The Shepherd

1 Samuel 17:34-36 (the Message Bible): "David said, 'I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference- I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive.'"

Replace David with Jesus.
Replace "lion" or "bear" with Satan.
Replace "Philistine pig" (that's Goliath) with whatever problem you're facing.

There's not much that I could add to that. Thank God for His power and protection in our lives! Satan is powerless under the hand of our Rescuer.

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1 Samuel 17:37: "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

Psalm 139

Every so often you stumble across a psalm that just seems to strike a chord somewhere deep inside you. That's what Psalm 139 is to me. It never ceases to amaze me that one so great and holy could be so near to us. Every time I read Psalm 139, I am so amazed and humbled by the deeply personal nature of our relationship with the Lord; and this psalm seems to describe every aspect of that incredibly intimate relationship.

Psalm 139: 1-4, 13:
O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Isn't it just so incredible? There are 6 billion people in this world, and the Lord, the Maker of them all, cares enough to know each one better than they know themselves! And even beyond that, nothing we do surprises Him. When we mess up, it's not like He's shocked or disappointed in us- He knows that we're bound to mess up sometimes. That means that nothing we do will ever make Him love us less, and that we don't have to work to somehow "earn" His love. He already knows all our virtues and our shortcomings, already loves us because of them; so we don't have to put our successes on display or try to hide our failures in order to gain His favor.

Psalm 139: 7-10, 18:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
...When I awake,
I am still with you.

Do you know that the Lord is with you always? You've probably heard many times that He'll never leave us or forsake us, and that He is with us in everything we do. But do you actually know it? There come times when you feel far from God; when you wonder if He's really there, or if you've done something to drive Him away, and that's why you can't hear His voice or feel His presence. In times like these, this passage really comforts me. It tells me that no matter where I am in life- physically or circumstantially- I haven't lost Him. There's nowhere I could go, nowhere I could hide or fall into, where He wouldn't be able to find me. I've often heard it said that when hard times come and we wonder if God has abandoned us, those are the times when He is closest. And you know what? I'm starting to find out that it's true. The times when we fall away are the times when He proves Himself most faithful to us.

Psalm 139: 23-24:
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Here, David talks about our part in our relationship with the Lord. In these two verses, he says, "Here I am, Lord. I'm not hiding anything from You. I've laid myself bare; now examine me. Tell me what I need to do to be Your disciple, and I'll do it." David is being completely honest with God, surrendering his heart and all his worries. He's not trying to hide his mistakes or hold on to any secret sense of self. He's asking God to teach him "the way everlasting," and promising to live in obedience to Him.

Psalm 139:5:

You hem me in- behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

The first half of this verse simply says that God is all around and within us. (As a song by 10th Avenue North says, "My love is over, it's underneath, it's inside, it's in between.") Again, it's saying that we can never escape His presence. The second part says that He's got His hand on us, protecting and guiding us. It reminds me of the animal sacrifices made by the Hebrews- just before killing the animal, they would lay their hands on its head in order to bless it. So it's like God Himself is blessing us as a sacrifice at the cross of Calvary- blessing the sacrifice of our sin and death, so that we come into our new lives, sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, as a blessed people. Also, in the New Testament and today, the laying on of hands is used as a physical symbol of blessing, healing, or working by the Holy Spirit. So here, it's also like God is laying His hand on us to bless and heal us with the power of the Holy Spirit.

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The intimacy of our relationship with God is at once terrifying and wonderful. It's terrifying because God can see into our deepest selves; He can see every part of us that we hide from the world, everything in ourselves that we hate. He knows all our imperfections, and He can plainly see our sins- the sins that He hates. But this intimacy is also wonderful because we know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ. There is no retribution, wrath, or judgement; there is only life. Now we stand before His throne as a forgiven people. Because of the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, the Lord Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, is with us and for us.

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"He reached down from on high and took hold of me." (2 Samuel 22:17)

That's what our relationship with the great and holy God is like. Are you amazed?

I will be with you.

"But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11-12)

So here's what's happening at this point in Exodus: The Israelites have become slaves in Egypt, oppressed by the Pharoah and forced to do manual labor. Enter Moses, an Israelite who escaped slavery as an infant when his mother put him in a basket in the river and the Pharoah's daughter found him, and who is wanted for the murder of an Egyptian. Moses is walking along, tending a flock of sheep, when suddenly a bush bursts into flames, and God appears to him from within the burning bush. Moses is afraid and hides his face; meanwhile, God begins to tell him about how He's seen the suffering of the Israelites and has come to rescue them. Then, in verse 10, God pretty much says, "I'm sending you to talk to Pharoah and rescue the Israelites. Okay? Ready-set-go!"

Moses is shocked. I can just picture him going, "Time out, God! Me?! You do know who you're talking to, right?" Later on in Exodus 6:30, Moses says, "Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharoah listen to me?" So this gives me the impression that Moses is something of an "awkward child." He says multiple times in this section of Exodus that he doesn't speak well; if Moses were alive today, he'd probably be the kind of person who never talked in high school and practically fainted with fear every time he had to speak in front of the class. Simply put, Moses is a nobody! He's thinking to himself, Why would God invest the entire future of the Israelites in someone so completely inadequate? Moses says to God, "How could I possibly do this?"

God's answer is, simply, "I will be with you" (verse 12). God doesn't lie to Moses and tell him that he's capable of doing it on his own. All He says is, "I will be with you. I will help you."

The fact of the matter is, with the Creator on our side, nothing is impossible. No matter who you are, no matter how far from perfect you are, and no matter how big the mountain is, with His strength you can move it. He walks with us in every step we take; His hand is always on us, protecting us and holding us steady. He will never abandon us, and He will never forget us. So the next time you question whether you are capable of doing something, just remember where your strength comes from.

As I'm writing this, I can't help but think of how this story became personal for me last night. Last night, the Lord proved himself so superlatively faithful, and He poured on so many blessings all at once, and it was just... wow. By His strength, I was able to be honest with someone about something I thought I'd never be able to say. Just like He did with Moses, He helped me speak and gave me the courage to be honest. I have no idea what will happen as a result of my honesty, but you know what? I can trust Him. Even if I'm not competent enough to make things better with this person, I know that God is competent; and He has a plan for both our lives.

See also: Exodus 4:10-12