord Jesus Christ bless everyone in this fellowship?

Love and Prayers,

DP Vathani