“Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock. May the sword strike his arm and his right eye. Let his arm be wholly withered, his right eye utterly blinded.”
– Zechariah 11:17
What a picture of woe, coming straight from the mouth of God to the one He calls, “My worthless shepherd.”
Zechariah 11:17 Is a Warning to those in Spiritual Leadership
This is God speaking directly through Isaiah to leaders among His people, entrusted by God to care for His people, and they’re not doing it. They’re deserting, and destroying, and deceiving, and ignoring in many ways, the flock. They’re indulging themselves while hurting the flock.
And it’s a humbling picture for anyone in any position of spiritual leadership. Certainly, shepherds, pastors in a church, but not just in that sense. To think about any sense of spiritual leadership you have in someone else’s life, in your home, your family, any sense of spiritual influence you have for others in the church, regardless of what position you might be in. Certainly those who are in particular positions, but God has entrusted each of us with the care of people around us.
Zechariah 11:17 Leads Us to Abide in Our Worthy Shepherd
And reading Zechariah 11:17 just drives us, doesn’t it? To say we don’t want to be worthless shepherds. We want to care well for people around us. In our homes, in our churches, in the places where we have been given influence at work, in our communities, to care well for people. And in this picture, especially on this day, are we not so thankful that God has come Himself to be our shepherd? Our good shepherd, Jesus, God born in the flesh to be our shepherd, and He is not a worthless shepherd. He is a worthy shepherd. Jesus doesn’t desert the flock. He dies for the flock.
And so we pray, Lord Jesus, we exalt you as our shepherd, as the good shepherd, as the great shepherd. We praise you for giving your life for us as your sheep. For coming to us, being born among us, for living the life we could not live, with no sin, and then for dying the death we deserve to die for our sin. And then for rising and conquering sin and the grave. All glory be to your name.
We say to you, you are our worthy shepherd. Lord, we worship you. We love hearing your voice, following your lead.
So help us. Help us to follow your lead as the worthy shepherd of our lives. And as we do, and as you entrust any level of spiritual influence to us over others, or entrust the care of people around us to us, God, we pray you’d help us to be faithful with this stewardship. God, help us to care for people well around us in ways that reflect your goodness, your grace, your love, your mercy, your truth, your compassion. Oh God, we pray that you would help us to be a reflection of your shepherding love.
Praying for the Doma People
And God, we pray today for the Doma people of Zimbabwe, ironically, the only non-agricultural people of Zimbabwe, this small people group that has hardly any knowledge of the Gospel. God, we pray they need you as their shepherd. They need you as their shepherd, Lord Jesus. So we pray for the spread of the gospel through the church in Zimbabwe, through laborers going into the harvest field among the Doma people, that they might be saved, and led, and guided by Jesus the good shepherd.
We pray for them and for every people group in the world that doesn’t know the good news of Jesus born in a manger, God in the flesh, come to save and shepherd us to eternal life with you. We pray for the spread of this good news among all the nations. In Jesus’ name, according to your word in Zechariah, chapter 11, verse 17. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
