My Restorer

He restoreth my soul.

— Psalm 23:3 (KJV)

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I am here this morning to say concerning my Lord, ‘He restoreth my soul.’ He has not cast me off, or left me to myself, or abandoned me to my own devices, but in love to my soul He has plucked my feet out of the net, drawn me up from the horrible pit, and set my feet upon the rock of His immutable love.

To leave His sheep to perish is not like our Savior; the heart refuses credence to such an idea, it so unlike Him. My witness is that ‘He restoreth my soul.’ He has done this so often that He may well be described as always doing it. The psalmist puts it in the present tense, as if the Lord were in the habit of doing so, and were even at this moment in the act of restoring his soul.

Truly I must confess that I wander, and He restores me. Child of God, as numerous as your sins have been, so numerous have His restorations been. After a hundred times erring, you might have provoked Him to say, ‘He is given unto his idols, let him alone; my Spirit shall no longer strive with him.’ But no, He turns His hand again upon you, and once more leads you in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. The mother forgets not her suckling, though it is often fretful and peevish; she still has compassion upon the son of her womb: even thus is it with Jesus.

We are too deeply graven on the palms of His hands to be at last left to die; we have cost Him too dear for Him to relinquish us. Having restored our soul a hundred times, He still restores it. It is the way of Him; it is the habit of His love.

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For His name’s sake He doth restore our souls when we wander from His way. Strange are the means He uses. Sometimes it is a rod most heavy, at other times a love-call sweetly fascinating. Singular are the modes of dealing with His people; He will break them in pieces and crush them beneath His feet, apparently in hot displeasure, but all with the view of making them sick of sin and eager after Himself. He will rend them as a lion rends his prey, and this not to destroy, but to save them. Is it not written, ‘I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal?’ Often by dispensations of terror He leads us into ways of grace, and frequently that which appears to be our utter destruction ends in our complete restoration, according to His grace.

— ‘My Restorer’ - Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Vol. 19 pg. 723-730 (C.H. Spurgeon)

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O, beloved!

Isn’t this the truth?! As many times as we turn from Him momentarily and forget His goodness and begin to crumble, He reclaims and restores our souls, yes? (gentle)

He is faithful to us, even when we are falling apart, flailing about like a small child in her father’s arms. We are mad or dissatisfied with something; we want something we can’t have (yet); we think we know how to do it ‘all by ourselves’ and see His intervention as an intrusion rather than a help, don’t we, beloved? At times?

Our souls…they are so fragile. They feel like they’re breaking, or at least floundering, many times a day. They feel lost, afraid, confused. They know they are missing something, looking for something - but sometimes they forget what, Who.

How we need Him to restore us, beloved! And not just once or twice, but over and over and over again, day by day, moment by moment! We need Him! We can’t do any of this on our own, sweet one.

And how great is His Love for us, yes, beloved?! (amazed) He has every right and reason to reject us, to lose His patience with us, to give up on us…and yet, He continues to deal with us gently, even as He breaks us. And as He molds us into something new, something greater, something, someone more like Him!

Please, beloved! Please, let us dwell Together in this incredible grace, this incredible Love! He chooses to restore us! Our souls, even here and now, can know His peace and joy! He fills us! He remakes us! He takes the old and brings new in its place! What hope, beloved! What hope we have in our Beloved King, the One who Restores!

We trust in Him Together, now and always.