“Forces Me To Lie Down”

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures . . .” The verb here is strong: He compels me, he forces me to lie down in green pastures.

An American traveling in Syria became acquainted with a shepherd. Each morning, he noticed the shepherd carrying something to the sheep. The traveler followed him one morning and found that he was taking food to one sheep that had a broken leg. As he looked at the animal, he said to the shepherd, “How did the sheep break its leg? Did it meet with an accident, fall into a hole or did some animal break the leg?”

“No,” said the shepherd, “I broke this sheep’s leg myself.”

“You broke it yourself?” queried the surprised traveler.

“Yes, you see, this is a wayward sheep; it would not stay with the flock, but would lead the sheep astray. Then it would not let me near it. I could not approach it, and so I had to break the sheep’s leg that it might allow me, day by day to feed it. In doing this it will get to know me as its shepherd, trust me as its guide, and keep with the flock.”