What follows the Lord is my Shepherd?

Psalm 24 English Standard Version

The King of Glory

A Psalm of David.

1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah

God is a God of order and it is only fitting that the title of King should follow the title of Shepherd.

Psalm 23:2

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

Let me begin with the obvious, the Shepherd will not make anyone lay down if He, Jesus Christ, is not the Lord of your life. While it is obvious to many of us, it is not obvious to everyone.

One of the signs to a lost and lonely world that Jesus is the Lord of our life is a peaceful countenance. The world is an angry bitter but we are Kingdom dwellers walking in a foreign land. We are sojourners.

My place of peaceful recline is under a sprawling oak tree with lots of shade on top of a hill covered with lush green grass.

Obviously that is a vision of my soul at rest and I have not been there enough lately. My restlessness is stirred by my vision of so much to be done and so little time to do it.

Then I look at all the things that are troubling me and I have no control over any of it.

The Lord is my Shepherd.

The next line is “I shall not want.” But I do want, even as I take a moment to rest and reflect on all that my Shepherd has done for me I see He had purpose in saving me from death more than once. Not a spiritual death but a physical death. I know for a fact it was my Lord who took His staff, hooked me by the neck and pulled me back from the brink of a real death.

My gratitude for those moments left me with a real sense of debt to live this life led by Him.

Today He makes me lie down in green pastures. It is my only cure for this restlessness.

God’s will be done is not a euphemism, it is real and sometimes I get so caught up in the doing I forget that. Lying down in green pastures is only possible to enjoy fully when we trust God is fully in control and there is nothing being left undone that has to be done right now.

It’s a green pasture and I can eat freely when I get hungry. But for now, I am full.