“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul.” Psalm 23:1,2,3
David was a spiritual man, who knew God, loved and served God. He was a man endowed with great qualities and gifts as a person, but his greatest endowment, or gift, was the Spirit of God which came upon him when he was anointed by the prophet Samuel mentioned in the Old Testament. From that day forward, the Spirit of God strengthened David and met his needs in marvelous ways so that he would become the man God had called him to be. However, in spite of his gifts, calling, and the Spirit’s anointing, David had limits. Those limits were manifested in that he suffered, was perplexed in situations, and needed clear and definite guidance from God. There were times also when he was overcome with the needs around him, and within his own heart. He felt the weight of sin unforgiven, but also, the refreshment of forgiveness. He felt the pressure upon his soul when confronted by enemies that would want to kill him. He learned the hard lesson of accepting rejection by those even of family and friends. It would be when heart, mind, and body were pushed to their limit, and the fatigue of failure, fear, dismay or discouragement, assailed this great man, that he would know very keenly the need to be restored to fellowship with God where his soul was refreshed again by the nearness of God’s manifest presence. As in Jesus’ day, when being weary in ministry, and seeing his disciples in need of rest, He would take them aside, away from the crowd, that they could rest. It was somewhat the same in Elijah’s day, after he confronted hundreds of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, that he was stretched to the limit, and needed not only food, water, and sleep, but a quiet place where he could again hear the voice of God and be restored. The great men and women of old were no different than believers today. There is a need for the restoration of the soul, not only with regard to being brought back to a right relationship with God, but of receiving anew Christ’s blessed peace and assurance. What is there in Psalm 23 which gives us guidelines concerning being restored in our souls?
If one is to be truly restored in one’s soul, one must first realize that it is a spiritual matter. As such, the only source of true restoration is in Christ. David begins Psalm 23 by declaring this: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Here David takes both a stand, and position of faith, setting himself to look only at one source for the restoring of his soul. He knows that man in and of himself cannot meet the deep needs of the heart. The God who made the individual soul is the only One who can truly meet man’s need. So, David looks only to the Shepherd, believing that He as God is able to meet his every, deep need.
The second thing that David communicates to us concerning the restoring of the soul, is the method the Lord uses to accomplish this. It is in the quiet, restful place, where the soul, with time, can again begin to become a good receiver of the grace of God by faith. In that place of quietness, and provision, Christ comes to refresh the soul with the consciousness of His presence, a new and fresh vision of Himself. It is there also that He speaks, calling the soul to look heavenward again, to receive from Christ by the Spirit, the answers that he needs, and the strength to believe God for their fulfillment. In that quiet place of aloneness with Christ, in an attitude of waiting wholly, and uniquely upon Him, not only does the Word of God give guidance in perplexity, but the confirmation of His peace. In Christ’s light and love refreshment comes in abundant measure.
Dear Father, Restore us all today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.