Psalm 23:2

Lesson 5: The Settling

Psalm 23:2a

“He maketh me to lie down ...”

Professor and Author Dr. Kyle M. Yates expressed it eloquently: “Because He loves me as the good Shepherd, I shall never want. Does He leave out anything in the world that a soul can possibly need? Every material and every spiritual need is provided for helpless, needy creatures who look to the Shepherd for such satisfactions. Only in Him can they be found.”

Parallel passages. The Shepherd satisfies me, and He also settles me down. The imagery of lying down is found in other verses. 

• Job 11:19 -- “Also you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid…” 
• Psalm 4:8 -- “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for only You, LORD, make me dwell in safety.”  
• Isaiah 17:2 -- “…they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”  
• Ezekiel 34:14-15 -- “I will feed them in a good pasture, and on the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there they shall lie in a good fold, and in a lush pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord GOD.” 
• Zephaniah 3:13-- “…for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”

Peace. Sheep are naturally and easily frightened; it is difficult for a shepherd to make his flock to lie down in complete repose. “Lie down” literally means the folding of the legs in a reclining position. Imagine the care a shepherd has to have to make his skittish and scared sheep to be completely comfortable in lying down. A good shepherd will provide peace. Jesus makes me lie down with His peace that passes all understanding. Unlike the world’s peace (John 14:27), His peace is internal and eternal. Hebrews 13:20-21 says, “Now the God of peace, who from the dead brought our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep…may He make you complete.”

Protection. There must be safety from harm, predators, sounds and even each other. Sadly we like sheep can also need protection from each other. The Shepherd settles His sheep by providing protection. Once secure, the legs of the sheep fold down and lay down with their “bellies nestled deep in the long shoots of grass. A still pond on one side, the watching shepherd on the other…Who is in charge? The shepherd.”  (Max Lucado, Traveling Light, pg. 40).

Passion of the Shepherd. What motivates Christ to make me lie down? Matthew 9:36 says, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” His love makes me lie down. Not by force or coercion but by the immanence of His great love and compassion.

Fold your legs today and recline in His peace.

  Lie down in the shadow of the Shepherd’s protection.

    Rest in lush pastureland of His passionate love for you.

“Dear Shepherd of my soul, I am so stubborn and skittish and scared sometimes.
Thank you for making me to lie down in You. Amen.”

Lesson 6: The Sustenance

Psalm 23:2b

“...in green pastures:”

The Garden of Gethsemane, east of Temple Mount, Jerusalem

 

“Do more beloved words exist?” asked Max Lucado. “Framed and hung in hospital halls, scratched on prison walls, quoted by the young, and whispered by the dying. In these lines sailors have found a harbor, the frightened have found a father, and strugglers have found a friend. Can you find ears on which these words have never fallen?”

A shepherd has a destination in mind as he takes out his flock. So does the Good Shepherd for me. The word “pastures” can also be translated as places of habitation, residences, even houses. The destined habitation for the sheep is a place which would be full of nourishment. So, also, is God's destination for me.

One way a shepherd will “make” his sheep lie down is to fill them full of nourishment. Often, I am anxious and do not lie down and rest in my Lord because I fail to feast on the spiritual nourishment my Shepherd has for me.

In John 6:35, Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” I am to be nourished by residing in the Word of God. Matthew 4:4 proclaims that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

The sheep feast in green, lush pastures, filled with freshly sprouted grass. For the sheep to fully digest the grass, they must consume and then rest to allow for several stages of digestion. They graze during the day and then chew their cud for digestion throughout the night. Likewise, it is not enough for my spiritual nourishment to simply feast on the Word in the day. I must put the words into practice during the dark and long nights of my spiritual journey. I must “hunger and thirst for righteousness” in order for me to be filled.

Grazing on food more easily digested than grass can cause the sheep to become bloated and even die.  I need the milk of the Word but also the meat of spiritual food. Without internalizing the word, applying it and practicing the righteousness of God during hard and dark times, God’s truths will never be fully realized.

What is on your spiritual menu? Is Christ residing in you? Are you reading His Word? Is His righteousness what you hunger and thirst for? 

My Shepherd, I have failed. I have longed for spiritual food that is not in your prepared pastures. I want to eat food by day but not properly apply it in the dark nights. Forgive me. Feed me in your pastureland. Amen.

Lesson 7: The Submission

Psalm 23:2c

“He leadeth me…”

A Shepherd at the Nazareth Village, 
an open-air museum that seeks to
recreate life at the time of Jesus.

Martin Luther wrote, “Of all the figures that are applied to God in the Old Testament that of a shepherd is the most beautiful. (T)he sweet word shepherd…brings to the godly…a confidence, a consolation or security, like the word father. A sheep can only live through the help, protection, and care of its shepherd. As soon as it loses him, it is exposed to dangers of every kind, and must perish, for it cannot help itself. The reason is, it is a poor, weak, silly creature. But weak creature though it be, it has the habit of keeping diligently near its shepherd, of depending upon his help and protection; it follows wherever he leads, and, if it can only be near him, it cares for nothing, is afraid of no one, but feels secure and happy, for it wants for nothing.”

The Leading Shepherd. My Shepherd knows how to lead. He gets in front of me, never leading from behind. John 10:4 “And when he put forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” In Israel, it is the butcher, not the shepherd, who walks behind the sheep. He leads because He goes before me.

...In Evil Temptations - We sometimes think that since Jesus was God, that He was never tempted. But He was also man, and the Bible says repeatedly that He was tempted, most famously in wilderness temptation for 40 days and nights. But other passages also tell how His temptations worked for our good.

• Hebrews 2:18 -- “For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”
• Hebrews 4:15 -- “For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points He was tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

....In Earthly Humiliation - We also think of Christ being humble, but when we read of the Passion He endured, He was literally humiliated. The Son of God took all that shame for us. He also leads us in how to go through humbling and even humiliating times.

Philippians 2:5-8 -- “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not think it robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

....In Eternal Restoration - He is the Good Shepherd because He is also the Lamb who identifies with us and our needs.

Revelation 7:17 -- “For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”

The Led Sheep. Twice in this short psalm, I am encouraged to relish the leadership of my Shepherd, first here in verse two in His leading me in serene refreshment and then again in the following verse for His leading me in sanctifying righteousness.

Because my Shepherd has gone before me, I can trust Him because He knows where He came from and where He is going. John 8:14 “Jesus answered … ‘for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.”

Not only does Jesus know the way, Jesus is the Way. John 14:5-6, “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we know not where You are going; and how can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me.’” 

Most of all, my Shepherd knows me by name and because He has spoken to me so often and so lovingly, I know His voice, especially when he calls my name. “the sheep hear (the shepherd’s) voice: and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

“Savior, like a shepherd lead me, much I need Your tender care; in Your pleasant pastures feed me, for our use Your folds prepare. Blessed Jesus, You have bought me, I am Yours .”

Lesson 8: The Serenity

Psalm 23:2d

“...beside the still waters.”

Moonrise over Mount Arbel 
on the western shore
of the Sea of Galilee

The 23rd Psalm is so versatile: children memorize it and yet it is one of the most used verses at funerals. It is perhaps why Phillip Keller, a shepherd and author of A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, says, “It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep. Our mass mind (or mob instincts), our fears and timidity, our stubbornness and stupidity, our perverse habits are all parallels of profound importance. Yet despite these adverse characteristics Christ chooses us, buys us, calls us by name, makes us His own and delights in caring for us.” 

Let us look at “the still waters.”

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside the still waters.

Sheep are nearsighted, have very small depth perception, and have very little sense of direction. As a result, they cannot find still waters on their own. Fortunately, they have excellent hearing and can quickly detect sounds, especially of their own shepherd. When I know the Shepherd, I know He knows the way, even if I cannot see nor sense the direction I am going.

...Restful waters - The waters are not just still, they are “resting waters.” In nearly every other location in the Old Testament, the word used for “still” is translated “rest.” Our dwelling place is to be at rest; our habitation is to be peaceful. 

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

If I am worried and not at rest about the things of this world, I need to remember that is not God’s will for me. God has always wanted me to be at rest. One day a week He calls me to “rest”. The same word for “still” waters is also used in Isaiah 32:17, “the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” 

...Relaxing waters - Sheep will not go to rapidly running water. Even if their short legs could help them in swimming, their wooly coats would soon weigh them down. The phrase, “The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you” is seen in the fact that a good shepherd will gently lead his sheep alongside calm waters.

Isaiah 28:12 says, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing...”  the verse ends with “yet they would not hear.”

....Refreshing Waters. Neither will my Shepherd allow me to drink from stagnant, putrid waters. Without a strong sense of smell, a sheep will not care from what waters he drinks. Keller writes, “When sheep are thirsty, they become restless and set out in search of water to satisfy their thirst. If not led to the good water supplies of clean, pure water, they will often end up drinking from the polluted potholes.”

Let the Shepherd lead you to resting, relaxing, refreshing waters.

“Shepherd, I am Thine, Thou dost befriend me,
be the guardian of my way;
Keep Thy flock from sin, defend me;
seek me when I go astray.

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!
Hear O hear me when I pray. Amen.”

Sunrise over the still waters of the Sea of Galilee