Minister’s Note, 01 May 2020
Greetings, friends, on this Workers Day and also our first day of phase 4 Lockdown. Given the how much data many are using during Lockdown I’m testing communicating via “voice note”. Audio uses less data and is easier to share via WhatsApp. So please find below today’s reflection, “The Shepherd King” (audio and text). If you have not yet updated your contact details but would like to recieve communication via “WhatsApp” please complete the form here.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life (Ps. 23:6)
The first meal I made for my d
igs-mates was chicken casserole. They loved it. I’ve been making it the same way for the past 27 years. I don’t need a recipe. It’s always a nourishing favourite. Some Scriptures are like that. We know them by heart. We don’t need a commentary to understand them. Like Psalm 23, whether we need provision, protection or guidance Psalm 23 meets us where we are; nourishing, assuring, directing.
Still, God’s word is living and active (Heb. 4:12). There are always fresh ways of appreciating it. We don’t take much notice that Psalm 23 is “of David”. Many psalms are. But think about it, David was a shepherd!
Remember how David convinced king Saul that he was able to go up against Goliath. “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth” (1 Sa 17:34–35). David understood that the Lord cares for His people like David cared for the sheep. David pursued predators, trusting his own Shepherd to keep him safe.
I once heard an Old Testament scholar teach that Psalm 23’s last verse is best translated “goodness and love will pursueme all the days of my life”. David pursued the lion to rescue the sheep. So too God pursues us. That’s what Jesus taught in the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep to pursue the one lost sheep (Luke 15:3).
We’ve been snatched up in the jaws of recent events and dragged into the valley of death. Fear not, God’s love pursues us. May this word give you hope and the Godly self-esteem that comes from knowing we serve the Shepherd King.
God Bless,
Sean