“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Ps. 23, KJV).
A shepherd wrote Psalm 23. A man personally acquainted with caring for sheep; his name was King David. Once the head shepherd over his father’s flock, David understood what it took to provide and care for sheep. Through his own experience, he writes Psalm 23 as a revelation of who God is in our lives. Through his psalm, we receive an up-close and personal vision of how we, the sheep of His pasture (Ps. 100:3) are loved and cared for by our heavenly Father.
When we identify as His sheep acknowledging Him as our Shepherd, we posture ourselves under His authority because we realize our life is not our own. Our total dependency is on Him, and that dependency results in a lifetime of His divine care and provision. God wants the grass green all around us. He desires that we live in a place where the waters are peaceful and still. Where there is no concern for food, shelter, or provision. Not even the presence of predators will move us because as our Good Shepherd, God is always there—providing, watching, and protecting.
Every day, the Father longs to lead us to pastures plush and green, those filled with everything we need to be nourished and to grow. And following His lead becomes easy when our soul is at rest. A rested soul is a trusting soul—one that looks in the direction of the Shepherd in times of trouble. It’s a soul that doesn’t lean to its own understanding (Prov. 3:5); it doesn't worry, stress, or refuse to follow because, in every circumstance, it believes the Shepherd knows what is best.
A resting soul isn’t a resisting soul. It follows the promptings of the Shepherd to lie down, which means to stretch or lie out where pastures are greenest, even when enemies are watching.
David said the Shepherd makes the sheep lie down, and this is important to note because as members of God’s sheepfold, many of us run ourselves ragged mentally and physically when the Shepherd is trying to still us. We are busy moving and shaking, but we fail to make time to rest our soul. So the Father has to make us lie down. He desires to silence our soul in His presence. To have times where His loving care makes us aware of how we allow the concerns of this world to dictate our lives. Yes, we have responsibilities, but when we lie down and bask in times of silence in His presence, we become aware of all that we must do while at the same time recognize His grace that enables and empowers us to do it.
When our souls (mind, will, and emotions) become overwhelmed or exhausted, we won’t have the strength to follow our Shepherd. He wants to relieve the pressures and stresses of life that come as a result of expending ourselves beyond our daily grace. The Good Shepherd longs to lighten our load and He can when we silence ourselves and submit to His voice. Each day carries grace for itself, and when we live in the grace that God has allocated to us, He leads us to places of refreshing where we can shut out the world allowing Him to care for and refuel us; to clear our head and minister to our heart.
Our Father is the Great Shepherd, and He longs for you and me to stretch out and enjoy His goodness.