Teaching on Psalm 23:3
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· 1,840 viewsThe Lord restores us and leads us for His name sake
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Restoration
Restoration
He the good Shepherd restores our soul
Restore literally means to return back to original state.
The very same word is used when Noah sent out the dove from the ark to find a place to land and it returned when there was no place yet.
Like a car or a house being restored the Lord restores our soul. our soul is our inner being our true self.
He restores our soul back to where it was before we began to stray away or wander.
Psalm 19:7a the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.
so the idea is that sheep are constantly straying away and the shepherd returns them back.
“He restoreth my soul.” When the soul grows sorrowful he revives it; when it is sinful he sanctifies it; when it is weak he strengthens it. “He” does it.He restoreth my soul.
Spurgeon, C. H.
This is why our salvation is secure in the Lord because it is He who restores us for His name sake. We see that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling but the very next verse in Philippians 2:13 says for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure
He seals us by His holy Spirit Eph 1:13
He guards us for salvation 1 Peter 1:5
Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Our salvation is not based on how tight we hold the Fathers hand and when we lose our grip we lose our salvation but is that our salvation is built upon the Father holding our hand and we know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. So when we step into unrighteousness we know that He is the Good Shepherd and He will restore us.
The best saints go astray like lost sheep, they miss their way, and turn aside into by-paths, but when God shows them their error, gives them repentance, and brings them back to their duty again, He restores the soul, and if He did not do so, they would wander endlessly and be undone.
So we and take hope in that our salvation has nothing to do with what we have done, the only thing we contributed to our salvation was the sin that made it necessary. It is by grace that we are saved and it is not of ourselves least anyone should boast. So thank God that He restores us and doesn't leave us wondering in our sin but that He brings us back to our first love that we left when we go about sinning Rev 2:4
We are like cast sheep when we do this...
Boice put it like this:
the situation known to shepherds as a “cast (or cast down) sheep.” What happens is this. “A heavy, fat or long-fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground. It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax. Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground. It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Frequently this only makes things worse. It rolls over even further. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet.” In this position gases build up in the body, cutting off circulation to the legs, and often it is only a matter of a few hours before the sheep dies. The only one who can restore the sheep to health is the shepherd.
Sometimes we are like cast sheep. We are spiritually on our backs, quite helpless. But Jesus comes to us when we are in this condition, as he did to Peter after Peter had denied him even with oaths and cursing (Matt. 26:72, 74), and he restores us. Jesus restored Peter. He gets us up on our feet and going again.
While Scripture places much emphasis on God’s absolute sovereignty in the work of salvation, it never excludes or downplays human responsibility. The Shepherd leads, but the sheep are not passive. They follow Him, as is their duty. They may stumble or meander at times, but they know the true Shepherd and are known by Him, so they will never depart from Him completely. In Jesus’ words, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Their own righteous walk is one of the key evidences that they belong to the Good Shepherd. They are not saved by their righteous walk, but their righteous walk proves that God has saved them.
And here’s the ultimate proof that their faith in the Great Shepherd is authentic: they persevere. Those who depart from the paths of righteousness never to return did not belong to the Shepherd in the first place.
Yet because God is sovereign, His sheep are secure. They do persevere in the paths of righteousness. Moreover, the Shepherd Himself said: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:28–29).
Paths of Righteousness
Paths of Righteousness
Righteousness here means right living.
Sheep have no since of direction so they must be guided in the right paths, you can put them in the greenest field around and they will wonder to a place with no food and little water, so for us the Lord is constantly leading us in paths of righteousness and bringing us back to right living and repentance.
He is always guiding and leading but the question is are you following Him?
we must not think that this is something so automatic we don’t need to pray for it. Look at David’s prayer in Psalm 25:4–5: “Make me know thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths, lead me in thy truth and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation, for thee I wait all the day long.”
But how does God do this? I think He has revealed the paths of righteousness in His word. In Psalm 119:105 he says: “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” and Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word.” So one answer to the question, How does God lead me in paths of righteousness? is: He reveals what those paths are in his word for us to read and obey.
Paul said in Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that you may know and approve what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
For Your name sake
For Your name sake
Now we can ask, Why does God do all this? Why reveal his word and send his Spirit to lead us in paths of righteousness? The answer in verse 3: “For his name’s sake.”
God is the beginning and God is the end of all my righteousness. The path of righteousness has his grace as its starting point (for he leads me into it) and it has his glory as its destination (because his leading is for his name’s sake). As Paul put it, “From him, through him, and to him are all things, to him be glory forever.”
From beginning to end in the Bible nothing is more ultimate in the mind and heart of God than the glory of God, that is the ultimate allegiance in the mind and heart of God. Everywhere you look you never see and exception to this, you can read the whole Bible and every place you look that God makes explicit the reason why He is doing what He is doing the answer is always and without exception the same FOR MY GLORY or FOR MY NAME.
We are predesdend for His glory Eph 1:6
We are created for His glory Isa 43:7
We are elected for His glory Jer 13:11
He saved His people from Egypt for His glory Ps 106:8
He commands His people in whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to His glory 1 Cor 10:31
He visited first the Gentiles, to take from them a people for His name. Acts 15:15
It is crystal clear that it is the ultimate purpose of God to do everything for His name and to His glory. As believers in Christ this should give you great comfort in all areas of life because you know that He is working all things to your good and to His glory.