V 3 – “He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” (Notice that “restores & leads” are in the present tense. It is a CONTINUAL RESTORATION)
Firstly, God leads us is into His rest. Secondly, He leads us is into righteousness. As we find rest, we find the strength we need to walk on the right path. There will be times when the path seems difficult, or impossible, or when we find it hard to realize Christ’s presence. Sometimes His direction comes through His Word or other people that He has placed in our lives, but the Shepherd will always lead us on the right path when we trust our lives into His loving care.
The Shepherd can renew and restore us when we falter, doubt, or stray away from Him. Are you perhaps experiencing injustice, conflict, disappointment, suffering, or great demands? God will restore you in a unique and individual way, through a fresh encounter with Himself. Restoration is for people who are tired, confused, lost, worried, or unable to focus on what is most important at times.
The Good Shepherd retrieves (fetches) us when we wander in our thoughts or actions. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
In Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and how He seeks for it and rejoices when He finds the one who has gone astray. Believers do wander, sometimes in exhaustion or pain or seeking our own way. Note the prodigal son in Luke 15:11–32. He belonged to the Father, but he deviated from his calling to farm the land, yet the Loving father never gave up on him and ran and welcomed him home when he returned home as he had nowhere else to go. We read a confirmation of this in John 6:68 – “Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope].”
Friends. we’re prone to wander, to live life in the flesh, but Gal. 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” We are in the continual process of walking in the light. The Shepherd retrieves us and restores our souls when we wander. We can surrender every aspect of our lives to Him.
When Christ addressed the Believers in Ephesus, in Revelation 2, He commended them for their hard work and perseverance. They were patient, upright, discerning, and loyal, YET they had abandoned their first intense love for the Saviour. Jesus commanded them (and us today) to overcome.
Loving Good Shepherd, thank You for reminding us about what we can lose if we do not follow You closely. Thank You for being willing to seek us, (the sheep of your pastures), to find us when we go astray, and for rescuing us, reviving us, and restoring us. Thank You for energizing us when we are tired, thirsty, or hungry for more of You. We long to be in Your pastures where only You can lead us to abide in You and Your righteousness. Thank You for telling us from Malachi 4:2 – “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” We love and worship You Almighty Father God, our safe Hiding place.
Myrtle Turunen