Where Does Your Soul Go To Be Restored?
“Draw near to me, and I will draw near to you.” (James 4:8)
No sooner do I speak out the promise of God—that He will meet me here as I anticipate His presence—than a gust of wind hits me from across what had been, only moments before, the stilled lake.
The wind continues to forcefully surround me as I sit on the distressed, graffitied wooden bench. I take a deep breath in and out, and hear another whisper of invitation to “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
I sip my iced matcha tea and do just that. I sit still. I close my eyes and feel the cooling breeze. I “know that He is God” by listing His attributes: Mercy. Grace. Justice. Forgiveness. Faithfulness. Almighty Power. As I do this, I let the wind disperse my current worries, thoughts, plans, and fears away from me. They leave my mind because I am filling myself with Him.
The hot, bright sun reflects off the ripples of water coming toward me beside the lake. I immediately remember what I read to the children this morning in Little Pilgrim’s Progress, by Helen L. Taylor, about The Valley of Peace. Little Christian was brought to green pastures and still waters to rest for a time from his difficult and dangerous journey.
I begin to recite Psalm 23, memorized in the KJV:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He taketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.”
Oh, how I can relate to Christian being led to the green pastures and still waters to rest from life’s trials and temptations. Earlier, I explained to my children how this past year has been this season for me. For reasons I know and for reasons I do not, God directed us to pack up and move—to start again somewhere new. Since then, it’s been a season of rest for me. Once we settled into our new home, new church, and new location, I didn’t immediately jump into any ministries, jobs, or much more outside the responsibilities of my husband and children.
I stopped doing. I started being.
I haven’t been striving. I’ve been reevaluating.
I destroyed strongholds of lies. I renewed my mind with truth.
I ceased to anxiously do good works for God—hoping to please Him.
I eagerly sat in the presence of God—experiencing His love for me.
My Good Shepherd has given me a respite from previous testing and tribulations. I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I have experienced the rod and the staff—as both His loving correction and His protection. I have battled through the continuous, wearisome spiritual warfare against my enemies.
The wind dies down as I reflect on these things, giving thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for this current season of green pastures and still waters—rest and renewal.
I come back to Psalm 23 again and stop this time at “He restoreth my soul.” I open my Strong’s Concordance app on my phone and click through to find this verse, specifically the Hebrew word behind “restore”—shuv.
The Hebrew root carries the idea of turning back, returning, or restoring. In this particular verse, the sense is that the Shepherd restores, refreshes, or renews.
And yet, as I study this word, one phrase catches my heart:
Bring back home again.
The Shepherd restores my soul…by bringing me back home again.
The Hebrew word translated “soul” is nephesh. It can refer to the whole living person—life, self, being, or soul. So when David says, “He restoreth my soul,” this isn't merely about repairing one spiritual compartment of us. It speaks of the Shepherd caring for and restoring the whole person.
Through the trials, temptations, sin, valley of death, illness, lies, spiritual warfare, marital disunity, and motherhood chaos, my soul—my whole person—has been broken and wounded.
Yet, I am a living testimony of how my Shepherd has restored my soul. He has rescued me, renewed me, refreshed me, rebuilt me, and recovered me. Not overnight, but over years—yes, even the last decade
If the root word for “restore” means a turning back or returning, then the question we must ask is “To what? Or to whom?”
Restoration is the Shepherd continually turning me back toward Himself.
I have chosen the wrong paths. I’ve believed the lies. I have had a lack of faith. He has used His Word, His Spirit, and His loving correction to turn me back toward Truth. His compassion, grace, mercy, and love has spoken Truth into the cracks of my shattered pieces—restoring me to wholeness.
And through the restoring, ultimately, He brings me back home again.
As I sit still beside the green landscape and waters, and know that He is God, I understand that the only place to restore our broken souls is found at Home—
The place where our Shepherd is.
When anxiety clouds our minds with what-ifs and fears…
When the entire world is falling apart…
When evil is rampant, and everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes…
When our lives and loved ones are out of our control…
When life is uncertain and unknown…
When the trauma won’t go away…
When our loved ones die…
When the outcome is dire…
When the sickness won’t be healed…
When the enemy torments…
When all hope is lost…
He wants to pull you in and bring you back home again.
The peace and hope we are so desperate for will never be found in this world apart from Christ. The storms rage around us and in us, but we can still find the place of green pastures and still waters.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (KJV)
The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. (CSB)
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. (NIV)
The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. (NLT)
God, my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. (Message)
No matter how it’s said, ultimately, we don’t need anything else for our souls to be restored except the Lord. The longing for healing of our hearts and lives will not be satisfied by better circumstances, people, comfort, medications, wealth, security, therapy, love, or—fill in the blank. Can God use them for His means? Sure. But I have witnessed that, at the end of all these things, it’s not enough.
“I lack nothing.”
The Shepherd will not withhold. He fills our cup so that it overflows—with abundance. We are satisfied, fulfilled, and find our purpose in Him. We never have to fear that He will let us down or leave us like so many people in our lives.
Because He made a promise He cannot break, even in the breaking of our souls—
“You are with me.”
At the end of it all—when all else is lacking—you will find Him.
Because He’s always been there.
I continue to meditate on this and realize that this past year I have still had trials—fear of the uncertainty of Brett’s career, desperately trying to find answers to a chronic disease, the ongoing battle of sin in my heart, and spiritual warfare. It hasn’t been completely carefree, but I’ve learned where to sit through it all.
The green pastures. The still waters. The restoring of our souls. The valley of the shadow of death. The rod and staff. The bringing back home again. This all is universal to every Christian, no matter what season we are in or where we are on our own pilgrim’s progress.
But the truth that holds us together and gives us the hope that our Shepherd is and will restore our souls is that…
His presence never leaves us—He is our Home.
And David knew this to be true, as he pens the closing of his psalm with:
“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
The word translated “dwell” can also be understood in connection with the Hebrew root shuv—“to return.” Most modern translations use “dwell” or “live” in the house of the Lord, but the underlying Hebrew wording has this relationship between returning and dwelling—coming back to the place where you dwell, the place where you belong.
Returning home.
The Shepherd who restores our souls is the One who brings us back home—to His presence, to His house, to Himself.
I believe The Message translation captures this picture beautifully:
“I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.”
Draw near to your Shepherd, friend. Let His goodness and mercy be like a hurricane of wind to uproot your worries, anxiety, trauma, and fears.
The green pastures and still waters are waiting for your soul.
He will bring you back Home again.