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Sheep are built in such a way that if they ever fall over on their side and roll over on their back; it’s very difficult, if not impossible for them to get up again. When sheep get in this condition it is called a “cast sheep”. It’s an old English shepherd's term for a sheep that has turned over on its back and cannot get up again by itself.
A "cast" sheep is a very pathetic site. While lying on its back with its feet in the air; it frantically flails away bleating and crying.
After a few hours on their backs, gas begins to build up in their stomachs that causes their stomach to harden and to cut off their airway. If the weather is very hot and sunny, a cast sheep can die in a few hours. If it is cool and cloudy and rainy it may survive in this position for several days but the sheep will eventually suffocate and die.
Psalm 42:5-6 a
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me:
David wrote this Psalm from personal experience because he was a shepherd and was very familiar with “cast sheep”.
How many times have we asked that same question - "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" How many times have we found ourselves on our backs not knowing if we would ever regain our footing? David knew what it was to be cast down and dejected. He had experienced defeat in his life; he had felt the frustration of falling into temptation. He knew the feeling of hopelessness of not having the strength to get back up on his feet.
There may someone reading this who feels the same way. One day you came home and found your life in shambles. You came home and your life was turned upside down. You know what it is to have wave after wave of adversity beat against you. You feel like everything in your world is falling apart. It seems that for every two steps you take forward something comes along and knocks you three steps backwards. Every time you get one problem straightened out there's another waiting to take its place. Every time your wound starts to heal there's something to irritate it to keep it fresh, tender and painful. If it’s not one thing it’s another!
You’ve become like the cast sheep; you cry out in despair but there seems to be no help in sight. Your life is full of problems, and you feel like you are in jeopardy of losing everything.
What do you do when you are cast down? What do you do when you feel like a total failure? What do you do when the bottom falls out and disaster strikes?
The cast sheep is easy prey for predators; buzzards, vultures, dogs, coyotes and cougars all know that a cast sheep is easy prey, and death is not far off. "Cast" sheep are helpless, close to death and vulnerable to attack. This was always an ever-present danger for cast sheep. If the shepherd did not arrive on the scene in time, the sheep would die, either by suffocation or by falling prey to a predator.
Aren’t you glad you can call on Jesus anytime, night or day? He's the good Shepherd and He’s always right on time! When a shepherd found a cast sheep, he would restore it, and David knew personally about how the Good Shepherd restores.
Psalm 23:3
3 He restoreth my soul!
He gently turned the sheep over and lifted it up. Aren’t you glad He lifted you out of the deep miry clay?
What a picture of what God wants to do for us! When we are on our backs flailing away; the Good Shepherd lifts us back up and sets our feet on solid ground. If you’ve been cast down for any reason, God is the only one who can help you get on your feet again. When we are cast down; He knows what to do.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Whatever you do, don’t stop praising the Lord because He will show up and lift you up again!
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