Out Our Way: I shall fear no evil - Psalm 23

Out our way, the open range is almost gone and the prairies are mostly fenced off, but it can still be a wild place at times. By and large, our homes on the range have very few buffalo roaming about these days, although the deer and the antelope still play and are a pretty common site. But the song never mentions other critters of the prairie who are still to be found. Over by the national parks, grizzly and roving wolf packs are still an issue for area ranchers, and, even out our way in the Bear Paws, mountain lions still roam the hills.  

Dudes from back East and city folks may scoff at the sight of ranchers carrying Colts and Winchesters in the backcountry, but to us it is no laughing matter. Out our way, we all know about "the 3 S rule": Shoot - Shovel - Shut up! Predators that start attacking and mauling the herds tend to "disappear." Maybe government bureaucrats in Washington DC and Hollywood elites are clueless, but lions, wolves, and bears are not. They get the message and start to steer clear of herds and flocks where vigilant ranchers, cowhands, and shepherds "still roam."   

The image of the shepherd is a common one for God in the Old and New Testament, and as you read the 23rd Psalm about "still waters and green pastures," you need to keep going and also read about "Valley of the Shadow and "Thy rod and thy staff" that makes the still waters and green pastures possible. Recall David, the shepherd who killed Goliath with his sling. It was not a cute sling shot like kids play with, but a lethal weapon. In the hands of an expert like David, it could easily kill a lion, a bear, a wolf, and even more easily, a puffed up egotistical man. Indeed it was the equivalent of the M-16 in the middle east in David's day. Think "Dirty Harry" or "Indiana Jones" armed with a .45 Colt going up against a huge and powerful adversary armed with a sword. "That's not a knife ... "  

Goliath may have been an egotistical moron to not grasp that "bringing a knife to a gunfight" is suicide. Most bears, lions, wolves, etc. are not so stupid. Neither is our Enemy. Like the lion or wolf or grizzly, the Enemy looks for the stragglers who have left the herd and the protection of the herder. Is it any wonder he uses his allies in the world to ridicule and mock and encourage us to separate us from the Shepherd?   

There were those who laughed and ridiculed me for carrying a .45 in lion country, seeking to make me, Doc and the herd vulnerable and helpless. I considered them allies of the lion. There are those who laugh and ridicule those who dare to worship the Lord instead of some momentary pop culture movement. Whose side are they on?  

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way." He can be reached for comment or dialogue at [email protected].