WEEKDAY DEVOTION WITH PASTOR CHRIS

In Psalms 42 and 43 the psalmist asks, “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?"

     To be cast down is an old shepherd’s term for a sheep that has turned over on its back and can’t get up again by itself.  Its feet flailing in the air, it tries frantically to get its feet back underneath, but it can’t.  If the shepherd doesn’t arrive within a reasonably short time, the sheep will die.  Gases build up and as they expand they retard and cut off blood circulation to extremities of the body, especially the legs.  If the weather is hot and sunny, the sheep can die within a few hours.  If it is cool, cloudy and rainy it may survive for several days.  But either way, once it is cast down the sheep is at great risk – not only from the buildup of those gases, but also from natural predators who know that a cast sheep is particularly vulnerable.

     Phillip Keller grew up in East Africa, surrounded by native herders whose customs closely resembled those of shepherds in the Middle East.  At one point, he made his own livelihood for about eight years as a sheep owner and rancher.  He gained some unique insights along the way, and his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, is the result.  He writes:

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 affections.  It discloses the depth of His understanding of undone people to whom He came eagerly and quickly, ready to help, to save, to restore.

When I read the life story of Jesus Christ and examine His conduct in coping with human need, I see Him again and again as the Good Shepherd picking up “cast” sheep.  The tenderness, the love, the patience that He used to restore Peter’s soul after the terrible tragedy of his temptations is a classic picture of the Christ coming to restore one of His own.

     And so He comes quietly, gently, reassuringly to me no matter when or where or how I may be cast down.

     With the isolation, fears and extraordinary disruption that the Coronavirus has brought into our lives, you may well be feeling “cast down.”  We’ve never seen anything like this.  We have no similar experience to draw from that might offer guidance, comfort or reassurance.  It can all feel a bit overwhelming.  But we are not alone.  We have each other (from a distance!).  And even more, we have the Good Shepherd who is there watching over us, ready to restore us as we turn towards Him.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.” (Psalm 43:5)