March 8, 2025 • 20 mins
As we lie down in green pastures or walk through the shadowy valley, we're assured that whatever our path, whatever our stumbling, the Shepherd will lovingly guide, carry, and protect us. We can depend on His goodness and mercy all the days of our lives. Readers will find comfort, guidance, and reassurance with A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.
Mark Rogers reads from Phillip Kellerss book, "A shepherd looks at Psalm 23". His book can be found on Amazon or Christian Books and other places where Christian books are sold.
Submit questions and comments to www.ThoughtsofChrist.com
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Episode Transcript
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Ecamm Live Recording on 202 (00:00):
Hi, Mark Rogers here again from
(00:01):
Common Thoughts of Christ.
And we have a special littleseries I'd like to bring up
called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm23 by Philip Keller.
You can find this over on Amazonand other places to purchase
both audio books, as well as theprinted books.
I would like to walk throughseveral of the chapters from
this Mr.
(00:22):
Keller, who was a shepherd quitehas extensive knowledge about
shepherding.
Myself over three decades ago myfather did have a handful of
sheep and I do have memories ofthe sheep as they were
definitely something to workwith.
And so it's interesting to seeMr.
Keller, as he describes ashepherd in a detail that those
(00:44):
of us, the United States societydon't understand.
And when the Lord Jesus isreferring to him as a Shepherd
and Peter refers to the LordJesus has the Great Shepherd.
It's important to understand theparameters of what a shepherd
is.
And then it's also understandingwhat the parameters of what a
sheep is.
And I believe that both of thoseaspects- both of who a shepherd
(01:05):
is and who sheep are- is verymuch misguided today because of
our lack of understanding of theculture and the, what the
situation is with growing,having animals and the
maintenance and the feeding andthe caring for the animal.
So let's get right into it here.
We'll find you can find the bookhere by Mr.
(01:27):
Keller published by Zondervanand it's a copyright in 1970,
2007 and 2015 and published byGrand Rapids, Michigan,
Zondervan.
It is quite a lovely book andyou'll find the first chapter,
the Lord is my shepherd.
Second one is I shall not be inwant third chapter light makes
(01:49):
me lie down in green pastures.
So you can see Mr.
Keller is leading this down.
Psalm 23- phrase by phrase.
Chapter 4, he leaves me besidestill waters.
Chapter 5, he restores my soul.
Chapter 6, he guides me in thepath of righteousness for his
name's sake.
Chapter 7, even though I walkthrough the valley.
(02:11):
Chapter 8, your rod and yourstaff, they comfort me.
And chapter 9, you prepare atable for me.
Chapter 10, you anoint my headwith oil.
Chapter 11, surely goodness andlove will follow me.
And chapter 12 is I will dwellin the house of the Lord
forever.
And so let's get on into thefirst chapter as we open up
(02:36):
Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd.
The Lord, but who is the Lord?
What is his character?
Does he have adequatecredentials to be my Shepherd,
my Manager, my Owner?
And if He does, how do I comeunder his control?
(02:58):
In what way do I become theobject of His concern and
diligent care?
These are penetrating searchingquestions that they deserve
honest and basic examination.
One of the calamities ofChristianity is our tendency to
walk in ambiguous generalities.
David, the author of the poem,himself a shepherd and the son
(03:19):
of a shepherd, later to be knownas the Shepherd King of Israel,
stated explicitly, Quote, theLord is my shepherd.
To whom did he refer?
He referred to Jehovah, the LordGod of Israel.
His statement was confirmed byJesus the Christ.
When he was God incarnateamongst men, he declared
emphatically, I am the goodshepherd.
(03:42):
But who was this Christ?
Our view of him is often toosmall, too cramped, too
provincial, too human.
And because it is, we feelunwilling to allow him to have
authority or control, much lessoutright ownership of our lives.
He it was who was directlyresponsible for the creation of
(04:03):
all things, both natural andsupernatural.
See Colossians 1 15 through 20.
If we pause to reflect on theperson, of Christ on His power
and His achievements.
Suddenly, like David, we will beglad to state proudly, the Lord,
He is my shepherd.
But before we do this, it helpsto hold clearly in mind the
(04:25):
particular part played upon ourhistory by God, the Father, God,
the Son, and God, the HolySpirit.
God, the Father is a God theauthor, the originator of all
that exists.
It was in His mind first thatall took shape.
God, the son, our Savior is God,the artisan, the artist, the
(04:45):
Creator of all that exists.
He brought into being all thathad been originally formulated
in His father's mind.
God, the Holy Spirit is God, theagent who presents these facts
to both my mind and my spiritualunderstanding so they may be
both become real and relative tome as an individual.
Now, the beautiful relationshipsgiven to us repeatedly in
(05:06):
scripture between God and manare those of a father to His
children and a shepherd to Hissheep.
These concepts were firstconceived in the mind of God,
our Father.
They were made possible andpractical through the work of
Christ.
They are confirmed and made realin me through the agency of the
(05:26):
gracious Holy Spirit.
The sublime statement is made bya woman or a man that the Lord
is my Shepherd it immediatelyimplies a profound yet practical
working relationship between ahuman being and his Maker.
It links a lump of common clayto divine testimony.
It means a mere mortal becomesthe cherished object of divine
(05:50):
diligence.
This thought alone should stirmy spirit, quicken my own sense
of awareness, and lend enormousdignity to myself as an
individual.
To think that God in Christ isdeeply concerned about me as a
particular person immediatelygives great purpose and enormous
meaning to my short life.
Sojourn upon this planet and thegreater the whiter the more
(06:14):
majestic my concept is of theChrist The more vital will be my
relationship to him.
Obviously David in this psalm isspeaking not as the shepherd
though He was one but as a sheepone of the flock.
He spoke with strong sense ofpride and devotion admiration It
was though he literally boastedaloud look at who my shepherd is
(06:36):
my owner my manager The Lord is.
After all, he knew fromfirsthand experience that the
lot in life of any particularsheep depending on the type of
man who owned it.
Some men were gentle, kind,intelligent, brave, and selfless
in their devotion to theirstock.
Under one man, sheep wouldstruggle, starve, and suffer
(06:56):
endless hardship.
And in another's care, theywould flourish and thrive
contentedly.
So if the Lord is my shepherd, Ishould know something of His
character and understandsomething of his ability.
To meditate on this, Ifrequently go out at night to
walk along alone under the starsand remind myself of His majesty
and might.
(07:17):
Looking up at the star studdedsky, remember that at least 25
million times 250 million suchbodies, each larger than our
sun, one of the smallest of thestars, have been scattered
across the vast spaces of theuniverse by his hand.
I recall that the planet Earth,which is my temporary home for a
few short years, is so minute aspeck of matter in space that if
(07:41):
it were possible to transportour most powerful telescope to
our nearest neighbor star, AlphaCentauri, and look back this
way, the Earth could not beseen, even though with the aid
of that powerful instrument.
All this is a bit humbling.
It drains the ego from a man andputs things in proper
perspective.
It makes me see myself as a meremite of material in an enormous
(08:05):
universe.
Yet the staggering fact remainsthat Christ, the creator of such
an enormous universe ofoverwhelming magnitude, deigns
to call Himself my Shepherd andinvites me to consider myself
His sheep, His special object ofaffection and attention.
Who better could care for me?
(08:25):
By the same sort of process, Istoop down, I pick up a handful
of soil from the backyard orroadside, place it in an
electron microscope, I'mastounded to discover it teems
with billions upon billions ofmicroorganisms.
Many of them are complex intheir own peculiar cellular
structure that even a fractionof their functions in the earth
(08:46):
are not yet properly understood.
Yes, He the Christ, the Son ofGod, brought all this into
being.
From the most gigantic galaxy tothe most minute microbe, all
function flawlessly inaccordance with definite laws of
order and unity, which areutterly beyond the mind of
(09:06):
finite man to master.
It is in this sense, first ofall, that I am basically bound
to admit That His ownership ofme as a human being is
legitimate.
Simply because it is he whobrought me into the being and no
one is better able to understandor care for me.
I belong to Him simply becauseHe deliberately chose to create
(09:30):
me as the object of His ownaffection.
It is patently clear that mostmen and women refuse to
acknowledge this fact.
Their deliberate attempts todeny that such a relationship
even exists or could existbetween a man and his Maker
demonstrate their abhorrence ofadmitting that anyone really can
(09:50):
claim ownership or authorityover them by virtue of bringing
them into being.
This was, of course, theenormous risk, or calculated
chance, if we could use thatterm, which God took in making
man initially.
But in His usual magnanimousmanner, he took the second step
in attempting to restore thisrelationship, which is
(10:11):
repeatedly breached by men whoturn their backs in Him.
Again, in Christ he demonstratedat Calvary the deep desire of
his heart to have men come underHis benevolent care.
He himself absorbed the penaltyof their perverseness, stating
clearly that we all, like sheep,have gone astray.
Each of us have turned to hisown way.
(10:34):
And the Lord has laid on him theiniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53 6.
Thus in a second very real andvital sense I truly belong to
Him simply because He has boughtme again at the incredible price
of His own laid down life andshed blood.
Therefore He was entitled to sayI am the good shepherd.
(10:55):
The Good Shepherd lays down Hislife for the sheep.
John 10 11.
So there remains the movingrealization that we have been
bought with a price That we arereally not our own, and he is
well within his rights to layclaim upon our lives.
I recall quite clearly how, inmy first venture with sheep, the
(11:16):
question of paying a price formy ewes was so terribly
important.
They belonged to me only byvirtue of the fact that I paid
hard cash for them.
It was money earned by the bloodand sweat and tears drawn from
my own body during the desperategrinding years of the
Depression.
And when I bought that firstsmall flock, I was buying them
(11:37):
literally with my own blood,which had been laid down with
this day in mind.
Because of this, I felt in aspecial way they were in a very
truth a part of me and I a partof them.
There was an intimate identityinvolved which, though not
apparent on the surface to thecasual observer, nonetheless
(11:57):
made those 30 ewes exceedinglyprecious to me.
But the day I bought them, Ialso realized that this was but
the first stage in a longlasting endeavor, in which from
then on I would be as theirowner, having to continually lay
down my life for them, if theywere to flourish and prosper.
Sheep do not just take care ofthemselves, as some might
(12:20):
suppose.
They require more than any otherclass of livestock.
Endless attention and meticulouscare.
It is no accident that God haschosen to call us sheep.
The behavior of sheep and humanbeings is similar in many ways,
as well can be seen in furtherchapters.
Our mass mind or mob instincts,our fears and timidity, our
(12:43):
stubbornness and stupidity.
Our perverse habits are allparallels of profound
importance.
Yet despite these adversecharacteristics, Christ chooses
us, buys us.
It is this last aspect that isreally the third reason why we
(13:07):
are under obligation torecognize his ownership of us.
He literally lays Himself outfor us continually.
He is ever interceding for us.
He is ever guiding us by Hisgracious spirit.
He is ever working on our behalfto ensure that we will benefit
from His care.
In fact, Psalm 23 might becalled David's hymn of praise to
(13:29):
divine diligence.
For the entire poem goes on torecount the manner in which the
Good Shepherd spares no painsfor the welfare of His sheep.
Little wonder that the poet tookpride in belonging to the Good
Shepherd.
Why shouldn't he?
In memory I can still see one ofthe sheep ranches in our
district that was operated by atenant sheepman.
He ought ever to never have beenallowed to keep sheep.
(13:51):
His stock were always thin,weak, and riddled with disease
or parasites.
Again and again they would comeand stand at the fence staring
blankly through the woven wireat the green lush pastures that
my flock enjoyed.
Had they been able to speak, I'msure they would've said,"oh, to
be free, set free from thisawful owner." This is a picture
(14:13):
that has been never left mymemory.
It's a picture of patheticpeople, the world ever O over
have not known what it is tobelong to the Good Shepherd who
suffer instead of under sin.
How amazing it is that theindividual men and women
vehemently refuse and reject theclaims of Christ in their lives.
(14:34):
They fear that to acknowledgeHis ownership is to come under
the rule of a tyrant.
This is difficult to comprehendwhen one pauses to consider the
character of Christ.
Admittedly, there have been manyfalse caricatures of this
Person, but an unbiased look atHis life quickly reveals an
individual of enormouscompassion, and incredible
(14:56):
integrity.
He was the most balanced andperhaps the most beloved being
ever to enter the society ofmen.
Though born amidst mostdisgusting surroundings.
The member of a modest workingfamily, He bore himself always
with great dignity andassurance.
Though He enjoyed no specialadvantages as a child, either in
(15:17):
education or employment, Hisentire philosophy And outlook on
life were the highest standardsof human conduct ever set before
mankind.
Though He had no vast economicassets, political power, or
military might, no other personever made such an enormous
impact on the world's history.
Because of Him, millions ofpeople across almost 20
(15:39):
centuries of time have come intoa life of decency and honor and
noble conduct.
Not only was His gentle andtender and true, but also
righteous, stern as steel andterribly tough on phony people.
He was magnificent in His magnigmagniminous spirit of
forgiveness for fallen folk, buta terror to those who indulge in
(16:00):
double talk or false pretenses.
He came to set men free fromtheir own sins, their own
selves, their own fears.
Those so liberated loved Himwith fierce loyalty.
It is this one who insists thatHe was the Good Shepherd, the
understanding Shepherd, theconcerned Shepherd who cares
enough to seek out and save andrestore lost men and women.
(16:24):
He never hesitated to make itquite clear that when an
individual once came under hismanagement and control there
would be a certain new andunique relationship between Him
and them.
There would be something veryspecial about belonging to this
particular shepherd.
There would be a distinct markupon the man or woman that
differentiate him or her fromthe rest of the crowd.
(16:45):
The day I bought my first 30ewes, my neighbor and I sat on
the dusty corral rails thatenclosed the sheep pens and
admired the choice, strong, bredewes that had become mine.
Turning to me, he handed alarge, sharp killing knife and
remarked tersely Philip, they'reyours.
(17:06):
Now you'll have to put your markon them.
I knew exactly what he meant.
Each shepherd has his owndistinctive earmark that he cuts
into one of the ears of hissheep.
In this way, even at a distance,it is easy to determine to whom
the sheep belong.
It was not the most pleasantprocedure to catch each ewe in
turn and lay her ear on a woodenblock, then notch it deeply with
(17:28):
the razor sharp edge of theknife.
There was pain for both of us,but from our mutual suffering an
indelible, lifelong mark ofownership was made that they
could never be erased.
And from then on, every sheepthat came into my possession
would bear my mark.
There is an exciting parallel tothis in the Old Testament.
(17:48):
When a slave in any Hebrewhousehold chose of his own free
will to become a lifetime memberof that home, He was subjected
to a certain ritual.
His master and owner would takehim to his door, put his earlobe
against the door post, and withan awl, puncture a hole through
the ear.
From then on, he was a man,marked for life, as his
(18:09):
belonging to that house.
For the man or woman whorecognizes the claim of Christ
and gives allegiance to Hisabsolute ownership, there comes
the question of a bearing of Hismark.
The mark of the cross is thatwhich should identify us with
him for all time.
The question is, Does it?
Jesus made it clear when Hestated emphatically, if anyone
(18:31):
would come after me, he mustdeny himself and take up his
cross and follow Me.
Mark 8 34.
Basically what it amounts to isthis, a person exchanges the
fickle fortunes of living lifeby sheer whimsy for the more
productive and satisfyingadventure of being guided by
God.
It is a tragic truth that manypeople who really have never
(18:54):
come under His direction ofmanagement claim that quote,
They seem to hope that by merelyadmitting that he is their
shepherd, somehow they willenjoy the benefits of His care
and management without payingthe price of forfeiting their
own fickle and foolish way oflife.
One cannot have it both ways.
(19:16):
Either we belong or we don't.
Jesus himself warned us thatthere would come a day when many
would say,"Lord, in your name wedid wonderful things." But He
will retort that He never knewus as His own.
It is the most serious andsobering thought that would make
us search our own hearts andmotives and personal
relationships to him.
(19:37):
Do I really belong to him?
Do I really recognize His rightto me?
Do I respond to His authorityand acknowledge His ownership?
Do I find freedom and completefulfillment in this arrangement?
Do I sense a purpose and deepcontentment because I am under
His direction?
Do I know rest and reposebesides a definite sense of
(20:00):
exciting adventure and belongingto Him?
If so, with genuine gratitudeand exaltation, I can exclaim
proudly, just as David did,"TheLord is my shepherd, and I am
thrilled to belong to Him, forit is thus that I shall flourish
and thrive, no matter what lifemay bring to me."
Hi, Mark Rogers here again from
(00:01):
Common Thoughts of Christ.
And we have a special littleseries I'd like to bring up
called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm23 by Philip Keller.
You can find this over on Amazonand other places to purchase
both audio books, as well as theprinted books.
I would like to walk throughseveral of the chapters from
this Mr.
(00:22):
Keller, who was a shepherd quitehas extensive knowledge about
shepherding.
Myself over three decades ago myfather did have a handful of
sheep and I do have memories ofthe sheep as they were
definitely something to workwith.
And so it's interesting to seeMr.
Keller, as he describes ashepherd in a detail that those
(00:44):
of us, the United States societydon't understand.
And when the Lord Jesus isreferring to him as a Shepherd
and Peter refers to the LordJesus has the Great Shepherd.
It's important to understand theparameters of what a shepherd
is.
And then it's also understandingwhat the parameters of what a
sheep is.
And I believe that both of thoseaspects- both of who a shepherd
(01:05):
is and who sheep are- is verymuch misguided today because of
our lack of understanding of theculture and the, what the
situation is with growing,having animals and the
maintenance and the feeding andthe caring for the animal.
So let's get right into it here.
We'll find you can find the bookhere by Mr.
(01:27):
Keller published by Zondervanand it's a copyright in 1970,
2007 and 2015 and published byGrand Rapids, Michigan,
Zondervan.
It is quite a lovely book andyou'll find the first chapter,
the Lord is my shepherd.
Second one is I shall not be inwant third chapter light makes
(01:49):
me lie down in green pastures.
So you can see Mr.
Keller is leading this down.
Psalm 23- phrase by phrase.
Chapter 4, he leaves me besidestill waters.
Chapter 5, he restores my soul.
Chapter 6, he guides me in thepath of righteousness for his
name's sake.
Chapter 7, even though I walkthrough the valley.
(02:11):
Chapter 8, your rod and yourstaff, they comfort me.
And chapter 9, you prepare atable for me.
Chapter 10, you anoint my headwith oil.
Chapter 11, surely goodness andlove will follow me.
And chapter 12 is I will dwellin the house of the Lord
forever.
And so let's get on into thefirst chapter as we open up
(02:36):
Psalm 23.
The Lord is my shepherd.
The Lord, but who is the Lord?
What is his character?
Does he have adequatecredentials to be my Shepherd,
my Manager, my Owner?
And if He does, how do I comeunder his control?
(02:58):
In what way do I become theobject of His concern and
diligent care?
These are penetrating searchingquestions that they deserve
honest and basic examination.
One of the calamities ofChristianity is our tendency to
walk in ambiguous generalities.
David, the author of the poem,himself a shepherd and the son
(03:19):
of a shepherd, later to be knownas the Shepherd King of Israel,
stated explicitly, Quote, theLord is my shepherd.
To whom did he refer?
He referred to Jehovah, the LordGod of Israel.
His statement was confirmed byJesus the Christ.
When he was God incarnateamongst men, he declared
emphatically, I am the goodshepherd.
(03:42):
But who was this Christ?
Our view of him is often toosmall, too cramped, too
provincial, too human.
And because it is, we feelunwilling to allow him to have
authority or control, much lessoutright ownership of our lives.
He it was who was directlyresponsible for the creation of
(04:03):
all things, both natural andsupernatural.
See Colossians 1 15 through 20.
If we pause to reflect on theperson, of Christ on His power
and His achievements.
Suddenly, like David, we will beglad to state proudly, the Lord,
He is my shepherd.
But before we do this, it helpsto hold clearly in mind the
(04:25):
particular part played upon ourhistory by God, the Father, God,
the Son, and God, the HolySpirit.
God, the Father is a God theauthor, the originator of all
that exists.
It was in His mind first thatall took shape.
God, the son, our Savior is God,the artisan, the artist, the
(04:45):
Creator of all that exists.
He brought into being all thathad been originally formulated
in His father's mind.
God, the Holy Spirit is God, theagent who presents these facts
to both my mind and my spiritualunderstanding so they may be
both become real and relative tome as an individual.
Now, the beautiful relationshipsgiven to us repeatedly in
(05:06):
scripture between God and manare those of a father to His
children and a shepherd to Hissheep.
These concepts were firstconceived in the mind of God,
our Father.
They were made possible andpractical through the work of
Christ.
They are confirmed and made realin me through the agency of the
(05:26):
gracious Holy Spirit.
The sublime statement is made bya woman or a man that the Lord
is my Shepherd it immediatelyimplies a profound yet practical
working relationship between ahuman being and his Maker.
It links a lump of common clayto divine testimony.
It means a mere mortal becomesthe cherished object of divine
(05:50):
diligence.
This thought alone should stirmy spirit, quicken my own sense
of awareness, and lend enormousdignity to myself as an
individual.
To think that God in Christ isdeeply concerned about me as a
particular person immediatelygives great purpose and enormous
meaning to my short life.
Sojourn upon this planet and thegreater the whiter the more
(06:14):
majestic my concept is of theChrist The more vital will be my
relationship to him.
Obviously David in this psalm isspeaking not as the shepherd
though He was one but as a sheepone of the flock.
He spoke with strong sense ofpride and devotion admiration It
was though he literally boastedaloud look at who my shepherd is
(06:36):
my owner my manager The Lord is.
After all, he knew fromfirsthand experience that the
lot in life of any particularsheep depending on the type of
man who owned it.
Some men were gentle, kind,intelligent, brave, and selfless
in their devotion to theirstock.
Under one man, sheep wouldstruggle, starve, and suffer
(06:56):
endless hardship.
And in another's care, theywould flourish and thrive
contentedly.
So if the Lord is my shepherd, Ishould know something of His
character and understandsomething of his ability.
To meditate on this, Ifrequently go out at night to
walk along alone under the starsand remind myself of His majesty
and might.
(07:17):
Looking up at the star studdedsky, remember that at least 25
million times 250 million suchbodies, each larger than our
sun, one of the smallest of thestars, have been scattered
across the vast spaces of theuniverse by his hand.
I recall that the planet Earth,which is my temporary home for a
few short years, is so minute aspeck of matter in space that if
(07:41):
it were possible to transportour most powerful telescope to
our nearest neighbor star, AlphaCentauri, and look back this
way, the Earth could not beseen, even though with the aid
of that powerful instrument.
All this is a bit humbling.
It drains the ego from a man andputs things in proper
perspective.
It makes me see myself as a meremite of material in an enormous
(08:05):
universe.
Yet the staggering fact remainsthat Christ, the creator of such
an enormous universe ofoverwhelming magnitude, deigns
to call Himself my Shepherd andinvites me to consider myself
His sheep, His special object ofaffection and attention.
Who better could care for me?
(08:25):
By the same sort of process, Istoop down, I pick up a handful
of soil from the backyard orroadside, place it in an
electron microscope, I'mastounded to discover it teems
with billions upon billions ofmicroorganisms.
Many of them are complex intheir own peculiar cellular
structure that even a fractionof their functions in the earth
(08:46):
are not yet properly understood.
Yes, He the Christ, the Son ofGod, brought all this into
being.
From the most gigantic galaxy tothe most minute microbe, all
function flawlessly inaccordance with definite laws of
order and unity, which areutterly beyond the mind of
(09:06):
finite man to master.
It is in this sense, first ofall, that I am basically bound
to admit That His ownership ofme as a human being is
legitimate.
Simply because it is he whobrought me into the being and no
one is better able to understandor care for me.
I belong to Him simply becauseHe deliberately chose to create
(09:30):
me as the object of His ownaffection.
It is patently clear that mostmen and women refuse to
acknowledge this fact.
Their deliberate attempts todeny that such a relationship
even exists or could existbetween a man and his Maker
demonstrate their abhorrence ofadmitting that anyone really can
(09:50):
claim ownership or authorityover them by virtue of bringing
them into being.
This was, of course, theenormous risk, or calculated
chance, if we could use thatterm, which God took in making
man initially.
But in His usual magnanimousmanner, he took the second step
in attempting to restore thisrelationship, which is
(10:11):
repeatedly breached by men whoturn their backs in Him.
Again, in Christ he demonstratedat Calvary the deep desire of
his heart to have men come underHis benevolent care.
He himself absorbed the penaltyof their perverseness, stating
clearly that we all, like sheep,have gone astray.
Each of us have turned to hisown way.
(10:34):
And the Lord has laid on him theiniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53 6.
Thus in a second very real andvital sense I truly belong to
Him simply because He has boughtme again at the incredible price
of His own laid down life andshed blood.
Therefore He was entitled to sayI am the good shepherd.
(10:55):
The Good Shepherd lays down Hislife for the sheep.
John 10 11.
So there remains the movingrealization that we have been
bought with a price That we arereally not our own, and he is
well within his rights to layclaim upon our lives.
I recall quite clearly how, inmy first venture with sheep, the
(11:16):
question of paying a price formy ewes was so terribly
important.
They belonged to me only byvirtue of the fact that I paid
hard cash for them.
It was money earned by the bloodand sweat and tears drawn from
my own body during the desperategrinding years of the
Depression.
And when I bought that firstsmall flock, I was buying them
(11:37):
literally with my own blood,which had been laid down with
this day in mind.
Because of this, I felt in aspecial way they were in a very
truth a part of me and I a partof them.
There was an intimate identityinvolved which, though not
apparent on the surface to thecasual observer, nonetheless
(11:57):
made those 30 ewes exceedinglyprecious to me.
But the day I bought them, Ialso realized that this was but
the first stage in a longlasting endeavor, in which from
then on I would be as theirowner, having to continually lay
down my life for them, if theywere to flourish and prosper.
Sheep do not just take care ofthemselves, as some might
(12:20):
suppose.
They require more than any otherclass of livestock.
Endless attention and meticulouscare.
It is no accident that God haschosen to call us sheep.
The behavior of sheep and humanbeings is similar in many ways,
as well can be seen in furtherchapters.
Our mass mind or mob instincts,our fears and timidity, our
(12:43):
stubbornness and stupidity.
Our perverse habits are allparallels of profound
importance.
Yet despite these adversecharacteristics, Christ chooses
us, buys us.
It is this last aspect that isreally the third reason why we
(13:07):
are under obligation torecognize his ownership of us.
He literally lays Himself outfor us continually.
He is ever interceding for us.
He is ever guiding us by Hisgracious spirit.
He is ever working on our behalfto ensure that we will benefit
from His care.
In fact, Psalm 23 might becalled David's hymn of praise to
(13:29):
divine diligence.
For the entire poem goes on torecount the manner in which the
Good Shepherd spares no painsfor the welfare of His sheep.
Little wonder that the poet tookpride in belonging to the Good
Shepherd.
Why shouldn't he?
In memory I can still see one ofthe sheep ranches in our
district that was operated by atenant sheepman.
He ought ever to never have beenallowed to keep sheep.
(13:51):
His stock were always thin,weak, and riddled with disease
or parasites.
Again and again they would comeand stand at the fence staring
blankly through the woven wireat the green lush pastures that
my flock enjoyed.
Had they been able to speak, I'msure they would've said,"oh, to
be free, set free from thisawful owner." This is a picture
(14:13):
that has been never left mymemory.
It's a picture of patheticpeople, the world ever O over
have not known what it is tobelong to the Good Shepherd who
suffer instead of under sin.
How amazing it is that theindividual men and women
vehemently refuse and reject theclaims of Christ in their lives.
(14:34):
They fear that to acknowledgeHis ownership is to come under
the rule of a tyrant.
This is difficult to comprehendwhen one pauses to consider the
character of Christ.
Admittedly, there have been manyfalse caricatures of this
Person, but an unbiased look atHis life quickly reveals an
individual of enormouscompassion, and incredible
(14:56):
integrity.
He was the most balanced andperhaps the most beloved being
ever to enter the society ofmen.
Though born amidst mostdisgusting surroundings.
The member of a modest workingfamily, He bore himself always
with great dignity andassurance.
Though He enjoyed no specialadvantages as a child, either in
(15:17):
education or employment, Hisentire philosophy And outlook on
life were the highest standardsof human conduct ever set before
mankind.
Though He had no vast economicassets, political power, or
military might, no other personever made such an enormous
impact on the world's history.
Because of Him, millions ofpeople across almost 20
(15:39):
centuries of time have come intoa life of decency and honor and
noble conduct.
Not only was His gentle andtender and true, but also
righteous, stern as steel andterribly tough on phony people.
He was magnificent in His magnigmagniminous spirit of
forgiveness for fallen folk, buta terror to those who indulge in
(16:00):
double talk or false pretenses.
He came to set men free fromtheir own sins, their own
selves, their own fears.
Those so liberated loved Himwith fierce loyalty.
It is this one who insists thatHe was the Good Shepherd, the
understanding Shepherd, theconcerned Shepherd who cares
enough to seek out and save andrestore lost men and women.
(16:24):
He never hesitated to make itquite clear that when an
individual once came under hismanagement and control there
would be a certain new andunique relationship between Him
and them.
There would be something veryspecial about belonging to this
particular shepherd.
There would be a distinct markupon the man or woman that
differentiate him or her fromthe rest of the crowd.
(16:45):
The day I bought my first 30ewes, my neighbor and I sat on
the dusty corral rails thatenclosed the sheep pens and
admired the choice, strong, bredewes that had become mine.
Turning to me, he handed alarge, sharp killing knife and
remarked tersely Philip, they'reyours.
(17:06):
Now you'll have to put your markon them.
I knew exactly what he meant.
Each shepherd has his owndistinctive earmark that he cuts
into one of the ears of hissheep.
In this way, even at a distance,it is easy to determine to whom
the sheep belong.
It was not the most pleasantprocedure to catch each ewe in
turn and lay her ear on a woodenblock, then notch it deeply with
(17:28):
the razor sharp edge of theknife.
There was pain for both of us,but from our mutual suffering an
indelible, lifelong mark ofownership was made that they
could never be erased.
And from then on, every sheepthat came into my possession
would bear my mark.
There is an exciting parallel tothis in the Old Testament.
(17:48):
When a slave in any Hebrewhousehold chose of his own free
will to become a lifetime memberof that home, He was subjected
to a certain ritual.
His master and owner would takehim to his door, put his earlobe
against the door post, and withan awl, puncture a hole through
the ear.
From then on, he was a man,marked for life, as his
(18:09):
belonging to that house.
For the man or woman whorecognizes the claim of Christ
and gives allegiance to Hisabsolute ownership, there comes
the question of a bearing of Hismark.
The mark of the cross is thatwhich should identify us with
him for all time.
The question is, Does it?
Jesus made it clear when Hestated emphatically, if anyone
(18:31):
would come after me, he mustdeny himself and take up his
cross and follow Me.
Mark 8 34.
Basically what it amounts to isthis, a person exchanges the
fickle fortunes of living lifeby sheer whimsy for the more
productive and satisfyingadventure of being guided by
God.
It is a tragic truth that manypeople who really have never
(18:54):
come under His direction ofmanagement claim that quote,
They seem to hope that by merelyadmitting that he is their
shepherd, somehow they willenjoy the benefits of His care
and management without payingthe price of forfeiting their
own fickle and foolish way oflife.
One cannot have it both ways.
(19:16):
Either we belong or we don't.
Jesus himself warned us thatthere would come a day when many
would say,"Lord, in your name wedid wonderful things." But He
will retort that He never knewus as His own.
It is the most serious andsobering thought that would make
us search our own hearts andmotives and personal
relationships to him.
(19:37):
Do I really belong to him?
Do I really recognize His rightto me?
Do I respond to His authorityand acknowledge His ownership?
Do I find freedom and completefulfillment in this arrangement?
Do I sense a purpose and deepcontentment because I am under
His direction?
Do I know rest and reposebesides a definite sense of
(20:00):
exciting adventure and belongingto Him?
If so, with genuine gratitudeand exaltation, I can exclaim
proudly, just as David did,"TheLord is my shepherd, and I am
thrilled to belong to Him, forit is thus that I shall flourish
and thrive, no matter what lifemay bring to me."
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