- This page has been edited on 12/18/18 to reflect David’s birth family as being blended and the possibility that his mom was different than the mom of his brothers. This is based on extrabiblical accounts and stories and not directly from scripture.
It’s Christmas time. Do you know what sheep say about all the trappings that have nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas? Baaaaa – hum bug!
Have you ever wondered why God didn’t use the analogy of cats with a shepherd? (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8). Cats don’t herd well; they don’t walk in a straight line along a path… I think sheep being like us is probably the best idea. They need constant care and love, like us. Some reading this may resist that idea, choosing independence and being tough like rock people instead. I get it – our culture prizes being super tough and going it alone.
Shepherd boy David — didn’t want to be alone , but his family ostracized him. Long before he was a king or even a shepherd David was trying to grow up right. He kind of, well, um didn’t have all his family characteristics, if you get my drift. Some have said he was in the field tending sheep because he was called to shepherd or maybe it was his turn but the story behind the story was that he wasn’t fully believed to be a full blooded son and it was much more comfortable to hide him away in the pasture than parade him before the prophet. Rumor was that David had a different mom than the rest of the sons. There was a lot of angst between him and his brothers. Stories outside of the Bible suggest that there might have been more blending to the family. I’ve always wondered why there was no mention of the other relatives. hmm? God never misses a beat and lovingly includes him in the story of redemption in spite of the local town gossip. This Shepherd boy gets some pretty cool press however when he fights Goliath. The story puts shepherds in a whole new light. They weren’t just “rough guys with cute pets” — they were rugged fierce warriors.
Sheep like tepid or warm water – or they won’t drink much. They don’t like water to be running or icy and if there is water in their food they will drink less on that day. They drink about 4 gallons of water daily and the poor little muffins; if they get wet they can get soaked and might fall in the water due to the heavy wool which is not really conducive to swimming. If they don’t get enough water they will dehydrate quickly or even die from the heat because water circulating through their bodies acts like an air conditioner and is essential in hot climates.
Daily watering for sheep is not just a good idea; it is the difference between life and death.
Lastly, without water the nutrients wouldn’t flow thru their body and the food would sit in their digestive systems and rot. Water is for much more than quenching the thirst of sheep, it is essential for daily life. Water cleanses and softens, water helps keep sheep healthy, hydrated and nourished.
Psalm 23 tells us David wrote the words “my cup overflows.” That could refer to his portion in life but more than likely it referred to the cup the shepherd used to hand water the sheep – his own sheep. Better than running water, better than a sheep toppling in the water was the cup held by the Master Shepherds hand, gently saturating the lambs and sheep until they could drink no more. If pine oil was added it would work to disinfect from germs and things that had gotten inside the sheep from eating grass and other things. We are not sure if it was quenching, saturating or healing medicinally but the larger picture is that it required the Shepherd to water each sheep, it wasn’t a large trough or pool in this verse. Aren’t those the things we go to our good Shepherd for-
thirst quenching, saturation and healing?
Kari Jobe in her song, “The More I seek You, the more I find you” has a line that says, I want to sit at your feet, drink from the cup in Your hand.” It’s not just what is inside the cup but who is holding that cup. Intimate, close, caring is the visual that comes with this verse. You anoint my outside with oil; You water my inside from Your cup till it overflows. I drink, then I overflow. This is not a massive Texas rancher but a shepherd who gently leads those who are with young, who feed them from his own hand and waters them from His cup. I love that. If you have ever felt like a number, outcast, reject… read this verse. My cup overflows – the one in Your hand, the one touching my lips and gently quenching my thirst. If God is so willing to water each one of us like that, surely He is intimately acquainted with all our ways. Savior, like a shepherd lead us, MUCH we need thy tender care.
As we reflect on the Christmas story this week, I am reminded of the fields around Bethlehem, filled with hundreds of black, shiny, wooly sheep. Their wool would make the best of blankets for any newborn. I’m reminded of the milk from the ewes, best in the world. I wonder how many shepherds were sitting on grassy hills, hand feeding and watering their sheep from shepherd’s cups while the One who came to quench ALL thirst was just miles, possibly yards away from where they sat. While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground, the One who came to heal those sitting by the pool at Siloam – the only fresh water in Jerusalem (See John 7), the One who turned the water into wine, the One who gave the Samaritan woman a drink was about to change the worlds thirst problem –forever– to whosoever would come and drink freely.
No, we don’t have to do any rituals to “get” salvation. We don’t have to please anyone or believe in special holidays. We can turn our backs to the stars, we can ignore the weary couple on the donkey heading to Bethlehem, we can join with the innkeeper and say there is no room in the inn. Or… we can respond like the Samaritan woman and come near like a tiny lamb, “I’m thirsty Lord and nothing else has satisfied. Will you saturate me? Will you give me to drink from the cup in Your hand?” I’m here Lord, I’m thirsty … I believe you are the water of life, fill me now.”
Yes, Christmas and holidays are a time to drink – to drink deeply. This season may that drinking be deeply– at the well of the great Shepherd. The results will be much better, I promise. Let Him saturate you, let Him refresh you, Let Him heal you.
Your spiritual drinking buddy,
RenaeRoche2018