Psalm 100: 1-2, 3, 5“Know that the Lord is God, whose people we are,
God's well tended flock.”
The Psalm begins with a call for us
to 'sing joyfully to the Lord.' That
same joyful spirit filled St. Paul and
his companions when they began
their ministry to the Gentiles that day
in Antioch. And their ministry has
become our ministry – we are called
to 'worship the Lord with cries of gladness;
come before Him with joyful song.'
We are like sheep, and we need someone
to look after us so that we don't go astray.
What could be better than to have Jesus
as our Good Shepherd? We are His lambs;
we hear His voice; He knows us; and we
follow Him.
As our psalmist says, we belong to God.
And God has given us to his Son. No one
can take us out of His hand, as the Gospel
tells us. We are a well tended flock indeed.
As His sheep, we hear His voice, we follow
Him, and we praise Him because, 'Good indeed
is the Lord, His love endures forever, His
faithfulness lasts through every age.'
Amen
Discussion Questions for Reflection
1. There is something comforting about being shepherded by
our Lord Jesus. Our psalmist says we are 'the flock He tends.'
Speak of how you feel to be one of His sheep.
2. The Psalm tells us to 'serve the Lord with gladness.' Give an
example of how you are serving Him with a joyful spirit.
I am having a hard time being joyful about anything this week, with horrific news events at every turn. Boston. Texas. A local liquor store shooting. And elsewhere in the world, who knows what's going on in North Korea? In conversations with others, I have been rattling off phrases such as "God is sovereign" and "His grace is sufficient.". I feel that if I utter these words out loud, my own heart will be touched and I will believe these Biblical promises for myself, not just for others.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord is helping me with this plight. Just to comfort me, He has been sending me messages about manna. Manna! In Exodus 16, we can read the account of the Lord providing food from heaven -- literal bread dropping from the skies. Verse 14: "When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor." Verse 31: The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Manna is also a symbol of our spiritual "daily bread", as we recite in the Lord's prayer.) The people were told to gather enough "as they needed". In verse 19-20, Moses says to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." However some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell..." The Lord was showing His people how to trust Him day by day; He wants to be part of our lives at all times. It is the same with grace. We can't garner enough grace when we're feeling strong and save it for the trials to come. We need to ask for it everyday and in all situations, as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"... Whether He removes our affliction or not, He fills us, the weak, with His power. We learn to rely on God for strength rather than our own energy , talent, or understanding.
Once again, God's perfect design of drawing us back to Him is evident. Coming full circle to the Psalm, this gives me reason, after all, to "serve the Lord with gladness" and also to feel very calm and protected to be part of his "well-tended flock".
How do I feel about being one of His sheep? I'll tell you. I feel like I'm one of "The select".....one of the chosen ones. I feel that much has been given me, and I'm sure, much is expected. And, God doesn't want any of us to be an ungrateful, unhappy, sourpuss. Like everyone else, God wants us to be happy and appreciative of all that He has given us.
ReplyDeleteSeeing Jesus as a Good Shepherd is a better way to better understand Him. Due to human tendencies, we will make mistakes in our lives. Shepherds were those who had hard jobs during Jesus' time, and I can't imagine trying to take care of everyone in the world. Since Jesus is the Good Shepherd who forgives us, we need to accept His forgiveness and try again to serve Him.
ReplyDeleteI am having a hard time being joyful about anything this week, with horrific news events at every turn. Boston. Texas. A local liquor store shooting. And elsewhere in the world, who knows what's going on in North Korea? In conversations with others, I have been rattling off phrases such as "God is sovereign" and "His grace is sufficient." I feel that if I utter these words out loud, my own heart will be touched and I will believe these Biblical promises for myself, not just for others.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord is helping me with this plight. Just to comfort me, He has been sending me messages about manna. Manna! In Exodus 16, we can read the account of the Lord providing food from heaven -- literal bread dropping from the skies. Verse 14: "When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor." Verse 31: The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Manna is also a symbol of our spiritual "daily bread," as we recite in the Lord's prayer.) The people were told to gather enough "as they needed." In verse 19-20, Moses says to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." However some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell..." The Lord was showing His people how to trust Him day by day; He wants to be part of our lives at all times.
It is the same with grace. We can't garner enough grace when we're feeling strong and save it for the trials to come. We need to ask for it everyday and in all situations, as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"... Whether He removes our affliction or not, He fills us, the weak, with His power. We learn to rely on God for strength rather than our own energy, talent, or understanding.
Once again, God's perfect design of drawing us back to Him is evident. Coming full circle to the Psalm, this gives me reason, after all, to "serve the Lord with gladness" and also to feel very calm and protected to be part of his "well-tended flock."