Refreshment, Restoration and Right Standing - Who is God to you?

 Psalm 23:1-3

Psalm 23 is one of the most well known and beloved Psalms, often quoted by many who do not seek to delve deeper into what David intends for us to understand through this Psalm. Who reads a book without wanting to understand the meaning behind the book's intentions, or the story behind why a song was composed? 

Psalm 23 speaks of God using the imagery of a Shepherd is illustrated many times throughout the Bible and Jesus even gave Himself the title 'The Good Shepherd'. I'd like to take the idea of showing God as a Shepherd and followers of Jesus as sheep and go a little further with it in this blog post. The imagery here shows who God is, what He does and how I should respond to Him as His sheep. God shows Himself as the One who is there to feed, guide and shield me. David makes God 'his' shepherd. It's real and it's personal. He evaluates his relationship with the Shepherd of his soul in this first verse. Since God is there to feed him, provide for his needs, give him the guidance that he lacks through circumstances in life and protect him (quite literally), David knows that there is complete satisfaction in God. He does not have need for anything else but God. Now, I'd like to invite you to sit and think through the words from this verse. Where are you currently at in your relationship with God? Have there been any specific days or occasions this week where you've seen him provide for your needs? Have there been any signs He has shown you regarding the guidance that you might be seeking of Him? Or how might you be challenged to trust Him for providing for your needs? 

I'll be honest. As I'm writing these questions and reflecting on them myself, I don't have a fantastic testimony about how God provided my needs like George Muller this week. But there's one thing I'm particularly struck by as I'm reading through David's reflections on who God is to me. I can look back over the past few months having been cooped up for hours at home and reflect on how God has indeed protected me and my family from COVID-19. I'm thankful for the opportunity I've been given to write this post!

Then, David says that the Good Shepherd makes him lie down in green pastures. If you know anything about sheep, it's that when they are jittery or afraid or anxious about something - maybe thinking that a wolf is near - they will not be able to lie down and relax. Psalm 23:2 is all about how God wants us to rest. And most importantly, find rest only in Him. This is the life of a believer in Jesus - complete surrender and peaceful resting. Stress is never in God's vocabulary. He wants to lead us beside still and restful waters. Apparently, sheep are very easily startled and loud noises scare them. Hence the term 'as timid as a sheep'. I'm not going to go into the similarities that we as humans have with sheep because although there are some parallels between us and them, it's not the point of this post. We can learn from these examples given by David, who shows us that when our souls find their true rest in God, we'll begin to see far beyond the confines of this life and into the next one. God wants to lead, are you willing to be lead by him, no matter where He takes you?

The next set of promises that come in verse 3 (one of my favourite verses to meditate on) describe what God does. David talks of refreshment, Divine refreshment. When I think of refreshment, I think of hope. Not a fatalistic sense of hope but a firm conviction that my God is able to handle every situation with me because He will always be there for me. God wants to fill you anew with His power and anointing. Have you felt spiritually dead or dry? Have you come searching for something or someone who can satisfy your soul? There's only One person who can do this. Only He can fill the gap, the void, the vacuum that longs for deep intimacy and friendship. All other relationships pale in comparison to the relationship being described by David. All of these relationships are but only shadows in the light of God's brilliance and glory. Only He can refresh and restore your soul. So, where are you at today? Are you broken and fragmented? Are you tired of pretending to be ok with other people? 

The promise God has for you today is that when you are willing to come before Him with a broken and contrite heart, He will not despise you. Instead, He is more than willing to take up the shards of your soul and mend them together. He never rejects anyone who is willing to come to Him and bring the burdens that only He knows He can help lift. He may not restore everything in the way you expect them to be 'fixed' but He promises to let goodness, love and mercy chase you wherever you go. Think of this! Goodness, God's love and His mercy overtaking you! Favour when you don't even deserve it! This is the right standing David talks about. 

Not because of who or what you or I have done. Not because I'm worthy but because only He is entirely worthy of everything I have and own. He provides grace for me to keep on living. It's His grace that must be around before even I was born and it is the same grace that keeps me alive. He provides me with the grace to keep living for Him even when I don't make it or when I fail. 

There are so many promises just in these three verses it's impossible to cover so much in one post. What about you? How has God shown Himself to be the Good Shepherd to you?