A different sort of Thanksgiving post, or "Not baaaad," Tom said sheepishly

The photograph above was taken by Neil Theasby of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, who granted me permission to use it.

When I saw all those sheep, I thought of a verse in the middle of Psalm 100:

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

That is one crowded pasture. Actually those sheep are not in a pasture at all but more of a fenced corral on a public footpath where Neil happened to be taking one of his daily three-hour walks through the countryside, taking photographs all the while.

Neil is somewhat weird. You and I, of course, are not.

I also noticed that there were black sheep and white sheep in the photograph. Historically the phrase 'black sheep' came to mean bad, disapproved, rogue, cantankerous, and so forth. Dictionary.com says a black sheep is 'a person who causes shame or embarrassment because of deviation from the accepted standards of his or her group' and refers readers to the words pariah, outcast, prodigal, reject, and reprobate.

I think this is very unfair to categorize sheep in this way. Different should not have derogatory connotations. Differences are just that -- differences.

If we are the sheep of His pasture, then He must be our shepherd. Psalm 23 declares that He is:

'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters; He restoreth my soul'.

According to one of his disciples named John, Jesus had quite a lot to say about sheep. Here is Jesus speaking in John's tenth chapter:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

Later in the same chapter Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). Other writers of the New Testament refer to Jesus Christ as the great shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), and the chief shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). A few years ago I was inspired by these and other verses to write the following poem and even set it to music:

1. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares for His sheep
He gave His life for them freely when He came.
His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him
And He calls each one by name.

... He calls His sheep by name
....He calls His sheep by name.
....The Lord is my shepherd,
....He bore my sin and shame,
....And He calls His sheep by name.

2. Jesus, the Great Shepherd guides us each day
Making us eager to do His blessed will,
And though we may falter along life's way
He is calling us, calling us still.

....He calls His sheep by name
....He calls His sheep by name.
....The Lord is my shepherd,
....He bore my sin and shame,
....And He calls His sheep by name.

3. Jesus, the Chief Shepherd, soon will appear,
He'll bring crowns of glory that cannot fade away.
With the archangel's voice and the trumpet of God
He will shout on that glorious day.

....And he will call His sheep by name
....He will call His sheep by name.
....Today and forever, eternally the same,
....He calls His sheep by name,
....He calls His sheep by name.

I bring this post to a close with an interesting observation I heard recently: The devil knows our name but calls us by our sin. The Lord knows our sin but calls us by our name.

Thanks be to God.

At least I took your mind off turkey.

Be a lamb now and run along.

A stitch in time saves 9,817,643 (Part 1)

Coloring is not Mrs. RWP's only hobby. She also is an excellent cross-stitcher. In this post you will see what I am treated to every single day of my life.

Wikipedia says that cross stitching is the oldest form of embroidery and is found all over the world. There are two types, stamped cross stitch and counted cross stitch.

This first one, the Twenty-third Psalm, was a stamped pattern. It was the first project Mrs. RWP attempted when she took up cross-stitching back in the 1980s. This hangs on one wall of our guest bathroom:.

All of the remaining creations in this post and the next two posts were counted cross-stitch projects, which simply means the patterns were not stamped on the cloth but Mrs. RWP created the finished products by following a set of printed instructions. Here is some of her early work:

The Big Chicken actually exists in Marietta, Georgia, as a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. In real life its beak moves up and down and its eyes roll. The computer expert on the right is, of course, me. I took it to work and hung it in my office. My mouth also moves up and down and my eyes have been known to roll on occasion.

The small hallway that leads to what we call the grandchildren's bedroom is adorned with the following sampler that Mrs. RWP created in 1986. It was the most complex one Mrs. RWP had attempted so far:

We're just beginning and I don't want to overwhelm you. Parts 2 and 3 will follow shortly.

The 23rd Psalm

This well-known chapter from the Old Testament comes in many English versions. The familiar words repeated at many funerals are found in the King James Version of 1611:

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.


Perhaps this psalm, in Hebrew, was spoken at a hastily-arranged burial in Jerusalem on this day in 29 or 30 A.D. on the original Good Friday.

When the English version of Psalm 23 is set to music, some poetic license usually occurs. For example, in 1650 the Scottish Psalter contained these lyrics by William Whittingham, set to the music of Jessie S. Irvine:

The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want;
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
E’en for His own name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through death’s dark vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me, and Thy rod
And staff me comfort still.

My table Thou hast furnish-ed
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be.


Backwards it reads. Like Yoda it sounds.

Three centuries later, in 1969, musician Ralph Carmichael based his song “The New 23rd” on Kenneth Taylor’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Living Bible:

1 Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!
2,3 He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He restores my failing health. He helps me to do what honors Him the most.
4 Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way.
5 You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as your guest; blessings overflowing!
6 Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterward I will live with you forever in your home.


Eugene Peterson, who published an even more modern version of the Bible called The Message, put it this way:

1-3 God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.

4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
makes me feel secure.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.


Does “beauty and love” mean the same thing as “goodness and mercy”? Does “chase after me” mean the same thing as “follow me”? Does “for the rest of my life” mean the same thing as “forever”? Nice try, Eugene, but I vote No on all counts. And even though Death Valley and Valley of Death sound like the same thing, the former makes me think of California but the latter doesn’t.

My favorite poetic re-rendering of the 23rd Psalm is Henry W. Baker’s hymn entitled “The King Of Love My Shepherd Is,” which first appeared in the publication Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1868:

The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never,
I nothing lack if I am His
And He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul He leadeth,
And where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
With Thee, dear Lord, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread’st a table in my sight;
Thy unction grace bestoweth;
And O what transport of delight
From Thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing Thy praise
Within Thy house forever.


Several beautiful musical compositions have been written for “The King Of Love My Shepherd Is.” My favorite is the tune by Harry Rowe Shelley, but since I was unable to find a suitable video example of it, here is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the first, second, and last stanzas of “The King Of Love My Shepherd Is” to a beautiful Irish tune arranged by Mack Wilberg for two flutes and a harp.

A final word about today from Tony Campolo: “It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming!”