What Jesus Said and What David Knew

Good Morning and Happy Wednesday

Our text this morning finds us in John chapter 10 and Psalm 23.

John 10:3-4, 11, 14

Verse 3:

To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

Verse 4:

And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

Verse 11:

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Verse 14:

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Psalm 23:1

The Lord is my Shepherd; and I shall not want.


Commentary:

Jesus tells us that He knows His sheep and the sheep know Him. To know someone you have to spend time in their presence. For example, I know my wife and my son - how do I know them? We live and spend time with each other. We have "face" time with one another. We know each others likes, dislikes, and personalities. Now, if someone ask me about my neighbor - I usually will say (like most people) yes I know them, they are my neighbor. Even though I used the word know, I don't know them as I know my own family. So our degree in knowing can vary depending upon who, what or where. This can happen even when talking about the Lord. Many will say Oh yes I know the Lord but a few will truly only know Him. The question is - do you know the Lord as part of your family or just as a neighbor? It is very important to intimately know the voice of the Lord. Jesus said ..."the sheep hear his voice".... If we don't spend time with Jesus in prayer and studying the word, we won't be able to hear his voice that directs our life. What will happen is that someone other than the Shepherd will climb up some other way into the sheepfold and lead the sheep astray. There are many voices out there today calling out to many saying follow me - do you know the voice of the Shepherd? Oh yes, remember I told you that I know Him! But, do you really? Let me give you another natural example to hopefully open up your spiritual eyes. When I was in Marine Corps boot camp, my platoon would have to march. The platoon would hear the drill instructor calling cadence and we would follow the order in our marching. One day while waiting to get into the chow hall, my platoon was practicing some marching drills. After doing some of these drills, we came to a position of "at ease" (basically meaning a rest, a time-out sorta speak). A few minutes passed by and we heard a voice say platoon uh-ten-hut (cadence of bringing a platoon to attention) and when the platoon came to attention and started doing some of the cadences that were bellowing out of the drill instructor's mouth. All of sudden, we heard another voice yelling at us for marching. In short, the voice we heard, it sounded like our drill instructor but it was another drill instructor's voice from another platoon. The voice that yelled at us for obeying the first voice was our own drill instructor. You see, we thought we knew our own "shepherd" (drill instructor) even though we have spent some weeks with him but in reality we fell for the deception. So, the question remains - do you KNOW the Lord?

Can you say the Lord is my Shepherd as David did? David was a king but he knew the real king was not him but the Lord. David understood what it means to know the Lord. He spent time with Him, commune with Him and served Him through the valleys and mountains of his (David's) life. When you spend time with something you eventually will begin to worship that something. That something for David was the Lord. He knew the voice of his Shepherd and the Shepherd knew him. There can't be any "ifs"or "buts" not even an "I hope so" that the Lord your my Shepherd - it has to be like David said - The Lord IS my Shepherd; I shall not want! If the Lord clothes the lilies and feed the ravens will he not as a Good Shepherd care for you, provide for you and protect you. If you truly have a close relationship with the Lord you will know His voice and understand that He is truly your Shepherd. If you don't have a close relationship with Him or you don't even know Him - Seek after Him with all your heart and you will find eternal life. The Bible says confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Blessings!