He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters.
25 sermons cite this verse
… As a matter of fact, I'm not making that up. I'm borrowing and remixing the testimony of David who said that God as shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures. I like that. God makes me lie down in green pastures. Because sometimes I don't have enough sense to lie down on my own. And so God will make me lie down in green pastures. The question becomes, when you lie down in green pastures, do you know how to enjoy the scenery of greenery? Last year, I'm privileged to do that. I'm in recovery after surgery. Three weeks into recovery and the doctor informed me that I was well enough to drive. I'm excited to drive and I know that the only way I'm going to be able to drive is to sneak and do it. And so, Deb fortunately had a lunch to go to and as soon as she left for lunch and I allowed some time to go by, I got in my fly ride. …
… done, I'm going. When I can eat again, I'm going to that restaurant, because I've got to go there. Pitiful. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. You know, most of the time when God's working deeply in you and me, we really don't have a clue what he's doing. the most profound things aren't even recognizable for months sometimes years vegetable gardens grow quick, fruit trees take a while and this lasting stuff that we like to see happen in our lives really happens over time he restores my soul, he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake here it is, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I don't know how to tell you that I knew this, but I knew towards the beginning of this little journey that it was going to be the valley. Excuse me. The valley of the shadow of death, not the valley of death. …
… I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the right paths for his name's sake. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. And then he says, maybe. Thank you. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a banquet for me in front of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now I want you to notice first that this psalm begins and ends with the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. And it ends with, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This psalm is all about God. It's all about his goodness to you. If you missed any in this series, I would encourage you to go back and listen to the 12 things that God has said he wants to do for you because he is a good God. …
… I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the right paths for his name's sake. And even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a banquet for me in front of my enemies, and you anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Thank you. Now there are a lot of metaphors in this passage. David is a shepherd and he's using the shepherd motif, talking about all the ways that God wants to bless your life. And today I want us to focus on the meaning of verse 4, which is this phrase, your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Now what in the world does that mean? …
… because you memorize it in king james that's perfectly fine all right let's stay together the lord is my shepherd i have everything that i need he makes me lie down in green pastures He leaves me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leaves me in the right path for his name's sake. And even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Very good class. You all get an A and you all get a cookie. now this phrase even though i walked through the valley of the shadow of death there's actually a canyon in israel called the valley of the shadow of death i'm sure david had been through it many many times some of these canyons were very narrow at the bottom and could be 800 feet tall and so when you're looking up on either side the only time you'd get the sun is actually at noon day And so in the middle of the day, you could be in the bottom of this canyon and not see the sun because the walls were so tall and the canyon was so narrow, the sun only shines when it's right overhead and it would be in shadows most of the day. …
… I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Now here's the verse we're gonna look at this weekend. Read it with me. He leads me in the right paths for his name's sake. As I said, because God is a good God, he promises to guide us. We're not left out on our own. God says, I'm gonna give you my guidance. In fact, listen, if you've never felt guided by God, that's a problem. Because one of the proofs or one of the evidences that you do have a relationship with God, that you're in his family, is he guides you. Look at this next verse there on your outline. Romans 8, verse 14. Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. Uh-oh. Let me read it again. Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. So it is absolutely vitally important that you learn what we're going to talk about this weekend on how do I get guidance from God or how do I be led by God's Spirit. …
… verse down. These are not long verses anyway. Now let's read verse two. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside still waters. All right. And then the next line is the beginning of verse three. So let's read that. He restores my soul. Now, what you just read talks about what the good shepherd, your heavenly father, and Jesus calls himself the good shepherd, wants to do in your life. And he says, I want to give you rest. I want to give you refreshment and I want to give you restoration. He says, first I want to give you rest. He makes me lie down. And he says, first I want to give you rest. Then he says, I want to give you refreshment. He leaves me beside still waters, quiet waters. You know, it's why people like to go to parks and sit by a lake. It has a tranquilizing effect in your life. And then he says, he restores my soul. So rest, refreshment, and restoration. This weekend we're going to look at the third. But let's get into it right here at the beginning. Now he says he restores my soul. …
… The Lord is my shepherd, so I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside quiet waters. Now, you might want to write this down. These images are actually a metaphor. They represent rest and refreshment. When he makes me lie down in green pastures, that's rest. And when he leads me beside quiet waters, that's refreshment. Now notice, I want you to circle the word, he makes me. Has God ever had to make you lay down? For your own health's sake? Because you wouldn't slow down? If you won't lay down, God will make you lay down. And sometimes the only way God can get you to look up is lay you flat on your back with an illness. And God will do that because he's the good shepherd and he cares about your health, your physical, emotional, spiritual, every area of health. I want you to write this down on your outline. To give God my best requires rest. …
… We got two passages tonight. Psalms 23 verses 1 through 4. And then Mark, put your finger in there as the old people say, put your finger in Psalms and then skedaddle over to Mark, the 10th chapter, verses 46 through 52. Thank you. when you have psalms 23 say amen amen let's read it together just verses one through four the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Now go with me to Mark, the 10th chapter. i'll be reading from the esv version english standard version and you can just follow along it's on the screen as well and they came to jericho and as he was leaving jericho with his disciples and a great crowd bartimaeus a blind beggar the son of timaas was sitting by the roadside and when he heard that it was Jesus of Natharus he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David have mercy on me and many rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cried out all the more son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call them and they called the blind man saying to him take heart get up he's calling you …
God of mercy, as we enter into Lent, may your spirit guide us to places we might not necessarily want to go. We turn to you because you, O Lord, have the words of life. Help us to hear what you have to say and grant us the courage to live it out. This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. repent and thou shall be saved. Is that what you came here to hear today? I mean, is life going well with you? When you look out at the world, is it as it should be? Do you find yourself crying out to God in fear or because of injustice? Do you hope that God would finally come and fix all that is broken? You wonder, when will the day of the Lord get here so that we can have peace and justice for all? be careful what you wish for the prophet Joel proclaims that the day of the Lord is coming and is near however he goes on to describe the day as one of darkness and gloom on that day there will be a great and powerful army but it is not to bring liberation and freedom to the oppressed. …
… the new King James version. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 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 runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the truths that are contained in this psalm, this powerful and simple declaration of who you are. Lord, I pray that you would open our eyes today to see just how you want us to enjoy you, to interact with you, and to be led by you. I pray that you would speak through me and touch lives and change lives today. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. We've titled this message, hold on wait for it a rested development that's very important the space is very important a rested development some of you heathens are like oh arrested development like the tv show and you could quote bees and banana stands and all of that not today not today it's a rested …
… and know that we are not just wandering aimlessly, but the Lord who is my shepherd, I shall not wander. Uh-oh, there's a revelation. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Uh-oh, uh-oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. This recolors Psalm 23. Because in Psalm 23, we claim a lot of promises. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for you are with me. you will prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies you will anoint my head with oil and my cup will overflow goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life you will restore my soul wait a minute wait a minute we claim those promises but don't realize the context the context is in Psalm 23 and 1 where it says the Lord is my I wish somebody would catch it to say the Lord is my shepherd is to confess that I am a nomad To say the Lord is my shepherd is to say I am bought with a price. …
… The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not one. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. There's the word leadeth. He restoreth my soul. he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. I want you to notice that. The psalmist in this beautiful passage saying, God, you are leading me. You're leading me like a shepherd and I am your sheep. You know, I'm one of your lambs. Lead me. This is the prayer of a Christian. We invite Christ to lead us. So to be Lord, which is what we call Jesus, is a central title for Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is Lord. Lord means master, sovereign, ruler, leader. And so at the very heart of our lives, the very essence of who we are, we seek to be led by Jesus, who incarnated, who put flesh on God. And so we're people, if we're a follower, if we're a Christian, we're people who've said, Jesus, I will follow you. You remember Jesus' invitation to his disciples when he began preaching and ministering, he said to his disciples, he'd come to them and say, come follow me. That's the central invitation he gave, come follow me. And so he invites us today to follow him. If you're a Christian, you've said, I'm following Jesus. He's the Lord. He's master, sovereign, ruler. …
… I shall not be in want he makes me lie down in green pastures he leads me beside quiet waters he restores my soul he guides me in paths of righteousness for his namesake even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Because I'm so strong. Nope. What's it say? For you. are with me. even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of evil, of the shadow of death, I will fear no. evil. You're 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 goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. What a powerful phrase. I will fear no evil. Listen, I'm telling you, I've been shaken up this week. …
… in the name of Jesus. Chains break. Dry bones wake. I do not intend to name every bone in the valley. I intend to go through it. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, this is not a place for me to build a house. This is not a place for me to build an identity. This is not a place for me to lay down and die. I'm taking this gun out of my mouth, and I shall Live! God can get you out of this. I'm not telling you what I think. I'm not telling you what I feel. I'm telling you what I've seen. I'm telling you what I know. God can get you out of this. But he wants something more when he does. He wants glory out of it. And so the Bible says that they grumbled, and we would too. Y'all are kind of mad right now because I'm preaching a little long. …
… The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. When you don't know what to pray, begin to pray his word. Begin to call on his name. The Bible says the prayer of Jabez, Are there any business owners or entrepreneurs? Or maybe you're wanting a promotion at work. You're not satisfied with where you are. Begin to pray the prayer of Jabez. Oh, that you would bless me indeed. That you would enlarge my territory. That your hand would be upon me. And that you would keep me from evil. And the Bible says, so God granted him his request. I don't know about you, but I would like for him to enlarge my territory. I would like for him to do that. Psalms 91 said, I will say of the Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. God said, because you love me, you will rescue me. What if in the middle of your situation and your dark and broken hour, you just begin to say to God, God in Psalm 91, I don't feel it right now. …
… However, God, you and you alone are the good shepherd, and I shall not want. You maketh me to lie down in green pastures. You leadeth me beside still waters. You restore my soul. You lead me on the path of righteousness for your name's sake. Even though I shall walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You will prepare a table in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So, Lord, back that weak enemy up, up off me, for Satan's power is limited. but your power is immeasurable in Jesus' name, in Jesus' mighty name. Family, it works. The principle works. In Jesus' name, it works. And speaking of Jesus, yes, speaking of the Son of God, you know I've introduced you to the principle of the divine, however. …
… afterward, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of what? righteousness. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Before I was afflicted, David said, I went astray. Old Jacob worshipped leaning on his staff, and that sheep that had that broken leg never wanted to stray away from the shepherd again because he had broken, but he had healed. And he had wounded and torn, but he had bound up that wound. Thank God that the shepherd knows exactly what he is doing. Now, dear friend, you can, when it comes, that's the first thing you can do. You can despise it. I'll tell you what else you might do when it comes. You can faint under it. Look again in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 5. And the Bible says, And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Don't despise it and don't faint under. Have you ever seen people faint when chastisement comes? I have. They're stubborn and mulish. They get away from God. God brings chastisement and they just drop out. They just throw up their hands. They just quit. They become spiritual dropouts. That's a terrible thing. God is not doing that to draw you away from Him, but to draw you back to Him. Now don't despise it and don't faint under it, but be exercised by it. Notice verse 11. The Bible says, we are exercised thereby. God has a …
… No wonder he gloried to write Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He restoreth my soul. talk to you today about how to get right with God and how to stay right with God. How to get right with God if you're not right with God, how to get right with God, and if you are right with God, and when you do get right with God, how to stay right with God. Now, if we're not right, we need to get right, and if we are right, we need to stay right. And that's what David is talking about in Psalm 23 and verse 3. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name saved. Now, many of us become what the Bible calls backsliders. Now, backslider is not lost. A backslider is a saved person who's out of fellowship with God. He's somebody who's already been saved. You have to go somewhere before you can slide back. …
What is the root of our stress? Listen to Adrian Rogers. He maketh me to lie down in brown, withered pastures. Is that it? He leads me beside muddy streams, dried up water brooks. Oh, no. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. All I need and more I find in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, why do we get stressed? Well, we get stressed because we think our needs are not going to be met. Welcome to Love Worth Finding, featuring profound truth simply stated by acclaimed pastor and Bible teacher, Adrian Rogers. When we go through stressful seasons of life, we need remember that God has called His sheep to rest in Him. In part one of today's message, we learned that we handle stress first by knowing the security we have in our shepherd. We are secure in Jesus, the good, great chief shepherd. If you have your Bible, turn to Psalm 23 and look at verse 2 as Adrian Rogers concludes this powerful message, How to Handle Stress. …
… If you have your Bible, turn now to Psalm 23, as Adrian Rogers shares part one of How to Handle Stress. maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. That's Psalm 23 and verse 2. Now the sheep in the Middle East get up and begin to graze and to browse about four in the morning. The shepherd begins to lead them out of the sheepfold and the dew is still on the grass. It's will graze and browse and nibble there. And then about 10 or 11 in the morning, the sun is very, very hot. And if at all possible, the shepherd will find some secluded place, hopefully some shady place with green grass and allow the sheep to lie down. And the sheep will lie down for three or four hours and just chew the cud. It's at that time when the sheep gets quiet, when the sheep gets still and begins to digest that grass that it has ingested, that is to come up and ruminate or chew the cud, it's at that time that the sheep is growing the fastest. It's at that time the sheep is putting on the fat, putting on the wool, maturing. Every shepherd knows how important it is for his sheep to have a quiet time. He maketh me to lie down. I want to talk to you today about how to deal with stress or how to handle stress. Stress ever a problem to you? …
… It says, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me. In the presence of mine enemies, Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. A beautiful psalm. We're only going to look at the first verse. And it will be a marvel really if we even touch on the truth that's in the first verse. We could take every word in the first verse and just emphasize each word. The Lord. Not a Lord, but the Lord. …
… verse, here's what you find. God is doing something for us. He is our good shepherd. Listen to what he says. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet or still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me or leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou noughtest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness or mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Well, what I'd like to do is I'd like for us to look at this passage of Scripture in the light of that whole idea that God is a caring God, that He cares for us, and He cares for every single detail of our life. …
… Testament from the Psalm of David, the 23rd Psalm, when He likens God to the shepherd, where he says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul, and He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil. Why? Because the shepherd is with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." It's interesting language there in the Psalm where David is recalling his own days as a shepherd. You remember when he was still a boy and the troops of Israel were faced against the armies of the Philistines when the giant Goliath came into the valley and called out a challenge for there to be a champion to come forth from Israel who would take on this giant in hand-to-hand combat where winner takes all. Whoever wins the fight wins the day for his army. …
… I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet or still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me or leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou notice my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness or mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now, how many times have you read that passage of Scripture? Where did you usually stop when it says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil? Well, what about this table? And what about the anointing of my head? And what about goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life? …