“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” -- Psalm 23:2
TAKE note. He makes, He leads, He restores. All verbs in the active voice and from a grammatical point of view, it is the subject that does the action and the object receives it. He makes, He leads and He restores.
Sheep by nature are helpless. Their only defense is by fleeing the danger. They have no sharp horns, camouflage, or even speed. They are basically defenseless and it is the shepherd’s job to make them go where he wants them to go. It is his job to lead him to safety. Thus in order to lead the sheep, the shepherd must take an active role. He must lead, he must drive the flock, he must direct.
Green pastures are a place of rest and nourishment. If left alone, sheep will probably wander to oblivion not ever reaching the green pastures. They need a guide to bring them to that place. They need the shepherd to make them lie in those fields. What is your green pasture? What is your place of rest and even nourishment? Will you allow yourself to be brought there?
He leads me beside still waters is a favorite line of mine. I was watching a documentary about Carmelite nuns and how they live their lives in the silence of a monastery. One nun said something that caught my attention. She said, “in here you will discover quickly that it is God that leads you to prayer.” Prayer has never been about us. On our own, our prayers quickly become a demand sheet or a letter of complaint. I like the image of “beside still waters.” There is a method of prayer that asks you to go to a place in yourself that is still and peaceful. It can be a brook or shore. Even a meadow. You sit there and wait for God. Here is the thing, at least for me. You cannot go there. You need to be led. You need to give up your helplessness and your chaos and your ego to get there and you cannot reach the place until you are open to it. My favorite “still waters” image is one that I came across many years ago. Imagine dawn or dusk and all is quiet. You are sitting on a stone wall looking down a great city. You do not hear anything from the city. There are silence and peace and quiet. You sit there waiting for the Lord. While waiting you just are aware of your surroundings. Then Jesus sits beside you, does not say anything and like you, He gazes at the city. After a while, you begin to talk and He listens. Prayer.
That Psalm continues with He restores my soul and leads me to righteous paths. I never really got the idea of that until now while writing this. If our prayer is sincere and true we will find out that prayer does restore our souls in more ways than one. And its direct result is it will lead us to the right pathways. For His sake.
Quite a handful really. And we can all get receive these gifts if we allow ourselves to be led in His ways.
We are sheep and He is the Shepherd.