TWENTY-THIRD PSALM
Verse 2
Gary Waddell • Victory Ministries Middle Tennessee • 12/30/2022
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” (Ps 23:2).
• He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Our LORD God gently places us in His pasture. Note that these are green pastures, (lush pastures) and not parched or sun-baked fields. These parched fields are offered by this world we live in. Our willingness to follow Him displays our obedience to God. The psalmist shows us that the LORD has a place of comfort for each of us if we are willing. When we have ‘received’ Jesus as our Savior (Jn 1:12), He places us in a pasture of safety. It is a place of peace. My thoughts are that the place is in the arms of Jesus. The grand old hymn, ‘Safe in the arms of Jesus’ (Fanny Crosby, 1868) explains it: Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast, There by His love o’ershaded, Sweetly my soul shall rest. In that pasture your soul shall have rest and comfort. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:” (Jn 14:27a).
• He leadeth beside still waters. (Not stagnant waters) Many times in life we see a calm and peaceful stream turned into a raging, turbulent flow of water. As I was looking up global statistics of deaths from flooding around the world, I found varying figures of people killed by torrents of water. All of the stats were in the tens of thousands of deaths. After the flood, the river or stream usually returns to its calm self, but we are still amazed at how the waters had become so violent. God can give you still waters even in this violent, ever-changing world. We must trust Him. Jesus will lead us, but we must follow. Do you remember this verse used in a previous message? “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27). We will follow Him as He leads us to those still and calm waters.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters”
While we pray for wisdom from above, we should also pray for rest.
Rest in the arms of Jesus.
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