Psalms 23:2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
Here is blessed rest, and here is also gracious provision for the needs of the sheep. The pasture is sweet and tender, and there is so much of the green grass that it cannot all be eaten, and the superabundance makes a soft bed for the tired sheep: "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." Repose, O believer, in the abundant provision of God’s grace! A sheep needs sometimes to lie down. It is as necessary for its health that it should have time to digest its food as that it should have proper and sufficient food to eat. May the Lord graciously give to each of you the sweet rest of meditation and contemplation, - that blessed rest, to which faith attains when it grows into firm confidence and full assurance, so that you may be able to say with David, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." But our spiritual life is not to be all spent in lying down; there must come a time for going forward, so David adds: -
Psalms 23:2. He leadeth me -
What a peerless Guide he is, since infallible wisdom is his! And how gracious and condescending it is, on his part, to go first in the way which he means us to take! David does not say, "He driveth me," but "He leadeth me" -
Psalms 23:2. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
Here is blessed rest, and here is also gracious provision for the needs of the sheep. The pasture is sweet and tender, and there is so much of the green grass that it cannot all be eaten, and the superabundance makes a soft bed for the tired sheep: "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." Repose, O believer, in the abundant provision of God’s grace! A sheep needs sometimes to lie down. It is as necessary for its health that it should have time to digest its food as that it should have proper and sufficient food to eat. May the Lord graciously give to each of you the sweet rest of meditation and contemplation, - that blessed rest, to which faith attains when it grows into firm confidence and full assurance, so that you may be able to say with David, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." But our spiritual life is not to be all spent in lying down; there must come a time for going forward, so David adds: -
Psalms 23:2. He leadeth me -
What a peerless Guide he is, since infallible wisdom is his! And how gracious and condescending it is, on his part, to go first in the way which he means us to take! David does not say, "He driveth me," but "He leadeth me" -