Pause To Appreciate Psalm 23 - He Restores My Soul - Psalm 23 Series

TEXT: Psalm 23

TITLE: “He restores my soul”

SERIES: PAUSE TO APPRECIATE - Psalm 23

TOPIC: Renewal

OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, March 14, 2010

PROP.: It’s important to experience times of refreshing

INTRODUCTION: Good morning and welcome! We are in a sermon series simply called: PAUSE. We are studying the book of Psalms and last week, we started a sermon series within this sermon series on Psalm 23. We are going to have a total of 4 sermons on Psalm 23. And it’s my hope that as I share these messages, that you will have a better appreciation for Psalm 23. That you will PAUSE TO APPRECIATE the truths and promises contained within this well known Psalm.

So as we did last week, I want us to read aloud the entire chapter of Psalm 23:

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord Forever! Amen!

Last week, we looked at verse 1. We broke it down into three phrases:

The Lord

MY Shepherd

I shall not want

This week, I want our focus to be on just the first half of verse 3:

“He restores my soul”

What better time to preach about this passage of scripture than now? I hope you are aware and are making plans to attend our Spiritual Renewal week (aka - REVIVAL) next week the 17th - 21st. That’s next Wednesday - Sunday. And on Saturday, it begins at 10 am followed by a carry in meal.

Why do we still have “REVIVALS”? Aren’t those things out dated? Perhaps. But we have them because we understand the need for SOUL RESTORATION!

Does your soul need restored? “Well what is a soul?”

Wow…trying to fully explain that could be a sermon in and of itself. But let’s suffice it to say that your soul is that part of you that will live forever. The soul is that part that makes you different from everyone else…it’s what makes you; you. The soul is how we will recognize you when we get to heaven. Your body will be a new glorified body, but your soul will still be you.

And sometimes, your soul becomes depleted. It gets run down. That’s what David says in Psalm 23. “He RESTORES my soul.”

And maybe you’re like: What pressures of life did David face that caused him to need his soul restored? “Oh man! I’ve got to go wash the chariot again!” Well, people are people doesn’t matter what time period you live in - we are going to be stressed out about life.

And isn’t it interesting. The more conveniences we have been blessed with in life the busier we become. The more time savers we have; the less time we actually have.

It doesn’t really matter how busy David was or anyone else living in the past. I want to talk about today. And I don’t think anyone would argue against me when I say that we have a problem with soul depletion. Too many people. Too many problems. Too much busyness. Not enough time to sit and be quiet and reflect.

And here in Psalm 23, we are told that the Lord wants to restore our soul. Maybe you’re here today and you feel a spiritual dryness. And you can’t really explain it…well what you are dealing with is this NEED to have your soul restored!

So we are going to talk about what that is and how to have that happen.

First let’s talk about that word that is translated “restore”. The word literally means replenishes. To return to it’s original state. Like when you fill your tank with gasoline…you are returning it to normal! Or when you fill the sugar container in your kitchen - you are making it the way it is supposed to be.

He keeps me going. He refills my tank with vitality and enthusiasm for living. Notice it’s not some general or some physical restoration that is being talked about. He restores MY SOUL!

That’s a very important word in the Bible 755 times in the Old testament the Hebrew word Nephesh is translated soul, heart, life, or mind. And all the time it’s that same word “nephesh” and it literally means BREATH. And it refers to that in-material part of man. There is a spiritual me that was created in God’s image that will live forever. And a good summary term for that part of me that’s not physical is SOUL. That’s the part of me that gets so depleted in this world and desperately needs to be restored!