Psalm 23:1-6 – “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads 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 You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs 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 Forever.”  NKJV

This Psalm has long be one that the Lord frequently takes me to for ‘refreshing’ and ‘correction’ .  In this Psalm we are brought face to face with the truth that my personality, outside of Christ resists fervently.  We are SHEEP!  A sheep is noticeably a dumb, docile and dependent creature and outside of Christ that is the highest level we reach.  No matter how much we protest and argue differently that is about it.  This Psalm also reminds us that He is our ‘provider’ and ‘provision.’  He gives us ‘rest’ and ‘restoration.’  He leads us through the Valley of the Shadow Death and is our TOTAL SUPPLY.  We are reminded that ‘without Him’ we can do NOTHING!  In Him we live, move and have our being for truly we are dependent creatures!

But there is another aspect of this Psalm that I have found incredibly refreshing.  He ‘restores’ my soul.  That is both wonderful and difficult.  It is wonderful that he does restore my soul and difficult that my soul needs refreshing.  Everything in God begins in REST and if we are to truly and fully enjoy the provisions of the LORD in our Christian walk we must come to know that we are SHEEP.  We must come to the place that we truly and fully realize that we are ‘dependent’ upon the shepherd.  We have to grow to the place that we develop a mentality and lifestyle that ‘looks through circumstances’ rather than ‘looking at them.’  We do that by BEHOLDING HIM! The I AM is our source, strength, enabler, provider and life.  As He IS we ARE (1 John 4:17) The life we NOW LIVE in this flesh we live by the faith of the Son of God.  (Galatians 2:20)

We live in a world that is a complete mess and God is not one bit worried.  We worry and fret but He is not standing looking over the banister of heaven’s balcony with white knuckles gripping the rail in anxiety.  So as we gaze upon God and receive Him for who He is in our lives we enter into that peace that is beyond human comprehension and rest.  The Peace that passes human understanding keeps our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ.  (Philippians 4:7)  As a sheep we enter into that peace by beholding Him who is peace.  Our minds are ‘fixed’ upon Him not the circumstances or the Devil’s activities.  We do not focus on circumstances, people, situations, or potential problems we focus on HIM, the Shepherd.  (Isaiah 26:3)  That is the beginning point of our walk in Christ.  We must begin in REST! 

The question then becomes, “How do we move from REST into ACTIVITY?”  Clearly you cannot rest forever and eventually you do have to act.  He ‘restores’ our souls.  You must catch the picture that something happened.  We were in the lush green pastures drinking from the quiet still stream being refreshed but now something has caused the soul to need refreshing and restoring.  If you study the life of a shepherd you will realize that at noon the dew has burned off the meadow and if the sheep are left exposed to the heat of the sun they will die.  The shepherd has to move them from pasture to pasture and when the heat of the sun comes he has to have them in a position to be ‘restored.’

If we learn to ‘rest’ and ‘fix’ our eyes upon Him we will move from pasture to pasture, problem to problem, answer to answer and find RESTORATION as it is required.  The LORD is our shepherd and in the difficult times He IS.

            May the Lord be with you as you go through your day!