He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside healing waters of rest. He restores my soul. Psalm 23:2-3.
“A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.” Song of Songs 4:12.
My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of balsam, to pasture his flock in the gardens and gather lilies. “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies.” Song of Songs 6:2-3.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
Today we are continuing with the meditation of Psalm 23. We have gone a few days to get up to verses 2 and 3. “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside healing waters of rest. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3.
Your good Shepherd makes you lie down, and in Hebrew the word is “rabats” which means to lie down completely stretched out in relaxation. He calms down your anxiety driven life. And it is green pastures where He makes you stretch out in comfort, and the word translated “green” there is the Hebrew word “deshe,” which usually is translated as grass, fresh green grass. For a shepherd that is the ideal place for his sheep, a place of abundant, fresh grass—no lack of or worry about provision for the sheep, they can relax. And it is also is a resting place of peace by healing waters of rest. So the pure, fresh, life giving water is there, flowing peacefully. Your good Shepherd is leading you into Eden. He is taking you out of your waste places to the abundant life I sent Him to give you. And you will note at the end of the Psalm, David says that he will dwell in My house for length of days—now and forever. And what does he tell you about My house?
Let us go to Psalm 36 first, where David sings of My house: “Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.” Psalm 36:5-8. The river of delights, the healing waters of rest.
Jesus is leading you to My house, to My garden, to dwell with Me. Do you remember where I placed the first man and woman when I created them? In a beautiful garden of abundance and peace. And what did I do? I came and met with them in the garden in the breezy time of the day. In Song of Songs the bride calls Me a garden dweller. Song of Songs 8:13. And I call each one of you an enclosed garden filled with fruit trees, springs, and sweet-smelling spices. Song of Songs 4:12-16. And what does the bride say? “Awake, O north wind (and the word translated “wind” is “ruach,” which also is translated as Spirit, My Spirit), and come, wind of the south; make my garden breathe out fragrance. Let its spices be wafted abroad. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits!” Song of Songs 4:16.
Do you ever think of prayer time as a time to go into the inner garden of your heart and meet with Me there, filled with the breeze of the Spirit as He breathes forth My Word of revelation into your garden filling it with the sweet fragrance of Heaven? Jesus directed you “when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6. The inner enclosed garden of your heart where My Kingdom is accessed by My Spirit.
And your garden can be enlarged. Have you never read, “And Jesus came and preached peace (shalom) to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:17-22. We can all be one. I in you and you in Me, together for eternity, so we can be together everyday.
And what does the good Shepherd do for you in that garden of delight, in that grass filled pasture where you are resting by healing waters? He restores your soul.
You soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. Your spirit is where I dwell, it is your spirit that is born again. But your soul is your personality, the way you think and feel. It needs renewing to catch up to your spirit. And it is in your soul that depression, anger, confusion, anxiety and the like come to dwell in you. These are negative emotions that can make you troubled, fearful, and joyless. But life does not have to be that way. My Son came to heal the broken hearted and to set the captives and the oppressed free. He came to make your life one of joy. And that is what the good Shepherd does for you. He restores your soul. People and yourself have damages your soul but Jesus revives your drooping spirit.
The Hebrew word translated as “restore” is “shuv.” The Word also means “return,” “bring back (restore),” and “repent.” It is a wonderful word. It is about coming back to Me so I can restore you to the blameless condition of Adam before he fell. It is coming back to Me so I restore what you lost due to the sins of others or of your own. I can make your life as if sin never happened. And I do that in your good Shepherd Jesus. His Blood restores all you lost by sin. His Blood more than pays any debt to Me that mankind has for sin and disobedience. And that Blood cleanses and restores your soul from the effects of sin. It cleanses your conscience from dead works. The wages of sin is death. You have washed your robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Your good Shepherd not only leads you, He cleans you and makes you perfect, without blemish, before Me. And this puts your heart at ease before Me. He takes away your disease. The Blood allows you to relax in green pastures and drink deeply of the living waters of rest. He gave you His Word so you could share His joy and His joy would make your joy complete. Restore the joy of youth. He brings you to rest in the house of your Father. And He does more, He makes you My house and a temple of My Spirit. The secret place of the Most High.
My Son can heal your emotions, those broken, hurt, and shattered emotions that broke your heart and left you empty and alone. He can fill your waste places with Eden and the living water of the Spirit. And when your soul is restored in that green pasture of rest then your good Shepherd can lead you forward on the journey, on the road to freedom and to completing your amazing and unique assignment. And you know that is so, for read the next verse: “He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Psalm 23:3.
I love you. We will continue the journey tomorrow. Keep walking with Me. Enoch did and he stepped across the threshold of light into My eternal home and they saw him no more.