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He Is Our Good Shepherd
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because you’re teachable. People who won’t listen to anyone lose all of their freedoms. But, if
you’ll listen to God and obey God, you’ll get freer and freer.
Psalm 23:2-3 continues, “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the
still waters.” He is talking about deep waters—waters that even on a hot day are cold and
refreshing. “He restoreth my soul…” Now here’s some restoration. Is there any healing in this?
In the New English Translation, verse 3 says, “He restores my strength.”
The Young’s Literal Translation says, “My soul He refresheth.”
The Amplified Bible says, “He refreshes and restores my life.”
That sounds likes some healing in there, doesn’t it?
“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou,” my good Shepherd, the great
Shepherd, “art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” With His rod and His staff, He is
able to protect us. With the hook end of his staff, the shepherd could reach in when the wayward
sheep got tangled up in the briars or in the quicksand—where maybe he couldn’t go without
sinking himself, and he could hook that around those horns, or hook up under that sheep and pull
him out. He could pull him out of that pit. Do you believe the Lord can pull you out of a pit?
He’ll get you out of the briar patch. It is also a weapon that you can use on wolves. When the
predator is trying to eat up the sheep, the shepherds were skilled in it, and they could really hurt a
coyote or a wolf. They could make a bear think about leaving by putting this rod across its nose
real hard. So there is protection, and there is deliverance. No matter if you are going through the
valley of the shadow of death, He is with you.
You know if He is with you, then you’re coming out. If He is with you, His rod and His staff are
there to guide you, direct you, protect you, deliver you, and get you out. It means you’re coming
out on the other side of this thing. All you have to do is stay close to the Good Shepherd. If
you’re a little sheep and you know that there are mountain lions, grizzly bears, and wolves who
all want lamb for supper, you will stick close to your good shepherd. You will be so close that
when he stops, you’ll bump into him, if you’re smart.
First Peter 5:8 says “…your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour.”
The Bible also says that Peter—the night he missed it and denied the Lord—followed afar off
(Matthew 26:58; Mark 14:54; Luke 22:54). You can get into trouble when you follow
afar off
.
I’ve actually had people ask me, “How worldly do you think you can be and still be saved?”
Who wants to know, and why? A lot more folks don’t say it, but they are trying. It’s like the little
boy who kept falling out of bed. “Thump.” His momma goes in, and the boy is crying.
She says, “Son, what happened? Why did you fall out of bed again?”