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I. "THE LOST." We may regard the figure as descriptive of those who (by imperceptible degrees) have erred and strayed from the Shepherd's fold and presence. Once their landscape was bathed in sunshine; — the mountain tops of God's faithfulness were clear; — the summits of the heavenly hills sparkled gloriously; — theirs were the green pastures and still waters, — the Shepherd's voice to cheer them, and the Shepherd's steps to guide them. But all is gloomy now; — the storm clouds have gathered in their once serene sky. It may arise from their own sluggish unconcern; — a drowsy, sleepy, callous frame, — the result of a gradual, but ever-deepening insensibility to Divine things; — a trifling with their spiritual interests; — languor in prayer — conformity with the world — tampering with sins of omission — venturing on forbidden or debatable ground.

II. Those who are "DRIVEN AWAY." Some overt act has been the cause of their scattering. Look at David as an illustration. His own iniquities separated between him and his God. He never after was the joyous believer he once was. He was indeed restored, pardoned, loved; — but the memory of that sad day followed him to the grave, and mantled Iris whole moral landscape with clouds, even to the very entrance of the dark valley. And how many among the true flock of the Shepherd have to tell a similar mournful tale! Some one guilty deed has laid the foundation of weeks and months — ay, years, of spiritual alienation and distance from the fold.

III. "THE BROKEN." How numerous are these! Some are "broken" by calamity; — penury scattering them in its cloudy and dark day. Some are "broken" by bitter disappointment; an aching heart wound too sacred to be revealed has left them bleeding and desolate, refusing to be comforted. Some are "broken" by bereavement.

IV. THE SICK. We might take this in a figurative sense; as descriptive of those who are sick at heart, — sad and disconsolate with the trials and sins and sorrows of death, and with the corruptions of their own natures. But why not regard it literally, an applied to those laid on beds of sickness? Many among us who inadequately appreciate the talent of health are apt also to forget and overlook this large section in God's world; — the "poor afflicted ones," the maimed members of the flock.

V. TO ONE AND ALL OF THESE "SCATTERED ONES" THE GREAT SHEPHERD COMES. He has a special word of comfort for each separate case.

1. "Lost!" He "seeks" you. Though you have forgotten Him, He has not forgotten you.

2. Ye who have been "driven away," He will "bring you again." Ye who, like the Psalmist of Israel, have unwarily left the pastures of peace and security, and entangled yourselves in the midnight forest of danger and sin; the grace of Him who first brought you to the fold is able to bring you back again, and restore to you the joys of His salvation.

3. Broken ones! Ye who are crushed and mutilated by the thousand ills of suffering and sorrow: rejoice! That Shepherd came to "bind up" breaking hearts; His name is "The Healer of the broken hearted."

4. "Sick!" Ye pining sufferers in earth's great hospital! Ye bleating sheep, lying languid and helpless in the fold — He, the Great Shepherd, comes to "strengthen you." A sick bed — where the noisy world is shut out — where its cares and anxieties and aspirations and ambitions are no longer present to hamper and harass — what a blessed season for converse with the Infinite.

VI. THE GRACIOUS ADAPTATION OF CHRIST'S DEALINGS TO THE DIFFERENT WANTS AND TRIALS AND NECESSITIES OF HIS PEOPLE.

1. He "seeks" the lost; and on finding them a look of love suffices to bring the conscience-stricken wanderers back.

2. He "brings again" the driven away. Those cowering in terror at their own wilful blindness and apostasy, their deep ingratitude and heinous guilt, need help, encouragement, guidance; — they need being carried in the Shepherd's arms.

3. He "binds up" the broken; He stanches the bleeding wound with the application of tender restoratives — the balm words of His own exceeding great and precious promises. He, the Brother born for adversity, teaches the wounded spirit, and He alone can, how to "bear" in this "dark and cloudy day"; He turns the shadow of death into the morning.

4. He "strengthens" the sick — those who for years on years have been laid on couches of languishing — secluded from the gladsome light of day, on whose ears the tones of the Sabbath bell fall only to tell of forfeited privileges. They can best bear attestation how a mysterious, sustaining strength, not their own, is imparted to them, which makes them wonders to themselves.Let us close with two practical reflections.

1. The all-sufficiency of the Shepherd's power and love. There is no case He cannot meet. Lost ones, driven ones, broken ones, sick ones. It seems to exhaust the circle of human wants and necessities. He seems to anticipate every supposable case, so that none dare say "that Shepherd-love does not include me."

2. This precious passage, so full of tenderness and love to the erring, the backsliding, the suffering, ends with a brief but most solemn utterance of "judgment" on the impenitent, the self-righteous, and unbelieving. "He that has rest for disquieted saints," says Matthew Henry, "has terror to speak to presumptuous sinners."

(J. R. Macduff, D. D.)

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KJV: For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

WEB: For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.