"The LORD is My Shepherd"

copyrighted by Art4Him Studios 2019 (2018 painting)

"The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want"  Psalm 23:1

When we claim that the LORD is our Shepherd, we are implying that we have a personal, working relationship with our Maker. We are His cherished treasure. Wow, to think that He, God, is deeply concerned about me. Knowing this, makes the first part of this verse more personal to me as He is MY Shepherd! I belong to Him! I love that thought; because it reminds me that He chose to create me and you as the objects of His affection. The sad thing is that so many people choose to not have this relationship with their Maker. As a result, God took another step to restore the relationship between Him and us.
In Christ, God demonstrated His deep love for us at Calvary. He took our punishment upon Himself. Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Now I am twice His! He paid sin’s incredible price for all of us when He laid down His life by shedding His blood for us all. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
Sheep require endless attention. It seems so appropriate that God chose to call us His sheep. We tend to have similar behaviors as sheep. He is not only gentle, kind, true, righteous and forgiving; He is also stern and terribly tough on phony people. He came to set us free from our sins. He has placed His mark on us. Just as shepherds put their mark on their own sheep, as a way for others to know who the sheep belong to, the mark of ownership; we recognize Christ as our Shepherd as we bear the mark of the cross. Luke 9:23 says, “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” In the painting, I made the mark on the ear of the sheep into a cross to symbolize that Jesus’ mark is on all those who are His sheep.
If you look in the reflection of the sheep’s eye in the painting, you will see the reflection is of a cross to symbolize contentment in Christ because of the cross. As the sheep looks lovingly into his Shepherd’s face with such contentment, the Shepherd gently holds the sheep’s face into His hand. When we belong to Christ and recognize Him as our LORD and Master of our lives; we should show a deep, quiet, settled peace and radiate a quiet joy and peaceful confidence even in the midst of a trial or tragedy. When we put everything in God’s hands, we exhibit a contentment that we want for nothing because He is ALL we need. He is our ALL in ALL! The title of this painting is personal to me as the LORD is My Shepherd, is He yours?