Christ and His Sheep
Psalm 23:1-3 “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: hen leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
I want to share in this article a few thoughts about the Shepherd and his sheep.
The first thought is that He Purchased Them at the Cross. Act 20:28 verifies this truth, “ Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
The scripture tells us that we are bought with a price, and that price is the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I see next that He seeks and saves his sheep by his love. We find this fact in Luke 15:4, 5 and Luke 19:10 “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? Luke 15:5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.”
There was no distance he wouldn’t go, and no hardship he wouldn’t face to find his lost sheep. He travelled the ultimate distance and paid the ultimate price.
B. Luke 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
That is the reason he came. Then, after he purchased them, and seeks and saves them, He Knows and Marks Them by His Spirit. John 10:14 and 27 verifies this truth. “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.: 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”: He knows his sheep and they know him, and the Holy Spirit is the mark, or, the seal of his ownership.
And finally, He Feeds and Leads Them Through His Word. Psalms 119:5 is one of my favorite verses concerning the benefit of God’s word. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” And then, Psalms 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalms 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
I have just skimmed the surface of these three verses, but there is so much more in them and the verses that follow. I suggest that this entire Psalm be read often. It gets richer and richer the more you read it.