I woke up yesterday morning with the first verse of Psalm 23 running through my mind. “The LORD is my shepherd,” David wrote. And because the LORD, YAHWEH, JEHOVAH is David’s Shepherd, he was able to testify, “there is nothing I lack.”
I thought since God brought it up, there is perhaps a lesson (or two) I need to learn in Psalm 23. So I looked at the next sentence. “He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.” [HCSB]
(Just for the record, if the wording appears differently than what you are used to in this Psalm, it is because I love looking at Scripture through the eyes of different translations.)
The LORD lets me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. I am working on managing the auto-immune diseases in my life as well as the stress that often accompanies them. Boy did this verse speak to me today!
The world and the enemy of our soul want to keep us on the run. On a daily basis we see our time whisked away by needs and obligations. We are bombarded on every side with the noise of temptations and discouraging words. Pressures and trials, disappointments and difficulties, are loud and demanding. They are professionals at producing anxiety and stress.
The LORD, however, speaks to us gently. He invites us to his green pastures. There the water of His life flows gently and quietly. He lets us rest. He gives us peace. There in the quiet of His presence, we find everything we need to wipe away the noise of the world. Oh, I ask myself this morning, why don’t I go there more often!
Lead me today, gentle Shepherd, to your green pastures, to your quiet waters. Amen.
