Living the life of a shepherd – Pt 4

The lessons from Psalm 23 related to influencing well go beyond a personal relationship with our Shepherd and the responsibility of providing for our flock, because…

The trust David found in the Good Shepherd’s provision was reinforced by his Shepherd’s protection. Safey brings comfort. That truth is demonstrated throughout Scripture, even when the protection afforded by the Father doesn’t look like we think it should, pray it will, or hope it does.

The act of safeguarding, shielding another from harm, or guarding against danger is imperative to a vulnerable flock. In some regions of the world, the shepherds use a mesa or a flat-topped hill or mountain with steep sides that resembles a table, to serve as the summer range for their sheep. This requires the shepherd to make preliminary trips into what could be rough, wild country, and survey it with great care, assuring the area is suitable for the flock. The preparation requires determining where the best and safest bed grounds are for the sheep and where a supply of salt and minerals can be placed for their well-being. The shepherd checks for poisonous weeds and, if necessary, designs a grazing program to avoid them or, potentially, a plan to eradicate them all together. In addition, the shepherd must assure there’s a clean water source for the sheep, with all these steps taking place before the sheep are moved to the mesa to graze.

How interesting it is the origin of the word “protection” is from the Old French and Late Latin and means to “cover in front”. Yes, planning is part of the pivotal element of protection and shepherding well. Even the anointing of a sheep’s head with oil, specifically the inside of the ears and nostrils and the outside of the horns, is the shepherd planning ahead to keep parasites from causing damage and from the rams’ horns from locking.

David’s experience as a shepherd beautifully illustrates the responsibility of noble protection in relation to the tools of the rod and the staff. A shepherd’s rod – a short, heavy, club-like stick, sometimes with iron embedded in it – is used primarily as a defensive weapon defending the flock from predators, disciplining wayward sheep by pushing and guiding them in the way they should go, as well as for the purpose of counting the sheep, or even examining them by separating the wool. The rod acts as a tool of authority and protection, distinct from the typically long, slender stick with a hooked or crook end used to guide and direct the sheep. It’s essential to gently hooking sheep around the neck or legs to lift them from danger, separating them for inspection, and nudging them along the right path.

When our teams are required to labor together effectively, it is a necessity we guard the individual team members from concerns specific to their work situation, location, industry, and potential conflict with each other. Today’s ever-changing technological environment tests the limits of our teams. They need their leader to offer the protection that comes with helping them manage their emotional well-being and address their health and welfare. These factors, as well as global competition, create a need for leaders to ‘go ahead’ of their teams to prepare the way. We also need to think beyond the work or ministry world in which they work and the cycles associates with each and reflect on the different seasons in life those we shepherd face.

Godly under-shepherds always desire those they lead to put their ultimate trust for protection in the Lord our God. For the most effective environments, however, leaders should also seek for those they influence to trust them to do their utmost in offering protection where they influence.