I reminded us Sunday that Sebastian the Ram in The Sheep Detectives was right when he said God was a shepherd. The most beloved psalm in the Bible opens:

The Lord is my shepherd. (Psalm 23.1)

And Jesus affirmed it:

I am the Good Shepherd. (John 10.11, 14)

Did you know it’s also in Ezekiel? I wrote on June 16, 2026, the problem God had with his shepherds, the priests. Jeremiah addressed it in Jeremiah 50; Ezekiel, in chapter 34:

You have not…

• strengthened the weak or
• healed the sick or
• bound up the injured. You have not
• brought back the strays or
• searched for the lost. (Ezekiel 34.4, NIV)

The solution? Right. God is the Shepherd:

I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… (Ezekiel 34.15, 16, NIV)

And God delegates that work to us:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9.36 – 38, NIV)

What’s the solution to sheep without a shepherd? Pray for more “laborers” – more shepherds. (And those who pray are often sent.)

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness…These twelve Jesus sent out… (Matthew 10.1, 5, NIV)