He Restores My Soul

Today is Mother’s Day! This day comes about annually and has been set aside for one purpose: Thanking and honoring our mothers.

Did you know… that Mother’s Day began by honoring one mom?

Anna Reeves Jarvis is most often credited with founding Mother’s Day. Her mom passed away on May 9th, 1905 and she set out to create a day that would honor her mother and other moms as a group. Three years later, President Woodrow Wilson signed a bill making the idea a national holiday to be celebrated each second Sunday in May.

And we have been saying thank you ever since!

But how many understand that the second Sunday of May is NOT the only day we need to be honoring and saying thank you to our moms?

Mom… YOU DO A LOT! And I am not going to even try to sum up what a day might look like in the life of a mother.

In our family… I can see what is going on on the outside.

Kristy runs a marathon just about every day in making sure our kids have what they need. We all work together… but she makes it ALL come together. She knows the schedules, she formulates the plan, she knows what we have in the cabinets and fridge, she knows what has been washed, and what hasn’t, she can find things in the home better than anyone else, she knows how to build the kids up… and talk them down from their frustration. She is the engine that keeps our home in motion.

These things I can observe and watch and participate in… but I also know there is a lot going on within her heart.

These things… I cannot see… except in the way she cares for and manages the home. What she does… is a reflection of who she is: She is mom.

Now, I cannot speak of what that words means from personal experience, I have never been a mother! but this I do know: the word mom does more than simply identify a woman who has had a child.

Websters definition of mom… seems a bit cold to me. It simply says “a female parent.” And while the definition is not wrong per se… I think it is missing the mark by a long shot! This definition misses the heart of what it means to be… mom!

Mom is the confidant that a child can trust.

Mom is the doctor that can make any injury feel better.

Mom is the safe haven during a midnight storm.

Mom is the fashion coordinator on early school mornings.

Mom is the comforter when sickness hits.

Mom is the hug that can calm a troubled heart.

And the amazing thing is… these are all true no matter what the age of her children are! Moms help us keep it all together!

And this morning, I want to give a simple message in honor of our moms… that we all need to consider. Moms… as you work to keep things moving… as you help us keep it all together… who are you leaning on… to help YOU… keep it all together?

Let’s all of us consider this for ourselves for a moment. The busier and crazier life becomes, the more necessary it is for us to be… restored. The title of my message today comes from our main text today found in Psalm 23:3 - He restores my soul.

All of us in this room will need to be… restored. We all have high demands we try to meet every single day. The more productive we are, the more demands we meet, the more important our restoration becomes.

This word, restored, means to bring back to or put back into a former or original state

Another word we might use is renewed. All of us… at some point… will need to be renewed as we continue to meet the demands we encounter in life.

Now, I’m sure this next statement will give us all quite a shock but… what we do day in and day out… takes a toll on our entire being.

Our physical bodies will tell us when it is running low… and we all know what that feels like. Our bodies will eventually need… rest. In a sense… our body will need a chance to recover and heal from the demands we place upon it.

We rest, we take in nourishment, we answer the physical need that is before us.

This is all well and good for what is on the outside… but what about the need… on the inside? Psalm 23:3 speaks of restoration not of the body… but of the soul.

Psalm 23:3 ESV

3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

We know what physical exhaustion feels like… and we also know what it feels like when our soul.... when our innermost being… is running out of fuel.

But keep in mind… a renewing of energy is NOT the only form of restoration a person might need.

I’m a car guy… and I wish that “restoring” a car simply meant filling up the tank and topping off the oil! There’s A LOT more to it than that and… A LOT MORE EXPENSE.

Let’s talk expense for a moment - auto restoration will require the investment of financial resources and… time. The car will not rebuild itself.

Let’s talk about the process for a moment - fuel and oil might make the engine run, the it will not correct any other issues the car might have.

Psalm 23:3 makes clear that God not only wants to refuel you… He wants to restore you.

Restoration means… going deep. Restoration means dealing with the wounds, if you will, that we encounter in our routine.

For a car, it might get a dent, rust might begin to form. Paint might fade, tires might be cracked, electrical might have a short, seats might be torn. A COMPLETE restoration will require for the rebuilder to pay attention to ALL these things.

For our souls, our feelings might get hurt, our mind might be overrun, our heart might ache, we might begin to build walls for bitterness, become irritated in our weariness. We might lose hope in the busyness or forget purpose in the routine. The more and more we give… the more our souls need restored.

I wish that I could stand here and tell you that as believers, we will walk through this world unscathed… but that would not be the truth.

It wasn’t the truth for the disciples, it wasn’t the truth for David, the author of the Psalm we are studying today.

We are going to get wounded. We are going to to take hits. We are going to find ourselves on the last edge of our hope. We might feel like our purpose is fading. The world has a way of wearing us down… BUT GOD DESIRES TO RESTORE YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT!

When working on a vehicle, the restoration process begins on the outside and moves inward.

This might be the same as when we go to do something like… clean the house (my wife suggested this illustration so I’m going with it!)

With the house, the mess is visible, the piles begin to grow, the table surfaces get covered, the windows get smudged and the floors need swept. Cleaning begins by starting at the top of the piles and working our way down.

With a car, fenders come off, bumpers are removed, seats are taken out, paint is sanded, etc. We work from the outside in.

But the restoration of our souls is different. It doesn’t start with what is on the outside, the restorer of our soul begins with what is on the inside. For if our heart, mind, and soul are restored, it will impact everything on the outside as well.

This morning, I want us to see three quick truths from the first four words of Psalm 23:3. And while this may seem a bit elementary this morning I want you to consider this:

More and more people are trying to operate from a position of needing restored instead of living from the abundance of being restored. These points may seem simple, yet we choose to overlook the importance of what God is offering. So we dive in with point number one:

The SOURCE of our Restoration

Alright, here we go with reminder number one. This reminder gets us focused on the SOURCE of our restoration… who is it that restores our souls? GOD is the source! God is the restorer of our soul!

Seems simple enough, right? In fact, I might call this one a no-brainer! Here’s the problem… we might know this answer… but do we live by this answer?

Restorative work is an intentional… detail oriented work. In other words, it is not something that happens on accident nor is there such thing as a “quick fix” restoration.

Has anyone ever taken a Five Hour Energy drink or a no doze supplement?

These products are designed to help with alertness. For me, I tried one when trying to finish a long road trip. I came into the trip tired and I was struggling to stay awake. I chose the “quick fix.”

I drank the whole thing in one shot. For about 20 minutes I was so jittery I could hardly sit still… then came… the crash. Not a car crash but an energy crash! I was in a worse place than before and I was forced to stop and rest… to do the very thing I should have done in the first place!

Too often we reach for the quick fix which really… isn’t a fix at all. It’s the wrong resource… it is not able to do what our souls truly need! God is the source of our restoration!

The Psalmist knew this to be true… and he even gave us some insight into HOW God brings restoration to our souls.

Psalm 23 describes God as our Shepherd who takes care of all our needs. With God as our Shepherd, we will not find ourselves in a position of want or state of lacking what we need. This chapter tells us how God - our source - delivers to us the restoration we need.

Psalm 23:2–3 ESV

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

First, He MAKES me lie down in green pastures… a place of nourishment, a place of peace, a place protected from predators.

Since the beginning of time… God has been sending His creation a very clear and important message - YOU MUST TAKE TIME TO REST!

We see this in the creation account - God created the world in 6 days and on day 7 He did what? He rested! He set forth a pattern that we need to follow in our own lives.

God later commands us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Again… an emphasis in the form of a command… to rest.

God will not force you to stop and to be renewed… but He has commanded it and set forth a pattern in Scripture. When we make the choice to obey that command, we set ourselves up for a restorative work in our lives.

Second, He leads us beside still waters. Water… is often referred to as the element that brings life. We simply cannot survive without it.

It is significant to note the stillness of the water mentioned in Scripture. It is NOT a turbulent or violent source that God leads us to… it is a peaceful and still source that has ben provided.

With such truth, I can only think of Christ - who took on our turbulent and violent reality of sin and offers us eternal life. In Christ, we do not work for our salvation to earn it, we receive it for the gift that it is.

Through Christ Jesus, God fills us with new life! Maybe you are here today and inwardly you feel more like a barren, lifeless desert. Hear the leading of the Father, come back to the living water who is Jesus… that He might become in you a spring of living water welling up to eternal life! (John 4:14)

Third, He leads us in the paths of righteousness. Why is this significant regarding the restoration of our souls? EVERYTHING!

Nothing will wear you down faster than entertaining unrighteousness in your life! Sin brings nothing but death and destruction. Sin is EXACTLY what God is trying to lead you away from.

Sin has ZERO restorative abilities. ZERO. The only guaranteed result that comes with sin is death. In fact, sin is often the reason why we need to be restored.

Yes, we encounter hardship from situations beyond our control. But we also might find ourselves dabbling in things that rob us of life.

God wants to lead you back to the path that leads to Him. That IS the path of righteousness. That IS the person of Jesus.

God IS the source of our restoration! And the best part is… HE IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE!

You don’t have to make an appointment, you don’t have to schedule a time… GOD IS ALWAYS THERE!

When it comes to the renewal we need there is no other source that compares to God. Look to Him, be led by Him… and be restored by Him.

Secondly...

God, the Source, RESTORES.

Again, this is a simple point, but something we need to remember. Psalm 23:3 makes something very clear. God has not only RESTORED my soul… He RESTORES my soul - present tense, active ministry. He RESTORES me.

When it comes to a restorative work… is the job ever… complete? Does the work ever come to an end?

Going back to the illustration of a car or cleaning a home, we might finish one work, but the moment life happens again, chances are we will have to go back and touch things up.

Now I want to be very clear in something - when it comes to our salvation, that work IS complete. The blood of Jesus IS enough to cover all your sins. AND… when it comes to the work of God in our lives, Philippians 1:6 tells us...

Philippians 1:6 NIV

6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

My point is… God doesn’t leave things undone!

But every time we take on the day… every time we walk in this world… every time we encounter what life may throw at us… chances are, we will need some restorative… touch ups!

Thankfully, God’s ministry of restoration for His creation is not something of the past! He RESTORES us as restoration is needed.

The key is letting God take care of the touch ups before they pile up. The key is calling on God daily… and allowing His Spirit to come in to take care of what is needed.

Allowing things to pile up is a dangerous practice. The longer we let it go… the longer it takes to deal with.

Take it from someone who had to take 9 months off from ministry because things had piled up. My faith in God wasn’t in trouble, but I was burning out of ministry. It took me a while to get back on my feet because I had neglected to seek God and His restorative power. I went too long… and it was almost catastrophic.

Moms… maybe you’ve been carrying a weight for too long. Maybe you’ve been harboring a worry or a hurt for too long. Maybe you have taken care of everyone else and not made time to be restored.

Congregation… maybe you find yourself in a similar position. Maybe you find yourself in lack because you haven’t followed the Shepherd. Maybe the idea of being or feeling restored is foreign to you for the amount of time you have spent just trying to make it.

Hear me clearly today: THIS IS NOT AN MATTER OF INSIGNIFICANCE! YOUR SOUL IS AT STAKE!

Closing Point: Your SOUL Matters.

In the beginning few verses of Psalm 23, the author does not place emphasis on his physical body or his mental or emotional state… the emphasis is placed on his soul.

Your soul… is who you are. It is your innermost being. It is the very thing that spiritual forces are battling over right this minute.

There exists a very real enemy who wants nothing but death and destruction for your soul. But there also exists a very real God who gave His Son, Jesus, that through Him your soul might find salvation.

The more tired and weary your soul becomes, the more susceptible you become to the attacks of the enemy. The more “hits’ you take between being restored, the more likely you are to fall. BUT… if you are willing to follow the Good Shepherd… He will restore you and renew you. His goodness and mercy will be evident in every part of you!

Our souls are often the last thing we think about when it comes to being renewed.

Our bodies give us signs and warnings when it needs to rest. Our minds and emotions give us signs and warnings when they are tapped out. And we can take steps to renew our thoughts and revive or bodies. But what of our souls? What of our innermost being?

God wants to RESTORE you today… from the inside out. He wants to start not with your body, not with your mind… but with your soul!

God… wants your heart. And God wants to restore your heart as only He can. God want to give you what you need. He wants to pour in new life. And the great thing is… the expense… the cost… has been paid in full.

However… this will still cost you. You must be willing to give Him… everything. You must be willing to place your FULL faith in Him.

He will lead, but you must follow. He will guide but you must listen. He will pour in but you must receive.

Are you ready to be restored today?

Maybe you can feel it. Maybe you have felt it creeping up. Your soul is tired, your heart is heavy. Your mind is overwhelmed. Will you call on the name of the One who restores?

Maybe you’ve never had the opportunity to have a relationship with Christ. Maybe you haven’t called on His name. PRAYER - Salvation

Maybe you have settle for the quick fix… only to find yourself still in need for restoration. God wants to renew you… but you must be willing to let Him in. Will you lie down in His green pastures? Will you be led to the still waters? Will you be led down the paths of righteousness? Will you allow Him… to restore you today?