The Sheep of His Pasture

Spring 2024 Meditation

by Jessamyn Rains

Psalm 100 opens by telling us to rejoice, to sing, to shout, and to be glad; it ends by exhorting us to give thanks to God and to praise Him for His goodness, truth, and mercy.

Sandwiched between these exhortations is our theme verse for this quarter: “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.”

It is as though this reality—the fact that we are his, that he made us, that we are his people and his sheep—is the reason that we should rejoice and give thanks and be glad.

And I think that, if you live long enough, you find that this is true.

Think about the vulnerability of sheep: sheep are some of the more helpless, defenseless animals out there. They don’t have massive teeth; they don’t have talons; they don’t run particularly fast; and—as many preachers and commentators have pointed out—they are not necessarily the smartest animals.

Out in the wild world, beyond the borders of the pasture, there are innumerable dangers, both from the treacherous terrain and from predators, both stronger and more sagacious than sheep.

And—truth be told—the same is true of us. The world is full of “dangers, toils, and snares,” (to quote John Newton) and our unseen predator, like a roaring lion, seeks “whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

In spite of our vulnerability and defenselessness, Scripture teaches we have nothing to fear from any danger or enemy, whether of things seen or unseen. We are the Lord’s flock, the sheep of his pasture, the special objects of His care and guidance.

For many of us, this is easier said than done. The world presents us, daily, with fodder for debilitating anxiety. We can fight this by rejoicing in God, by calling to mind His faithfulness and giving thanks, and by telling ourselves the truth: “[T]hat the Lord, He is God! He has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.”