Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 40:11
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with young.
11. Jehovah as the Good Shepherd: an ideal picture of the homeward journey of the exiles, hardly of the permanent relations of Jehovah to His people in the final dispensation. The same image is used of the Restoration in Jer 23:1 ff; Jer 31:10; Eze 34:11 ff.; Isa 49:9; cf. Isa 63:11.
those that are with young ] Render, with R.V., those that give suck. cf. Gen 33:13.
Ch. Isa 40:12-31. Jehovah, God of Israel, the Incomparable, is the title suggested by Dr Davidson [76] for this great passage. It is a meditation or homily on the immeasurable greatness and power and wisdom of Jehovah, the Creator, as displayed in the works of nature and in the government of the world; an expansion of the idea of Isa 40:6-8. The argument from Creation is handled with a boldness of conception and freedom of imagination to which there is nothing equal in the earlier literature, and the frequent appeal to it on the part of this prophet may be held to mark a distinct advance in Israel’s consciousness of God, coinciding generally with the period of the Exile. The practical aim which the writer has in view appears from Isa 40:27 ff.; it is to counteract the unbelief and despondency of his fellow-countrymen and to inspire them with some true sense of the infinitude of Jehovah, their own God, who has addressed to them the consolations of Isa 40:1-11. The passage may be divided as follows:
[76] Expositor, Second Series, Vol. VII. p. 96.
i. The argument, Isa 40:12-26.
(1) Isa 40:12-17. The greatness of Jehovah is illustrated by the magnitude of His operations as Creator ( Isa 40:12), by the perfection and self-sufficiency of His knowledge ( Isa 40:13-14), and by the insignificance in comparison with Him of all that exists ( Isa 40:15-17).
(2) Isa 40:18-20. The thought of the transcendent greatness of Jehovah “suggests the idol, which also bears the name of God. The magnitude of the true God suggests the littleness of the idol-god. He is incomparable; it is by no means so. Its genesis and manufacture are known. It is a cast metal, gilt article, upheld with chains, lest it should totter and tumble to the ground. Or it is a hard-wood tree fashioned into a block by a cunning workman [77] .” This is the first of several sarcastic passages in which the processes of an idol factory are minutely described: Isa 41:6-7, Isa 44:9-20, Isa 46:6-8.
[77] Davidson, Ibid. p. 101.
(3) Isa 40:21-26. The thought of Isa 40:12-17 is now resumed and completed. The intelligent contemplation of nature ( Isa 40:21 f.) or of history ( Isa 40:23 f.) is enough to dispel the glamour of idolatry, and force the mind back on the Incomparableness of Him who is the Creator and Ruler of the world ( Isa 40:25 f.).
ii. The application, Isa 40:27-31. If such be the God of Israel, how can the exiles think that He is either unobservant of their fate or indifferent to it? Their God is an everlasting God; His strength is unfailing, His understanding unsearchable; and they who wait on Him shall find in Him an inexhaustible source of life and energy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He shall feed his flock – In the previous verse, the fact had been asserted that God would come to subdue his foes, and to reward his people. In this verse, the mild and gentle character of his government over his people is predicted. It would not be that of a conqueror over vanquished subjects; but it would be mild and tender, like that of a shepherd who carries the lambs, which are unable to walk, in his own arms, and gently leads along the feeble and the delicate. The verb translated to feed ( yireeh), denotes more than our word feed at present. It refers to all the care of a shepherd over his flock; and means to tend, to guard, to govern, to provide pasture, to defend from danger, as a shepherd does his flock. It is often applied in the Scriptures to God represented as the tender shepherd, and especially to the Redeemer Psa 23:1; Eze 34:23; Joh 10:14; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 2:25; 1Pe 5:4. It is often applied to a leader or a ruler of a people 2Sa 5:2; 2Sa 7:7; Jer 32:2. Thus Homer often uses the phrase, poimen laon – shepherds of the people, to denote a ruler, or monarch. Here it denotes that God would evince toward his people the same tender care, guardianship and protection, which a shepherd shows for his flock.
He shall gather the lambs with his arm – This is a most beautiful expression, denoting the care of God the Saviour for the feeblest and weakest of his people, and for the young and feeble in years and piety. A similar thing is often done by a shepherd. The tender lamb, unable to keep up with the flock, becomes weary and exhausted; and the shepherd naturally takes it in his arms and carries it. Such a shepherd as this Virgil beautifully describes:
En, ipse capellas
Protenus aeger argo; hancetiam vix, Tityre, duco;
Hic inter densas corylos modo namque gemellos,
Spem gregis, Ah! silice in nuda connixa reliquet.
Eclog. i. 12.
Lo! I my goats urge fainting oer the mead;
This, feebler than the rest, with pains I lead.
Yeand mid yon herds upon the flinty plain,
Her dying twins, my flocks late hope, remain.
Wrangham.
And shall gently lead … – Margin, Give suck. This is the more correct translation. It denotes the dams of the flock that would be easily exhausted by being overdriven, and of which there was, therefore, special care necessary. Thus Jacob says to his brother Esau, Gen 33:13 : The flocks and the herds giving suck to their young are with me, and if they should be overdriven all the flock will die. Of the necessity of such care and attention there is abundant evidence, and indeed it is manifest at a glance. Dr. Shaw, speaking of the exposure of the flocks in Syria, says: The greatest skill and vigilance, and even tender care, are required in the management of such immense flocks as wander on the Syrian plains. Their prodigious numbers compel the keepers to remove them too frequently in search of fresh pastures, which proves very destructive to the young that have not strength to follow. The following extract from Andersons Tour through Greece will also serve to illustrate this passage: One of the great delights in traveling through a pastoral country, is to see and feel the force of the beautiful imagery in the Scriptures, borrowed from pastoral life.
All day long the shepherd attends his flock, leading them into green pastures, near fountains of water, and chooses a convenient place for them to rest at noon. At night he drives them near his tent; and, if there is danger, encloses them in the fold. They know his voice, and follow him. When traveling, he tenderly watches over them, and carries such as are exhausted in his arms. Such a shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ. No description could more beautifully describe the character of the Redeemer. In the New Testament, he is often described as a kind and tender shepherd, and regarding the welfare of all his flock, and as ready to give his life for them Joh 10:7, Joh 10:9-11, Joh 10:14-15; Heb 13:20; 1Pe 2:25; 1Pe 5:4. We are here also strikingly reminded of the solemn command which he gave to Peter, evincing his tender regard for his flock, Feed my lambs: Feed my sheep Joh 16:15-17. It proves in regard to the Redeemer:
1. That his nature is mild, and gentle, and tender.
2. That he has a kind regard for all his flock, and will consult the real interest of all, as a shepherd does of his flock.
3. That he has a special solicitude for the feeble and infirm, and that they will be the objects of his tender care.
4. That he feels a particular solicitude for the young. He knows their feebleness; he is acquainted with their temptations; he sees the importance of their being trained up with care; and he looks with deep interest, therefore, on all the efforts made to guard them from the ways of sin, and to train them up for his service (compare the note at Isa 42:3).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 40:11
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd
The care of the Good Shepherd for His flock
1.
The prophet first declares the general office of the Saviour. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd.
2. Here His people are described under the endearing name of a flock. It is thus descriptive of the happy privileges which they enjoy. They are not left to roam at large like the beasts of prey; but they are brought by Divine grace into a settled state. They are as a flock of sheep under the shepherds eye. They are distributed, it is true, in various parts; but yet under the Lords particular care.
3. His flock. This is to make known more especially their privileges–they are emphatically His. They are His as given to Him by His eternal Father. They are His by His own immediate purchase; for He has redeemed them. They are His also, as by the action of the Holy Ghost upon their hearts they are led into His fold.
4. The word translated feed properly signifies the whole care and government that a shepherd exercises towards his flock. Christ takes a general oversight of them; but He has them particularly in His eye. So, too, a shepherd distinguishes the different states of his flock, and suits himself to their particular wants.
5. By the lambs, those are meant who are young in years, and young converts. They are described by this emblem to set forth their weakness and tenderness and inability properly to take care of themselves. He gathers them with His arm, and carries them in His bosom. Here you notice a most pleasing union of power and love employed in their service. It is thus that the Lord Christ exercises the tenderness of a shepherd towards His flock. Remember how many sweet promises are addressed to the weak and to the young in the flock (Isa 35:3; Isa 53:4; Isa 42:3). We particularly notice this, to encourage those who may be setting out in the Lords way. Sometimes a thought comes into the mind, Ah! if I were but like such a Christian! if I had as much zeal and devotedness to my Masters service as he has, if I had his joy and peace in believing,–then I should be able to go on my way rejoicing in the Lord. This is a mistaken view. The love of the Shepherd to His flock does not originate in their love to Him. He did not expect to find them angels; He knew that they were sinners. He treats them as a shepherd does his tender lambs. He shall gently lead those that are with young; or, those that give suck. You see this beautifully illustrated in the history of Jacob, after his meeting with his brother Esau. Esau said to him, Let us take our journey, and I will go before thee; but Jacob, like a good shepherd, knowing the roughness of his brother, said to him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day–only one day–all the flock Will die. How many resting-places does the Good Shepherd provide! Conclusion–
(1) Such is the description given by the prophet of our blessed Saviour. Surely it is plainly that on which our faith may rest in seasons of trial, and which may as surely attract our love in seasons of outward peace and prosperity. Look at His dealings with His disciples in the hour of their sorrow: how many comforts does He afford!
(2) What is there that can so attract you as this Shepherd of the sheep? Everything that regards the fulfilment of His office may draw forth our attachment. (J. H. Stewart, M. A.)
Christ the Shepherd of His people
I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH AND PEOPLE OF GOD, under the notion of a flock.
1. With respect to God they are called a flock because they are separated from the rest of mankind, and given to the Lord Christ. A flock is a company of sheep which is the property of some owner.
2. With respect to the Lord Jesus, the Church is called a flock because He brings them into His fold, calls them out of a natural state into a state of grace, and fellowship with Himself.
3. With respect to other men, among whom believers converse, they are called a flock upon a threefold account.
(1) As they are helpless.
(2) As they are harmless. A sheep will take injuries, but it is not prone to return them.
(3) They are useful. Believers are a blessing by their prayers and by their example.
II. THE RELATION CHRIST STANDS IN TO THEM as a Shepherd. Two things are implied in this relation–care and tenderness.
III. WHAT CHRIST DOES FOR HIS CHURCH AND PEOPLE as their Shepherd.
IV. THE WAY IN WHICH THIS IS DONE. Suitably to everyones circumstances and condition.
1. Christs carriage towards His flock is according to their ages.
2. It is according to their strength or weakness. Such as cannot walk shall be carried; and they that are heavy laden shall be gently led. Comfort yourselves with this; none of the flock shall be left behind.
3. It is according to the difficulties or dangers His sheep are in.
Uses–
1. This doctrine affords a just word of reproof to those who are shepherds under Christ, but act not according to His example towards the flock. Knowledge of the state of the flock is one great, though much-neglected branch of a pastors office.
2. How should souls long to be under the care of this Good Shepherd! You are exposed to wolves and devils, to all errors and sin, whilst you keep off from Christ; there is no safety for you, but only in His arms; no provision, but in His covenant.
3. How safe are all the saints!
4. What a blessed plea is here for the Church in dangerous times! Christ will spare His flock, and the land for their sake.
5. With what boldness may the people of Christ attend upon all holy ordinances. They are designed for your support, till you get above them. (J. Hill.)
The Shepherd and His flock
I. THE SHEPHERD. He, the Lord God, whose hand is strong, and whose arm shall rule for Him, who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, who hath meted out heaven with a span, who hath comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, who hath weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance–He for whom there is nothing too hard to be accomplished, and nothing too minute to be observed, offereth to be the Shepherd of your soul, to feed it and to watch over it. Will not His love, His power, His wisdom, be sufficient for all its need?
II. THE FLOCK. As the Shepherd is powerful and wise, and full of love, so are the flock weak and foolish, and ready to go astray. The sheep is a weak, defenceless creature, having neither strength to resist the wolf, nor speed to escape from him. It is not like the ant, provident, and able to care for its own sustenance. If once astray, it is rarely known to return of its own accord.
III. THE SHEPHERDS CARE OF HIS FLOCK. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd. The word translated feed refers to all a shepherds care for his flock, including all necessary and beneficial attention to them (Eze 34:15-16).
IV. THE TENDERNESS OF HIS CARE. (G. Innes.)
The Redeemer as a Shepherd
I. THE REDEEMER UNDER THE ENDEARING CHARACTER OF A SHEPHERD.
1. It is the office of a good shepherd to know his flock. I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine. He has a tender feeling, a compassionate concern for the meanest and most sickly of His flock.
2. The Good Shepherd defends His flock from every threatening danger. David exposed his own life to defend his flock. Those holy and humble shepherds to whom our blessed Saviours birth was first notified, kept watch over their flocks by night. Will the Redeemer fall short in His office? No! Behold, He who keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
3. The Good Shepherd gathers His flock, whether they have wandered from the fold, or have been driven away by an enemy, or scattered by storms (Eze 34:12). The Shepherd of Israel will magnify His office in this respect. Christ shall gather the Jews, the people of His ancient Church, into His sacred fold.
4. The Good Shepherd heals His flock, whether languishing under deep disease or smarting wounds. It was charged upon the shepherds of Israel as a high crime that they had not healed the sick, nor bound up that which was broken, nor brought again that which was driven away, nor sought that which was lost. But this could not be objected against our compassionate Redeemer.
5. The Good Shepherd provides green pastures and pure water for His flock.
II. WHAT KIND OF A SHEPHERD IS CHRIST?
I. He is a great Shepherd (Heb 13:10).
2. He is the chief Shepherd (1Pe 5:4). Other shepherds are mere men, of like passions with ourselves.
3. He is the good Shepherd (Joh 10:14).
4. He is a Shepherd who has no equal This is obvious in numberless instances. Other shepherds lay down their commission at death. But the Shepherd of Israel by dying conquered death; and carries on His work by
His Holy Spirit, with all that power and success which attended His personal ministry on earth.
III. THE FLOCK WHICH CHRIST DOTH TEND.
1. It is a little flock (Luk 12:32). Though small and despised in the eyes of a vain world; though poor in spirit, humble and meek in their deportment among men, they are greatly beloved by their God. They are not only little in their own eyes, and in the eyes of a vain world, but little in point of number, compared to a thoughtless multitude.
2. They are in some degree acquainted with their own hearts.
3. They are a peculiar flock, as they are all purchased with blood.
4. They are a chosen flock.
5. They know their Redeemers voice, and are charmed with it.
6. They follow the blessed Shepherd (Joh 10:27). (J. Johnston.)
Jesus Christ the Shepherd of His people
I. HOW THIS TITLE OF SHEPHERD AGREES TO JESUS CHRIST. Our blessed Lord is spoken of in Scripture under several characters–as a Physician, a Ruler, the Captain of our Salvation, etc., and in this and many other places, as a Shepherd: a metaphor full of comfort. A shepherd is called to the office and trust; and this may eminently be said of Christ. God the Father appointed Him to this office, and fitted Him for it (Eze 34:23). And upon this account God calls Him My Shepherd (Zec 13:7). A good shepherd gives an account of his sheep; and so will Christ Heb 2:13).
II. SOME OF THE CHARACTERS THAT BELONG TO HIM AS A SHEPHERD.
1. He is the Shepherd of souls (1Pe 2:25).
2. He is that great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb 13:20). Great in respect of the dignity of His person, and great in His accomplishments for His office.
3. He is the Good Shepherd (Joh 10:11). He is the very best Shepherd–
(1) As being most wise and discerning. He is acquainted with the state of His whole flock, as their different circumstances require.
(2) As being most faithful and constant.
(3) In respect of His love for His flock (Joh 10:11).
III. WHAT IS IMPLIED IN HIS FEEDING HIS FLOCK.
1. As being the Shepherd of His peoples souls, the food wherewith He feeds is spiritual. Even our common supplies for the body are from Him.
2. Of this spiritual food He makes use of great variety.
(1) He feeds His flock with His word and ordinances.
(2) By the influences of His Spirit.
(3) With Himself, with His own flesh and blood, as received by faith.
(4) By the various dispensations of His providence towards them.
(5) When necessary, by afflictions.
(6) After Christ has fed His flock for a time here, He will eternally feed them with higher entertainments in heaven.
3. The food wherewith Christ feeds His flock is precious, even the privileges and promises of the Gospel. How costly, how precious, are such things as these!
4. Christ feeds His people with pleasant food.
5. The provision Christ affords His flock is plentiful (Son 5:1).
6. The food with which Christ feeds His flock nourishes the soul to eternal Joh 6:50).
IV. IN WHAT RESPECT MAY CHRIST BE SAID TO FEED HIS FLOCK LIKE A SHEPHERD?
1. As He feeds them with judgment and discretion, with due regard to their age and growth.
2. Aa He doth this with the greatest care and compassion, as those weak creatures He hath paid the greatest price for, and stands in the nearest relation to.
3. As He feeds them effectually, so as to make them to thrive.
4. As He will go on to feed them, till they are nourished up to a fitness for the glory He designs to bring them to. (D. Wilcox.)
Christ the Shepherd
The language is partly metaphorical, because spiritual and intellectual ideas are taken from natural objects. But there is another sense in which the language is not exclusively metaphorical; because there is such a steadiness and determination in the character, that we know at once what it means–it almost ceases to be metaphor. The metaphor is one most commonly used to denote a king or ruler, a prophet or instructor, a priest or sacrifice. The origin of this is obvious, especially in reference to the first of these titles. In the country in which the scene is laid, all wealth consisted in possessions of flocks and herds. Ancient history tells us of a race of shepherd kings, whose tyranny over the people was so great that they were more like wolves than shepherds. And it is conjectured that on this account chiefly it is said of the Egyptians that every shepherd was an abomination to them. The first idea, then, which the title of shepherd gives us is, that of the kingly character, and we find that every king was the high priest of that people also. Melchizedek was both king of Salem and priest of the Most High God. And he who was recognised thus as a shepherd, was also regarded as the principal teacher in spiritual matters. Thus we see how the title of Shepherd comprehends all the other characters of our Lord–King, Instructor, and Priest. It would naturally follow that when an individual was thus recognised as shepherd, the people over whom he was placed would be denominated his flock or his sheep. The word shepherd includes in it all that pertains to the office of a shepherd.
I. SKILL.
II. TENDERNESS AND AFFECTION.
III. WATCHFULNESS.
IV. POWER. (C. Evanson, M. A.)
Jesus the Shepherd
I. OLD TESTAMENT ILLUSTRATIONS of the manner in which the Lord Jesus Christ discharges the office of feeding His flock like a shepherd.
1. Out of five great types we begin with Abel, the shepherd slain. Abel was a type of the Saviour, in that, being a shepherd, he sanctified his work to the glory of God, and offered sacrifice of blood upon the altar of the Lord, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering. Farther down the page of sacred history we find another shepherd. He is a more instructive type of the Saviour, perhaps, than the first, but in Abel we discover a truth which is absent in all others. Abel is the only one of the typical shepherds who dies at the foot of the altar, he is the only sacrificing shepherd; and herein you see Jesus Christ in the very earliest ages set forth to mankind as the slaughtered Victim.
2. Now we turn to Jacob, the toiling shepherd. Here is a type of the Good Shepherd, not as dying, but as keeping sheep with a view to get unto Himself a flock. Jacobs labour was of the most arduous character. It is sweet to dwell upon the spiritual parallel of Laban having required all the sheep at Jacobs hand. If they were torn of beasts he must make it good; if any of them died, he must stand as surety for the whole. And did not the Saviour stand just so while He was here below? Was not His toil for His Church just the toil of one who felt that He was under suretyship obligations to bring every one of them safe to the hand of Him who had committed them to His charge? When Jacob had received a reward for all his toil out of the flock which he himself tended, he then conducted both his family and his flock away from Laban. Jacob coming back from Laban to the Promised Land is a true picture of Jesus Christ coming up from the world, followed by His Church, to enter into that better Canaan which has been given to us by a covenant of salt for ever.
3. Joseph is a type of Jesus reigning in the Egypt of this world for the good of His own people, while they are here below. Jesus Christ is King over Egypts realm. Observe the likeness between Joseph and Jesus in this respect. Joseph was of very singular advantage to the Egyptians. They must have starved in the years of famine, if his prescient eye had not foreseen the famine, and stored up the plenty of the seven previous years. And Jesus Christ is of great service even to this wicked world. It is by Him that it is preserved.
4. Moses, when he kept sheep, kept them in the wilderness, far away from all other flocks; and when he became a shepherd over Gods people Israel, his business was not to preserve them in Egypt, but to conduct them out of it. Here, then, is a representation of Jesus Christ as the Shepherd of a separated people. Jesus, like Moses, might have been a king. As Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, so Jesus Christ said, Get thee behind Me, Satan, to all the pomp and glory of this present world, and preferred to take part with His despised people, who were crushed down by the reigning powers in the Egypt of His days. Now, Moses began his mission by going to Pharaoh, and saying, Thus saith the
Lord, Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Jesus Christ begins as the Shepherd of the separate ones by demanding that they should be let go from the bondage of their natural estate. Our main point is the great exodus of Moses. Every heir of heaven is brought right out of Egypt, led through the Red Sea of Jesus Christs blood, baptized into Jesus, and brought out into the separated position in the wilderness. It is easy to see how Moses was a shepherd to the people while in the wilderness.
5. David. This shepherd represents Jesus Christ, not at all as the others, but as King in the midst of His Church. David, like Jesus Christ, begins his life with trials.
II. NEW TESTAMENT DESCRIPTIONS.
III. IMPRESSIVE APPLICATIONS.
1. One of comfort and satisfaction to you who are poor, needy, weary, troubled lambs or sheep of the flock. He shall gather the lambs with His arms, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. The lambs have not the value of mature sheep, yet they are the most thought of under the great Shepherd. They might fetch the least price in the market, but they have the greatest portion of His heart. The weaklings and the sickly of the flock are the special objects of the Saviours care.
2. A second application containing comfort and warning too. Sinner! our Lord Jesus Christ now represents Himself as being a Shepherd who is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Such is Jesus now, looking after stray sheep. Where are you?
3. So we shall conclude with these words, which may be for both saint and sinner. Let it never be forgotten that Jesus Christ is pre-eminently to be preached as the suffering One. (Zec 13:7). You shall know about the toiling Shepherd by-and-by; the Shepherd reigning in Egypt, the Joseph you shall know soon; the Shepherd of the separated flock, you shall follow ere long; the Shepherd reigning in Jerusalem, the David you shall rejoice to serve; but now you have to do with the Shepherd bleeding and dying. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
The Good Shepherd
The blessed Jesus is represented under this amiable character. The metaphor suggests–
I. THE GRACIOUSNESS AND BENIGNITY OF HIS NATURE. It was goodness, alike unmerited and unsolicited, that originally moved Him to interpose in our behalf. On what penitent did He ever look with coldness and aversion?
II. The idea of PROVISION. As the shepherd leads about his flock from one spot of pasturage to another, so does the Redeemer of His people conduct them to places where nourishment and sustenance may be obtained.
III. The ideas of WATCHFULNESS AND PROTECTION. They are exposed to a variety of perils; but He is vigilant to observe, and omnipotent to defend.
IV. KIND ATTENTION TO THE FEEBLE, AND TENDER SOLICITUDE FOR THE YOUNG. He shalt gather the lambs with His arm, etc.
V. An idea of THE FINAL BLESSEDNESS RESERVED FOR THE FLOCK. From the tender care exercised over them here, we may infer somewhat of the dignity to which they shall be advanced hereafter. There are many of the ordinary phenomena of nature that fail to engage our wonder, merely because they are not uncommon. What, for example, if it did not come under our daily observation, could more surprise and astonish us than the progressive development of our own faculties? Who could believe that, under the feeble exterior of infancy, there slumbered intellectual energies, which, when a series of years had gone by, would expand to constitute the profound scholar, the enlightened statesman, and the accomplished orator? But multiplied experience has taught us what education and circumstances can do, and we cease to wonder that from the infant mind such fruits are capable of being reared. But surely, when we thus behold the admirable progress of which our nature is susceptible within the narrow compass of threescore years and ten–when we remember that the vast intellect of Newton was ledged in an infants body–it may serve to remove our doubts as to the higher perfection of which our nature is capable in a future state of being. The goodness of the Great Shepherd in conducting His people to their final state, is most beautifully represented in the concluding verses of the 7 th chapter of Revelation–a passage at once so tender and sublime, that it is said our great Scottish poet, from his very boyhood, could never read it without tears. (J. L. Adamson.)
He shall gather the lambs with His arm
The Good Shepherds consideration for the weak and tender of His flock
I. CHRISTS FLOCK IS MADE UP OF BELIEVERS OF SEVERAL GROWTHS; OF LAMBS AS WELL AS MORE GROWN SHEEP.
I. As to the ages and years of Christians, we read of Paul the aged, and of Mnason, an old disciple (Act 21:16); and of others the kindness of whose youth God particularly remembers. Josiah (2Ch 34:3); Obadiah (1Ki 18:12); Samuel (1Sa 2:18); Timothy (2Ti 3:15).
2. In respect of stature, strength, and growth in grace, Christs flock is made up of lambs as well as sheep. Grace is not perfected as soon as implanted, nor does it thrive in all alike. In some, the good seed brought forth an hundredfold, in others sixty, in others but thirty (Mat 13:1-58.). God has ordered it thus for wise purposes; that the weak may be assisted by the strong, and the strong have opportunity of showing their compassion and tenderness to the weak; that the strong may by this means be kept humble, as seeing in the case of others what they themselves once were; and that the weak may not be discouraged, but reach after the attainments of the strong.
II. THE INSTANCES HERE MENTIONED OF CHRISTS COMPASSIONATE REGARD TO THE WEAK.
1. The lambs, when wandering. He will gather with His arm. Gathering supposes our proneness to wander.
(1) This proceeds from the remains of corruption in us, and in His whole flock, which are not yet perfectly renewed.
(2) The suddenness and surprise of a temptation may some times occasion their going astray.
(3) As making way for both these, Christians too often let down their watch; upon which they are betrayed by corruption, and Satan gets an advantage over them. Christ will gather such with His arm. Which implies–
(a) That He looks after them, even when they are going astray from Him, and He is concerned for them still.
(b) That He will not let them wander too far, not beyond the reach of His arm, with which they are both encircled and restrained.
(c) That He will employ His power, when the case necessarily requires it, in order to their recovery.
(d) That He will gather them with gentleness and care.
(e) That He will gather them with His arm, with it stretched out kindly to receive them, and to give them a gracious welcome to Him again.
2. He will carry them in His bosom. This implies great weakness in some that belong to Christs flock, and great compassion and grace on the part of Him, their Shepherd. The lambs, or young converts of Christs flock, may be in many respects weak: weak as to knowledge, faith, and love. Such weaklings as these Christ has in His flock; and yet He does not cast them off, but carries them m His bosom, which notes–
(1) That He observes with compassion the very weakest in His flock, and has His heart, as well as His arms open, to cherish them.
(2) That He will take them into a place of safety.
(3) In a word, Christs carrying the weak of His flock in His bosom, notes His acceptance of them as sincere, notwithstanding the weaknesses they lament over. These shall not keep them from His heart.
3. Our Lord and Shepherd Jesus Christ will gently lead those that are with young. These words may set forth the condition and state of such sheep and followers of Him as are sorely burdened. And there are many things to burden Christs sheep, as their difficult services, the load of their unmortified sins, and the bitter fruits of them, in their various sufferings of body and mind. As pressed with these, some of Christs flock may be said to be as feeble as sheep that are with young, or give suck: but such He will gently lead. Which implies–
(1) That He will go before them in the way they are to take.
(2) He will lead them gently on, and not hurry and try them by any means beyond their strength.
(3) He will bear with all their weakness and imperfections, groans and complaints, and never take occasion from thence to be severe with them, or forsake and leave them.
III. CHRIST WILL MAKE GOOD HIS CHARACTER OF A SHEPHERD TO HIS SHEEP THAT ARE WEAK, EITHER THROUGH THEIR SMALL ATTAINMENTS IN GRACE, OR THE GREATNESS OF THEIR BURDENS.
1. This is here expressly asserted, He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
2. To this His compassionate nature inclines Him (Heb 4:15). Such a nature cannot but be peculiarly concerned for the weaklings of His flock, whose groans are continually going to heaven.
3. This He has in His commission. (Isa 61:1.)
4. This has all along been His dealing with His flock; and He is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Application–Will Christ gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom? What an inducement is this to come into His flock! Be humbled, that you should be such weaklings as you are, so apt to wander, and so unable to return; but yet remember the excellent properties of Christ as the Shepherd of His flock. (D. Wilcox.)
Four attributes of Divine love
Isaiah tells us here of–
I. THE STRENGTH OF THE DIVINE LOVE. He shall gather with His arm. The power to overtake and elevate such an one as Saul of Tarsus is no power less than the arm of the Lord revealed. He shall carry in His bosom. Even greater power is involved in this than in first gathering in the arm. The power of endurance. Such power was that of the Divine love in Christ towards Peter.
II. THE GENTLENESS OF THE DIVINE LOVE. So with the Divine love that said to Mary, Why weepest thou? or to Thomas, Reach hither thy hand.
III. THE PROTECTIVENESS OF THE DIVINE LOVE. That may be the chief thought in these words. He promises more than the intervention of His arm between soul and dangers: He promises the intervention of His entire Being.
IV. THE ADAPTATIONS OF THE DIVINE LOVE. (U. R. Thomas, B. A.)
I. We have to examine A PORTRAIT OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
A Sabbath-school sermon
1. Men carry in their bosoms their gems, their jewels, and so doth Christ carry the lambs of the flock, regarding them as His peculiar treasure. He puts an estimate upon them according to His own relationship to them. He knows, too, what the child cost Him, for to redeem a little child from going down into the pit He must needs bear the penalty due to justice, and suffer even unto death. Re recollects, moreover, what that child will come to if He do not save it by carrying it in His bosom. A soul is a precious thing to Christ, for He believes in its immortality. And He knows, too, what may come of that little child if He sayeth it, for the possibilities of blessing within one little saved child who shall estimate but the Lord who knoweth all things? Jesus knows that a boy may be the spiritual father of hundreds ere he dies. There may be in the congregation a Chrysostom or an Augustine. Right among us may sit a little Whitefield, or a young Luther.
II. We have AN EXAMPLE FOR THE CHURCH. There are two great things which a Church ought always to have, namely, an arm to gather with and a bosom to carry in.
III. A practical word or two upon THE MODEL TEACHER. He who gathers the lambs with His arm and carries them in His bosom is the model of a Sunday-school teacher. In what points?
1. There should be about the teacher attractiveness, in order that he may gather.
2. After you have attracted, uplift. He carries the lambs in His bosom, and therefore He must lift them up. Everything about a teacher should tend to raise the children.
3. When He lifted up the lamb, He laid it on His heart. If you are to bless the little ones, they must lie on your heart. You must make them feel the life of your religion.
4. Next, bear them forward. The lamb is put into the shepherds bosom, not that he may stand still with it all the day long, but because the sheep are going this way and the lambs must go that way too, and therefore he carries it. You must be always going forward yourself if the child is to go forward with you.
5. Guard the children. Christ placed the lambs in His bosom to protect them.
6. The next word is, cheer.
7. Delight in them. That tenth verse has a great charm for me. The Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. Well, what did He have before Him but the sheep that He went forth to find, and the lambs which He gathered and carried in His bosom? They were His work, but they were also His reward. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The lambs and their Shepherd
I. DESCRIBE THE LAMBS.
1. They are truly sheep. They are not sheep in maturity, but they are sheep to a certainty. The sheep of God are harmless. They can bear, but they cannot revenge. The sheep goes further than the non-inflicting of evil, it bears evil without complaint. The extraordinary patience of the sheep is seen in Gods people, when they joyously endure a weight of affliction, and pass through the valley of death with composure. Sheep, again, are cleanly creatures; cleanly in their feeding–carrion never tempts them; cleanly in their habits. Furthermore, the sheep is guileless. You see the lion creeping through the thicket full of cunning; but sheep have none. Again, sheep are tractable. When a man tames a lion so that he may sport with it, he gets the name of lion-tamer; nobody is renowned for taming a sheep, for it has a tractable disposition, and so all the elect of God have an obedient and yielding spirit. Do not forget that the lambs are truly Christs sheep. They are as dearly bought with His blood; they are as surely objects of His care; they are as manifestly illustrations of His power; they shall as certainly be proofs of His faithfulness as the strongest of the flock.
2. Why are they lambs, and in what are they distinguished?
(1) Some of them are lambs for age, though not all; for there are some young Christians who are full grown, and there are others very aged, who remain to be lambs still.
(2) The distinguishing mark lies rather in spiritual deficiencies–they are but children in knowledge. They are immature also in experience.
(3) So are they lambs in tenderness of feeling. They are too susceptible, and therefore feel the unkindness of the world acutely.
(4) They are timid and trembling, and dare not courageously proclaim themselves at all times on the Lords side.
(5) Perhaps, too, they are subject to melancholy, to doubts and fears, and distresses of mind.
II. Let us come to EXPRESS OUR FEARS CONCERNING THESE LAMBS OF THE FLOCK. We are afraid for them, because of the howling wolves there are about. We are equally alarmed because of their association with the goats. Then we are jealous over the lambs because of the old lion. We are even more concerned when we think of the bear. A flattering world hugs tightly. When we put all these dangers together, we add to them the fact that lambs are subject to the same diseases which are incident to all sheep. They, too, get the foot-rot of weariness in the ways of God. They begin to be slothful in the cause of God. They suffer from coldness of heart, have a tendency to wander, and catch the stiff neck of pride.
III. Let us REJOICE IN THE GOOD SHEPHERD. He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.
1. Who is He of whom such gracious words are spoken? Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, etc. But let us read on (Isa 40:12-18).
2. Why doth He carry lambs in His bosom? Because He hath a tender heart, and any weakness at once melts Him. But more, it is His office to consider the weak. For this it is that He was made a faithful high priest–that He might have compassion on the ignorant. He was a lamb Himself once. He purchased them with blood. Moreover, He is responsible for that lamb. They are all a part of His glory.
3. What does He say He will do? Carry them. Sometimes He carries them by not permitting them to endure much trouble. At other times, by having some tender, loving person to take care of them. He carries them instrumentally. At other times, such lambs are carried by having an unusual degree of love given them, and consequently a large amount of joy, so that they bear up and stand fast. Though their knowledge may not be deep, they have great sweetness in what they do know.
4. How does He carry them? He carries them in His bosom–not on His back–that is bow He carries stray sheep.
(1) Here is put forth boundless affection. Could He put them in His bosom if He did not love them much? Where does the Father place the Son? He is in the bosom of the Father. Where did Abraham carry Lazarus? In his bosom. Where did Naomi bear her young grandson Obed? He was in her bosom. Where did the man in the parable put his little ewe lamb? In his bosom.
(2) Then there is tender nearness. How near to a man is that which is in his bosom.
(3) Then it is a hallowed familiarity. Lambs when put into the bosom, having no intellect, cannot therefore learn anything; but the lambs of Christs flock, whenever they ride in Christs bosom, talk with Him; they tell Him all their secrets, and He tells them His.
(4) Then there is perfect safety. The dear ones in His bosom–what can hurt them? They must hurt the Shepherd first. How can they get the lamb out of the Shepherds arm? Must they not cut off the Shepherds arm before they can hurt the lamb?
IV. LET US HEAR THE SHEPHERDS VOICE. If you be the lambs, hear the Shepherds voice, which says, Follow Me. You that are not lambs, hear His words, Come unto Me. Those of us who are His sheep, let us hear the Shepherds voice, saying, Feed My lambs. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Greatness in league with gentleness
In the chapter before us our Saviour is described as Jehovah God. Greatness in league with gentleness, and power linked with affection, now pass before us. Heroes who have been most distinguished for fury in the fight, have been tender of heart as little children; sharp were their swords to the foe, but gentle their hands towards the weak. It is the index of a noble nature that it can be majestic as a lion in the midst of the fray, and roar like a young lion on the scene of conflict, and yet it has a doves eye and a maidens heart. (C. H.Spurgeon.)
Jesus and the lambs
I. WHO ARE THE LAMBS WHICH OUR BLESSED LORD IS SAID TO GATHER AND TO CARRY IN HIS BOSOM?
1. In a certain sense we may affirm that all His people are lambs. In so far as they exhibit the Christian spirit, they are lamb-like.
2. Still, this is not the precise meaning of the text. The word lamb frequently signifies the young; and our Lord Jesus Christ graciously receives many young persons into His bosom. The ancient teachers of the Jewish law invited no children to gather around them. I suppose there was not a Rabbi in all Jerusalem who would have desired a child to listen to him, and if it had been said of any one of the Sanhedrin, that man teaches so as to be understood by a child, he would have thought himself insulted. But not so our Master; He always had children among His auditory. Some in our day mistrust youthful piety, but our Saviour lends no countenance to such suspicions. Some cautiously whisper, Let the pious youth be tried awhile before we believe in his religion; let him be tempted; let him bear the frosts of the world; perhaps the blossoms will drop away and disappoint us. Such was not my Masters way.
3. But, again, by lambs we may quite as properly understand young converts.
4. We shall not strain the text if we say that the lambs in the flock are those who are naturally of a weak, timid, trembling disposition.
5. The lambs are those who know but little of the things of God.
II. HOW DOES JESUS SHOW THIS SPECIAL CARE FOR THE WEAK ONES? He does this, according to the text, in two ways–
1. By gathering them. The shepherds kitchen fire is, for the time, the lambs own nursery. When the flock is on the march, it will happen, unless the shepherd is very watchful, that the lambs will lag behind. So it is in the progress of the great Christian Church; persecuted often, always more or less molested by the outside world, there are some who flag, they cannot keep up the pace; the spiritual warfare is too severe for them. At other times the lambs do worse than this. They are of a skittish nature, and, feeling the natural vigour of new-born life, they are not content to keep within bounds, as the older sheep do, but they betake themselves to wandering, so that at the close of the day the lambs cost the shepherd much trouble. So are there many immature Christians whose minds are hung loosely, and are unstable as water.
2. After He gathers them, He carries them in His bosom. That is–
(1) The safest place, for the wolf cannot get them there.
(2) The tenderest place, where we should put only a poor creature that had a broken bone, and could not bear to be roughly touched.
(3) The easiest place.
(4) The most honourable place. We would not put into our bosom that which we despised.
3. Our Lord shows His care for His lambs in His teachings, which are very simple, mostly in parables, full of winning illustrations, but always plain. He is pleased to reveal His teachings gradually. His experimental teachings are all by degrees, too.
4. In the solemn curses with which He guarded the little ones (Mat 18:6; Mat 18:10).
5. How many of the promises are made on purpose for the weak.
6. The Lord Jesus Christs tenderness to His people is further shown in this, that what He requires of them is easy.
7. He shows His gentleness, moreover, in that He accepts the least service that these little ones may offer.
III. WHEREFORE THIS CARE OF CHRIST TOWARDS THE LAMBS OF THE FLOCK? Because they need it, and He loves them, and therefore shall they receive according to their necessities. But why is He so particularly anxious to succour them? Surely, if He lost a lamb or two, it would be no loss among so many, and if one of the feeble minds should perish, it would be no great consequence when a multitude that no man can number shall be saved. The answer is plain.
1. The weak are as much redeemed by the blood of Christ as the strong.
2. In the new-born child of God there are peculiar beauties which are not so apparent in others.
3. Jesus has such care for the weak ones, because they will become strong one day.
4. Our Lord Jesus Christs suretyship engagements require that He should preserve the weakest as well as the strongest.
5. Besides His suretyship engagements, there are His promises.
6. Compassion argues that if any should be watched it should be these.
IV. A PRACTICAL CONCLUSION.
1. Let us gather the lambs, for Christ..
2. Learn to carry in our bosoms those who are gathered. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
I like your Jesus
A little Moslem child accounted for her preference for the Christian religion by saying, I like your Jesus, because He loves little girls! Our Mohammed did not love little girls. With unerring instinct she had seized upon at least one of the greatest differences between the two religions.
Christ and children
Ruskin has observed that there are no children in Greek art, but that they abound in Christian art–an unmistakable token that it was the eye of Christ which first fully appreciated the attractiveness of childhood. (J. Stalker, D. D.)
And carry them in His bosom
The saints final perseverance secured by the tenderness of Christ to the weak
I. BY THE LAMBS WE ARE CLEARLY TO UNDERSTAND WEAK BELIEVERS. It has nothing to do with their age, either natural or spiritual. Sometimes they are called babes. Sometimes we are told of the day of small things; sometimes of smoking flax. They are weak believers. We see it in their degree of spiritual knowledge. They little know themselves. They little know the hard warfare they have to maintain. They are surprised because they find the strong workings of nature and of the flesh within them. These are they who live much upon their enjoyments when they have them, and are exceedingly east down when they have them not. They are, for the most part, persons Who are more affected by providences than by Gods promises. They have indistinct views of Christ, of His great atonement. They live upon their happy frames. They draw but very feeble distinction between a life of faith and a life of sense. They love to discourage themselves. They think much more of their bitters than of that Branch that can make the bitter waters sweet. And too oft they think more of their own sacrifices than they think of the great Sacrifice. They are weak in knowledge; weak in experience; weak in courage. They fail too oft in the day of adversity. And yet they form a part of the true flock of Christ. There are but few folds in which lambs do not appear a large proportion to the whole.
II. THE GENTLE CONDUCT THAT THEY MEET WITH. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.
1. Think who this is (Isa 40:12). Observe how He is set before us in the tenth verse: Jehovah, Elohim, will come with strong hand: He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, etc. What! the great Eternal–the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity–is this the Being that gathers the lambs with His arm and carries them in His bosom?
2. The posture contains in it much for our prayerful meditation; carrying these lambs, these feeble ones, these ignorant ones, these weak ones, in His bosom! What doth it imply?
(1) His boundless affection for them. He has given costly proof of that affection.
(2) See how He takes notice of their least graces. I love that instance in 1Ki 14:1-31., in the case of Abijah: it unfolds the tenderness of Him that carries His lambs in His bosom: And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good tiring toward the Lord God of Israel. There is His cherishing His lamb.
(3) It implies their tender nearness to Him. The lamb seems to be so near its shepherd, as if nothing could be nearer. And what stands so near to the Lord Jesus Christ as His own people? In all their affliction He is afflicted.
(4) It would seem almost to imply more than this; for as the Lord Jesus is spoken of as lying in the bosom of His Father, as if there He learned anew as man all the heart of the Father, so who can say what there is in that posture of the weak lambs lying in the bosom of the Shepherd? He tells us the secrets of His heart. In this opening of the heart to the Lord Jesus in trouble, and His opening His heart to us in giving us answers of peace, doth consist some of the highest blessed-nesses to be known on this side heaven.
(5) But the posture does evidently bring with it deep conviction of safety. If the lamb is in the bosom of the Shepherd, he that destroyeth the lamb must destroy the Shepherd. There is all encouragement in this verse, to one that feels himself the weakest of all Gods children. But there is not in this truth that which encourages a weak believer to remain in his weakness. For what purpose does the good Shepherd cherish? It is to sanctify. (J. H.Evans, M. A.)
And shall gently lead those that are with young
The saints final perseverance secured by the gentleness of Christ to the burdened
I. With regard to THE PERSONS, they are clearly those who are weary and heavy-laden. They are feeble as well as burdened. Various are the burdens that might be placed before you.
1. I need not say how heavy is the burden of sin, when the Spirit of God first unfolds it to us.
2. And even when there is so much perception of Christ as to leave the spirit without any acknowledged hope but in Christ, and yet with so much of self-righteousness still cleaving as to think there must be something of a preparation necessary in order to recommend the soul to God and His Christ–what a burden! The toil of ploughing the rock–of counting the sands–of measuring the mighty waters–of working in the fire, the fire burning our work as soon and as long as we do!
3. But it applies, too, to the established believer, who frequently in his pilgrimage acknowledges himself and feels himself a burdened man.
4. The constant conflict–putting off the old man, putting on the new man; self-crucifixion, mortification of self, self-denial.
5. There is the burden of a burdened conscience; when a man sees so much in his sin as not to see enough in Christ to raise him above it.
6. The heavy weight of afflictions, accompanied as they often are with great and sore temptations.
7. Their very bodies are a burden to them.
8. The constant service of the Lord has a burden in it. The burden and heat of the day.
9. There is a burden that we are but little prone to look into as we ought to do, and that is–the burdens of others. For we are to bear their burdens.
II. THE LORDS CONDUCT TOWARD THEM. Infinite power is required to control the movements of these burdened ones; so many thousands as He has. But the great truth that it unfolds is His infinite tenderness. He does not drive–He leads. He does not merely lead, but gently leads. Who can unfold thee wondrous tenderness, patience, forbearance, compassion, and love with which He has led each one of us! How doth He wait on His burdened ones! How doth He wait for them! How doth He encourage them! Sometimes He encourages His burdened ones directly. By His Word. How oftentimes do they find their hearts cheered, led onward by a word of promise! He waiteth on them. He waiteth for them. And He suffereth no one to harm them.
III. WHITHER DOES HE LEAD THEM?
1. The first object that our Lord has in His leading of His burdened ones, is to lead them out of their own pasture. His great object is to lead them out of the creature and out of themselves. I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
2. Whither, then, does He lead them? Into deeper discoveries of Divine truth. How little know we of a truth till we have had experience of that truth!
3. Then cometh more close communion with God.
4. And now, it may be, He leads them into deeper afflictions than they have ever known. Oh! what a blessedness to have such a Shepherd for such poor burdened souls! Remember, His great end in leading is holiness. (J. H.Evans, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Shall gently lead those that are with young – “The nursing ewes shall he gently lead.”] A beautiful image, expressing, with the utmost propriety as well as elegance, the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in driving the cattle in regard to the dams and their young was necessary, appears clearly from Jacob’s apology to his brother Esau, Ge 33:13: “The flocks and the herds giving suck to their young are with me; and if they should be overdriven, all the flock will die.” Which is set in a still stronger light by the following remark of Sir John Chardin: “Their flocks,” says he, speaking of those who now live in the east after the patriarchal manner, “feed down the places of their encampments so quick, by the great numbers that they have, that they are obliged to remove them too often, which is very destructive to their flocks, on account of the young ones, who have not strength enough to follow.” Harmer’s Observ. i., p. 126.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He shall perform all the offices of a tender and faithful shepherd towards his people, carrying himself with great wisdom, and condescension, and compassion to every one of them, according to their several capacities and infirmities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. feedincluding all ashepherd’s care”tend” (Eze 34:23;Psa 23:1; Heb 13:20;1Pe 2:25).
carryapplicable toMessiah’s restoration of Israel, as sheep scattered in alllands, and unable to move of themselves to their own land(Psa 80:1; Jer 23:3).As Israel was “carried from the womb” (that is, in itsearliest days) (Isa 63:9; Isa 63:11;Isa 63:12; Psa 77:20),so it shall be in “old age” (that is, its latter days)(Isa 46:3; Isa 46:4).
gently leadas athoughtful shepherd does the ewes “giving suck” (Margin)(Gen 33:13; Gen 33:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,…. Christ has a flock, a flock of men, a distinct and peculiar people, and it is but one, and that a little one, and yet a beautiful one, though often a flock of slaughter; which is his by his Father’s gift, and his own purchase, and appears manifest in the effectual calling, when he calls them by name; to these he stands in the relation of a shepherd, being so by his Father’s designation and appointment, and his own consent; and a good shepherd he is, as is manifest by his laying down his life for the sheep; and a great one, being Jehovah’s fellow, and the chief shepherd, under whom all others are; yea, he is the one, and only one; and a very careful, compassionate, and faithful one he is; who performs his whole office as a shepherd, not only by providing food for his flock, by leading them into green and good pastures, his church and ordinances; by appointing under shepherds to feed them with the doctrines of the Gospel, the wholesome words of the Lord Jesus; and by feeding them himself, with himself, the bread of life, and hidden manna, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed; but also by protecting them from all their enemies, the roaring and devouring lion, Satan, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, false teachers; and by taking such notice and account of them, as that none of them shall be lost; and by doing all that is expressed Eze 34:16, seeking that which was lost; bringing back that which was driven away; binding up that which was broken; and strengthening and healing the sick, as well as watching over them night and day, lest any hurt them:
he shall gather the lambs with his arm; the weaklings of the flock; the same with babes and sucklings, newly born souls, weak believers, mean and low in their own eyes, the smoking flax, and bruised reed, the day of small things, the poor of the flock; these he gathers with his arm of power, and by the ministry of the Gospel, both to himself, his person, righteousness, grace and fulness, and to his church, to partake of the word and ordinances of it, and to nearer communion with him in them; he gathers them up into his arms in a way of protection, when liable to fall into the hands of powerful enemies, and to be hurt by them, and in order to carry them, they not being able to go of themselves, as it follows:
and carry them in his bosom; which is expressive of very great affection to them, such being greatly loved as are put into the bosom, as Obed by Naomi, the poor man’s ewe lamb, and a wife of youth; as also of great nearness to him, being in his bosom must lie near his heart, and are indeed upon it; likewise it denotes the most intimate communion with him, and a being privy to his secrets, as Christ in the bosom of his Father is to his; as well as it implies an enjoyment of rest in him, and safety by him; for what can disturb or hurt such as are in the bosom of Christ?
and shall gently lead those that are with young; who have the seed of grace in them, have spiritual principles wrought in their souls, Christ formed in their hearts, are full of desires for him and spiritual things, and carry a burden, that of their sins, under which they groan; these he leads out, and off of themselves to himself, his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, into green pastures, into his Father’s presence, and at last to glory; and he leads them on “gently”, gradually, step by step, to see their own vileness and sinfulness, to look, go to, lay hold on him, and retain him; he leads them into the truths of the Gospel, and the deep waters of the sanctuary, and proportionably to their strength as they are able to bear, either the doctrines of the Gospel, or the duties of religion, or afflictions and sufferings; see Ge 33:14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet dwells upon this, the redeeming side not the judicial, as he proceeds to place the image of the good shepherd by the side of that of the Lord Jehovah. “He will feed His flock like a shepherd, take the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are giving suck.” The flock is His people, now dispersed in a foreign land. The love with which He tends this flock is shown, by way of example, in His conduct towards the (= from = ), the young lambs that have not long been born, and the , those giving suck, lactantes (Vulg. fetae ), not those that are sucking, sugentes (from med. Vav, to nourish). Such as cannot keep pace with the flock he takes in his arms, and carries in the bosom of his dress; and the mothers he does not overdrive, but (see at Psa 23:2), lets them go gently alone, because they require care (Gen 33:13). With this loving picture the prologue in Isa 40:1-11 is brought to a close. It stands at the head of the whole, like a divine inauguration of the prophet, and like the quintessence of what he is commanded to proclaim. Nevertheless it is also an integral part of the first address. For the questions which follow cannot possibly be the commencement of the prophecy, though it is not very clear how far they form a continuation.
The connection is the following: The prophet shows both didactically and paraenetically what kind of God it is whose appearance to redeem His people has been prophetically announced in Isa 40:1-11. He is the incomparably exalted One. This incomparable exaltation makes the ignorance of the worshipers of idols the more apparent, but it serves to comfort Israel. And Israel needs such consolation in its present banishment, in which it is so hard for it to comprehend the ways of God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11. As a shepherd. In this verse he declares what is the nature of that work of the Lord; for since he works in various and, indeed, in innumerable ways, the hearer might have been kept in suspense as to the work which God intended to accomplish; and thus the general doctrine would have been less efficacious in exciting hope. Though he does not describe every part, yet he states in a few words that God has determined to protect and guard his Church. On this account he compares him to “a shepherd;” and under this designation he expresses his infinite love towards us, when he does not refuse to stoop so low as to perform towards us the office of “a shepherd.” In other passages, and even a little before, (Isa 34:2, etc.,) he described himself as armed with terrible power for the defense of his people, and a little after this he repeats the same statement; but here he ascribes to him a more amiable character, that believers may sweetly repose under his protection.
He will feed his flock. Now, although by the word “flock” he describes an elect people, whom he had undertaken to govern, yet we are reminded that God will be a shepherd to none but to those who, in modesty and gentleness, shall imitate the sheep and lambs. For this reason we ought to observe the character of the flock; for he does not choose to feed savage beasts, but lambs. We must therefore lay aside our fierceness, and permit ourselves to be tamed, if we wish to be gathered into the fold of which God promises that he will be the guardian.
He will carry them in his bosom. These words describe God’s wonderful condescension; for not only is he actuated by a general feeling of regard to his whole flock, but, in proportion to the weakness of any one sheep, he shews his carefulness in watching, his gentleness in handling, and his patience in leading it. Here he leaves out nothing that belongs to the office of a good shepherd; for the shepherd ought to observe every sheep, so as to treat it according to its capacity; and especially they ought to be supported, if they are exceedingly weak. In a word, God will be mild, kind, gentle, and compassionate, so that he will not drive the weak harder than they are able to bear.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Isa. 40:11. He shall feed His flock, &c.
The Hebrews were, for the most part, a nation of shepherds. To them especially these declarations must have appeared full of beauty, tenderness, and life.
I. THE GOOD SHEPHERD
He shall feed, &c.
1. Who is this Shepherd? He who was foretold by the prophets (Eze. 34:23; Mic. 5:4; Mic. 7:14). In the New Testament it is declared that these prophecies were fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ (1Pe. 5:4; Heb. 13:20; Joh. 10:11).
2. What is He? God as well as man (Isa. 40:10; Zec. 13:7; Mic. 5:4). Being truly God, He is well qualified to be the Good Shepherd. He never slumbers nor sleeps. His knowledge is infinite, His power almighty, His resources limitless. He has in His heart infinite tenderness, which He manifested by dying for His flock.
II. THE FLOCK FOR WHICH HE CARES.
His flock? The people of God (Psa. 100:3). Weak, wandering, defenceless in themselves, they depend entirely upon Him for succour and safety.
The whole flock of Christ is known by distinct marks.
1. It is a little flock. Small compared with the great assembly of saints in heaven, or with the multitudes led captive by Satan. Not because He is unable or unwilling to save. His fold is large enough for the whole world; its door is open for all mankind, and He stands at it inviting all to enter. The real reason (Joh. 3:19; Joh. 5:40).
2. It is a united flock. Its members live by one faith in one Lord, and are united in principles, in affection, in conduct, in devotion, in destiny (H. E. I. 1202, 1203).
3. It is a holy flock. Holy in heart, in conversation, in conduct (H. E. I. 2831, 2856).
Besides the marks which distinguish the whole flock of Christ, others distinguish its individual members.
1. A death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness (Joh. 3:5).
2. Hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd (Joh. 10:3).
3. Following Him (Joh. 10:4).
III. HIS CARE FOR IT.
Mark
1. His general care for His people. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd. His eye watches over them; His arm protects them; His grace supplies their need (Eze. 34:11-16).
2. His peculiar tenderness to the young. He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom. His tender care for children (Mar. 10:13-16; Pro. 8:17). For young converts. A lamb just dropped on a bleak mountain, where the cold wind rages, where the stormy rain descends, where the wolf, gaunt and grim, prowls around for prey;such a lamb in such a state is a figure of young Christians in this wicked world. But the Good Shepherd, who watches over them with infinite tenderness night and day, will support them in all their weakness and dangers, and succor them in all their wants and sorrows. When a shepherd sees a young lamb so weak that it cannot keep up with the rest of the flock, he does not leave it behind to die, but takes it up and carries it. Thus does Jesus (text). He pardons their sins, gives them peace, invigorates their souls, and enables them to go on their way (H. E. I. 961).
3. His singular compassion for the feeble and the burdened. He shall gently lead those that are with young. Almighty, all-wise, all-merciful, He is well qualified to lead the afflicted. He will lead them in the right way, in the best way, gently. His sympathy and His succour will never fail them.John Cawood, M.A.: Sermons, vol i. pp. 363378).
JESUS AND THE LAMBS
Isa. 40:11. He shall gather the lambs with His arm, &c.
Greatness in league with gentleness, and power linked with affection pass before us in this chapter (Isa. 40:10-11).
I. Who are the lambs our Lord is said to gather and carry in His bosom?
1. In a certain sense we may affirm, that all His people are lambs. In so far as they exhibit the Christian spirit, they are lamb-like. As the lamb might be presented in sacrifice, so every believer presents his body as a living sacrifice unto God. He hates wars and fightings. Jesus will gather all such lambs.
2. The word lamb frequently signifies the young; and our Lord graciously receives many young persons into His bosom. Jesus always had children among His auditory (Mat. 19:14). Youthful piety should not be mistrusted. Children should be invited to declare their faith in the Lord Jesus, and to come forward and be joined to the Church of Jesus. Let them hear the words of the Good Shepherd (Pro. 8:17; H. E. I. 795800).
3. Young converts, those who begin to have religious impressions; those who have recently repented of sin, and been driven from confidence in their own good works (Isa. 42:3).
4. Those who are naturally of a weak, timid, trembling disposition. Their needs demand our sympathetic attention. Jesus seeks them out.
5. Those who know but little of the things of God. This class is not so much desponding as ignorant (Joh. 14:9).
II. How does Jesus show this special care for the weak ones?
1. By gathering them. The shepherd watches carefully when the little lambs are born. He watches, when the flock is on the march, lest the lambs lag behind. He knows their skittish nature. He gathers them, and keeps them under his own eye.
2. By carrying them in His bosom (H. E. I. 961).
(1.) As the safest place. Who can hope to take His bosom-treasure away from Jesus?
(2.) The tenderest place. Soft for hurt little ones.
(3.) The easiest place. It makes one wish to be always a lamb, if one could always ride in that chariot.
(4.) The most honourable place. We would not put into our bosom that which we despised.
3. By His teachings. These are simple, mostly in parables, full of winning illustrations, and always plain.
(1.) He reveals His teachings gradually. He gives milk before He offers strong meat; does not hang our salvation upon our understanding mysteries.
(2.) His experimental teachings are all by degrees too. He suits the burden to the back.
4. By the solemn curses with which He effectually guarded the little ones (Mat. 18:6-10).
5. By the promises made on purpose for the weak.
6. By requiring of them what is easy (Mat. 11:29-30). He does not send the weak believers to the forefront of the battle, as David did Uriah.
7. By accepting the least service that these little ones may offer.
III. Wherefore this care of Christ towards the lambs of His flock?
1. Because the weak are as much redeemed by the blood of Christ as the strong. A man will not lose a thing which cost him his blood.
2. Because in the new-born child of God there are peculiar beauties which are not so apparent in others. The first love of the beginner is well known. The first tenderness of conscience; the first intense delight in the service of God.
3. Because they will become strong one day (Mar. 4:28). Jesus sees them as they are to be (H. E. I. 1071).
4. Because Christs suretyship engagements require that He should preserve the weakest as well as the strongest (Joh. 17:6; Jud. 1:24).
5. Because of His promises (Joh. 10:28).
6. Because compassion argues that if any should be watched it should be these (H. E. I. 952958).
IV. Practical Conclusion.
1. Let us gather the lambs.
(1.) For Christ.
(2.) Into His Church.
2. Let us carry in our bosoms those who are gathered (Exo. 2:9).C. H. Spurgeon: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1868, pp. 7384.
This promise concerns the lambs of Christs flock. He is a mighty Shepherd (see Isa. 40:10; Isa. 40:12); but He does not despise the lambs, those who are feeble, ignorant, and conscious of their helplessness. He carries them in His bosom! What does this imply?
1. His boundless affection for them. On the cross He has given costly proof of it; and always His is a love that expresses itself in actions, not in words merely.
2. Their tender nearness to Him. How sweet it is to lie on the bosom of the Good Shepherd!
3. Their absolute safety. If He has in His heart love enough, and in His arm power enough to protect them, then for the lamb to perish is as impossible as it is for Him to perish (H. E. I. 934941).
1. This presentation of Christ has a kindly aspect toward the sinner. How gentle is that Mighty Being to whom we invite you, on whom we counsel you to rest!
2. There is encouragement here for those who feel themselves the weakest and feeblest of all Gods children (H. E. I. 959, 960).
3. There is no encouragement here for those who are wilfully weak. For what purpose does the Good Shepherd cherish? It is that He may sanctify. It is not merely to preserve, to protect; but He nourishes His lambs that they may grow.J. H. Evans, M.A.: Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 324336.
THE MIND OF CHRIST TOWARD THE YOUNG
(Sunday-School Anniversary.)
Isa. 40:11. He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.
The earlier verses of this chapter are sufficient to prove that these words were written of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Isa. 40:3, and Luk. 3:3-6). Seven hundred years before the appearing of our Saviour, a prophecy was given of His character; of His tenderness in guiding, protecting, and feeding the souls of those who should be brought to put their trust in Him,more especially in cherishing and watching over the weaker and the younger members of His flock (cf. Joh. 10:11; Joh. 10:27-28).
Let us inquire how far this predicted character of the Messiah was fulfilled in the recorded deeds and works of Jesus Christ upon earth.
1. How precisely does Mar. 10:13-16 set before us the Good Shepherd gathering the lambs with His arm! How precisely does it declare His readiness to receive and bless little children! (H. E. I. 765.)
(1.) How great a comfort to pious parents who now dedicate their children to Him! (P. D. 464, 465.)
(2.) How gracious an encouragement to those who in early years begin to seek Him! (P. D. 962, 963.)
2. In Mar. 10:17-22 we read that a young man came running to Jesus, with every sign of earnestness, docility, and reverence, to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life. Our Lord saw in him that self-satisfied spirit which immediately appeared in reply to our Lords answer to his question: Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then our Lord gave a direction, designed, not to teach us the method of our salvation, but to bring to light the plague of the young mans heart. The event showed that he was not then prepared to enter into the kingdom of God (H. E. I. 3591, 1889, 35673569). Yet there was that in his serious and respectful demeanour, his ingenuous simplicity, and his outward blamelessness which our Lord regarded with deep and affectionate interest (Mar. 10:21). He showed that interest by mercifully revealing to him his sad and fatal defect, and urging him to lay the axe to the root of his sins, and to follow Him. From this incident we may learn with how deep an interest our Lord regards that ingenuous openness, that blameless morality, that dutiful and reverent simplicity which is the greatest charm of youth; and yet how far all this may at last fall short of the character of an heir to the kingdom of God (H. E. I. 3603, 3606, 40804105).
3. Another manifestation of the mind of Christ towards the young is seen in this, that He takes the character of a little child as the type of that which distinguishes His true disciples (Mat. 11:25; Mat. 18:2-4). He who so acted and spoke must have had a singular tenderness of feeling towards little children. Doubtless that which commended them to Him was their instinctive feeling of weakness, and of dependence upon others for all things; their consciousness of ignorance, and simple faith in all that is told them by those older than themselves; the absence in them of guile, ambition, hypocrisy, and all assumption. Our sharing in these qualities, and our display of them toward Christ, is essential to our very safety (P. D. 964).
4. Remember also the solemn earnestness with which He denounces a woe against all who lead them into sin (Mat. 18:6). Probably the little ones here spoken of are those who resemble little children; but still they are peculiarly applicable to children, so liable to be drawn away from Him by the force of evil influence or example (H. E. I. 775).
5. Christ did not disdain the praises of little children (Mat. 21:15-16).
6. Remember His charge to Peter: Feed my lambs. Those thus referred to might be rather the weak in faith than the young in years, yet in many cases the two would be identical; the young would be also weak. For these their parents should tenderly care (H. E. I. 781788, 803806). But when the parents do not discharge that sacred trust, the Church should see to it that the young souls for which Christ died do not perish for lack of knowledge.C. J. Vaughan: Sermons, 1846, pp. 328342.
THE GENTLENESS OF CHRIST TO THE BURDENED
Isa. 40:11. He shall gently lead those that are with young.
We have here an indirect proof of the Deity of our Lord. Infinite power is required to control the movements of the burdened ones of whom our text speaks; so many as He has to lead! Besides, He must have infinite wisdom to know me. I am a mystery to myself; though myself be a book that I study, and ought to study far more than I do, yet how little do I know of it! How then can He know all of them, and each one singly?know all the maze, the whole of the labyrinth, the wheel within wheel, the winding path within the winding path, of body, soul, and estate; all that bears on me in my relative positions, in my connection with the Church, in connection with my family; all my personal weaknesses, my constitutional infirmities? Unless He does know this He cannot lead me. He must be God who doeth these things. And He is God. May our hearts bow before Him!
I. Christs people are often burdened. Sin, their inborn corruption, is a burden to them. Still heavier is the burden when they have been betrayed into actual transgression; a guilty conscience is a heavy burden indeed. The slowness with which he makes progress in spiritual excellences is also to the believer a burden. Sorrows and temptations are burdens. The body itself is a burden (2Co. 5:4). The service of God has itself a burden in it; we read of bearing the burden and heat of the day. Often, too, he feels the burdens of otherstheir mistakes, follies, and sufferings, to rest heavily upon him.
II. When they are thus burdened they experience the infinite tenderness of the Good Shepherd.
1. He does not drive them; He leads them. Satan drives his miserable victims to perdition; the Saviour leads His ransomed ones along the paths of righteousness to eternal blessedness.
2. He leads them gently. Who can unfold the wondrous tenderness, patience, forbearance, compassion, and love with which He has lead each one of us? He leads gently, not foolishly; not with such tenderness as one sometimes sees in earthly parents, leading their children to their harm, and thinking it to be love,the worst of all unkindness. It is the kindness of One that wisely loves. Could I suppose a father taking a knife to amputate the limb of his child, there might be an appearance of severity in the sharpness of the knife, but who can tell what would be the tenderness of that yearning fathers heart? He gently leads, and never more tenderly than in some providences that appeared the severest at the time. As Cowper has said, it is but the graver aspect of His love.J. H. Evans, M.A.: Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iv. pp. 337348.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(11) He shall feed his flock . . .Psalms 23 is the great embodiment of the thought in the Old Testament, as John 10 is in the New, but the thought itself is everywhere (Psa. 77:20; Psa. 80:1; Jer. 13:17; Jer. 31:10; Jer. 1:19; Eze. 34:11-16; Mat. 9:36; Mat. 18:12; Luk. 15:4, &c). The tender care of the shepherd for the ewes and lambs finds a parallel in Jacobs pleas (Gen. 33:13).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
DISCOURSE: 923
CHRISTS CARE FOR HIS SHEEP
Isa 40:11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom; and shall gently lead those that are with young.
THE holy Psalmist, speaking of Jehovahs care of him, says, The Lord is my Shepherd: and then, from the union of the Godhead with the pastoral office, he infers, Therefore I shall not want [Note: Psa 23:1.]. The same incomprehensible union is mentioned by the prophet in the passage before us. The heralds that proclaimed the advent of the Messiah were commanded to draw the attention of men to them in these words, Behold your God! The person thus announced, is further described in the words preceding our text; Behold! the Lord God will come: and then it is added, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. Now when it is considered how prone the Israelites were to idolatry, it cannot be conceived that the prophet should speak of the Messiah in such exalted terms, if they did not properly belong to him. But the prophets generally, and Isaiah in particular, are very full and explicit in declaring, that Jehovah was to become incarnate, and by the sacrifice of himself to redeem and save a ruined world. It is not however of his person that we now propose to speak, but of his office; that being the particular point to which my text refers: yet it would be improper to pass over such a strong testimony to the divinity of our blessed Lord, because, in the judgment of all, but more especially of Jews, it must have the effect of silencing every doubt upon that important subject. And it adds no little interest to the description here given of him, when we know, that He who so condescends to minister as a Shepherd to the least and meanest of his flock, is the Most High God: according as it is written, To us a child is born, to us a Son is given; and his name shall be called, The Mighty God [Note: Isa 9:6.].
The words which form the ground-work of our discourse, will lead me to set before you,
I.
A general view of our Lord as a Shepherd
The character of a shepherd is frequently assigned to our blessed Lord, in the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament [Note: Eze 37:24. Zec 13:7. Heb 13:20. 1Pe 5:4.]: and every duty pertaining to that office is executed by him:
1.
He gathers them to his fold
[They are wandering upon the dark mountains, in a cloudy and dark day [Note: Eze 34:6.]; every one going in his own way [Note: Isa 53:6.], and after the imaginations of his own heart [Note: Jer 23:17.] The paths of all, though differing from each other according as the age, the inclinations, and the diversified temptations of the different individuals may lead them all agree in this, that they are far distant from the ways of Gods commandments [Note: Rom 3:11-12.]. But he searches for them, and seeks them out: he follows them by the preaching of his word, by the dispensations of his providence, by the mighty working of his Spirit; and, having found them, he apprehends them by his pastoral crook [Note: Php 3:12.], and makes them willing to return with him [Note: Psa 110:3.], and carries them home upon his shoulders rejoicing [Note: Luk 15:5-6.] ]
2.
He provides for their wants
[O! how sweet are the pastures into which he leads them [Note: Eze 34:14.]! Who can express the delight which a converted soul experiences in feeding upon the promises, the exceeding great and precious promises of his God? In comparison of the food provided for the sheep of Christ, all else is but as husks on which the swine subsist [Note: Luk 15:16. Isa 55:2.]. This is set forth in Scripture under the image of a luxurious feast [Note: Isa 24:6.]: and verily it is a feast of fat things to all the saints; a feast, of which even the angels themselves might account it a privilege to partake [Note: Psa 78:25.] ]
3.
He affords them his effectual protection
[Weak as they are, and beset with many enemies, they are preserved in perfect safety [Note: 1Pe 1:5.] He who laid down his life for them, will suffer none to pluck them out of his hand [Note: Joh 10:11; Joh 10:28.] They lie down beside the still waters [Note: Psa 23:2.], which are a just emblem of the tranquillity of their own souls They are kept in perfect peace, because they trust in him [Note: Isa 26:3.].]
4.
He administers to them according to their diversified necessities
[Amongst them there will be some who are sick, or diseased, or injured by some misfortune: but he knows all their particular cases, and imparts to them the relief which they severally need; bringing buck those which have been driven away, binding up that which has been broken, and strengthening that which is sick [Note: Eze 34:16.] and never intermitting his care of them, till he has brought them to his fold above [Note: Psa 23:5-6.] ]
But our text requires us to take,
II.
A more particular view of him as ministering to the weak and needy
Let us notice then in a more especial manner,
1.
His tenderness to the weak
[The lambs which have been but recently brought forth, may be supposed incapable of proceeding with the flock to any distant pasture. But these he will gather with his arms, and carry in his bosom. He will not despise the day of small things [Note: Zec 4:10.]. There is not one in all his flock so weak, but he will pay the most minute attention to its necessities. He who gave so particular a charge to Peter to feed his lambs, and required this of him as a necessary proof of his love [Note: Joh 21:15.], will not himself neglect his lambs; but rather will augment his tender assiduities in proportion as the weakness of the lamb calls for more peculiar care: he will even take it up, and carry it in his bosom. In what an endearing view does this place the character of our blessed Lord! How sweetly encouraging is this consideration to those who feel their weakness, and are ready to despond because of it! Let us remember, that when his disciples would have kept persons from troubling him with their little children, he reproved them, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of heaven [Note: Mar 10:14.]. Whether therefore you be children in respect of your natural or spiritual birth, fail not to come to him, assured, that he will bear with your infirmities, and perfect his own strength in your weakness [Note: 2Co 12:9.] ]
2.
His compassion to the afflicted
[He will have respect to the state of his flock, even as Jacob had, who would not overdrive them one day, lest they should all die [Note: Gen 33:13-14.]. So our blessed Lord will gently lead that which is with young. There are amongst his people many who are weary and heavy-laden with a sense of sin, and bowed down greatly by reason of the difficulties of their way. But to the former he sends a special invitation, with an assured promise of rest [Note: Mat 11:28.]: and to the latter he authorizes us to declare, that he will raise them up [Note: Psa 146:8.]. In truth, he is pre-eminently distinguished by this, that he will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax; but will bring forth judgment unto victory [Note: Mat 12:20.]. Consider what is implied in these metaphors: a bruised reed is, according to human appearance, incapable of ever sending forth a melodious sound; and smoking flax has, as it were, but a hidden spark of fire, whilst it is sending forth whole clouds of corruption: yet will Christ fan the expiring spark to a flame, and attune the reed to send forth the most heavenly strains. Let none then despond, however destitute they may be of any thing to encourage them from within; but let them be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might [Note: Eph 6:10.] ]
Let me now add a few words,
1.
In commendation of this good Shepherd
[Whence is it that all do not put themselves under his care? Is there any want of love, or tenderness, or power in him? God frequently, by his prophets, called on his rebellious people to testify against him, and to say, whether there had been any want of kindness or care in him: O my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? Testify against me [Note: Mic 6:3. Jer 2:5; Jer 2:31.]. What could I have done more for my people than I have done [Note: Isa 5:4.]? So do I now, in the name of this good Shepherd, call upon you all this day, to bear, if you can, your testimony against him. Whom did he ever neglect or despise? Whom that sought him did he ever refuse to receive? Whom that trusted in him, did he ever omit to supply according to his necessities? If then no complaint ever was, or could be made against him from the world, let every heart appreciate his excellency, and every soul commit itself to its care [Note: If this were a subject for an Ordination or Visitation Sermon, the Clergy should be urged to follow the example of this good Shepherd.]]
2.
For the augmentation and encouragement of his flock
[You who have to this hour been going astray, and walking in the way of your own hearts, reflect upon your guilt and danger, and return now without delay to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls [Note: 1Pe 2:25.] As employed by him, I come now to search you out, and to bring you home to his fold [Note: Eph 4:11. Mar 16:15. Jer 23:4.] O think, how delightful it will be to hear his voice calling every one of you by name [Note: Joh 10:3.], and going in and out with you as long as you shall remain in this dreary wilderness [Note: Joh 10:9.], and then performing the same office for you in the realms of bliss [Note: Rev 7:17.]; O listen not to the voice of strangers but, follow him that you may be one fold under one Shepherd for ever and ever [Note: Joh 10:5; Joh 10:9; Joh 10:16.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with young.
Ver. 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd. ] That good Shepherd shall, the Lord Jesus. Joh 10:11 See Psa 23:1 , See Trapp on “ Psa 23:1 “
He shall gather the lambs with his arm.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
feed His flock. As in the wilderness. See Isa 63:11. Psa 77:20; Psa 78:52, Psa 78:53; Psa 80:1.
gather = take up.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
feed: Isa 49:9, Isa 49:10, Isa 63:11, Gen 49:24, Psa 23:1-6, Psa 78:71, Psa 78:72, Psa 80:1, Eze 34:12-14, Eze 34:23, Eze 34:31, Eze 37:24, Mic 5:4, Joh 10:11-16, Heb 13:20, 1Pe 2:25, 1Pe 5:4, Rev 7:17
he shall gather: Isa 42:3, Gen 33:13, Eze 34:16, Joh 21:15-17, 1Co 3:1, 1Co 3:2
shall gently lead: A beautiful image, as Bp. Lowth remarks, expressive of the tender attention of the shepherd to his flock. That the greatest care in driving the cattle, in regard to the dams and their young, was necessary, appears clearly from Jacob’s apology to his brother Esau, Gen 33:13, which is set in a still stronger light by the following remarks of Sir J. Chardin: “Their flocks feed down the places of their encampments so quick, by the great numbers that they have, that they are obliged to remove them often, which is very destructive to their flocks, on account of the young ones, who have not strength enough to follow.”
are with young: or, give suck
Reciprocal: Gen 33:14 – be able Gen 46:32 – shepherds Num 11:12 – Carry them Deu 1:31 – bare thee 2Sa 5:2 – feed 2Sa 7:7 – feed 1Ch 11:2 – Thou shalt Psa 18:35 – gentleness Psa 27:10 – take me up Psa 28:9 – feed Psa 78:52 – like a Psa 95:7 – people Pro 8:27 – compass Ecc 12:11 – given Son 1:7 – thou feedest Son 6:2 – feed Isa 5:17 – shall the lambs Isa 54:7 – with Jer 23:5 – I Jer 31:8 – them the Jer 31:10 – He Eze 34:11 – search Eze 34:14 – feed them Mic 7:14 – Feed Zec 11:16 – neither Zec 13:7 – my shepherd Mat 2:6 – rule Mat 9:16 – for Mat 12:20 – bruised Mat 18:14 – one Mat 19:15 – General Mar 10:16 – General Luk 7:19 – Art Luk 12:32 – little Luk 15:5 – he layeth Luk 17:2 – one Luk 24:27 – and all Joh 1:18 – in the Joh 10:2 – the shepherd Joh 10:3 – and leadeth Joh 10:9 – and shall Joh 12:38 – the arm Act 20:28 – all Rom 14:1 – weak Eph 4:6 – who Eph 5:29 – nourisheth 1Th 2:7 – we 1Th 5:14 – comfort 2Ti 2:24 – but Tit 3:2 – gentle Heb 8:9 – to lead Jam 3:17 – gentle 1Pe 5:2 – Feed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
40:11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry [them] in his bosom, [and] shall gently lead those that are with {q} young.
(q) He will show his care and favour over them who are weak and tender.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
However, He would rule like David, the shepherd-king. He will be very sensitive to the needs of His people as He rules over them. Intimate and loving care will mark His reign. The two different uses of God’s arm in this verse and the preceding one illustrate the two complementary sides of God’s activity. Chapters 1-39 feature His arm of judgment, and chapters 40-66 emphasize His arm of compassion and deliverance.