{"id":15301,"date":"2013-10-18T00:30:32","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T05:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15301"},"modified":"2013-10-17T16:53:36","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T21:53:36","slug":"shepherd-carry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/18\/shepherd-carry\/","title":{"rendered":"Shepherd, Carry Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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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.
\nPsalms 28:8 and 9<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Throughout the 28th<\/sup> Psalm, there are such vibrant pictures\u2014an allegory\u2014painted with words by David, the psalmist.<\/p>\n

He portrays Almighty God as his Rock, Strength, Shield, Refuge, and as Shepherd.\u00a0 As I have meditated on this psalm, I have been drawn to my God, being comforted by all these powerful attributes of my God.\u00a0 But it is this final attribute, that of Shepherd<\/em> (in verse 9), that pulls my heart in close to Him. It tells of tenderness, and love, and gentleness.<\/p>\n

Typically we think of a person who shepherds sheep as one who tends, guards, feeds, leads, protects, guides, governs, and provides for the sheep.\u00a0 But to an even greater degree, our God does likewise for His people.\u00a0 So many times, especially here in the Book of Psalms, David calls\u00a0 God “Shepherd.”\u00a0 Now David, of all people, understood what a shepherd does!\u00a0 When Samuel was led to David\u2019s family to choose the king, David, the youngest, was out shepherding the sheep.<\/p>\n

The Lord said to Samuel…I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite.\u00a0 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.
\nJesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen any of these.\u00a0 Then he said to Jesse, Are all your sons here?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

1 Samuel 16:1-3, 10-12<\/strong><\/p>\n

David, having been the shepherd (lowercase \u2018s\u2019) understood in his relationship with Almighty God the awesome ways that God cared for Him\u2014that God was his Shepherd (capital ‘S’).\u00a0 Perhaps we can each take time today to think about how we are shepherd<\/em>ed by Almighty God, our Father.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n

Lord, You are the Shepherd of our souls!\u00a0 You truly have always fed, and guided, and provided, and led, and carried us.\u00a0 Help us to always recognize Your call!\u00a0 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\u2019t know which way to go.\u00a0 May we rest in Your arms, Faithful Father!\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n