RESTORED TO BE RESTORERS

Psalm 23 is one of those passages of Scripture most Christians know by memory. It’s definitely poetic. David’s words paint a beautifully serene and deeply encouraging picture. I admit that for a time I had become so familiar with the words of this popular text that it became just that: familiar. Commonly referenced and recited within the Church community, I wonder how many others might confess that the 23rd Psalm is too familiar to them to hold great significance as it should. And I wonder if massive merchandizing of the Christian lifestyle has accidently played a part in exploiting God’s Word, unintentionally diminishing the holiness of the sacred text, leaving it to be to the masses some sort of feel-good slogans.

There is a proverb that goes like this: “Familiarity breeds contempt.” Those sharp words are described by Google’s Dictionary as extensive knowledge of or close association with someone or something that leads to a loss of respect for them or it. For certain we must sorrowfully admit that in this country there is great loss of respect for God’s Word. In honesty, I confess that my own shallow familiarity of Psalm 23 produced an aweless perspective for a season until I was asked to give a talk on the 3rd verse. “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” I haven’t read Psalm 23 the same since.

HE RESTORES MY SOUL

Those four words have such power and meaning to us as believers, right? They are beautiful, life-giving. As I dug deep into the Scripture’s meaning I broke down key words and discovered just how powerful this promise is to us. The Hebrew root word for restore is the word “shub”, which means to turn back, to return. It also means to renew, revive, convert, bring back, and to quicken. The word restore in Psalm 23:3 specifically means figuratively (or spiritually) to restore, to refresh, and to repair. I love those words—restore, refresh, repair.

He restores my soul. He refreshes my soul. He repairs my soul.

David wrote in Psalm 19:7, “The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul.” (NASB). The KJV uses the word convert. “The Law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.” Here David tells us that God’s commands convert the soul from error to truth, from sin to righteousness, from death to life. God’s Word is needed to recover us from our fallen state. It is meant to turn us back to God, to restore us to the place the Lord has always intended us to be.

I believe the green pastures and still waters spoken of in Psalm 23 verses 1-2 press beyond the literal meaning of physical nourishment and rest. This is strongly suggested by David’s use of the same expression “to restore the soul” in Psalm 19:7. When I read “He retores my soul,” I understand it to mean that the Lord, through the Scriptures, restores my soul. One might think that we need to be restored before we are able to rest, but not so. We must be in a state of rest before the Lord can restore us. Through His Word, by His Spirit, I feed . . . I drink . . . I rest . . . like the sheep of His pasture.

So, what is my soul? This is the Hebrew word, “nephesh”. It means life, self, creature, and person; as well as desire, passion, appetite, emotions and feelings. It occurs 754 times in the Bible; of these, there are 62 sub-descriptions. The word, “napsi” is the sub-word for soul used in Psalm 23:3. It is used 174 times throughout the Scriptures. In the Psalms, David uses it 90 times. Often he is speaking about his thoughts and emotions. As a woman, I think this is one of my biggest challenges—managing my thoughts and emotions. However, David, being a man, obviously struggled with the same things.

PSALM 23:3 SAYS HE RESTORES MY EMOTIONS

Through God’s Word, which is perfect and complete, the Lord restores (or converts) my thoughts, which refreshes my emotions, and renews right desires (or righteousness) within me to do His will. This is such exciting news for those who believe! The Lord is able to restore every thing about us to its proper place in Him—our minds, our thoughts, our emotions, our desires, our wills. This is why we must feed on and rest in His Word constantly.

But, there’s more.

There is only one other verse in the Scriptures that uses this same sub-translation of the word restore (or “shub”) as David uses it in Psalm 23:3. It is found in Isaiah 58:12. For context, Isaiah is talking about fasting, the kind of fast God rejects and the kind that is pleasing to Him. Isaiah tells us what God’s people must stop doing as well as start doing to in order for Him to shepherd, satisfy, strengthen, and sanctify us.

As I read through the chapter, I couldn’t help but stop at verse 11:

“The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

That surely sounds familiar to Psalm 23:1-2, doesn’t it?

“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.”

But, instead of God making us to rest in green pastures and leading us beside peaceful waters, Isaiah 58:11 says (we) will be like a well-watered garden (or a green pasture) and like an ever-flowing spring of water. This is why we must allow the Lord to guide us into His rest, refresh us and restore us, not only for ourselves, but also for others. He wants His children to be restorers, too.

Now let’s take a look at Isaiah 58:12:

“Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”

The last part of verse 12 says, “[you shall be called] The Restorer of the streets to dwell in.” The prophet Isaiah is not talking about restoring the streets for the streets’ sake, to stay there, in the streets to dwell, but the repaired, restored streets are to be the open way for people to get to their proper place of dwelling. I think of John the Baptist when he says in the gospel of John 1:23, “Make straight the way for the LORD.” We see John is calling people to change their ways and to walk in the way of the LORD, to repent of sin, to believe; ultimately, to change their thinking which in turn will change their behavior. The Pharisees and religious leaders in Jesus’ day were deceived by self-righteousness—thinking the more “they did” for God the better they were in His eyes. They were adding to God’s commands, placing heavy burden on themselves and other “less spiritual” people who wanted and needed to get to God. In a sense, they were blocking the way, causing others to stumble as they tried to get to Jesus, and making the way a road of discouragement, even destruction. Many could not get to Jesus, to dwell with Him. It seemed impossible for the common person. The religious leaders should have been preparing the way through God’s righteousness for the people to come to Jesus, so they could find rest, and be restored to God. Rather, they were roadblocks.

I see us who believe and love Jesus as guides to God, Who is our ultimate Restorer. I see us as “restorers of the road” to Him. We are made to be a path of righteousness for each other, for the lost, for the hurting—a street, a “way” to Jesus, through our lives in Christ, lived out in daily restoration. We are either in a state of being restored or restoring others. But how do we restore others? By speaking truth in love, by encouraging in that truth, by living out the truth we have spoken into their lives. And what’s so amazing about God is, through His Spirit, is capable of using us as restorers even in the midst of our own restoration. Don’t ever think that when you are feeling down, or weary, or dry, or anxious, or in a humbled place of discipline or repentance that you are of no good to God. He is Restorer, and He uses whatever and whomever He pleases for His glory.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Does your soul need to be restored? Your emotions? Your thought process? Your desires to be aligned with God’s desires? Your willingness to be obedient and follow Jesus?

These are not things to hide from Him, or to be ashamed to acknowledge. He knows our proneness to wander, our restlessness, our weakness. He made us.

David, who God said was a man after His own heart wrote in Psalm 51:12-13: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit, then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You.” There are those words again: Restore. Convert. His way.

Is there something blocking you from entering into rest with the Good Shepherd? Pray and ask Him to reveal to you if there are any roadblocks. Ask Him to search your heart. He is faithful to reveal and heal. Until we allow Him to lead and guide us into His rest and repentance, He cannot restore us to walk strong with Him and lead others righteously in His way.