Psalm 23:2 says, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters…” We all long for that kind of quiet rest. So why is rest so elusive?

But let’s start with the shepherd.

OUR INCREDIBLE SHEPHERD

Psalm 23:1 reassures us that the LORD is our shepherd. And remember, if the word LORD is in all caps, it is God’s personal name. Not a title, not a reference, but God’s name.

And God’s name, Yahweh, means “I AM” and “I am whoever you need me to be.”

Do you recall the seven great I AM’s of Jesus in the Gospel of John?

In John, Jesus said, (1) “I am the bread of life.” Jesus said, (2) “I am the light of the world.” He said, (3) “I’m the door.” (4) “I’m the good shepherd.” (5) “I’m the resurrection and the life.” (6) “I’m the way, the truth and the life.” And he said, (7) “I’m the vine.”

In other words, whatever your need is, God is.

OUR INCREDIBLE SHEPHERD IS WITH US

And of course the heart of Psalm 23 is that God is with us. And yet within us there is this delusion that we’re smarter than God and our way is better than His way.

Now, I will admit, there are times when God leads you, and you are confident He has led you, but when you get to the place of His leading, you are confused. It seems that the phrase in Psalm 23:2, “He makes me lie down,” doesn’t fit in that place.

Israel was right there at the water’s edge. God had specifically led them there, and they are confused.

Now, when you go to bed at night and you lie down, unless you’re free from anxiety, you will not rest very well. And the problem with life is it may not run us over, but it sure does wear us down, does it not? We can get run down physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

But not only is the Lord our shepherd, he gives us under-shepherds, which we all need. We all need these other shepherds. And when Jesus came back after His resurrection and talked to Simon Peter, he told Peter one thing. He said, “Peter, feed my sheep.”

Why? Because we all need to be fed spiritually by somebody.

The Lord is our shepherd. So we’re fed spiritually by Him. We’re fed by other people, by under-shepherds. And then hopefully we’re even doing some self-feeding. We kind of shepherd ourselves a little bit. And so on.

But it’s so important that we get spiritually fed.

So how do you experience the rest you’re looking for in life? Follow with me for 4 lessons on spiritual rest.

GOD’S PROVIDENCE IS OFTEN MYSTERIOUS

Number 1: God’s providence is often mysterious.

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd and my sheep hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me.”

There’s two things we know about God’s sheep: They hear his voice, and they follow him.

Now, if you never hear his voice, that would raise a bit of a question.

And if you’re not following him, that’s another huge question. You may need to ask yourself, ‘Am I really a sheep? Is God, is the LORD, really my shepherd?”

In Exodus 14:1, the people of Israel are standing on the banks of the Red Sea, and even Pharaoh knew that the people of Israel would feel like they were shut in. That word in that passage has the idea of being squeezed in, with nowhere to go.

Now what? How will they respond?

I’m asking you, what’s your Red Sea? You’re there because God led you there. You thought that if you took the next best step, life would be great. But then the wheels came off. Now what? How will you respond?

And this is a crucial question.

OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S PROVIDENCE IS CRITICAL

And that brings us to Lesson #2. Our response to providence is always crucial. Always.

Now Exodus 14 is anything but still waters. The Red Sea is anything but still waters.

We have a river behind our house that got really dry during a drought this summer. It hadn’t rained for weeks, and then we had 14 inches of rain over just a few days. So we go down with the dogs to see the river after the rain.

Well, we had our puppy with us. Now, puppies are puppies. They just kind of run without paying any mind to where they’re going. And when we get to the river, the dry riverbed had become a roaring torrent with all that water. So we had to keep a close eye on the puppy, because if he got in that water, phew, it would sweep him away. I don’t know what we would have done, but we’d have to try to rescue him somehow. And we probably wouldn’t have been able to run as fast as the river.

Still water is important.

Remember, Psalm 23 is all about us as sheep. And sheep are dumb. Are you OK with being called sheep? That’s a biblical word. And it’s not that God’s trying to make us feel inferior, but he’s just being real. We need help.

In Israel, it’s the same thing. You have this dry, arid land with gullies. And if it rains, if you have a torrential downpour, and the sheep are nearby, they could get swept away in the water. That’s why the still water is necessary, so that the sheep are able to drink and get what they need and not get caught in the current.

So when we come to our Red Sea, how are we going to respond? Are we going to respond with anxiety? Probably. Probably not rest.

HELP WHEN YOU’RE ON THE BRINK OF YOUR RED SEA

Trust is hard at times. And you would be surprised at the number of people, even pastors, who try to escape their Red Sea by binging. It could be food, it could be alcohol, it could be pornography, or it could be things like Netflix, etc. Unfortunately, that’s not the way to respond.

So let me give you a couple of ideas that’ll help you lie down.

First of all, prayer is key.

And you should take great joy in your faithfulness. Everybody can remain faithful during troubled times.

We also need to stay aware of spiritual warfare. And it can be very, very helpful to get away for a few days. If you’re going through a challenging time, two or three days away might be good. It might be the best thing you could do to refresh and stay strong. So, there are some natural ways along with the spiritual ways that can really help. And we are physical beings, as well as spiritual beings with a soul.

But the fact is, our feelings are, and our feelings are real. Now, you can’t really control your feelings, but you also can’t always act on your feelings. That tends to get you into trouble. The fact is, God is in control, and we need to respond accordingly.

HINDRANCES TO THE REST IN PSALM 23:2

Psalm 23:2 promises rest. Still waters so the sheep can lie down. But when Israel stood at the Red Sea, they were anything but restful. They’re not resting. They’re not sleeping.

Why? Because of fear.

FEAR

Fear.

In our house, if we go to bed and my wife says, “Did you lock the door?,” I must answer in the affirmative. I must say, “Yes, I locked the door.” If I do not, guess what I have to do? I have to get up and go lock the door. Because she will not be able to rest. Now, I’m not saying she’s living in fear, but there’s an element of fear. What if somebody comes through the unlocked door?

We need to remain confident that the door is locked in our lives, and we need to remain confident that the shepherd knows best.

Once again, that is really a primary theme of Psalm 23. Even Psalm 4:8 says, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep. For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”

Now here’s what I know. When you as a sheep follow your shepherd, everything that you encounter has passed through the providence of God.

Now, let’s take it a step further. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 the Bible says, “There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man. But God will make a way to escape.” Let’s not miss the principle here.

It’s not just about a temptation to sin. It’s about anything that comes into your life. The principle is it passes through the hand of God. God doesn’t allow anything into your life or my life that He doesn’t check off first.

You may see it coming. Check. That’s okay. It has already passed the divine test. Nothing comes through, nothing comes into your life, that doesn’t get approved by Him.

Why would God approve hard things? I don’t know.

God’s providence is mysterious. And that should give you and me enough confidence to lie down and rest even when our life spins out of control.

Why? Because we’re living by faith.

You’ll notice in Exodus 14 that Moses responded in faith at the Red Sea. He did not know how things were going to work out.

When we get into a bind, we try to figure things out. And we try to figure out how to get out of the mess. Sure, there are times we have to just to do that. But faith should still be a part of the picture.

Moses did not know how God was going to do whatever he was going to do to deliver them, but that did not affect his faith.

FRICTION

Another thing that’ll keep you from resting is friction. Friction.

Remember, we are like sheep. And with sheep, just as with chickens, there’s a pecking order. It’s probably like that in the entire animal world.

Chickens peck. If there’s food and one chicken comes running to get it, then another chicken higher in the pecking order will run over and peck the first chicken out of the way. It’s just a pecking order.

Sheep don’t peck, but they do butt. They’ll butt you. They’ll butt another animal. They’ll butt another sheep. And they may not allow another sheep to lie down and rest because of the friction.

You might go to work tomorrow and there is friction between two employees. There won’t be any rest. It’s just the way life is.

Friction will keep you from rest.

My mom wound up climbing a tree because a sheep butted her. She would rather have been in a tree than experience the friction. And she stayed there until somebody came home and rescued her. And eventually, we ate that sheep.

What about marital friction? 1 Peter 3:7 says, “Likewise husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

Here’s what I know. If there is friction between a husband and wife, it’s going to mess up your prayer life. You’re not going to have rest. You just can’t. Friction makes rest impossible.

FLIES

There’s another hindrance to rest. Flies.

Nobody likes flies. They fly around and buzz and are just annoying in general. If you have pets, your pets don’t like flies. Animals don’t like flies. Sheep don’t like flies.

At our house, if we try to go to bed and there is a fly in the room, someone has to get up, get the fly swatter, and kill the fly. Why? Because my wife is not going to rest if there’s a fly buzzing around the room.

The little irritations of life are like those flies. And you know what? Probably most of us go through life and we allow the little irritations to really bother us. You’re not going to rest.

FAMINE

A fourth thing that will keep you from rest is famine.

We all have needs. We all have wants. Of course, sometimes we think that our wants are our needs. That’s probably a pretty accurate statement. And although God did not promise to meet all of our wants, but he did promise to meet all of our needs.

We would all like to be well fed so we can thrive in this life. And in the American culture, a lot of it comes down to money and getting more stuff. But a lot of times as we go through life, it feels like a famine.

A PICTURE OF REST

So what does the rest of Psalm 23:2 look like? This quick acrostic on the word REFRESH might help. It’s not in the text, but it’s practical. These are just common sense things you learn in life.

The R in REFRESH

If you would like to live more refreshed, start with the letter R. You need to RECOGNIZE your need for change. You’ve got to change something. This may be hard to do, just like any other point in this acrostic. But there may be a need for change.

The E in REFRESH

Letter E is EVALUATE your schedule. You’v got to do it. Most of our schedules could be fine-tuned a little bit.

The F in REFRESH

Letter F is to FORGET about pleasing everyone. Because you can’t please everyone. If you please Person A, you will not please Person B. If you please Person B, you won’t please person A. How are you going to decide who to please? You can’t please everybody. And you’ll go crazy trying to.

The R in REFRESH

Letter R is to RESTORE some order to your life. My sister-in-law had a passion to help organize my study while she was visiting recently. She was a miracle worker. It’s incredible. If have 3 rooms in my study, and my wife said, “I’ve never seen your floor before in all three rooms.” I always had books, piles, papers, and just stuff everywhere. And now they’re gone. Picked up. Cleaned up. Organized. It’s very refreshing. Now, my wife has made it her mission to have it all stay that way. So I have to be on my best behavior. Otherwise, I’ll have to call my sister-in-law and get her to come back. But we all are much better off if we restore order to our lives.

Take five minutes to pinpoint what’s out of order in your life. There are probably some things that you could adjust to restore a little order to your life, and you would be way more refreshed.

The E in REFRESH

Letter E is a critical part of this equation that we cannot leave out: ENJOY intimacy with God. Make sure to reserve time alone with God every day.

The S in REFRESH

And letter S? SET some boundaries.

Now, boundaries are good. Boundaries keep harmful things out and good things in.

If it’s your house, it keeps stray dogs out and your dogs in. You have walls around your house to keep the bad stuff out, and the good stuff in.

So we all need boundaries.

Now workaholics have no boundaries when it comes to work. They just work. My dad was a workaholic. It wasn’t healthy. I can remember him leaving the house at 4:30 in the morning, and we wouldn’t see him until he got home probably after 6 in the evening. And when he got home, he still worked or did something around the house. He was a workaholic.

And that’s just one example. There are other areas of life where you have to set some boundaries, or it’ll keep you from being refreshed.

The H in REFRESH

The H is to HONOR the Sabbath.

Now, God has a rhythm, and God created all of us with a rhythm. I don’t know what your rhythms are, but I know my own.

My week works in a rhythm. My days have rhythms. For instance, on Saturdays, I’m in my study all morning. Then around 11 or 11:30, it’s like I have this switch that goes off, and I’m done. I just can’t study at noon like I could study at 9 AM or 6 AM. I just can’t. I have a rhythm. It’s the way my body operates. Usually my message is done before Saturday, but I’m still going over it, editing it, and refining it. And that has to be done in the morning. I don’t plan to do any of that Saturday afternoon or Saturday evening. Why? It’s not my rhythm.

I’ll bet if you analyze your days or your week, you will see that you operate in a rhythm. So figure out your rhythms in life and find out when you can honor the Sabbath.

RECONNECT WITH YOUR SHEPHERD

Psalm 23 tells us that God is with us. Since God is with us, let’s reconnect with Him in prayer. Let’s have some conversations.

Over the years, I’ve counseled many couples, and I’m always amazed at how many people let their relationship drift. There was a lack of time together. There was a lack of conversations. The little things created a huge gap that only widened with time.

Nobody sets out to drift from God. Nobody.

Nobody goes to the ocean and says, “I don’t want to drift down the shore.” You don’t give it a thought. But you get in the water and you’re not really paying much attention, and all of a sudden you realize you can’t see your beach chairs. Or your people. Or any of your stuff. Where is it? The same place you left it. You drifted.

Sometimes we drift from God because we’re careless. Our relationship with God never crosses our minds. And it can be easy to let it slip. I understand nobody is going to hit the ball out of the park seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. You will miss a day. And not because you’re careless. It’s just life.

But if it happens too much, you will get to a place you didn’t plan to be. You may get careless. And the downward spiral is gradual. It happens over time. It’s subtle. You don’t even notice it. And you certainly didn’t do it on purpose.

But in James 5:19-20, James wrote, “Look, my brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth,” … because people do…., “and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Jeremiah talked about this in chapter 2 of his book. That people had forsaken the Lord. He referred to the Lord as “a fountain of living waters,” and the people would try to go to a different watering hole to get fed somewhere else. Jeremiah used the terminology “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” That is, it’s delusional, it’s absurd, it’s unnatural. And, yes, it’s irrational. But as God’s sheep, sometimes that’s what we do.

Jeremiah said that Israel did what even the pagan nations didn’t do. They would leave, would forsake, the Lord for false gods. But do you know what Jeremiah noticed about the pagan nations? They never left their false gods. They never left their pagan gods. And then you come to Israel who’s got the one true God and they were leaving him.

You may say that’s absurd. And you would be right. But we do the same thing.

We need to make sure that we stay reconnected.

No wonder rest is so elusive. No wonder Psalm 23:2 seems out of reach.

GOD’S PURPOSE IS INVARIABLY ACCOMPLISHED

Despite all the confusion of providence, God’s purpose is invariably accomplished. God will see his plan through.

In Exodus 14:26 the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea that the water may come back on the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen.” So Moses did. He stretched out his hand over the sea and the sea returned to normal.

This is after the people of Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry land. Walked between a wall of water on either side. But God didn’t stop there. When the morning dawned, the Egyptians were overthrown by the water, and all of them drowned. The Lord saved Israel that day.

Now that was restful. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

Just like this story, God put you where you are, or He at least allowed you to be put where you are for a reason. It may be hard to understand right now. But in the end, His purpose will be accomplished.

GOD’S PROVIDENCE CREATES A MASTERPIECE

And then the final thought. And this is the one that you need to take home. Put it on a three by five card. Put it on the mirror. Put it where you’ll see it.

Divine providence can take your most prolonged periods of pressure, your most challenging situations, and turn them into a masterpiece.

Because Psalm 23 is a masterpiece. That’s why everybody knows it, has heard of it, has seen it.

But it was a result of trauma.

Without being trapped in unusually hard circumstances during David’s life, he would never have written Psalm 23. We would not have the 23rd Psalm.

So when you’re in the middle of traumatic circumstances, just remember, it’s not the final scene of your story. You’re not there yet.

Earlier in Exodus 14, the Israelites were living by fear, but now they are living by faith because they’ve seen God at work.

And Exodus 14:31 says that when Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

And despite where you and I find ourselves today, rest is available and it’s part of the abundant life that Jesus Christ promised in John 10.10.

Rest. The rest pictured in Psalm 23:2. The rest promised in Psalm 23:2. Why is it so elusive? It doesn’t have to be.