The Righteous Shepherd

The familiarity of these passages should not lull us into complacency about their blessings and expectations. The psalmist’s words about the shepherd who comforts also leads to paths that challenge us to seek moral uprightness and justice. In Acts, Luke presents Tabitha as an example of one such disciple, whose restoration to life is the fulfillment of the psalmist’s promise. Revelation reminds us that the righteous life is not lived without struggle, but that the promise of redemption overcomes the worst that we encounter. John shows that even Jesus, the Lord who is the Shepherd, faced critics of his good works. Yet those who desire righteousness hear Jesus’ voice, he knows them, and “no one can snatch them out of [his] hand.”

• Read Psalm 23. What are the “paths of righteousness” into which you need to be led?
• Read Revelation 7:9-17. Who do you think stands “before the throne of God?” When? Why?
• Read Acts 9:36-43. To what “good works and acts of charity” are you called? How do you guard against righteousness becoming self-righteousness?
• Read John 10:22-30. How do you discern Jesus’ voice from the cacophony of voices that daily surround us? How is it different? To what does it call you?