UNCERTAIN – Part 1
The Good Shepherd
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Psalm 23 (NKJV) – A Psalm of David. 1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
Book: A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 – W. Phillp Keller
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The Lord is my shepherd.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. 17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”—John 10:11–18 (NLT)
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.—Colossians 1:15–17 (NLT)
So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.—John 1:14 (NLT)
Do I belong to the Good Shepherd?
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.—Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
Do we recognize the Good Shepherd’s authority over us?
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.
He literally lays Himself out for us continually. He is ever interceding for us (Rom. 8:34); He is ever guiding us by His gracious Spirit; He is ever working on our behalf to ensure that we will benefit from His care.—John 10:11 (NLT)
David took pride in belonging to the Good Shepherd. Do we?
A few questions asked in Chapter 1 of the Keller’s book:
1. Do I really recognize His right to me?
2. Do I respond to His authority and acknowledge His ownership?
3. Do I find freedom and complete fulfillment in this arrangement?
4. Do I sense a purpose and deep contentment because I am under His direction?
Conclusion:
When David called God his Shepherd, he was publicly recognizing God’s authority and sovereignty in his life. Have you recognized God’s authority and sovereignty?
Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.—Mark 8:34 (NLT)