Bible Reading: Isaiah 23:1-end
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” – Psalm 23:1-2 (KJV)
Shepherd is one who herds, guards, and tend sheep. It can also be defined as one who cares for or guides a group of people. Actually the word shepherd was derived from herding of sheep. Our scriptural reading today is a written prophecy of the shepherd attributes of Jesus Christ. The writer of psalm 23 is king David who himself was a shepherd boy before his enthronement. The Psalmist wrote these prophetic lines from his deep experience as a shepherd boy. Jesus comfirmed this when he stated in John 10:11(KJV), “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” To further confirm this scripture in prophecy Isaiah 53:6 (KJV) has this to say, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” From this scripture we can identify one of the first sterling quality of a shepherd, which is his readiness to defend the sheep even at the expense of his life. David was prepared a shepherd by God who appointed him as King over Israel. He was a Shepherd King, a prototype of Christ. “And I will set up one shepherd over them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd” – Ezekiel 34:23 (KJV).
The enthronement of David was a divine appointment. But being a man he failed one of the true test of a shepherd. He took Uriah’s wife and conspired with Joab for his death. That was more or less the action of a wolf. Due to this, God’s anger was kindled against David which led to him almost losing his kingdom to an over ambitious son – Absalom. However, among men, David was an exceptional shepherd to Israel and God took cognizance of that. David was a true shepherd when he fought the bear and lion to rescue his sheep in the wilderness. “And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went after him and smote him and delivered it out of his mouth…” – 1 Samuel 17: 34-35a (KJV). So from experience David can write prophetically on the shepherd position of God over the life of his people. David himself referred to God as the Shepherd of Israel. “Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth” – Psalm 80:1 (KJV). Truly, only God is the true and perfect shepherd of our soul. He prepared and used David to illustrate what a king set over his people should be, a shepherd and not a taskmaster. Israel was united and had great victories under David because he was a shepherd that had rule over them.
Conclusively, we can say that David was a true shepherd who, in one or two occasions, was floored by human weakness. Tomorrow, We shall be examining the salient qualities of a true shepherd and relating to Christ who is the true and perfect Shepherd.
Prayer: Father I put my life in the hand of Christ as the Shepherd over my life
Bro. Joel Ezeugo