I’m reading a book right now by Phillip Keller – it was written in 1970 – called “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.” (Figured I really need to read all the books on my shelf that I haven’t read yet, before I buy more!) I am reminded all over again how very much we miss when we read the Scriptures, simply because we aren’t familiar with the culture in which they were written, or, in this case, the perspective and understanding that come when you know what it’s like to be an actual shepherd. It is absolutely fascinating and so awesome! God is so in to detail!

          “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” I learned that sheep will not lie down unless four requirements are met:

1. They must be free from all fear.
2. They must be free from “social tension” within their own flock.
3. They must be free from all pests, flies, or parasites in order to relax, and therefore, lie down.
4. They must be free from hunger.

          I won’t necessarily go in to all the supporting details that he shared in the book, but it’s very much worth reading, so I suggest getting it! I was just so blessed that – coincidentally – (God has just done this far too often for me to not give Him all glory and thanks when it happens!), I happened to be reading in Jeremiah, a book I’ve read many times before . . . but right in the middle of the chapter in the book on the 23^rd Psalm on how the Lord, our Good Shepherd, makes His sheep (us) to lie down in green pastures, I read this in Jeremiah 50:7b (here, the Lord is actually speaking of Israel and He says that when their enemies came against them, their enemies said they were not guilty, because Israel had sinned against…) “the Lord, their true pasture.”

          As Gentile believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been grafted in and are now, spiritually, Abraham’s descendents. The Lord is our true pasture! When we are truly resting/abiding in Jesus, aren’t we, indeed, free from all fear, free from all efforts to fight against those around us for a better position (social tension), free from the unrest and anxiety that comes from all the “pests, flies, and parasites” that strive to keep us in oppression, and completely free from hunger, because He is the “bread of life” and the “living water?!”

          “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” He leads me to Himself!!! He is my place of perfect peace and rest; my safety; my perfect fulfillment; my greatest Reward. The Lord is my Shepherd…and my true pasture!