Shepherding Love

April 2, 2017 Background Scripture: Psalm 23 Lesson Passage: Psalm 23 How do you prepare to study what might be the most familiar passage of scripture in the Bible besides John 3:16? Psalm 23 is likely the first complete psalm memorized by children in Sunday School over the years. It often finds its way onto funeral programs and is sometimes referenced throughout a funeral service. Perhaps that is one of the reasons it is such an amazing passage of scripture. It talks about the importance of a close relationship with the Lord throughout one’s life and even into the valley of the shadow of death. Put another way, the scope of those six verses of scripture cover a person’s lifetime relationship with the Lord. The appreciation for this psalm can be attributed to the history the Bible provides about the psalm’s writer, David. The Bible presents David as a young man with a very humble personality. He seemed content to obediently obey his father, Jesse, and tend the family’s flock of sheep. This he did while his older brothers were soldiers in Israel’s army. It seems that Jesse could count on David to care for the sheep as well as to run errands for his father when needed. It was while running an errand to carry supplies to his brothers and to assess the state of the brooding conflict between Israel and the Philistines that we learn something about David that his father might not have known. David not only watched over his father’s sheep but he also defended them—with his life! David recounted that on two occasions the flock was endangered by predators. One time it was a lion and the other time it was a bear. Rather than run for his own safety, David used his slingshot to kill both predators and deliver the prey that had been taken. In many respects, David’s menial chore had been more dangerous than that faced by his brothers in the army. Rather than fighting to protect the people of God, the entire army of Israel was running from one Philistine named Goliath. David was able to observe this while on errand to the battle field for their father. David did not behave like a hired laborer over the flock. If so, then he would have run from the danger posed by the predators. David exhibited the characteristics of a good shepherd—he was willing to put his life on the line for the sheep. I think the Shepherd’s Psalm was more than just an inspiration for David but it was biographical. As a sheep, metaphorically speaking, David knew what to expect from the Lord because he understood the shepherd’s responsibility. What David was willing to do to protect his father’s flock, he in turn expected the Lord to do for him. Whatever the sheep needed, the good shepherd would provide—even if it costs him his life. Peace, food, water, protection, and correction were all provided without the need for a request because the shepherd understood what the sheep needed. When the sheep would graze in terrain that was surrounded by predators, there was no need for the sheep to fret because the shepherd was with them. So the flock could comfortably graze even with predators watching. The shepherd led them over a path that was safe for the not so sure-footed sheep. There was never a time when the sheep were without protection. And these good conditions were expected to always be so—forever. Robert C. Hudson March 1, 2017