We continue our meditation on Psalm 23v2: ”He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters”. Immediately we see that it is the Good Shepherd, the Lord himself, who takes the initiative to make His children lie down in green pastures and to lead them beside still waters.
Last week Philip Keller, notable scientist, author and passionate sheep farmer, taught us that it is almost impossible for sheep to lie down when they are FEARFUL or when there is FRICTION in the flock. Today, we look at a third reality: sheep will not lie down when they are HUNGRY. Some years ago I watched a video by Ray van der Laan, a well-known biblical historian taking some students through the sparse countryside of Jerusalem. It’s an arid rocky terrain that does not reflect what we think of as green pastures. Jerusalem on average only gets 575mm of rain in a year. The mountain side is marked out with many hard trodden paths along which the shepherds guide their flocks. In the dry season the west wind from the Mediterranean brings early morning dew that is just enough to get little sprigs of grass to grow between the rocks – just enough to satisfy the sheep. This is how God shepherds us.
In my experience as a follower of Jesus Christ, I have found that He does not necessarily lead us to pastures where we have everything in abundance. What He does do, is to leads us along the right paths to the little sprigs giving us just enough for today. Tomorrow, He might lead us along a different path to supply our daily need. Some days He might bless us with lots of sprigs and on another day, there might be just a little, BUT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE JUST ENOUGH FOR WHAT WE NEED. It reminds me of the truth of Philippians 4v19: ”And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
He leads me beside Still Waters. Notice the completeness of the Shepherd’s care for His sheep – hunger and thirst. Both satisfied! John 4v14: ”But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” What a Shepherd!
With much Christian love,
Anton van Stormbroek