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God is a Shepherd. What amazement to the flaming hosts of Heaven that the Ancient of Days enthroned in Holiness would leave the Throne to roam the hillsides of Judea and Samaria to Guide and protect His flock called Israel.

An Ancient Shepherd was active in every phase of a sheep’s life: from its birth – serving as midwife, to its death – when he devises he swiftest and most painless death possible. He provides food. He gently pulls thorns from its fleece and thistles from its paws. He painlessly shears wool from its body – and even gently sets leg bones when they are broken. Sheep often nuzzle their shepherd as their own limited expression of gratitude.

My Shepherd knows me in every phase of my life.

He knows my name.
He knows my need.
He knows my wants.
He knew me before I was born.
He shaped me in my mother’s womb. He assisted in my delivery.

He knows my thoughts before I think them, my words before I speak them, and my actions before I perform them.
He has counted every hair on my head, measured my height, monitors my blood pressure and heartbeat, remembers my date of birth, knows my date of death and has even made provision for that event!

The Lord is MY Shepherd, it is personal. But even greater Jesus claims us as His. To claim the Lord as Shepherd is the supreme act of faith. To be claimed by the Lord as His sheep is the ultimate act of grace. He is MY Shepherd.

I shall not want!

Sheep need very little.
They need food, water, rest, and protection

Sheep are always branded by their owners. In modern times it is most often by cutting marks into their ears. Other methods are also used, maybe the burn of a branding iron, marks dyed on the skin, or a notch cut in an ear. The sheep were always recognized by their brand.

As God’s sheep we also are known by our brand.
Contentment, that supernatural strength to live with little and be satisfied, is the mark of Christ’s sheep!
I shall not want simple means I have everything I need!

He leads me beside the still waters.

As with most animals sheep are made of 70% water. Water is vital for them to live. There are only 3 ways for them to get healthy and life giving water: deep wells, running streams, and dew-laden grasses. In many early weeks of the spring and summer a sheep never needs any source of water but the dews. This is of course only when the sheep are out early. To get the water they need they must be up early while the grey mists of dawn are rising. Feeding on the dew-laden grasses they find clear, pure, and clean water that meet every need Is there a lesson again for us? Do we meet the Lord in the quiet opening of our days? Do we get the refreshment we need to carry us onward through the hot, dry activities of life’s deserts? That is what the morning manna collection pictured. That is what the sheep experienced. That is what all the biographies of the great saints of the past have recorded as being a common denominator in their lives.

Is that hat we have?

He prepares a Table

Sheep are defenseless animals; they can’t bite like dogs, scratch like cats, kick like horses or even snap like turtles. They are defenseless; their list of enemies is great.

  • Cougars track sheep for days, returning to kill sheep each night. Sometimes they drag a sheep for miles to their lair.
  • Coyotes go to the weak on the fringe of the flock, grab an ewe or lamb by the throat and run away at speeds in excess of 30 mph.
  • Eagles can steal and fly away with a small lamb, crows can pull out their eyes, flies can cause blindness and even death.
  • Poisonous weeds abound, steep edges dropping to deadly depth always loom.

Sheep are defenseless but their shepherd defends them. Our enemies surround us, they hover around us, and they slither beneath us. John the Apostle identifies our enemies as:

  • The World system that governs the earth in greed, controlled by legions of demons, controlled by Satan. The world surrounds us always reminding us that we never quite have enough.
  • The Flesh is our insatiable appetite inherited at birth and never completely gone until death.
  • The Devil is that most powerful created angel that opposes all that is of God, and goes to any length to steal our affections and devotion away from God!

The Lord’s Table is set for us to remember the only One who as our Shepherd defends, protects, and feeds us – even though surrounded by enemies!

He anoints my head

If sheep are not checked they develop infections. The most common is what we see in the Old Testament called blemished (as in an “unblemished” lamb). The blemishes were what we today call the scab, a communicable infectious skin disorder that if left unchecked can totally disable sheep. The face of the sheep is where the scab starts. It is transmitted as sheep rub heads, which they do often. The other most common ailment is also of the head and it is called the nose fly. In application, the world of sin usually attacks our heads (minds) first. We must have our noses oiled by the repellent of God’s Word and our heads washed with the healing cleansing of the Holy Spirit.

If they are not guided they drink fouled water and develop liver flukes that slowly kill them.
If they are not oiled in the summer with special oils they are distracted to sickness and even death by the nasal flies that lay eggs in the soft tissue of their noses. The eggs hatch into larvae which burrow up into their sinuses and cause they run hit their head on rocks, rub their noses until their raw, or even get infected to the point of blindness and even death.

Ancient and modern shepherds have made oil with sulfur and spices that repels the flies, prevents the eggs from being laid, and calms the sheep in the summer “fly season”. Without protection the sheep are irritable, fearful, and restless. They run from the flies, tossing their heads for hours, rubbing their heads, hiding in bushes and just acting panicked. This leads to lack of nourishment, abandonment of care for the young, and general weakness. The application of oil is astounding, the flock grows quiet, the sheep return to eating.

So in our lives the anointing of the Holy Spirit is the moment-by-moment appropriation of God’s power over the pests that irritate and nag us in life. Only the oil of the Holy Spirit can free us from frustrations and irritations. Only the Holy Spirit can quiet us and bring us to contentment.

At salvation we received all of the Holy Spirit. But to possess Him and to be controlled by Him are two vastly different conditions. Shepherds can carry gallons of nasal fly oil but until it is applied there is no relief.
It’s the application that matters.

To be safe from all wounds, pests, diseases, and dangers they learned to trustingly pass under the rod of their shepherd as he moves the rod and his hands over their fur to check and clean and protect them. Sounds like the prayers of David in Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. NKJV

To us that means awareness of the presence of God’s Spirit, daily application of His power, His Word, His control.
To us that means asking for the Holy Spirit’s control, filling, and leading – and then living under His guidance!

It means bowing my infected head for His daily inspection and cleansing.

It means being filled by God’s Spirit moment by moment.

Only God’s Spirit can calm the irritations of life.
Only God’s Spirit can bring peace to my world.
Only God’s Spirit can restore me to regular feeding and growth.
Not just in summertime do we need anointing, we need Him DAILY!

MY CUP OVERFLOWS

As the shepherd anoints his sheep, pouring oil over their heads, rubbing their wounds, anointing their noses, something wonderful takes place.
The animal’s entire personality changes.
Irritability leaves.

Frustration ceases. Hostility departs. Focus returns.
Sheep feed and grow.

The nose flies of the Christian life are catalogued in Galatians 5:19-21. They are called the works of the flesh. There are 15 named:

  • ADULTERY
  • FORNICATION
  • UNCLEANNESS
  • LEWDNESS
  • IDOLATRY
  • OUTBURSTS OF WRATH
  • SELFISH AMBITIONS
  • DISSENSIONS
  • HERESIES
  • ENVY
  • MURDERS
  • SORCERY
  • HATRED
  • DRUNKENNESS
  • REVELRIES

Most Christians usually shun seven of these nose flies. We are proud we don’t do them. But eight reflect the irritations of the flesh of which most of us are guilty.

These pests are constantly buzzing around us and within us, casing unceasing harassment. We can swat at them, run from them, and try to hide from them. We can pretend they aren’t there – but we can’t eliminate them. They create guilt and anxiety within and hostility without. The only solution is found in Another. My irritable personality must be exchanged for Another’s. The fruit of the Spirit is actually a list of Christ’s personality traits when the Holy Spirit runs our lives. There are 9 evidences called the fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22- 23:

  • LOVE
  • JOY
  • PEACE
  • LONGSUFFERING
  • KINDNESS
  • GOODNESS
  • FAITHFULNESS
  • GENTLENESS
  • SELF-CONTROL

The Holy Spirit pours His oil of LOVE over the nose fly of STRIFE, and brings PEACE. The Holy Spirit pours His oil of JOY over the nose fly of ENVY, and brings PEACE. The Holy Spirit pours His oil of PEACE over the nose fly of DISPUTES, and brings PEACE.

The Holy Spirit replaces my personality with Christ’s.
The results are dramatic, life changing and overflowing.
There is always enough anointing left over for others, overflowing cup is meant to be shared.
The anointed head is for me.
The overflowing cup is for others.

Lessons41 from the Land of the Book I am like a sheep But why does God call us His sheep? Maybe because sheep are such wonderful animals.

  • SHEEPAREUTTERLYHELPLESSandcannotfindtheirwaywithouta guide…. Though there be pasture within easy reach, the sheep is apparently incapable of finding it for itself. It must have a guide. So God, looking at stupid, lost humanity, said, “All they like sheep have gone astray.”
  • SheepareamongtheMOSTTENDEROFCREATURES,always suffering hurt and pain.
  • SHEEP ARE EXTREMELY VULNERABLE they can’t tell the difference between poisonous and non-poisonous plants so they are easily sickened by improper eating habits.
  • SHEEP ARE AMONG THE DIRTIEST ANIMALS associated with man. The natural tendency of wool in its raw and wild state is to pick up any defilement with which it comes into contact. There is a very unpleasant odor that is natural to the sheep. Mud dries on the pelt of the sheep in the most bedraggled patterns imaginable. The adherence of the mud is persistent. No matter how dry it may become, it does not seem to powder and fall away. Above all creatures that are associated with the life of man, the sheep in unquestionably the dirtiest. The poet who sings the praise of the snow-white sheep rarely sees them in their typical natural conditions, journeying together in great flocks. The dust of their passage adheres to their person until they become as brown as the terrain over which they travel.
  • SHEEP ARE OFTEN MINDLESS they will all begin to follow one restless lamb even if it is away from the flock and shepherd. When one aged ewe sinks in tiredness to rest and chew often they all sink to the ground and follow suit for no reason than that they are followers of almost anything.
  • Of all the creatures in the world, THE SHEEP HAS THE GREATEST NEED OF CLEANSING. So God looked at pitiable humanity, foul and unclean, bearing the marks of their passage through centuries of sin, and said, “We will call them sheep.”
  • Sheep are one of the few animals TOTALLY INCAPABLE OF SELF- CLEANSING. The dirtier a sheep gets, the more helpless it becomes. In this respect it seems to be below the hog. Many times we have seen a pig rubbing its person against the lower railing of the fence, scratching off the caked mud – but a sheep, never. So God looked at poor faulty humanity and said, “If We don’t clean them, they’ll never be cleansed. We will call them Our sheep.”

The Lord is…
I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD (10:11) – JESUS IS ALL I NEED TO MAKE IT

THROUGH LIFE AND GET TO MY HEAVENLY HOME, apart from Him is only aimless wandering.

  • Jesus said I am the Good Shepherd who died; I have settled the issue of the unknown.
  • I am your companion through life and death.
  • Jesus gives us the perfect example of how to live and how to die!
  • Believers are FOLLOWING THE GOOD SHEPHERD WHO IS THE SAVIOR OF

MY LIFE. “I AM the Good Shepherd” (10:11,14).

Jesus has three magnificent titles as God’s chosen Shepherd in the New Testament.

    • In John 10:11 He is introduced as the Good Shepherd who dies fo His sheep.

He came as God’s Prophet and died as predicted in Psalm 22.

    • In Hebrews1 3:20 He is introduced as the Great Shepherd who lives fo His Sheep. He lives as God’s Priest in the present making intercession for us as

described in all present tenses in Psalm 23.

    • In 1st Peter 5:4 He is introduced as the Chief Shepherd who returns for His sheep. He will return as God’s King as Psalm 24 promises.

Three thousand years ago David said that the Lord is my Shepherd, two thousand years ago Jesus said I am the Good Shepherd. Today shepherds have changed little, sheep have changed less, and the Lord hasn’t changed at all!

Shepherds were the lowest profession of the ancient world. That is why Pharaoh had nothing to do with sheep or shepherds, and had them sent to a separate place. That is why they were unclean in Pharisaic Judaism. Some of earth’s greatest names were shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and God!

God is a Shepherd. What amazement to the flaming hosts of Heaven that the Ancient of Days enthroned in Holiness would leave the Throne to roam the hillsides of Judea and Samaria to Guide and protect His flock called Israel.

OUR GOOD SHEPHERD JESUS IS THE GREAT I AM

  • Jehovah-Raah(TheLordtheShepherd–Psalm23:1)TheLordismy shepherd. Jesus says I AM your SHEPHERD.
  • Jehovah-Jireh (The Lord will provide – Genesis 22:13-14) I shall not want. As the Good Shepherd Jesus says I AM your PROVIDER
  • Jehovah-Shalom (The Lord our peace – Judges 6:24) He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. As the Good Shepherd Jesus says I AM your PEACE
  • Jehovah-Rapha (The Lord will restore or heal – Exodus 15:26) He restores my soul; As the Good Shepherd Jesus says I AM your RESTORER
  • Jehovah-Tsidkenu (The Lord our righteousness – Jeremiah 23:6) He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. As the Good Shepherd Jesus says I AM your RIGHTEOUSNESS
  • Jehovah-Nissi (The Lord our banner – Ex. 17:8-15) 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. As the Good Shepherd Jesus says I AM your VICTORY.
  • Jehovah-Shammah (The Lord is present there – Ezekiel 48:35) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. As the Good Shepherd Jesus says I AM your Ever Present God.

 

 

40 Drawn from, adapted, and quoted from Phillip Keller, A Shepherd looks at the 23rd Psalm; Don Baker, The Way of the Shepherd.