Psalm 23, Post #5 – January 30, 2016

“He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3A)   

                    

That is the theme of today’s post as we are moving forward in Psalm 23 and will be taking a look at the first half of verse 3.  It’s important to remember that David is writing this Psalm from the perspective of being a sheep.  And this isn’t just any sheep.  He is writing from the perspective of a sheep that is in the fold of the shepherd, the one he belongs to.  I hope you can recall the focus of verse 1 in our study.  “The Lord is my shepherd”.  It’s good to pause and reflect on the words of comfort and encouragement found in this Psalm.  It’s also important to remember that they are not promised to anyone except the sheep in the shepherd’s flock.  In other words, if you are in God’s family then these words are absolutely for you.  With that being said, let’s get started on todays’ lesson.

When I was pastoring full-time I would sometimes have people walk into my office in a deep blue funk (sorry, ‘60s vocabulary flashback) and after some discussion I would discover that they felt inadequate or a failure in their faith because they were feeling bad or struggling.  Somehow, they had the mistaken idea that if their faith was strong they shouldn’t be having problems in their lives.  Or, at the very least, their problems shouldn’t be getting to them and making them miserable.  If it were true that once we are saved our troubles were over that would be wonderful but the problem is, it’s not!  I often share Jesus’ word on this subject and have used it in these posts as well (including yesterday if my old memory is working) so let me share them again today.   In John 13:33 Jesus says plainly “I tell you these things, so that in me you will have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”   Jesus, God’s son and our Savior said “you will have trouble”.  When I’m sharing this with someone who thinks they shouldn’t be having troubles because they accepted Jesus as their Savior I want to ask them what part of “you will have trouble” don’t they understand?

Here is a very brief list of some words recorded by people in the Bible who were struggling in their life.  These are all words being cried out to God. 

“How long will you forget me?”

“How long will you not look at me?

“How long will you plug your ears when I call out to you?

“How long will my enemies win?”

“God, why are you staying away from me?”

“Why won’t you look at me?”

All these things were said by David in the early Psalms.  The scriptures have many examples of Godly men and women who struggled in this life.  We need to remember that we aren’t in heaven yet and that means this is anything but a perfect place.  We can cry out, “It’s not fair!” and we’d probably be right.  So what?  Life here on earth often isn’t fair.  Jesus’ torture and death on that cross was anything but fair.  But all of it was part of God’s plan for him and for all of us.  It was told to people of faith hundreds of years before it actually happened.  Even when Jesus walked this earth he tried to help his closest disciples understand what was coming and what he would have to go through but they didn’t understand either.   This is the “human condition” we experience because we live in a fallen world.  So what does all this have to do with today’s scripture?   Very simply, we all need to be restored and often.  This restoration goes far beyond simple physical rest, it goes much deeper than that to our very core.  We need to find a way to restore our soul and that, of course, is just what we are going to talk about.

Once again, I’ll draw on Phillip Keller’s experiences as a sheep rancher.  Phillip tells that there is a common problem with sheep which can be very bad, even deadly for them.  It’s called “casting”.  A “cast” sheep is a sheep that has, quite literally, fallen and can’t get back up.  This can happen in many different ways including simply lying on their side and then rolling into a dip in the ground which could cause them to roll further onto their back.  This puts the sheep in a frightening and dangerous position.  Not only are they unable to right themselves, they are now a sitting duck (or sheep) as far as predators are concerned.  Because sheep are quite top heavy, especially when their coats of wool grow thick, this situation occurs more often that you might think.  The shepherd has to keep an eye on his sheep to make sure they are all in the flock when he comes around.  They would regularly count the sheep to make sure none was missing but if they discovered that there was one not accounted for it was important that they be found quickly.  When a sheep is “cast” they can die in a matter of hours if the weather is very hot and sunny.  If it’s a cooler and more rainy time of year they can survive in this condition for several days.  There are internal stresses to the sheep in this position which affect their blood circulation and other things as well.  You might think this happens mostly to the weak or sickly sheep but it’s not necessarily the case.  The largest, fattest, strongest sheep can fall to this problem too since they are well fed, making them more top heavy and more susceptible to being “cast”. 

The shepherd will hurry out to find these missing sheep because of the strong possibility that they are not just lost but they are cast and cannot help themselves.  He knows that they will need to be rolled over and lifted into a standing position but that won’t necessarily solve the problem.  If they have been cast for any length of time they have lost circulation in their extremities and will be unable to stand at all without someone supporting them.  Often the shepherd would actually straddle the sheep as he pulled it up and would stand there until they got feelings back into their legs and feet.  As they began to walk he would steady them as they took their first faltering steps until they could once again walk with some normalcy.

I have no doubt that this “casting” causes tremendous stress on a sheep and ewes who are carrying lambs can often lose them if the ewe becomes “cast” even if she survives.  Without the attentive care of the shepherd they would surely die.  It is only through the shepherd’s loving care that they can be restored to health and rejoin the flock.  I don’t know about you but the parallel between a cast sheep and a struggling child of God seems clear.   We can fall into such predicaments and troubles that we are in a terrible way and can’t pull ourselves out of it.  We can struggle and fight against it but our efforts only seem to make the situation worse, just like those cast sheep.  When the shepherd rescues and restores one such sheep he’s doing more than addressing a physical situation.  He’s rescuing that sheep from a serious or deadly situation which the sheep knows it can’t get itself out of.  The sheep’s panic and desperation is replaced by the loving attention and the physical restoration of the shepherd.  The scripture actually speaks to the urgency of a sheep who is lost.  Jesus shared the parable in the gospels about the lost sheep.  It’s found in Luke 15:4-6. 

 ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ “.

In this passage Jesus is telling this story to make a point about a lost human soul but the illustration he used was one with which people in his time would have totally understood.  Imagine for just a moment that you were that sheep in the story.  Wouldn’t it be a wonderful feeling to know the shepherd cared for you that much?  That’s the blessing of it for us.  He does.  He knows when we are hurting, lost, discouraged, fatigued and He wants to restore us as our verse today speaks of.  It’s so much deeper than just getting us out of a fix.  He does want to “restore our souls”.  Read through the following verses from the Psalms and see if they don’t give you that sense of restoration.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.”  (Psalms 19:7)

“I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.” (Psalm 31:7)

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” (Psalm 42:5)

“For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.” (Psalm 56:13)

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

Before you come down too hard on yourself because of situations, issues, or decisions which have put you in a bad spot or caused you to falter in your faith or your walk remember these words’ “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way;” (Isaiah 56:3) God knew you were going to have such things happen just as a shepherd knows that his sheep are going to stray and get themselves into trouble.  We’ll be speaking more about this in a later post but for now please understand that God knows you, God loves you and God wants to help you get back on your feet just as the shepherd wants that for his sheep.  He wants to refresh you, build you up, re-energize you for the tasks ahead.  Isaiah 40:31 is a very familiar verse but it speaks to this point very well.  God doesn’t just want to patch you up, He wants to make you fly once again with all the energy and conviction you will need. 

“Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

I hope that you put your hope in Christ in every situation you find yourself.  He wants to help you and if you fall, he wants to help you back up.  But right now he may just want you to stop and rest a while.  There is great value in just stepping back from the daily rush and letting God’s spirit work in you.  Let Him work in your heart and bring that rest to your soul, won’t you?

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”