Resting in Green Meadows

As a young boy, David tended his father’s sheep in the desert. As a young man, he was a fugitive hiding in the desert from Saul, the king of Israel, who wanted him dead.

David himself became king after Saul died but fled to the desert again when his son Absalom tried to overthrow him.

David wrote often about his time in the desert, but he is best known for Psalm 23.

You might know that poem.

The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need. (Psalm 23:1, NLT)

David was always confident that he had all that he would need because the Lord was his trustworthy shepherd.

A shepherd’s role is to provide for and protect the sheep.

David had all that he needed because he was a sheep who is following the shepherd.

And God was – and is – a good shepherd.

How, though, does God care for His sheep? David told us.

He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams. (Psalm 23:2, NLT)

I’m from the Midwest. When I think of “green meadows,” I think of the lush farmland that blankets the region. Israel – David’s homeland – wasn’t like that.

Shepherds in the Bible tended their flocks in the desert. The lush farmland was for, well, farmers. And farmers would not have been thrilled with flocks of sheep grazing in their fields.

When David speaks of “green meadows,” he’s not talking about an all-you-can-eat buffet.

He’s talking about the little tufts of grass that pepper the desert landscape. He’s talking about the next mouthful.

God’s promise in the desert is not that we’ll have everything we want.

His promise is that we’ll have everything we need.

He promises the next mouthful.

The desert teaches us dependence. It teaches us trust in our Shepherd. It teaches us to follow Him with faith and in confidence. It teaches us to rest in who God is and what He has done.

Are you following the Shepherd through the desert? Are you trusting Him – depending on Him – to give you all that you need?

Purpose in the Desert

Moses was nothing more than a lowly shepherd when God showed up and gave Moses his marching orders.

Moses grew up among Egyptian royalty but, years earlier, had fled to the desert after he’d killed an Egyptian for beating one of the Israelite slaves.

He ended up in the land of Midian. He married, had children, and settled down.

He took a job tending his father-in-law’s sheep in the desert for the next forty years.

Moses assumed he would live out his days as a shepherd. He had grown accustomed to the quiet rhythm of the desert. He wasn’t expecting anything to change.

Yet, it was there, in the desert, that God showed up.

God gave Moses the seemingly impossible mission of leading the people of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt to the land that God had, long ago, promised to give the descendants of Abraham.

And the only way to get from Egypt to the promised land was through the desert.

The same desert Moses spent forty years walking.

He knew the land inside and out

All this time Moses thought he was just tending sheep but God was actually preparing him to lead His people.

Maybe God has a purpose for your desert. Maybe He’s using it to prepare you for something.

Let’s not squander this time. We’ll never get it back.

Maybe it’s time to turn off the TV, close out of social media, and put the phone down.

Pick up a book. Learn or refine a skill. Invest time in something God can use.

Let’s give Him as much as to work with as we can so we’ll be prepared when He shows up with our marching orders.