Psalm Twenty-Three: He Makes Me Lie Down

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Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet water, 
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths 
for his name's sake.
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.

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

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.
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I have read this Psalm countless times and I have had it memorized since I was little. But I don't know if its because of what we are going through right now with Covid-19 and self isolation, but something new stood out to me when I typed this Psalm out for this blog. What stood out was a little word in the second verse: MAKES. The verse says: "He MAKES me lie down in green pastures". Sometimes, God forces us to lie down, to rest, to stop, because he knows that we need refreshing. So many of us are busy. Sports, school, friends, jobs. These are all great things, but they can quickly turn our souls to those things and before we realize it, our souls are parched. I can't speak for you, but I noticed pretty early on with this pandemic, that my soul was thirsty. My time with Jesus had become like an item on my to-do list. Well, I have started to look at this time of self-isolation and social distancing, not as a bad thing for me, but as God making me lie down in his green pasture. I look at this time as him leading us all to streams of quiet waters. Why? Because our souls are needing some refreshing.

So, today, will you go meet with Jesus? Will you go take time to lie in his green pastures and walk by his quiet waters? That might look like going for a walk through your neighborhood alone to talk with God. It might look like laying down on your bedroom floor in the quiet, imagining that you are laying in a green pasture with God. It might look like opening your Bible and just reading and listening for God's voice. No matter what you do, I know that it will be refreshing for your soul!

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