David knows the sovereign creator of the universe as his personal carer and provider.
Jesus the lamb
It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. - 1 Peter 1:19
It is curious that the Psalm prior to this is the "psalm of the cross".
Only after we read, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" in the first verse of Psalm 22, and call to mind the glorious atoning work of Christ displayed on the cross of Calvary, are we ready to think of God as our Shepherd.
The bitter sweet irony! Jesus can assume towards his people the office and character of a shepherd only because he first took on the role and disposition of a lamb to be slaughtered.
Emmanuel - God with us
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you - 1 Corinthians 3:16
The perfect, infinite, unchanging God of the whole universe chose the personal, intimate and involved role of a shepherd as his metaphor of choice for how he relates to us. How wonderful and perplexing a truth this is. Even though the chasm separating us and the almighty God could not be wider, God still desires intimacy with us.
Christianity is not a list of boxes to tick, or merely a set of beliefs to be held; it could scarcely be clearer here that David knew God. David's God is outrageously, unspeakably, uncomfortably imminent! As Blaise Pascal put it,
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,
not of philosophers and scholars.
Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
God of Jesus Christ.
My God and your God.
Sustained and upheld
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together - Colossians 1:17
My God and your God.
Sustained and upheld
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together - Colossians 1:17
"the"; there is only One to whom we look as our shepherd.
And to whom do we look? To the "Lord"; the creator and ruler and sustainer and upholder and perfecter of all [Colossians 1]. If he has offered, to whom else would we look?
"is"; not, "he will be," or "he has been," or, "he might be," but he is. The present tense speaks of the certain assurance that David felt regarding the Lord being his shepherd. We too should possess this assurance, the fruits of which are a quieted soul and an obedient heart.
Intimately known
But whoever loves God is known by God - 1 Corinthians 8:3
"my" shows us how personal and relational this was to David. God is, indeed, the Shepherd and our Shepherd, but David chooses the more intimate and private, "my Shepherd". God here reveals himself not only as imminent, but also as actively interested in the individual.
Not only did he "knit me together in my mother's womb," [Psalm 139:13] but he never stopped being interested in me. David knew this intimacy, so how much more should we - who have seen the love of God made visible in Christ, and who have his Spirit dwelling inside of us - know and delight in this intimacy!
"my" shows us how personal and relational this was to David. God is, indeed, the Shepherd and our Shepherd, but David chooses the more intimate and private, "my Shepherd". God here reveals himself not only as imminent, but also as actively interested in the individual.
Not only did he "knit me together in my mother's womb," [Psalm 139:13] but he never stopped being interested in me. David knew this intimacy, so how much more should we - who have seen the love of God made visible in Christ, and who have his Spirit dwelling inside of us - know and delight in this intimacy!
Suffered for
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time - 1 Peter 3:18
"shepherd"; before David was a king he was a shepherd, so he really meant this metaphor. His job entailed rescuing stray lambs from the mouths of lions and bears at great risk to his own safety [1 Samuel 17:34-35]. The significant role of the shepherd here is one of sacrifice, rather than authority.
In John 10:11 Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." Our Lord has declared himself to be our protector and provider, but this role entails sacrifice and suffering. This has been made visible in the acute suffering of Christ, the man of sorrows who came to serve.
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time - 1 Peter 3:18
"shepherd"; before David was a king he was a shepherd, so he really meant this metaphor. His job entailed rescuing stray lambs from the mouths of lions and bears at great risk to his own safety [1 Samuel 17:34-35]. The significant role of the shepherd here is one of sacrifice, rather than authority.
In John 10:11 Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep." Our Lord has declared himself to be our protector and provider, but this role entails sacrifice and suffering. This has been made visible in the acute suffering of Christ, the man of sorrows who came to serve.
Bought with a price
You are not your own; you were bought at a price - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
The book of Hosea gives a rather striking and humbling illustration of our relationship with God. It says that we are like a woman who used to be a prostitute but is rescued by a good man who marries and cares for her, who then goes back to her old ways and sells her body to prostitution again. God is like the faithful husband who goes out and finds her in the sex slave industry again, buys her back for the full price, and calls her his wife again.
Like sheep we are an object of property; we have been bought at a price. And what a price; bought with the precious blood of Christ. How perplexing and wondrous that Jesus would consider us worth dying for. Yet he did, as we saw above, not because of our inherent worth but because he is in the business of restoration and of love. His love extended towards us is infinite and totally unconditional.
Not because of who I am
but because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
but because of who you are - Casting Crowns
Safe in the fold
Like sheep we are prone to wandering away from our homes. Though we find our rest and our treasure and our identity in Christ, O how often do we leave it for some temporary pleasure - like prostitutes heading back to their old place of work. Praise God that he is our shepherd; again and again going after us, leading us back home in his arms, and nurturing us in loving obedience towards him.
Like sheep we are an object of property; we have been bought at a price. And what a price; bought with the precious blood of Christ. How perplexing and wondrous that Jesus would consider us worth dying for. Yet he did, as we saw above, not because of our inherent worth but because he is in the business of restoration and of love. His love extended towards us is infinite and totally unconditional.
Not because of who I am
but because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
but because of who you are - Casting Crowns
Safe in the fold
Like sheep we are prone to wandering away from our homes. Though we find our rest and our treasure and our identity in Christ, O how often do we leave it for some temporary pleasure - like prostitutes heading back to their old place of work. Praise God that he is our shepherd; again and again going after us, leading us back home in his arms, and nurturing us in loving obedience towards him.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Take my heart Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above. - C.L. Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment