(An excerpt from The Praises of Israel Volume One, by Brother Dudley Fifield)
“We “shall not want” because “he maketh (us) to lie down in pastures of tender grass” (AV margin), and “he leadeth (us) beside the waters of quietness” (AV margin).
In that hot and arid climate, the sheep need to be properly fed and watered. In the wilderness of the world, God’s sheep are also in need of constant spiritual refreshment. Our spirit, like that of the bride in the Song of Solomon, should be,
“Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon” (1:7).
This feeding and watering comes from the word of God, but the focus for the receiving of this word should be our ecclesial life. The ecclesias are the watering places, the places of refreshment that God has provided for our sustenance in the world. If we neglect the fellowship they offer, if we minimise the quiet comfort and assurance they can give in the midst of the world’s mad, hectic rush to attain what is empty and vain, then in reality we have failed to appreciate what our life in Christ is all about.
Equally, if we who must be shepherds of God’s flock fail to feed them by providing a proper diet and by creating the right spiritual atmosphere, then it might be that instead of providing a place of quietness and rest amidst the world’s incessant roar, we become, in part, responsible for causing some of the sheep to stray (1 Peter 5:1-4).”
Belgian Ecclesia Brussel - Leuven 