He Leadeth Me Beside Still Waters by Tori Lehman

When I was asked to write an article for First Connections corresponding with the theme of the upcoming sermon series, Soul Reset, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. After some thought, I thought I would revisit a recent bible study I led with some individuals at work. We spent several weeks diving deeper into the passage found in Psalm 23 through a bible study from Jennifer Rothschild. This has always been one of my favorite passages, but it brought on a whole new meaning after taking it verse by verse.

Looking back, I can clearly see God’s plan with this study. I wanted to lead a study at work but wasn’t quite sure I had the courage to do it. I spent time praying and eventually listened to what God was saying and pulled our group together. Ironically, we started this study back in January of 2020. Little did we know how much we would come to benefit from spending time in this passage as the events of 2020 unfolded. The time we spent together studying this passage helped us face 2020 and all the changes it brought.

Throughout the study, we spent a week studying each verse and what it meant. One thing that made a difference to many of us was to write down Psalm 23, substituting our own name wherever the verse would reference “my” or “I.” For example, it would read, “The Lord is Tori’s shepherd, Tori will not want. He makes Tori lie down in green pastures; He leads Tori to beside still waters.” Once I went through this exercise for all the verses, it made this passage much more personal. It also made me realize the guidance that this passage offers. It really is full of messages that we probably all need at one point in time in our lives, especially in trying times.

A few verses hit home to me in a way that I had not interpreted in the past. First, I was really taking a look at what it means that the Lord is my shepherd. I had never really thought all that much about him being my shepherd and what that meant. However, when I stop and look at myself as a “sheep” of Jesus, I realize all that He is willing to do for me, just as a shepherd would tend to his sheep; he tends to all my needs. All throughout the Bible, there are references to Jesus as a shepherd. It talks about how he leads His sheep, sacrifices for his sheep, protects his sheep, and most importantly, He knows each of his sheep. He does all these things for each of us. I think this is something that I need to remember every day. That whatever I need, God will take care of me. I need to sit back and let Him take care of me, that He is in charge, and I need to trust Him. For those of you who know me, probably like most of you, I tend to try to be “in charge” of what is going on in my life. One of these days, I will realize that I am not in charge, that I need to take time to listen to God, and He will show me his plans for me.

The concept of taking time to listen to God, to slow down, and sit quietly in prayer leads right into my favorite “revelation” about studying Psalm 23. In verse 2, it reads, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters.” I mean, what does that even mean. I can remember reading that in the past and sort of just going right past it as I didn’t really get it. Then it hit me…first of all, as a sheep, I have one responsibility: to follow my shepherd. That is all I have to do. I don’t have to plan the future. I don’t have to worry about what will come tomorrow. I just need to follow Jesus. Then, the part of about leads me beside still waters. This is where I learned something about sheep, and now this verse means so much more! If you take sheep to fast-moving waters, they won’t drink, they won’t receive the refreshment they need. Sheep will only drink from still water. This is why He leads us to still waters. This really resonated with me. I see this as a message that I have to be still to hear what God is trying to tell me. If I get too caught up in the “busyness of life,” I will not have what I need to handle life. That I have to be still and listen to God. I urge you to go to Psalm 23, but this time read it with your name, personalize it and take it as your own. This is what God wants us to do!

Last year was a little depressing. There’s really no other way of saying it. The pandemic brought on many feelings of isolation due to the realization that we needed to distance ourselves and remain physically separated in order to stay safe. It was especially difficult for anyone who likes to sing, as it became clear that singing was one of the easiest ways to spread the virus. I distinctly remember that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized that it would be a long time before singing in any group setting would be safe again. During that difficult time, our Music & Fine Arts Ministry team here at First United Methodist wanted to find ways to safely provide music in our worship services online. So we featured instrumentalists and solo vocalists. It was a safe and effective alternative, but we knew it was not a permanent solution. Last summer Jeremy Hearn and Matthew Corl each began researching and exploring how to use technology to put together virtual presentations for our worship services. They spent many hours learning how to take individual videos, synchronize them, and combine them together to produce a single group performance. Once they experimented with it and figured it all out, the next step was to explain the whole process to the musical participants, who would then record themselves and submit their individual recordings for the virtual presentations. In the beginning, there were many questions,