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Shepherd Me
“Restore My Soul”
July 21, 2019
Introduction
We are in the middle of a sermon series entitled, “Shepherd Me.” In this series, we are going line by line through .
The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
¶ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Let’s go back to verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. God is the one that cares and looks after us. God is the one that provides and protects us. God should be in the driver’s seat of our lives. God should be the one taking the lead in our lives. So, we must surrender to God. The Lord is my shepherd.
The next phrase in verse 1 is “I shall not want.” Only God can meet our greatest needs in life.
In verse 2, we begin to see how God meets the greatest needs of our lives.
He makes me lie down in green pastures. This phrase is talking about rest for the soul. He leads me beside quiet waters. This phrase is talking about our greatest thirst in life. Our greatest thirst in life is salvation, a restored relationship with God. That thirst can only be quenched by Jesus.
Today, we come to verse 3. Look at how verse 3 begins. He restores my soul. When I first realized this phrase came after VBS, I was thinking this is great to study after VBS. You need a little soul restoration after VBS, especially having 15-18 4-5 year olds. It’s like trying to herd cats.
But this phrase surprised me.
This phrase surprised me. This phrase is not about getting filled up when we are running on spiritual fumes.
Illustration: 3 and 5 Year Old Wrecking Car
This phrase and the next phrase had to do with getting back on track after we have sinned, after we have drifted away from God.
Shepherd Me: All we like sheep have gone astray and turned to our own way. We’ve wandered far from you.
1. Wandering away from God.
Illustration: Losing Ethan at pumpkin patch
Sometimes, we wander away from God. David is the author of this Psalm. David knew what it mean to wander away from God.
In 2 Samuel, David is at home while his army his off at war. David commits adultery with a woman named Bathsheba who’s husband is fighting for King David. The rest of this story reads like a modern day soap opera. Bathsheba is pregnant. David doesn’t want anyone to know that he is the father of the child. So, David has Bathsheba’s husband Uriah come home from battle. Uriah comes home from battle but refuses to go home to his wife while his fellow soldiers are on the battlefield. David sends Uriah back to battle with a note to the general. The note Uriah is carrying contains his death sentence. In the note, David commands to general to put Uriah where the fighting is heaviest then withdraw the other troops leaving only Uriah fighting. Uriah dies.
Here is David. He commits adultery and has someone murdered. David knew what it meant to wander away from God.
We know what it means to wander away from God. Sometimes, we wander away from God.
Like David, we wander off in sin. Sin causes us to drift away from God. Sin causes separation us from God. Sometimes, we wander away from God in sin.
Other times, we wander away from God because misplaced priorities. Back in the day, Sunday was the Lord’s Day. That took priority in our culture and lives. Sunday was a day to worship the Lord, study the Word, and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. But Sunday as the Lords day no longer has priority in our culture and lives.
Sunday is just another day filled with endless activities. Sunday is just another day to go to the ballfields or got to the lake. For some of us, we only go to church when there is nothing else going on.
When we miss Sunday after Sunday, we drift away from God. Sometimes, we wander away from God because of misplaced priorities.
Sometimes, we wander away from God because of business. Last week, we briefly talked about the importance of having a daily quiet time. A daily quiet time is time set aside for God each day for prayer, Bible reading, and reflection. When we get busy, when things get hectic, our daily quiet time is first to go. A daily quiet times keeps us close to God. When we don’t have our daily quiet time, we start slowly drifting away from God.
Sometimes, we wander away from God.
Sometimes, we wander away from God. But here’s the good news. We have a shepherd that goes after us.
Illustration: Panic Parents at the pumpkin patch
That’s God when wander off. Jesus tells a parable a shepherd with 100 sheep. One day, the shepherd get to the pen and counts 99 sheep. One is missing. One has wandered off and gotten lost. What did the shepherd do? He went after the sheep that wandered off?
God goes after us we wander off. God went after David when he wandered off. David committed adultery and murder. God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David.
Nathan told David a story. A poor man had one lamb. The lamb was loved by the family and had become like a family pet. One day, a rich man had a guest over. The rich man had many sheep but didn’t want to kill one of his lambs. So he went and killed the one lamb of the poor man. David was outraged. Nathan’s response: David, you are that man. God goes after us when we wander off.
When we wander off in sin, the Holy Spirt convicts us of our sins.
When we wander off God by not coming to church, maybe someone calls us or writes us a note letting us know that we are missed.
When we wander off, God goes after us.
Shepherd Me: All we like sheep have gone astray and turned to our own way. We’ve wandered far from you. In your love you still pursue.
2. Coming back to God
Verse 2: He restores my soul. Restore is a word dealing with repentance. Repentance is turning away from our sin and turning back to God. Repentance is about stopping our wandering from God and coming back to him.
David knew all about repentance. David had wandered off from God by committing adultery and murder. God went after David. Turn to to see David’s prayer of repentance.
V. 3: David acknowledged his sin. Then look at what David asked God to do.
V. 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 12
That’s what God does when we sin.
(NKJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God restores our soul.