He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
Chances are, we have heard these words from Psalm 23:2 hundreds, maybe thousands, of times in our lives if we grew up around the church. The imagery makes us think of calm, lush valleys of deep greens and still lakes reflecting the world around them. What a wonderful place to lie down and rest! We Coloradans seek these places out with our backpacks and tents to set up camp and unplug from the world. Maybe these are the places we connect with God the most directly. As the Celtics would say, maybe these places are “thin places” for us, where God seems near and not so complicated….where there aren’t many obstacles between the two of us. These are wonderful places and I’m so thankful for them……
AND……
That’s not what David is talking about when he writes these words. I know that sounds like bad news, but it is the furthest thing from it. The reality of the situation will show us how God uses certain types of landscapes and topography in our lives to keep our hearts, minds, emotions, and hopes set on Him as the Shepherd and not on the circumstances we find ourselves in; how the material/spiritual/relational/abundance that we often desire and focus on is not always the best thing for us in the long run.