The Lord is our Shepherd
Notes
Transcript
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
The Mythical attributes looked for in a Shepherd-King were first of all Strength,then Justice, compassion, and some sort of Divinity. For a shepherd to properly dispenseof his duties as protector, it requires the requisite strength to protect the weak of his
‗flock‘ from the strong, not to mention protection against ―predators‖ from outside.
:4-5
In
the Canaanite ―Story of Kirta‖, Kirta‘s son Yassib attempts to convince his father to
abdicate his throne so that he, Yassib, can begin to rule. His rationale is that his father isno longer strong enough to provide justice: "Weakness has stayed your hand: you do not judge the cases of widows, you do not preside over the hearings of the oppressed; you donot drive out those who plunder the poor, you do not feed the orphan before you, thewidow behind your back. The sickbed has become your brother, the stretcher our closefriend. Come down from the kingship-let me be king,from your power-let me sit on thethrone." (Coogan, p.74)
16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”
16 of Ozni, the clan of the Oznites; of Eri, the clan of the Erites; 17 of Arod, the clan of the Arodites; of Areli, the clan of the Arelites.
Number 26:
23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
Wealth - Banker/Employer/Family
Pleasure/Comfort - Technology/Spouse/Pimp
Power - Government/ President/ Boss/Pastor
Belonging - Friends/Family/Work
Not a Coach
Not a Parent
Not a Maid
Jesus is the Good Shepherd
The Lord is my Spepherd
Your shepherd provides care and protection for your soul.
Your shepherd provides care and protection for your soul.
Your soul
Rest - By grace through the Word from your own self-righteousness
Peace and forgiveness
Sense of purpose and belonging and righteousness - fittedness/appropriateness - Fruit of the Spirit
No fear - but comfort - power and presence over death
Every other shepherd makes you prove yourself.
We are left obsessing over our wants in the valley of the shadow of death, paralyzed by fear in the presence of our enemies. No wonder so many are so cynical … Both the child and the cynic walk through the valley of the shadow of death. The cynic focuses on the darkness; the child focuses on the Shepherd.
Paul Miller, The Praying Life (NavPress, 2009)
Your shepherd provides joy with abundance.
Your shepherd provides joy with abundance.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Barrier for sheep
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Phil 3:
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Every other shepherd provides joy and victory over enemies that don’t save your soul.
Awake O Harp: A Devotional Commentary on the Psalms Psalm 23: Our Forever Shepherd
One day, you will look back at your life and see that it was only “goodness and mercy,” and that includes the valley experiences. If life is difficult today, just keep following the Shepherd like a needy sheep; He will never lead you where He cannot care for you.
Your shepherd provides hope into eternity.
Your shepherd provides hope into eternity.
20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Every other shepherd will lose eventually and you will be abandoned.
Lee Eclov
Awake O Harp: A Devotional Commentary on the Psalms Psalm 23: Our Forever Shepherd
One day, you will look back at your life and see that it was only “goodness and mercy,” and that includes the valley experiences. If life is difficult today, just keep following the Shepherd like a needy sheep; He will never lead you where He cannot care for you.
Awake O Harp: A Devotional Commentary on the Psalms Psalm 23: Our Forever Shepherd
One day, you will look back at your life and see that it was only “goodness and mercy,” and that includes the valley experiences. If life is difficult today, just keep following the Shepherd like a needy sheep; He will never lead you where He cannot care for you.
Pastor- giving you more of Christ
Love people as Christ has loved us
Serve as Jesus Served
Adoring God in worship
Sharing the Gospel by making disciples
Are you positioning yourself to be shepherded?
Are you pointing people to your shepherd?