The Lord is the strength of His people, a Fortress of salvation for His anointed one. Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; be their Shepherd and carry them forever.
Psalms 28:8 and 9
Throughout the 28th Psalm, there are such vibrant pictures—an allegory—painted with words by David, the psalmist.
He portrays Almighty God as his Rock, Strength, Shield, Refuge, and as Shepherd. As I have meditated on this psalm, I have been drawn to my God, being comforted by all these powerful attributes of my God. But it is this final attribute, that of Shepherd (in verse 9), that pulls my heart in close to Him. It tells of tenderness, and love, and gentleness.
Typically we think of a person who shepherds sheep as one who tends, guards, feeds, leads, protects, guides, governs, and provides for the sheep. But to an even greater degree, our God does likewise for His people. So many times, especially here in the Book of Psalms, David calls God “Shepherd.” Now David, of all people, understood what a shepherd does! When Samuel was led to David’s family to choose the king, David, the youngest, was out shepherding the sheep.
The Lord said to Samuel…I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided for Myself a king among his sons…and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these. Then he said to Jesse, Are all your sons here? Jesse said, There is yet the youngest; he is tending the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send for him; for we will not sit down to eat until he is here. Jesse sent and brought him. David had a healthy reddish complexion and beautiful eyes, and was fine-looking. The Lord said to Samuel, Arise, anoint him; this is he.
1 Samuel 16:1-3, 10-12
David, having been the shepherd (lowercase ‘s’) understood in his relationship with Almighty God the awesome ways that God cared for Him—that God was his Shepherd (capital ‘S’). Perhaps we can each take time today to think about how we are shepherded by Almighty God, our Father.
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Lord, You are the Shepherd of our souls! You truly have always fed, and guided, and provided, and led, and carried us. Help us to always recognize Your call! We praise You and thank You for carrying us when we cannot seem to go one step more, when we have no strength of our own left, when we don’t know which way to go. May we rest in Your arms, Faithful Father! Amen.
