Waiting for the Shepherd

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!”

Psalm 80:1-2

Introduction to Advent Devotions

This is the first Sunday in Advent, the beginning of the season in which Christians throughout the world prepare for a fuller, richer celebration of the birth of Jesus. Advent is a time of expectation, waiting, and hope. During the four weeks before Christmas, we put ourselves back into the mindset of the Jews as they yearned for a Messiah two millennia ago. Moreover, we get in touch with our own hope for the second coming of the Messiah. (The word advent comes from a Latin word that means “coming” or “visit.”)

During Advent, my devotions for Life for Leaders will focus on some of the themes of this season. If you’d like to learn more about Advent, you can check out the resource links at the end of this reflection.

Advent Devotion from Psalm 80

Psalm 80 begins with a cry to God, who is addressed as the “Shepherd of Israel” because he has led Joseph’s descendants as a literal shepherd would lead a flock of sheep. The psalmist cries out to the divine shepherd because God’s people are in need of deliverance and only God is strong enough to save them.

Why do the Israelites need to be rescued? Because the protective walls of their cities have been broken down, allowing enemies to enter at will and steal from them (80:12). These enemies have cut down and burned the Israelites as if they were a grapevine to be destroyed (80:14-16). Thus, God’s people have been eating sorrow and drinking their own tears (80:5). They need their Good Shepherd to save them because they are helpless and hopeless.

In the season of Advent, we get in touch with just how much we also need God’s help. Some of us need to experience his saving power for the first time. Others of us, who have received his grace through Christ, are in need of other kinds of salvation. Perhaps we need to be delivered from bondage to alcohol or drugs. Perhaps we need our Shepherd to mend our broken hearts and our shattered families. Or perhaps we sense that only by God’s power will the hungry of the world be fed, the poor be lifted out of their poverty, and the oppressed set free. Thus, like the author of Psalm 80, we yearn for divine deliverance.

Jesus Christ came as our Good Shepherd, the one who saves us, nurtures us, and seeks us when we are lost. In a few weeks we will celebrate his birth among us. For now, we get in touch with just how much we need him. We turn our minds and hearts to the Lord, crying out in the words of Psalm 80: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel . . . Stir up your might, and come to save us!”

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

Have you cried out to God to deliver you?

When you think of God as your Good Shepherd, how does this impact your feelings and actions?

In what ways do you need to experience God’s salvation in your life?

Will you let Advent be a time for you to get in touch with just how much you need the Lord?

PRAYER:

Indeed, O Lord, you are our Shepherd, the Good Shepherd who knows and cares for his sheep. Thank you for paying attention to your people. Thank you for wanting the best for us. Thank you for reaching out to us in your mercy. Thank you for saving us, nurturing us, guiding us, and protecting us.

Thank you for being not just the Good Shepherd for all, but my Good Shepherd as well. Thank you for all those times you have reached out in mercy to help me. How good you are to me!

Yet, as you know, I still need your help. So I cry out to you today, “Give ear, my Shepherd. Stir up your might, and come to save me!”

I pray in the name of the Good Shepherd. Amen.

ADVENT RESOURCES:

Introduction to Advent.

Advent Devotional Guide: Preparing for the Coming of Christ.

Introduction to the Christian Year.

My e-book, Discovering Advent: How to Experience the Power of Waiting on God at Christmastime, available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

An earlier version of this devotion appeared at The High Calling. It is used with permission under a Creative Commons license.

Image Credit: Christmas Advent Calendar Mittens by Anders Ruff Custom Designs via CC BY-ND 2.0.