First of all, get the picture in your mind. The Bible says the Lord is your Shepherd...that means, you're a sheep. It says He leads you, He restores, you, He guides you...He's in charge and you are not. You follow. He leads. Got it?
Well, as you continue on, you'll read this in verse 6, "surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Did you see it? Goodness and mercy will FOLLOW you. That means, they come behind you. They follow.
You don't see the goodness and mercy until you look back on what God's done in your life. Yes, He's always working ahead of us preparing and protecting and providing but we don't usually realize what He's done until we look back and remember!
When we look back and recount all the wonderful blessings He's given us, how He's provided for our needs, how He's been with us every step of the way, we can surely say "surely goodness and mercy will follow me..."
Aren't you glad He's the Shepherd and you're the sheep? That's why it's so important that we learn to follow His leading. That's why we need to remember to look back and remember all He's done and we also need to understand that we are never to lean on our own understanding. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths."
It's not so bad being a sheep! We have a great Shepherd who goes before us and makes sure the path is straight. He is such a good Shepherd and we should be very grateful sheep.
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