The GOod Life, a Study of the 23rd Psalm - Part 5: You Restore My Soul

REVIEW

• Ephesians 2:10 says in the Amplified Version that the good works we are called to walk in is [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].”

• Psalm 27:13 says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” We should EXPECT the goodness of God in every area of our lives.

• So, that is why we are looking at the 23rd Psalm. It is because I believe that it is a beautiful, poetic description of what this good life that God has prearranged and made ready for us to live really looks like.
• We spent the first couple of weeks looking at the first phrase of verse one which says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We found that this is one of those covenant-keeping names of Jehovah which reveals to us His nature. And we saw that it is important for us to know our God like David apparently did. This will produce boldness and confidence in Him, being the heartbeat of our faith. We saw that Jesus revealed Himself as this Good Shepherd, having come to give us life and life more abundantly. We also learned that as our Good Shepherd, He knows our name just as we are to know His name and that He speaks to us and leads us.
• Then, in part three, we saw that when we come to know the Lord as our Shepherd and are hearing from Him and being led by Him, then we “shall not want.” In other words, He will always guide us into the place of not lacking, having a need, doing without, diminishing or decreasing. We learned that this is not just referring to spiritual things either. While we certainly do not want (or lack), spiritually speaking, David was not referring to spiritual things. He was talking about natural things! But when it comes to some “believers,” you would think that David said, “Thou shalt not want!”- not believing a Christian ever needs to desire or want things. But we need to lose that “Yeah, but” mentality that likes to write off concrete promises that God gives us. Church, our experiences do not dictate the truth and validity of God’s Word. Indeed, let God be true and every man (and experience of man) a liar (Romans 3:4)! Our prayer today should be, “Lord, elevate our experiences to match the standard of your truth rather than us watering down your truth to match our experiences.” But we saw that there are varying degrees to us not lacking, and that is all determined by us - us seeking first the kingdom of God and being generous. We looked at Luke chapter 12 (& Matthew 6:33), Philippians 4:19 & Psalm 37:25, and saw how important it is to be doing what He tells us to do and be led by Him. Our part is that we must choose the good life - hear and know His voice, and do what He says. God is always willing to forgive and redirect you if you're willing to repent and follow. If you're not following your shepherd, you may well lack. But if you follow Him you will not lack. The good life God has prepared for us is a life of no lack! 
• And last time, we moved on to verse three and saw that our Good Shepherd also wills to make us lie down on green pastures and He leads us beside still waters. We saw that the term “green pastures” literally describes “pastures of tender grass.” We also saw that the Hebrew word for “green” describes “new grass,” not mature grass ready for mowing, but grass that is just sprouting and young. What did this teach us? It taught us that the Lord does not tend towards giving us old, used up stuff. He desires to give us a new life, a new beginning, a fresh start. He makes all things new and He has made all things good. Amen.
• We looked at Ezekiel 34:14-15 and saw that the Lord, acting as the Shepherd of His people, fed them in good pasture and made them to lie down in this rich pasture. Notice the word “good” being used here. So, these “green pastures” that our Good Shepherd is leading us to are good pastures, good and green pastures that are on the high mountains of Israel, hallelujah! So, again, increase and elevation are involved in this good life. This is the life that the Lord desires to make us lie down in. However, don’t get the wrong impression by this terminology (i.e. to lie down). According to Ezekiel’s prophecy (and many other Scriptures), the Lord’s will is to take us higher, not lower; to be exalted, not debased! Amen!   
• However, we did make the point that the phrase “He makes me” does not mean that the Lord is in the business of “making” us do anything. The Lord gives free will to mankind. Always remember: when God is involved, free will is involved. Therefore, He did not make us choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior, nor will He make us choose this good life that we are talking about either. We all are living our lives on various levels of God’s good, acceptable and perfect will for us. So, the Lord our Shepherd doesn’t drive us. If He did, He would have been called the “Good Cowboy” instead of Jesus calling Himself the Good Shepherd. You see, a cowboy drives his herd. He ropes and ties them. However, a shepherd leads, guides and calls his sheep. Therefore, the Lord is not in the business of making us doing anything. No, He calls us. He bids us to come follow Him. He gently leads us in the way we should go. And that way is on pastures of tender grass. Amen.
• We saw how our Good Shepherd wills for us to lie down in peace. But a big key to us being led into this perfect peace is in understanding that the battle is not ours, but God’s. Yes, it is important for us to realize that the battles we face are not just our battles; they are His battles. So, my point was: it is both the known presence of the Good Shepherd and knowing that He is resolved to care for His sheep that creates the peace among the flock. Yes, He is there to defend us from the turbulence that arises within the flock and to keep us from the predators that come in from outside of the flock. Amen.
• Then, we looked at the second promise in Psalm 23:2 - “He leads me beside the still waters.” Again, He “leads” us. He does not drive us or make us do anything. He leads by that still small voice, by that inward witness. (We will see more on this in a moment).  So, what is He leading us to? We saw here that He leads us “beside the still waters” and that phrase “beside the still” describes a “rest or resting place.” It describes a comfortable, still and quiet place or thing (and in this case, that thing is “water”). So, these “still waters” could literally be described as “waters of rest” and for us to be led beside these still waters would describe us being led and guided alongside places of rest - places that are quiet, still and comfortable. Amen. Then we saw how this is the same word that was used in Psalm 95:11 to describe “the Rest,” the same Rest that the writer(s) of Hebrews describe in Hebrews chapter 4.
• So, we looked over at Matthew 11:28-30 which says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” We saw that twice in this passage Jesus makes reference to “rest.” This is that rest that remains for us to partake of experientially - and that is when we exchange our weakness for His strength, when we learn to wait on the Lord and draw near to Him in fellowship. This is when we will run and not grow weary, when we will walk and not faint. Amen. The Christian life is meant to be light and easy, not heavy and hard. And the moment we begin to feel like our burden is heavy and hard is the moment we have simply realized that we are taking our own yoke and are not benefiting from Him pulling the weight for us.
• And we saw how all of Psalm 23:2 teaches us this one principle: The entire phrase at the beginning of this verse, “Me makes me to lie down”- comes from one Hebrew word - the word rabats. This word literally means “to stretch oneself out or lie stretched out.” Thus, the reason that this word is translated “to couch” in a couple of places. Therefore, this word describes “reclining.” So, we might translate this first half of Psalm 23:2 like so today: “He helps me to take a load off and to rest & relax.” Therefore, to lie down in green pastures describes our Good Shepherd leading us, His sheep, to places of comfort, rest and relaxation - like a spiritual couch or recliner. And the “leading us beside still waters” teaches us the same - that there remains a rest for the people of God - a stream that makes glad the city of our God. It is beside these still waters that we find rest for our souls.

 
So now, let’s move on to Psalm 23:3: David continues by saying, “He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
 
THE GOD OF RESTORATION
 
Let’s first look at this word “restores.”
 
The word that is used here literally means “to return, to cause to return, to restore to a former condition.”  And if you know anything about God, you will know that this is one of His favorite hobbies: He loves to restore!
 
Of course, He did this with each of us when we were born again - when we each came to ourselves like the prodigal son and made the decision to “return” to the Father’s house. It was then that we were restored completely - receiving again the ring, the robe and the sandals. We were restored in our sonship! That was the ultimate “restoration”- restored to our former place that we lost at the time of Adam’s transgression. He restored the glory! He restored the position! He restored the garden in us! However, He also loves to restore other things as well: He restores possessions, relationships, health, etc. In short, if it’s good, He wants to restore it!
 
You see, He will even restore time! He told His chosen people in Joel 2:25- “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust (Pretty much all kinds of locusts😊)…” So, no matter what kind of “locust” we’re talking about, God will restore what they have stolen!
 
Now, we need to understand of course that this was the result of their own disobedience and sin. These armies of other nations were given access to consume them because they turned their back on God. However, what we see here is the mercy of God in restoration! He said He would even restore to them what they lost during the bad years that they brought on themselves. Tell me God is not a good God! Amen? 
 
So, let me meddle for a moment: There are some that believe that the reason their children are making poor choices is because they made mistakes in parenting. And while that can be true; it’s not always the reason why our children go A.W.O.L. Did you know the most perfect parent who ever existed had children that blew it (i.e. God with Adam & Eve)? So, no, just because our children make poor choices, don’t let the enemy tell you it is because you must have done something wrong. Everyone has a free-will.
 
But my point is - even if we did do a poor job of parenting and made mistakes that propelled our children to go crazy, that doesn’t mean there is no hope! God specializes in RESTORATIONS! He can make lemonade out of those lemons, baby!  
 
I can personally attest to this: When I came to the Lord at age 25, the Lord restored my time wasted in the world. He began to teach me and got me up to speed to where I believe I would have been if I had been seeking the Lord from my youth.
 
So, my point is - even if you have made mistakes that have created setbacks, even if you’ve made poor choices that have created delays, God will still restore the years! Yes, He is that good!  
 
HOW HE RESTORES OUR SOUL
 
But this verse in the 23rd Psalm specifically says that He restores our soul!
 
So, let’s flip this example of parenting for a moment. Some of us are not on the parenting end; some of us are the children in this example. And some of us have some serious wounding in our souls because of the circumstances we were dealt when we were younger. But we are promised here that God will restore our souls! Amen!  
 
Now there is a debate as to what the soul of man really is. The most common definition is that our soul is our mind, will and emotions. And while I believe that it certainly includes those things, it is obvious that sometimes that basic, simple definition is not always applicable. Sometimes when the Bible talks about the soul, it seems to be referring to the person themselves - their life, if you would. In fact, if you look at the New Testament word most commonly used for “soul,” it is also translated “life.” It is for this reason that I define the soul as our “inner-life.” Even at other times, when the Bible refers to our soul, it seems to be using our spirit and our soul synonymously. But regardless of what your opinion is on our soul, it is obvious that it is referring to this immaterial part of us that makes up our personality and that involves our mind, will and emotions. So, this is the part of us that we are told that God restores!
 
But a question that must be raised is - How does He do this? How does He restore our soul? And the reason this is such an important question to ask is because it is obvious that this does not automatically happen for all of the Lord’s children, at least to the same degree.
 
So, how does one’s soul get restored? Well, I’m glad you asked - because did you know that the Bible tells us exactly how one’s soul is restored!?!
 
We are given the answer in Psalm 19:7 which says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”
 
The word “converting” here is the same word that was used in Psalm 23:3 for “restores.” So, what we see in this verse is how He restores our soul - it’s through the Law of the Lord. No, not just the Mosaic or Levitical laws. When David wrote this, the Law was all they had. So, what we would say today is “the Bible, the Word of God, etc.”- which would certainly include the Law and the prophets, but also includes the Gospels, the Epistles, etc. So, yes, the Word of God is what restores our soul!
 
David goes on to say that the testimony of the Lord is sure, “making wise the simple.” In other words, the Scriptures restore our souls by taking someone who is simple (i.e. ignorant or idiotic) and making them wise (Compare 2 Timothy 3:15). In other words, it’s not about accumulating knowledge and cramming a bunch of information in our heads. Where the power of restoration lies is in letting His perfect and sure Word impact our hearts with wisdom.
 
Psalm 119:130 says that His Word gives light (How?); it gives “understanding to the simple.” Again, the Word of God takes someone who is simple and gives them wisdom and understanding.


But the promise of restoration of our souls involves more than just smartening up one whose soul is ignorant; it stands to reason that it also affects the other parts of our soul like our emotions. Yes, the Word can “bring back” our mind, will and emotions to the healing, prosperous position they once had. In other words, there is the healing of our emotions and the restoration of our will that is available through the Word of God. Amen! So, yes, the Word works in helping our mental and emotional state.
 
A SOUL THAT LIVES AGAIN
 
God’s Word tells us that just as much as Jesus paid for our sins and sickness, He also paid for our peace (Isaiah 53:5). He has given us not only a spirit of power and love, but also of “sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). These are His promises!
 
James 1:21 tells us that when we receive with meekness the implanted word, it is able to save our souls! Amen! So here we see how God’s Word is likened to a seed because James calls it the “implanted” Word. The word “implanted” (or, “engrafted” in the KJV - which is poor translation) comes from two Greek words. The first word en describes “in, inner or inside.” The other word phyo literally means “to grow up or spring up in reference to plant growth.” So, I believe “implanted” is a very good translation because this describes the Word of God as something that grows or springs up like a plant inside of us.
 
So, when you “receive with meekness” (that’s a whole other sermon) the Word of God, it is like you are allowing the Word to be planted inside of you and its job is to grow or spring up in your heart like a seed’s job is to grow after it is planted. Amen!
 
Then James goes on to describe what this “implanted Word” will do: He says, “which is able to save your souls.”
 
You see, some of us have damaged, broken and ill souls - depending, not on the circumstances but how we responded to and allowed them to mold and shape or view, mentality, etc.
 
So, when James says here that the Word of God has the power to “save our soul”, what he is saying is that the Word has the ability to do to our souls what it did to our spirits when we responded to the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation. Amen!
 
His Word has the power to deliver our mind, to restore our emotions, to preserve our personality, to heal our heart, to change our will. His Word has the power to save our life and even create life! Amen!
 
Do you remember how the Lord first created man? He formed his body from the dust of the ground. He then breathed into His nostrils the breath of life. And then man became a living soul.
 
So, what was it that made man a “living soul”? It was when the Lord breathed into him the breath of life - which is obviously when God gave him his spirit.
 
Well, the Bible teaches us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), and this literally means that His Word is God breathed. So, what do you suppose happens when we receive God’s living Word into our hearts? It’s like God breathing into us all over again! Do you see where I am going with this? Likewise, as it was with Adam, the breath of God will create (or you could in this case say, recreate) a living soul within us! Amen!