John 10:26-30 “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”       ...  Read More

John 10:16-21 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 18 No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take...  Read More

John 10:11-15 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and M...  Read More

John 10:7-10 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” A...  Read More

John 10:1-5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and th...  Read More

Jeremiah 23:1 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep…”            The word “pastor” comes from the Greek word in the NT for “shepherd.” As a noun, the word literally denotes someone who leads sheep. Figuratively, it is a reference to someone who teaches and leads God’s people in the Bible. In the OT, the spiritual shepherds were prophets, priests, scribes, and kings. In ...  Read More

Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.            The metaphorical image of Psalm 23 is unmistakable. Everything David did for his own sheep is likened to what God does for His sheep....  Read More

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.            In v. 4, David continues with the metaphor of sheep as humans, putting himself in the place of sheep by comparing the many dark ravines in Israel that shepherds led their sheep through in order to find green pastures to his own times of ...  Read More

Psalm 23:2-3 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.Having compared Yahweh to a shepherd, in v. 2 David compares himself to a sheep. Sheep are easily startled, so it was the shepherd’s task to calm them. Yet at times shepherds must use force to bring a sheep under control once th...  Read More

Psalm 23:1 A Psalm of David. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”            The writer of this familiar passage of Scripture was David, the second king over all of Israel (r. 1010-970 BC). When he wrote this Psalm is not given. But prior to becoming king over Israel, David was a lowly shepherd. He did what many shepherds did in his day, he watched and cared for a flock of sheep, a flock t...  Read More

Psalm 139:19-24 O that You would slay the wicked, O God; depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 20 For they speak against You wickedly, and Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and kn...  Read More

Psalm 139:14-15 I am fearfully and wonderfully made… skillfully wrought…What if you were to stumble upon a wristwatch in an open field? Would you conclude that it naturally grew there? Or would you conclude that there was a watchmaker and that someone dropped it there? This is an illustration that drives the question of God’s existence by design.Observational evidence teaches that intricate design...  Read More