“You restore my soul, and You give me rest.” (Matt Maher, “Rest”)

I was listening to an old playlist this morning as the sun, in all its glorious colors, quietly made its way above the horizon to bring light to the morning. 

I’m not sure how long it’s been since I heard this song, but oh how I heard it today as I drove. The lyrics grabbed my heart and caused me to be still, not in the same way but much like the Scripture from which they were derived, Psalm 23, has done time and again.

“O my Lord, beside still waters, You repair my heart. I trust in You….You restore my soul and You give me rest.”

We all yearn for rest!

We all long to be restored!

We all need The Shepherd to repair our hearts and settle our souls!

We all need the One who is strong to walk with us, hold us, remind us of who He is and who we are in Him.

He walked with Adam in the Garden in the cool of the day. That has always stopped me – Adam walked with God and had conversations with the Creator of the universe and walked in “rest.”

Because of Jesus, I can do the same. His Word, the Bible, is there to refresh and remind, but His Spirit also comforts and convicts. I can walk with God throughout my day as well. He is with me; “His rod and staff comfort me.”

Yet, at times, I lose sight of that.

When Adam and Eve believed the lie of the enemy over the truthful word of the Lord, God Himself showed His kindness in the midst of His discipline and took care of their need for clothing, sending them out of the Garden with the promise of One to come who would cover them in a greater way.

The world is shaking all around us.

The world is shaking for people I love dearly.

And because of that, and at times through waves and winds of my own, my world is shaking too.

But the God who set all things in motion,

The God who spoke the world into existence and said, “It is good,”

The God who is both justice and mercy and who set a promise for our deliverance long ago,

The God who fulfilled that promise and sent His Son to bridge the gap between us and God the Father because of His holiness and our own unrighteousness,

This same God is the Shepherd, my Shepherd.

This same God carries His sheep.

This same God holds us when the world and our world are shaking.

This same God walks with us in the cool of the day and in the shadow of death.

This same God is our Savior who hears our cries, sees our tears, and comforts in ways we may not even realize.

This same God cares about our fears and our concerns and is already going before us making a way in the desert even when we cannot see.

This same God knows our tremblings and is giving us the grace we need for today and preparing the grace and mercy He will give in the days ahead.

Psalm 23 reminds us that He is our Shepherd and will not leave us alone. He will seek us when we are lost and will draw us to Himself by any means so He can tend His own.

And, in the midst of the hard and difficult places we don’t want to walk but sometimes have to pass through, He will show glimpses of His grace and pour out His steadfast love that endures forever, even to the end of time.

As part of that grace, He gives us His rest that we could not create on our own by any means.

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.

He alone is my Rock and my Salvation;

He is my Fortress, I will never be shaken.”   Psalm 62:1

We can pray expectantly and pour out our desires before His throne boldly because of Jesus, and He hears. Sometimes His answers will delight us; other times those answers will make us tremble and threaten to undo us.

In either place, He is with us.

He is our Emmanuel.

We can set our gaze on Him, even through tears, speaking to ourselves the words of Scripture that are His very words to us – about Himself, our living and enduring Hope – and the promises that are without fail even when we can’t see the reasons for His answer.

We can rest, not in what we see and experience and feel, but in who He is!

He is my Rock, my Salvation, my Fortress.

I choose to rest in God alone!

“I will fear no evil, for You’re here with me.

Your goodness and Your love, they will never leave.

Just a closer walk with Thee, just a closer walk…

Even though I walk through the valley of death, You restore my soul, and You give me rest.

All the memories of Your faithfulness.

You restore my soul, and you give me rest.”

Matt Maher – “Rest”

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 paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

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.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.