A pastor was sharing with me that the portion of Scripture in Psalm 23 that speaks of green pastures, may not actually have played out the way we westerners picture it.  If you have ever been to Southern Israel, where that chapter was written, you will notice, it’s not exactly pastoral. It’s mostly desert. I have had the privilege to travel to that region and can testify to the fact that it’s pretty dry and rocky.

 

Apparently, the winds that would blow off of the Mediterranean would produce just enough dew that would produce just enough green growth that would allow the sheep just enough nourishment each day. It was just a few mouthfuls, but it was just enough.  Now, I have not heard this take on the 23rd Psalm before, but it struck me. If that is true and correct (and I have no reason to doubt this person since he got his information from a Rabbi) then I would have to say, that scenario would shed a whole new light on that passage for me.

 

It made me realize that those sheep had no idea where their next meal was coming from. But as they got up in the morning and went out, there it was – just enough.  When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, God there too gave them manna each morning.  Not an all-you-could-eat buffet, but rather just enough for that day. Nothing beyond.

 

It’s a prickly thought for some to be sure.  But I realized, that message should be a comfort to me.

 

God sees my needs.  He knows my heart.  And in that, He asks me to trust that He will meet those needs.  Easy no. But proven again and again throughout His Word? Yes indeed.

 

And that’s enough of my thoughts on that topic.

 

S.