Bad Shepherds
Read: Jeremiah 23:1-6 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! (v. 1) Sheep are physically vulnerable. They have few natural defenses against parasites and predators. They are prone to wander. Sheep depend on others to lead them, which is why they fall prey to false shepherds. Sheep are so […]
Like Sheep
Read: Isaiah 53:1-6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way. (v. 6) In his memoir A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson encounters a man whose sense of direction is hopelessly flawed. When they meet, Bryson points out that the man is miles off course from his intended […]
The Tender Shepherd
Read: Isaiah 40:1-11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms. (v. 11) One of my earliest memories is of my mother singing a lullaby that goes, “Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me, / Bless Thy little lamb tonight.” We tend to “grow out” of that feeling of […]
In the Presence of My Enemies
Read: Psalm 23 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. (v. 5) In his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, W. Phillip Keller observes that sheep are such anxious and temperamental creatures that if there is a hint of danger, they cannot rest, sleep, or even eat. The presence […]
Rod and Staff
Read: Psalm 23 I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (v. 4) In his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, W. Phillip Keller notes that shepherds in antiquity carried two tools: a rod and a staff. The staff was a long stick used […]
Don’t Shepherd Us!
Read: 1 Kings 22:1-18 There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD . . . but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil. (v. 8) My first movie experience was Walt Disney’s Pinocchio. Its narrator, Jiminy Cricket, is the puppet’s appointed conscience. Pinocchio is perfectly […]
The Heart of the Shepherd
Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-12 The LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. (v. 7) God called his people “sheep” because, like sheep, they did not always know what was best for them, as when the Israelites demanded a king. They did so wanting […]
The Shepherd-Leader
Read: Numbers 27:12-23 . . . that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep that have no shepherd. (v. 17 NIV) I was a first-year Hebrew student. My fellow students and I were in over our heads: trying to master a new alphabet and vocabulary as well as the art of reading […]
The Original Shepherd
Read: Genesis 49:22-25 God of your father . . . will help you. (v. 25) I once had a coworker who enjoyed skydiving. On a Monday morning he came to work shaken. He had slept in the previous morning and missed an opportunity to skydive. The person who took his place on the plane experienced […]