The Shepherd's Song

Let me just share with you what I read this morning for QT- this morning I was in Matthew, and there was a particular verse that stood out to me: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Matthew 9:36.

A long time ago, I wrote this song called "The Shepherd's Song" and one line from the song reads "lost and forsaken, like sheep blind and misguided, without a shepherd who would guide us" and I NEVER knew that it was a direct quote/idea from the Bible. I was pretty struck by it just because it's another one of those "Only God Moments". What are those? When God does cool things and makes the right connections that seem like impossible if not unlikely coincidences.

I wrote the song in 2001 (woahhh- 6 years ago) and recently, got in touch with the friend who cowrote it with me (Jaehyeon- he's in Korea, and I haven't seen him since we graduated from JC in 2004,) My first msg to him was "happy birthday- I finally got the guts to record that song that we wrote in 2001- here it is!" He replied, "Yea its been so long- i really like the recording. really surprised haha just listening to it was a gd birthday present :) thanks man" That was yesterday, and today, here I am in Matthew 9. I suppose it could be coincidental, but it seems somewhat... unlikely and too striking.

I find it amazing that this same idea can just loop on me and come back to hit me smack in the head, reminding me of how lost, how helpless we are without Jesus. More than that, the verse describes His response- He had compassion on us, and that means so much, knowing that God sees me in my struggles and lostness and wants to help me, to love me, to be my father. It's kind of like when you see a person in need, a person struggling with some difficulty, you feel "aww so sad" but it usually just stops there- Jesus didn't stop there, His compassion and love just overflowed, and He taught the crowds, healed them, and eventually died on the cross for them- all because we were sheep, without a shepherd.

The Shepherd's Sacrifice

Verse 1:
Lost and mistaken
Like sheep blind and misguided
Without a shepherd who would guide us

We wandered through life dark as night
Unable to tell dark from light
Without our sight we muddled through
In longing for a Shepherd who

Verse 2:
Was scoffed at, forsaken
He came to earth born in a manger
Despised and cursed- a stranger
He denied himself Heaven’s delights
And chose to share in human plight
To earth the King of Kings came to
To bring God’s love to me and you

Chorus:
The Shepherd of the Earth
Came down to be a lamb,
The Master now a sacrifice
For the sinner that I am
(Repeat)

Copyright Caleb Yap 2001