I AM BROKEN, AND I NEED A SHEPHERD!

GOD’S WORK IN OUR LIVES IS NECESSARY FOR OUR SANCTIFICATION

PSALM 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

As we started our journey through this psalm, we saw that only God’s sheep can call the Lord their shepherd. It is an amazing gift to know that the Good Shepherd has promised to provide all the needs of His sheep.

The sheep will never want, because God Himself leads them to the provision they need. What a privilege to know that the right food, in the adequate amount, will always be provided. It is also a blessing that the circumstances in which the sheep are fed are conducive to their necessary nourishment.

Lest one forgets the condition in which the sheep come to the shepherd, David in

reminds us:

3 He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

The Shepherd feeds the sheep because they need to be restored. Every sheep who comes to the Lord comes broken, needing to be fixed. The Word of God is not given to us just to inform us, but because we are spiritually destitute.

Jesus said that to find blessing, we must understand our condition.

Matthew 5:3

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

To be ‘poor is spirit’ means to be completely humbled before God, unable to offer anything, aware of one’s complete inability to do anything good.

Yet, Jesus invited those who recognize their desperate condition to come to Him.

Matthew 11:28

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The Lord needs to completely renew our way of thinking, our goals, our perspectives; everything that we are needs to be transformed.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The work that God has to do is radical and necessary. We come laden with sin, with the scars of its consequences, and God begins to change us, as we submit to His word.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

God is transforming us and thus is guiding us in paths of righteousness.

When sheep are sick, they don’t know how to cure themselves; it is the Shepherd Who takes care of them. It is very encouraging, that God is not surprised by the fact that we are broken. He did not choose us because we were less broken than others, but because it pleased Him to do so. Jesus Christ came to save that which was lost.

Mark 2:17

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

We cannot come to God pretending to be healthy, but humbly aware of our lost state, willing to be submissive to His leading, and eager to be transformed by His Word.

David writes that the shepherd leads the sheep. Being led implies a few things. First of all, that our status quo is not acceptable, and secondly, that there will therefore be changes necessary. True sheep not only have made a commitment to become God’s sheep, but they have also committed to follow Him. This journey is not a brief one, for it is an ongoing progression that the Bible calls ‘sanctification’.

This spiritual progress should be visible to others.

Philippians 3:12-14

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

God is working in us so that our lives will progress toward spiritual maturity. He does it for His name’s sake. He is leading us toward holiness, for His intention is that we be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that the true sheep will not follow other shepherds.

John 10:3-5

3…The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Why would the Lord do all this? To bring glory to His name and to protect His reputation. God caringly shepherds those who are truly His, so that they will walk according to His righteousness. We are not talking about perfection, but certainly about progress.

Paul said it clearly, when he said that he was not perfect, that he had not arrived, but that he was pressing on to the goal of God’s calling in Christ Jesus.

The sheep cannot become His sheep on their own. They cannot find the pastures where can they be fed, nor can they go in the right direction if they are not led.

We are so blessed, to know that we are led by a careful and loving Shepherd. Life is not easy, and we will see how necessary our Shepherd is, to lead us through its difficulties. What is He looking for? Sheep who will follow Him, because they are broken and want to be fixed!