He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters." The Christian life has two elements in it, the contemplative and the active, and both of these are richly provided for. First, the contemplative. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." What are these "green pastures" but the Scriptures of truth—always fresh, always rich, and never exhausted?
green pastures--or, "pastures of tender grass," are mentioned, not in respect to food, but as places of cool and refreshing rest. the still waters--are, literally, "waters of "stillness," whose quiet flow invites to repose. They are contrasted with boisterous streams on the one hand, and stagnant, offensive pools on the other.
From God being his shepherd, David infers he shall not want. God takes the care of a shepherd toward believers, protection, provision, constancy beyond what any earthly shepherd can give. David himself had been a shepherd and knew their tender affections; by this he illustrates God's care for His people.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 23:1-6