For His Name – Psalm 23:2-3
Psalm 23:1-3 (esv)
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Today we will look at the verses 2 and 3 of Psalm 23. If you missed it, Verse 1 was covered here. Please take a read as today I am building on that post!
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
Once we are submitted to God, and we have laid down our striving, our personal desires and wants, He begins to lead us. One of those places is that He will lead us to places of rest and recovery.
Remaining in the symbolic language of sheep and a shepherd, green pastures are just what the sheep need. It provides them with a place to rest and eat. To recover from any journey and get strong. In the life of a sheep, there is not a lot more they need!
An interesting aside at this point on the translation. I believe the literal Hebrew translation of ‘still waters’ is ‘waters of rest’.
And yet, physically, I don’t think many of us see a rest of this kind! So what is the Psalmist talking about?
He restores my soul.
He is talking spiritually. He brings us to a place of spiritual rest, and even emotional rest in Him. The hectic pace of life may well continue, our personal circumstances probably won’t immediately change – but our internal self will. We will suddenly find ourselves at rest in Him. We will no longer be striving, trying in vain to achieve ’Gods purpose’ in our life, which in reality may have less to do with God and more to do with our personal desires.
I just want to take a quick detour here. One of the things we need to keep in mind when we are even contemplating rest in God, is that God is our creator. He made us. And not only did He make us, but He made us as we are. He gave us the physical and emotional make-up that we have. Some of our desires are no doubt twisted and distorted by sin, but many of them, or at least the root of them were given to us by God.
Just because you give up all for God doesn’t mean he is suddenly going to call you to do something that you are not able to do, or would not be able to deal with. He made you. He created you, just as you are, for His purposes. And He will use those talents, gifts, emotions and circumstances in your life to further His kingdom.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
He leads me. He guides me. Once we have given up the desires that we held so dear, the striving to do Gods work, He can then finally lead us.
Many of you will have seen someone, or had experience trying to lead a toddler through a shopping centre (or anywhere really!). As you walk down the aisles, it is all taking just too long. The want to scream, they want to run, they want to play, they want to touch, they want to grab. They want anything else but the apparently mundane chore of walking up and down aisles of goodies without touching most of them. The junk food aisle is the inner dread of any parent or caretaker, as they know they will be dragged in, and could well face a tantrum of nuclear proportions if the situation gets out of hand. I want this! This is what I WANT! I WANT IT NOW OR I WILL SCREAM!
The toddlers desire is for the things they want. We as parents know what is best for them, and that is not a huge bag of red candy! Yet in the toddlers mind, that is best for them, right now.
Whilst it is an extreme example, I am sure you know where I am going. I wonder how many times God has to sit back and say ‘no, that is not what is good for you’. ‘No’. Or even ‘Do it then, but you will be sick’ (A common parental response especially after Easter!).
One more thing on God leading us, is that he leads us in paths of righteousness. He leads us on the right paths, that are pleasing to Him. Every decision we take is like choosing between one path and another, and only God in His infinite wisdom can lead us down all the right ones, when we submit our desires to Him.
But what is it all for?
For His names sake.
And finally, we come to the clear reason. God is leading us to where He needs us, for His kingdom, and His glory. By submitting to God, we are putting God, the creator of the whole universe, the creator of each one of us, in His rightful place.
Revelation 4:11 (esv)
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
We were created not because God needed friends, or even worshippers. We were created for His glory.
Once we let go of our personal desires, and let God take control of our lives, we will not only find rest, but we will be used in the most effective way possible for Gods kingdom and glory.
Prayer
Lord God, thank you for the peace offered in you. Thank you that we can come before you, declared righteous through your son Jesus, and seek rest and direction. Even more so, thank you that you don’t just turn us away, but offer us rest and refreshing in you! Teach us to always seek you, and help us to know Your paths, that we might be used for Your kingdom. Grant in us a desire to see Your kingdom come in our lives now. In Jesus Name. Amen.
(photo : flickr / sshb)






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