cf. 1 Pet. 5:3
In God’s recovery by life, God first sends the watchman to sound the trumpet to His people that they may repent, turn, and live (ch. 33); then He Himself appears as the Shepherd to search for and seek out His sheep. After John the Baptist sounded the trumpet of repentance (Matt. 3:1-2), the Lord Jesus came as the Shepherd (Matt. 9:36; Luke 15:1-7; John 10:11).
As the Shepherd, the Lord will gather His people, His sheep, out of the nations and bring them back to the land of Canaan, which typifies the all-inclusive Christ as the allotted portion of God’s people (see note Deut. 8:71b), to dwell on the high mountains (v. 14), signifying the resurrected and ascended Christ.
The streams here signify the life-giving Spirit as the living water (John 7:37-39), who is given to us by God as our spiritual drink (1 Cor. 12:13), and the rich pasture (v. 14) signifies Christ as the feeding place for God’s people (John 10:9). By means of the Spirit as the streams, we enjoy Christ as our rich pasture (Psa. 23:2; cf. Rev. 22:1-2).
In His recovery by life, while the Lord feeds us and gives us something to drink, He also gives us rest and heals us (v. 16).
Psa. 23:1; 80:1; Isa. 40:11; cf. Ezek. 37:24; Matt. 2:6
Referring to Christ, who is the real David (Matt. 12:3), the real Shepherd of God’s flock (Psa. 23; John 10:11; Heb. 13:20) and the King (v. 24) of God’s people (Isa. 9:7; Hosea 3:5; Micah 5:2; Luke 1:32-33).
When the Lord Jesus comes as the Shepherd to care for us, He comes also as the King to govern us. The issue of the Lord’s caring for us as our Shepherd is that we obey Him as our King and come under His kingship and His throne within us.
In God’s recovery by life, under God’s secure and unchanging covenant of peace, God’s recovered people enjoy peace, freedom from the disturbance of evil beasts (evil persons — Acts 20:29), full liberty and release from every kind of yoke and slavery (v. 27), and security from their enemies (v. 28).
In God’s recovery by life, God’s recovered people not only receive His blessing but also become a source of blessing to others that they may be supplied. Under the showers of blessing in season, there will be an abundance of spiritual food not only for us to enjoy but also for us to supply to others (vv. 27, 29).
God’s recovered people have God’s presence, God is among them, and they are before God (vv. 30-31). This portrays the perfect fellowship with God, the fellowship in oneness, in the mingling of God and man, in which we are one with God and He is one with us.
