The Lord is My Shepherd

Thought for Today - June 24
The Lord Is My Shepherd
By: Robert A. Searles

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23: 1-6.

Sheep. for the most part, are helpless creatures and have no effective defense against predators and their enemies. Whatever sheep want or have need of they are provided for by their shepherd. If their shepherd is a good one, the sheep lack nothing and are content to lie down with confidence that they are being cared for.

David, the psalmist, likens himself to sheep, and praises God that he has the confidence in God, his shepherd, that even in the midst of war and turmoil and danger, his shepherd will go before him and prepare a way for him, and spread a table for him in the presence of his enemies. The good shepherd will find the green pastures, and the still waters, and the safe places.

We too are God's workmanship and the sheep of his pasture. We are born into a world of dark shadows. The shadow of death haunts us from the cradle to the grave. Everywhere we go we see the shadow of death. We see it in the vegetation; we see it in the animal world; we do not have to go far to see something that has died, and we are reminded that we too face the same fate. We also are reminded that our shepherd will see us through from the cradle to the grave, from birth to death, no matter how soon or how late that may be. If we, his sheep, follow our shepherd we have no reason to fear either life or death.

Those who have not received Christ as their Savior, and follow him as their shepherd are lost sheep and are wanderers in a hostile world of darkness and the shadow of death, and unless they bow their knees to him and confess that they, by nature are lost sinners, and ask him to save them, have every good reason to fear. The lost as well as the saved walk through the valley of the shadow of death every day. The saved have the confidence and assurance that their shepherd will lead them safely home through the valley of the shadow of death, whereas ,the lost will be swallowed up in death and cast into hell.

Are you saved and a sheep with a shepherd, or are you a lost wandering sheep? Only you can answer that question.