Micah 5:4

He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord

The Mighty Shepherd

I. His activity and zeal. “He shall stand.” We read of idle shepherds, who lie down and sleep and neglect their flock. This attitude of standing shows--

1. Dignity. He is the Royal Shepherd.

2. Observation. He who stands can survey all around.

3. Attention. He does not withdraw His eyes. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

II. His regard. “He shall feed.” The term feed is not confined to providing food. It applies to all the duties of a shepherd. And this office consists of unwearied care, such as--

1. Causing them to rest. The weary child of God must pause, and the wise Shepherd selects the time and place.

2. Leading them. The Eastern shepherd treads the ground before his flock.

3. Restoring the wanderers. There are always the erring and wandering--headstrong, foolish, daring.

4. Healing the wounded.

5. Defending the weak and securing the flock.

III. His ability. “In the strength of the Lord.” This does not mean “borrowed” strength; the strength of the Lord is His own. And power is needed. Who can realise the danger and difficulties of the Church on earth, or the trials of a struggling soul?

IV. His dignity. “In the majesty of His God.” Majesty combined with strength. How majestic was Christ, even in His humiliation! Majesty combined with simplicity; majesty and gentleness. But Christ is terrible in majesty, terrible to His foes. Who shall abide His day? Yea, He is terrible to the foes of His flock. (Homilist.)

The Shepherd and His mission

“The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Many other things were predicted in the Scriptures; but incidentally, relatively, subordinately; this testimony was the fixed subject and steady aim of the whole. All the prophets testified of Jesus, though not all in the same way or in the same degree. They did not always understand their own predictions. From this prediction consider--

I. His implied character. It is that of a shepherd. The character of a shepherd now is far less respectable than it was in early ages, and especially in the East. The character of a good shepherd has been applied to a good ruler. Christ is called the Good Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd, the Great Shepherd, and God’s Shepherd. And we are told that both His kindness and His love are unexampled.

II. Observe His work. “Stand and feed.” The pastures in which He feeds His people are His Word and ordinances. We are not to restrain the work of this Divine Shepherd to feeding only. He affords repose; for His flock need rest as well as provision. A shepherd also guides them. Christ guides His people by His Word, by His Spirit, and by His providence. By His Word He shows them the way in which they should go. By His Spirit He gives them the inclination, and works in them to walk in the way of His pleasure. By His providence He arranges all, and fixes all their circumstances in life for the advancement of His own glory and their real welfare. As a shepherd He restores; for they sometimes, nay often, go astray. As a shepherd He heals their sicknesses. He renders all His ordinances and all His dispensations salutary. As a shepherd He defends them all, else they would be destroyed.

III. How He is to perform His work.

1. He will do this attentively. “Stand and feed.”

2. Powerfully. “In the strength of the Lord.”

3. Nobly or gracefully. “In the majesty of the. .. name of the Lord His God. .. Power. .. is not always, dignity; authority, when it is not softened by condescension, has in it something harsh and repelling.

Some who feel their strength, think of nothing else. Christ is mild and gentle. He exerted His power mildly, kindly, if you will, majestically.

IV. The safety of the flock. “And they shall abide.” To abide is to continue, to endure, to be able to withstand any foe, and to go forth against it. There is, however, a difference between the fact and the comfort of it. The believer is often filled with fear, and is ready to suppose that God is going to destroy us. At other times Christians are able to realise this fact by faith.

V. The extension of His own renown. “Now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.” In order to this He must be known, and to make Himself known is all that is necessary to this. The more He is known, the more will He be loved and adored. And does He not deserve to be known? The Christians’ grief is that Christ is so little known and adored. There are, however, two things to console them.

1. That it is not so in the other world.

2. They know that it will not be so always, nor long, even in this world.

They know that He shall have “the heathen for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession.” (William Jay.)