“He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.”
Question: How have you seen this in your life?

Makes me to lie down in green pastures

“Makes me” implies compulsion, so it is similar to the commandment in Exodus 20:8, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy”, where we are commanded to rest from endless slavery to work that would destroy us, to allow Him to replenish and restore us, to grow in new life.
“Green pastures” also connects with verse 1, to “lack nothing”, that we recognise the abundance God supplies for our needs.

Leads me beside the still waters

Is similar, as God leads us away from the busyness of life that would overwhelm us, and points us to what is unchanging and eternal, to God himself. In those moments God leads us into fellowship with Him, to better show us the direction we are meant to be going.

In My Life

One of my earliest memories is as a toddler at the time of my afternoon sleep, seeing a ray of light streaming through the gap in the curtains into my bedroom, lighting up the floating dust in the air. It seemed timeless, it pointed to something unchanging and everlasting, and prepared me for when my mother, a short time later, explained what she meant when talking about our soul.
More recently, it reminds me of last Friday morning, and again today, when I was standing with my outdoor painting gear in the Botanic Gardens, looking down the avenue of fig trees (now called Ficus Avenue). The people walking by were already out of their usual busy activities, but to see the light flickering into the shadows of that walkway, and me painting it, made them pause and reflect. And so many wanted to share with me in that reflection, that it took up much of my time, and I didn’t get very far in my painting on Friday, so that is why I was there again today. But sharing with people is probably the best way I could have used my time.
Praise God for the joy He gives in those timeless moments of reflection.