A word fitly spoken is like APPLES OF GOLD in a setting of silver – Proverbs 25v11
The Jewish King David, who wrote many of the psalms, was a shepherd in his youth and in Psalm 23 he draws on his experiences to describe his relationship to the Lord as that between a sheep and a shepherd. Jesus also used the shepherd illustration describing Himself as “The Good Shepherd” in John’s Gospel.
Today our devotion is concerned with the first part of verse 2: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures;”. Why? Surely sheep have to eat as much as possible of green grass whilst it is available and not to be made to spend time lying down? Pasture in Israel at the time of David would have been scrub much like the Karoo, so green grass would have been rare to those sheep, which is why a story I was told by a sheep farmer in the Karoo is helpful to understand what David is saying. This farmer’s sheep had been used to the scrub vegetation which met their nutritional needs, but after unusually good rains one year a certain green weed sprouted all over the farm. The sheep in their ignorance found it desirable and delicious and they gorged themselves, but because it was too rich for them, there was soon an epidemic of upset stomachs which attracted flies and the resulting maggots infected the sheep leading to serious sickness with many dying. The weed looked good, tasted good, but because it was a toxic weed the consequences were disastrous. As we go through life, we are often exposed to the allure of what seems green pasture, but is actually green weeds. Because all of us are prone to the lust of our eyes, the lust of our flesh and the pride of life, our Shepherd makes us aware that even though the green pasture seems attractive, not all is good for us. So, He makes us rest, exercise restraint and listen to Him as He navigates us through the dangerous pasture. Does this mean we are to avoid green pasture? Of course not. My Shepherd loves to bless with good things, but friend make sure you are not consuming the toxic weeds of materialism, fame, vanity, popularity, addictive substances and/or immorality. It requires faith in the Good Shepherd to wait for Him to show us what is good and what we should avoid. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote “Godliness with contentment is great gain”. And as Jude says in his epistle: “Keep yourself in God’s love”.
Next week we will consider what it means when My shepherd leads me beside the still waters.
God Bless
Graeme Greenwood