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Restored and Righteous

MAY 4, 2008

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Psalm 23:3

Psalm 23 is a perpetual source of encouragement for the child of God. It has been recited by little children and studied by biblical scholars. This Psalm helps us see something of the heart of King David. But, more importantly, it gives us a beautiful picture of the heart of the LORD our God.

The past two Sundays we have considered the first and second verses.1 The first is the most important, for it sets the theme and tone of the Psalm and reads, “The LORD is my Shepherd. I shall not want.” The second verse expands on the first, for David says, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters.”

We now come to the third verse, our text for today. King David says of the LORD, “He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”

Let us consider the first sentence, viz., “He restores my soul.” The Hebrew verb translated as “restores” means, according to the best Hebrew lexicons, “to bring back liveliness [and] vitality,”2 or to refresh”3

That must mean that King David experienced times when he was downcast, low–spirited, depressed, and even times when he was without faith. Even a casual reading of the Psalms will show that David was no stranger to sorrow and fear. As a sinner like you and me, he knew the pains and troubles brought about by this broken world.

Do you remember how David, a sheep of the Good Shepherd’s flock, was driven by fear to flee from King Saul’s wrath. Let’s revisit the occasion. Picture the familiar scene: The giant Goliath squares off against the youth David. When the two come near one another, Goliath taunts David, saying, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?”4 He curses David in the name of his Philistine gods. But David is not afraid, for he trusts in the LORD. So he boldly says to the giant, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you.”5 And you know the rest of the story: David killed his opponent with a rock and a sling. No one would ever forget that day, no one!

As David was returning from the conquest, he was hailed as a national hero! In fact, the people were praising him more than Saul. Throughout the cities, the women sang and danced. They sang out, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”6 Saul became very jealous of David’s popularity and sought his life. He was not about to be upstaged by a mere youth.

Hence, David became a fugitive from Saul and his pursuing henchmen. He was always on the run, fearful and often in despair. During this time, David frequently cried to the LORD for help. On one occasion, when Saul’s men were lying in wait to kill him, David cried out, “Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; protect me from those who rise up against me; deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. For behold, they lie in wait for my life.”7

Here we see David fearful and downcast. But he knows that the LORD will be his “refuge and strength.”8 And God hears his prayers and delivers him from this and many other crises and dangers.9

In time, God lifted up David. The LORD restored and revived his servant from being cast down in soul and spirit. The LORD had done for David what the latter so beautifully says in Psalm 23:3: “He restores my soul.” Yes, the LORD restored his liveliness and vitality. Does God promise to restore us? Yes, he will restore our listless souls with the manna of his Word and with Christ’s own body and blood. As for the other maladies of this life, we are to ask, seek, and knock in prayer10 just like David did when he was running for his life. And sometimes the Lord asks us to wait for the fullness of healing in heaven.

But let’s consider, for a minute or two, David as the shepherd of his own flock before he became Israel’s king. Philip Keller, in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, points out one of the great problems sheep have.11 He points out that sheep have a tendency to be “cast down.” A sheep that ends up lying on its back is said to be a “cast” sheep. Such a sheep cannot right itself. It will flail its four feet in the air, but to no avail. If it is not put back on its feet, gases will build up in the sheep’s intestines and, in a few hours, it will die—either by the toxic gases or by predators. Thus, the shepherd must constantly be on the lookout for cast sheep.

Keller describes how he would have to attend to one of his own cast sheep. He describes how the sheep had to be rolled on its side to relieve the stomach gases. Its legs had to be massaged to restore blood circulation. And, finally, it could be helped to its feet. But, sometimes, the sheep were so unsteady that they would just fall and roll over on their backs again. Clearly, without the watchful eye of the shepherd, sheep don’t have a chance. You see, they are high maintenance animals. The shepherd’s goal is to be vigilant in finding and righting his cast sheep. And when a sheep has been cast and placed safely on all fours, it is said to have been restored.

Now consider the words of David in this Psalm. He says of the LORD, “He restores my soul.” Yes, he restores his soul from being cast down—either by the weight of his burdens or—even more importantly, by the weight of his sins.

Like a sheep that is frequently afflicted by being on its back, so the LORD sometimes afflicts you and me. Gold is refined by fire but Christians by affliction. Jesus once said, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.”12 And God doesn’t play favorites, for he even disciplined the apostle Paul. Three times Paul prayed that the Lord would remove his “thorn in the flesh.”13 But God said no. And he added, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”14 In other words the LORD was saying, “Paul, the thorn in your flesh will be a constant reminder that you must rely on my grace and strength for your life and ministry.”

As for us, we don’t want affliction. But God knows better. For example, do you remember when you were a child and you had a cut on your finger? Your mother would tell you that what she is about to do will hurt. She wants to put some ouchy medicine drops on your cut finger. She says, “It will hurt for a little while, but, I promise that it will not harm you but heal you.” So you trust her. You are so brave!

And it does hurt ... but only for awhile. And in time the cut heals. You were right to trust your mother.

Likewise, God sometimes allows us to experience hurt and, maybe, great pain. Speaking for myself, I did not look forward to my back surgery five weeks ago. And I, voluntarily, paid big bucks to let the surgeon hurt me. But knowing that the Lord uses surgeons, doctors, and medical staff to bring about healing, I volunteered to be hurt. And so I trusted that the surgeon would not harm me, but help me.

And the blessings of the surgery were not just physical. You see, for four years I had been suffering through sciatic pain, as most of you know. It took its toll on me spiritually, for chronic pain has a way of sapping your energy and strength ... and spiritual fervor. I had been in the lake of spiritual listlessness before, and I knew God’s remedy was Word and Sacrament. Yet, there were times when simply reading the promises in God’s Word seemed too great a task. I kept praying with King David, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.”15

And, do you know what? That prayer was answered within hours after I woke up from surgery. I was telling anyone who would listen how grateful I was for being on the road to healing and grateful for God’s grace and protection. And there was an even greater benefit: I found my soul singing about “the joy of my salvation!”

And so, when a child of God is afflicted, he means to help us, not to hurt us. He means to drive us to the Word of God and prayer so that we lean on him and not on our own understanding. And leaning on the Lord also means using the vocations of surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and medical professionals to bring about healing.

But let us go back to our text. The 3rd verse ends with these words: “He leads me in paths ofrighteousness for his name's sake.” Not only does the Good Shepherd restore our souls when we are downcast, he also leads us to righteousness. The Hebrew word for righteousness is tsedeq. It can mean to walk in the ways that are right. But it can also refer to the righteousness of Christ which is freely given and imputed to sinners who trust in him for their forgiveness and salvation.

I take it to mean the imputed righteousness of Christ. To get the hang of it, let’s look at King David’s life once again. One morning, he walked on the roof of his palace. And what a surprise he had when his walking came to a stop. There, on another roof was a beautiful woman who was taking bath. Her beauty was so extraordinary that David had to have her as his own. He brought her to his palace. Her name was Bathsheba. And she was married to Uriah, a soldier in David’s army. He went into Bathsheba and she became pregnant. David had committed adultery, but he refused to confess his sin. To make matters worse, he became a murderer when he arranged to have Uriah killed in battle. Again he refused to repent of his sins.

Time passed, about a year to be exact. So God sent the prophet Nathan to King David. By means of a parable, Nathan made David to see his sins.16 David was distraught and fearful. So he cried out to Nathan, saying, “I have sinned against the LORD.”17

If David had died before repenting of his sins, it is almost certain that he would have gone to hell. But now David, trusting in Christ’s righteousness, breathed forth a psalm of repentance. Perhaps you have heard his words:

“Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”18

Indeed, the Lord does restore our souls and leads us to the righteousness of Christ. Through faith alone in Christ’s word and work, the Lord pronounces righteous. And if the Lord pronounces us righteous, we are righteous, indeed!

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Endnotes

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