Category: 2020 – Psalm 23

God’s Plan for Life’s Pathways

Sheep are notorious creatures of habit.  If left to themselves, they will follow the same trails until they become ruts; graze the same hills until they turn to desert wastes; pollute their own ground until it is corrupt with disease and parasites.  The single greatest safeguard which a shepherd has in handling his flock is to keep them on the move.

Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.”  We don’t want to be led in paths of righteousness.  Somehow it goes against our grain.

God wants us all to move on with Him.  He wants us to walk with Him.  He wants it not only for our welfare but for the benefit of others as well as His own dear reputation.

Click here for more about Psalm 23:3 from Philip Keller, Robert Morgan, and Max Lucado

He Restores My Soul

Dr. Robert C. McQuilkin once wrote, “The Lord is our Shepherd…  He refreshes us when weary and encourages us when we are cast down.”

A “cast” sheep gets itself literally turned upside down.  A cast sheep is a sad being, legs futilely flailing the air, gasses building up in the abdomen, blood circulation draining away from the extremities.  It’s vulnerable to attack and unable to take food or water. 

There’s an old shepherding maxim: “A down sheep is a dead sheep.”  Cast sheep can perish in a matter of hours unless the shepherd finds them and restores them.

The Bible sometimes speaks of people as being “cast down.”  In Psalm 42:5, David asked, “Why are you cast down, O my soul?  And why are you disquieted within me?  Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.”

Are you cast down?  Is your world upside down?  Are you unable to right yourself?  We so frequently need this tiny phrase of four words from Psalm 23:3: “He restores my soul.”  The Hebrew word means to restore vitality, vigor, and strength.  He reinvigorates me, He revives my strength.  He gives us power in life’s trenches.

Click here to learn more from Phillip Keller, Max Lucado, and Robert Morgan