Archives article 32

 “A ship is safe in the harbour, but that’s not what it was built for”

or perhaps

“(The good Shepherd) . . . guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”

                                                                                                                  Psalm 23:3b

Is there anybody who doesn’t crave security? Don’t we all cherish a sense of well-being and protection? Which of us would ever want to leave the calm restful sea for one which is tempest torn and storm ridden? And yet, as the person who coined the first phrase well knew, the ship was built for the wide open sea. It was constructed to transport people and goods from one part of the world to another, across oceans where the risks are not always calculable.

This is the reason I want to put the second phrase with the first. When I know that it is the Good Shepherd who is leading, even when the waves are huge and threatening, I can still be at rest. I know He is piloting the ship of my life wisely, and He is with me.

I’m well aware that it does not always seem like this. There are many times in our lives when the going is so difficult that we find ourselves asking: “God, where are you?” But David, the composer of this Psalm, when he was young was a shepherd and he knew how to lead sheep. He knew exactly what he was doing even though the sheep didn’t!

The poor lamb had no idea where he was being led, nor what for. This woolly creature may well have preferred a better pathway. He might even have cowered and butted with complaint but the fact is the Shepherd was leading and he knew why this part of the track was difficult and steep.

Very often we hear Job named as the supreme example of someone who has lived through tough times. It’s true, he had. It’s actually hard to imagine someone who has suffered more than he did. The ship of his life was in a storm with incredibly white-foamed waves battering the deck. He lost not only material wealth but precious family members and even his own health. Who would have chosen this? No one. Humanly speaking, his ship was in a hurricane rather than a storm and he had no idea where he would arrive . . . if he would arrive! And yet the book of Job assures us that it was the Lord who was leading in “...paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”.

Many times we find ourselves in situations we would never have chosen. Our own plans would have been aimed at comfort, well-being, security – just like the ship which is safe in the harbour. The purposes of the Good Shepherd are different and higher. He knows where He’s leading us for ‘His name’s sake’.

The privilege of this phrase in Psalm 23 is the assurance that even though the storm is wild and threatening, even taking our life, we can know, 100%, that the Shepherd is leading us with sure determination to a destiny filled with glory for His name.

Horace Spafford, a wealthy businessman wrote a now famous hymn about a peace in his heart – even though he had lost everything in the great fire of Chicago in 1871 and his 4 daughters had drowned in a shipwreck shortly afterwards. As his ship passed that same spot one year later he wrote: “Whatever my lot, you have taught me to know, it is well, it is well with my soul”. He knew that even though it seemed unjust, it wasn’t. God, His good Shepherd, had lead and was leading him into the best pathways for him.

Dear reader, don’t ever be afraid to trust your life to Jesus Christ despite the tremendous down turn you may be experiencing in life. He is the great shepherd. His promises will never fail nor let you down!

                                                                                    Pastor Paul Finch