HE RESTORES MY SOUL

 Psalm 23:1-3  A psalm of David. 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.

 I love Psalm 23.  This psalm reminds me that the Lord is my shepherd, and that I should not be in a state of want.  In other words, because He is the One leading and guiding me, going before me and walking behind me, I want nothing, I need nothing.  This psalm assures us that our Shepherd will always be there to take care of us.

Part of this assurance is that the Lord, as our Shepherd, will lead us to green pastures and quiet waters.  We usually relate “green pastures” to provisions in our life, just as the pastures were where the sheep ate and had their fill.  The “quiet waters” where our Shepherd leads us is also where our thirst is quenched.  So, in other words, just as the physical needs of the sheep are met, so are ours.  That is how faithful our Shepherd is.

And then verse 3 says “He restores my soul”.

So, not only does the Lord take care of our green pastures and quiet waters, He also makes sure that our souls are restored.

But I would like to share with you another view of verses 2 to 3.

A number of versions (ESV and NASB) have a period after each statement:

          He makes me lie down in green pastures.

          He leads me beside quiet waters.

          He restores my soul.

So, each statement is a separate declaration of the faithfulness of our Shepherd.

The NIV 1984 version prints it this way:

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.

 It’s one statement, with a comma separating each statement.  In other words they’re connected.  The green pastures and quiet waters are meant to restore our soul.

What this means to me is this – when our Shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads us to quiet waters, it’s for the satisfaction of our soul, and not the physical satisfaction of our life.

 So, if we follow this structure of the sentence, the green pastures and quiet waters, where our Shepherd leads us, are not necessarily the physical and material needs that our bodies are looking for.  As I mentioned a while back, we usually think of green pastures and quiet waters as that which will feed us, provide for us.

But the green pastures and quiet waters where the Lord leads us are meant to restore our souls.

Physical and material needs do not restore our souls – they restore our physical bodies.

Only spiritual things satisfy our soul.

And so, if only spiritual things can satisfy our soul, then the green pastures and quiet waters where our Shepherd leads us to are not the earthly, material things that we look for. 

There are green pastures and quiet waters that satisfy our soul.  And they have nothing to do with physical or material things.

Take a look at what these passages of Scripture tell us:

Psalms 16:11 NIV  You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

 Psalms 4:7 NIV  You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.

 Psalms 19:7-8 NIV  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  (8)  The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

 Ephesians 1:3 NIV  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

 These are green pastures and quiet waters where the Lord leads us to – a source of joy, giving a light to our eyes that this world cannot give, a blessed life that this found in Christ.

 What an important aspect of God’s work as a Shepherd we need to take to heart.  We usually seek a restoration from the Lord  through His leading us to earthly or worldly pastures and waters, physical and material needs.  We wait for the Lord’s working in our life, His blessings, His answer to prayers, meeting our desires, for us to be restored.  But these things satisfy us physically, and temporarily.  Physical and material things do not restore our soul.  Only spiritual things restore our soul.

I’m not saying that our Shepherd will not take care of our physical and material needs – because He does!  But these are not  the “green pastures and quiet waters” that the Lord leads us to for our soul to be restored.

 Is this where we are following our Shepherd to – the green pastures and quiet waters that satisfy our soul?  Or are we still waiting for Him to lead us to the pastures and waters that will just satisfy us physically, and that will eventually wear out?

It is our soul that needs restoration.  Follow your Shepherd there.

 

FEELING FORSAKEN

Psalms 22:1-5 (NIV)

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

²O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

³Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

⁴In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

⁵They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

This psalm is one of the reasons why the book of Psalms should be a regular “diet” of Christian believers. The psalms were songs, just like our songs today.  They basically were expressions of what the psalmists were experiencing, both personally and as the nation Israel.

Psalm 22 is one of those truthful expressions of the heart.  I say truthful because it expresses what every heart feels in certain circumstances, but we are ashamed to admit - feeling alone, forsaken by the Lord.  We think that it makes us less of a Christian to have this kind of feeling.  Many times, when asked how we are doing, we fake our feelings of trust and faith, when in actuality we feel forsaken.  It’s almost as if we are saying that Christians are not human.

But the issue is not the humanity of a Christian, but the reality of our God.  A Christian is as human as every person in the world, and we face the same challenges and circumstances as every one in the world.  The only difference a Christian brings to this battle is God.  And not just a belief in God, but the reality of God - the reality of who He is.  This is not about theory, or in a knowledge of doctrine...it’s about the reality of God in our heart, what we know about God.  It is theology, but it is a theology of the heart, and not of a classroom or a book.  It is theology that comes from God in His Word, and one that we experience in our life.

Look how the psalm begins:

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

²O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

We don’t know exactly what David was going through, but it was bad enough to make him feel as if the Lord had forgotten all about him.  He felt that the Lord didn’t hear him, and that his salvation was far from coming to him. 

I don’t know how many of us have felt exactly this way, but it will be good to know that this was what Jesus uttered when He was nailed to the cross dying for our sins (Matthew 27:46).  Our Lord Himself experienced it.

But notice how quickly David’s thoughts shift from his circumstance to his God.

³Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

⁴In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

⁵They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

He remembered who his God was, and how faithful He was to his ancestors.  Despite his circumstances, God was still the Holy One, the praise of Israel.  He does not change.  And in the past He has been faithful to hear the cry of his forefathers who trusted Him and were not disappointed.

This knowledge doesn’t come by chance, or “last minute”.  This was a belief that David carried in his heart, something He knew deep inside.  This was how he was able to go against the thoughts he had about his situation.

But then, again, he goes back to his emotion:

Psalms 22:6-8 (NIV)

⁶But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

⁷All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

⁸“He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

From his circumstance he focuses on himself. He feels like a worm, useless.  He is mocked, despised, and insulted.  Even his trust in the Lord is questioned.  Actually, it’s the Lord who is questioned, not David.

But, again, his thoughts quickly return to who his God is.

Psalms 22:9-11 (NIV)

⁹Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.

¹⁰From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.

This wasn’t something that David remembered from experience, because I don’t think he had memory of when he was an infant.  This was something that he knew about his God.  From the moment he was born, God was taking care of him.  He was cast upon God from birth, and even while an infant God showed His faithfulness by providing for him through the milk from his mother.

This wasn’t just a theory.  It was something that David knew in his heart.  And he dug deep into his heart, taking the treasures of his faith, and held on to it.

And so he cries out:  ¹¹Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

None of us are exempted from circumstances that bring deep depression, feelings of being alone, forgotten even by God.  But the thoughts of our heart, the knowledge we have about God, will counter those feelings, and bring us back to a heart that trusts and depends on our living and faithful God.

But we need to understand that these truths, these understandings of God, don’t just come all of a sudden, or in the last minute.  It comes from a lifetime of growing and learning about our God through His Word, through which He has revealed who He is, and experiencing God, actually seeing Him work in every aspect and area of our life.

There is much talk today about Christians being depressed because of the pandemic, and the quarantine restrictions of having to stay home.  The mixture of fear of catching the virus, anxiety because of financial woes, the change of routine, having to stay home most of the time - has made many feel down and depressed.  I will not be surprised if some have had the same thought struggles as David - feeling forsaken by God, wondering when He will bring an end to this.  

This is what I call a “heart check”.  For in circumstances like this our knowledge of who our God is, partnered with our seeing Him work in our life, is being tested.  It is that knowledge and understanding in our heart that will pull us through.  Yes feelings of depression or being forsaken will haunt our thoughts.  But our heart’s knowledge and understanding of who our God is, as revealed by God in His Word, will keep us anchored on Him.

And this is something that just doesn’t come overnight.  This is where I believe many Christians are being tested today.  Before the pandemic it is possible that some of us did not take our knowledge of God through Scripture seriously.  We did not spend much time enjoying Him, His presence, His Word, and actually experiencing the grace that opens our eyes to see Him in all circumstances.  If there is one thing that we need to commit ourselves to, no matter what the circumstances are, is to grow in Him, in His Word, in our understanding of who our God is as He has revealed Himself in Scripture.

Many base their understanding of God according to circumstances.  If what we’re experiencing is good, then God is good.  But when things go bad, we question where our God is. It’s about time that we go back to Scripture and know who our God is as He has revealed Himself to be.  Our belief should not be based on anything less than God’s Word.

Circumstances do not change who our God is.  He is unchangeable.  But the question is - do we know Him enough to keep our hearts anchored on Him?

2 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Psalms 34:8 (NIV)

⁸Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

THE SIN OF PRIDE

Proverbs 21:4 (NIV)

[4] Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!

Someone who is haughty is arrogant and full of pride. When you're haughty, you have a big attitude and act like you're better than other people.  A haughty person acts superior and looks down on others.  (Taken from vocabulary.com)

Pride is the lamp of the wicked. It’s the light that shines on the world when they look at life and at others. It’s the very foundation of their heart, what fuels their motives and desires.

Pride resides in all of our hearts.  It’s the very essence of “self”.  We are all told to love ourselves.  It is true that there are some who are more haughty than others, who show it and express it.  But all of us have pride.  And for many of us we try to hide it in our eyes, but it resides in our heart.

A haughty person is someone who shows it, who reveals it, through his words, his life, his attitude.  But pride can be secret.  There are many of us who secretly look down at others.  In fact, we look down at people who look down at us.  All of us are proud.  For some it is more evident in their haughtiness.

What this proverb reveals is that it is SIN.  Pride is sin against God.  Why?  Because it exalts self above God.  We take this for granted, don’t we?  How natural it is for us to be full of self, to defend our self, to love our self, that we don’t see it as SIN.  But it is.  

There are so many who will not admit they are “sinners” because they are “good”. They will tell you that they haven’t killed anyone, murdered anyone, stolen from anyone.  But none of us can escape this sin of pride.  

There are a number of ways to describe how Adam sinned against God.  One of them is pride.  They thought of themselves.  He did what they felt was good for himself, what they believed was beneficial for him, above what God had commanded him.  And so he disobeyed.

That’s how pride became sin.  This is how pride is sin in our hearts.  We are sinners basically because we have put our self above God.  This is why we need a Savior.  Because sin cannot exist with God, here on earth or in eternity.

Proverbs 16:5 (NIV)

[5] The LORD detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

The wages of sin is death.  Our living for ourselves, and not for God, is sin, and its penalty is death.  Jesus’ death on the cross paid that price for us.  He died instead of us.  But this is not automatically applied to all.  You have to believe.  You have to believe that He came exactly for that reason - to die in stead of you, that your sin may be paid for, atoned for.

And when you believe, His life is given to you, His righteousness.  We are now enabled to live the life He wants us to live.  We are given a righteousness that comes from God, and a righteousness that lives for God, and glorifies Him.  This is the life that destroys pride.

This is why a major dealing in the heart of Christians is with our pride.  Because it is not our self that is to be exalted, but God.  This is what true humility is.  Humility is simply turning away from our self and turning to God - for everything.  And just like pride is in our eyes and in our heart - we are to be humble with our eyes, how we see life and others;  and we are to be humble in heart, a heart where God is continually humbling us, turning our hearts to Him and away from self.  Humility becomes the lamp of the righteous in Christ.

Have we come to Christ as our Savior, trusting in Him to save us from our sins, from our self?

As believers of Christ, are we submitting to the working of God in our hearts to live for Him, His ways, and not according to self?  Is Humility the lamp of our life?  Do we have humble eyes?  Is God working humility in our hearts?

Or is pride still the lamp that shines in us? 

GOD FULFILLING HIS PURPOSE IN OUR LIFE

Psalms 138:8 (ESV) [8] The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

 It is important to note - “the Lord will fulfill HIS PURPOSE for me”. It is His purpose in our life that matters, not our purposes. This is what the Lord asked us to pray - “your kingdom come, your will be done”.

 The challenge of a Christian is now is to seek, and submit to, that purpose of the Lord for us.  This is why we pray.  This is why we meditate and ponder on God’s Word daily.  This is why we continually worship and submit to a God who is higher than us, higher than anyone or anything in this world.

 When God created man, He placed him in His garden, in His world.  Man was a steward in the world that God had created.  Man was created for God and His purposes.

Of course we all know that man rebelled, and chose to disobey God.

 Look how man was tempted:

Genesis 3:5-6 NIV  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.  (6)  When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

 The serpent told Eve:

·         You will be like God, knowing good and evil.  Good and evil was meant for a holy God, not for a created being.  Their trust was supposed to be in their Creator.

·        They saw the fruit of the tree was GOOD and PLEASING, and DESIRABLE FOR GAINING WISDOM.  Instead of focusing on God, they focused on their “self”.

 Isn’t that how we live today?

We see and desire what we think is good, pleasing for us and desirable for gaining wisdom on our own.  God and His will, His sovereignty over our lives as Creator, is nowhere to be found.  We live for ourselves.

The same deception used to tempt Adam and Eve is working in the heart of man, in each of our hearts.

We, Christians, aren’t exempted.  That’s why there is still a part of our heart that believes that God exists to meet our desires, our purposes, our plans.

 From the time of Adam man has been rebelling against God and His will.  The good news is from the time of Adam God has been redeeming man from this sinful rebellious heart, bringing man back to Himself.  And all those who responded to this gracious work of God of redemption was brought back to a right relationship with Him.  Today that redemption is found as we put our faith in Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sinfulness and rebellion, and through His death set us free and reconciled us back to Him.

 But what about Romans 8?  Doesn’t this tell us that God is for us?

Romans 8:31 NIV  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

 What did the apostle Paul mean when he said “if God is for us”?  Immediately we think that God is on our side, and anything that we plan or desire God will meet.

But is it really that Paul was saying?

Romans 8:28-30 NIV  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  (29)  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  (30)  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

 The ESV sounds better -  Rom 8:28  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 Imagine – all things work together for good!  It sounds like God is saying that He will work all things for our good.  And, yes, that is what He is saying, but in what context?

God works all things for whose good?

·         First, to THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.  Not to those who love themselves, or their own lives.  It’s for those who love God.

·         Second, for those WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.  

 God saves us from our rebellion, through Jesus Christ, bringing us back so He can work His purposes in our life.

 What is God’s purpose for those He has saved?

Romans 8:29-31 ESV-r  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.  (30)  And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.  (31)  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

 We are being conformed to the image of His Son.  That’s His purpose.  This is what classifies as "good" for those who love Him and for those called according to His purpose.

And if this means it happens through blessing, through trials, through suffering, through riches or poverty, through health or sickness, what is important is we understand that God is working in our life for His purposes.

 And this becomes what we live for - God's will, God's purposes, God's working, knowing that He loves us, and that we have been saved from our rebellion and brought back to the life He desires for us to live.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NIV  (14)  For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  (15)  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.