Shepherding was one of the oldest and humblest callings, and it became one of the Bible's most beloved images for God. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want — the Twenty-third Psalm has comforted more people than perhaps any other passage. A shepherd leads, feeds, protects, seeks the strays, and carries the weak. Israel's leaders were called to shepherd God's flock, and were judged for failing to.
Jesus claimed the title: I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He knows his own by name, they hear his voice, and no one can pluck them from his hand. The Bible's God is not a distant force but a shepherd who walks with his flock through the valley of the shadow of death — and, in Christ, dies to save them.
The Shepherd in Scripture
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.