GOD OUR SHEPHERD
Throughout the Bible we find that God reveals Himself as a shepherd to his people. Even when He is declared to be powerful, it is often accompanied by the statement that He is also a shepherd. See for example Isaiah 40;10,11 (quoted below).
The implications of this are great. Since we are talking about the God Almighty, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, we would not expect Him to have qualities which are personal or relational. But the Bible teaches that God is exactly that - both cosmic and relational to human kind.
The following selection of references demonstrate this aspect of God’s nature - to the benefit of human kind, especially those who relate to Him through faith and trust for salvation.
At the end of his life, Jacob (Israel) the head of the early family of promise, blesses his grandsons, declaring that God has been his shepherd
Genesis 48:15,16a ‘May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd, the angel who has delivered me from harm - may he bless these boys ..’
David had been a shepherd: he knew what shepherds do. His personal experience of God showed Him to be a shepherd…
Psalm 23:1-4 ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in 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.’
David praises God for his salvation and prays that he will be a shepherd to Israel
Psalm 28:8,9 ‘The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress for his anointed one. Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them for ever.’
Words of comfort written to the exiles in Babylon
Isaiah 40:10,11 ‘See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.’
God is angry with the leaders and priests of Israel for neglecting the people. God says he will do the job Himself …
Ezekiel 34:11-16 ‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so I will look after my sheep. I will rescue them … I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land …I will tend them in a good pasture … I myself will tend my sheep and make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.’
God is going to send a new shepherd, a new David
and Ezekiel 34:23-24 ‘I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.’
Matthew confirms that Jesus is the Promised One.
Matthew 2:6 (quoting Micah 5:2) ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’
Jesus claims he is the promised Shepherd and he will die for his sheep.
John 10:11-17 ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.’
The Good Shepherd is alive and will help us to live for God
Hebrews 13:20,21 ‘May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen.
We are secure because the Good Shepherd is caring for us.
1 Peter 2:224,25 ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and overseer of your souls.’
God’s promise to all who serve him faithfully.
1 Peter 5:4 ‘And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.’
And at the end …
Rev.7:17 ‘Never again will they hunger … never again will they thirst. … For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’