Description

Shepherd from Psalm 23, in our life to look after us, helping us to develop a healthy self image.
We are His flock and as a shepherd does, He will, and has, laid down His life for us.
One of my favorite scripts, useful as a sermon, Bible study or drama. Highly recommended.

Cast: 1 (monolog)

Bible Reference:

• Psalm 23
• Isaiah 53:6

Set: standard

Sound: wireless mike if available

Song: none

Lighting: standard

SFX: none

Props:

• small toy lamb, garbage can, handheld small mirror

Costumes: standard

Special Instructions: none

Time: 14

Actor comes on stage, looks out a real, or imaginary, window, yawns, speaks:

Hey, that was a good sleep.  Nice morning out there.

Lookin’ good!  Firm, tough jawline.  Strong profile.  Yep, lookin’ good!

(looks back in mirror, frowns), says:

Hey, what’s that?  A gray hair?  Nah!  Can’t be!  But, it is!  What kind of a . . .?  What’s with this?  Grey hair?  On this body?  Doesn’t make sense!

Pulls out imaginary hair, holds disdainfully, throws in garbage.  Looks in mirror intently

What’s this, now?  Loose fleshiness under my jaw!  I don’t believe this!  In the prime of my life, and . . . gray hair.  Fleshiness!  Oh, man!

Looks at image in mirror from all angles, cocks head to the side, smiles a little

Wait, that’s not fleshiness under my jawline.  That’s just the way I was holding my head.

 (Holds head at an extreme upward angle). 

See, there!  It’s not there at all!  My imagination, that’s all!  (thinks)  I bet that wasn’t even a gray hair.

(searches frantically in garbage can)

Where is it?  Let’s see . . .  Here it is!

(inspects ‘hair’ from all angles)

Blond.  That’s it!  Not gray!  Blond!  Yeh, that’s it! (looks back in mirror, smiles)  Silly me!  Yep!  I still got it!

(looks at mirror image, side to side.  Smiles confidently at image from one side, frowns at image from other side)

No doubt about it!  Seems like my left is my best side. My right side is definitely my older side, all right!

(thinks)

Let’s see now, right side, who sees my right side?  People in the passenger seat when I’m driving.  Hey, I bet that’s why Frank was looking at me that way when I drove him to work yesterday.  Funny!  I never noticed before how old my right side is!  Guess we are always the last to know.  Come to think of it, people who work to my right have been staring at me lately.  Oh, man!  What do I do now?

I got it!  I’ll buy one of those English roadsters with right hand controls.  That way all of the passengers will see my more flattering left profile.  Hey, why didn’t I think about that before?  And, I’ll get my desk moved right over beside the window so no one can see my right side.  Man, this will be great!  I’m young again!

(thinks) 

Wait a minute!  What happens if someone is looking in the window?  They’ll see my right side!  What am I gonna do?  I mean, I work on the 43^rd floor of our office building, but, even so . . .  People going by in airplanes!  They’ll see my right profile!  The curtain!  Quick!  Close the curtains, so people flying by in airplanes won’t be able to see my right profile!  No problem, I’ll tell everyone I’m allergic to the sun, that’s why I need to keep the curtains closed.  But, I am working on my allergies, that’s why I must sit right beside the window.  Yeh, they’ll buy that!  No problem!

Now then, I gotta get ready for work.

(picks up a small toy lamb)

Man, you sheep, you don’t know how lucky you are!  Lots to eat.  No bills to pay.  Don’t have to worry about gray hair!  And you’ve got a shepherd to look after you all day and night!  Man, where do I go to sign up?  If only I had it so lucky, no worries and a shepherd to look after me!

Somebody want to be my shepherd?  Pay is poor and the hours are long!  Who is my shepherd?

(thinks, remembers)

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  Haven’t thought of that for years.
Bible.
Psalm.
Let’s see, Psalm 23.
Memorized that back in Sunday School as a kid.

“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You have prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Been a long time since I’ve thought of that!  I remember my old Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Adams tell us that this Psalm was written by King David. Likely when David was a young shepherd, roaming the very hills where, 1,000 years later, angels would sing to other shepherds of the birth of the Jesus child.  Mrs. Adams.  I remember!

My shepherd!  I always wondered why the psalm talked of us as sheep. 

(looks in the mirror, smiles)

Probably a pretty good comparison!  Mrs. Adams always told us how Psalm 23 was the testimony of one who needed and found a shepherd.  I can just hear Mrs. Adams now,

(mimicking an older person)

“Don’t you children just see how the psalmist was so thoroughly thrilled with the sheep – shepherd relationship which he found.  Listen, children, if we are to have a healthy self-image, we need to have a sheep image.”  And, although us kids maybe didn’t listen as we should, I can remember her explaining to us how the sheep was looking to his shepherd for guidance and direction.

A healthy self image.  I wonder if a sheep image is what I need today?

I used to think it was wrong to refer to humans as sheep.  Mrs. Adams, she had a good comeback on that one!  Look up Isaiah 53:6. “We are sheep who have gone astray and have turned each to his own way”, she’d remind us.

As a kid I had a bit to do with sheep and I can tell you they are the stupidest animals I have ever known. I have seen sheep in a lush pasture with more than they can eat. Then one of them finds a hole in the fence and wanders away from the green pastures and out onto a busy highway. There, to a symphony of car horns and screeching brakes the sheep flirts with death.

I would have expected that the other sheep would shake their heads and make fun of the dumb sheep.  But instead they all follow the wayward sheep into danger. There, in the middle of the road, any reasonable sheep would look around and say, “things were better in green pastures, let’s go back”. But all they did was to mill around until the shepherd and his dog come and almost force them back into green pastures.

We are like sheep!

I guess I have a great tendency to desert my “green pastures” believing that the “grass is greener on the other side of the fence”.  By the time I get to the other side of the fence I also seem to find that the neighbor’s water bill is also much higher!