Joseph Prince - Shepherd and Sheep, The Secret to the Abundant Life (01/21/2026)
On this resurrection morning, Pastor Prince shared a fresh revelation from the Lord emphasizing that the most frequent biblical picture of God is that of a Shepherd and His people as sheep. Seeing Jesus as our personal Shepherd causes faith to spring forth naturally, bringing rest, provision, healing, and abundant life, as beautifully captured in Psalm 23 where the Lord makes us lie down in green pastures and ensures that goodness and mercy pursue us all our days.
A Fresh Word from the Throne
We have something fresh from the throne of God, and I am so excited that my concern is that I might really keep you here for the next three hours. Hallelujah! I am just teasing. Praise the Lord! But it is really a wonderful time that I had with the Lord in the Word, where He opened up some things, and He wants you to know some things. Church, your Father wants you to know something from Him. He wants you to believe that He loves you—not just know it, but believe He loves you. He wants you to see Him, especially Jesus. He wants you to see Jesus as your shepherd. Amen.
The Shepherd and His Sheep
Of all the pictures that God gives us in the Bible, the most frequent expression or picture of God is that of a shepherd, and God's people as that of a flock—the most frequently used. The Bible uses a picture of God as the eagle, mother eagle or mother hen, and rightly so, but it is not frequently used. The picture of God as master and we as His servants—that is true, it is all true, but it is not frequently used. The picture of God as the master workman and all of us as workmen in His vineyard—it is all true, but the most utilized metaphor of the Lord, or picture of the Lord, that God wants us to have, and it is often used both in the Old and the New—it is that of the shepherd and the sheep. I think that is something that we rob ourselves of when we do not remind ourselves of this relationship. Amen.
Faith Springs from This Picture
You do not have to worry about faith when you see yourself as a sheep and the Lord as your shepherd. You do not have to worry about faith, because faith springs forth. Amen. The moment you see the Lord as your shepherd—for example, when you go to a kopitiam or a coffee shop, you go to the back, you see a lot of rats. What do you think of? You do not think, “Oh, this uncle in the kopitiam, he owns a lot of rats.” You do not think of rats that way. You do not think of the keeper of the rats. Amen. But when you see sheep, whether it is in Australia or New Zealand or Israel, when you see sheep on the hillside, the shepherd is not too far away. You relate the sheep to the shepherd. You do not relate rats to the kopitiam man. Amen.
Sheep Are Not Proud
The idea of a sheep having someone protecting them, watching over them, loving them is a very beautiful thought. And goats can be independent. Goats can go their own way and follow off a cliff. And usually goats are proud. Sheep—usually people think of sheep as dumb, all right. They may be dumb, but you know what? They are not proud. Amen. And I would rather be dumb and have the Lord as my shepherd and I shall not lack all the days of my life than to be smart and follow off a cliff and die smart. Amen. Praise the Lord. And you do not have to be smart to be blessed by God. Amen. You just need to follow Him, because He has all the smartness, He has all the coolness, He has all the wisdom that you and I need. Hallelujah. We just have to follow Him, and as long as you know how to follow Him, you will do fine. Amen.
The Great Shepherd of the Sheep
So the beautiful picture that He gives us is especially on this wonderful resurrection morning—a reminder of what Jesus has accomplished 2000 years ago, very early in the morning, when He rose from the dead. So in Hebrews 13 the Bible says, “the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep”—there you see it again. All right. The picture of the great Shepherd of the sheep—“through the blood of the everlasting covenant,” not through your efforts but through the blood, “make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in…” Let me stop here and say that in this service there is a rain. It is raining inside here. Can you feel it? It is like spiritually it is raining. It is already raining all over this place. And I am telling you, people are blessed in this service, because I did not sense this rain in the first two, but it is falling. It is like I can hear the sound of the abundance of rain, like the prophet says in the Old Testament. I hear the sound of the abundance of rain, and God's Spirit is falling on you. I know some of you are receiving your miracles already. Thank you, Father God. Praise Your wonderful name, Lord Jesus.
Healing Tied to the Shepherd
The great Shepherd is really pouring in His oil and His wine. Amen. Binding up our wounds and healing us. Amen. The picture of healing is tied up with the Lord being our shepherd. In 1 Peter 2, chapter 2, verse 24—the famous verse all of us quote—“by His stripes we are healed.” And sometimes we forget the context, but if you look at the context, look at the last line: “by whose stripes you were healed, for you were like sheep going astray, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” So the moment you see Jesus as your shepherd, something happens to your body. I believe healing becomes easier when you see Him as your shepherd, when you see yourself as His sheep. Amen. And praise be to the Lord.
All Kinds of Sheep
The Lord has all kinds of sheep, but they are all sheep—all sizes, all shapes. Some of them very round, very cute, but they are all His sheep. Amen. When the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want. And I know that many of you know this passage, and therein lies the danger. All right. Your familiarity with the Shepherd Psalm—Psalm 23. This psalm is, in fact, when people talk about the Bible, they talk about Psalm 23, and it is so well known that even heathens know this psalm—Psalm 23. And if you do not watch it, he said the devil's device is always to try to keep a good revelation down. But when he cannot, and too many voices are preaching that revelation, he will try to push that revelation to the realm where it becomes meaningless, where it becomes repeated like a parrot will repeat something and becomes a cliché or becomes so familiar. Your danger with this psalm is that it becomes an over-familiar passage to you, that you forget what God is saying to you from that psalm today. Amen. Are you listening?
I Shall Not Want
So write off Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Notice there is no qualification. “I shall not want.” In other words, “I shall not lack.” Lack for what? There is no qualification. It does not say, “I shall not lack for joy.” It does not say, “I shall not lack for peace.” “I shall not want.” Full stop. That means what? It covers everything. There will be no lack in your life when the Lord is your shepherd. Now the Lord said this to me: “My people have received Me as their Savior, but many are still lacking because they do not know Me as their Shepherd.” It is when you realize the Lord is your shepherd—you do not have to try to believe. When you see Him as your shepherd and you as His sheep, faith just springs forth. You feel a sense of love. You feel a sense of being cared for. You feel a sense that you are being watched over. Amen. Amen. It is a wonderful sense, and I am feeling it right now, and I believe that the Lord is doing that to all of us right now. The anointing… All right, behind this sermon is here. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
The Shepherd Keeps the Sheep
And the Lord asked me—and when I was preparing this sermon, and last week the Lord asked me this—He says, “Does the sheep keep the shepherd, or does the shepherd keep the sheep?” Yeah, the shepherd keeps the sheep. Then how come you are so worried? Amen. That is why He asked me. He said to me, when I said the shepherd keeps the sheep, He says, “How come you are so worried? How come you are still worried about this and about that? It is My responsibility. I will not look good if you are not taken care of. I will not look good if you are not provided for.” Amen. I am your Shepherd. Amen.
No Lack in Any Area
So the very first thing He wants you to learn in order for you to walk in His provision—you see, God wants you to lack in no area. Amen. In other words, all your wants are provided for. “I shall not want” for anything. Amen, Church. So put a limit there. There are people who preach Psalm 23—unfortunately, Psalm 23 is famous for bedtime, I was going to say bedtime scripture, or even your deathbed scripture: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” And that is what a preacher would do, and he will quote this to someone who is dying in the hospital bed or whatever. But unfortunately, this perspective of Psalm 23 is more than that. And there are those who preach, “I shall not want.” “Oh, I shall not lack.” That means we all know we are going to heaven one day, so we do not… The greatest lack people have is not having salvation—and that is true. But why limit that? That verse does not say, “I shall not lack salvation.” It says, “I shall not want.” Full stop. “I shall not lack” for health. “I shall not lack” for provision. “I shall not lack” for a life partner. Amen. And those who are single, sit up and locate yourself. Amen. Praise the Lord. “I shall not lack” when the Lord is your shepherd.
Rest in Green Pastures
Now I know many of you receive Him as your Savior. Now He wants you to know Him as Shepherd. Praise the Lord. And the very first thing He tells you to do, the very first thing He does to you to help you enjoy His provision—the first thing He does: “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” He makes you lie down in green pastures. And time and time again there are people who do not understand what I am trying to say when I say God wants you to rest. God wants you to relax. Even the Hebrew word for healing—in that word is the word “relax.” In the Hebrew word for healing, the word “relax” is the root of the word healing. God wants you to rest. God wants you to rest inwardly, especially. Now it helps to rest physically, or even as I preach, you know what—but God wants you to rest inwardly.
True Rest and Guidance
And then there are those who want us to motivate the people to take up this course and that course and this course and that course. I cannot do the job of the Holy Spirit. My job is to make you rest, to make you lie down in green pastures. When you are truly rested in the Lord, the Holy Spirit inside you will tell you your assigned portion in the Lord's vineyard. For this one He may tell you to go to this country to be an evangelist; for this one He may tell you to be a homemaker; for this one He may tell you to be an entertainer; or for this one He may tell you to make money for Jesus. Whatever He does, He is going to anoint you for it. Amen. Amen. Are you listening? Amen.
Lying Down in Abundance
I cannot do the part of the Holy Spirit, but I can do the part of His under-shepherd: help you to lie down, make you lie down in green pastures. One of the things that sheep do when they lie down—it tucks in its feet and stops running around, being so busy. And the Lord began to show me that many of you, you are eating as you go—even your physical food you are eating as you go. So spiritually you are putting on iPod. Now it helps that you are at least listening to the Word, but it shall not be a lifestyle. God wants you to relax. Have a time where you open up the Word or listen in a relaxed environment, relaxed way. “He makes you lie down…” Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to His word. He wants you to lie down where? In green pastures.
Fresh Revelation
Now if you are a sheep, green pastures is good news. “He makes you lie down in the abundance of food.” And the word “green” in the Hebrew—I checked it out—it means fresh, sprightly, just-sprung-up grass. Not old, hay, dried-up grass, but new grass. It is a picture of the new covenant. Amen. When you hear the old covenant being preached, make sure you are hearing fresh revelation—the old being brought out in such a way that the light of the new covenant is seen. Amen. So it becomes food for the people of God. Can I have a good amen, Church? Amen.
The Power of Psalm 23
“He makes you lie down in green pastures.” Praise the Lord. And I am telling you, this psalm is so anointed that John G. Lake—the man of God who, when germs touched his flesh, every disease germ died, proven under microscope. The medical doctors saw him, and they did not believe until he proved to them under a microscope: the disease germ that touched him during the bubonic plague where he was ministering in Africa during the thirties or the forties—1940s—the germ died instantly when it touched his body. And he told them about the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, and they did a check on him under the microscope. They saw it instantly die when it touched his body. I want that anointing. Amen. Amen.
Brainwaves and Creativity
But you know what John G. Lake did? One time he asked his scientist friend—one way he had a few scientists; he himself was a scientist before he went into full-time ministry—and he said they have all these electrodes that can show your brainwaves. He had them fix him up, and then all the professors were looking at the brainwaves. And then he started quoting Psalm 23. As he quoted the Scriptures—not only Psalm 23, he began with Psalm 23 but other psalms and other verses—they found that his wavelength began to change into a wavelength where only the most highly intelligent and the most creative state was produced, until the needle had nowhere else to go. And one professor exclaimed and said, “This is amazing. You are a brilliant man.” The guy said, “Brilliant? Nothing. This is the power of the Holy Spirit that came on me while I was quoting the Scriptures.”
Ideas from Rest
So there is something very powerful about the Word of God. It is not the word of man. There is a man in a church—I read this years ago—this church in Buffalo in the US. His pastor shared about this in one of the books I read many years ago. It is a powerful thing that kept with me as I stepped out of secular work years ago and became a success. One of the things that I learned is this: that God's Word will make you a success. And this little thing that I read about—where this particular businessman had this knack of coming up with ideas that make money. People can come up with ideas, but not all ideas are surefire. But this guy's ideas were always ideas that bring in money. So he was asked for his secret. He said, actually almost in an embarrassed way, “It is not a secret at all. What I do is that I sit down in a relaxed way, close my eyes—whenever I need a new idea from the Lord or need to know what to do with business—I just close my eyes, relax, and I begin to quote Psalm 23 slowly, without trying to get an idea. I just quote Psalm 23. I see the Lord as my shepherd and I in the environment of a pasture. And all of a sudden the ideas just pop up like a toaster popping up the toast. It is just like, oh, the idea is there, and I know what to do.”
Rest Brings Blessings
So I read that years ago, and I have been practicing that. It is something—if I cannot sleep at night, you know what I will do? Psalm 23 always comes out: “The Lord is my shepherd…” Before you know it, the Shepherd has gently touched my eyelids in wonderful deep sleep. But do not you do it right now, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Amen. So I tell you this—it is a wonderful picture of lying down. The very first thing it tells you to do is rest. Salvation begins with resting on Jesus' finished work. Healing begins when you stop trying to earn it and rest in Jesus' finished work. Amen. All blessings begin with a new rest, so to speak. In the book of Ephesians it is divided into “sit,” and then the chapter “walk” comes up. How well you walk as a believer is how well you sit—how well you rest in Christ and how well you rest in the finished work. Amen. Amen.
Led Beside Still Waters
“And He leads me beside the still waters.” The word “still” both in the New King James as well as the old—unfortunately it is not the word “still.” “Still” has the idea of stagnant. And if you see stagnant water, it has its breeding mosquitoes and things like that. All right. It is not stagnant. The word “still” is Hebrew “menuhot,” and “menuhot” means quietness—waters of quietness, waters of peace. Literally it is a resting place—“menuhot” waters of rest. “The Lord leads you beside waters of rest.” Now look up here. Do you know that the primary way God leads you is with rest or unrest? You do not have to be smart; you do not have a brilliant mind. All the Lord does is that He leads you by the presence or absence of peace. Waters represent the Holy Spirit. If the waters are troubled, there is no waters of rest—do not do it—in major and minor decisions. If you are deciding on a career change or you are trying to think about whether to invest or not—if there is waters being troubled, do not do it. If there is waters of quietness, do it.
Guidance Through Peace
Last year I stood up in this church and I gave a prophecy, and many people remember, including Pastor Mark. I said that if you want to invest in gold—I do not know how you remember, midweek Bible study—“invest in gold.” And I said that it is not popular last year to say “invest in gold.” People say, “Oh, those days are gone.” Really fast—I mean nowadays gold is not… But you know what? I saw the papers—Mark came and showed me the papers just now: “Pastor, look at this,” and it says gold is at an all-time high for the last 25 years. Imagine for all those who invested in gold. Amen. Amen. Now how did I receive that? I saw gold in the Bible, and all of a sudden there is waters of quietness, and I felt like the Lord is telling me “invest in gold.” Amen. Telling you to invest in gold. So I passed the word to you, right?
Paths of Righteousness
Then He tells you, “The Lord leads me in the paths of righteousness…” after “He restores my soul.” I just want to talk about the paths of righteousness before I talk about “restores my soul.” Actually “restores my soul”—I already showed you just now—“restores my soul” is the idea of healing. The word “soul” is “nefesh,” and “nefesh” means He restores my life. He breathes back life into me. All right. “Now He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.” Again another leading, but this time leading in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Led to the Top
Now listen carefully. Righteousness is not something you do. Righteousness is a gift. Jesus Christ is the gift of righteousness. So when the Lord leads you—now when you go to Israel next time, in fact I am going to make it a point to tell all our tour guides to point out to you: whenever you pass by grazing pastures, you will always see, invariably, you will see a mound or not a very tall hill—just a little hill, maybe 20 feet or whatever. And you will find sheep love these short hills, and you will find tracks around those hills. We will make sure the bus stops for you to take pictures. And they are tracks around the hill that go right to the top. The Jewish people in Israel call this “paths of righteousness” or the footpaths of the sheep. The interesting thing is that they call the very top, the apex, “tikvah,” which means hope. I mentioned that a few weeks ago. All right. That means when the Lord leads you, He will always lead you to hope. And not only that, the paths always lead you right to the top. The Lord will always make you end up on top. You do not have to be smart, all right. If you know how to sense the peace or the absence of it, you know how to follow Jesus. And whenever you follow the Lord, He will always cause you to end up on top. Amen.
Life More Abundantly
You end up doing the right thing at the right time. Pastor Prince is not an investor; he is not a strategist; he is not… I do not know about gold. All the gold I know is on some people's nose—and I mean nose ring. I mean nose ring. After I studied, I realized there are also connotations, and anyway—praise the Lord. But I know one thing: when the Lord speaks to follow, therein lies life more abundant. You know we quote that verse so much—John 10:10—“the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.” But Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life…” Let us look at the verse. “The thief does not come except to steal, kill and destroy.” We know this is the devil. Whenever you are stolen from, it is the work of the devil—whether it is your possession, your joy, your relationship, your peace of mind, your health, your finances—it is always the devil. Here is the culprit, not God. Okay. And he kills and he destroys. But Jesus clearly demarcates, all right, what the devil does and what He does. Jesus speaking here—He says, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” And all the people of God said… But have you ever seen the context?
The Good Shepherd Context
The context of this verse—let us look at the verse before and after. Chapter 10, verse 8: “All whoever came before Me are thieves and robbers.” There you have it—thieves and robbers referring to the Pharisees. The thief singular operates through thieves and robbers plural. The thieves and robbers are religious teachers. Jesus did not come to give you religion. He came to give you life and life more abundantly. Amen. The Pharisees gave religion. Amen. And Jesus calls them thieves and robbers. The thief singular operates through them. The devil does not just rob from you like that, all right. The devil robs through the voice of the Pharisees, the voice of religious teachers and leaders—even in Christian pulpits. Are you listening, people? Amen.
Hearing His Voice
In fact, in this same chapter He talks about, “The sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me. The voice of a stranger they will not follow.” Jesus said the only qualification to hear Jesus' voice is that you are a sheep. Are you a sheep? You qualify to hear His voice. Amen. Praise the Lord. And look at the verse after that: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” You see, the whole context is about sheep and the shepherd. Then the verse 10 is, “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” So until you understand this shepherd nature of the Lord, you will not enjoy life more abundant. Amen, Church. Praise the Lord.
When We Walk Alone
And then He says—let us go back to Psalm 23—“He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.” So you have “He leads me” twice: “He leads me beside the still waters. He leads me…” When God leads you, you just follow Him. Amen. And He will bring you to the top. But then in verse 4 there is a change: “Yea, though I walk…” And all of a sudden it is no more “He leads me” to the valley of the shadow of death. Notice that it is “Yea, though I walk” through the valley. Just “walk” on your own. This one happens when the Lord is no more leading you. Amen. And you are walking on your own. Some sheep are so smart—they say, “I think I am going to try out this new shortcut,” and find themselves in the valley. That is why it says “Yea, though I walk…” Some people make it sound like every Christian will—hey, comes a time in life, all of us must go through the valley of the shadow of death. But you know what? It says “Yea, though I…” You know what that means? You do not have to. And it is because “I walk,” not “the Lord leads me.”
He Finds the Lost
But you know one thing good about the Lord: even though you go astray, He will leave the 99 and find the one missing. He will leave the 99 to find the one missing—even though the one missing is not His fault; the one missing is that person's fault. The Lord never says, “Too bad, I still got 99 left.” Never. And when He finds you—that is why it says when “I walk” through the valley, all of a sudden “I find You are with me.” He will always find you. If He did not find us, we will never be found. “Well, Pastor Prince, in the year 1994 I found the Lord.” No. No—the Lord found you. He was not lost. You were. How dare you tell me—is this you, whipper-snapper? Wet behind the ears, you! No, I am just telling you that none of us can come to the Lord on our own. The Shepherd found us.
Lavish Forgiveness
And look at the Shepherd—look at the style of His love for us. The Bible says, “My cup runs over.” He does not just do things with a miserly, with a meager portion. He does it with a lavish heart, with a heart of bounty. Amen. When the shepherd goes and finds the one that is lost, the Bible says after he finds the lost one, he does something that most shepherds do not do—not in Australia, not in New Zealand, not in Israel, all right. He puts it on his shoulders. He calls his friends and says, “Hey, I am throwing a party—a party for one wayward sheep that was found.” No one throws a party for a wayward sheep, because party means money, and every single parent understands that. So we choose our parties carefully and why we throw the parties for. Amen. But the Lord does not do that. He will lavish the supply so that the sheep will not feel guilty.
The Prodigal's Return
Then in the same story it talks about the father of the prodigal son waiting for his son to come home. And the son spent all his inheritance on harlots and bad company until all the money ran out, and all those people ran out as well. And he was eating in the pig pen, and finally, “Even my servants in my father's house—they eat better than me. I will go back and just become one of my father's hired servants.” He never even dreamed to become his father's son again. As he came across the horizon, the father saw him, and the father ran. “My cup runs over.”
Abundant Pardon
Does God give you forgiveness? How does God give you forgiveness? How do we forgive one another? You know how we forgive one another: “Okay, okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay, I forgive you, but do not do that again.” You can sense that kind of like—that is how humans forgive. “Yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah, I have to forgive—what, I am a Christian?” Or we say, “Yeah, I forgive you—do not forget.” I am the first one to say this. Sometimes even those with mates—they hear a Christian lady of the house saying, “Okay, yeah, yeah, okay, yeah—do not do it again. I forgive you.” But the way the tone is, a tone that the mate knows her days are numbered. It is the spirit.
Compassion for the Lost
The Bible says the way the Lord forgives: “For He will abundantly pardon.” Amen. We have forgiveness of sins—Ephesians chapter 1—according to the riches of His grace. The day you can measure God's grace, put it down from here and measure it all the way—that is the day you will know how much you are forgiven. That means you are forgiven of your entire life according to the riches—not out of—according to the riches of His grace. Amen, Church.
Sheep Without a Shepherd
The father of the prodigal son ran to the son when he saw the son across the horizon. Not only that—kissed him, but now he smelled of pigs—kissed him. Not only that—turned and shouted to the servants, “Bring forth the best robe, the sandals for his feet, the ring on his finger”—that is the Visa card during those days—“and kill the fatted calf.” And the fatted calf: “My son was lost; now he is found.” And the son tried to go into his rehearsed speech: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and earth. Make me one of your hired servants.” He rehearsed that speech in the pig pen. He never got through saying “Make me one of your hired servants,” because the father lavished on him before he could earn it as a hired servant. The way He forgives leaves no room for guilt. Only man makes you feel guilty. He lavished on him.
Great Leaders Are Great Sheep
You know why the father ran to meet the son? You know why? Because the father wanted to be the first one to meet the returning prodigal and not the older brother. Because if the older brother met him first—oh, oh—you know what is going to happen. And unfortunately there are many returning sheep trying to come back to the house of God, but unfortunately they met the older brother in the pulpit first. I am serious. They never come back. And it is not because they are weakened; it is not because they are bad. And I want to tell you something about perspective for people. This SMS going around—we should be praying for that girl. We should be praying for this younger generation instead of saying all kinds of words that further curse them. The way we see people that are lost—we got to see them the way Jesus sees them. “Well, Pastor Prince, how does Jesus see them?” He does not see them as rotten sinners. How does Jesus see people?
Feed the Flock
Well, we have an idea—Mark 6. Jesus, when He came out, He saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them. Why? Because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. Why does Jesus have great compassion on all the people that came? He saw many of them on the mountainside coming towards Him. Some of them were blind; some were carried on stretchers. They were all coming towards Him. But how did Jesus look at them? They were like sheep not having a shepherd, and He had great compassion. He had compassion for them, so He began to teach them many things.
No Fear in the Valley
What do sheep need? Food. When a lamb is sick, what do you do? Beat them on the head so they can become better? That is the way some of us preach—it is like that. We hit them on the head some more. No—you feed them. Jesus saw lost people as sheep without a shepherd. Amen. If there was a butcher there, the butcher would say, “Wow—mutton and lamb chops.” Usually in terms of money. If there was a tailor there: “Wow, so much wool to make clothes.” Jesus saw them as sheep lost without the shepherd. Amen, Church.
Rod and Staff Comfort
Something happens when you see people—you look at those people who are dancing the night away. I did my best and all that. What do I see? I see sheep without a shepherd, and the next day worshipping at the great white throne—lost. You do not have to worry about trying to work up a compassion. The moment you see people as lost sheep, compassion is there. Amen, Church.
Table in Presence of Enemies
Something about this dynamic of shepherd and sheep—even for leaders. The Lord tells us to look at people, and He always says this: “Feed the flock of God. Feed the flock of God”—not “beat the army of God.” Never. Even though we are the host and He is the Captain of the host, it says “feed the flock” always. Have you noticed great leaders are great sheep? They know how to be a sheep. The reason why David became a great king shepherding the people of Israel was because David was a shepherd, and he was also a sheep. He wrote Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd”—that makes him a sheep. And because he was a good sheep, he could be a good shepherd to shepherd the people of Israel. And God said in the Psalms, “I have taken David from following the sheepfold to shepherd My people Israel.” Hallelujah.
Anointing with Oil
Have you noticed that the great leaders in the Bible—Moses, Abraham—they were all shepherds? Have you noticed? In fact, one time I thought of spending one whole year as a shepherd in Israel. That will be my Bible study. I really believe that if pastors or those potential pastors—do not worry about Bible school—go for one year in New Zealand or Australia and learn to be a shepherd Bible-way, I think you will come back and learn a lot. You will learn about why snakes are dangerous to sheep and how to protect the sheep. I mean, you can learn a lot in the shepherd-sheep environment. Amen. Praise the Lord.
I Am the Good Shepherd
Joseph was a shepherd. David was a shepherd. And we are all here under-shepherds, but He is the Chief Shepherd. We are here to feed you. I hope our food is good. Amen. We are not here to beat you. The world has beaten you enough. We are here to feed you. Amen. “But Pastor Prince, I have been coming for the last few weeks, but the pain is still there.” You are recovering—keep on feeding. Just keep on feeding, and one day you will just have a scar down there that says “Jesus made you well.” Amen.
Goodness and Mercy Pursue
And I am telling you, Church—you cannot force or give laws to people to make them whole. You can love them into wholeness. That is what we can do. Even our relationships—we are to love, to feed. When Jesus saw them lost, what did He do? He began to teach them. You say, “Well, Pastor Prince, I love the Lord.” If you love Him, feed His sheep. That is what Jesus told Peter. “Peter, do you love Me?” “Lord, You know all things; You know I love You.” “Feed My sheep.” He said that on resurrection morning 2000 years ago by the Sea of Galilee. And those who have been to Israel, you know that place—we know that location. It is still there. And that was the place He says, “Do you love Me?” Peter says, “Yes.” “Feed My sheep.” Amen. That is how He receives your language of love. That is how He interprets your language of love. All right. He sees your feeding His flock as loving Him. Amen.
Pursue Jesus
Let us go to Psalm 23. Because of time, we go down to verse 4: “I fear no evil.” If you notice, that is the valley of the shadow of death—not the valley of death. The shadow of a sword never cut anybody. The shadow of a dog never bit anybody. It is just a shadow. Yesterday I was with Jessica, and we were doing our evening walk, and then she looked—the sun was setting, so the shadow was really long. So we were playing with each other's shadow, and she felt so good when I was shorter than her. You step aside—you know what? Shadows can… Shadows only harm fools and children. Shadows do not harm adults. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
Behold His Beauty
David is amazing. He saw a thousand years ahead of his time and saw Jesus' death conquering death. Jesus rose from the dead, removing the sting from death. Amen. “I fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Have you noticed a change? Have you noticed that from verse 1: “He says the Lord is my shepherd…” In the third person: “The Lord is my shepherd. He makes me… He leads me… He restores me…” All of a sudden when he goes to the valley of trial, he says, “You are with me.” He talks to the Lord directly. Look up here. It is good to tell your friends, “The Lord is this to me. The Lord is this to me. The Lord is this to me.” When we are going into trouble, it is time for you to talk to the Lord and not about the Lord. Amen. All of a sudden he is no more, “He makes me lie down” as a testimony. “He does this; He leads me…” Now: “You are with me. I fear no evil, Lord. You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Closing Benediction
His rod is to whack the living daylights out of any wolf that tries to devour. His staff has a crook at the end of it—because every staff has a crook. I am just teasing. Okay. No, no—my staff is mine. Okay. But the crook at the end of the staff is so that when a lamb falls between the crevice or whatever, all right, the shepherd is able to just hook him out under his armpits—just out like that. Amen. So Your rod against the enemy, and Your staff—they comfort me. It is a term used of the Holy Spirit. He is called the Comforter. The Holy Spirit has come to lead us to Jesus. Amen, Church. Praise the Lord.
Every head bowed, every eye closed. Somebody shout, “I am a sheep! I am a sheep!” Amen. Hallelujah. He is your Shepherd. Amen.
With every head bowed in this place right now—watch it. This coming week, goodness and mercy will hunt you down. I do not think you can escape. “Maa… cry mama, cry daddy”—you will not escape. Goodness and mercy will hunt you down all the days of this coming week. Praise the Lord.
Yes, Father. Amen. Again—the Lord just spoke to me: somebody is having a financial breakthrough even right now. Something is happening behind the scenes. The Lord is causing breakthroughs in your area of finances. Praise the Lord. Whatever the devil has stolen from you, all right—the blessings that are coming forth in the days ahead of you will cause you to forget and make what you have lost little. Hallelujah—in your sight.
Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Praise the Lord. Are you blessed in the house of God today? The Lord loves you. And remember—you are not someone who is just in a crowd, a face in a crowd. He knows you by name, and He calls you by name. Amen. He knows His own, and you hear His voice. Amen.
“Surely goodness and mercy will hunt you down throughout this coming week.” Lift your hands all across this place—and everyone in the overflow as well.
Lord Jesus, thank You. Thank You for Your Word today, Lord. You are the Chief Shepherd of New Creation Church. And as Your under-shepherd, I have been authorized to pronounce Your blessings on Your people.
The Lord bless you. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Abraham. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. But the Lord bless you most of all with an intimate revelation of Jesus Himself.
The Lord keep you, preserve you and your loved ones this coming week from harm, from danger, from sickness, from all the powers of darkness and from the evil one. Lord, keep you and preserve you from all evil.
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May you find yourself walking in the supernatural favor of God throughout this week as goodness and His favor hunts you down.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon every one of you and grant you shalom peace. In Jesus' name—and all the people said, Amen.
God bless you. All right—keep this image of the Shepherd before you and enjoy His goodness and mercy.