Roger’s Reflections 5

The Good Shepherd, by Roger Carswell

Psalm 23.  A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

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.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  

It is so good to see and hear the lambs in the fields.  Psalm 23, written 3,000 years ago still stirs our hearts. God Himself promises to be with us in life (vv.1-3), through death (v.4) and into eternity (vv. 5&6) if we can say “The Lord is my shepherd.  

Look at the Psalm again and see how: 

  He is the Shepherd, we are the sheep; 

  He is the Guide, we are the travellers; 

  He is the Host, we are the guests.   

And of course, this is the same Shepherd who was to say in John 10 “I am the good shepherd … and I lay down my life for the sheep”.  We thank the Lord Jesus for His love, His death and resurrection, and His loving care for His sheep.  We are so often like wayward, foolish sheep; we have gone astray and turned to our own way, yet the Lord has laid on Him, the good shepherd, the sin of us all, and when He finds us He carries us on His shoulders – us safe and secure, and He, rejoicing.  

Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed,

But yet in love He sought me,

And on His shoulder gently laid

And home rejoicing brought me.

 

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill, 

With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;

Thy rod and staff my comfort still

Thy cross before to guide me.

 

And so through all the length of days

Thy goodness faileth never;

Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise

Within Thy house forever.

 

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