Verse of the Day for March 26

The most familiar psalm in the Bible has a verb in its second verse that most readers slide past.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

Maketh. Not invites, not permits. There is compulsion in it, and shepherds know why: a sheep will not lie down while it is anxious, hungry, or aware of something moving in the treeline.

So lying down is evidence. It means the shepherd has already dealt with whatever would have kept the animal standing.

And the pasture is green, meaning the food is under it. The sheep is not made to rest somewhere barren and told to be grateful; it is made to rest in the middle of provision it is not currently eating.

Most of us treat rest as the reward for finishing. This verse treats it as something arranged by somebody else, sometimes against our preference.

If you cannot lie down, the question is usually what you are still watching for at the edge of the field.

He is not asking you to rest in a barren place. The pasture is green and you are standing on the food.