Day 5: Still waters
[The Lord] makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:2 – Legacy Standard Bible - LSB).
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27 - NKJV). These are Your words, Lord Jesus, as You describe Your loving care over vulnerable humans that You have made Your flock. You use symbolic language to convey the deep, amazing love and compassion of a high and exalted God for lowly, hapless creatures: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep" (vs 11).
Lord, You have always been our Shepherd— You have loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Long ago, the psalmist David, a shepherd himself, knew You as the Shepherd of all shepherds. By the power of the Holy Spirit he described the details of Your love and tender care— leading, guiding, providing, nurturing, restoring, comforting, defending, protecting, attending, parenting, befriending... (Psalm 23).
And today, You care for us, too, as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Peter 2:25). Thank You. Remind us that You are by our side as we walk through the ups-and-downs, the valleys and the setbacks, the griefs and the troubles, the triumphs and the overflows, the uncertainties and the unmarked paths.
In any and every circumstance, You are our Shepherd. Give us rest in Your pastures of peace; lead us beside still waters. For Your Name's sake.
The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want;
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
My soul He doth restore again,
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
E’en for His own name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me, and Thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
My table Thou hast furnished me
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore,
My dwelling place shall be.
~ Scripture alt. by Francis Rous, pub. 1650
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