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CREATURE GREAT AND SMALL: SHEEP

By: Steve Negley

Posted: July 3, 2023

Category: Daily Devotional

Let’s handle this devotion a little differently.

The animal in question is a sheep.  (The same word is used for singular and plural.)  The Bible mentions sheep a couple hundred times, and refers to their existence even more.  Here are some of my favorites:

Psalm 23:1-4

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;[a]
    he restores my soul.[b]
He leads me in right paths[c]
for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[d]
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
    Serve the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him; bless his name.

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever
and his faithfulness to all generations.

Isaiah 40:1-11

40 Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said,[
a] “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers; the flower fades,
[[when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers; the flower fades,]][
b]
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;[
c]
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;[
d]
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.

11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.

Matthew 9:36

36 When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

John 10:11

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

And all God’s people said —  AMEN.