Psalm 23 Series #3 : Still Waters
Waters of Rest
(Psalm 23:2)
Today, we'll take a look at the second thing, the shepherd does for us. The first thing was - He makes us lie down in green pastures, the pasture of the soul food! Now, for the second thing, consider the second half of Psalm 23:2 "He leads me beside still waters”.
"Still waters". What is it? What does it signify? What does the shepherd give us, by leading beside still waters? In Hebrew, still water, as you see in the footnote, is "the waters of rest”.
The key point is “rest”, in Hebrew menuha. "Menuha". "Rest" is what the LORD our shepherd, leads us to.
Rest. Isn't it what we need today? Many times people say, "Oh, I am tired. I need some rest." We need rest. Not only physical, but more importantly, inner rest. In this stressful modern society, inner rest is what we need. Did you see yoga classes 40 or 50 years ago? Suddenly for the past two decades, people began to register in yoga classes. Suddenly, why yoga? What is the new genre of music that emerged in the past two decades? New Age music. When you play New Age music CD's, you hear the sound of wind, the sound of waves. You feel like you are beside an ocean, or in a deep forest. What does it intimate? It intimates that today's people are in need of rest, the rest in their mind.
Where can we find it?
1) From nature?
Yes, when we go to nature, it helps us to relax. Walking alongside a brook, sitting quietly beside a lake - it's therapeutic. But, you cannot stay there always. You need to come back to life: your family, your work, your bill payment, your health issue, real life situations. Is there a way, we can have the true rest, the fading inner rest?
Let's consider this… Where does stress, burden of mind, headaches, conflicts or heart-breaking heavy burdens come from? They are mostly human-related, either directly connected to other human beings, or to what human beings created. When we go to nature, we stay for a while away from humans or man-made things. In one word, at the root of our unrest, there are human beings. There is a song titled, "Human beings are more beautiful than flowers." Yes, babies are beautiful when they sleep. Human beings make beautiful works of art, give us joy sometimes - true - but also cause burdens and unrest. Surrounded by human beings or man-made situations, the chance to have rest is tenuous. But, surrounded by nature, the chance to have rest is higher. Why is nature able to give us rest? Nature doesn't do anything. The key is this - in nature, we sense, see, touch, and feel the quality of God. It is not nature, but the quality of God, permeated everywhere in nature, that gives us therapeutic relaxation.
2) So, our question is this…."Who can give us the true, deep, long-lasting rest, even amongst stressful life situations? If winds and waves, brooks and lakes, as a piece of God's creation, can give us some feeling of relaxation, how much more the Creator God himself could give us - the long-lasting rest?
Here is a comforting point in today's Bible text. The search for rest is not your lonely struggle. There is someone who cares about you having a rest. Look at verse 2 again. "He leads me beside still waters, the waters of rest." Remember, "He leads." Say: "He
leads me beside still waters." Who? The LORD leads you to rest!
Last Sunday, we had a look at, how the golden theme of "soul food, green pasture" runs throughout the Scriptures. Today, let us consider, how the biblical theme of "rest," runs throughout the Scriptures. Tell me, when did God start to lead us into rest?
(#1) He started it from the creation. Genesis 2:2-3 "And on the seventh day, God finished his work, that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day, from all his work, that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it, God rested from all his work that he had done in creation."
Why rest? Was God tired? Did God really need a rest? In fact, on this 7 th day, God created a day of rest, the cycle of rest. For whom?
For God Himself? No. For human beings! The 7th day is the emblem of rest. By putting 'rest' on a day, God proclaimed, His purpose for human beings is rest and he will lead humans into it. So, when we spend 24 hours in rest, after six days, we hear God's invitation: "Come into my rest. My purpose for you is rest. That' s why I separated one day out of seven. This is my invitation for you to rest. When Christ, the fulfillment of God's promise came, he removed the ritual of the 7th day, and invited us into divine rest, which was realized on the day of Jesus' Resurrection. That's why we celebrate the LORD's day, as a present gift of rest, as well as, in the hope of future rest on the day of Our Resurrection. The LORD's Resurrection day, the LORD's day, the Sabbath-rest. Our
Resurrection day in the future, the day of entering the future rest in heaven.
(2 nd ) The LORD continued to lead his people into rest, through Exodus. Joshua 1:13 "Remember the command that Moses
the servant of the LORD gave you: The LORD your God is giving you rest.” This is Joshua's understanding of the meaning of Exodus and entering the land of Canaan. Why did God deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt? For what purpose, does God lead them, into the land of Canaan? To give them rest! 'The LORD your God is giving you rest.” It is the same to us! Why did
God save us? To lead us where? Into rest!
(3rd) When Jesus came, what did he want to give us? Where does he call us to? Matthew 11:28, 29 “Come to me, I will give

you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls. I will give you rest.” Jesus is giving us rest. Our salvation in Christ is best described by the word, 'rest.' "Your rest"
- this is Jesus' will for you.
Then, what kind of rest is it? It is not the relaxation people can feel by hearing the sound of wind or waves. It is not like the feeling you can have by drinking a cup of tea, beside a serene lake.
Hebrews 4:1,3, 9-11
1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear, lest any of you should seem, to have failed to reach it.
3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, "As I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest,'"
9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
Whose rest is it? "His rest, my rest, God's rest". It is God's own Rest. God does not say: "O You Christians, have some rest over there." No. God says: "My people, come! Come into my rest." “I want you to enjoy my rest with me!" God wants you to have his own, divine rest, in you, in you! Believe this. From the creation of the world, through Exodus, and finally through Christ Jesus, God has been working to give you God's own Rest.
What do you need today? You need this rest. God's own rest!!!
(1) Yes, you need physical rest, the rest of sweet and deep sleep. It is also what God gives us. Psalm 127:2 "In vain you rise early
and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for He grants sleep to those he loves." Cast all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. It is in the grace of God you can have a deep sleep. Some people need medical treatment for a better sleep. It is a medical problem. But, mostly insomnia is from psychological burden. Let me tell you how you can really sleep, a deep restful sleep.
When you lay your head on the pillow, say this: "O God, I am a mortal man. I am a mere creature. I cannot control my life. I am not the owner of my life, but you are. You are the master of my life. So, now, I put everything into your hands. It is not my responsibility. Take care of my life. Because I absolutely trust that you are in charge, now I go to sleep without any worry.” When you fully rely on the sovereign hand of God, you can really sleep.
(2) The Rest, which God gives you today, is the rest of God Himself: holy, spiritual, divine rest!! This is the un-deprivable rest we can have even in the midst of tough life situations. It is like Jesus' peace, which he kept amongst the attacks of the Jews. It is Jesus' rest, in which he was able to sleep in the midst of billows in the Sea of Galilee.
Okay. Now, it is clear. God wills to give us his own rest. It is God's eternal plan to lead us to still waters of rest. That is the theological understanding when David sang this verse: "He leads me beside still waters." And, we know that in the end we will be taken into this rest.
Then, what about, now? "Pastor, would you give us some practical tips, how we can experience this rest in this life? Tell us, some practical ways we can have the divine rest, in this life.”
Here we go:
First (1): In principle, you can experience the divine rest, by being freed from the shackle of sin. To have rest, we need to, first, remove the root of unrest. What is it? What deprives you of having God's rest? Sin, not moral sins, but the sin which is waywardness, despising God's grace, despising God's ruling, despising God's being God over your life. To put it another way, not having God on the throne of your life, at the centre of your life. This is the heavy shackle of the Sin, why people cannot have the true rest! This is the heaviest burden that hinders us, from having God's rest. Look to Jesus. Look at the Cross. Nail the Sin on the cross of Jesus. This is the first and most foundational way, you can start to enjoy the divine rest in your personal life.
Second (2): By faith, you can have God's rest in this life. Faith is the spiritual hand, that can receive and hold the unseen divine rest.
Believe that the LORD God is the master and owner of your life. Cast all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you! Remind yourself continually that the LORD God is the king of your life and over everything around you. By believing this, you can taste divine rest, every day in a fresh way.
Third (3): Fix your eyes on Jesus. When Peter fixed his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk on the waves. But, when he looked at the waves, he began to sink. Do not fix your eyes on your ego. Forget yourself. In existential viewpoint, your ego is the heaviest burden of your life, as in spiritual point of view, the sin is the heaviest burden of life. When you fix your eyes on yourself, you will never taste
God's rest. Be free from your own ego. Fix your eyes on Jesus. The divine rest will be yours.
Finally (4): Be touched by the Holy Spirit. This is the immediate way, you can have God's rest in your personal life. It is the direct experience of the Holy Spirit. It is different from having rest by faith or by fixing your eyes on Jesus. It is a more direct and mystical experience. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit touches you, when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, suddenly, all burdens in your mind, in your heart will be blown away instantly, in a mysterious way. When a tornado blows, it blows away even huge trucks. When the Holy Spirit blows on you, something happens: the heavy rock of burden, which has pressed you down for many days, suddenly disappears. Then, you will experience freedom, joy! You will be filled with tears. You will be filled with an inexpressible joy. Tears, joy and joy, full of grateful heart. God's own rest is instantly yours. Experience this. This is the direct way of having God's rest in your personal life.
Jesus said, this will happen to you, when the Holy Spirit comes to you. John 14:26, 27 "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to
you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you." Receive this Peace! It is yours! Receive it from the Holy Spirit! Be touched by the mysterious hand of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, the wondrous rest will be yours, in this life. It is not an accident, that the experience of divine rest, is expressed by "still waters" if you remember that the Holy Spirit is signified by the Living Water.
May the LORD the shepherd lead you beside still waters. May the LORD God pour the Living Water of the Holy Spirit upon us. May the LORD fill your life with this heavenly rest!
The Psalmist once sang like this: Psalm 62:1,2,5 “My soul finds rest in God alone. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Find rest, O my soul, in God alone.”
Speak to your soul. My soul finds rest in God alone. Come away from the burden of your ego, your-self!!! Come into the Father's rest!!! By the mysterious touch of the Holy Spirit, be freed from the human being, that is, your own ego! Enter into the sanctuary of
God's rest.
(Oh Holy God, we thank you that you are leading us into your own rest, in Jesus by the Holy Spirit. We look to you ,Lord Jesus.
We look to you, Holy Spirit. Come to us, today, and every day. Change us. Let us find rest, in You. O Holy Spirit, touch us, and free us, in Jesus' name. Amen.)