The second verse in the 23rd Psalm is a peculiar one for those of us not accustomed to the undeveloped lands of the Bible. When you read of “green pastures” and “quiet waters” you most likely think of Goshen County, WY which produces more beef cattle than any other Wyoming county in our state. When I read Psalm 23, I think of the New Jersey Highlands consisting of lots of green and lots of water. But the “green pastures” that David had in mind was a dry and rocky set of rolling hills with tough grass sparsely scattered throughout. The grass was so sparsely scattered, that if one of the sheep wandered off, he would most likely starve to death if any of the predators in the region didn’t find him first, and depending on the season, water was even more difficult to find.
Because sheep are the most helpless of animals; they are not just dependent on the shepherd but are in absolute need of a shepherd for survival. Sometime ago there was a story out of Istanbul that reported the death of four sheep. Their shepherds reportedly neglected their flock by leaving the sheep to roam free so that they could eat breakfast. The sheep followed their leader right off a cliff; one by one, four hundred of them fell nearly 50 feet to their deaths. The loss of sheep was estimated to be $74,000.
In the ancient world, shepherding was the least respected of occupations and required the full attention of the shepherd all the time. If a family had sheep, the youngest son was expected to serve as a shepherd. Because David was the youngest of eight sons, his job was to shepherd the sheep for his father Jesse. When David wrote this psalm, he wrote from his own experience, and like all other shepherds, David lived with the sheep.
To appreciate this Psalm, we need to understand why it is structured the way that it is. There are five images that include the critical role of the shepherd as he leads, guides, and provides for his sheep; each Sunday, we will consider one of the five images we are given. So that you know where we are going, I will list them for you here:
Image #1: The Abundant Life (vv. 2-3a)
Image #2: The Secure Life (v. 3b)
Image #3: The Hard Life (v. 4)
Image #4: The Victorious Life (v. 5)
Image #5: The Everlasting Life (v. 6)
Today we will consider the first image, which is where the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm is ultimately leading His sheep, and that is the abundant life.
What is the Way to the Abundant Life?
For a sheep to “lie down” four things need to happen: They need to be free of fear, friction, flies, and hunger. Phillip Keller spent eight years as a shepherd before he became a pastor, in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, he wrote of what it takes to get sheep to lie down:
It is almost impossible for sheep to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met. Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear. Because of the social behavior within a flock sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their kind. If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of these pests can they relax. Lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger.”[1]
It is only the shepherd who can provide the kind of trust, peace, deliverance, and pasture that the sheep need. Yet, of the five images in this Psalm, David begins with the one about rest. The first thing that we receive from Yahweh as our Shepherd, is rest. How does He provide us with rest? According to the NASB2020,
“He lets me lie down in green pastures...”
“He leads me beside quiet waters.”
“He restores my soul...”
The Hebrew word for “lets” is the Hebrew word “rbṣ” and most translations translate this word as “make.” If you are using the NIV, the ESV, or an older version of the NASB, Psalm 23:2 reads something like this: “He makes me lie down in green pastures...” So which is it? Does Jesus, as our good Shepherd “make us lie down” or does He, “let us lie down in green pastures”? The Hebrew word for “lets” is both causative and imperfect so literally it can be translated, “He causes me to lie down in green pastures...” So, why does all matter? Our Shepherd removes from His sheep every agitation and threat that would keep us from the kind of rest we were made for and the rest that we need.
However, the presence of Jesus in our lives not only causes us to lie down, but He also takes us to quiet waters; in Hebrew, “quiet waters” is literally “waters of rest.” Where the quiet waters are, so there is life for all that surrounds those waters, and where there are green pastures and still waters in the dry and rocky climate of a cursed world, there is renewal. What kind of renewal you ask? The kind that restores the soul of the sheep. The Hebrew word used for “restores” means to “turn back” or “return.” The place that the Psalmist is describing is the place where those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6) will be filled and refreshed by resting in the Shepherd of the 23rdPsalm.
It is Jesus who said, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). It is the Lord of the 23rd Psalm who said: “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). The Good Shepherd said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
According to Psalm 23, the Christian life begins with rest, and the kind of rest we receive is the abundant life that can only come through Jesus. But what is the abundant life? Is it prosperity in the world’s eyes? Is it the pain free life? What is the abundant life that Jesus came so that we, as His sheep, would have?
What Kind of Abundant Life Does the Shepherd Provide?
The abundant life is a life rooted in Jesus. The abundant life comes out of the abiding life. So, what is the abiding life you ask? Jesus told us what the abiding life is in John 6:54-56, “The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54–56). The Greek word for “remain” is “menō.” If you are using the ESV or an older version of the NASB, you will see the word “abide” instead of “remain.” To remain or abide is to rest in Jesus and to rest in Him is to take up residence in the life of Christ. How does one do that? You do it by taking into your mind, heart, and soul all that Jesus is and all that he taught and commanded us to do. The same Greek word is used in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
So what does it mean to have the abundant life? Does the abundant life mean that you have a pain free life? If the abundant life means that the Shepherd’s will for you is to be comfortable with little to no suffering in this life, then what do you do with our Shepherd’s words to his sheep: “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b)? The New Living Translation is closer to Jesus’ point: “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” If the green pastures and quite waters do not include the kind of agitation and trouble that suffering brings, then what do you do with Jesus’ warning to his disciples: “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all people because of My name. And yet not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:16–18).
If the green pastures and quiet waters that the Jesus leads his people to does not include suffering and even death, then what do you say to the fathers, the mothers, the children, and the friends of the 70 Christians who were taken from their village at 4am on the morning on February 13th of this year by a rebel group with ties to the Islamic State? They were taken by force to a Protestant church where they were slaughtered with machetes and hammers; those 70 Christians were our brothers and sisters in the faith. They heard the call of Jesus and followed Him (see John 10:14-16), yet when their bodies were discovered, each of them was also beheaded. Where are the green pastures and quiet waters of those 70 beheaded Christians from the Congo if the 23rd Psalm is also for them?
Those 70 beheaded brothers and sisters are now included among the martyred saints described in Revelation 6:9-11,
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?” And a white robe was given to each of them; and they were told that they were to rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who were to be killed even as they had been, was completed also.” (Rev. 6:9–11)
Those 70 Christians among the masses in heaven who are asking the question: “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who live on the earth?” Notice the answer they received: “rest for a little while longer, until the number of your fellow servants and their brothers and sisters who are to be killed even as you have been killed, is complete” (v. 11). There will be more who will be massacred, butchered, and slaughtered in the name of the Good Shepherd, but that is not the end of their story! In March another 47 Christians from the Congo were martyred for following Jesus, and to date 287 Christians have been killed for their faith since Christmas of 2024. So, where was their green pasture? Where were the quiet waters for those followers of the Good Shepherd?
We are given an answer in Revelation 7:9-17. We are told that right now all 287 of those who died for their faith in the Congo sing, and they are joined with other brothers and sisters who followed the Good Shepherd to their deaths, “from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages.” Today, they shout triumphantly: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9ff.). But that is not all that we are told, for what they have is infinitely more precious than the comfort and safety we all hope to have in this life. I want to show you something from Revelation 7:13-17 that will help make sense of what is promised to us in the 23rd Psalm:
Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. 16They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Do you see the answer for where the green pastures and quiet waters are for those who suffer, especially for those who suffer for their faith in the Good Shepherd? God currently shelters the scores of martyred Christians with His presence according to Revelation 7:15, but do you see what verses 16-17 say and how familiar it sounds to Psalm 23? Let’s look at these verses again: “They will no longer hunger nor thirst, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any scorching heat; 17for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” The reason why these Christians, and every other Christian in heaven no longer hungers or thirsts is because they are in the presence of the Lamb who is their shepherd. The sun no longer beats down on them with its scorching heat because they have been delivered from the wilderness of a cursed world! The Lamb is the spring of water of life, and it is because of the triumph of the Lamb that every tear will be wiped from their eyes.
Conclusion
Listen, the 70 who were beheaded, those who suffer in this life, and every other Christian who belongs to the Good Shepherd had the green pastures and quiet waters during their life on earth because they had Jesus, and they found that their hunger and thirst for righteousness was satisfied in Him. Although the 70 Christians from the Congo lost their lives, they did not lose what belonged to them, for they have what is promised to every Christian in the 23rd Psalm because they have the Lamb who is their Shepherd.
Psalm 23 is not some cute passage for coffee mugs, t-shirts, and memorial cards! It is so much more. If Jesus is your shepherd, you have all that you need in Him. If you have Jesus, then you have the green pastures and quiet waters promised to all whose Lord is their shepherd.
My question for you dear friend, is this:
“Who is the Lamb of God to you?”
“If Jesus is your shepherd, then in what ways are you abiding in Him?”
“How can you expect to experience the kinds of green pastures and quiet waters promised in Psalm 23 if you are not going to Jesus to satisfy the kind of hunger and thirst that only He can satisfy?”
[1] James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005), 209.
