He Recasts My Soul

“1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23 NIV).

We now come to verse 3 of this wonderful Psalm. We will look at it in two parts. “He restores my soul.” Only God can restore the soul. Has He restored your soul?

David, in this Psalm is make a comparison between the job he knew–the job of the shepherd, and the care of the Lord for us. That is a great principle of education–we always move from the known to the unknown.

With this comparison in mind, what does David mean by this simple phrase, “He restores my soul?” Great question! Glad I asked it ☺! The Hebrew here is “He recasts my soul.” That doesn’t mean much to us either until we understand something about sheep.

Sometimes sheep tip over. In shepherd terminology, a sheep in this condition is said to be a cast sheep. A “cast” sheep is one that has laid down and then lost his center of gravity. His feet have come off the ground, and he has rolled onto his back. A sheep left in this condition is a pitiful sight. He’s thrashing and kicking, desperately trying it regain his footing which is now impossible for him without help. When they are in that fallen condition like fallen man there is no way they can right themselves. They are, as the saying goes, down for the count. In the case of sheep that is literal. For this fallen sheep can do nothing but lay there and die.

There are reasons a sheep may become cast. His wool may not be properly trimmed and this cause him to tip over. Or, the grass may be too deep or soft. It is not that they stumbled and fell necessarily. More often then not, the sheep lay down unaware of the danger. Many a believer has made his or her “bed” in a similar fashion. They thought they could lie down in some sin and then get up anytime they chose to–too late they have learned that the sin that brought them comfort now holds them in a grip of death.

The picture our passage paints is one of the shepherd, who is constantly on the look-out for cast sheep. Spotting that cast sheep he comes along side that sheep, then, tenderly and carefully helping the sheep to his feet, and then lovingly massages the legs until the sheep can once again stand on it’s own.

Phillip Keller, in his masterful book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, writes: “Many people have the idea that when a child of God falls, when he is frustrated and helpless in a spiritual dilemma, God becomes disgusted, fed-up and even furious with him. This is not so. One of the great revelations of the heart of God given to us by Christ is that of Himself as our Shepherd. He has the same identical anxiety, concern and compassion for cast men and women as (a shepherd) has for cast sheep. This is precisely why He looked on people with such pathos and compassion. It explains His magnanimous dealing with down-and-out individuals for whom even human society had no use. It reveals why He wept over those who spurned His affection. It discloses the depth of His understanding of undone people to whom He came eagerly and quickly, ready to help, to save, to restore.”

That’s the God we serve. He is not some vengeful, spiteful God, waiting to slap you down for your failures, He is the Good Shepherd, ever mindful of the danger of His own becoming cast, ever willing to lovingly, and immediately recast your soul and restore you to proper fellowship.

We’ll pick up the second part of this verse tomorrow. But let me ask you, are you one of God sheep who has become cast? If we are honest, there are times in the Christian life when we become like cast sheep, and need to be recast, need to be restored. The thing we need to remember is that the Good Shepherd knows our weakness, he knows our failings, and he lovingly restores us when we have fallen. Don’t lay there and die. Don’t hope no one will notice. Cry out to the Good Shepherd and let Him restore you.