A SHEEP IN THE FLOCK

Psalm 23 (KJV)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
 

I memorized Psalm 23 as a child.  It was so long ago that all we had was the King James Version.  (My kids figure this was sometime during the English Civil War when the KJV was still new!)  I still repeat it in the King James.  I have quoted it hundreds, maybe thousands, of times in my life.  How about you?  The same?

The picture above is the exact picture that hung in my Sunday School class when I was that memorizing child.  I’ve see that thousands of times too.  Very comforting. 

When I think about the psalm I think about blessings.  I will never lack any necessity.  God will provide food and drink.  He will encourage me and guide me in his ways.  He will keep me safe from attackers.  He will seat me at his banquet where I will feast with him forever.  Yes, the psalm is definitely about blessings.

The New Testament is full of shepherding word pictures.  The best known of them all is Jesus the Good Shepherd.  In John 10 Jesus compares himself, the Good Shepherd, with the hired men who run at the first sign of danger.  He knows his sheep and his sheep know him.  He calls his sheep to follow him and he lays down his life for his sheep.  There is the beloved parable about the shepherd who leaves his ninety-nine sheep in order to go looking for his one lost sheep.  What a blessing it is that I can count myself among the Lord’s sheep and trust in him for all these blessings!

But that isn’t what I was thinking about.  I was praying through Psalm 23 recently and there was a clang against my brain that pointed out something to me I had never before considered.  I know I am one of the Lord’s sheep…but how did I become part of that flock?  How did he become my shepherd?  In all my reading in the Bible I never saw a reference anywhere that talks about the sheep choosing their shepherds!  Sheep don’t choose.  They only follow the shepherd to whom they belong!  How did I net end up in another flock?

Once again I was overwhelmed by the grace of God!  He chose me to be part of his flock!  His Son, the Good Shepherd, laid down his life for me and paid the price to own me as his sheep.  He made me one of his own apart from any value or beauty in me.  Just the fact that I can say, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,” proves to me again the sovereign grace of God.