JESUS CARES FOR US - HE'S OUR SHEPHERD

For a couple of chapters now in I Samuel (18-23), we have seen the turning of Saul’s heart against David because of jealousy and the many times he has tried to kill him. The reading for today includes the following attempts.

I Samuel 22:6 Now Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. And Saul, spear in hand, was seated under the tamarisk tree on the hill at Gibeah.

I Samuel 23:7-8 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.”  And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

I Samuel 23:15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life.

I Samuel 23:25 Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon.  When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.

No matter the intentions of Saul against David, we see that when God puts his protection on someone, i.e. David, nothing can happen to him as a result of someone else’s intentions.

In the other reading, John 10, Jesus calls himself the good shepherd and that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  If wolves come to attack the sheep, Jesus will not abandon the sheep as does a hired hand.  How blessed we are to have Jesus care for us and protect us from the evil things of the world.