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Psalm 23:2
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
1A Psalm by David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Notice
Green pastures and still waters portray rest under a shepherd’s care, with God taking the lead in both the lying down and the movement toward water.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you notice about God’s actions in the two sentences of this verse?
Write on thisWhere, if anywhere, does your life have room for the rest pictured in these green pastures?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Revelation 7:17for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their …Both passages describe a shepherd leading to water; Revelation names that shepherd as the Lamb in the middle of the throne.
Revelation 22:1He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,Water appears in both scenes: beside the shepherd’s resting place in the psalm, and flowing from God’s throne in Revelation.
Ezekiel 34:13–14I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of …Both passages portray God guiding those in his care to places with food and water.
Psalm 46:4There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.Both psalms associate water with well-being: still waters for the shepherd’s sheep and streams that make God’s city glad.
Revelation 21:6He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.Both passages present water within God’s provision, whether he leads beside it or gives it to the thirsty.
Isaiah 30:23He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your …Green pastures in the psalm and large pastures in Isaiah portray places where animals receive provision through God’s care.
Isaiah 49:9–10saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on …Both passages use pasture to describe provision for people, picturing them as a flock with a place to feed.
Revelation 22:17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.The shared image is available water: the psalm describes being led beside it, while Revelation summons the thirsty to take it.
Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,Both texts associate quiet with God’s action, through the shepherd’s still waters in the psalm and God’s gift of quietness in Job.
Genesis 29:2He looked, and saw a well in the field, and saw three flocks of sheep lying there by it. For out of that well they watered the flocks. The stone on the well’s …The sheep lying beside a well in Genesis share the psalm’s concrete picture of a flock resting near water.
Isaiah 57:18I have seen his ways, and will heal him. I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.God leads in both passages, with rest beside water in the psalm and healing and restored comfort in Isaiah.
Jeremiah 31:9They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for …Both passages describe God leading beside water, with Jeremiah naming those he leads as weeping people returning under his fatherly care.
Where this verse fits
Burnout. anxiety or panic. serving and tired.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The shepherd who leads beside still waters also stays through the valley named later in the psalm. Rest belongs within his care, even when the road includes danger.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).