I trust you are well and trusting God for peace if you are not. And here’s today’s Holy Nougat to add a note of encouragement.
“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” Psalms 23:1 NLT
Most English versions of this psalm begins with this phrase ‘the Lord is my Shepherd’. And until recently, I carried a nice little picture of a pastoral scene – sheep and lambs in a pasture without a concern or care; and the Shepherd playing a harp or guitar while watching the sheep. In one sense, that may be so. But, I sense that there’s much more than that involved in the opening clause.
So let’s revisit please
When we see the Lord in Jewish scripture; it references YHWH (for ‘Yeh-ho-vaw’, Jehovah or Jah; in their language). In their tradition, this is God’s ultimate name and refers to God’s self-Existence and Eternalness. Let’s allow this to sink in for a while. YHWH, the self-Existent One is our Creator. Allow ourselves to be overcome by God’s eternalness for a bit.
And of all the roles our very important Creator could choose in our lives; the Eternal One is described as Shepherd. It was not the most glamorous task. In fact, during his humbling season; that’s what Moses did – in the wilderness. Perhaps other shepherds around; but oftentimes in a space where danger was always a threat to the unsuspecting and somewhat vulnerable sheep.
And there were usually enough sheep to keep the shepherd very active; watching and caring for them was mostly a full time occupation. Having God as our Shepherd means that throughout all our history, and that of creation; God has tended and continues to care for us.
Sheep, I’m told can graze a field to dirt and if overfed, may require help. So there is need for balance in providing for the sheep, as it may not fully know when to stop. That’s why we our needs met and our ‘grazing’ location changed from time to time. So we might have unmet desires from time to time; but we also can cry out to God in our seasons of need.
I invite us to move from the image of God the Shepherd for a moment to consider a less popular image evoked by the same first clause – for, the term used for shepherd can also refer to a ruler or companion. God as Ruler is easy to imagine; but God as Companion?
And yet, it is true. For, when we consider it, a shepherd is the ever-present companion to the sheep. Whether they acknowledge the shepherd or not. Can you imagine that – God, the self-Existent One, is our ever-present Companion Who meets our needs.
Is it possible that our unmet needs might be in the next pasture we visit? Or that our need is more of a want? And have we been expecting the correct Shepherd to provide for us? For, then we can sing with confidence I will not suffer
(Although the words refer to God as Father and not Shepherd; the sentiment is worth consideration)
