The Lord Is My Shepherd
I am the good shepherd.
The Sheep of His Pasture
Genesis 48:15–16 Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.” Chapter Related Psalm 23:1–6 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Chapter Related Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Chapter Related Psalm 28:9 Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them forever. Chapter Related Isaiah 40:11 He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes. Chapter Related
Like Sheep Without a Shepherd
Numbers 27:16–17 “May the Lord , the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Chapter Related Ezekiel 34:3–4 You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock. You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. Chapter Related Psalm 119:176 I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments. Chapter Related Isaiah 53:6 We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Chapter Related Matthew 9:36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Chapter Related
I Myself Will Search for My Flock
Ezekiel 34:11–16 For this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out. As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land. I will feed them in good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will tend My flock and make them lie down, declares the Lord God . I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’ Chapter Related Psalm 78:70–72 He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from tending the ewes He brought him to be shepherd of His people Jacob, of Israel His inheritance. So David shepherded them with integrity of heart and guided them with skillful hands. Chapter Related Ezekiel 34:23 I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. Chapter Related Micah 5:4 He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord , in the majestic name of the Lord His God. And they will dwell securely, for then His greatness will extend to the ends of the earth. Chapter Related Luke 15:4–6 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’” Chapter Related
The Good Shepherd
John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Chapter Related John 10:14–16 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd. Chapter Related Zechariah 13:7 Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the Lord of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones. Chapter Related Mark 14:27 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Chapter Related Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. Chapter Related Hebrews 13:20–21 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Chapter Related John 10:27–28 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. Chapter Related
The Chief Shepherd
1 Peter 2:25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. Chapter Related John 21:15–17 When they had finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus replied, “Feed My lambs.” Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” “Yes, Lord,” he answered, “You know I love You.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd My sheep.” Jesus asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was deeply hurt that Jesus had asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things,” he replied. “You know I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.” Chapter Related Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. Chapter Related 1 Peter 5:2–4 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. Chapter Related Revelation 7:16–17 “‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’ For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” Chapter Related
Jacob, blessing Joseph’s sons, calls God “the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,” and David says it in the first person: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” It is care up close: quiet waters, a rod and staff in the dark valley, lambs carried close to his heart. The trouble is the other shepherds. Moses prays that the people will not be like sheep without a shepherd; Ezekiel finds shepherds who eat the fat and wear the wool but do not feed the flock; and all of us, like sheep, have gone astray. So God says he will do it himself: “Behold, I Myself will search for My flock.” He will seek the lost, bind up the broken, and set over them one shepherd, his servant David, the boy he took from the sheepfolds. When Jesus sees the crowds like sheep without a shepherd, he is moved with compassion. He tells of a man who leaves the ninety-nine and carries the lost one home on his shoulders, and then says it plainly: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” On the night he is arrested he quotes Zechariah: “I will strike the Shepherd.” The shepherd is led like a lamb to the slaughter, and God brings him back from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep. Then he hands the flock on, “Shepherd My sheep,” to be tended willingly until the Chief Shepherd appears. At the end the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd and lead them to springs of living water.