Depending on the Shepherd
Zech. 10
Sometimes animals seem annoyingly human.
A man absolutely hated his wife’s cat and decided to get rid of him one day by driving him 20 blocks from his home and leaving him at the park. As he arrived home, the cat was walking up the driveway. The next day he decided to drive the cat 40 blocks away. He put the beast out and headed home. Driving back up his driveway, there was the cat!
He kept taking the cat further and further, and the cat would always beat him home. At last he decided to drive several miles away, until he reached what he thought was a safe distance from his home and left the cat there. Hours later the man calls home to his wife: "Jen, is the cat there?" "Yes", the wife answers, "why do you ask?"
Frustrated, the man answered, "Put the little fleabag on the phone, I’m lost and need directions."
It’s strange how human some animals seem, isn’t it?. Cats and dogs and even chimpanzees sometimes seem to look and act almost human. But some animals don’t resemble humans at all. If you’ve ever seen cows up close, looked in their eyes, there’s not much there, is there? Goats have that same empty stare. Sheep fall into the same category. And yet of all the animals The Bible compares you and I to, guess which one the Bible uses the most?
The Bible says you and I are like sheep who need a shepherd.
When David started out the 23rd Psalm saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” he’s not only saying something about God, he’ saying something about us. You and I are like sheep—we need Somebody to take care of us. When the Lord Jesus said
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
He is saying you and I are like sheep who have no protection. We need Somebody to keep us out of the belly of the wolf. When the prophet Isaiah writes in
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way;…
He is telling us that we are sheep who need Somebody to lead us where we need to go.
You and I are like sheep—we need somebody to provide for us, somebody to protect us, and somebody to lead us. Unfortunately, we are also like sheep in another way---we don’t always have sense enough to realize how desperately we need the Shepherd. Human nature tends to be self-sufficient: “I don’t need anybody else! I can take care of myself!” But the truth is we are sheep, and we do need a Shepherd.
This is the message of Zech. 10, a message which is summarized in vs. 3 (read) Tonight I want us to think about 3 ways we sheep should be depending on our Shepherd.
I. DEPEND ON THE SHEPHERD TO SUPPLY YOUR NEEDS (v. 1-2)
When my Granny Lane had to move out of her house, she left many kitchen cabinets full of food. She had cans that were out of date, jars she had preserved many years before. She kept a lot more food in her house than she would ever be able to eat. Why do you suppose she stored up so much food? She had lived through the Great Depression—in an age and area where many people did not have enough food to eat. In her mind, it was always possible those times of need would return, and she stocked up on food to be sure she had enough.
I don’t know of too many people that worry about where their next meal is coming from. I don’t know anybody who is running low on clothes, or a place to live. Most of us have so much we don’t think we need to depend on anybody else for our needs. Yet our Lord taught us to ask God to give us this day our daily bread. The Bible says you and I are sheep who need the Shepherd to provide for our needs.
In vs. 1-2 Zechariah urges his readers Ask the Lord to send the spring (latter) rain. Why in the world would you pray for rain—especially in the spring? Doesn’t Zechariah know April showers bring May flowers? Why involve God in all of this? Because only God brings the flashing clouds…showers of rain…grass in the fields for everyone..(v. 1b). Only God gives the rain that waters the crops that gives us the food to keep us alive. Zechariah says you depend on God to supply your needs.
On the other hand Zechariah says in vs. 2 idol worshippers—those who depend on anything or anyone else but God—are holding on to false hopes. They deny the truth that God supplies our needs, believing the lies of self-sufficiency, lies which bring no comfort or assurance our needs will be met. There is no Shepherd they say everybody’s on their own to meet their own needs the best way they know how. Therefore the people wend their way like sheep; They are in trouble [afflicted] because there is no shepherd.
Remember Zechariah is speaking to Jewish refugees rebuilding the Temple. They need to know they can and must depend on their Shepherd to meet their needs. They have to work, they have to cultivate the land, they have to do what they could, but in the end, it’s God Who will be sure they have what they needed. Depend on your Shepherd Zechariah says and He will supply your needs.
But what about you? Do you depend on your Shepherd to supply all of your needs? Or do we tend to be self-sufficient—to depend on what we do, or what our government does, or some other person or thing to supply our needs. Our pipeline of supply flows pretty good here in America, but Who keeps the supply line flowing? God does. He is the Source of all our blessing, and all of our supply. Whether you and I realize it or not, God supplies all of our needs.
At supper one night, seven-year-old Brad asked why his dad thanked God before eating food that had come from the grocery store. The father picked up a roll and asked, “Where did this come from?”
“From the store,” Brad said. “Where did they get it?”
“I dunno. From the bakery?” “Where did they get it?”
“They made it.” “From what?” asked the father.
“From flour.” “Where did that come from?”
“From wheat.” “Where did the wheat come from?”
“The farmers.” “And where did the farmer get it?”
“He grew it,” said Brad. “From what?”
“Seed.” “And who made the seed?”
“God, I guess,” said Brad. “And that,” said the father, “is why we thank Him.”
I imagine none of us are worrying tonight about how our food will be supplied. But I wonder how many of us have other needs tonight, just as important to us, and just as important to God. We are sheep, and the best way to handle your needs is to depend on your Shepherd to supply your needs. He has plenty to give you, if you will ask and believe.
Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Depend on your Shepherd to supply your needs. Zech also says
II. DEPEND ON THE SHEPHERD TO STRENGTHEN YOU (v. 3-7)
Corrie Ten Boom writes: A woodpecker tapped with his beak against a tree just as lightning struck the tree and destroyed it. He flew away and said, "I didn’t know there was so much power in my beak!" Don’t be a silly woodpecker. Know where your strength comes from.
It’s easy to overestimate your own strength. Most of us may not think we’re superman or superwoman, but we think we’re strong enough to handle most of what life throws at them. We don’t like to think about our weakness, and when something happens that shows up our weakness, it can be traumatic. You think you’re pretty strong and healthy, until sickness puts you in the hospital. You believe you’ve got a good grip on life until your boss hands you the pink slip, or your spouse asks for a divorce, or you bail your kids out of jail for drugs. It’s on those days when things get out of control we discover how weak we truly are, and how desperately we need strength from our Shepherd. Zechariah asks you and I to consider the question Corrie Ten Boom poses: Where does your strength come from? The answer is in vs. 3-5: you must depend on the Shepherd for your strength.
V. 3 describes how the Shepherd transforms His flock into royal horses for battle—from a weak sheep into a powerful war horse. From the kingdom of Judah, decimated by the Babylonian exile, vs. 4 says God will bring a Someone Who is:
The Cornerstone- the One Who makes everything fit together.
The Tent Peg- the One Who stabilizes everything.
The Battle Bow- the Ultimate Conqueror
The Ruler of all Rulers.- King of Kings.
Most Bible scholars see this as a prophecy about Jesus Christ, Who would become the Ultimate Strength and Shepherd of God’s People.
In vs. 6-7a, Zechariah goes on to say God will …strengthen the house of Judah… and …those of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man… God’s strength in them will make them drunk with joy (v. 7).
Again, it’s important to remember the context here. Zechariah is speaking to people who have little or no political power, barely enough weapons to fend off their enemies, and barely enough people to fill the walls of the city. By every worldly standard these people are weak, and yet Zechariah says with God on your side, you are mighty. You can depend on your Shepherd for your strength.
Where does your strength come from? That’s a tricky question, because we all have some power available to us, in ourselves, or through other people. None of us are completely helpless or without strength. But think of it this way: by yourself, you have the strength of a wind-up toy. God has wound us up, and you can keep going for awhile, but not forever. You might get a little more power from other people or other things---think of this person as a toy with batteries. But eventually the batteries run down, and you’re out of power, without strength. But what if you’re the toy that plugs into the wall outlet—accessing that limitless power and strength from the electric company, you can keep going and going and going until you outlast even the Energizer bunny. That’s the person who gets their strength and power from God. That’s the power you by depending on the Shepherd.
Warren Wiersbe said it: If we trust people, we get what people can do; if we trust money, we get what money can do; if we trust ourselves, we get what we can do; if we trust God, we get what God can do.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Do you need God’s strength in your life tonight? When you are at your weakest, He is at His strongest. Depend on the Shepherd to provide for your needs, and to give you strength, and finally
III. DEPEND ON THE SHEPHERD TO LEAD YOU (v. 8-12)
In Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland, Alice comes to a junction in the road so she asks the Cheshire Cat, “...would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to go to,” said the Cat. “I don’t much care where,” replied Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
But to most of us, it does matter. Taking the wrong road—making the wrong choice—can be very costly and painful. Go the wrong way and you may even end up at a dead end—not just theoretically, but physically. How do you know which choice is best, which road is right, which direction to head out in? Follow the Shepherd.
I will whistle for them and gather them…Zech says in vs. 8. In the same way you whistle for a dog to come to you, so God whistles for His sheep, and they follow Him. Vs. 9-10 say He gathers them together to redeem them, to bring them back from where He scatters them, calling them back from Egypt and Assyria, back through the waters of affliction and trouble (v. 11) just as He once brought them through the Red Sea. Then they will walk up and down in His Name= they will walk in the will and way of their Shepherd.
From beginning to end, they hear their Shepherd whistle for them, and they follow His voice, in His footsteps, wherever He leads them. Zechariah tells the Jewish exiles and you and I who read these words in the 21st century Follow Your Shepherd. Depend on Him to lead you.
John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
You and I need guidance. Our ability to choose the right road is hindered by our inability to see the future. Our wisdom can take us only so far, but no further. Making the right choices, choosing the right way is nothing but the toss of a coin, unless you depend on your Shepherd to lead you. “But Bro. Mike, how does God lead me?” God’s leading can come in a variety of different ways and means, but if you want the one absolutely reliable means of guidance, it comes through His Word, the Bible. He may influence you through circumstances, or other people, or your own inner sense of direction, but if whatever other means He uses, it must always line up with His Word. His Word is His voice, speaking to you and I, telling us which way to go. Depend on the Shepherd for guidance---listen to His Voice, walk in His ways--and He’ll never steer you wrong.
To go as I am led, to go when I am led, to go where I am led … it is that which has been for twenty years the one prayer of my life.—A. T. Pierson*
Is this the prayer of your life? It is when you depend on the Shepherd to lead you. May you and I make this the prayer of our lives now and always.
Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.
You and I don’t remind Jesus of golden retrievers or majestic lions, or even intelligent apes. In His eyes, we’re sheep---sheep who need a shepherd to supply our needs, sheep who need a shepherd to Strengthen us, sheep who need a Shepherd lead us along. Do you hear your Shepherd calling you tonight? Depend on Him, for He will never let you down.
