I SHALL NOT WANT FOR REFRESHING

He leads me beside STILLED WATERS – Psalm 23:2b

The Shepherd of my soul addresses my thirst and need for PEACE and REFRESHING. He leads me beside stilled or quiet waters. He knows that I need to be refreshed in this tough and turbulent world. He also knows that sheep will not generally drink from running, rushing or rustling water. He therefore carefully dams up the rushing stream to provide a quiet, serene, and tranquil pool where His sheep may drink in safety. That is how it was in Eden before the fall (Gen.2:8-10). That is how our Shepherd intends things to be even now. He wants us to be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house, and to drink of the river of His pleasures (Ps.36:8).

Jesus is not only the Bread of Life; He is also the Fountain of Living Water of refreshment that wells up to eternal life and spills out in rivers to refresh the souls of others. Our Shepherd calms troubled and stormy waters. Psalm 89:9 says of Him: “You rule the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, You still them.” On one such occasion: “they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was calm” (Lk.8:24). He ensures that perfect peace surrounds us even in the midst of turmoil: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You” (Is.26:3).

Knowing that the Lord is your Shepherd, you can get your eyes off every trouble unto Him (Phil.4:4-8). Where do you go to quench your spiritual thirst? Isa.41: 17 says: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue fails for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” Through your relationship with Christ, you have access to an oasis of refreshment from the howling waste of the wilderness. The Lord says: “BE STILL, and KNOW that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Ps.46:10).