Pastor Chris’ Corona Quarantine Epistles to the Flock of AIC Ngong Road, in Dispersion and Isolation. 8th. Edition.
Dearest Saints,
For those of you who were able to be with us on the live service online – that was wonderful, wasn’t it? And Stephanie’s simple and poignant exposition of Romans 8:28-32 was timely. What insight! If you were not able to hear her, please make sure you listen to the posted version. You’ll not be disappointed. So, yesterday, we saw from Psalm 121:7 that the Lord will preserve us from all evil. We conclude the Psalm with verse 8. The first part reverts to the picture of a shepherd, that we saw earlier in verse 4. “The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in…”
Imagine sheep in a pen. They are safe there because the gate is closed and predators cannot enter. But sheep cannot stay in the safety of the pen all the time. They need to go out to pasture. Out there are wolves and wild dogs and all manner of other ravenous predators. Obviously, sheep are unlikely to feel secure out there. But the shepherd watches over the sheep and protects them with his life, if necessary. Please compare with John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” There is no greater security than the statement, often used casually, “Over my dead body!” To get to the sheep, the predator has to kill the shepherd first – which already happened at Calvary, for us. Going out and coming in is a simple way of saying “for the whole day.” The Psalm concludes with the assurance that this is not a limited-time promise – it is forever! These are scary times. We’ve all seen the videos on social media, people scampering away when someone sneezes or coughs.
Every person out there is a suspected carrier. Don’t be reckless, but go about your business in the confidence that our shepherd confronts the enemy with the words, “Over my dead body!”
Your loving Pastor Chris.