… thou anointest my head with oil; MY CUP RUNNETH OVER.
Psalm 23:5
I did not know that a shepherd has a literal cup until I learnt it from a real shepherd who carried a bottle containing a mixture of brandy and water. This shepherd’s mixture of brandy and water overflowed into a blessing of healing and restoration for freezing sheep that were distressed by extreme weather. The overflowing cup of the shepherd was a life-giving cup to the sheep.
Indeed, our Lord Jesus’ blood overflowed to bring salvation and healing to the whole world. The cup of every pastor must overflow to bring life and healing to needy sheep. Phillip Keller, an experienced shepherd, tells us how he practically ministered to sheep from his “overflowing cup”.
He says:
Blizzards can blow up or sleet storms suddenly shroud the hills. The flock and their owner can pass through appalling suffering together.
It is here that I grasp another aspect altogether of the meaning of a cup that overflows. There is in every life a cup of suffering. Jesus Christ referred to His agony in the garden of Gethsemane and at Calvary as His cup. And had it not overflowed with His life poured out for men, we would have perished.
In tending my sheep I carried a bottle in my pocket containing a mixture of brandy and water. Whenever a ewe or lamb was chilled from undue exposure to wet, cold weather I would pour a few spoonfuls down his throat. In a matter of minutes the chilled creature would be on its feet and full of renewed energy. It was especially cute the way the lambs would wiggle their tails with joyous excitement as the warmth from the brandy spread through their bodies.
The important thing was for me to be there on time, to find the frozen, chilled sheep before it was too late. I had to be in the storm with them, alert to everyone that was in distress. Some of the most vivid memories of my sheep ranching days are wrapped around the awful storms my flock and I went through together.
I can see again the gray-black banks of storm clouds sweeping in off the sea; I can see the sleet and hail and snow sweeping across the hills; I can see the sheep racing for shelter in the tall timber; I can see them standing there soaked, chilled, and dejected. Especially the young lambs went through appalling misery without the benefit of a full, heavy fleece to protect them. Some would succumb and lie down in distress only to become more cramped and chilled. Then it was that my mixture of brandy and water came to their rescue. I’m sure the Palestine shepherds must have likewise shared their wine with their chilled and frozen sheep.
What a picture of my Master, sharing the wine, the very life blood of His own suffering from His overflowing cup, poured out at Calvary for me. He is there with me in every storm. My Shepherd is alert to every approaching disaster that threatens His people. He has been through the storms of suffering before. He bore our sorrows and was acquainted with our grief.
