These past few weeks have represented the longest lasting, broadest reaching and most disruptive crisis I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. Those who have more experience than me have even said it’s the biggest disruption in “normal life” since World War II. As we weather this crisis together, it’s easy get discouraged and to feel like the waiting is interminable.
With that in mind, I’d like to spend some time observing the first stanza of Psalm 23:
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
We should absolutely notice the peace of God, dependence on God, the care of God and the rest from God as we meditate on this passage. We should also be sure to notice the restoration of God, and a couple of things about it from the Psalm. First, notice that while the early verses are certainly calm and peaceful, the picture is not simply a drowsy idyllic scene. He is being restored, refreshed and replenished. We might say he is getting his batteries charged. He is being prepared for action. The second thing that is worth noticing about this restoration is that it is a direct act of God. It’s not merely the outcome of the other actions God takes. It’s also not of the Psalmist’s doing. He doesn’t somehow restore his own soul. The restoration of our soul is a separate and important act of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our soul’s restoration comes in both an ultimate and immediate sense directly from God himself.
What are the mechanisms by which this restoration happens? By observing Jesus, we can see that one of the ways is prayer and meditation. After feeding the 5,000 (Matt 14:3) Jesus didn’t lose himself in a hobby, read a great book or hang out with friends (none of which are bad things to do necessarily). Instead, when he needed to be recharged after a draining day, he prayed. Another mechanism for restoration and replenishment is the Holy Spirit working through believers to encourage and refresh each other. The epistles are replete with examples of Paul being refreshed by other believers such as Onesiphorus, Stephanas, Fortunaas and Achaicus.
So, as we wait for God to fully answer our prayers for our world in light of this virus, I encourage us all as a church to eagerly seek our soul’s restoration from God. Let us not seek renewal from from lesser sources. As we go to prayer, let’s go less as a chore and more as if we’re approaching the source of our soul’s refreshment. As we minister to others, let’s recognize that God is working through us to replenish the body of believers.