The Psalm of the Divine Shepherd

Compare: John 10: 1-18 - Christ the Good Shepherd

"And they must come according to the words which shall be established by the mouth of the Lamb; and the words of the Lamb shall be made known in the records of thy seed, as well as in the records of the twelve apostles of the Lamb; wherefore they both shall be established in one; for there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth." - 1 Nephi 13:41

"And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture." - 1 Nephi 22:25

The Psalmist reminds us in Psalm 100:3 to "Know (ye) that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." One without a leader is like a sheep without a shepherd. Sheep are completely dependent on their shepherd for provision, guidance, and protection. Sheep are figurative of believers who follow their Shepherd. Christ is our Divine Shepherd and we are the sheep of His pasture. He provides for, guides, and protects us in the same manner as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his fold.

In describing the Lord as a shepherd, David wrote out of his own personal experiences from his early years of caring for sheep. Amidst the world, the Church is a sheepfold, exposed to deceivers and persecutors. The Divine Shepherd of the sheep knows all that are His individually by name, guards them by His providence, guides them by His Spirit and Word, and goes before them in the same manner as Eastern shepherds go before their sheep, to set them in the way of His steps.

As ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must serve the sheep in their spiritual needs and concerns. The Spirit of Christ will set before them an open door. His sheep who know Him as: (1) the Good Shepherd - "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11); (2) the Great Shepherd - "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:20,21); and (3) the Chief Shepherd - "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1 Peter 5:4), will observe their Shepherd, and be cautious and shy of strangers that would attempt to draw them away from the fold because they have come to learn and know that He is the only True Shepherd and "he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (see John 10:1).

The 23rd Psalm does not necessarily focus on the animal like qualities of the sheep, but on the discipleship qualities of those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we recognize the voice of the Divine Shepherd we should follow Him! When we allow Christ, our Shepherd, to lead and guide us, we will find peace, contentment, and safety for our souls. However, when we choose to ignore the Shepherd's voice and wander away from the fold, we have no one to blame but ourselves when we fall into the snares of those who seek to destroy us.

Because of the subtle uncertainties of life, we should follow the Divine Shepherd who offers us eternal confidence. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil: for our Shepherd is with us; His rod and His staff give us great comfort. (See Psalm 23:4). It is He alone who is able to walk us through this valley and bring us safely to the other side. Christ, the Perfect Shepherd and host, promises to guide and protect us through life to bring us into His home forever. (See Psalm 23:5, 6). He gives us the blessed assurance, "Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and the stone of Israel. He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fall" (D&C 50:44). "For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth not watch over them, that the wolves enter not and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the last, if he can, he will destroy him. And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed" (Alma 5:59, 60).

I do not mean to come across as being callous, cruel, or mean-spirited, but the older I get, the more discouraged and dishearten I become as I watch some of our young people - the future of our world, place themselves in a proverbial box called defeatism. Unquestionably, some of us have grown up in unfavorable conditions and in an unkind society that constantly reminds us, and in some cases has thoroughly convinced us, that our father never amounted to much, and our mother has never amounted to much, and so, as the proverbial apple never seems to fall far from the tree, we ourselves can expect to never amount to much either. The tragedy of it all is that society is not alone in painting this picture of hopelessness and despair, but that same picture hangs on the walls in our homes, as well as, in the classrooms of our schools.

I wish to send a very clear, precise, and concise message to our youth of today: the time has come for you to stop wallowing in the mud of hopelessness and slowly drowning yourselves in the sea called despair. Now is the time to break free from that proverbial box that you have found yourselves in, and from the strangling chords of the voices of naysayers who preach negativism and defeatism. Rise above your current station in life. You can if you believe that you can!

Maybe it is true that your father and mother have never done anything to make an honorable name for themselves, or have ever tried to get out of their current situations and better themselves. Maybe it is true that you were born in unfavorable and adverse conditions. Maybe it is true that all of your young life people have done nothing but knock you down and kick you while you were down. However, it does not have to stay that way. Though the night may seem dark and dreary, nighttime only last for a season and then the morning comes. And with the dawning of the morning comes a light of hope that shines bright as the noon day sun.

Now is the time for you to start realizing that you are not your father and you are not your mother. God Almighty has made each of us uniquely YOU. He has meted to you and me a measure of faith, hope, courage, talents, and abilities. It is time for you to put behind you those things that once were, and press forward to obtain those things that can, and (with faith, hope, patience, determination, and endurance) will be. Stop listening to the perpetual lies of those who do not have your best interest at heart, and start believing in yourself. You can do whatever it is you have a mind to do, and you can become whatever it is that you have a desire to become in life, but YOU have to believe that you can do it. If you cannot believe in yourselves, how can you honestly expect anyone else to?

Do not become discouraged if at first you do not succeed at doing something, but try and try again knowing that the road to success is often filled with potholes called failure. Many a success in life has been wrought through heartache and failure, so don't let that stop you. Even along the road of success will be hurdles and discouragement which you will have to get over, but don't let that stop you either. Continue to run your race with your head held high and a song of hope and gladness in your heart. You may not be the first to cross the finishing line, but then the winner of a race is not always necessarily the swiftest runner in the race, but he who runs his race well by remaining focused, staying his course, and enduring to the end.

There will be times along the way when you may become weary. Stop and rest for a little while if you must, but don't give up, give in, or quit. Remain focused on your goals and objectives. The finishing line is just in sight. You can make it. Yes you can! May God give you the hope, courage, faith, and determination to endure to the end. God bless you all!