He Leads Me Beside Still Waters

Is there anything more serene than to find yourself on the bank of a peaceful pond or a gently bubbling brook on a brilliant spring morning?  Just breathing in the purity of the air while being soothed by the flow of the water is like breathing in the fresh aroma of new hope.  You’d think that sheep, or people, for that matter, would diligently seek out such places, wouldn’t you?  But you’d be wrong.

Sheep tend not to be the brightest bulbs on the string, if you know what I mean.  Instead of pursuing the best and most beautiful of water sources, they grow impatient.  Desiring to get all they can as soon as they can, they often drink from the first stagnant puddle they come across, regardless of the filth or poison that lies within.

But a good shepherd knows where the best water source is, and he will lead his sheep to it.  They’re not going to find it on their own.  They are not smart enough, patient enough, or determined enough.  They need the shepherd to lead them.

As David was writing this psalm, he knew that people have the same tendency as sheep.  However, David wasn’t just writing about physical water as a source of hydration.  He was talking about “living water” and how it refreshes our spirits.  In Psalm 42:1, David wrote, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God.”  Our soul desires God so much that David compared it to an intense thirst that revealed itself in panting.  It’s a thirst that must be quenched.

But like sheep, our nature is that we are neither patient nor determined when it comes to satisfying our parched souls.  We tend to take the easy way out and look for fulfillment in that which never fully satisfies: alcohol or other drugs or addictions; sports and entertainment; power and wealth; relationships; self-improvement; you get the hint.  We try to satisfy our thirsty souls with the contaminated puddles of human invention, and it often leaves us sick and tired; and still trying to fill the void.

But there is one Good Shepherd who will lead us beside the still waters; the living waters of true, pure soul refreshment.  His name is Jesus, and in fact He IS the living water.

In John chapter 4, Jesus is speaking with a Samaritan woman at a well.  Jesus asks the woman for a drink.  She is shocked, because it was unheard of for a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman.  Jesus says to the woman, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (v 10)

Referring to the water in the well, Jesus elaborates, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (v 13-14)

A little later, speaking to a crowd of people, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38)

So, an earthly shepherd, who happens to be a good shepherd, will lead his sheep to sources of good, pure water where they can be refreshed.  Christians, on the other hand, have something even better.  We have The Good Shepherd who not only leads us to pure water, but in fact IS the living water.  And when we want Jesus as much as a sheep longs for still waters, or as much as the panting deer wants the thirst-quenching, life-giving water, He will be right there to fill us with His living water, through prayer, through the Bible, and through sweet fellowship with other believers, in person (or on the phone or video chats as the current situation requires).  There, we will find our rest and comfort.

“For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” – Revelation 7:17

So, take heart.  Seek the Good Shepherd and follow Him wherever He leads you.  There, you will find the still waters, the living waters, that will rejuvenate your soul like nothing else can.

Drink deeply!

Pastor Bryan