Dec 20,21 - Psalm 23 and Christmas

The Lord is my shepherd

Psalm 23:1

 

Today is an interlude in our journey to through Psalm 23.

 

A Christmas interlude!

 

God’s real name is “I AM” – YEHWEH. That’s the official name the LORD gave to Moses when this prophet asked at the beginning of the Exodus.

 

I AM is one of Jesus’ official name too. Since people couldn’t fully understand who Jesus-the-Messiah was until the cross and resurrection, Jesus kept hinting at this identity while on earth. He kept referring to himself as the “I AM” – for example … I AM the bread of life … I AM the light of the world … I AM the way, the truth, and the life … I AM the good shepherd.  

 

The Good Shepherd?! Yes, Jesus reached back to Psalm 23 to explain his leading, comforting, and guiding. His eternal solution to the valley of the shadow of death. His providing for us a house to dwell in forever.

 

What has me curious this pre-Christmas morning is the role, then, of the shepherds at the manger.

 

Psalm 23 paints a beautiful picture of shepherds. Honestly, they were smelly outcasts. They smelled like a barn. Most were uneducated and uncouth. They were semi-homeless – nomadic wanderers.

 

Why would God come to them?

 

I know, in part, that it was as a sign: God cares for everyone – even the ones that society labels “unclean,” “uneducated,” and “uncouth.”

 

And while that’s enough of a reason, I wonder today if there’s something prophetic. The dusty shepherds of Bethlehem came from the fields to marvel at the babe that was born. Could that be how The Good Shepherd looks at us? Could it be that the Good Shepherd came from heaven above to marvel at you and me? Could his love for us be that great?

 

I’ve watched children marveling lately at baby Lyndy. Why? If you think about it, babies are unsophisticated creatures that whine and cry and poop. They struggle to open their eyes. Their thoughts are numbingly simplistic. They don’t even realize that their own hands belong to them yet. And yet we marvel at a baby! It is the miracle of life before our eyes.

 

Could that be how God looks at you and me?! We’re unsophisticated creatures that whine and cry and poop. Compared to God, our thoughts are numbingly simplistic. And yet we are the miracle of life in the Creator’s eyes. And for some magically bewildering reason, he loves us so much!

 

Wow!

 

Merry Christmas,

an uncouth, unsophisticated, unclean babe

– who marvels this Christmas at God’s love!