Wednesday after Misericordias Domini Sunday
Posted on April 17, 2024 by under
Scripture: Ezekiel 34:23-31 (NKJV)
34:23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
25 “I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, or bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. 30 Thus they shall know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord God.’”
31 “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.
Devotion
David was also a man who had fallen into sin and rejection of the Lord, but was restored and continued to be an appointed servant over God’s flock. The imagery of Ezekiel’s words shows that God’s people live in a place that is full of danger and wickedness. It is God’s grace that will deliver His people from the perilous places, not the righteousness of the flock.
The idea of God as the Good Shepherd is not new to Christ’s ministry. The Gospel of the Lord’s loving shepherd-like protection and guidance has been a theme throughout the Scriptures, as the popularity of Psalm 23 reminds us. This image has always emphasized that we must be humble before our Maker, because we act as foolish and unruly as animals from our sin.
In the first garden, man and woman were charged with taking care of the animals, but our first parents rejected God and failed in their callings. From the beginning, our Lord has shown His mercy by restoring failed servants and putting them back in their right place to continue the work prepared for them. That continues to be the message of the Church! We sin, we fall, but our Good Shepherd calls us to repent, guides us in correction, forgives our sins, and puts us back to our given roles as people of His holy kingdom!
Collect: God, Who, by the humiliation of Thy Son, didst raise up the fallen world: Grant unto Thy faithful ones perpetual gladness, and those whom Thou hast delivered from the danger of everlasting death, do Thou make partakers of eternal joys; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
