Equip Online | Psalm 23 : Part 2

Welcome back, fam, as we continue in part two of our study of Psalm 23.

Let's look at verses two through three really quick.

It says this He lets me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, he renews my life, He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake.

Now we talked earlier about how the Lord is our shepherd, and we understand that our responsibility is to be sheep, but we now need to learn what we can expect from the shepherd.

The passage that we read in the first segment was, I shall not want.

Why shall I not want?

And we're going to unpack what that means now.

Here is the job description of a shepherd.

Here's what we can expect from our great shepherd.

First, he rests his sheep.

The verse says that he leads me to lie down in green pastures.

In our frantic life, we sometimes struggle to rest.

But what if I were to tell you that God's desire is for us to rest?

This is exactly why the Sabbath was instituted.

It was God's way of trying to lead us into a place that we work from rest and not for rest.

And unfortunately, when we don't follow these patterns, sometimes he can force rest.

This is why it says he makes me lie down.

But God's desire is for us willingly to yield ourselves in such a way that we can experience the rest.

And what I love about this passage is it actually tells us that his desire is for us to rest in green pastures.

That he doesn't want us to rest in a hospital bed.

He doesn't want us to rest when we're burned out.

But God's desire is for us to rest in green pastures.

This imagery is meant to communicate a place that is flourishing, a place that is thriving.

God does not intend for us to rest from a place of brokenness, but from a place of health to enjoy the green grass.

You know, one of the things that a shepherd would do as he was leading the sheep is he would actually go ahead.

And as he's going ahead, knowing that the sheep are grazing and knowing that the sheep could possibly stumble, he would actually go ahead and remove any sticks that could possibly choke up their windpipes.

He would also remove any rocks that could cause them to fall.

It's encouraging to think that we have a shepherd who goes before us and he's literally removing the things that could potentially harm us.

Unfortunately, when we don't follow the shepherd, we end up going our own path and we find ourselves stumbling into things that God never intended for us to do.

But if we can follow him, we can absolutely experience rest.

Sometimes we're so busy that we don't get a chance to experience rest, and God forbid, when we do begin to try to enter into rest, we start to feel guilt.

But when we do things God way, we recognize that there's no guilt but only the divine hand of God.

God is always going to lead us to a place of rest.

But the other thing we can expect from our great shepherd is that he is going to direct his sheep.

That God absolutely directs his sheep.

It says that he leads me beside still waters.

This is a verb that is really meant to communicate that he's leading us to a place where we can be nourished, leading us to a place where we can absolutely be refreshed.

As for the good shepherd that we see, Jesus provides rest, he provides us with food, and he provides us with water.

When we come to him and we enter into this Sabbath rest that is talked about in Hebrews 4, um verses 1 through 11, we recognize that in Christ we are we are nourished spiritually, but in him we have an opportunity to be refreshed spiritually as well.

Jesus tells the multitude that I am the bread of life.

And anyone who comes to me shall never be hungry again.

Anyone who believes in me shall never thirst.

We can read this in John chapter 6, verse 35.

John 6:35

Jesus gives us his spirit in order to quench our thirst, allowing us to be fulfilled and have ultimate satisfaction.

Again, he reminds us if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

The imagery that John is giving us in chapter 7 is this idea that the Spirit of God will come on us in such a way that not only will we be restored, but we will have enough that can pour out of us.

It's a beautiful image.

But then next, David asserts this idea that there's rest duration for our soul, there's restoration for our soul.

Here's what it means to be restored: it means to be refreshed.

It ultimately means that God's desire for us is not just for our bodies to be cared for, but for our souls to be restored as well.

Paul reminds us that even as our outward man is perishing, our inward man, our spirit, is being renewed every single day.

2 Corinthians 4, verse number 16.

God promises to meet and guide our lives.

God's promise is to make sure that we have everything that we need.

When we offer our bodies as what Paul refers to as a living sacrifice, our minds, our wills, our spirit begins to begin to experience this refreshing that God truly has for us.

And it's all for his name's sake.

It's only changed people who can change their lives.

Watch this.

If only if I can receive the change that God wants to do, do I get a chance to experience the change that I absolutely want to see?

What are the paths that we are learning about?

What are the paths that God is leading us down?

These are the paths where we're able to exhibit the character and nature of Christ everywhere we go.

A life that has been transformed, a life that is evident of the presence of God, a life that is nourished spiritually as well as naturally.

The Bible tells us that God's desire is to provide for us in every area of our lives.

When we think about the Good Shepherd, we know that He's going to protect us, but He's also going to provide for us.

And He's going to lead us to environments that's going to allow us to thrive and to flourish.

My question for you is this: Are you in an environment that's allowing you to thrive spiritually?

Are you in an environment that's going to allow you to thrive relationally?

Take inventory.

Ask the question Am I in that place where God is leading me beside the still waters, a place where I can truly be refreshed?

Have I invited the Holy Spirit in to do that?

If you haven't, let's pray that prayer right now.

Heavenly Father, I thank you that the Good Shepherd is leading me into environments where I can flourish, into places where I can experience rest and restoration.

And he has given the Spirit to me so that I can experience this everlasting love, joy, and hope and peace, that it will overflow out of me, God.

Father, I pray as we take inventory that we can recognize the areas where we're not receiving the refreshing, restorative power of the Holy Spirit, and that we can invite them in.

So right where we are, we invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, into our works, into our relationships, into our homes, so that we can begin to experience that restored life that we see in Scripture.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.