As you know, our Church is embarking upon a Scripture memory challenge in 2026. Although it is certainly not a requirement, I would strongly suggest that all who can do so should purchase a copy of Robert J. Morgan’s book One Hundred Bible Verses Everyone Should Know by Heart. I have been using it as one of the primary sources for my “Encouragement” sections in these weekly pastoral letters, and I believe it not only will aid you in your desire to hide more of God’s word in your heart, but will be a blessing to you in other ways as well.
Speaking of committing Scripture to memory, it is no secret to most of you that Psalm 23 is perhaps my favorite passage in all the Scriptures. Like many of you I committed it to memory long ago. It is the most published portion of literature, secular or sacred, in the history of the English-speaking world. Psalm 23 has been quoted more at public functions, from weddings, to funerals, to installations of monarchs, at graduation exercises, and many others, than any other portion of literature of any kind. It underscores the hope we have not only in the coming year, but the blessed hope we have for all eternity under the care of our loving heavenly Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 88 in Morgan’s book focuses in on verse 2 of the “Shepherd’s Psalm”, which states: He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters (Psalm 23:2). Here are Morgan’s comments on this one verse. We trust it will encourage your souls as much as it has ours.
Sheep eat standing up. We once had a small flock, and the only time I saw them eat lying down was when sick. Sheep eat on all fours, then find a shady spot to lie down and chew their cud. When the Psalmist said, “He makes me lie down in green pastures”, he meant “I am well satisfied. I have had plenty to eat. My needs have been met. Now I am going to settle down in contentment.”
What about the still waters? Sheep are frightened by rushing streams, for they wear heavy woolen coats that can become waterlogged and result in drowning. Our sheep wouldn’t come near the water trough while I was filling it with the hose. The sound and sight of the splashing bothered them. But when the water was stilled, they would come and drink all they wanted.
If we are under the Shepherd’s ownership and care, He will see to it that every need in our lives is met in one way or another – our external needs, our internal needs, and our eternal needs.
Our job is to graze in the sweet pasturage of the Word and to drink from the still waters of the Spirit. A writer of yesteryear, William Evans, observed: “It is generally recognized as being a very difficult thing to get God’s people to thus lie down. They will do almost anything and everything else but that. They will run, walk, fight, sing, teach, preach, work, in a word do almost anything and everything except seek seasons of quiet and periods of retirement for secret communion with God and quiet soul nurture. ... We do not like pauses ... from the rush into the hush (to which) Jesus calls us.”
During some seasons of the year, our sheep drank little or nothing from their trough. We learned that if the climate is right, sheep can go for a long time without actually drinking water because of the heavy dews. When the grass is sopping wet, the sheep take in their needed moisture with their nutrition. It is a wonderful picture of the Spirit-drenched Scriptures. In the early morning we graze in the sweet pasturage of the word of God covered with the watery dew of the Holy Spirit. What an apt image of the Christian’s daily quiet time.
Morgan then gives the following memory tip:
Spare no effort to learn this Psalm. The 23rd Psalm has been memorized by every generation from antiquity to modernity. It has been quoted across the centuries and through the millennia. In just six verses amounting to about a hundred words, it sums up all our needs in life and all the gracious provisions of God’s grace. Learn it a verse at a time, and each verse will build on the preceding one. Remember: It begins in “green pastures” and ends “in the house of the Lord forever”.
“My faithful shepherd is the Lord, supplying all my needs; in pastures green He makes me rest, by quiet waters leads.” –The Presbyterian Psalter
This chapter in Morgan’s book ends at this point. I really appreciate his quote by William Evans. We, as God’s people, too often do everything but simply take time to “graze in the sweet pasturage of the Word and drink from the still waters of the Spirit”. May we indeed find time every day in the coming new year to pause ... “from the rush into the hush” to which the Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, daily calls us. Soli Deo Gloria!