Roatan, Honduras. A beautiful little island that sits 23 miles from the Honduran mainland. A quaint little island nestled in the beautiful turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. We have been to Roatan once before, but so many years ago, it’s hard to recollect in the minds eye. The pier and terminal has grown greatly as many of these small islands have garnered all the economic development dollars they can in order to try and grab even a small portion of the tremendous American cruise dollars that hit the Caribbean every week. We hopped off the ship and headed via taxi about 15 minutes over to a beautiful beach, Sol y Mar, which means Sun and Sea. The beaches of the Caribbean are in my opinion, the most beautiful in the world. They are quite different from every beach we encountered in Maui. I think the essence of a beach comes down to three things, the color of the water, the temperature of the water and the quality of the sand. The color of the water in the Caribbean is nothing less than mesmerizing. The deepest colors of turquoise, azure and rich blues all mixed together into a palette that will move your mind into trying to understand the colors your eyes are processing. The beach is spotted with swaying coconut palms and beyond the soft white sand, the glimmering water beckons you to walk in and experience the goodness. The postcard beauty of a Caribbean Beach is something to behold.
We had an excursion planned and took a short boat ride out to the reef just beyond the surf break. What we saw was amazing. Some of the most beautiful, untouched coral I have ever seen. Colors that leapt from the sandy floor. Textures of coral that defy the mind. Small, long, short, slender. Brain, fan, sponge. All teeming with life. Coral formations amaze me. There is life everywhere and none of it makes sense. I always say that when man is perplexed, God is present. If you have ever questioned the harmony of God, dive on a major reef. Just below the surface is a world like no other. A world of color, texture and docile movement. A world of life. A world of harmony. A world of provision. In the creation story in Genesis 1:2, before God even created light it says, “and God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Going forward God deals with the waters in a current tense, there is no mention of when He created the waters. They have just been a very, very long time. To go beneath the water is something very special indeed. It is beautiful to experience God this way. The gently swaying fan coral, the large expanses of curving coral and of course the multitude of colorful, playful fish. The one thing that strikes me…they all coexist in an environment of perfect harmony. There is harmony within the silence. It is breathtaking to behold. There are few places you can go today that is the pure absence of man. Below the sea seems to be the world as God originally made it. I’m blessed to experience it.
I have found me a great little spot up on the top deck, 14 floors above the water, to sit and write every morning. As I nestle in with my fresh cup of coffee and gaze out at the endless expanse of sea beyond, I take in the goodness of Psalm 23. Let’s start this journey with a look at verse 1.
“The Lord is my shepherd”
Remember back to my requests in part 1. That you experience this passage anew. Clear your mind and try to approach it as if you’ve never heard it before and remember that the entire passage was written by David considering himself a sheep and the Lord as his shepherd. This first verse is a powerful one that sets just that stage for us. Take special note of the pronouns and their use throughout the passage for they tell an entirely different story. Notice here the key word ‘my.’ The Lord is MY shepherd. If you have called on the name of Jesus to save you from your sins, you fully know that it was a very personal experience. We serve a personal God, not some distant faraway God that can only be called on in some mountain top temple. We serve a God that is personal and real and always close. David is making this beautiful personal relationship very clear in the opening verse. The Lord is MY shepherd.
There’s a few important details to explore regarding this verse and the sheep and shepherd relationship.
1) Why do sheep (we) need a shepherd at all?
Believe it or not the correlation between us and sheep is amazingly similar. It’s very funny to think that out of every animal on the planet, God would pick sheep to compare us to. Did you know that out of every livestock animal that sheep require the most attention? They are ‘high maintenance’ animals! God sees a parallel between us and sheep and realizes our dire need for a shepherd. Let’s explore how we are like sheep and thus why our need for a shepherd.
A) We are stubborn like sheep.
God used the term “stiff-necked” in describing the Israelites upon fashioning the golden calf in rebellion of Him in chapter 32 of Exodus. The term is used to describe a sheep stiffening its neck as the Shepherd is trying to lead him. This is indicative of us resisting God’s leading in our lives, stiffening our neck as He tries to guide us in the proper direction. I can definitely be stiff necked towards God and I see this abundantly in our world today. We are still a stiff-necked, stubborn people. God 1, us 0.
B) We are prone to wandering.
We are always looking for something better and we are always looking for what makes us happy. We are prone to wander as we search for these things. This is summed up in Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way.” Notice the inclusive nature of this verse in Isaiah. There are two absolute descriptors, all and everyone. Folks, that means that everyone that has ever lived and ever will live has turned from God and desired to seek his own path. This is true of sheep as well. They are prone to wonder, it’s in their nature. You see, we need a loving shepherd that will guide us in the proper direction and keep us on the proper path. Without this, we are prone to stray and eventually find trouble. So true, this sounds like the story of my early life, always looking for self-gratification, more of everything an my 'own' way. To get more you have to wander. God 2, us 0.
C) We also like sheep are very timid.
Without God as our caring shepherd, we are so quick to panic in our timidity. A group of people can be sent into a panic in mere seconds. We were on a cruise a few years ago and upon entering the ship from port, we smelled what seemed like burned electronics. We no more than got 25 feet to the elevator before someone was already starting the rumor about a fire onboard. We are very timid and fearful like sheep, alarmed at the slightest hint of trouble. God 3, us 0.
D) We like sheep have a mass mentality.
Being on a cruise ship with 4000 other people, I could write a thesis on this topic this week. I’ve also heard it called the “lemming theory.” The small animal, the lemming, when alarmed will simply follow the lemming in front and no longer think for himself. It’s common for the lead lemming to run off a cliff in panic and hundreds will simply follow the leader to their death. This sounds a little derogatory to humans but friends we are just like sheep and lemmings. On the ship this theory is joked about as the “line group.” No matter what time of day or what the offering is, if a few people stand in line, others will gather and stand in line as well. Our cruise director joked that sometimes he will just stand in front of a blank wall and look excited and in a few minutes a line will begin to form behind him. It’s just how we’re built, and God built us. Like it or not…our creator knows us better than we know ourselves. We will follow others. God 4, us 0.
E) Another instinct we share with sheep is our mob mentality or “grouping psychology.”
Get one charismatic, passionate guy in front of a crowd and watch him influence 100, a million or an entire nation. This has never been more apparent than with Hitler. He motivated a nation to follow him and his vision and they did it emphatically. The last several times I have been through the trial and crucifixion of Jesus I started circling every time it mentioned “the crowd” or “they” or “their.” Folks, it was not a few guys that got Jesus crucified, it was a mob that got it done. This is by far one of the ugliest aspects of our human nature. In large groups, people like sheep, can definitely go their own way and achieve much evil. God 5, us 0.
2) So why should God be my shepherd?
A very good question especially if you might not yet believe in Jesus as your Savior. How does any shepherd get sheep? He buys them. In our study book "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23", Mr. Keller tells of at what great expense he saved up and bought his first few dozen sheep to start his flock. Through much great work, planning and sacrifice, he was able to purchase these sheep. I have a question for you? Have you ever bought a car? If you have, think back to the first car you bought? Were you proud of it? My first car was a 1977 Ford Mustang Shelby Cobra and it had a hole in the hood. At some point prior it had an engine fire and it literally burned a hole completely through the hood. I didn’t care. I was so proud of that car. I had mowed countless lawns and sacked thousands of bags of groceries saving for that car. The day I put the key in the ignition was a special day. It was mine. It was bought with a price. Now think on this. Have you ever rented a car? As you crawl into that rental car does it feel the same? Absolutely not. A few weeks ago, somebody backed into our truck at the mall where Margie works and just drove off. No note, no apology, nothing. People. Fortunately, our uninsured motorist insurance covered it so our deductible was only $250 and not a $1000. As we put it in the shop to get it fixed, they gave us a rental car. It was a fun little sporty Ford with all kinds of bells and whistles. As I climbed in and checked it out, I felt nothing. No excitement, no butterflies. Why? It wasn’t mine. I didn’t own it. I had done nothing and sacrificed nothing to purchase it.
Now back to the sheep. If the Lord is my shepherd then how has He bought us? I’m glad you asked, listen to John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” An also how about this verse from 1 Corinthians 6:20 “you were bought at a price, therefore honor God with your bodies.” It’s amazing to see how the theme of sheep and the shepherd runs throughout God’s Word from the Old Testament we are studying here in Psalms, to the gospels where Jesus himself uses the correlation numerous times. This beautiful Psalm from David however was written hundreds of years before Jesus came to Earth. The picture is simple and powerful, we were all bought with a tremendous price to be allowed to become part of the flock of Jesus. What was the price paid? Because of man’s sin nature inherited in the garden of Eden, God out of His infinite grace, mercy and goodness made a way for sinful man to be reunited with Himself for eternity. He sent His only Son to this Earth to be born of a virgin. To live a perfect sinless life on this planet in order to become a perfect sacrifice. A perfect sacrifice that would replace all sacrifices and be sufficient for all people for all time. Jesus would be persecuted, beaten, tortured, whipped and hung on a Cross to die. The same people He came to pay a price for, brutally executed Him. But after that brutal death, Jesus triumphantly rose three days later to eternally defeat the death of man’s sin. He ascended back to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God where even today, He intercedes on our behalf directly to God. My friends the single biggest price that could ever be paid, was paid for you. God bought you at a tremendous price and you belong to Him. He is the shepherd and you are His sheep, bought with a price.
If you do not know Jesus as your shepherd today, you can. “All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13. Left to your own ways, you will stray from the Lord. And in going your own way, you can make a real mess of things. Going our own way is not the way of the shepherd and it can get us into situations that were never meant for us to encounter. But you can join the flock today and enjoy the peace, goodness and provision of the shepherd. Call upon the name of Jesus today and you will be saved from the bondage of sin in your life. It’s a promise from God, and walking in the safety and provision of the Good Shepherd is the way we were meant to live.
Join me again tomorrow for part 3 of our continued study of Psalm 23 from the azure waters of the Caribbean.
Blessings for your day.
