December 22, 2021: God's Green Pastures are Always Available, We Only Need to Open Our Eyes and See.

Psalm 23 (NIV)

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters,

3 He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23 is such a familiar psalm, and it is recognized and memorized by many. But the question is...Do we take this psalm to heart? Do we honestly believe what it says and mean? The first three verses are the heart of the psalm.

1. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing". When we put our total trust in our Shepherd...when we totally surrender all of ourselves to our Lord, we believe that He will provide all things for us. We know that whatever we will need, the Lord will provide, so we lack nothing.

2. "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides quiet waters". The picture this verse paints is unbelievable. Have you ever been in a green pasture? As far as your eyes can see, the flowing green grass waves in the wind. The peace that this sight brings is so comforting. And then, moreover, the Lord also provides quite waters for us to drink from. No trial can come into our life without the Lord not knowing about it. He has already provided us a place of comfort and peace for us to enjoy...Himself.

3."He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake". As we come to "rest" in Jesus, in that peaceful green pasture and beside the quiet waters, our soul become refreshed moment-by-moment, day-by-day. All we need to do is be completely and "absolutely surrender" to our Lord and He will guide us down the right paths.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

My prayer and hope are that we all can come to a place in our hearts and recognize all that God has already provided for us through the Person of Jesus. If we have Him in our hearts, we need nothing else. Our green pastures will always be around us, all we need to do is open our eyes and see.