I don’t know if our text today shocked you at all when you heard it. There is something shocking about it. In our text a man who admits he is but dust and ashes (v. 27) stands before the LORD God, who is called in our text the Judge of all the earth (v. 25). That’s a pretty bold move! That’s a pretty vulnerable place, don’t you think? Especially when the Judge of all the earth has just shared his secret with you that he is going to carbonize wicked, impenitent Sodom and Gomorrah to dust and ashes! Abraham, himself a sinful creature of dust and ashes, is bold enough to speak to the Lord, and bold enough to ask him to change his course of action!

In the final verse of our text today, Jesus is called the Chief Shepherd (v. 4). He is the main Shepherd, the head Shepherd, the primary Shepherd. And of course, he is. He is the Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. He is the Shepherd who makes us lie down by quiet waters, who leads us in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake, who is with us and takes away our fears when we go through the valley of the shadow of death. He is the one who gives us life, life to the full. (John 10) In every way he is the preeminent Protector and Provider. He is in every way the Good and the Chief Shepherd.

      In January of 1987, the New York Giants won Super Bowl XXI.  Their quarterback, Phil Simms was named the game’s MVP.  In the moments after the game, Phil Simms was asked, “You just won the Super Bowl.  What are you going to do now?”  And Phil Simms said, “I’m going to DisneyWorld!”  Now, that was not all as spontaneous and organic as it seemed.  Simms later said he was paid $50,000 to say that.  But thus began one of the most famous lines in the history of advertising: “I’m going to DisneyWorld!”

When God created the first two human beings, he did something remarkable with them. He talked with them. This presupposes there was a common language spoken by God and Adam and Eve. Both God and Adam and Eve knew the same vocabulary and the same grammar rules. What language did they speak in the Garden of Eden? No idea. Fast forward to today. Linguists tell us there are now over 7000 languages on the earth! Now, certain languages are similar and certain commonalities can be found. For example, Spanish, French, and Italian are all from the same “language family.” They are the “Romance languages,” descended from Latin. Some estimate that there are over 400 of these “language families.”

A couple of weeks ago we had a pastors’ circuit meeting. I was up to lead the brothers in what is called a “text study.” That is a study of one of the upcoming texts for worship. I had chosen this text. As I began my presentation, one of the brothers remarked that this is the text where we see “scary Jesus.” He wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. But he was commenting on the appearance of Jesus in this text. Did you listen carefully to the description of your Savior? He is described as having eyes like blazing flames. His robe is bloody. He has a huge, double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Seems kind of scary!