The Daily Grace - He Leads Me

In Istanbul, Turkey, in 2005, one sheep jumped off a cliff and then nearly 1,500 others followed! In the end, about one-third of them died. Not knowing which way to go, sheep mindlessly follow other members of the flock. No better word picture than sheep can be found to illustrate our need for a trustworthy leader. We are all, Isaiah wrote, like sheep (Isa. 53:6). We tend to go our own way, yet we desperately need the sure direction of a shepherd. 

Psalm 23 describes the trustworthiness of our Good Shepherd. He cares for us (v. 1); He provides for our physical needs (v. 2); He shows us how to live holy lives (v. 3); He restores us, comforts us, heals us, and bountifully blesses us (vv. 3-5); and He will not abandon us (v. 6). What a comfort to know that God gently but firmly leads us! He does so through the urging of the Holy Spirit, the reading of His Word, and through prayer. God is the reliable leader we need.

In acknowledgment of our dependence on the Lord, we can say with the psalmist, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters". The Lamb who died to save us is the Shepherd who lives to guide us. Like sheep that sometimes wander from the flock in tangled paths of life to lose their way, that's the time we need our Shepherd's hand and a watchful eye to keep us always, lest we go astray.