Restore My Soul

Psalm 23.

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 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.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

I learned the 23rd Psalm over 60 yrs ago. To me, it’s a great example of why the bible says we should hide His word in our hearts. Many times I have called on my memory of these words to comfort or uplift. 

This week, He literally “made me lie down”. It wasn’t beside still waters, it was in a hospital bed. During that 6 days in the hospital He not only restored my soul, He restored my body. In my research it appears that the Hebrew translation of Valley of the Shadow of Death means the Valley of the Deepest Darkness. I never felt like I was in the Valley of Deepest Darkness. I was very weak for a couple of days but I never felt that darkness, because Jesus is light. I never felt alone or abandoned because I knew He was always with me. I was sick for over a week before going to the ER and being admitted, so it was a long haul for me. I don’t love talking about myself and details like this but I feel the details are what makes us see God’s love and grace. His presence was never in question. Does Jesus love me? Yes He does (the Bible tells me so). Does He love you? Absolutely!! I am not special! There is nothing about me that makes me more lovable (in fact, probably I am way LESS loveable than you!!) There is nothing about me that make the creator of heaven and earth send ME a shepherd. But He did. And that shepherd is available to each of us! The most amazing FREE gift is that God sent His only son to die as a sacrifice for me (& YOU!!). AND if you or I were the ONLY people on the face of the earth, He would have sent that saviour for us. Isn’t that a crazy concept? I would be hard pressed to give up a child of mine for you or for ANYONE else. But He did because hell is a place of eternal fire and separation from God. God is light and in Him there is NO darkness. God could not bare the idea of you or I being separated from him for eternity. What an amazing God. I hope that this summer you will find time to “lie down in green pastures” and let God restore your soul.

Shirlene Peterson