A Foundation of Grace: Rest

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.-Psalm 23:1-6 (NASB)

A few days ago, my attention started being drawn to this Psalm.  I felt like maybe the Lord wanted me to share this as a part of this series on grace.  

At first when I started looking at it, I couldn't really see how it applied.  But now, after reading it a few times, and looking up some words in their original language, it makes more sense.

The psalm in its entirety speaks of the Lord as a shepherd, caring for us completely.  In it, we do nothing.  He does it all.  We have no need with Him caring for us.

He leads, restores, guides, protects, comforts, prepares.  He showers us with His goodness and loving kindness. He is perfect.

The psalm as a whole speaks of rest.  Grace is a place of rest.  It comes from the favor and kindness of God, and is not something we produce ourselves by our own efforts or our own works.

Verse 2 especially speaks of rest.  More than one word in this verse mean "rest".

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

Lie down obviously means rest. But the word for lead, "nahal," also means "to give rest." The word for quiet, "menuchah," means "a place of rest."

This psalm as often read at funerals, but it is a Psalm for today, for us in the now. It is a picture of our life in Christ.

To read more in the series, please join me here, at A Foundation of Grace.

A Foundation of Grace: A Place of Rest

Now it happened a they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcome Him into her house.

And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.

But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."

And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.

But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her."-Luke 10:38-42


I love the story of Martha and Mary.  You will probably hear me say that a lot about many stories, and it is always true.  Stories communicate so much to us.  We can use our imaginations, see ourselves in their shoes, and learn truths that reach us in our hearts.  I think that is why Jesus used stories to teach.

Martha and Mary lived in the town of Bethany.  According to two different sources, the word Bethany means "house of affliction, house of dates, or house of depression or misery."  I also found one source that said it means, "house of figs." I find that very interesting because the first place we find figs in the Bible is with Adam and Eve, when they tried to cover their sin themselves. 

We have two women, sisters, and their brother Lazarus, living in this place.  And then Jesus comes.  

The two sisters are very different in their approach to Jesus.  Eventually this changes, and it is oh so beautiful!  But now, in this moment, they are very different.  

Both believe Him to be Lord.  Martha calls him Lord, and Mary is sitting at His feet in the posture of a disciple.  But they both respond to Him very differently.  I believe this to be a picture that God has given us of law and grace.

The Bible says Martha is distracted with much serving.  It is as though this is how she believes she can please the Lord.  She even goes to Him, obviously embarrassed or burdened by her sister's lack of concern, and points out all she is doing...for Him.  Jesus even tells her she is worried or troubled about many things.

Mary, on the other hand, is sitting, resting, at His feet.  She is not flustered, but at peace, just enjoying Jesus' presence.

The Law was given to make people do.  Grace came so we could rest.  

Hebrews 4:9-10 says,

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.  For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Jesus doesn't want us to live in the house of Bethany, a place of misery and depression, a place where we have to do something to receive approval.  He wants us to receive His grace, cease from our works, like Mary, and enter into His rest.




To read more in the series, please join me here, at A Foundation of Grace.

His Yoke is Easy

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."-Matthew 11:28-30

Words that jump out about me from this passage in Matthew are weary, burdened, rest, gentle, humble, rest, easy, and light. The hard words are the ones that describe us, and the soft words are the ones that describe Jesus. He wants to make a shift in our lives and our thinking from a place of being overwhelmed and incapable to a place of peace and reliance on Him to give us relief in our situations.