I'm ruminating on the 23rd Psalm. Clearly David the Shepherd-King knew what he was talking about, but it took the modern Berbers to help me understand the picture he painted.
The Lord Jesus referred to himself as the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep. Bad shepherds run away at the first sign of danger because they are only hirelings; the sheep are not theirs so they have little commitment to care for the sheep-they are false shepherds. I suppose they will not care if a sheep is lost, or dies from eating poisonous weeds- they can blame wild animals.
Jesus made at least 10 references to sheep and shepherding in 2 Gospels- Matthew and John (neither Mark or Luke seem to give this a menton).
He is the good Shepherd who knows his sheep and goes after the lost and ultimately is prepared to die for them.
Few nowadays in the West have much to do with sheep and those who do would not recognise the old Berber shepherds life. I once went to interview a Shepherd responsible for 2000 ewes and 8 rams; he was responsible to the Manager who in turn was responsible to the Estate owner. He didn't find out for days when 8 sheep were 'rustled'. He had 2 sheepdogs and a lot of data about preventing and treating sickness. Did you know that stress is one of the worst problems for sheep? Also he had to get the optimum nutrition levels for his ewes to have healthy lambs at the right time, and bred them to have twins. Male lambs are castrated and sold for meat. It is the males after all that are expendible, the ewes provide new lambs and wool!
Who are the shepherds now?
I still need the Lord to be my Shepherd for He is the only one to notice when I am in trouble and come to rescue me; indeed He has done more than that!
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