“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1, NKJV)
The title ‘shepherd’ doesn’t mean a lot to us unless, that is, we are sheep. In that case, it means everything.
A shepherd is one who tends the sheep. He makes it his responsibility to know them, bind up the injured, seek the lost, free those ensnared, feed them, lead them in the way they should go. It is a full-time job.
This is how the living God wants us to know Him, and to trust Him. He is the faithful shepherd. He will never leave us or forsake us. As He has promised, so He will do. Unlike shepherds that would abandon us or abuse us because they are in it for themselves, our shepherd will ensure that goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives; and we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:6).
Years later from the writing of the twenty-third psalm we see the extent of the commitment of love from the lips of our Lord Jesus: “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own” (John 10:14). No one can snatch us from His hand.
- What does the name ‘shepherd’ communicate to you?
- In what way is Jesus the true shepherd?
