The future king of Israel killed lions with a stick. The story David told Saul before fighting Goliath is the back-story of Psalm 23, and the New Testament picks the same metaphor up in the mouth of Jesus.

In this letter

- 1 Samuel 17:32-37 — David's conversation with Saul before fighting Goliath

- The story of the lion and the bear, told plainly

- Why the shepherd metaphor in the Hebrew Bible is bloody, not sentimental

- A boy with a stick, running after a lion that has a lamb in its mouth

- John 10:11 — Jesus picks up the same metaphor and adds the cost

- What it means that the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep

- The sheep's job, and why we resist it

Scripture

- 1 Samuel 17:32-37

- Psalm 23:1

- John 10:11-18

- Ezekiel 34 (ref ...