Hallelujah, God is my shepherd, Jesus is the way.

Ezekiel 34:15 (ESV)
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.

The Word became flesh and we were given grace and truth, as the apostle John witnesses about Jesus in John 1:14 and again in John 1:17. If grace and truth doesn’t make you want to lie down in good grazing land, you might want to check yourself.

God himself became shepherd to His flock. Thank you, Lord.

Psalm 23 describes everything you need to know about what it’s like to be a lamb. We are pure white lambs cleansed by Jesus’s blood. God calls us to be children of His as lambs and lions. How can we be both lamb and lion at the same time? Grace and truth, with love and peace. We’re called to be master and slave.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd. I am His sheep and I am His shepherd to His flock.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures. Sheep will not lie down if they are hungry. Sheep will not lie down when they don’t feel safe. He will make us lie down. Jesus lets us go hungry, but He feeds us. God gives us good grazing land. He is THE Good Shepherd, every knee shall bow. He sends the Comforter, the Holt Spirit, and we lie down when we know it’s time. We are safe with the Lord as shepherd.

⁵ You anoint my head with oil. A shepherd, like David’s profession before he was king (and the author of Ps 23), knew to anoint the heads of his sheep when the flies came. The flies wanted to deposit offspring in the sheep’s nasal cavity where they would grow until they left. Meanwhile, the sheep is driven mad to the point of ramming their heads into stones, described as “bashing rocks.” It’s torture for the animals and they suffer greatly. As God, the Lord is my shepherd, David would have the faith that the Lord would protect him from all flies when they come. He is THE Good Shepherd, no detail is too small.

² He leads me beside still water. Sheep are fearful of fast moving water and won’t get close enough to drink. David might draw water to a trough or lead his sheep to still water. Drink the water He gives you and you’ll never thirst again. God’s well is where we drink.

⁴ Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Sheep are protected by a rod as it sends enemies away with a swing or a thwack. Sheep are saved by a staff when they stray too far or fall in a pit, the staff can lift them out of a pit. The tools of THE Good Shepherd provides this comfort.

³ He leads me in paths of righteousness. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). His ways are not our ways. When we are in need, cry out. God will provide the oil, the safety, lead us to feed, give us drink, pull us up, defend us, and give us rest. Our need, His provision. Sheep need a leader because they easily get lost. Sheep do not “just take care of themselves,” as some might suppose. They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care. It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep and children. In Israel, when Ps 23 was written, where grass has difficulty growing in the arid soil, sheep must know their shepherd following him obediently from pasture to pasture. There, shepherding is a much more active task.

Jesus uses his sheep/shepherd metaphor in order to communicate the depth of his love. John 10:11

Read all of Ezekiel 34 and you might more deeply understand God’s love for us.

In the end, there will be one fold and one Shepherd, and it’s the job of the Body to see that come to pass. We are to bring them in, that the fold may be full. Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, He wants His house full. Luke 14:23

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves… They are like sheep and destined to die; death will be their shepherd. Psalm 49:13-15

Jesus said I am the door of the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:1-18

Isaiah 53:6 (NLT)
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

Sheep need a good shepherd. Sheep are represented as symbols of love, innocence and peace. For, like humans, they cherish belonging above all. They allow themselves to belong to us. And so we find we belong to them. Sheep want to belong.