September 25, 2023 • 13 mins
Who would've thought that the well-known verse, Psalms 23-2: "He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters," could awaken such a riveting adventure into the past? Settle into your seat as we unearth the depths of this biblical verse, revealing a saga of survival, trust, and divine protection. We'll show you the 'green pastures' as they were in ancient Israel, not the verdant meadows we often envision, but a wilderness scattered with patches of green. We'll take you to the 'quiet waters', challenging your perceptions about the shepherd's role in strategizing and improvising for the survival of his flock.
We'll discover the rhythms of life of the sheep and the immense care and strategy of the shepherd amidst potential dangers. We'll explore the experiences of David in the wilderness, drawing parallels to the Psalms he wrote, and decipher the significance of his choice of words. As we journey together through this beloved scripture, we'll transform its simple pastoral scene into a profound lesson on trust, provision, and divine protection. So, are you ready to traverse the Israeli wilderness and experience the ancient essence of Psalms 23-2 like never before?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Vic (00:08):
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:00):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toshare with you a new story.
Today we continue our series aswe dive into the most recited
chapter of Scripture, psalms 23.
Just like last time, today wedive into the verse 2, breaking
it down, and see the amazinghistory behind this famous Psalm
, psalm 23-2,.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
(01:23):
He leads me beside quiet waters.
If you grew up in church, youprobably have heard this Psalm
many, many times.
You probably have memorized it.
Or even if you didn't grow upin church, you have probably
heard it a few times.
But there are a few things thatI want us to talk about today.
That, I think, will shape thecontext of this story for us.
(01:43):
But before we dive into it,grab your cup of coffee or
something to drink and let'sdive into Psalms 23-2.
The first thing I want to talkabout is location.
Our story takes place in theShepherds fields, so this time
(02:06):
in green pastures and besidequiet waters.
In Israel.
The green pastures are not whatwe think of here in America,
with huge grassy fields wheresheep can eat and be happy for
the rest of their lives.
But that is not what Davidmeant when he wrote he makes me
lie down by green pastures.
In Israel, the green pastureslook more like wilderness.
(02:26):
In Hebrew the word used ismidbar, which means wilderness,
or sometimes translated asgrassy pastures.
There is some green, but comesin little patches of grass
spread out across the fields.
So let's break down this verse.
The first part says he makes melie down.
Now, when it's isolated likethat, this may give an
(02:48):
aggressive tone to the shepherd.
He makes me lie down, but thisis actually a loving action.
In the pastures of Israel, thesheep are exposed.
They are always vulnerable towild animals.
At any point something couldcome and kill the sheep,
especially if the sheep arelying down.
Keep in mind, sheep don'tnormally lie down unless they
(03:09):
are completely content, meaningthey have full bellies, they
have had enough to drink andthey feel completely safe.
So we see this protectivenature of the shepherd who makes
their sheep lie down in themidst of a vulnerable situation,
because the shepherd wants thesheep to know I've got you, you
can rest because I am watchingout for the dangers.
(03:31):
In other words, if you trust me, I will protect you.
Then the verse says In greenpastures.
Now, as I said earlier, greenpastures in Israel is not what
we think of as green pastureshere in the US.
They are not luscious greenfarmland.
In Hebrew the word is midbar,which typically means wilderness
(03:52):
, but can also be translated asgrassy pastures.
David uses midbar so that weunderstand the land of the
shepherds.
It was not farmland becausefarmers did not want their sheep
or other people's sheep to eatthe crops, unless, of course, it
was after the harvest seasonand the sheep did help reset the
(04:13):
ground for the next season.
But typically shepherds werefound in the midbar, in the
wilderness, walking with theirsheep across the mountainside.
I am maybe asking how does thewilderness become green pasture?
And it's a good question.
Israel doesn't get much rain.
Much like the south of the US,it has a lot of humidity.
(04:34):
Thanks to the winds that comeoff the Mediterranean, the air
is always wet.
This humidity in the air canget caught underneath the rocks
of the mountainside and somegreen grass will begin to grow.
Not much grass, maybe a bite ortwo, and that's it.
The sheep have to trust theshepherd.
As the sheep graze across themountain, they may take a bite
(04:57):
and then walk a step or two andtake another bite, and so on.
It's not enough to eat and befull for the full day.
It's enough for the moment.
The sheep never know when theywill come upon another bite, but
they trust the shepherd.
Green pastures are not abouthaving enough food for the rest
of your life, but about havingenough for this moment.
(05:18):
What is going to happen 10minutes from now?
Trust the shepherd.
A year from now?
Trust the shepherd.
The sheep know that theshepherd will get them what they
need right now and the rest isup to the shepherd.
So let's look at this verseagain.
He makes me lie down and grazepastures.
The sheep, completely satisfiedand fully dependent on the
(05:41):
shepherd, lie down because theyhave nothing to fear and they
have everything they need.
Let's pause and think about theauthor for a minute.
How does this part of the verseapply to David?
Why would he write specificallyabout green pastures in the
midbar?
Well, david grew up in themidbar.
He was a boy in the shepherd'sfields.
(06:02):
Then, after defeating Goliath,he ran for his life to the
Judean hills from Saul and thenhid behind enemy lines among the
Philistines, all before hebecame king at age 30.
David knew what it was like tolive in the midbar.
Now, as biblical culturalistChristy McCullen puts it, we
(06:23):
Westerners, when we findourselves in wilderness moments,
are prone to ask God how do weget out of the wilderness?
Preferably as quickly aspossible.
But the ancient Jew would haveasked a different question.
They would have asked what isGod telling me in the wilderness
?
There is a Hebrew phrase calledDvar by Midbar, which means the
(06:45):
word in the wilderness.
What is God trying to say inthe wilderness?
What is the word he is givingto David?
I believe David's Dvar in themidbar are the Psalms.
Over and over again, david wrotesong after song after song
about how awesome God is.
And, much like Green Pasture,these songs weren't written all
(07:08):
at once in a giant farmer'sfield of lush green grass, but
rather written some here andsome there.
I like to think in this momentDavid is saying he makes me lie
down in Green Pasture means thathe has everything he needs.
He is full of spiritualnourishment because Yahweh is
(07:28):
with him.
He is completely safe from allof his enemies because Yahweh is
on watch and he can lay down inthe mid-bar fully trusting his
shepherd.
Now for the next part of theverse.
He leads me beside still waters, or he leads me beside quiet
waters.
(07:49):
Water is a necessity to life,even more important than finding
food.
A good shepherd must be able tolead their sheep to water.
As you may have guessed, thereisn't much water in the
wilderness and it can bedifficult to find.
So a shepherd would base theirtravel around where the water
sources were.
Typically, a shepherd would aimto make it to a water source by
(08:12):
midday, so that the sheep caneat in the morning, then take a
drink and then rest.
This is an important rhythmbecause remember, bedouin
shepherds move around.
They could walk about 5 squaremiles in a single day, which
shows us how important thisrhythm of food, water and rest
really were.
However, the shepherd has to bestrategic about what water
(08:36):
sources he leads the flock to,because the sheep are extremely
skittish.
So if a shepherd leads a flockto a river that has rapids, the
sheep will be frightened andtake off.
If they lead them to a streamthat is moving at all, the sheep
will refuse to drink from it.
In the valleys of Israel thereare small streams called wadis
(08:57):
that fill with water after rainor flash floods.
They are typically still, butflash floods are the number one
killer in the desert.
Getting a flock caught drinkingfrom a wadi when an unexpected
flash flood hits would bedevastating, because the
shepherd would lose the entireflock, maybe even their own life
(09:17):
.
So instead of leading the flockto wadis and certain death,
shepherds will improvise.
Sometimes shepherds will digout a path off a stream to
create a channel where water cangather but not move, so that
the sheep will drink from it.
Or other times the shepherdwill come upon a well as the
only water source and they willhave to draw water and either
(09:39):
make a trough for the sheep todrink out of or again dig a
ditch deep enough for the waterto hold so that the sheep will
drink.
Okay, pause, can you imaginethis?
How tedious this is.
How many times would a shepherdhave to draw water, put it in a
handmade trough and go drawmore water again and again, and
(10:03):
again for the entire flock to besatisfied?
This was not an easy or a quicktask.
It took some time, depending onhow big the flock was.
It reminds me of Rebecca, whenAbraham's servant met her by the
well and she drew all thatwater for the camels.
The shepherd has to jump throughso many hoops to convince the
(10:24):
sheep that the water is safe todrink.
The sheep are that skittish,but on a human level this makes
sense, right?
We do this all the time withGod.
We go about our day dying ofthirst, quoting Psalms 42-1, as
a dear pants for streams ofwater.
So my soul pants for you, myGod.
(10:45):
But God leads us to the water,the very water we just begged
for.
And when we get there wesuddenly change our tune.
We lean more into the Tantorsquote from Disney's Tarzan.
Are you sure this water'ssanitary?
It looks questionable to me, butit's in these moments that God
reminds us how good water is forus and that he is a good
(11:08):
shepherd who leads us to drinkquiet waters.
The shepherd goes through allthis trouble to get the sheep to
eat and drink because they knowthat if they can get the sheep
to eat and drink, the sheep willlay down and rest.
So David is thinking aboutYahweh as he's writing this, how
(11:29):
Yahweh makes him lie down ingreen pastures and lead him
beside quiet waters.
The literal translation ofquiet waters is water of rest.
David is able to rest knowingthat he is fully content and
completely safe because hisshepherd, yahweh, is watching
(11:49):
out for him.
So how do these verses point toJesus?
Well, as we said last time,jesus is our shepherd and we
have the same confidence thatDavid had.
We can follow our shepherdJesus, knowing that he will lead
us to nourishment, water andrest, even in our own mid-bar
seasons.
We can shift our focus from howdo we get out to what does God
(12:13):
want to say to us.
We can lay down knowing thatour shepherd is on watch and
that he will protect us Beforewe go.
I want to close our timetogether by reading this
scripture in Psalms 23.
I hope that as you listen to itbeing read, that you embrace
all that we have learned andthat this passage will be
illuminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
(12:35):
I shall not want he makes melie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our H&M
Future Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Hartman Music is embarkingon an adventure by Evan
(12:59):
MacDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye.
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:00):
I'm Vic and I am so excited toshare with you a new story.
Today we continue our series aswe dive into the most recited
chapter of Scripture, psalms 23.
Just like last time, today wedive into the verse 2, breaking
it down, and see the amazinghistory behind this famous Psalm
, psalm 23-2,.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
(01:23):
He leads me beside quiet waters.
If you grew up in church, youprobably have heard this Psalm
many, many times.
You probably have memorized it.
Or even if you didn't grow upin church, you have probably
heard it a few times.
But there are a few things thatI want us to talk about today.
That, I think, will shape thecontext of this story for us.
(01:43):
But before we dive into it,grab your cup of coffee or
something to drink and let'sdive into Psalms 23-2.
The first thing I want to talkabout is location.
Our story takes place in theShepherds fields, so this time
(02:06):
in green pastures and besidequiet waters.
In Israel.
The green pastures are not whatwe think of here in America,
with huge grassy fields wheresheep can eat and be happy for
the rest of their lives.
But that is not what Davidmeant when he wrote he makes me
lie down by green pastures.
In Israel, the green pastureslook more like wilderness.
(02:26):
In Hebrew the word used ismidbar, which means wilderness,
or sometimes translated asgrassy pastures.
There is some green, but comesin little patches of grass
spread out across the fields.
So let's break down this verse.
The first part says he makes melie down.
Now, when it's isolated likethat, this may give an
(02:48):
aggressive tone to the shepherd.
He makes me lie down, but thisis actually a loving action.
In the pastures of Israel, thesheep are exposed.
They are always vulnerable towild animals.
At any point something couldcome and kill the sheep,
especially if the sheep arelying down.
Keep in mind, sheep don'tnormally lie down unless they
(03:09):
are completely content, meaningthey have full bellies, they
have had enough to drink andthey feel completely safe.
So we see this protectivenature of the shepherd who makes
their sheep lie down in themidst of a vulnerable situation,
because the shepherd wants thesheep to know I've got you, you
can rest because I am watchingout for the dangers.
(03:31):
In other words, if you trust me, I will protect you.
Then the verse says In greenpastures.
Now, as I said earlier, greenpastures in Israel is not what
we think of as green pastureshere in the US.
They are not luscious greenfarmland.
In Hebrew the word is midbar,which typically means wilderness
(03:52):
, but can also be translated asgrassy pastures.
David uses midbar so that weunderstand the land of the
shepherds.
It was not farmland becausefarmers did not want their sheep
or other people's sheep to eatthe crops, unless, of course, it
was after the harvest seasonand the sheep did help reset the
(04:13):
ground for the next season.
But typically shepherds werefound in the midbar, in the
wilderness, walking with theirsheep across the mountainside.
I am maybe asking how does thewilderness become green pasture?
And it's a good question.
Israel doesn't get much rain.
Much like the south of the US,it has a lot of humidity.
(04:34):
Thanks to the winds that comeoff the Mediterranean, the air
is always wet.
This humidity in the air canget caught underneath the rocks
of the mountainside and somegreen grass will begin to grow.
Not much grass, maybe a bite ortwo, and that's it.
The sheep have to trust theshepherd.
As the sheep graze across themountain, they may take a bite
(04:57):
and then walk a step or two andtake another bite, and so on.
It's not enough to eat and befull for the full day.
It's enough for the moment.
The sheep never know when theywill come upon another bite, but
they trust the shepherd.
Green pastures are not abouthaving enough food for the rest
of your life, but about havingenough for this moment.
(05:18):
What is going to happen 10minutes from now?
Trust the shepherd.
A year from now?
Trust the shepherd.
The sheep know that theshepherd will get them what they
need right now and the rest isup to the shepherd.
So let's look at this verseagain.
He makes me lie down and grazepastures.
The sheep, completely satisfiedand fully dependent on the
(05:41):
shepherd, lie down because theyhave nothing to fear and they
have everything they need.
Let's pause and think about theauthor for a minute.
How does this part of the verseapply to David?
Why would he write specificallyabout green pastures in the
midbar?
Well, david grew up in themidbar.
He was a boy in the shepherd'sfields.
(06:02):
Then, after defeating Goliath,he ran for his life to the
Judean hills from Saul and thenhid behind enemy lines among the
Philistines, all before hebecame king at age 30.
David knew what it was like tolive in the midbar.
Now, as biblical culturalistChristy McCullen puts it, we
(06:23):
Westerners, when we findourselves in wilderness moments,
are prone to ask God how do weget out of the wilderness?
Preferably as quickly aspossible.
But the ancient Jew would haveasked a different question.
They would have asked what isGod telling me in the wilderness
?
There is a Hebrew phrase calledDvar by Midbar, which means the
(06:45):
word in the wilderness.
What is God trying to say inthe wilderness?
What is the word he is givingto David?
I believe David's Dvar in themidbar are the Psalms.
Over and over again, david wrotesong after song after song
about how awesome God is.
And, much like Green Pasture,these songs weren't written all
(07:08):
at once in a giant farmer'sfield of lush green grass, but
rather written some here andsome there.
I like to think in this momentDavid is saying he makes me lie
down in Green Pasture means thathe has everything he needs.
He is full of spiritualnourishment because Yahweh is
(07:28):
with him.
He is completely safe from allof his enemies because Yahweh is
on watch and he can lay down inthe mid-bar fully trusting his
shepherd.
Now for the next part of theverse.
He leads me beside still waters, or he leads me beside quiet
waters.
(07:49):
Water is a necessity to life,even more important than finding
food.
A good shepherd must be able tolead their sheep to water.
As you may have guessed, thereisn't much water in the
wilderness and it can bedifficult to find.
So a shepherd would base theirtravel around where the water
sources were.
Typically, a shepherd would aimto make it to a water source by
(08:12):
midday, so that the sheep caneat in the morning, then take a
drink and then rest.
This is an important rhythmbecause remember, bedouin
shepherds move around.
They could walk about 5 squaremiles in a single day, which
shows us how important thisrhythm of food, water and rest
really were.
However, the shepherd has to bestrategic about what water
(08:36):
sources he leads the flock to,because the sheep are extremely
skittish.
So if a shepherd leads a flockto a river that has rapids, the
sheep will be frightened andtake off.
If they lead them to a streamthat is moving at all, the sheep
will refuse to drink from it.
In the valleys of Israel thereare small streams called wadis
(08:57):
that fill with water after rainor flash floods.
They are typically still, butflash floods are the number one
killer in the desert.
Getting a flock caught drinkingfrom a wadi when an unexpected
flash flood hits would bedevastating, because the
shepherd would lose the entireflock, maybe even their own life
(09:17):
.
So instead of leading the flockto wadis and certain death,
shepherds will improvise.
Sometimes shepherds will digout a path off a stream to
create a channel where water cangather but not move, so that
the sheep will drink from it.
Or other times the shepherdwill come upon a well as the
only water source and they willhave to draw water and either
(09:39):
make a trough for the sheep todrink out of or again dig a
ditch deep enough for the waterto hold so that the sheep will
drink.
Okay, pause, can you imaginethis?
How tedious this is.
How many times would a shepherdhave to draw water, put it in a
handmade trough and go drawmore water again and again, and
(10:03):
again for the entire flock to besatisfied?
This was not an easy or a quicktask.
It took some time, depending onhow big the flock was.
It reminds me of Rebecca, whenAbraham's servant met her by the
well and she drew all thatwater for the camels.
The shepherd has to jump throughso many hoops to convince the
(10:24):
sheep that the water is safe todrink.
The sheep are that skittish,but on a human level this makes
sense, right?
We do this all the time withGod.
We go about our day dying ofthirst, quoting Psalms 42-1, as
a dear pants for streams ofwater.
So my soul pants for you, myGod.
(10:45):
But God leads us to the water,the very water we just begged
for.
And when we get there wesuddenly change our tune.
We lean more into the Tantorsquote from Disney's Tarzan.
Are you sure this water'ssanitary?
It looks questionable to me, butit's in these moments that God
reminds us how good water is forus and that he is a good
(11:08):
shepherd who leads us to drinkquiet waters.
The shepherd goes through allthis trouble to get the sheep to
eat and drink because they knowthat if they can get the sheep
to eat and drink, the sheep willlay down and rest.
So David is thinking aboutYahweh as he's writing this, how
(11:29):
Yahweh makes him lie down ingreen pastures and lead him
beside quiet waters.
The literal translation ofquiet waters is water of rest.
David is able to rest knowingthat he is fully content and
completely safe because hisshepherd, yahweh, is watching
(11:49):
out for him.
So how do these verses point toJesus?
Well, as we said last time,jesus is our shepherd and we
have the same confidence thatDavid had.
We can follow our shepherdJesus, knowing that he will lead
us to nourishment, water andrest, even in our own mid-bar
seasons.
We can shift our focus from howdo we get out to what does God
(12:13):
want to say to us.
We can lay down knowing thatour shepherd is on watch and
that he will protect us Beforewe go.
I want to close our timetogether by reading this
scripture in Psalms 23.
I hope that as you listen to itbeing read, that you embrace
all that we have learned andthat this passage will be
illuminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
(12:35):
I shall not want he makes melie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our H&M
Future Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me.
Vic Hartman Music is embarkingon an adventure by Evan
(12:59):
MacDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye.
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