THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
Matthew 9:35-38, Psalm 23
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Life without God is like sheep without a shepherd: Not only are you left to fend for yourself, but you never know better: what you go through in life, what life teaches you, what life gives you, is all the reality you know. There is no one to guide you to some place better, richer. There is no one to assure you, no one to refresh you, no one to calm you, no one to love you. You are alone in the universe.
Jesus’ response to the crowd is compassion: he wants to lead them back to God because they were created ultimately to be in fellowship with God.
The Psalmist tells us of his experience of knowing God to be his Shepherd; being led by him. He speaks of green pastures and quiet waters; of refreshment of soul and of knowing the right paths. You have a sense of quiet joy; enrichment of his deepest being; discovering the goodness of the life that has been fashioned by the God of all good.
Even the dark portions of his life experience do not hold evil because the Shepherd is with him and comforts him. Because of the Shepherd, darkness leads to light, to victory, to even greater blessings.
This is what it means. This is what Jesus yearns for the crowd as he urges his disciples to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers. He does not tell his disciples to undertake the task: The Lord of the Harvest is in charge. He directs the efforts and he is the one who sends. There is nothing to stop us from loving our neighbour, sharing our life and experiences with those who are “harassed and helpless”. But leading someone to conviction of sin, faith in Jesus and cleaving to him as Saviour is a spiritual task that we do well to seek the direction of the Lord of the Harvest.
The question we need to ask ourselves is whether we know the Lord as our Shepherd; whether we know the goodness of the Shepherd and experience his care. If we do not then we are no different from the crowd and the life we have to offer is no better than theirs.
As we pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers, let us also pray that we are among those who can truly say, the Lord is our Shepherd; we lack nothing.