Psalm 23:2b “…he leads me beside quiet waters,”
[As our good Shepherd, you know of our need to drink deeply of your Truth. Therefore you carefully and consistently lead us to the source of living waters–your Word. You encourage us to come to quiet waters, to spend focused and unhurried time with you.
However, instead of coming to drink wisely, we often wade into these waters with our worries and impatience, riling our thoughts and muddying our perspective.
Praise you for your patience and graciousness, working to train us in quietness and contemplation, teaching us to lift our souls to you, to pour out our hearts and then wash our negative thoughts, worries and frustrations away with the cleansing water of your Word.
Praise you that your provision of quiet waters is perfect: it is pure, it is abundant, it is healing. In our physical lives, drinking sufficient water can prevent problems caused by dehydration, and can speed recovery from sicknesses we have.
So it is in the spiritual realm. Time with you, in your Word, in worship, drinking deeply of Truth, all bring transformation, strengthening of faith, deepening of understanding, broadening of surrender and nurturing of our first love. These prevent us from falling unnecessarily into sins like rebellion, selfishness, worry and fear.
I praise you for your persistent faithfulness in calling us aside to drink of the Word with its powerful enlightening, revealing, convicting and healing properties.
I praise you, O Lord God, that you give us significant choices: to follow you beside still waters or not; to drink or not; to spend time with you or not.
Being in your Word–reading, memorizing, meditating, praying–are such unnatural activities, fought against by the world, the flesh and the devil. Yet they are the most normal ones for the sheep who love you, who desire to live for you and are committed to following you wholeheartedly.
Praise you for the privilege of soaking in the Word with the understanding your Spirit brings. Help me to drink of it daily, to delve into its depths and see more of your beauty and goodness. I thank you today for what you will teach me through it. Glory be to you.]
