Psalms 23: God Leads Us to Sweet Nourishment.

Psalms 23:2 "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters."

Verse 2 is essentially saying the same thing twice.  When God speaks we should listen, but if He repeats Himself you better listen really well.  This seems pretty straight forward so what could be so important in this Verse?

God makes you lie down where you can eat good food.  The Hebrew word for Maketh means to counterbalance, compose, equalize.  God, our shepherd takes us to where we can adjust and counter the sinful world in which we live, and eat of His good nourishment.   He does not provide just our physical needs but our spiritual needs as well.  He makes sure that no matter who are you, or where your at, you will have the opportunity to be spiritually nourished.

He leads us beside still water.  Leadeth in the Hebrew means to gently guide you to the water.  It is interesting that in both statements God never forces you but gives you what you need, and allows you to choose if you want to eat and drink or not.  He is gentle, allowing you to make the final choice.

If you’re a Christian, you have The Shepherd right there with you.  He is leading you everyday.  You have the opportunity to read His word, hear His voice, and feed upon His wisdom. It is an opportunity, but God will not force you to eat of His good fruit.  If you desire to eat of the rotten fruit of this world you can, but it can make you sick and malnourished.

Pornography, television, money, your job, education, sex, and almost anything in this world including some good things such as Christian literature can be used to replace God and His nourishment.  Anything that causes your way of thinking to veer away from listening to God, is of the world.  Christian books can be used as foundations for what you believe instead of God’s word.  Pastors preach something and we place it as equal to the Gospel. Commentators on TV, our own wisdom and logic, our ethics on the job, and so much more can be the basis of what we believe. 

We need to go back to God and the scripture.  He will lead you to the truth but you have to decide to trust Him and what He says over what the world says.  He will never guide you in the wrong direction.

To read the Psalm 23 series please click on the verses below:
Psalms 23:1
Psalms 23:3
Psalms 23:4
Psalms 23:5
Psalms 23:6


Photo Credit: Sheep drinking the canal by MrSimonWood