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The last couple of weeks I’ve met with some friends, new and old, at a local pub to talk about life, faith, and the Bible. 

We’ve centered our discussion thus far around the 23rd Psalm. It’s a familiar passage to most people who grew up in or around churches. For a refresher:

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not
 want.
 He makes me lie down in green
  pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
  He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
  for his Name’s sake.

Even thought I walk through the valley of
    the shadow of death,
  I will fear no Evil,
for You are with me;
  your rod and your staff,
  they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
  in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
  my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
   follow me
 all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
 forever. 

David, the second “official” king of Israel, uses a metaphor which is obviously familiar with him. He was, after all, a shepherd boy when the prophet Samuel found him and anointed him as the next king. 

What struck me was the relationship of the shepherd to the sheep.

You see, David doesn’t have a one-time experience in mind. He has perpetual presence in mind.

Shepherds occasionally had daring feats of fighting off lions and other predators, but the day to day life of a shepherd was slow and boring. It wasn’t about the moments, it was about the presence of the shepherd. 

The leading and restoring aren’t one time things—they are the things God is perpetually impressing us with.

Being led and corrected with a rod & staff shouldn’t be read as a one time corrective but, rather, as a continual need. 

The metaphor is so striking because of the helplessness of the sheep. At no point does the sheep “get it.” He doesn’t one day become a wise sheep, but always remains a sheep that only has limited perspective, capacity, and capability in the world.

The sheep will never not need the shepherd.

Continually.

There won’t be a point where the sheep still need the shepherd but only occasionally. 

The sheep will always need the shepherd’s presence.

And the good news is exactly that—that the shepherd is present.

Even when legs break and things go horribly wrong, the shepherd is there. 

It’s particularly telling if you pay attention to the effects of the shepherd’s presence on the sheep:

• He is provided for.
• His soul is complete, no longer searching for wholeness in other things.
• He literally lives/walks in ways that reflect the presence of the Shepherd.
• He forges forward in that path without fear; evil will not have the last word.
• Goodness & mercy become his reputation; it’s what he is known for. 
• He is near to the Shepherd and the reciprocal presence continues.

We are all helpless sheep with a benevolent Shepherd who wants to guide us into his good ways. He has a constant presence, whether the ignorant sheep acknowledge it or not. 

Go, pay attention to your smallness. Embrace your inability to and enter into freedom from fear. 

And when boredom or limited-sight (selfishness) or pain leads you to wander from the Shepherd, I pray that you know he’s not far from you.