“All We Like Sheep”
Isaiah 53:6
Isaiah utilizes a picture here of sheep going astray to describe the spiritual condition of the people. Numbers 27:17 Moses warned the children of the Lord that they not act as sheep w/o a shepherd.
Yet that was the very thing that Jesus saw when he looked out over the multitude as he went from village to village teaching, and preaching......
His reaction is desc. in Mt. 9:36...When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted and were scattered as sheep having no shepherd.
Why does the bible, and even Jesus himself often use sheep as an example of people ? They did so because it was something relevant to their times, and also something that the listeners could easily identify with......but believe it not ...I believe the main reason is because there are so many similarities between sheep, and people.
What causes sheep to stray as pictured here in Isa.? What causes them to wander ? They are prone to do so...What causes us to stray ? Why are people so driven to wander ?
Why is our society so filled with people bounces from one relationship to another.....(Woman at the well 5 broken marriages, and living with a man not her husband) Illust. HD 6 months ago she called me to tell me of her engagement.....not set a date, no hurry......a few weeks ago, she called to tell me that she was getting married in just a few weeks......what had changed ? The fiance. Different guy. Why are some so prone to wander from career to career...talked to a man recently who needed to know where he might could borrow some money......no place to live, no vehicle to drive....Q? where did he work ? No job.......looking, but hadn’t found anything..found out later another friend had got him a job, at a good place...worked grand total of 3 days.
why are people prone to move from one place to another ?
My daddy once told me that they moved so much when he was little that everytime a truck backed up to the house that all the chickens just laid down and crossed their legs..
What causes young people, and even some adults to wander through life so aimlessly......straying from good homes, wonderful opportunities, abandoning all for alcohol, drugs, and one night stands.......
What will cause all of us to stray if we are not careful...what will cause poor choices....and cause us to abandon major obligations, and respons?
It is either because we have no shepherd.....or we’ve drifted too far away from our shepherd.
Why do we need a shepherd......why do sheep need a shepherd ?
1. A Shepherd Is Needed For Provision. David describes this is that all familiar Psa. 23...I shall not want...He maketh me lie down in green pastures....leadeth me beside still waters.
A hungry, ill-fed sheep is ever on its feet...is restless...on the move continually searching for another mouthful of forage to satisfy its snarling hunger...In the same way sheep that are thirsty become restless...and set out searching for water to satisfy their thirst. if there is not shepherd to lead them to a clean water source, the will drink from polluted potholes.
People are the same.....the Lord, wants to be our shepherd...wants to be the bread for our spiritual famine......wants to be the water that quenches out spritual drought.
2. A Shepherd Is Needed For Protection-Why are we prone to wander ?
Why do we drift ? Why do we stray ? Why so unsettled ? Hymn: Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love......
You know what I’m speaking of......you experience it, you sense it...sometimes....what if’s.....I wish I coulds.......Is it sometimes because we have no shepherd to give us protection, to supply of with security...to give us a sense of stability.......The Lord desperately wants to be our shepherds...to alleviate our fears....to bring order to chaos....to bring solutions to stress....
Sheep by their very nature are anxious creatures...timid...and easily aggrevated....sound like any humans you know ?
A rabbit bounding out of the bushes can cause sheep to bolt in blind fear.
If there is the slightest sense of danger sheep are ready to flee at the slightest movement...Fleeing is there only means of escape. They are otherwise pretty defenseless....we feel sometimes that the only way out is to run....to hide....to run...to hide.....
Yet the very presence of the shepherd in the fields with the sheep is enough to calm them. They are aware of his presence...they sense his love...they know that he will take care of them.....
Consider Our Good Shepherd, and his love for us ! Willing to lay down his life to deliver, and defend the sheep !
3. Shepherd Is Needed For Peace. Phillip Keller a Australian shepherd, and also Christian write..wrote a book entitled “ A Shepherd Looks at The 23rd Psalm. He says-sheep because of their make-up will not lie down until four conditions are met...
Free from Fear.....again any tension..any suspicion
Free from Pests.....
Free from Hunger
Free from Friction. Those needs must be met before a sheep finds peace enough to lie down...
One thing highly detrimental to sheep is continous conflict..jealousy...
environment that is like this keep sheep on the edge, tense, disoriented, restless....lose weight, and become irritable.
Bu the very appearance of the sheep will cause the sheep to quickly forget their foolish fighting...to quit their rivalries.
We live in a world filled with violence....and unrest.
There is contention. There is strife. There is war.
Why ? Major problem is that we need the presence of the shepherd to help us resolve our conflicts...those within us....those outside.
Negotiations want do it.......peace conferences want do it.....
A right relationship with God is the answer....
Most of us know Psa. 23...how many of us know the shepherd ?
Can you say with assurance like David...The Lord is my shepherd.
Or are you like a sheep without a shepherd...lacking direction....
Do you know the shepherd...but have you strayed ?
