Psalm 23: Green Pastures and Still Waters
Psalm 23: Green Pastures and Still Waters
Psalm 23:2; John 4:13-14
“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.”
Psalms 23:2 NASB1995
Is there any image you can conjure up in your imagination more peaceful than seeing a green meadow with a beautiful quiet brook running through it? When we first starting traveling after we got married, we did three trips in the early 1980’s to the island of Great Britain (our fourth trip finally included Ireland and we also saw some of the Northern Ireland countryside a few years ago). We fell in love with the English countryside, especially in the Cotswold region, an area west of London. This region is dotted with villages with cottages and little churches built of warm yellow stone. Many of the cottages have thatched roofs and there is usually a placid stream running through town; the villages are separated by dense copses of trees and lush green rolling meadows dotted with with sheep or cattle or horses grazing peacefully or resting. We actually discussed moving to the UK and perhaps setting up shop with a pub and guest house in that area.
JRR Tolkien evoked these images with his detailed descriptions of the Shire, the little paradise inhabited by the Hobbits in the Middle Earth books, which is why the Scouring of the Shire, towards the end of the final book “The Return of the King”, is so upsetting to readers. The weary hobbits return from the ring quest, war and seeing so many desolate and forbidding landscapes only to find the verdant Shire has been taken over and nearly destroyed by Saruman, Grima Wormtongue and their Orc henchmen. Film director Peter Jackson could not abide having to go through this trauma after so much had happened, so he elected to leave that part out of the third movie (I think I agree with his decision, as the peaceful and untouched Shire is a balm to Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin). It’s interesting to note that the Hobbit village created for the Lord of the Ring movies is still intact in New Zealand, drawing people from all over the world to enjoy the peaceful setting. Tolkien’s Middle Earth represents so many aspects of fallen human life: rare peaceful times interrupted by war, tribulation and suffering, requiring uncommon courage and unplanned journeys into perilous lands. I believe Tolkien always wanted to be in the Shire, having experienced himself the horrors and insanity of war during World War I. His strong faith helped lead him there to those green meadows, even if it was only virtually.
King David brings forth images of meadows and still waters in verse 2 of the 23rd Psalm. Israel is a country with a varied landscape, but a lot of the country is in or near stark desert regions. Green meadows and still waters would indeed be a pleasant site and could likely be found in the regions of Galilee and closer to the Mediterranean coast, but the Judean desert is easily accessible from Jerusalem and the larger Negev desert and the parched deserts of the Egyptian Sinai peninsula, Jordan and Saudi Arabia loom in the distance. So David uses this imagery to set our minds on the good things that God provides, even figuratively. Here is Commentary by David Guzik in Enduring Word about this verse:
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.a. He makes me to lie down: The LORD as a shepherd knew how to make David rest when he needed it, just as a literal shepherd would care for his sheep. The implication is that a sheep doesn’t always know what it needs and what is best for itself, and so needs help from the shepherd.
i. “The loveliest image afforded by the natural world, is here represented to the imagination; that of a flock, feeding in verdant meadows, and reposing, in quietness, by the rivers of water, running gently through them.” (George Horne)
b. To lie down in green pastures: The shepherd also knew the good places to make his sheep rest. He faithfully guides the sheep to green pastures.
i. Philip Keller (in A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23) writes that sheep do not lie down easily and will not unless four conditions are met. Because they are timid, they will not lie down if they are afraid. Because they are social animals, they will not lie down if there is friction among the sheep. If flies or parasites trouble them, they will not lie down. Finally, if sheep are anxious about food or hungry, they will not lie down. Rest comes because the shepherd has dealt with fear, friction, flies, and famine.
c. He leads me beside the still waters: The shepherd knows when the sheep needs green pastures, and knows when the sheep needs the still waters. The images are rich with the sense of comfort, care, and rest.
This is such splendid imagery! It is interesting to read how restless sheep are and how they must be persuaded to lie down by a Shepherd who tends to their needs and fears. Sheep need good pasture for food and clean, still water to drink. We need to eat and drink the living food and water of our Redeemer Jesus, who gives us every reason we could possibly need to rest in His care, as Jesus said in the Gospel of John to the Samaritan woman drawing water from deep within the desert:
“Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.””
John 4:13-14 NASB1995
My next devotional will examine Verse 3 of Psalm 23: Restoration and Righteousness
David Guzik commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission.