The Beloved Shepherd

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16

Isaiah 40:27 — Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God”?

God promises to care deeply for His children. When the people of Judah were taken captive into exile in Babylon, they felt as though God had abandoned and forgotten them. This was not true. God had made covenants with His people. Even though the people had not kept the covenant, God was still faithful to uphold His promises. God was still with them.

The Lord used the imagery of shepherd and sheep to describe His faithfulness to His people. Like a shepherd cares for his sheep, the Lord cared for His people. He would rescue His sheep, bring them back to their homeland to graze and rest and be healed.

God uses the personal pronoun “I” over and over to show that He would personally seek the lost and strayed sheep of His flock and be their personal shepherd. In Psalm 23, David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd,” and in Ezekiel 34, God says, “I Myself will be the shepherd of My sheep.”

This language is similar to the poetic language of Song of Solomon 6:3 which says, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” The beloved woman in Solomon’s poem sees herself as belonging to her lover. “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me” (7:10). “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (2:16).

God cares about us his children deeply. Our ways are not hidden from Him. He knows exactly where we are and what is happening in our lives. God does not disregard our problems, but He meets us in the midst of them as our personal, loving shepherd. In the midst of a raging storm, Paul declared that He belonged to God and that God would personally rescue him and all the others on the ship (Acts 27).

You belong to God today. You are your beloved’s and His desire is for you.

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