The Lord Is Our Shepherd

Thought For Today May 7
The Lord Is Our Shepherd.
By: Robert A. Searles

Psalm 23 tells us: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

 When sheep have a shepherd, that is, someone to lead them and guide them; protect them and care for them; they are secure and have a sense of well being about them. They can rest with the assurance that they are well cared for at all times. they are in a place of security. The Lord is our shepherd. We are the sheep of his pasture and he cares for us. 

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty." Psalm 91: 1

. If we are dwelling in the secret place of the almighty, and in the pasture of our Lord, we shall not want. The word want here is used in the sense that we will not lack anything, no unsatisfied desire; no longing for something beyond our reach; no good thing withheld from us.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." A sheep will not lie down if it can sense any danger around. The Lord makes us to lie down. There is nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be on the defensive about in the Lord's pasture. He gives us peace and rest. We lie down in green pastures where there is life abundant and everlasting, and where we can feast upon the manna of God ,and eat of the bread of life. In the Lord's pasture we live like kings because , not only are we his sheep, but we are his sons and daughters.

"I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 34:14,15.  "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel 34: 31.

In the Lord's pasture we can drink from the still waters that only Jesus can draw from, the fountain of his own being, and once we have drank from this water, we need never thirst again for it becomes like a well of living water bubbling up within us to the satisfying of our soul.

Our souls find rest, refreshment and are restored in the pasture of our Lord, and because he loves us and has given us his family name, he leads us in paths of righteousness. He says to us: "This is the way, walk ye in it." Even when we cross the border between life and death, we need not fear any evil, because the Lord is the bridge across this gulf. He is the door; he is the way; He said: "I am the door, no man cometh unto the father but by me".

Even though our enemies, the devil and the forces of evil would seek to trap us outside the will and fellowship of God, even in the presence of our enemies , and even when we are actually in bondage to our enemies, the Lord's table is prepared for us where we are invited to come and dine. Jesus said: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me."

 In my father's house are many mansions. In my father's pasture are many blessings, so many that I cannot count them. The only way to describe them is to say that I am not big enough to contain them. My cup runneth over. "Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation, Selah." Psalm 68:19.

Nothing but good can happen to us in the pastures of our Lord. His mercy and love shall never be withdrawn or withheld from us, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" Romans 8: 35. "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 37,38,39.

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8: 28