Ezekiel 34:7-16: a reflection

7“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the LORD’s word: 8“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep, 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the LORD’s word!” 10The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won’t feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.” 11“‘For the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I will feed them with good pasture, and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord GOD. 16“I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.”’

God pronounces judgment on the false shepherds of Israel, the leaders who fed themselves instead of the flock, who did not seek the lost or bind up the injured, but let the sheep be scattered and preyed upon. And over against them, God makes a promise about himself: Behold, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. I will bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, strengthen the weak. Where the shepherds failed, God himself will be the shepherd of his flock.

Notice the contrast between the false shepherds and God himself. The shepherds had fed themselves and neglected the sheep, leaving them lost, scattered, injured, and weak. But God will not leave his flock so; he himself will do what the shepherds failed to do: seek the lost, gather the scattered, bind up the injured, strengthen the weak, feed them in good pasture. The care the false shepherds withheld, God himself will give, personally, as the shepherd of his own sheep.

That is a deep comfort for those who feel lost, scattered, injured, or weak, perhaps failed by those who should have cared for them. God does not leave his flock to the neglect of poor shepherds; he himself seeks the lost, binds the injured, strengthens the weak. Whatever human shepherds have failed you, God himself is a shepherd who seeks and cares for his own. If you feel lost, scattered, or wounded, know that God himself searches for his sheep; he seeks the lost, binds up the broken, strengthens the sick. He is not a shepherd who feeds himself and neglects the flock, but one who comes personally to seek and heal his own. Let yourself be sought and cared for by the God who himself is the shepherd of his sheep, who binds up the broken and strengthens the weak, and does not leave his flock to the neglect of others.

Lord, you pronounced judgment on the false shepherds who fed themselves and neglected the flock, and promised, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out; I will bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, strengthen the weak. Give me the comfort of that when I feel lost, scattered, injured, or weak, perhaps failed by those who should have cared for me. You do not leave your flock to the neglect of poor shepherds; you yourself seek the lost, bind the injured, strengthen the weak. Whatever human shepherds have failed me, you yourself are a shepherd who seeks and cares for your own. If I feel lost, scattered, or wounded, help me know that you yourself search for your sheep; you seek the lost, bind up the broken, strengthen the sick. You are not a shepherd who feeds himself and neglects the flock, but one who comes personally to seek and heal his own. Let me be sought and cared for by you, Lord, who yourself are the shepherd of your sheep, and do not leave your flock to the neglect of others. Seek me, bind me up, and strengthen me, my Shepherd.