Psalm 23:2-3

As any mother knows, an infant is entirely helpless when it’s born. It knows nothing about the world and has many needs. For an infant to grow and survive, it needs a mother’s complete and constant care. She helps the infant get the:

• rest it needs to be calm
• the milk it needs to be satisfied
• the assistance it needs when it turns over in the crib
• the guidance it needs when it learns to crawl – “come to Mommy!” or “don’t touch that!”

As a mother also knows, every infant eventually becomes an adult, an independent person who no longer depends on a mother to survive.

Yet here’s a crucial reality. Though we become independent adults, we remain dependent as human beings – not dependent on a mother but God. No matter how confident, educated, experienced, or wealthy we become, we’re always in need.

We are always helpless and desperately need him. No matter how hard we search, work, or spend, we can never seem to get the rest, satisfaction, restoration, or guidance we need to succeed at the highest level. We frequently fail and come up short when trying to meet these needs on our own.

Just as a mother cares for her infant, so a shepherd cares for his sheep, and that’s how we need God to meet our needs as well – throughout our entire adult lives. Let’s consider four ways that the Lord meets our needs as our shepherd. As we do, we should ask ourselves the question, “Am I relying on him to meet these needs or am I trying to meet them some other way and coming up short?”

He provides rest. (23:2a)

When we speak about rest, we think about getting a good night’s sleep, grabbing a power nap, or even taking a vacation. We also think about other factors like sleep apnea, insomnia, sleeping pills, REM sleep, and finding the perfect pillow and mattress combo.

While factors like these certainly apply to our quest for rest, we should know that no matter what we do to get the rest we need, deep, true, and lasting rest is not the result of sleeping pills and comfy mattresses. To enjoy true rest, we need to receive that rest from God.

“He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

To say that the Lord “makes me” lie down does not mean that he forces us to rest, but it means that he makes it possible for us to lie down.

Though we commonly envision sheep laying down in lush pastures on green hillsides, we may not realize that it takes a lot of effort on the part of a shepherd to make this possible. To make it possible for sheep to rest in the pasture, a shepherd must remove at least three factors that prevent them from resting: fear, friction, and frustration.

Fear

Sheep get spooked easily about many things. A sudden change or noise in their surroundings can put a sheep on edge, and when one sheep is on edge, he can make the entire flock uneasy. A distant rumble in the sky or a jackrabbit jumping out from the grass is enough to stir an entire flock of sheep into a frenzy.

Like sheep, we also get spooked too easily. National and world news headlines. Volatile activity on the markets. Health concerns. A sudden change of plans. An unexpected comment, email, letter in the mail, or phone call. Any one of these things is enough to frighten us and snatch away our rest. Most importantly, a guilty conscience due to unconfessed sin will certainly make genuine rest impossible. Only the Lord – our shepherd – can resolve these hindrances to our rest.

Friction

Rivalries, tensions, and disagreements among the sheep in a flock prevent them from resting calmly in the fields. When agitations like these arise, a shepherd needs to step in and resolve the tension.

We have a similar tendency as people, whether in the family or church. Disagreements, personality clashes, and jealousy over the treatment of another person cause social and relational tension that makes rest difficult to achieve. When we try to rest, the tension resurfaces in our minds and keeps our negative feelings in motion. Only the Lord – our shepherd – can resolve these tensions in our lives.

Frustration

It’s not just major differences between sheep that prevent them from resting. Minor, petty irritations have the same effect. For instance, when flees, flies, and ticks get under a sheep’s skin, they irritate the sheep to distraction. This pesky experience spreads quickly to an entire flock, making it impossible for them to lie down in the fields and rest.

This happens for us as well. A stray comment, an unkind look, a thermostat that’s too hot or too cold, the feeling of being overlooked, a forgotten errand, another person’s irritating habit, or even their repeated shortcoming – pesky details like these can “get under our skin” and prevent us from resting.

Our fears, frictions, and frustrations are one way that we are always helpless and desperately need him. Only the Lord can resolve these pesky problems in our hearts so that they stop disrupting our rest.

Jesus himself said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28).

Key Questions

• What fears, frictions, or frustrations are disrupting your rest today?
• Can you say that you are entrusting all such things to the Lord as your shepherd?

He provides satisfaction. (23:2b)

Sheep need water to survive. Unfortunately, they often try to satisfy their thirst in harmful ways by drinking from potholes and puddles along the way. Though these water sources are readily available, they are also breeding grounds for disease germs and parasites. Though they quench a sheep’s thirst for a moment, they lead to a variety of long-term, harmful conditions which may even lead to death.

“He leads me beside the still waters.”

Like sheep, we often drink from the polluted, bug-infested puddles of this world looking for satisfaction, trying to satisfy our desires with fleshly indulgence. Though there is pleasure in sin for a season, this pleasure eventually gives way to hardship, misery, and sorrow. What’s more, it leaves you empty and even more dissatisfied than before.

Only the Lord can satisfy our thirst with “still waters.” A shepherd provides his sheep with “still waters” in at least two ways:

Morning Dew

He wakes them early to be refreshed by the dew of the fresh, clean dew of the morning, satisfying their thirst before they face the difficulties of their day. A sheep who begins the day satisfied will be less likely to drink from potholes later in the day.

Our shepherd does the same when we start our day in fellowship with him, meditating on his Word and speaking to him in prayer.

Freshwater Springs

A good shepherd “leads” his sheep to freshwater springs. These are not always easy to find and may require a difficult, steep climb, squeezing through a narrow passageway, or even some hard manual labor to clear away rocks or boulders.

Though puddles and potholes offer instant refreshment, true and lasting refreshment comes when we bypass these options to follow the Lord through the difficulties of life, knowing that true satisfaction comes only when we wait on his timing and will.

Jesus himself said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37).

Our tendency to look for satisfaction from the polluted potholes of this world is just one way we show that we’re always helpless and desperately need him.

Key Questions

• What in what ways are you drinking from the polluted potholes of this world for satisfaction?
• Are you spending time with God in the morning before you start the day?
• Are you following him through difficult circumstances knowing that true refreshment will come on the other side?

He provides restoration. (23:3a)

One of the problems sheep experience is called “being cast.” This problem resembles what happens to babies when they roll over in the crib. When sheep settle down to rest, they can get so comfortable and cozy that they flip over onto their back with their legs up in the air. This usually happens because they either settled into a pronounced indentation in the ground or they had grown too much wool.

“He restores my soul.”

If the shepherd doesn’t spot them soon enough and flip them back over, then they will last only a few days in cool, damp weather and only a few hours in hot, dry weather. Gas will build up inside and cut off their blood flow. So, when a sheep is cast like this, it needs a shepherd to “restore it” to a healthy position.

A similar problem happens to us, doesn’t it, when we get too comfortable in life. Before long, complacency leads to a distant and unhealthy spiritual life and may even result in us falling back into old sinful attitudes and behaviors.

The psalm writer spoke about this when he said, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, for the help of His countenance” (Psa 42:5). Are you cast down today?

When we “flip over” in our spiritual life, the Lord patiently “restores our soul” if we will let him. He reminds us about what is true and brings circumstances and people into our lives to help point us back in the right direction. This is yet another way we show that we’re always helpless and desperately need him.

Key Questions

• Have you gotten comfortable and “fallen into a rut” in your spiritual life?
• What old attitudes and behaviors are creeping back in?
• How is the Lord using circumstances and people to pull you out of your complacency?

He provides guidance. (23:3b)

Left to themselves, sheep wander in whatever direction strikes their fancy. They have no plan, no goal, no direction in life apart from the guidance a shepherd provides.

“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

The primary way that a shepherd guides his sheep is with his voice. They hear his voice and follow it. When sheep follow their own feelings, impressions, and instincts, they end up in confusing, disastrous, and wrong destinations. But when they follow their shepherd’s voice, they end up at the right place daily, weekly, and at key points in the seasons of life.

As human beings, we need the same kind of guidance from our shepherd and we receive this guidance, not from our own feelings and impressions, but from the Word of God which tells us what our shepherd thinks, says, and wants for our lives.

To make the right decisions in life (big or small, major or minor), we should focus less on the decision itself and more on the words of our shepherd. Rather than ask, “Is this okay or not?” we should ask, “What do you say and what do you want me to do?” Then we should learn what Scripture tells us about the decision we’re facing and follow what God says.

Jesus himself said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

When we follow the clear guidance of God’s Word, we get to the right destination. But when we make decisions based upon God’s Word, there is another benefit as well. We boost our shepherd’s reputation! And this is the greatest benefit of all.

As one experienced shepherd recalls: “I can still see one of the sheep ranches in our district which was operated by a tenant sheepman. He ought never to have been allowed to keep sheep. His stock was always thin, weak, and riddled with disease or parasites. Again, and again, they would come and stand at the fence staring blankly through the woven wire at the green, lush pastures which my flock enjoyed” (W. Phillip Keller).

Not only does this scenario cause a poor quality of life for the sheep in his pasture, but it also reflects poorly on the shepherd himself. That’s what “for his name’s sake” means. You see, God doesn’t care for his people because we deserve it but because caring for us reveals how good and great he truly is.

When we refuse to follow what God’s Word teaches and “go our own way,” we make it appear that God is not good. But when we follow what he says, we provide the world with yet another opportunity to see through the platform of our lives how good God is. We become a living advertisement for his name.

Key Questions

• How have you made recent decisions based upon personal desires, impressions, and general worldly wisdom and how is that proving to be the wrong approach?
• How can you better rely on God’s Word to help you make the right choices in the future decisions that you face?
• Based upon the choices that you’re making and the outcomes of those choices, what message is your life sending about the goodness and reputation of God?

Like sheep who need a shepherd and like infants who need a mother, even as adults, we are always helpless and desperately need God to care for us like a shepherd. Let’s learn to accept our helplessness and trust in God more constantly and completely to meet our every need – for rest, satisfaction, restoration, and guidance.