Cast Sheep and Good Shepherds
The 23rd Psalm is about God and his people, but it parallels the experiences of shepherds and sheep. Phillip Keller, who grew up in East Africa, and labored as a shepherd there and later in Canada wrote a wonderful little book entitled, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. I want to quote him at length as we begin our yearlong meditation unpacking one great line from that Psalm, “He restores our souls.” Just what does this mean?
Keller connects the restoration of the soul by God to a shepherd’s lifting up of a “cast sheep.” A cast sheep is one that has fallen over and cannot stand itself up. Listen to what he says as we enter into a year long consideration of the various ways in which Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd, restores our souls.
“As soon as I reached the cast ewe my very first impulse was to pick it up. Tenderly I would roll the sheep over on its side. This would relieve the pressure of gases in the rumen. If she had been down for long I would have to lift her onto her feet. Then, straddling the sheep with my legs I would hold her erect, rubbing her limbs to restore circulation to her legs. This often took quite a little time. When the sheep started to walk again she often just stumbled, staggered and collapsed in a heap once more.
“All the time I worked on the cast sheep I would talk to it gently, “When are you going to learn to stand on your own feet?”—“I’m so glad I found you in time—you rascal!” And so the conversation would go, always couched in language that combined tenderness and rebuke, compassion and correction.
“All of this pageantry is conveyed to my heart and mind when I read the simple statement, “HE restores my soul!”
“There is something intensely personal, intensely tender, intensely endearing, yet intensely fraught with danger in this picture. On the one hand, there is the sheep so helpless, so utterly immobilized though otherwise strong and healthy and flourishing; while on the other hand there is the attentive owner quick and ready to come to its rescue—ever patient and tender and helpful.
“One of the great revelations of the heart of God given to us by Christ is that of Himself as our shepherd. He has the same identical sensations of anxiety, concern and compassion for cast men and women as I had for cast sheep. This is precisely why he looked on people with such pathos and compassion. It explains his magnanimous dealing with down and out individuals for whom even human society had no use. It reveals why he wept over those who spurned his affection. It discloses the depth of his understanding of undone people to whom he came eagerly and quickly, ready to help, to save and to restore.”
Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm. 63-64
