The Sheep of His Pasture

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!  Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy.  Acknowledge that the Lord is God!  He made us, and we are His.  We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise.  For the Lord is good.  His unfailing love continues forever, and His faithfulness continues to each generation.  (Psalm 100)

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• We, those singing this psalm, the people of Israel.
• We've become the people of Israel through Jesus.  
• We--those who are in Christ.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• Not 'were when we were good enough' or 'will be when we get our act together.'  Are.  Present tense implying right at this moment.  

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• His.  I remember maybe 3 months into dating Jeff, he wrote me a letter titled, 'My Jessey' and my heart stopped for about a week.  It's powerful to be so close to someone that they start taking ownership of you.  
• We are the Lord's, we are His.  We're very close to Him, so much that we're His special possession.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• People who share a commonality, namely knowing Christ.  We're in His people group not because we were born into it or worked our way up into it, but because He chose us and we can't wriggle out.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• not 'a', 'the.'  We comprise the whole group of sheep.  There aren't other sheep. 

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• Sheep need a Shepherd.  They're exceptionally unintelligent and vulnerable compared to other animals.  They don't have a way to protect themselves agains predators, except for the Shepherd.  They forget easily and fall back into the same sins from years ago.  They worry and fret for sport and tangle up their wool and forget to follow the Shepherd.  Sheep need a Shepherd.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• 'of'--what a freeing preposition!  Not sheep 'in' His pasture which might imply that you an wander right back out of it.  'Of' is used like David was 'of' the tribe of Benjamin.  There's no wriggling out of that for David, and there's no way for us to wander out of His pasture.  It's where we belong.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• When something is the Lord's, He's in it.  So we are with Him in His pasture.  
• He is kind and loving and good and right, and so is His pasture.  
• He takes our fears and stress and sin and switches them for peace and joy and trust.

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.

• Pasture--the land where we eat and grow!  
• The safe home base.  
• We are at home with the Lord.   

We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.