The people of His pasture

For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:  - Psalms 95:3-7

As David wrote his psalms he must have remembered the days of minding his sheep when he was a shepherd. He remembered how he made sure that his sheep were cared for. He would have remembered leading them to pasture. He would have remembered caring for them and making sure they were fed and watered and that they could rest in safety. He would have remembered how he went out and rescued them when they wandered. He would have remembered how he treated them for their illnesses and their wounds.

Who better to write about the Lord as our shepherd and us as the people of Hs pasture? David often, most notably in the 23rd Psalm, mentions our Great Shepherd. Later on Jesus is going to refer to Himself as the Good Shepherd who is willing to even give His life for His sheep.

Not only are we His people on His pasture, but they are on His hills surrounded by His seas and with His skies above. It is all His and we are His. Sheep always trust their shepherd and as they trust Him to provide they are willing to follow Him. I had a chance one day to work with a shepherd and his family. As we moved them to the wintering shed they only followed the family. They would not follow me for anything. They knew that their shepherd would take care of them. They knew nothing about me.

And so it should be with us and our shepherd and the world system. We tend to follow after all kinds of false shepherds promising us all sorts. We know nothing about these false shepherds, they can do nothing for us, and still we follow them.

Jesus said that His sheep know His voice and follow Him. How do we match up to that standard?