Sacred Rest: Rest for a Restless Mind

The Bold Claim of Lacking Nothing (Psalm 23:1-4)

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” What a way to open up a psalm in the midst of deep personal grief, family betrayal by his own son, and heavy moral failures. Yet, David says, “I shall not be in want.”

How in the world could anyone say anything like this? Don’t we all desire and need things?

Come on, David. We know you longed for your son Absalom, who ran away and turned against you. We surely know that you desired peace for your nation. And of course you wanted forgiveness for your adultery and murder. But yet you say, “I shall not be in want.”

Before we even begin to understand how we can obtain rest for our restless minds, we need to understand what David means in verse 1: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” For this verse sets the tone and foundation for the rest of the chapter. In fact, the rest of the chapter merely supports David’s claim: “I shall not be in want.”

Before you all came in, I had you pick up four diagrams: one of the Trinity, one of David, one of the Sheep, and one of Jesus. If you need one, there are some on the back tables. These diagrams are something you can bring home and pray over as you struggle to find rest for your restless minds.

Before starting, I thought it would be helpful to actually see David write and read his letter out loud to us.

The Map of Our Hearts (The Trinity Diagram)

Let’s now look at our first diagram: The Trinity. Please feel free to write these things down as we go along.

First: We start with the Trinity—The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. We were all created to live in a relationship with God. Because of this, we crave God’s presence.

Second: But sin breaks our relationship with God, causing us to pursue material and physical satisfaction instead:

More money

Recognition

Possessions

Sex

Pleasure

Third: But true rest never comes, because it was never meant to come through worldly or fleshly desires. There’s truth to the observation that “you cannot get enough of what you do not want.” We perpetually chase more because material, physical, and emotional desires alone can’t satisfy what we are truly seeking.

Fourth: Our souls are unsettled until we find rest in God’s divine presence.

Okay, now let us focus a little more on our restless hearts. Our hearts often confuse our wants with our needs:

“I want a better satisfying job.”

“Well, I want a better living situation.”

“I want money so I can pay my bills.”

“I want a better church.”

These are not wants—they are needs, right? These are things we believe we need, so we make them our priority to get them. But what always happens? When we get them, we could wind up losing them again. Or, we may never get them at all. But let’s say we do get them. Well, unfortunately, because our hearts haven't found the right thing, we will continue to just want more and more.

David’s Reality and Our Own (The David Diagram)

Let’s take a closer look at David. David wrote the psalm because of what he was experiencing. Now take out your diagram of David and write these things down on the left side underneath “David’s problems”—or, feel free to write down your own problems:

David was facing the death of his son due to his adultery.

David was experiencing hatred from his own son.

David was constantly facing physical threats from his surrounding enemies.

I can honestly relate with David. When our two oldest children were pulling themselves away from us and away from God due to their poor choices, Angie and I were in a daze. We became an absolute mental wreck. For me, I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I blamed myself, convinced I wasn’t a good enough dad.

To cope with the downward-spiraling thoughts, I started staying up until 2:00 AM every night, mindlessly scrolling on my phone or binge-watching shows just to force my brain to shut off. It helped—a little bit—but only for a brief time, right up until the screen went dark and the silence came rushing back.

Back to David: David absolutely wanted Absalom’s return, peace in his kingdom, and forgiveness—these were legitimate longings. But here’s the distinction between David and us:

When David says “I shall not want,” he means, “I’ve got everything I need. Everything I want. I don’t want anything else.” David could face loss, grief, and longing for specific outcomes while simultaneously declaring “I shall not want” because his ultimate satisfaction rested in the Shepherd’s presence and provision. He knew his Shepherd would never fail him. Even in the darkest of valleys where death was right around the corner, he knew his Shepherd was right there watching and guiding him. He knew that he could never be separated from the true Shepherd.

What It Means to Be a Sheep

How was David able to connect the Lord as his Shepherd? He’s drawing straight from his own years out in the fields. He knows what a shepherd actually does.

Believe it or not, unlike human beings, sheep don’t really “want” anything. If you know anything about sheep, they are notoriously helpless animals. Their behavior isn't driven by conscious strategy; it’s driven by pure, immediate survival instincts.

When a sheep is hungry, it stays entirely restless—it literally cannot sleep without eating, and it panics the moment its basic needs aren't met.

They operate on blind mob mentality, following whatever the sheep in front of them is doing without a clue why.

They are stubborn, prone to wandering off, and completely dependent on someone else to keep them alive.

Think about that for a second. When a wolf approaches, a sheep doesn't form a committee or build a defense strategy—it just panics and runs.

So when David looks at God and says, “I shall not be in want,” it is a stunning statement in the world of shepherding. It means the sheep doesn’t have to worry, strategize, or stress over its own welfare. The earthly shepherd handles it all:

(The Sheep Diagram)

Now take out your diagram of the Sheep and write these things down on the right side underneath “The Earthly Shepherd will...”

Provide green pastures for their nourishment and restoration.

Use his staff to gently pull them back when they wander toward a drop-off.

And notice what David says about that staff later in this psalm: “your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” God’s correction isn’t meant to punish us or scare us away; it’s a protective, reassuring anchor that keeps us safe.

Constantly moving the flock so they don't overgraze.

Ensure they are safe enough to finally lie down and rest.

This is the ultimate goal of shepherding. The shepherd first clears a feeding ground of dangerous creatures and poisonous plants, and then, in the evening, returns to the sheepfold with his oil or ointment for small injuries and his cup filled with water for the weary flock

The sheep's only job? To trust and follow.

And this is what David is telling us. True rest for our hearts doesn't mean I need my desires met—even what we consider to be very important things, like a job or healing from loss and depression. True rest comes when we have zero desperation for our wants.

Now, look back at your Sheep diagram and write these things down on the left side underneath, “The Lord my Shepherd will...”

COMPASSIONATE

The Lord will:

Supply us with His Word, His presence, His grace.

He doesn’t leave us to forage uncertainly; He leads us to what truly nourishes us.

Use His Word, The Holy Spirit, and others to gently redirect us toward what's safe and true when we wonder toward spiritual cliffs:

Such as sin, despair, or false securities.

Constantly lead us to fresh resources and new mercies rather than leaving us depleted in exhausted terrain.

Ensure we are safe enough to finally lie down and rest because the He has already secured our safety by creating conditions for genuine peace and rest.

Now, look at our Diagram of David again and write these things down on the right side underneath “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want”:

Recognize that true contentment doesn’t mean the absence of desires—it means the absence of desperation.

Realize that true joy emerges not from accumulating things, but from having God and then finding fulfillment in everything else through that relationship.

Reorient your ultimate desire toward God Himself. When the Shepherd becomes your primary satisfaction, the other longings find their proper place—important, but not defining. That’s when the restless heart finally finds rest.

Yes, we may desperately want our children to succeed, our finances to stabilize, our relationships to heal—these aren’t wrong desires. But if these become the primary sources of our peace and security, then we’ve substituted the Shepherd for the sheep’s provisions. This only causes the restlessness to deepen because no external circumstance can permanently satisfy an internal spiritual hunger. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Timothy 6:6–8, “Godliness with contentment is great gain… if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

So, do you all want this rest? Do you all want the Lord to be your Shepherd?

The key to all of this is, as Jesus says in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Our top priority is to strive first after God’s kingdom and to know the attitude and character of God.

Friends, believe you are rich with strength, with power, with wisdom, and with courage. And believe that because of Jesus, we also have the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit. I will make a promise to you today—I know it to be true because the Bible tells us so: You will never lack anything when you realize what’s yours.

The Gracious Host (Psalm 23:5–6)

David now invites us to see the Lord our Shepherd as something even more stunning—as our gracious host.

God gives us assurance that our peace is securely held in His hand and given to us. Nothing can take it away from us—not even life’s threats when they are standing right in front of us. The focus is on the table that God is preparing before David right in the midst of his struggles. Not after the battle is won—right in the middle of it.

Even when our minds are racing out of control and life seems to be falling apart, trying to bring us down with it, they can’t—because our Father is nourishing us, honoring us, and sustaining us.

Why can we trust this? Because verse 6 gives us the ultimate anchor:

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

As our Shepherd, He never intended for us to live with restless hearts.

He wants us to have everlasting peace, everlasting security, and everlasting life. This is why the Lord our Shepherd came to us.

He came as a man, as Jesus, who became our Shepherd right here on earth.

(Jesus’ Diagram)

Now, take our your diagram of Jesus. And write down these verses so you can reference them later.

Jesus says in John 10:14:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

But Jesus was more than just an earthly teacher. As our Shepherd, He didn’t just physically use a staff to pull us back when we wandered toward a spiritual cliff. He went much further. As He says in John 10:11:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Isaiah 53:6 reminds us that we are all “like sheep.” We all “have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” And because of this wandering, “the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

How did He keep us from permanently falling off those spiritual cliffs?

Instead of using a staff on us, the Lord laid the whip and the cross on Jesus. Through His death, our Shepherd Jesus rescued us. Through His punishment, He has led us to everlasting peace.

As Isaiah 53:5 declares: “The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Paul echoes this exact truth in Romans 8:32, writing: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” That ties the Shepherd’s physical provision directly to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on our behalf.

And don’t forget His resurrection—for it is the ultimate climax and the final goal of His shepherding. Jesus says in John 11:25–26:

“...I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” And today, He asks every one of us: “Do you believe this?”

After struggling for months with my two oldest sons, I was very close to jumping off a bridge in downtown Chicago as I headed to the train for work. I thought to myself, “Death would be far better than experiencing this pain.”

As soon as I sat down on my train seat, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit urging me to read 1st and 2nd Samuel, and Job. As I traveled back and forth to work for a total of three hours each day, I didn't just read; I reflected and took extensive notes.

One of my struggles is captured directly in Job 7:13–16:

“When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’ then you scare me with dreams and terrify me with visions... I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.”

I wrote in my journal:

“Pain is sometimes so much that you can't wait to go to bed and sleep just to find some temporary peace. But when you're under so much emotional distress, your dreams come to haunt you even more. Last Saturday, Nov 3, was one of the hardest days yet. We had family therapy and it was very rough. Tears were all over the place... Since this whole nightmare began, I have had several dreams of my oldest son. Two of them were: he had come back to Chicago without our knowledge. And the second one, I was talking to him peacefully at some table... but as of today... I still haven't talked or met with him yet. As Job said in vs 16, ‘I loathe my life; I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.’ God, when will all this end?”

That was the end of that part of my notes. But what I didn’t know at the time was that God had literally prepared a table before me. The two dreams had come true! Our son had indeed returned home without our knowledge. And, not long after that, we met him at a restaurant, sat down, and shared a peaceful conversation across a table at The Olive Garden. I literally saw my dreams play out right before my very eyes!

Because of moments like that, I too can say like David: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Living It Out: The Simple Word of Faith

I want to leave you today with a practical application that will guide you toward true rest for your restless heart. How do we find it? It’s simple, and it entails just five words: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” And these five words can be broken down into one word: “Faith”.

How is that practical? Faith begins with surrender, not just intellectual belief. True faith is an all-encompassing trust in the Lord that leaves us feeling in want of nothing. As Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Faith isn't passive; it’s active, daily submission. Mature faith accepts the will of the Lord as the perfect expression of His love.

I realize this sounds radical to modern ears, because we are conditioned to pursue, achieve, and demand. But faith asks: Can I be content with what God provides, even if it differs from what I want?

Psalm 23 concludes by pointing to the ultimate rewards of faith—victory in adversity, the fullness of blessing, the riches of God's mercy, and the surety of our everlasting home. Friends, this is the very essence of the Lord our Shepherd! The Lord’s sheep, us, will never be in want or lack anything! And this promise extends not just to these earthly provisions, but to the eternal dwelling as referenced in verse 6.

But, but...These realities are only unlocked when we learn that faith is more than an abstract doctrine; it is a meek acceptance of God’s will, received with confident and enthusiastic satisfaction.

As we leave today, hold onto this: Rest is not found by solving all our problems, but by trusting the One who already knows the way. As Jesus tells us in John 14:6:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”