Gods Sabbath

D IVINE G UIDANCE

349

There were times when a sheep would go astray. Ignoring the guidance of the shepherd, it chose to select other pastures and inevitably brought trouble upon itself. Whenever such a devia tion from his guidance took place, David saw in it a lesson re vealing the fate which awaited him if he should wander in paths of his own choosing. David’s reference to the shepherd’s watchcare over his sheep, as an illustration of the relationship God sustains to His true people, is very appropriate. In the psalmist’s day, the shepherd never drove his sheep. He went before them and they followed him. They knew his voice and he in turn, knew them all by name. The sheep had no problem in choosing which course to pursue. They learned to trust the shepherd and simply follow wherever he led the way. Similarly, we are the sheep of Christ’s pasture, and we are as sured by the good Shepherd that we will know just as unerrin gly which path we are to follow from day to day. It is the respon sibility of the divine Shepherd to select the way and to commu nicate this choice to His sheep – their job is to hear His voice and follow Him. But in order to receive such guidance, we need to come to our heavenly Shepherd in faith and lay our burdens at His feet. “As Christ lived the law in humanity, so we may do if we will take hold of the Strong for strength. But we are not to place the responsibility of our duty upon others, and wait for them to tell us what to do. We cannot depend for counsel upon humanity. The Lord will teach us our duty just as willingly as He will teach somebody else. If we come to Him in faith, He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Our hearts will often burn within us as One draws nigh to commune with us as He did with Enoch. Those who decide to do nothing in any line that will displease God, will know, after presenting their case before Him, just what course to pursue.” The Desire of Ages , 668.4. What a glorious assurance this is! These are words of life; words to be believed and acted upon. We are not to fear that we are too insignificant to be noticed among His huge flock of sheep, for no matter how vast the number in Christ’s flock may be, He knows and watches over each of us as if we were the on ly one.