Psalm 23:1-3a… The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. ²He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He restores my soul;

David wants you to know in Psalm 23 that God has more than enough! David says I want you to understand something about God… He’s our Shepherd.

Let me tell you why sheep need shepherds:

Sheep need shepherds because they are not the brightest of all animals. They don’t even know how to walk in the right direction many times. David understood this because he was a shepherd, but when it came to his own life he was a sheep. He understood his total dependency on God and he understood it for a lot of different reasons. And as God being our Shepherd, He can meet all of our needs. The first need that God will meet as your Shepherd is your Spiritual Need.

Read VV. 2-3a…² He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  ³ He restores my soul;

There are those people reading this today who need their soul restored…the issues of life have drained you. Whatever it is you’re drained, maybe even too drained to pray. You’re dealing with a soul that needs restoring. You’ve grown spiritually weary and no matter how hard you look you can’t seem to find God. When dryness of soul has set in…David said when that happens look for God to make you lie down. After you’ve done everything to fix the problem of your dryness and nothing works…He makes you lie down.

He creates a situation to make you lie down in green pastures, and then He’ll take you for a walk by still water. God will allow you to get to a place where your self-sufficiency isn’t working in order to make you rest on His sufficiency. He wants you to get to that place where you know deeply in your heart that His sufficiency never has insufficient funds. He wants us to KNOW His Sufficiency! He wants to make us LIE DOWN in Him because He’s the green pastures and the still water…He’s the place of spiritual renewal.

What’s the result of lying down on green grass, and walking beside quiet, refreshing waters? Total dependency on Him and no dependency on myself because all my efforts have fallen short.

He concludes with the summary of his point with the first line in V.3… He restores my soul. To restore means “to repair, renovate, or return to a former condition.” He does it in my soul…that’s where I live…my soul is the real me. So, instead of living under discouragement He restores me to a place of living under encouragement. Instead of living under defeat He restores me to a place of living under victory. Instead of living under loss He restores me to a place of living under gain.Notice it’s not some general or some physical restoration that is being talked about. He restores MY SOUL!

It’s when you are in His rest that you’re being renewed, not when you’re panicking, not when you’re trying to feverishly work it out, not when you’re stressing about it. That’s what God wants to do with all of us… spiritual rejuvenation.

Today you might be weary in your faith. You might be worn out and you’re discouraged. Maybe you’re feeling a spiritual dryness. You need to succumb to God’s making you lie down…to His leading you beside STILL waters of refreshment…. resting in Him…letting Him restore back to you your spiritual vitality. He’s your Shepherd and He will meet your spiritual needs!

God bless you all! Have a soul restored week.