Concept: The picture throughout these verses is the loving care of the shepherd for his sheep. If you have never been around to experience this it might be a shock for a city person to understand how very much a shepherd is involved in the welfare of his sheep.
Ps 78:52 But [God] led His own people forth like sheep and guided them [with a shepherd's care] like a flock in the wilderness.
Ps 95:7 For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice, [Heb 3:7-11.]
Isa 40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd: He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom and will gently lead those that have their young.
Jer 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries to which I have driven them and will bring them again to their folds and pastures; and they will be fruitful and multiply.
Jer 31:10Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, and declare it in the isles and coastlands far away, and say, He Who scattered Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.
Ezek 34:15 I will feed My sheep and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God.
Ezek 34:16 I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which has strayed, and I will bandage the hurt and the crippled and will strengthen the weak and the sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hardhearted and perverse]; I will feed them with judgment and punishment. [Luke 19:10.]
Ezek 34:22 Therefore will I rescue My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Mic 2:12-13 I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob; I will surely collect the remnant of Israel. I will bring them [Israel] together like sheep in a fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture. They [the fold and the pasture] shall swarm with men and hum with much noise.
13 The Breaker [the Messiah] will go up before them. They will break through, pass in through the gate and go out through it, and their King will pass on before them, the Lord at their head. [Ex 23:20,21; 33:14; Isa 63:8,9; Hos 3:5; Amos 9:11.] AMP
In the book a Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm Phillip Keller shows us how the shepherd would rub oil into the scalp of the sheep so that small bugs could not burrow below the surface to lay their eggs and breed. The result of these bugs in the scalp of the sheep would be they would bang heads with each other or run their heads against trees until they hurt themselves. The oil also helped them glance off each other and they would not be hurt. This only one example of how the loving care of the shepherd for sheep resembles God’s care for us. The oil of His Spirit protects us and also helps not to harm each other so that life does not get under our skin to the point that we hurt ourselves and each other.
There are many other things that the shepherd does to protect the sheep and care for them, just as God does much more to protect and guide our lives.
Thank you father God for your care for me today in ways I may or may not see!
No comments:
Post a Comment