More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
God the Father is God the author—the originator of all that exists. It was in His mind, first, that all took shape. God the Son, our Savior, is God the artisan—the artist, the Creator of all that exists. He brought into being all that had been originally formulated in His Father’s mind. God the Holy Spirit is God the agent who presents these facts to both my mind and my spiritual understanding so that they become both real and relative to me as an individual.
To think that God in Christ is deeply concerned about me as a particular person immediately gives great purpose and enormous meaning to my short sojourn upon this planet.
And the greater, the wider, the more majestic my concept is of the Christ—the more vital will be my relationship to Him.
“Look at who my shepherd is—my owner—my manager!” The Lord is! After all, he knew from firsthand experience that the lot in life of any particular sheep depended on the type of man who owned it. Some men were gentle, kind, intelligent, brave, and selfless in their devotion to their stock. Under one man sheep would struggle, starve, and suffer endless hardship. In another’s care they would flourish and thrive contentedly.
The Lord is my shepherd is a statement thst defines the character of God, and highlights our sense of belonging to him. It is a statement of surrender and trust
His special object of affection and attention. Who better could care for me?
belong to Him simply because He deliberately chose to create me as the object of His own affection.
Thus, in a second very real and vital sense, I truly belong to Him simply because He has bought me again at the incredible price of His own laid-down life and shed blood. Therefore, He was entitled to say, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
He literally lays Himself out for us continually. He is ever interceding for us; 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.
It is a tragic truth that many people who really have never come under His direction or management claim that “The Lord is my shepherd.” They seem to hope that by merely admitting that He is their Shepherd somehow they will enjoy the benefits of His care and management without paying the price of forfeiting their own fickle and foolish way of life.
Its not enough to know that the Lord is your shepherd or to take comfort in tst rrality if it doesnt chsngethe way you live. I the Lord is your shepherd, you belobgto him and should live inth way he calls.you to
But a second emphasis is the idea of being utterly contented in the Good Shepherd’s care and consequently not craving or desiring anything more.
This may seem a strange statement for a man like David to have made if we think in terms only of physical or material needs. After all, he had been hounded and harried repeatedly by the forces of his enemy Saul as well as by those of his own estranged son Absalom. He was obviously a man who had known intense privation: deep personal poverty, acute hardship, and anguish of spirit. Therefore, it is absurd to assert on the basis of this statement that the child of God, the sheep in the Shepherd’s care, will never experience lack or need.
To all their distress, the heartless, selfish owner seemed utterly callous and indifferent. He simply did not care. What if his sheep did want green grass, fresh water, shade, safety, or shelter from the storms? What if they did want relief from wounds, bruises, disease, and parasites?
“The Lord is my shepherd—I shall not be in want.”
A statement of attention and care, of exclusivity, of ownership and surrender. Which ultimstely leads to a statement of contentment
He will go to no end of trouble and labor to supply them with the finest grazing, the richest pasturage, ample winter feed, and clean water. He will spare Himself no pains to provide shelter from storms, and protection from ruthless enemies and the diseases and parasites to which sheep are so susceptible.
She was a sheep, who, in spite of all that I had done to give her the very best care, still wanted something else.
Who, what, and where is more satisfying to you than under the careful attention and watchful eye of your good shepherd? Whereelse can you go?
“He makes me lie down.” In the Christian’s life there is no substitute for the keen awareness that our Shepherd is nearby. There is nothing like Christ’s presence to dispel the fear, the panic, the terror of the unknown.
But more important was the fact that it was the shepherd’s presence that put an end to all rivalry.
And in our human relationships when we become acutely aware of being in the presence of Christ, our foolish, selfish snobbery and rivalry will end.
