Psalm 23:3 [NIV] he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
[King James ] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake
Restoration - Brings peace today (Restorative Justice)
In a worldly sense - Restoration means - TO COOL DOWN…. TO SETTLE …
But what does the bible tell us…
He restores us - to lead us into righteousness….
Restoration brings a state of new strength - When we allow God to restore us, he rebuilds us, equips us into a new dimension.
Question: Do we need God's restoration…? Or when do we need God's restoration?
Read Verse 4&5
[NIV] 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,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.
[KJV]
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
· Valley of death
· Enemies
Do I need restoration in my soul now? A question that each one of us should ask to ourselves.
Lets look at Psalm 23
a. Who wrote it?
King David, who wrote the psalm, grew up and worked as a shepherd, so he knew a lot about sheep and shepherding.
He loved the metaphor of seeing God, or the Lord, as a shepherd.
When was this Psalm 23 written?
· Talks about the valley of death
· Talks about enemies
1. Towards the end of David's life?
2. Crucial moments of being surrounded by enemies?
He goes back to the basics - Read V1
The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He compares God with a Shepherd. Because that was his first job when Samuel identified him as the next king of Israel.
A shepherd's life….
A shepherd loves his sheep….
Matthew 18, Luke 15 - Parable of the lost sheep
Matthew 18:12-13
12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?
13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.
When can this happen? When the Shepherd and the Sheep has a personal relationship….
John 10:27
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
To have a personal relationship with my shepherd, I must FOLLOW him
· I must learn to hear his voice…. Only then, He will know me…
Point 1 : I must have a personal relationship with God to BE RESTORED.
Point 2 : I must trust the present reality of God to BE RESTORED.
To trust the present reality of God, I must depend on Him.
The manna story…
When Moses led the Israelites in the desert…. They were hungry
God fed them with Manna. What was the instruction?
Exod 16: 16
16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer[a] for each person you have in your tent.’”
V19
19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
V20
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
Question : Do I depend on God today for my needs or am I running behind everything in this world?
in Ephesians, Paul urges them to live a life worthy of their calling.
If Someone says , ‘I gave my heart to the Lord 5…15…40 years ago.’ And that’s wonderful. But just remember this:
my testimony of conversion is only valid if I can show some evidence of God in my life today
Point 3: To be restored, I must accept my weaknesses to Him
No SURRENDER ---- No RESTORATION
What is David admitting when he says, ‘He restores my soul?’
· He is confessing that there is SIN IN HIM.
· The sin has covered his salvation.
· The sin has made him drift away from the shepherd.
And it’s not just David, is it? ‘We all, like sheep have gone astray…’, Isa 53:6.
Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
And in Christ we find our perfect restoration.
Today each one of us need this restoration.
We need his restoration….
Eph 1:19-20
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength
20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
Eph 1:9
9 he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,
1 Cor 2:10
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
