{"id":255,"date":"2020-07-23T22:29:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T22:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=255"},"modified":"2020-07-23T22:31:28","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T22:31:28","slug":"the-shepherd-and-sheep-analogy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=255","title":{"rendered":"The Shepherd and Sheep Analogy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You can read Psalms 23 in thirty seconds. David\u2019s masterpiece is only six verses long, yet it contains a treasure trove of spiritual truth. Sadly, we usually only hear it read at funerals or quoted as a crutch in a crisis. Many Scriptures allude to the shepherd\/sheep analogy to describe God\u2019s relationship with His people. Prominent shepherds in the Bible include Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jacob\u2019s twelve sons, Laban, Moses, Jethro, and David. Oh, and there\u2019s one more we can\u2019t forget\u2014JESUS! \u201cThe good shepherd gives His life for the sheep . . . I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 10:11, 14, NKJV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalms 23 starts with a name of God, \u201cThe\nLORD is my Shepherd.\u201dNotice LORD is in all caps. In Hebrew, it\u2019s YHWH<\/em>\n(yeh-ho-vaw\u2019). In English, we say Jehovah or Yahweh. This is rendered LORD thousands\nof times in the Old Testament. The Jews believed the name of God was too sacred\nto be spoken, so they put it in a form that can\u2019t be pronounced. When they\nwrote it, they removed the vowels like this YHWH (this forms the tetragrammaton\nor the name of \u201cfour letters\u201d). Jehovah or Yahweh means \u201cthe self-existent,\neternal One.\u201d It implies a personal God who dwells among His people and is ready\nto intervene for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a big difference between a lord and\na savior. Most people want a savior to rescue them from hell (fire insurance),\nbut few want a lord to change their lifestyle. A lord is \u201ca person who has\nauthority, control, or power over others, a master, chief, or ruler.\u201d Many\npeople resist yielding control of their will to Christ; they want to be saved and\nkeep doing their own thing. However, if the Lord is truly our Shepherd, then we\nmust yield to His Lordship to stay under the canopy of His blessing and favor. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we find another name of God in Hebrew\u2014Jehovah\/Yahweh-Rohi\u2014the\nLord my Shepherd. By nature, sheep are helpless creatures. They are totally\nreliant on a shepherd to lead them to clean water, green pastures, and protect\nthem from predators. They don\u2019t have claws or fangs to defend themselves plus they\nrun slowly and clumsily. Sheep are mentioned more frequently in the Bible than\nany other animal (about 750 times) and provide the perfect analogy of how much\nwe need God. \u201cWe are His people and the sheep of His pasture\u201d<\/em> (Ps. 100:3).\nConsider seven benefits we as sheep receive from our heavenly Shepherd:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Provision\u2014<\/strong>I shall not want <\/em>(lack).This reveals another name\nof God\u2014Jehovah-Jireh\u2014the Lord my Provider. He won\u2019t finance all our wants, but\nHe did promise to supply all our needs. \u201cMy God shall supply all your needaccording to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus\u201d<\/em> (Phil. 4:19). He is a God of vision and provision who uses supernatural ways\nand unexpected sources to meet our needs.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    • Direction<\/strong>\u2014He leads me beside the still waters<\/em>\n. . . He leads me in paths of righteousness<\/em>.Sheep must be led,\nor they will wander into trouble, fall off a cliff, or eat poisonous plants. Sheep\nneed to drink from still waters. Swift currents are dangerous because, when\ntheir fleece absorbs water, sheep become top heavy and can capsize and drown.\nGod gives us clear direction\u2014\u201c<\/em>The\nsteps of a good man are ordered by the Lord\u201d<\/em>\n(Ps. 37:23). Plus, the Holy\nSpirit is our navigator who guides us into all truth (Jn. 16:13).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      • Restoration<\/strong>\u2014He restores my soul. <\/em>TheHebrew\nword translated \u201crestores\u201d here is shub <\/em>(shoob). It means \u201cto turn back,\nto retreat, withdraw, refresh, or recover.\u201dThe Message renders it, \u201cHe\nlets me catch my breath.\u201d<\/em> We are not designed to go wide open and\nfull speed all the time. Sometimes, we need to step back, rest, and be\nrefreshed in His presence. \u201cEven though our\noutward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed<\/strong> day by day\u201d<\/em> (2 Cor. 4:16). Restoration results from spending\ntime with the Shepherd. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        • Protection<\/strong>\u2014I will fear no evil: for You are with\nme. <\/em>This describes a hedge of divine protection. Psalm 5:12 declares, \u201cFor\nYou, O Lord, will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with\na shield.\u201d<\/em> A shield is a protective barrier between\nyou and the enemy. Jesus declared, \u201cI am the door\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 10:9). In Bible\ntimes, a sheepfold was often just a simple stone enclosure with an opening for\na door. At night, after every sheep was counted, the shepherd laid down in the\nopening and served as a human gate. No wolf could get in without climbing over him\nand no sheep could get out unless it climbed over him. Jesus is our Shepherd\/Door\nwho keeps us safely in His fold.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
          • Correction<\/strong>\u2014Your rod and Your staff they comfort\nme.<\/em>The staff was a walking stick with a crook that was used to\nretrieve wayward lambs. \u201cAll we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned,\nevery one, to his own way\u201d<\/em> (Is. 53:6). The\nrod was a club used to fend off predators. If a sheep strayed habitually, the\nclub might be used to break its leg for its own good. Too many dangers lurk\noutside the safety of the flock. Then the shepherd would carry that sheep and\nnurse it back to health. A problem in the church and in society is few people accept\ncorrection without getting offended. Correction is an unpleasant but vital part\nof spiritual growth (Heb. 12:5-11). Like surgery, God\u2019s discipline is\nshort-term pain in exchange for long-term gain. <\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            • Prevention<\/strong>\u2014You anoint my head with oil. <\/em>Shepherds\nanointed sheep\u2019s heads with oilfor two reasons: 1. to prevent sunstroke\n(sunscreen) 2. to prevent parasites (pesticide). The oil ran into the crevices\naround the sheep\u2019s ears, eyes, and nose to repel flies, fleas, and other harmful\nparasites that could make it sick and even die. The Holy Spirit\u2019s anointing oil\nkeeps us from being scorched by the heat of tribulation and repels negative and\ndemonic influences that try to attack us. No wonder the Psalmist wrote, \u201c<\/em>I have been anointed with fresh oil\u201d <\/em>(Ps. 92:10).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              • Abundance<\/strong>\u2014My cup runs over. <\/em>If we stay close\nthe Shepherd, He will bless us abundantly! \u201cDo not\nfear, little flock<\/strong>, for it is your Father\u2019s good pleasure to give you\nthe kingdom\u201d<\/em> (Lk. 12:32). He is El Shaddi\u2014\u201cthe all-sufficient one.\u201d He\u2019s\nnot the God of barely enough; He\u2019s the God who is more than enough! \u201cNo good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly\u201d<\/em> (Ps. 84:11). The Shepherd can turn your shortage into a surplus overnight.\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

                So, take time to re-read the 23rd<\/sup>\nPsalm and listen to the Shepherd speak to you for Jesus said, \u201cMy sheep hear\nMy voice\u201d<\/em> and \u201cHe calls his own sheep by name\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 10:27, 3). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                You can read Psalms 23 in thirty seconds. David\u2019s masterpiece is only six verses long, yet it contains a treasure trove of spiritual truth. Sadly, we usually only hear it read at funerals or quoted as a crutch in a crisis. Many Scriptures allude to the shepherd\/sheep analogy to describe God\u2019s relationship with His people. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255\/revisions\/256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}