Psalm 23:1-3 NKJV
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. He restores my soul . . .
The Nature of Our Shepherd
Dallas Willard
Life Without Lack: Living in the Fullness of Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd.
In other words, I’m in the care of someone else. I’m not the one in charge. I’ve taken my kingdom and surrendered it to the kingdom of God. I am living the with-God life. The Lord is my shepherd. And what follows from that?
I shall not want.
That’s the natural result. I shall not lack anything. That’s what Jesus teaches: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and everything else will be added (Matthew 6:33).
He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
What kind of a sheep lies down in a green pasture? A sheep that has eaten its fill. If a sheep is in a green pasture and she’s not full, she’ll be eating, not lying down.
He leads me beside the still waters.
A sheep that is being led beside still water is a sheep that is not thirsty. Jesus said to the woman at the well, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13 – 14).
He restores my soul.
The broken depths of my soul are healed and reintegrated in a life in union with God: the eternal kind of life.
Still Waters
https://youtu.be/WW0VJxPqeRc?si=578-ox4vKQCnKXUv
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If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
