He Restores My Soul
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3 NKJV)
Remember
Do you remember what it was like when you first realized Christ had died for your sins and He told you so in the Bible. You likely sang, “At the cross, at the cross, when I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away.” Angels rejoiced in heaven, you rejoiced on earth and your friends and family rejoiced if they were also believers.
Then the tempter came along and suggested that maybe you were missing out. You were allowing the Lord to rob you of JOY, the very joy you had been given when first saved. He likely didn’t speak to you openly, but he may have put thoughts in your head and he may have used “good” Christian friends to convince you to try some of the pleasures of the world that you never thought would tempt you again. He may have had friends convince you that the Bible is a good book but that it doesn’t really apply to our day. Your “friends” say that it needs to be reinterpreted to keep relevant to our day and society. And as the tempter worked on you, you said “no,” but then one day in a moment of weakness you said “yes.” Immediately, the one who tempted you, came back (in your head) and said, “And you claim to be a Christian!!!” And your joy was gone.
Your joy was gone but not your salvation or your savior. The same gospel that saved is the same gospel that restores. The same Savior who saves for eternity is the same Savior that restores. That is why King David could say, “He restores my soul.” I don’t know what experience caused Daved to say that, but it likely wasn’t his experience with Bathsheba although the Lord did restore HIs soul at that time as well. I believe Psalm 23, was a victory song that David sang after his battle with Goliath. The valley of the shadow of death was likely the Valley of Elah where he met the Giant. David had already experienced great things. He was a true believer and he knew that God was a restorer, one who forgives and who gives new strength and new joy.
Jonah learned what it was like to need restoration. After fleeing from the Lord, the Lord came to him a second time and told him to go to Nineveh and preach the coming destruction. But in the belly of the great fish he had already said, “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving (Jonah 2:9 NKJV).” His life was brought up from the pit.
Peter learned what it was like to need restoration. He had said that he was ready to die with the Lord in the upper room where they ate the passover and the Last Supper together. But before that night was over, he had denied the Lord three times. The Lord did restore him to fellowship and to service, but he knew what it was like to fail and to need restoration.
Some Restorations are Not because of Sin
We all have had times when the light at the end of the tunnel was the light of the oncoming train. When if anything can go wrong it will go wrong. We can become depressed because of our biological makeup and sometimes because of circumstances. But the Lord knows our needs and He does restore our soul. Joy is just around the corner.
My Suggestion
I would suggest that if you are a believer and have never known the need for restoration, then likely you need it now. Thank God our God is a God of second chances and of renewed joy for those who fail. We can rejoice just like we did when we were first saved.
He restores my soul. Thank the Lord.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of March 14, 2021