“The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?”
Hosea 4:16 (NIV)
Hmmm…..a stubborn heifer. Oh, that sounds so awful, so unruly, so…unseemly. Let’s at least have a little social decorum,stubborn heifer! Now on the other side of the farm is the breath-taking contrast: “a lamb in a meadow”…how lovely, peaceful, loyal and obedient is that little lamb!
As I read this verse the other day, I was scratching my head with my hoof, I mean hand, and searching my heart. How often am I that “stubborn heifer” rather than the “lamb in the meadow” that the LORD wants to pasture so lovingly? God continued to speak to me through this scripture, which followed right along with my Treasure Verse Tuesday verse this week: (Hosea 2:14) “I will lead her into the desert [“pasture” is one of the definitions for that word] and speak tenderly to her.” (NIV)
I am a lamb at heart. But sometimes that stubborn heifer rears her ugly head and digs in her stilettos…I mean heals. But I am a lamb at heart. I want my heart, my thoughts, my words, my behavior, my life to reflect that of an obedient and faithful lamb of our Lamb of God.
A few summers ago during our now-annual summer family vacation to Camp of the Woods in the Adirondacks of New York, we heard Ravi Zacharias teach an amazing sermon on Psalm 23. The relationship we enjoy as lambs of the Good Shepherd is beautifully illustrated in Psalm 23. When Ravi was teaching this, I was writing in the margin of my Bible as quickly as I could. This is what he shared.
“The Lord is my shepherd”: RELATIONSHIP
“I shall not want”: PROVISION
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures”: REST
“He leads me beside still waters”: REFRESHMENT
“He restores my soul”: HEALING
“I shall not want”: PROVISION
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures”: REST
“He leads me beside still waters”: REFRESHMENT
“He restores my soul”: HEALING
“He guides me in the paths of righteousness”: GUIDANCE
“For His name’s sake”: PURPOSE
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”: DESTINY
“I will fear no evil”: PROTECTION
“For you are with me”: FAITHFULNESS
“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me”: DISCIPLINE/SUPPORT/COMFORT
“You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies”: HOPE
“You anoint my head with oil”: CONSECRATION
“My cup overflows”: ABUNDANCE
“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”: BLESSING
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord”: SECURITY
“For His name’s sake”: PURPOSE
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”: DESTINY
“I will fear no evil”: PROTECTION
“For you are with me”: FAITHFULNESS
“Your rod and your staff, they comfort me”: DISCIPLINE/SUPPORT/COMFORT
“You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies”: HOPE
“You anoint my head with oil”: CONSECRATION
“My cup overflows”: ABUNDANCE
“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”: BLESSING
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord”: SECURITY
“Forever”: ETERNITY
Wow…every time I read this Psalm I am overwhelmed by His perfect love, care and provision for us, His precious lambs. Read Psalm 23 and soak in His goodness. If you are the type of lamb that writes in your Bible, you may want to jot the above notes down in the margin. We are the people of His pasture under His perfect care.
“Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for He is our God and
we are the people of His pasture,
the flock under His care.
Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts…”
Psalm 95:6-8
do not harden your hearts…”
Psalm 95:6-8