You Make Me Lie Down In Green Pastures Analysis
41. You Make Me Lie Down 14 February 2012
I love the song “You make me lie down in green pastures” by Don Moen. It's been stuck in my head ever since I heard it at a concert.
“He makes me lie down” (Psalm 23:2). There’s a secret in this verse we often rush past.
The Israelites who read this Psalm when David wrote it almost 1,000 years before Christ, would have known from experience how hard it is to get a sheep to lie down.
Keller writes that if a sheep is to lie down, he needs to feel absolutely secure. There is a lot of tension in a flock. Friction among the sheep can be caused by rivalry, competition and an ever present fear of the unknown. Sheep also need to have full stomachs or else they’ll be constantly on the move.
So, for King
David to describe the Lord as his shepherd, who made him lie down in green pastures, displays his trust in a God who relieved his fear, friction, and satisfied all his needs in order to help him lie down. So, when the Psalmist thinks of God, making him lie down, he is thanking God for calming him within an anxious world.
If there is ever a group of people who need to lie down in the cool grass of green pastures by the still waters, it’s us ‘modern-day’ sheep.
As sheep that follow the Good Shepherd we are called to find rest from a weary world in the presence of a trustworthy Lord. Rest adds to the beauty and the completeness of every life; and there is no life which can be altogether complete without them.
Friend, there are moments and hours in our lives, when our supreme duty is to do nothing, to be quiet and patient, waiting faithfully for God to work, or for the time to come when we can act.
Remember, the duty of being quiet and patient and trustful is as sacred and important as the urgent duties of our daily lives.
I love the song “You make me lie down in green pastures” by Don Moen. It's been stuck in my head ever since I heard it at a concert.
“He makes me lie down” (Psalm 23:2). There’s a secret in this verse we often rush past.
The Israelites who read this Psalm when David wrote it almost 1,000 years before Christ, would have known from experience how hard it is to get a sheep to lie down.
Keller writes that if a sheep is to lie down, he needs to feel absolutely secure. There is a lot of tension in a flock. Friction among the sheep can be caused by rivalry, competition and an ever present fear of the unknown. Sheep also need to have full stomachs or else they’ll be constantly on the move.
So, for King
David to describe the Lord as his shepherd, who made him lie down in green pastures, displays his trust in a God who relieved his fear, friction, and satisfied all his needs in order to help him lie down. So, when the Psalmist thinks of God, making him lie down, he is thanking God for calming him within an anxious world.
If there is ever a group of people who need to lie down in the cool grass of green pastures by the still waters, it’s us ‘modern-day’ sheep.
As sheep that follow the Good Shepherd we are called to find rest from a weary world in the presence of a trustworthy Lord. Rest adds to the beauty and the completeness of every life; and there is no life which can be altogether complete without them.
Friend, there are moments and hours in our lives, when our supreme duty is to do nothing, to be quiet and patient, waiting faithfully for God to work, or for the time to come when we can act.
Remember, the duty of being quiet and patient and trustful is as sacred and important as the urgent duties of our daily lives.