What it means to lie down in green pastures

When David says “The Lord is my shepherd” in Psalm 23, he’s referring to the fact that I belong to him. If God is my shepherd, he owns me. He has the right to demand certain things from me:

  • Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand — Matt. 4:17
  • If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it — Matt. 16:24-25
  • Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind — Matt. 22:37

Having God as my shepherd means he directs me. But it also means he’s committed to provide for me, because a shepherd’s main job is to find food and water and safety for his flock:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. — Psalm 23:1

The literal translation of David’s Hebrew would be something like, “The Lord is my shepherd, I do not lack.” In other words, if the Lord is my shepherd, I won’t need anything more than what he gives me.

But still, if I’m honest with myself, there are plenty of times when I really do want more than he’s given me. I’ve found that the times I struggle with wanting things worst are when I see other people who have them. I’m a lot like a sheep.

According to Phillip Keller, sheep are very jealous animals. When they see another sheep who has a nice big green patch of grass all to himself, they’ll go over and butt him so they can take it over. When they see another sheep who’s found a nice quiet little shady spot under a bush to rest, they’ll go butt him too, try to kick him out!

If you have kids who are toddler-age, you know this behavior well.  Your kid will be totally uninterested in a toy… until another kid picks it up and starts playing with it. Suddenly it’s the coolest toy on the planet, and your kid will throw a tantrum until he can get his hands on it. And most adults are no different, it’s just that we hide it better. Most of the time we want things, it’s just because we see other people who have them.

But if we truly allow God to be our shepherd, David says we won’t want anything else in this world, and here’s why:

He makes me lie down in green pastures. — Psalm 23:2

The Israelites who read this Psalm when David wrote it 1000 years before Christ would have known from experience how hard it is to get a sheep to lie down. Sheep are absolutely defenseless. If a wolf or a lion comes in, they can’t do anything but run. And even then, they can’t run very fast. Their bodies are like watermelons with four toothpicks sticking out the bottom, so they mostly waddle.

That’s why sheep sleep standing up most of the time. They want to get as much of a headstart as possible when danger comes. If a sheep is going to lie down, he needs to feel absolutely secure. He also needs a full stomach, or else he’ll be constantly on the move, looking for food.

Here, David says that God will provide everything we need – like a green pasture that will provide plenty of food, and then he’ll give us such an overwhelming sense of safety and security that we have no choice but to lie down.

As David says, sometimes God really does make us lie down.

I know one busy mom who had to go on bedrest for two months when she was pregnant with her second child. She had to set aside her work, her relationships, even her normal mothering. It was excruciating at the time, but now she realizes that God sovereignly made her lie down in a hospital bed for a few months and take a break from her busy schedule just so He could show her how he would provide for her, and how he would keep her safe along with the little girl in her womb.

We’re busy people, even here in the third-happiest city in the United States. I see it every day in my neighborhood. Sometimes my family takes walks around our neighborhood in the evening so we can get to know our neighbors. The first time we tried it, we loaded the kids into a wagon at 5:30 and started walking, but there was no one around. All the driveways were still empty because everyone was still at work! The next night, we tried 6:00. Same thing. The night after that we tried 6:30, even though it was already getting dark, and there was still nobody home! Our neighbors take off for work at 6am, and some of them don’t get home until 7pm or 8pm… some of them even 9pm every night.

Sometimes God needs to take overcommitted, overextended people like us and make us lie down. The next time you get sick, and you’re zonked out on your bed for 3 days, ask God if there’s a special reason why he’s making you lie down. The next time you take your car to get fixed for something that should take half an hour, but you’re still in the waiting area 6 hours later… ask God if he’s making you lie down. Then ask him what he wants to show you about his provision and protection.