"He Restoreth My Soul" (part 1)

“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. He restoreth my soul”

Even the largest, fattest, strongest and sometimes healthiest sheep can become cast and be a casualty. Actually it is often the fat sheep that are the most easily cast.They will lie down comfortably in some little hollow on the ground and may roll on its side to stretch out or relax. Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet.

In the Christian life there is great danger in always looking for the easy place, the cozy corner, the comfortable position. The time when we think "we have it made," so to speak, is actually when we are in mortal danger of being cast.

During my own years as a keeper of sheep, perhaps some of the most poignant memories are wrapped around the commingled anxiety of keeping a count of my flock and repeatedly saving and restoring cast sheep.

Again and again I would spend hours searching for a single sheep that was missing. Then more often than not, I would see it at a distance, down on its back, lying helpless. At once I would start to run toward it--hurrying as fast as I could--for every minute was critical.

Within me there was a mingled sense of fear and joy: fear that it might be too late; joy that it was found at all.

(to be continued)

(Part 2) & (Part 3)

Excerpt from “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” by W. Phillip Keller