He Makes Me Lie Down
There’s a new song called “Still Waters (Psalm 23)” that has come out recently, and the first verse says, “Write scripture on your heart for when you need it. Because ‘anxiety’ hates Psalm 23, so just say it to yourself until you believe it.” It’s a beautiful song, and I’ve included it in this week’s Reach.
The Lord is My Shepherd
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even 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 overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
The fourth line down of the first stanza in Psalm 23 reads, “He makes me lie down…”, and those five little words held something so significant for me that I hope resonates with someone this morning.
In one of my last two RFMs, I spoke about characteristics of sheep. And I learned something further about sheep that makes me want to rattle someone’s bones because WHY isn’t this commonly known among God’s children!? Perhaps it is and I’ve just been ignorant to it, but it seems like the most basic of biblical sheep knowledge to be unaware of until nearly 30 years of age. (I say this in a joking sort of tone.. Kind of. Ha.)
Sheep are naturally anxious, timid animals and I learned that due to their timid nature, they cannot lay down until they are free from all fear. So, when they’re anxious, overwhelmed, or frightened, their legs become locked and physically prevent them from laying down to rest. Has anxiety ever bound you into a state of paralysis before? Has it kept you up at night? For days, weeks, maybe even months? This is the same concept here.
A good shepherd knows this about his sheep. He knows how they’re created, he knows how they’re wired, he knows how to ease them into restoration. He knows the world in which they live, and He knows the pasture in which they have access to graze and find perfect rest in complete safety.
“He makes me lie down” the Scripture says. Our Lord is the Good Shepherd; Jesus makes that clear in the gospels. WE are His sheep. A good shepherd knows when his sheep need to lay down and rest, so he makes them lay down.
What does this mean? How does he do this? Does he whack them with his staff? Does he yell at them to frighten them into submission? Does he criticize them for their “sheep-anity” and use guilt to motivate them into lying down?
No.
In the original Old Testament Hebrew in which this Psalm is written, the phrase “He maketh me to lie down” (this is the most accurate English translation from the Hebrew) denotes the Hebrew word “rabats” (raw-bats), which means, “to crouch (on all four legs, like a recumbent animal)”; or, to cause to lie down.
A good shepherd physically makes his sheep lie down by manually tending to their legs, folding all four of them down beneath them, to make his sheep rest. He is tender in doing so, gentle in his voice to them, and does not condemn them.
Our Good Shepherd does just that for us.
So, when I read “He makes me lie down”, I see my Shepherd tenderly folding my legs beneath me so I can lay down and rest in His green pastures, or, my home in Him. And, speaking for myself here, that’s something I truly need to surrender and accept from Him… what a gift that is. He folds my legs beneath me; He makes me lie down; He knows what I need, and invites me, beckons me, to rest in His pasture.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”
Matthew 11:28-30 | ESV
As someone who has struggled and fought tirelessly with anxiety throughout my lifetime, I resonate with these sheep who cannot lay down to rest unless they are “free from all fear.” Especially as a Christian, I have struggled with this because we may think, “I shouldn’t feel this way. I’m a Christian!” and then condemn ourselves because we may also think, “I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and yet I struggle with feeling this way. I am a failure.”
This is the venomous snake, Satan, speaking. For these phrases, after testing against the Scriptures, do not align with Jesus Christ and His Word. Therefore, they are lies. There is no ounce of truth to them, my friend.
Furthermore, the third line in Psalm 23 says, “I shall not want.” Translated, the word for ‘want’ in Hebrew is chaser (khaw-sare) meaning, “to lack; by implication, to fail. To be without.” A significant amount of anxiety stems from failure, or fear of failure [in some way], does it not? In Christ, we shall not lack. In Christ, we shall not fail. In Christ, we shall never be without. We have all that we need in Him, and He has not, does not, and will not ever fail. We are not failures.
Let us remember our Savior agonizing in the garden of Gethsemane. The Scripture says, “And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed moreearnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:41-44 ESV). | Boldface added by me.
I highlighted the word ‘agony’ so we can hone in on its meaning in the original Greek that Luke had written in. The word “agony” in this context comes from the Greek word for “conflict”, “struggle”, or “ anguish”, which is agonia. According to Strong’s Dictionary of Bible Words, this word was more frequently used to “denote severe emotional strain and anguish”, or “terror.”
Jesus Christ felt the worst of the worst, and yet He meets us with compassion and empathy, never condemnation. Are we condemned for feeling the effects of darkness from living in this world? No. We are not condemned for feeling anxious, for feeling fearful, for feeling depressed, etc.
Jesus said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 ESV). | Boldface added by me.
It’s what we choose to do with our feelings that can either propel us forward into the life in green pastures that is ours, or keep us standing in paralysis in captivity. In Luke 22 it says, “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly…” (v. 44). “Taking heart” is fighting on our knees in prayer and letting the Conqueror conquer on our behalf. “Taking heart” is surrendering to the kindness of the Good Shepherd and allowing Him to bend our knees beneath us so we can rest. | Italics added by me.
“Taking heart” is also seeing ourselves the way our Father sees us, and not telling Him that He’s wrong when HE calls us beautiful, precious, and worthy. We tell Him this when we reject His gift of rest and safe pasture because we don’t believe we are worthy of rest… and yet, in our paralysis, still “He makes [us] lie down”. Tenderly, the Good Shepherd folds our legs beneath us to rest. Gently, He ministers to us as we surrender to His lead. In Him, we find our rest.
“Anxiety hates Psalm 23, so just say it to yourself until you believe it”
Still Waters (Psalm 23) | Leanna Crawford
“...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control”
2 Timothy 1:7 | ESV
