HE REFRESHES AND RESTORES
Ps 23:2b-3a
March 20, 2011
INTRODUCTION: As we study Ps 23, always remember that it is a sheep in the Good Shepherd’s care who
is speaking. It is essentially a Christian’s claim of belonging in the family of God. As such, he boasts of the
benefits of such a relationship.
Although sheep thrive in dry country, they still require water. It will be noticed that here again the key or clue
to where water can be obtained lies with the shepherd. The role of water in the animal’s body and why it is so
essential for its well being must be understood. The body of an animal such as a sheep is composed of about
70% water on average. Water determines the vitality, strength, and vigor of the sheep and is essential to its
health and general well being. Without it, the sheep becomes weak and impoverished.
Just as the physical body has a capacity and need for water, so Scripture points out to us clearly that the human
personality, the human soul, has a capacity and need for the water of the Spirit of the eternal God.
When sheep are thirsty they become restless and set out in search of water to satisfy their thirst. If not led to the
good water supplies of clean, pure water, they will often end up drinking from the polluted pot holes where they
pick up such internal parasites, liver flukes, or other disease germs.
In precisely the same manner, Christ, our Good Shepherd, made it clear that thirsty souls of men and women
can only be fully satisfied when their capacity and thirst for spiritual life is fully quenched by drawing on
Himself.
Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
I. THE SHPEHERD REFRESHES HIS SHEEP. 2b
“He leads me beside still waters” – waters of rest;
This can serve as an invitation and a promise, both at the same time.
John 7:37, “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.’”
“to drink” – means to take in, to accept, or to believe. That is to say it implies that a person accepts and
assimilates the very life of God in Christ to the point where it becomes a part of him.
The difficulty in all of this is that men and women who are “thirsty” for God (who do have a deep, inner
sense of searching and seeking, who are in quest of that which will completely satisfy) often are unsure of
where to look or really what they are looking for. The inner spiritual capacity for God and divine life is
desiccated and in their dilemma they will drink from any dirty pool and try and satisfy their thirst for
fulfillment.
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Augustine of Africa summed it up so well when he wrote, “O God, Thou hast made us for Thyself and our
souls are restless, searching, till they find their rest in Thee.”
All the long and complex history of earth’s history of earth’s religions, pagan worship, and human
philosophy is bound up with this insatiable thirst for God.
Ps 23a, He alone knows where the still, quiet, deep, clean, pure water is to be found that alone can satisfy
His sheep and keep them fit and strong.
Most people are unaware that sheep can go for months on end, especially if the weather is not too hot,
without actually drinking water, if there is heavy dew on the grass each morning.
Generally speaking, water for the sheep came from three main sources: deep on the grass, deep wells, or
springs and streams.
PERSONAL DEVOTION
Sheep, by habit, rise just before dawn and start to feed. Or if there is bright moonlight, they will graze at
night. The early hours are when the vegetation is drenched with dew, and sheep can keep fit on the amount
of water taken in with their foliage when they graze just before and after dawn. Dew is a clear, pure source
of water and there is no more resplendent picture of still waters than the silver droplets of the dew hanging
heavy on leaves and grass at break of day.
It is the quiet, early hours of the morning that we are led alongside the quiet, still waters where the very life
of Christ is ministered to us for the day. The biographies of the great men and women of God repeatedly
point out how the secret of the success in their spiritual life was attributed to the
“quiet time” (still waters) of each morning.
“I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses”
The still dews of His Spirit can be dropped into my life and soul.
FACT: One comes away from these hours of meditation, reflection, and communion with Christ refreshed
in mind and spirit. A troubled heart and spirit has been quieted on many mornings. It is a picture of
gentleness, stillness, and softness of early morning. Jesus loves to see His sheep contented, quiet, at rest and
relaxed. He delights to know my soul and spirit have been refreshed and satisfied.
PROBLEM WITH SHEEP: They try instead to satisfy their thirst by pursuing almost every other sort of
substitute. They have tried drinking deeply from the wells of the world only to turn away unsatisfied –
unquenched in their soul’s thirst.
Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from
it.”
2 Timothy 3:15, “ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to
make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
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When they look somewhere else for the quenching of their thirst, they find themselves hollow, empty,
unfulfilled within.
The passionate prophet put it this way:
Jeremiah 2:13, 'For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of
living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
This is an accurate portrayal of broken lives, of shattered hopes, of barren souls that are dried up and
parched and full of the dust of despair.
There is no substitute for the Spirit of the living God. In our despair, Christ comes quietly as of old, and
invites us to come to Him. He invites us to follow Him, to put our confidence in Him. He knows the
human heart and the human soul with its amazing capacity for God can never be truly satisfied with a
substitute.
Remember, the very One that leads us is also the One that refreshes us.
II. THE SHEPHERD RESTORES HIS SHEEP. 3a
“He restores my soul” – brings back, He deals with the distressed soul that’s in need of restoring.
Psalms 42:11, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in
God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”
David, our author, who was much loved by God, knew what it was to be cast down and dejected. He had
tasted defeat in his life and felt the frustration of having fallen under temptation. David was acquainted with
the bitterness of feeling hopeless and without strength in himself.
Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks at Ps 23, sees this as a picture of a “cast” sheep or a “cast down” sheep.
This is an old English shepherd’s term for a sheep that has turned over on its back and cannot get up again
by itself.
It seems to happen most among sheep during times of fruitfulness (ewe) and prosperity (heavy wool).
While “cast,” the predators, buzzards, vultures, dogs, coyotes, and cougars all know that a cast sheep is
easy prey and death is not far away (vulnerable time).
How does one become “cast”? A heavy, fat, or long-fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little
hollow or depression in the ground. It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax. Suddenly, the
center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the
ground. It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Frequently, this only makes things worse.
It rolls over even further. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet.
As it lies there struggling, gases begin to build up in the rumen (stomach). As they expand, they tend to
retard and cut-off blood circulation to extremities of the body, especially the legs. If the weather is very hot
and sunny, a cast sheep can die in a few hours.
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So, it will be seen why the shepherd’s attention is always alert for this problem.
As soon as the shepherd found his “cast sheep,” he would tenderly roll the sheep over on its side. This
would relieve the pressure of gases. If it had been down long, the shepherd would lift her onto her feet.
Then straddling the sheep, He would hold her erect, rubbing her limbs to restore the circulation to her legs.
When the sheep started to walk again she often just stumbled, staggered, and collapsed.
Little by little the sheep would regain its equilibrium. It would soon, once again, walk steadily and surely.
Soon it would join the others, set free from its fears and frustrations, given another chance to live a little
longer.
“He restoreth my soul” – something intensely personal, intensely tender, intensely endearing, yet intensely
filled with danger in this picture.
On the one hand, there is the sheep so hopeless, so utterly immobilized though otherwise strong, healthy and
flourishing; while on the other hand there is the attentive shepherd, quick and ready to come to our rescue;
ever patient and tender and helpful.
FACT: Many people have the idea that when a child of God falls, when he is helpless and frustrated in a
spiritual dilemma, God becomes disgusted, fed-up, and even furious with him.
This simply is not true. One of the great revelations of the heart of God given to us by Christ is that of
Himself as our Shepherd. He refreshes, restores, and, yes, rescues.
Psalms 56:13
“For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God in the light of the living?”
Don’t Forget!
1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
A DANGEROUS PLACE
The cozy corner, the comfortable position where there is no hardship, no need for endurance, no demand
upon self-discipline. The time when we think, “We have it made,” actually we may be in mortal danger.
Remember, often when the fleece becomes very long, and heavily matted with mud, manure, burrs, and
other debris, it is much easier for a sheep to become cast, literally weighed down with its own wool.
Wool in scripture depicts the old self-life in the Christian. It can weigh me down, drag me down, hold me
down.
It is significant that no high priest was ever allowed to wear wool when he entered the Holy of Holies. This
spoke of self, pride, personal preferences, and God could not tolerate it.
A “cast sheep” will learn to sing, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”
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