God’s Word for You

Psalm 23:1-2 Quiet waters

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, June 12, 2026

1 The LORD is my shepherd. There is nothing else I need.

What a wonderful thing, to be content. Do we think that only a simple person, a child perhaps, could be content? But to be simple is not to be inferior. To want less and to have less is not the same as being a lesser person. Knowing that one has everything one needs in Jesus is simply being a Christian.

Leaders are called shepherds in different places in the Bible. Ezekiel 34 calls all Israel’s leaders (prophets, priests and kings) shepherds. God is called the Shepherd of Israel many times. Jacob was fond of calling God his shepherd (Genesis 48:15, 49:24). Micah used shepherd language when he described the coming Christ (Micah 7:14), and Peter used shepherd language when he described Christ who had come (1 Peter 2:25, 5:2-4). Zechariah prophesied that when Christ the Shepherd was struck down, his “sheep will be scattered” (Zechariah 13:7; Mark 14:27).

And we even scatter ourselves. We have sinned. We wander. We search and we seek—and we constantly think, we Christians who should be content, “If only I had one more thing, then I would be happy.” We set so many goals in our lives that we have forgotten how to be content with who we are, with where we are, and with what we have.

But Jesus goes and looks for us, and carries us back (Luke 15:54-5). After describing himself as the Gate for the Sheep (John 10:7-10), Jesus went on to tell us this:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again” (John 10:11-17).

Jesus is our shepherd. There is nothing else we need.

2 He causes me to lie down in green pastures.
  He leads me beside quiet waters.

Here David recalls the words of the first Psalm, where the believer “is like a tree planted by streams of water” (Psalm 1:3). God places us exactly where we need to be. Each of us has different blessings from God that we could easily and quickly apply to our “green pastures” and our “quiet waters.” Yet we need to recognize that sometimes we ourselves can be someone else’s green pasture or quiet water. Sometimes God places us in the paths of people who need to hear about Jesus. Like the little girl who told Naaman the Syrian about Elisha who could cure his leprosy (2 Kings 5:2-3). Or like Andrew, whose first reaction to hearing the gospel was to find and tell his brother, Peter (John 1:41).

One day at the dinner table, the 53-year old Martin Luther pushed his chair back, put down his napkin and complemented his wife Katie’s cooking (probably in the time-honored way), and then addressed his family and guests. He spoke for more than an hour about the 23rd Psalm—perhaps they had asked him to do so when they had made arrangements for the meal earlier that day. Luther equated the “pastures” and the “water” with the Gospel itself, which is an excellent—perhaps the very best—application we can make. He said:

“The world has its comfort and joy, but these last only a moment; when anxiety and distress and especially the last hour comes, then it is as Solomon says: “After laughter the heart is sad; and after joy comes grief” (Proverbs 14:13). But those who drink of this fresh and living water may indeed suffer affliction and distress in the world, but they will never lack genuine comfort. Especially when the moment of crisis comes, the page turns for them to the place where it says: “After brief weeping comes eternal laughter; after a small sorrow comes a glorious joy” (2 Corinthians 4:17). For they shall not weep and be sorrowful both here and there, but it will be as Christ says: “Blessed are you who weep here, for you shall laugh” (Luke 6:21). (Luther’s Works 12:164).

Don’t fault Luther or other older Christians for saying “Living water” where the translation we have says “still” or “quiet” waters. In the last few generations, there have been many good applications made of the “still waters” as the King James Version translates. It’s true that sheep prefer to drink from a still, even stagnant, pool. I saw that for myself when I was once a shepherd. And if any author of the Bible understood sheep even without the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, it was David the shepherd of Bethlehem. But the phrase “refreshing waters” (me-manuchoth) might be applied even by those who have had little experience with sheep or even none at all. I suspect Luther fell into one of those categories. Yet his application is ideal, and has led me to a better understanding of the Psalm.

God will lead us into his word to give us what we need. And when God leads someone to us, may we share the joy of Christ, who became the sacrifice that replaced all sheep, lambs, bulls, and doves. He laid his life down for his sheep. Our best thank-you is to share that message with our words and our lives.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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